The Expansive Education Network
We have recently joined the Expansive Education Network (EEDnet), an organisation co-ordinated by the Centre for Real World Learning at the University of Winchester. Bill Lucas writes a blog for EEDnet. In the most recent post he identifies a number of emerging principles connected with the expansion of the network:
1. Schools have a broad role in preparing learners for a lifetime of learning
2. There are a set of wider life and learning skills which need to be deliberately cultivated in the context of the curriculum and beyond
3. What learners believe about themselves matters and a ‘growth mindset’ is both a powerful motivator and a predictor of success
4. Parents and the wider community have a significant role to play in pupils' learning alongside schools
5. When teachers actively continue their own learning and model this in their classrooms learners achieve more
6. Learning works well when it builds on pupils’ prior experiences, is authentic, has clear and stretching goals and is undertaken in an environment full of formative feedback with many opportunities for reflection
7. Learning requires opportunities to develop emotionally, socially and practically as well as intellectually, individually and with appropriate theoretical grounding and understanding
8. Learning is learnable and improves when learners have a set of metacognitive strategies which they are able to use confidently in a range of contexts.
Later on in the post he identifies four senses in which the phrase Expansive Education can be understood:
the expansion of success criteria by which a school is judged beyond exam results and Ofsted judgements etc. to include how students have fared in the world beyond school - the extent to which school has prepared them for life
expanding young people's capacity to cope with the demands of school and life beyond school - developing the necessary habits of mind to become life long learners
expansion of out of school hours learning, the social dimension of learning and the impact this can have on young people's life chances
expanding notions of professional development for teachers to include the habits of mind desired for young people - experimenting, noticing, critical thinking, questioning, reflecting and adapting.
"The remarkable feature of the evidence is that the biggest effects on student learning occur when teachers become learners of their own teaching, and when students become their own teachers."
As we further develop and implement our own Habits of Mind project at Tallis, with a particular focus on the new Year 7 students, we will be sharing our experiences with colleagues in the Network under the guidance of Bill Lucas and Guy Claxton from the Centre for Real World Learning. We will be undertaking action research in order to evaluate the impact of the project, collaborating across the curriculum and in partnership with our students.
This week will hopefully mark the official launch of version one of our Habits of Mind web app, a tool to support meta-cognitive reflection about learning for students and teachers.
We are delighted to be part of EEDnet and look forward top getting to know our colleagues a bit better over the coming months.