The LiDKitThe LiDKit: Resources for Implementing the Learning in Depth Program

The LiDKit

The LiDKit (ISBN: 978-1-926966-15-1) is designed to help implement the Learning in Depth (LiD) program. In the LiD program, students thoroughly explore a single topic during their school career, gradually building a personal portfolio of knowledge on the topic. Through this program, students develop a love of learning, a thirst for knowledge, and a curiosity about the world around them.

Designed for teachers who will be supervising the development of students’ LiD portfolios, this resource kit offers practical ideas for keeping students imaginatively engaged with their LiD topics. The LiDKit compiles materials for teachers who want to implement LiD in their classrooms or schools, as well as introduce LiD to other teachers, administrators, and parents.

“…My son’s maturity level has grown tremendously. He has

gained patience and takes pride in his work. He explains

his thoughts and ideas with ease and clarity. He never feels

overwhelmed by school and welcomes homework responsibly. He

is truly content and happy with his progress. I feel so fortunate

to have been witness to my child experiencing this program and I

am convinced that he has benefited beyond his capabilities.”

— Nicole Clydesdale, parent of a LiD student

“The Learning in Depth project has brought to our students a

completely new relationship to learning that has been surprising

in its depth and quality.”

— Sheri Dunton, Corbett Charter School

The LidKit Brief Guide and Brochures

The LiDKit Brief Guide, the Seven Steps to Starting LiD brochure, and the Support Services brochure contain information for parents, teachers, and administrators who are interested in implementing the LiD program.

Learning in Depth: A Brief Guide14

15

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Won’t students become bored with having the same topic for twelve years?

A. Boredom is a product of ignorance; generally, the more we know about something, the more interesting it becomes. An underlying principle of the LiD project is that “everything is wonderful, if only we know enough about it.”

Q. The random assignment of topics is absurd. Why not let students choose their topic?

A. Children’s interests at age five tend to change quite often. A particular topic may be stimulated by a recent movie and may change in a week; even the dinosaurs so loved by typical five-year- olds commonly lose their appeal after a few years. There are a number of reasons to hold to the random assignment for young students. If Learning in Depth is introduced to older students, they can choose from among the set of topics provided to teachers in the LiD resource kit.

Q. Wouldn’t this program be too complicated to organize?

A. Certainly it will be a challenge, but if we are committed to enhancing our children’s education, we can make it work relatively easily. It will cost something, of course, but the cost will be tiny compared to overall educational budgets.

Families can support their children’s LiD projects by attending LiD-

related school events.

brief guide-1ppa-55x85-2012_101512-d2.indd 14-15 12-10-15 4:56 PM

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The Role Families Play in Supporting LiD

The LiD program invites parents and other family members to engage in learning with their children. Teachers encourage children to work on their portfolios at home and to regularly add the materials they create at home to their school portfolios. There are many resource materials available on LiD for parents or guardians who would like to learn more about the LiD program and help their children explore their topics. We ask family members to see their role as supportive, rather than allowing their own enthusiasm and perhaps superior research skills initially to take over students’ projects.

Early LiD research often involves interviewing family members to

see what they know about a topic.

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This is a fascinating, provocative, utterly visionary and courageously speculative imagining of an educational future that is simultaneously elite and egalitarian, deeply intellectual yet utterly connected to passion and identity. A most audacious proposal from one of education’s most audacious thinkers . . . an inspiring challenge to those who aspire to deep understanding for their students. —Lee S. Shulman, President Emeritus, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching

LiD certifi cationBECOME A RECOGNIZED LID SCHOOL

Certifi cation as a LiD school enables your school to serve as a model for others and also gives your teachers and administrators the added benefi ts of limited rights to teach about LiD for professional development purposes.

