Developing the BC learning agenda: innovation and improvement
Part 3: Practice
Valerie Hannon and Tony MackayInnovation Unit, UK
BCSSA:FALL CONFERENCE 2010Victoria, BC 18/19 November
What do we know about learning?
Which next practices hold most potential?
OECD: research-derived principles
An effective learning environment is one that:
1. Makes learning central, encourages engagement, and learners increasingly understand themselves as learners (‘regulation’)
2. Is acutely sensitive to the individual differences among the learners including their prior knowledge, and is demanding for each learner but without excessive overload
3. Is highly attuned to the learners’ motivations and the key role of emotions
4. Uses assessments that are consistent with its aims, with strong emphasis on formative feedback
5. Promotes horizontal connectedness across activities and subjects, in- and out-of-school
6. Is where learning is social and often collaborative.
The Nature of Learning: using research to inspire practice (OECD 2010)
A new scientific paradigm emerges “when a small group of pioneers makes a breakthrough sufficiently unprecedented to attract adherents away from competing modes of scientific activity – but sufficiently open-ended to leave all sorts of problems to be resolved….”
Thomas Kuhn The structure of scientific revolutions 1962
Case Study 1: High Tech High Schools San Diego County
A new yardstick
in education?
Origins
• Frustration of culture of
state schooling
• Dissatisfaction with existing metrics
• Desire to create radical new model
• Charter school movement allows freedoms to determine to success criteria
• 1 - > 9 small schools in San Diego County
video
Charter Schools
• No selection - postcode ballot
• Socially mixed intake
• Charter renewable
• Autonomy in staffing, curriculum and budget
Three Axioms of Schooling
A new yardstick in education?
•Separate students according to perceived academic ability
•Separate hands and minds and disciples
•Separate school from the world
Three Integrations at HTH
• Integrate students – no tracking
• Integrate the curriculum- technical and academic- academic disciplines
• Connect school with the world
AND NOW.....
• Integrate K-12 with Graduate Ed
HTH Design Principles
• Personalisation
• Common intellectual mission
• Adult world connection
• Teacher as designer
Personalisation
• Limit grade size and teaching load
• Teaching Teams
• Advisory groups
• Home visits
• Students pursue passions via projects
Common Intellectual Mission
• Common core learning goals
• Habits of heart and mind
• No tracking
• Promotion and graduation linked to purpose
Adult World Connection
• Internships and field studies
• Community projects
• Visiting professionals
• Mentor relationships
• Online connections
Teacher as Designer
• Hiring bonanza
• New teacher ‘odyssey’
• Credential program
• Daily morning meeting time
• Mentoring, collegial coaching
• Planning and study groups
• Graduate programs at HTH GSE
• Total adult learning community
Results to Date
• 100% qualify to apply to Ucal
• 100% college admission
• 82% college retention, higher for first generation
• 38% major in STEM fields
A Different Standard
• What matters?
• Completion of secondary schooling
• College/University admission
• Community service
• Students help set the criteria for effective learning – and assessment
Distinguishers (from UK)
• Open culture (physical, intellectual, social/personal)
• 60% of curriculum project-based, located in ‘real work’
• Commitment to: staff development; human scale; integration; ‘beautiful work’; community and parental support
• Judge quality of teaching by quality of student work produced, publically presented
• Engagement precedes learning – get that right, results look after themselves.
Compared with State
• 35-45% of HTH students become first-in-family to go to college
• High spread of income & ethnicity
• 37% of CA students complete SATs/95% @ HTH
• SAT scores well above state/national averages
• 80% have graduated from college/university
Project-led, Cross disciplinary, Public Judged
• Economics illustrated
• San Diego Blood Bank
Project
• San Diego Bay
Project
Video (4)
At your tables…….
• What struck you as powerful elements of practice evidenced at HTH?
• Where are there in your district similar examples? What might make them stronger?
• What would you like to learn more about?
