Other Issues
- Develop a Learning Policy/Strategy
- Junior Cycle 2014 – philosophy, nuts & bolts, informing teachers, parents, BoM
- Learning to Learn – from rhetoric to reality
- ESRI Research – 2 major papers produced in 2011; what it tells us about effective learning
- School Self Evaluation (SSE) - what it is and what needs to be done
- Assessment for Learning (AfL) - how effective feedback improves performance
- Common Lesson Structure – might all our lessons have agreed format
- Peer-Observation (aka “Collaborative Peer Review”), Self-Observation, Mentoring, Coaching
- Effective Questioning and Communication to improve classroom engagement
- Flip Teaching – reversing classroom-based teaching and traditional homework – can revolutionise learning
- What is current understanding of the value of Learning Styles, Multiple Intelligence, Brain Based Learning, Study Skills, Memory Development, Mind Mapping?
The key activity for school leaders is to initiate and sustain a dialogue among teachers and students about more effective (and more enjoyable) learning. This dialogue will best happen if centred on real, relevant issues.
There are many possible themes to explore:
Considerations in Exploring Learning:
- To drive this project forward a school can form a Learning & Teaching Working Group
- Get Learning on to all agendas – make it a permanent first item: get staff to share existing expertise and develop new expertise - “I am affirmed when colleagues learn from me. They are affirmed when I learn from them”.
- Set goals, targets and timelines – and stick to them!
- Hold learning workshops, make them an on-going feature of school practice - make creative use of Croke Park hours.
- Publish a Learning Newsletter – ideas, successes, failures, CPD, recommended texts, book reviews, videos
- Collaborate with parents and with the community and employers.
Think about this...
“There is no doubt that if the school Principal and other school leaders succeed in getting teachers to look at their own practice and the outcomes achieved by students in a critical and professional way, then a conversation on how practice and learning can be improved will flow naturally in the vast majority of cases. School management, Principals and teachers have the power to foster real learning communities in schools, focussed on improving learning for students. That is the primary goal of SSE”. Harold Hislop, Chief Inspector, May 2012
“If I know something I can tell you in the teacher’s words. If I understand it I can tell you in my own words …” 8 year old boy
Teaching has been traditionally been characterised by solo practitioners working behind closed doors. While every school has some excellent teachers, their excellence is often based on their own personal professionalism, ability and integrity and not on any system that supports and helps them develop.