I have never experienced the kind of questions and interactions I now have with my students . . . I have never experienced these kinds of conversations with children. —Linda Holmes, a teacher in Langley, BC

interested?Whether you are a parent, teacher, or administrator, supporting innovations that work benefi ts all. If you are interested in any of these support services for implementing LiD in your school, we would like to hear from you. Costs for each of the services will vary depending on the number of participants and the distance involved. In addition to these services, on our website we also supply many free resources and supports for people interested in LiD:

www.ierg.net/LiD

To discuss any of the services in this brochure, please contact us.

Email: lid-ed@sfu.caTelephone: 778-782-4479

Fax: 778-782-7014

WORKSHOPS

CONSULTANCIES

ONE-YEAR SUPPORT PROGRAM

ONLINE MINI -COURSE

LID CERTIFICATION

Support services for those wishing to implement the LiD program

Learning in Depth: A Simple Innovation That Can Transform Schooling. Kieran Egan, University of Chicago Press and The Althouse Press (2010).

STEP SIX :

What do you need to have ready to start? T A letter to parents/guardians explaining

the program.

T A list of LiD topics and a plan for how to allocate them to each student.

T A portfolio for each student—a folder, box, or large fi le for LiD work.

T Steps in place for the opening ceremony, including inviting families and making a badge, sticker, medal, or tile with each student’s name and topic.

Linda Holmes

Seven Steps toStarting LiD

You have heard about Learning in Depth,

but what is involved in getting started?

STEP SEVEN:

Don’t try to do it all alone T Join the online network and discussions

on the LiD website: www.ierg.net/LiD/.

T Work with other teachers in your school or locally who are implementing LiD.

T Consider scheduling a workshop with the LiD team from Simon Fraser University. Contact them at lid-ed@sfu.ca.

T Learn about The LiDKit: Resources for Implementing the Learning in Depth Program. Order it from Pacifi c Educational Press: www.pacifi cedpress.ca

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SupporT ServiceS BrochureA guide to the workshops, one-year support program, mini courses, consultancies, and certification available for those wishing to implement the LiD program.

Full-colour, trifold brochure

2 copies

Seven STepS To STarTing LiD Brochure An excellent resource for teachers and administrators who are interested in the program, the brochure outlines how to develop the foundation for a successful LiD program.

Full-colour, trifold brochure

5 copies

The LiDKiT Brief guiDe This booklet provides an overview of the program and it can be given to parents and administrators. A copy is also available on the DVD for reproducing and sharing.

5.5˝ x 8.5˝, 24 pages

5 copies

Implementing the Learning in Depth Program

Implementing the Learning in Depth Program is the essential guide to this innovative program. It includes tips for getting support from parents and administrators, building a LiD community within the school, and adapting the program for special needs and gifted learners, as well as for elementary, middle, and high schools.

8.5˝ x 11˝, 112 pages

MoDeL iMpLeMenTaTionExplores how a sample topic can be used with a primary class.

57

research. Topics that may appear to fit more naturally with English—“theatre,” “humour,” or “the Book”—have been passed over in order to showcase how an English lens may afford a unique perspective for other more seemingly unrelated topics: “electricity,” “sheep,” “maps,” and “money.”

Electricity

When considering electricity, the English teacher might frame three initial questions:

1. What are the two basic forms or types of electricity?

2. Why has electricity come to be known by these two nominal terms?

3. What are the origins of these two forms of electricity?

The first question prompts students to distinguish between terms used in the study. These distinctions can be further elaborated in the second question. This question is somewhat more historical in scope than the first question, and somewhat less historical in scope than the third question. The student can be prompted to consider the extent to which these terms accurately reflect the properties of the electron movement associated with alternating and direct current.

From there, many topics can be explored. What are the origins of the terms? Heroic figures in the field are Edison and Tesla. As students explore the historic relationship between Tesla and Edison, English teachers might ask them to consider the literary concept of a nemesis, and explore the extent to which Edison may have been Tesla’s nemesis.