Chain of Independent Schools with a Common
Educational ConceptFounded in Sweden 1999
The Vision
“An outstanding school where
every student, through
personalised learning and
clear goals, will stretch their
boundaries and learn more
than they thought possible”
The Vision
25
Independent Schools in Sweden
• Voucher system introduced in 1992
• License from the National Board of Education
• Voucher payment from local municipalities
• Tuition fees not allowed
• In 1996/97:29,000 students
In 2006/07: 135,000 students
• 10 per cent market share
700
600
500
200
100
0
Number
Number of Voucher financed schools for students age 7 to
18
1992/93
Source: The National Agency for Education, Sweden
400
300
2006/07
800
900
26
Kunskapsskolan Today
Enköping
Västerås
Norrköping
YstadMalm
ö
Landskrona LundHelsingborg
Gamleby
Nyköping
Göteborg
Falun
KistaSpånga
Skärholmen
Nacka/Orminge
Enskede
Hägerstensåsen
TyresöBotkyrka
Globen
Fruängen
Täby
Saltsjöbaden
• 21 Secondary Schools (ages 12-15)
• 9 Upper Secondary Schools (age 16-18)
• 9,200 pupils
• 700 staff
Internationella
Trelleborg
Uppsala
27
New Structures
We replace the structures of the tradititional school which had limited means for a personalised education…
… with new structures for coaching and supervising each student individually
28
Static
National
Common fram of reference
Limited options
Collektive
Homogene
Hierarchical
Predictable
A constantly fast accelerating change
Globalisation
Individualisation
Unlimited options
Heterogeneity
Increased complexity
A ”hurricane” of information
Unpredictable
29
Personalised Education:Towards explicit learning goals
• Student focus• Goal-oriented learning• Variety of study forms• Individual tutorials every
week• Personal timetable• All learning materials and
goals accessible through a web-portal
Semester goal
Goal year eleven
Goal for the week
Personal Goals and Strategies
Individual Tutorial
Curriculum Design
RESOURCES
ELEVENS
MÅL OCH
STRATEGIER
Individual tutorial
PERSONAL GOALS AND
STRATEGIES
The Curriculum
32
Individual Tutorials: For coaching and follow-up
Performance appraisal Logbook
Individual tutorialsIndividual
study plan
33
Logbook
34
Knowledge Portal
TASKS
March 2008 36
March 2008 37
A normal day in Kunskapsskolan Kista
The morning
Meeting: 8:30 to 9:10
In the morning we have a meeting with our class, the class is only together at the meeting and some lectures. At the gatherings we first watch the news and discuss them. After that we make our own individual schedule for the day, we also plan our goals for the day. On mondays we plan the goals for the week.
The studying
Social Science: 9:10 to 11:15 (with a break at 10:00)
When I work with Social Science today, I work in a small room with computers. Up to three people can work in a room like that. There are rooms in all sizes here and there in the school. From the size of one person to big rooms for up to 25 people. In the big rooms we have the gatherings and sometimes lectures.
We eat lunch 30 minutes between 10:45 and 12:30. Every student chooses which time he or she wants to eat each day. You adjust the time for lunch if you have a lecture or something else important you most go to.
On the way to the dining room.
Lecture
Lecture about Social Science: 12:00 to 12:45
Lectures are in a room or in the room we call the arena. The lecture on the picture is in the arena. About 50% of the lectures are there. In the arena there is a computer and a projector, so the teacher can show Power-Point presentations or Word-documents. So he or she doesn’t have to use a white-board.
English lesson
English: 12:45 to 13:45
I work with English on one of these many computers. We use computers instead of books, the school has its own website with all facts and tasks we need to finish the job. We get different tasks depending on how good you are in the different subjects. In some subjects we work with steps, step one is the easiest and step 35 is the hardest. You are on the step that the teacher thinks is right for your knowledge in that subject.
Afternoon meeting
In the afternoon we have a second meeting. The only thing we do there is to write an evaluation of the day. Then you can write if you worked good on the day, and why you worked so good etc…
We don’t finish the school-day at 14:00 every day; it differs between 14:00 and 15:00.
Meeting: 13:45 to 14:00
The Logbook
In the logbook we write our schedule for the day, and our goals and evaluations. We use it a lot! We write one goal in each subject for the week, and one goal for every lesson on the day-goals. One day-goal can look something like this:
Maths: Today I’m going to learn about volume in a cylinder.
The logbook:
At your tables…….
• What were the strengths, in your opinion, of the practice in Kunskapsskolan?
• Where are there similar examples in your district?
• What might make them stronger?
• What would you like to learn more about?
Learning Futures:a UK program featured by OECD
•Focused on learning designs which promote ENGAGEMENT•Exploring powerful innovative pedagogy•Supported by the Innovation Unit, financed by a philanthropic foundation•More than 40 schools involved across 15 sites
15 sites
40 Schools
Goal:More young people engaged actively and positively with their learning, achieving better outcomes and retaining a commitment to learning beyond school.
Phases:
Year 1:Seek innovatorsScan horizonFrame practice
Year 2:Support innovation Reflect practice
Year 3:Create practitioner toolsBuild composite model of ‘Learning Futures’ schools
Learning Futures:a UK program featured by OECD
The Learning Futures definition of ‘Deep Engagement’
Beyond compliance to commitment
A learner is deeply engaged when s/he:
1. cares not just about the outcome, but also the development, of their learning
2. takes responsibility for their learning
3. brings discretionary energy to their learning task(s)
4. can locate the value of their learning beyond school, and wishes to prolong their learning beyond school hours.
• Prof. John Hattie’s 2009 analysis of 205 studies of EBL found that it was shown to:
• produce transferable critical thinking skills • significant domain benefits• improve achievement• improved attitude toward the subject
• Robert Geier and colleagues at the University of Michigan examined the impact of adopting EBL in Detroit public schools and found significantly higher standardised test pass rates.
• A study of Maths teaching in English secondary schools found that students doing EBL influenced group projects outperformed their peers in their GCSE’s and scored better on conceptual questions.
