Monday, March 01, 2010
Students and teachers designing learning together - 12 ideas.
The Harris Student Commission on Learning shares the findings of its first year developing student and teacher engagement in the Harris Federation of London schools.
In a two year programme designed to reflect upon, challenge and re-design the nature of teaching and learning across the group of schools, teachers and students are working collaboratively to better understand learning and to implement changes.
The plan is that by the end of the programme every teacher and every student in the federation will have been actively involved in the initiative.
Starting in Autumn 2008, each school appointed Student Commissioners of Learning to "actively enquire into how and when learning is most powerful". Student commissioner development days were held to support this role. Staff in the schools also attended development and training days and later in the year parts of these were delivered by students. Each subject in each school established Subject Panels of staff and students for every year group who work together to support and improve the teaching and learning of "their" subject. This included making decisions about which modules to study and mentoring students who were struggling.
Student and staff surveys were conducted and a clear set of areas for the commission's research to focus on emerged. These then provided the starting point for practical projects with the schools.
The collaborative groups in each school also met with their counterparts in the other schools to share knowledge, ideas and projects. The principle underlying the initiative is that "staff and students work together to create new knowledge about how to improve learning by testing ideas through practical projects."
Awareness of the commission is widespread across the federation and new research and development projects, all collaboratively designed and delivered by students and staff, are providing new opportunities for others to participate
At the end of the first year of the initiative, the student commission has now published a set of 12 ideas for how learning could be in the future. The twelve ideas are organised into three domains: learners; teachers; and content and the curriculum. A fourth area of partnership runs across all of these.
Learners
Deep and lasting motivation to learn happens when
Idea 1: learners explore and understand the ‘how’ of learning;
Idea 2: learners take responsibility for, and have ownership and control of, their own learning and achievements.
Idea 3: learners take on roles that involve responsibility for the learning and success of others
Idea 4: learners create worthwhile products and artifacts through the learning process
Teachers.
The role of the professional in schools needs to develop to ensure that:
Idea 5: teachers are specialist enablers of learning – experts not only in subjects but also in learning and learning design;
Idea 6: teachers are orchestrators of variety in learning; and
Idea 7: teachers demonstrate that they are learners too.
Curriculum and content.
Young people are engaged by a curriculum that ensures:
Idea 8: learning explicitly combines valuable subject knowledge with the development of key skills and attributes
Idea 9: learning both develops students’ curiosity about the unfamiliar and connects to their interests and experiences
Idea 10: learning is deep, enquiry-based and practical.
Partnerships.
Changing the way learners and teachers work together involves:
Idea 11: learning partnerships of students and teachers that inspire and motivate;
Idea 12: collaborative learning design, delivery and assessment.
In the second year of the initiative, the twelve ideas identified will be the focus of the collaborative projects in the federation's schools. This will involve testing and trialling new approaches to learning and partnership. Alongside this will be a plan to engage all students and staff in projects.
The Harris student commission will publish a final report with evaluation of how the twelve ideas can be delivered in schools. The end result will be a vision for learning consistent across the federation and co-designed by all staff and students.
To read more about the 12 ideas for learning and the Harris student commission download the report.