Another set of questions may follow, designed to draw students’ research of this topic into a more literary realm:

1. What are the mythic origins of electricity?

2. What role did the Viking god Thor play in establishing a pre-historical attitude towards electricity?

3. How do these early conceptions of electricity influence our contemporary awareness of this powerful concept?

By exploring the characters and characteristics of current comic book heroes such as Thor or Iron Man, students may gain literary insights into the ways that the phenomenon of electricity can be creatively transformed by authors and artists for uniquely original uses.

Finally, the English teacher may want to augment this heroic legacy with prompts for students to consider workaday heroism in the lyrics of Jimmy Webb’s “Wichita Lineman.”

Research around the topic of electricity could lead to the discovery of Thor’s Battle with the Ettins (1872) by Mårten Eskil Winge, an iconic depiciton of Thor, the Scandinavian god of lightning.

12

Getting Started: Suggestions For Teachersby J. Melanie Young in association with The Imaginative Education Research Group

Introduction

Learning in Depth allows students to explore a topic from any perspective they choose and at a pace that suits them; it provides an opportunity for students to discover how knowledge works. It is meant to be a student-directed activity supervised but not led by teachers. Teachers, particularly in the early grades, make suggestions, offer guiding questions, and make recommendations for avenues worth exploring.

What is the teacher’s role in LiD?

The teacher’s main task is to engage students’ imaginations with their topics. Teachers model the attitude that everyone has something to offer and there is no end to the possibilities of knowing and knowledge. They encourage flexibility and creativity. There is no formal assessment or marking of students’ work. Instead, there are opportunities for students to get feedback from the

teacher, and at regular intervals students will present some of their portfolio materials to small groups or to the whole class and invited guests.

Assigning Topics

Part of the richness of LiD is the varied topics that can be unique to individual student “experts.” In the early grades, we recommend randomly assigning topics to students from the approved list of LiD topics provided in this kit. The topics are given to the students during a starting ceremony.

Students should be encouraged to creatively demonstrate what they are learning.

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A Model For Grade 1 Teachers: Learning In Depth About Money

by J. Melanie Young

Introduction

This model for teachers provides ideas for how the Learning in Depth project might be implemented with grade 1 students, using the topic “money” as an example. Elementary students can be expected to need more guidance than older students who are engaging in LiD; therefore, this model shows the wide variety of activities even young students could undertake with their own topics. The section of the model called “Potential for inclusion of student LiD topics in the regular class schedule” offers suggestions of how the LiD projects could be included in regular classroom activities, either as the vehicle for knowledge exploration or skills development, or as a supplement to regular lesson plans.

As Kieran Egan has proposed, Learning in Depth recognizes that “seemingly trivial topics all unfold into the depths of our history, culture, and experience.” Therefore, everything is essentially connected to everything else. The “Return and Reconnect” section of the model is meant to highlight this. The ideas in this section are by no means comprehensive; students will probably find connections well beyond the few suggested here.

Although LiD is not tied to the curriculum, it can support learning that is already happening in the classroom.

iMpLeMenTaTion SuggeSTionSProvide step-by-step suggestions for how to implement the program in the classroom.

exaMpLeSTips on how to adapt various topics to suit different subject areas, such as English, social studies, and science.

Teacher LogS Track students’ LiD topics and portfolios, as well as LiD class activities and events.

BLacKLine MaSTerSProvide guidance to students for a wide variety of activities.

LiD Weekly Teacher’s Log 1

School: _________________________________________________________ School Year: _____________________________________________________________________

Class: __________________________________________________________ Teacher: _________________________________________________________________________

Week Dates LiD Activities Highlights What has worked as planned?

What do I wish to improve during the next weeks?

Blackline Master 1COLLECTING QUESTIONS ABOUT MY LID TOPIC

Name: ________________________________________________________________ Date: ________________

Topic: ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Talk to 10 people and ask them for questions they have about your topic.