Evidence of success for Enquiry Based Learning
We know it works - why isn’t it more mainstream?
• It works best when it becomes project-based
• It becomes purposeful, when linked to real, community need
• It needs to be scaffolded
• It is most powerful when publicly presented
Enquiry based learning
Traditional transmissive
pedagogy
• Focus on ‘What’ you learn
• Narrow skill set: Listen; Memorise; Repeat
• Learning as an activity done to students
Enquiry Based Learning
Enquiry based learning
• Focus on ‘How’ you learn as well as what.
• Wide skill set: formulating questions; researching, evaluating
• Learning as an activity shared with students
Enquiry based learning is a pedagogy that focuses on turning students into ‘expert learners’ by challenging them to develop their own responses to open ended questions and problems.
The 7 Essentials for Project-Based Learning
1. A need to know 2. A driving question3. Student voice and choice4. 21st-century skills 5. Inquiry and innovation 6. Feedback and revision 7. A publicly presented product
John Larmer and John Mergendoller 2010
• Enquiry-led Projects: (Purposeful learning) learning driven by questioning; learning by seeking out and evaluating information, often within an extended project
• School as Basecamp: (Placed learning) school as a base to take students into their communities (and further) not the final destination
• Extended Learning Relationships: (Pervasive Learning) reciprocal relationships that support learning - lateral (peer -to-peer) as often as hierarchical
• School as Learning Commons: (Principled learning) school as ‘common ground’, with all users sharing resources and responsibility
Four key approaches of an Engaging School
The Learning Futures Model
school as basecam
p
enquiry-based
learning
extended learning
relationships
school as learning commons
Placed
Perv
asi
vePu
rpose
ful
Principled
School as Base Camp
Student
Workplace
Home/family
Online
School
Community
• Four roles: Tutor, Expert, Mentor, Coach
• Enlarged cast: Teachers, Parents, Adults, Peers
• Three characteristics: Autonomy, Frequency, Quality
• Necessity of a shared language for learning
Extended Learning Relationships
Three cultures:
• Co-construction
• Collaborative enquiry
• Democratic community
School as ‘Learning Commons’
After Learning Futures interventions with 840 students between the age of 11 and 16, there was a statistically significant increase in:
creativitymeaning makingchanging and learningcritical curiositystrategic awareness engagement in learning beyond school
-University of Bristol Learning Futures Evaluation
Impact of Learning Futures so far
Impact of Learning Futures so far
Achieving students were significantly more likely to be:
• Confident in their ability to learn and change• Likely to make meaning in school• Strategically aware of their own learning• Engaged in learning in school
.... and “more resilient and independent than their under-achieving counterparts”
• Positive relationship between engagement outcomes and student attainment outcomes
-University of Bristol Learning Futures Evaluation
Impact of Learning Futures so far
At your tables…….
• What resonates with you in the practice of the Learning Futures approach?
• Where are there in your district similar examples? What might make them stronger?
• What would you like to learn more about?
Ways to get involved:
www.learningfutures.org
Further information
http://www.edutopia.org/
and, connecting is now so easy….
http://www.hightechhigh.org/
http://www.learningfutures.org/
http://www.bie.org/
Symposium on Designs for Personalised Learning: Boston,
August 2010
www.siia.net/pli/
• Priority areas selected on the basis of
more than 70% respondents indicating “rarely, never or occasionally found in the system”
The 5 categories:1: 21C curriculum, pedagogy, assessment
1. 21stC curriculum, pedagogy and assessment
2. High quality infrastructure and ICT3. Policies, governance and partners4. Leadership, people and culture5. Leading transformation
Headlines from the diagnostic:Indicators of priorities for action
• Learners’ experience of control over their own learning
• 21st C skills, curriculum and assessment• Enquiry/project/collaborative approaches to
learning
Addressing learners’ capacity for self-regulationAddressing depth and rigor
Headlines from the diagnostic1: 21C curriculum, pedagogy, assessment
• Flexible and engaging learning environments reflecting students’ interests and promoting collaboration
• Well designed learning spaces with access to high quality ICT
Headlines from the diagnostic2: high quality infrastructure and ICT
• Mechanisms for abandoning failing models• Education partner groups’ involvement in
design and delivery of learning• Widely owned and valued accountability
standards for all
Taking the initiative – roles and responsibilities of education partners, including parents and Trustees
Headlines from the diagnostic3: policies, governance and partners
• Relatively – not a priority for action
The professional challenge of personalised learning?
Overcoming existing inequalities?
Headlines from the diagnostic4: leadership, people and culture
• Understanding and owning the need for system transformation
• Need for a transformation strategy to address scale and sustainability
• Need for a transformation partnership with those outside the formal learning system
Maintaining the momentumFunding, industrial relations and accountability – the politics of educationImmediate next steps: conversation starters (“co-construction”)
Headlines from the diagnostic5: leading transformation
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead
Top Related