‘Grasping the concept’- how might it look for us at BRGS?

Thursday 2nd September 2011

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Just a thought...

‘Grasping the concept’- how might it look for us at BRGS?

Thursday 2nd September 2011

Personalised learning – origins..

Back in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, educational thinkers were looking at reasons why kids failed:

“..the headlines show that the old ways, the tried and trusted ways are spectacularly not working” (John Holt 1923-1985)

• Fear• Too much ‘telling’ ...not enough ‘discussing’ or ‘exploring’• School as ‘army for children’ – mindless, repressive, joyless• Teaching process as a ‘power struggle’• Successes or Failures• All have the same work to do in exactly the same way• Call for more autonomy, choice, decision-making, ‘messy learning’

Personalised learning – origins..

Every Child Matters Agenda – 2003

Health Safety Enjoyment/Achievement

Positive contribution Economic well being

“ .. The system fits the individual rather than the individual having to fit to the system.” (Charles Clarke - The Five Year Strategy, 2004)

“Personalised learning will necessarily look different in every school.” (DfE website)

2020 Vision – Gilbert Review (2007)

• Schools to set out how they are making Personalised Learning a reality• More ‘testing when ready’• Pupil feedback used in designing lessons• Learning Guides to monitor and advise pupils• Parents to get more information, such as lesson plans on the internet• Outstanding teachers to get sabbaticals to enhance their skills• Distinguish between effective teaching and ‘fads and fashions’• No ‘stuck’ pupils, all pupils to make progress• Those not progressing should be entitled to extra support, such as one-to-one tuition in or out of school.

Think alone!

If we were to build our Personalised Learning on one overriding concept, this would be:

Four heads together!

1. Explain to your buddy what you understand by ‘The PISA Study’.

2. Which country would you say has come top (almost) every time over the past twenty years?

3. What could be different about the conditions for learning in this particular country than in the other OECD countries?

300 350 400 450 500 550 600

FinlandKorea

NetherlandsSwitzerland

CanadaJ apan

New ZealandBelgium

AustraliaDenmark

Czech RepublicI celandAustria

GermanySwedenI relandFranceUnitedPolandSlovak

HungaryLuxembourg

NorwaySpain

United StatesPortugal

I talyGreeceTurkeyMexico

Mean mathematics scores – OECD countries

OECD (2007), PISA 2006 – Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World, Table 6.2c

300 350 400 450 500 550 600

FinlandCanadaJ apan

New ZealandAustralia

NetherlandsKorea

GermanyUnited KingdomCzech Republic

SwitzerlandAustriaBelgiumI reland

HungarySwedenPoland

DenmarkFrance

I celandUnited States

Slovak RepublicSpain

NorwayLuxembourg

I talyPortugalGreeceTurkeyMexico

Mean science scores – OECD countries

OECD (2007), PISA 2006 – Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World, Table 2.1c

300 350 400 450 500 550 600

KoreaFinlandCanada

New ZealandI reland

AustraliaPoland

SwedenNetherlands

BelgiumSwitzerland

J apanUnited Kingdom

GermanyDenmarkAustriaFrance

IcelandNorway

Czech RepublicHungary

LuxembourgPortugal

I talySlovak Republic

SpainGreeceTurkeyMexico

Mean reading scores – OECD countries

OECD (2007), PISA 2006 – Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World, Table 6.1c

So how come Finland performs so well?

Socio-economic factors : wealth/poverty balance, immigration levels

Education as a genuine national priority:- teaching as highly valued career- all teachers have Masters qualification- only one in ten applicants accepted on training courses- well financed in spite of economic climate - not unusual to have two or three teachers in one lesson- small class sizes are a priority- free school meals- no tuition fees

So how come Finland performs so well?

‘No child left behind’ philosophy taken seriously:- Since 1990 much less prescription, ‘lean curriculum’- no national tests, no inspections, no league tables- no setting – emphasis on grouping within classes- stay in same school with same teacher till age of 13- no exclusion or re-schooling of pupils- emphasis on student-centred instruction and counselling- classroom seen as a community of learners

Teachers are trusted:- allowed to ‘trim curriculum to fit their kids’- assessment entrusted to teachers

So how come Finland performs so well?

Less is more:- children start formal schooling at 7 years of age- genuine culture of ‘reading at home’ in early years- spend fewer hours in the classroom than anywhere else in the developed world

Craft of the classroom:- room allowed for innovation- interests/strengths of kids taken into account in planning and purchasing materials- focus on high standards in core subjects- prevalence of problem-based learning, self-directed learning, gathering/analysing/applying information- less ‘delivering information’ more ‘supporting learning’

Lev Vygotsky 1896-1934

‘Zone of proximal development’

The injection of CHALLENGE through a healthy mixture of spontaneous and reactive education...?

Ability

PRACTICE ZONE

LEARNING ZONE

Can do with encouragement

Can do automatically

Too Easy

Too Hard

PRACTICE ZONE

LEARNING ZONE

THINKING SKILLS IN EXAMS

ANALYSEAPPLYCHOOSECLASSIFYCOMPARE CONNECTCONTRASTDECIDEDEFINEDESCRIBE DISCUSS

ELABORATE EVALUATEEXPLOREIDENTIFYINTERPRETJUDGEORGANISEPARAPHRASEPREDICTQUESTIONREASON

REPRESENTRESPONDSEQUENCESIMPLIFYSOLVESORTSUMMARISESUPPORTTESTVERIFYVISUALISE

Getting used to ‘wobbling’!“It has become a common practice to praise students for their performance on easy tasks, to tell them they are smart when they do something quickly and perfectly. When we do this we are not teaching them to welcome challenge and learn from errors. We are teaching them that easy success means they are intelligent and, by implication, that errors and effort mean they are not. What should we do if students have had an easy success and come to us expecting praise? We can apologise for wasting their time and direct them to something more challenging. In this way, we may begin to teach them that a meaningful success requires effort.” ( Carol Dweck, Self Theories, p43)

“But what does all this mean for me and my teaching?”

... Thinking time!