Name of person How do I know this person? Question

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Blackline Master 6WATCHING DOCUMENTARIES ABOUT MY LID TOPIC

Name: ________________________________________________________________ Date: ________________

Topic: ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Ask your parents/guardians to help you find a documentary film or video about your topic. Watch it together and answer the following questions:

1. What is the title of the documentary?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________2. Where did you find it?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________3. What was the most interesting thing you learned from it?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________4. After watching it, what were you wondering about?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

5. Did you disagree with anything in the documentary? If so, what was it?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________6. What where the strengths of this documentary? What were the weaknesses? Would

you recommend it to a friend? Why or why not?

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

Tracking LiD Student Journeys

School: _________________________________________________________ School Year: ______________________________________________________________________

Class: ___________________________________________________________ Teacher: _________________________________________________________________________

Student’s name LiD Topic Student’s Special Interests Collaborations with other Students Highlights/Challenges/Notes

Implementing the Learning in Depth Program

Learning in Depth

A Simple Innovation That Can Transform Schooling

KIERAN EGAN

The LiDKit Digital Resources

The LiDKit contains two DVDs:

• DVD: Kieran Egan, Learning in Depth: A Simple Innovation That Can Transform Schooling.

• DVD: Resources for Implementing the Learning in Depth Program. Includes first-hand accounts from teachers who have implemented LiD; templates for teacher logs and blackline masters for student use; LiD activity topics, sorted by categories; two brief videos and a PowerPoint presentation about LiD; and sample letters to parents/guardians and school administrators.

Blackline Master 12COLLECTING ANSWERS TO MY LID QUESTIONS

Name: ________________________________________________________________ Date: ________________

Topic: ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Collect as many answers as possible to the following question: “What do YOU know about my topic: …………………………..…?

Please ask this question to all adults in your family (and/or adult friends), take notes, collect evidence, and present them to your classmates next time we meet.

NAME OF PERSON ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION

Blackline Master 16LID SPEECH GRAPHIC ORGANIZER

Name: ________________________________________________________________ Date: ________________

Topic: ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction: General to speci�c

Thesis (argument)

Body Paragraph 1 and evidence

Answer “so what” and why should we care

Conclusion: Speci�c to general

Body Paragraph 3 and evidence

Body Paragraph 2 and evidence

viDeoSFeature interviews with LiD experts.

BLacKLine MaSTerSAvailable in Word, PDF, and Notebook formats for classroom use.

Learning in DepTh: a SiMpLe innovaTion ThaT can TranSforM SchooLingA digital version of Kieran Egan’s book is included on a DVD.

 

ierg.net/LiD  ·∙  pacific

edpress.ca  

Page  1  of  2  

Date:  

Dear  ___________________

__________,  

This  year  I  intend  to

 introduce  a  program

 with  my  students  called  Lea

rning  in  

Depth  (LiD).  Kieran  Egan,  a  profess

or  at  Simon  Fraser  University  w

ho  is  also  the  

founder  of  an  approa

ch  to  teaching  called  

Imaginative  Education  (

www.ierg.net),  

conceived  of  the  Lea

rning  in  Depth  progr

am.    

Although  LiD  is  a  fairly  

new  program,  it  has  gained  popul

arity  over  the  last  few

 

years  and  numerous  scho

ols  have  started  runn

ing  the  program  for  multiple  gra

des.  

The  basic  premise  is  that  

students  are  assigne

d  a  topic  at  the  begin

ning  of  grade  one  

and  they  explore  and

 conduct  research  on

 this  topic  in  imaginative  w

ays  over  the  

next  twelve  years.  The  prog

ram  has  several  key  obje

ctives.    Primarily,  it  en

courages  

development  of  kno

wledge  in  both  breadth

 and  depth.  It  also  aim

s  to  spur  

imaginative  expression,

 teach  students  about

 the  nature  of  knowledge,  and

 inspire  a  

life-­‐long  love  of  learn

ing.  

