a learning school journey_whsg
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TRANSCRIPT
WHSG -
A LEARNIN
G SCHOOL’S
JOURNEY
KATHY HERLOCKDeputy Headteacher
Westcliff High School for Girls
WHSG OBJECTIVE
To develop our “flexpertise” in enabling learning
“FLEXPERTISE”?
“21st Century education should be the business of coaching the development of “flexpertise” – building confidence and capacity and how to respond to trick situations”
Guy Claxton
KEY QUESTIONS FOR LEARNERS
What am I learning?Why am I learning it?Why am I learning it in this particular way?
WHY IS OUR FOCUS ON LEARNING?
Our Ofsted of 2008 was a big disappointment
We needed to improve the quality of teaching
and learning
HOW ARE WE DOING IT?
We refocused our plan to improve the Quality
of Teaching and Learning at the school
We created teacher Teaching and Learning
Communities (TLCs)
WHY BUILDING LEARNING POWER (BLP)?
Because:
“BLP gives Teachers further tools to engage pupils in activities which promote Personal Learning and Thinking Skills, and the development of ‘learning habits’ to aid pupils’ conceptual understanding.
OUR APPROACH TO EMBEDDING BLP
Graham Powell trained Learning Coaches to
lead TLCs
Learning Coaches undertook a Learning Review with Graham Powell
POSITIVE KEY MESSAGES FROM THE REVIEW
• “Students are eager to learn and comply readily with their teachers’ requests and expectations”
• “They are keen to succeed”
• “Behaviour is impeccable “
• “Students take pride in their work”
• “Year 7 students are naturally curious and inquisitive and are willing to ask questions and explore possibilities”
KEY MESSAGES NEEDING ACTIONStudents:•“expect their teachers to provide them with the answers and solutions”•“lose focus and attention when they are required to listen for extended periods”
•“In Year 7 students do not get as many opportunities as they might to exploit and develop these habits of mind. •“In Year 10 students are more compliant”
“The pressure of examination courses may be causing them to be more spoon-fed and reliant on their teachers.”
THE WAY FORWARD…• ½ termly TLCs focus on Building Learning Capacity• Devised workshops to aid in the understanding of
‘Learning Habits’ • All Year 7 students engage with BLP on arrival in
September • All new Year 12 students engage with BLP on
arrival in September • Reworked Lesson Planning pro-forma – designed
with learning in mind• Reworked Lesson Observation pro-forma –
designed with learning in mind• Pairing off for BLP “observations”
BUILDING LEARNING CAPACITY
What are learning habits?
LEARNING HABITS SHOULD BE
• Routine• Second nature• Aquired over time• Used in all learning experiences• Orchestrated and guided by teachers • Fostered through experience
Learning Habits include
imagining
reasoning
distilling
planning
capitalising listening
collaborating
meta-learning
risk-taking
questioning
making links
persevering
empathising
imitating
noticing
REMINDER OF LEARNING HABITS?
TEACHERS AND HABIT FORMING
As teachers we are in the habit-forming
business.
Those habits we model in front of young people
influence the ways in which they perform and
behave.
Therefore, we need to be sure to foster productive
learning habits.
TEACHERS SHOULD:• Provide rich and varied occasions for exercising
learning habits
• Infuse learning habits into lessons to enhance understanding
• Recognise and celebrate the use and growth of learning habits
• Expect students to take ownership and responsibility for their learning habits
• Explore the development of learning habits with students
DUAL OBJECTIVES
At the start of a lesson students should be asking:
What am I going to learn?
How am I going to learn it?
QUESTIONS TEACHERS SHOULD ASK:
Are our teaching habits helping students
learning habits?
How might we need to change some of our
teaching habits?
TEACHERS SHOULD DO LESS OF…
• Being driven by subject content• Asking all the questions• Making it too easy for students• Saying ”That’s right”• Avoiding the uncomfortable• Providing solutions too readily when pupil
are • stuck• Interrupting learning• Insisting “will you listen!”• Over preparing material• Being the centre of attention
TEACHERS SHOULD DO MORE OF …
• Valuing imagining as part of their subject area
• Inviting students to really speculate and experiment
• Exercising lateral thinking habits
• Encouraging thinking out loud
• Showing a real interest in what pupil are saying
• Using tentative (“could be”, “might be”) language
TEACHERS SHOULD EXPERIMENT WITH…
Using different media in the classroom
Making links and thinking in metaphors
Asking “What if?”Listening in different ways
RECENT ACTIONS• BLP Handbook• Students as teachers• Conferences with Claxton and TLO
consultants• Students undertaking learning walks• Developing a language for learning• Involving governors in training
ALL TEACHERS AT WHSG UNDERTAKE…
School-based research( Classroom enquiries)
SCHOOL BASED RESEARCH QUESTIONS“What is the effect of students leading revision sessions on
test results?”
“To investigate the extent to which new year 12 students
can fully engage with the use of BLP and to reflect on
how my teaching needs to change in response to my
findings.”
“Do teaching techniques affect outcomes? “
“ To investigate how working collaboratively aids
students’ learning capacity".
“AN OUTSTANDING SCHOOL”
“Outstanding teaching”
Ofsted 2010
1. WHERE IS WE NOW?
2. WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE?
3. WHERE DO WE NEED TO BE?
3 KEY QUESTIONS…
TLOLEARNING QUALITY FRAMEWORK (LQF)
An assessment of where we are now
OUR WAY FORWARD
• Sharing our practice with parents – helping them to model learning
• Displaying a language for learning around the school
• Developing our students as learning coaches for other students and staff
Kathy HerlockDeputy HeadteacherWestcliff High School for GirlsKenilworth GardensWestcliff on SeaEssexSS0 0BS
email: [email protected]
Tel: 01702 476026