Learning beliefs/Effective practice

Who would have thought that formulating learning beliefs could take so much time?  This we debated until we were blue in the face.

Our first challenge was to distinguish between a 'learning belief' and a 'teaching belief'.

We wrote, rewrote, took to staff meetings...but we couldn't write them any better than they were already written in the blue bible.

It is one thing to have a set of beliefs about learning, but what does this mean for teaching practice.  We then set about writing what we believed it would look like in action.

Learning beliefs and expected practice

We believe effective learning happens when…..

LEARNNG BELIEFS	EXPECTED PRACTICE
Learning involves thinking Learning is not just acquiring new knowledge – it is the ability to think about the knowledge. Learners need knowledge to think with and to think about knowledge to remember it.	·       The principles of Te Ara Tika model are used throughout all learning areas ·       Students improve their development of questioning skills through the use of the questioning waka ·       The development of the students Cross Competency Skills progressions are monitored and supported ·       The values (RISE) are encouraged and modeled ·       The teacher works with the students to gauge the frequency and duration of the attitudes (COPE) through observations and evidence ·       Real life experiences are provided that are relevant to the students interests, talents and needs ·       The learning purpose and needs are identified and shared with the students ·       Experiences and learning with the students are co-constructed ·       Cohesion between learning areas occurs ·       A wide range of resources are used ·       Risk taking is encouraged and celebrated ·       Time is given to learning so learning can be revisited and built upon ·       Students are using the language of Te Ara Tika, Cross Competency Skills and attitudes ·       The learning journey is celebrated not the outcome ·       The students are supported by involving all the stake holders in their learning ·       ‘There is a short term and long term relevance to the learning ·       ‘Students take increasing ownership of their learning so they become less reliant on the teacher ·       Student voice is evident in learning practices and programmes ·       Students ideas and opinions are validated ·       A number of ways to identify and grow the interests needs and talents of the students are utilised ·       The learning fits the students needs, interests and talents and not making the students fit predetermined topics/lesson ·       The class culture promotes the students as questioners ·       Acknowledgement is made that students attention span is individual dependent ·       The class curriculum is personalized to meet the students needs, inetests and talents ·       Students actively question, record and validate information ·       Deliberate scaffolds are used to improve students capacity to self assess, identify next steps and monitor progress, including using the Learning Map ·       Blended e learning opportunities and tools, at the modification and redefinition stage of SAMR model, are used to enhance students learning ·       There are opportunities for collaborative and independent learning ·       Opportunities are given to ensure individuals can seek out other individuals and can co –learn ·       Teachers track the Key Understandings so that students experience a depth of understanding through all curriculum areas within a 3 year period ·       The learning journey and products are negotiated with the students ·       Teachers will recognize that the learning process is not static but dynamic. Therefore they regularly engage in professional reading and discussion to understand the learning process
Experiences are critical to learning Just as learners need knowledge to think with, they also need experiences to think with. Children’s thinking and learning processes are similar to those of adults, but their learning and knowledge has less depth because they have fewer experiences to draw on when processing new ideas or situations.
Learners must develop an in depth knowledge Experts in a particular knowledge area think in terms of the deep structures or underlying principles of that knowledge, whereas novices tend to focus on the surface features. Seeing the deep structures allows experts to transfer what they know to new situations more easily than novices. They are also able to appreciate how a knowledge system works and what it can do, whereas novices are likely to think it just “is”. Learners need to be encouraged to search not for the “right” answer (this produces a focus on surface features), but for the right approach to solving a problem.
Learners need to be actively involved need to be doing something, thinking something and/or saying something that requires them to actively process, interpret and adapt an experience to a new context or use. This sometimes involves finding a way to integrate existing knowledge with new knowledge, but sometimes it involves jettisoning existing knowledge.
Learners have to want to learn and see the purpose They have to be able to see a purpose to learning it—both in the short term, and in the longer term sense of seeing how learning this material will allow them to contribute to something beyond themselves.
Learning has to be personalized not a standardized experience Learners have to feel in charge of their own learning. They need to feel that they know what they are doing, and that they can control the pace of their learning. They need to “get into it” enough to get a sense of flow and progress; they need the right amount of challenge (not so much that it is beyond them, but not so little that it is boring); and they need feedback along the way (not just at the end of the course). Young children need help to do this, but to learn more (and become better learners), they need to be able to regulate their own learning and become less and less reliant on the teacher to regulate the pace and goals of learning.
Learning needs structure Adults play an important role in young children’s development by structuring their experiences and directing their attention to certain aspects of those experiences. Older children and adults need some sort of map to orient themselves and find out where they are up to. In educational contexts the subject areas usually provide this map.
Learning involves interaction Trying out and testing ideas with others. Some or all of it takes place in the context of relationships with other human beings. Sometimes these are people who know more than the learner, sometimes they know less and sometimes they are learning together. A precondition for learning, then, is that the learner feels acknowledged and valued by their co-learners, that they feel they belong to, or are part of, the culture of the learning context.
Learning needs to take place in a wide variety of thinking Learning should not just occur at school, in a classroom. Learners should be able to transfer and use their learning in new contexts.