 I  intend  to  randomly  assign  m

y  students  a  topic  fro

m  the  list  provided  by

 Kieran  

Egan  and  have  them  research  i

t  for  the  rest  of  the  sc

hool  year.  I  have  pre

pared  a  

sequence  of  lessons

 to  teach  the  required

 learning  strategies  a

nd  model  many  of  the  

suggested  activities.

 The  learning  activit

ies  that  I  am  proposing

 are  all  tied  to  the  

prescribed  learning  o

utcomes  for  grade  XX.  I  will  be  dedic

ating  one  to  two  blocks  p

er  

week  to  the  program  and,  in  th

is  time,  will  be  modelling  lessons,  offe

ring  students  

feedback  on  their  por

tfolio  projects,  and  l

istening  to  them  share  the

ir  discoveries  

and  creative  works.  To  su

pport  me  in  my  endeavours,  I  have

 enlisted  the  

involvement  of  our  school  libr

arian  and  my  educatio

n  assistant.  

  I  will  not  be  grading  stu

dents’  LiD  projects,  b

ut  will  offer  feedback,  

suggestions,  and  help

,  as  needed.  This  shou

ld  alleviate  the  pressu

re  on  students  who  

require  support,  and

 allow  all  students  to  disco

ver  their  preferred  w

ays  of  learning.  

Students  can  choose

 which  assignments  they  w

ill  pursue  and  make  up  the

ir  own,  

 

ierg.net/LiD  ·∙  pacificedpress.ca         Page  1  of  2  

Date:    

Dear  Parent(s)/Guardian(s),  I  am  writing  to  tell  you  about  an  exciting  new  program  the  school  is  providing  to  your  child.  The  new  program  is  called  “Learning  in  Depth,”  or  LiD,  as  it  is  more  commonly  called.  It  is  a  program  developed  in  2007/8  in  Canada  and  already  in  use  in  schools  in  many  countries  around  the  world.       The  basic  idea  of  Learning  in  Depth  is  that  your  child  will  be  given  a  topic  when  the  program  is  first  introduced  and  will  build  a  portfolio  on  this  topic  throughout  the  rest  of  the  time  he  or  she  is  at  school—yes,  right  to  the  end  of  grade  12!  The  program  will  begin  with  a  ceremony  at  the  school,  to  which  you  will  be  invited,  where  topics  will  be  assigned.  Each  student  in  the  class  will  get  a  different  topic  and  will  start  to  build  a  personal  portfolio  on  that  topic.  The  portfolio  can  be  made  up  of  pictures,  text,  artifacts,  models,  videos,  and  so  on.  It  can  be  contained  in  a  binder  or  box  or  whatever  container  is  most  suitable  for  gathering  material  about  the  specific  topic  your  child  is  given.  We  will  help  your  child  begin  to  develop  her  or  his  portfolio,  and  we  hope  you  will  be  able  to  help  too.    

One  of  the  problems  of  a  very  full  curriculum  is  that  our  students  learn  many  things  only  at  a  surface  level.  This  program  is  designed  to  ensure  that  every  child  over  the  years  becomes  an  expert  on  something.  A  topic  can  be  “birds”  or  “railways”  or  “water”  or  “apples”  or  one  of  many  other  possibilities.  Your  child  will  explore  and  become  an  expert  on  one  topic.  He  or  she  will  discover  fascinating  facts  about  this  topic  and  learn  to  present  what  is  learned  in  imaginative  ways  to  fellow  students.       Your  child  will  be  given  lots  of  ideas  and  support  in  building  knowledge  about  his  or  her  topic,  and  it  would  be  great  if  you  could  get  involved  too.  Please  be  cautious  not  to  overwhelm  your  child  with  the  information  available,  though.  The  students  are  being  encouraged  to  show  initiative  and  explore  the  topic  on  their  own  as  well  as  seeking  help  from  others,  so  do  feel  free  to  guide  and  suggest  things,  but  

LeTTer TeMpLaTeSLetters to parents/guardians and letters to administrators can be modified by teachers to suit their school’s needs.

Topic List and Activity Cards

Air and atmosphere

Aircraft and airports

Amphibians

Ancient ruins

Animal habitations

The Antarctic

Ants

Apes and monkeys

Apples

The Arctic

Bats

Bears

Bees

Beetles

Birds

Bridges

Buildings

Butter� ies and moths

Castles

Cats

Cattle

Caves, mines, and tunnels

Cells

Cereals and grains

The circus

Clothing

Colour

Cooking

Coral

Cosmic objects

Cotton

Counting systems

Crustaceans

Dance

Deserts

Dinosaurs

Dogs

Dust

Eggs

Engines

Exploration

Eyes

Farm animals

Farming

Fish

Flags and heraldry

Flowering plants

Forests

Fossils

Fungi

Games and sports

Goats

Grass

Habitations

Hair and fur

Hands, feet, hooves, and paws

Headwear and footwear

Horses

Icebergs and glaciers

Insects

Jungles

Leaves

Light and lamps

Locomotion

Maps

Marsupials

Measurement of time

Metals

Milk

Molluscs

Money

The moon

Mountains

Music

Musical instruments

Myths and folktales

Oceans

Olympic games

Paints and their uses

Paper

Pirates

Ponds and lakes

Ports

Rainforests

Reptiles

Rice

Rivers

Roads

Rodents

Roots of plants

Sacred buildings

The seashore

Seeds

Sheep

Ships

Sign systems and codes

The solar system

Songs

Spacecraft

Spices

Spiders

Stones and rocks

The submarine world

Swamps and wetlands

Teeth

Theatre

Tools and simple machines

Trains and railways

Transportation

Trees

Tundra

Tunnels

Underground life

Volcanoes

Water

Water supply and resources

Water transport

Weather and climate

Whales

Wheat

The wheel

Wildlife migrations

Wood

Wool

Worms

Writing systems

Suitable LiD Topics

Criteria for Selecting LiD TopicsThis list of recommended LiD topics expands on the list originally published in Kieran Egan’s book Learning in Depth: A Simple Innovation That Can Transform Schooling. The criteria we used in selecting these topics are as follows:

• suf� cient breadth;

• suf� cient depth;

• suf� cient connections with the self—cultural, imaginative, and emotional ties;

• not too technical;

• suf� cient local resource materials available for adequate access;

• not too general or too unconstrained (for example, “animals” is too general, “tigers” is adequate, but “cats” is optimal);

• not focussed on the more depressing features of human existence or on common phobias;

• each topic must provide an equivalently rich experience for all students; and

• each topic must be acceptable to students’ parents/guardians (that is, matters of cultural sensitivity and ethics also need to be considered in the assignment or choice of topics).

www.paci�cedpress.ca � www.ierg.netv1.0 -2013 P r in ted in Ch ina

Topic LiSTAn updated and expanded list of suitable LiD topics and the criteria used for picking topics.

8.5˝ x 11˝, laminated

2 copies

The LiDKit Activity Cards provide students with suggestions on how to extend their research into new areas.

104 cards

acTiviTy carDSDozens of creative suggestions to inspire new areas of inquiry.

The LiDKit The LiDKitArtist’s im

pression. Items m

ay not be exactly as shown.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO ORDER CONTACT:The Imaginative Education Research Group Email: ierg-ed@sfu.ca Phone: 778.782.4479Website: ierg.ca

ABOUT THE PUBLISHERPacific Educational Press is the publishing house of the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia. We publish educational resources for schools and post-secondary institutions.

ABOUT IERGThe Imaginative Education Research Group (IERG) was founded in 2001 in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. IERG develops theories, principles, and practices designed to explain, describe, and exemplify a new approach to educating.

The LiDKit ISBN 978-1-926966-15-1

v1-01-2013 Printed in China