Barry Smith - Learning about Learning

I took a good deal from what May Sweeney had to say in her presentation to the conference on Friday.  To summarise, the message I got (feel free to correct me if you were there and I’m wrong!) was that the curriculum is opening up to allow activities previously viewed as extra curricular becoming an integral part.  For example, clubs and interest groups, tying in with the ideas of personalisation and choice.

Literacy, Numeracy and aspects of the Health curriculum are very clearly the responsibility of all teachers, not just subject specialists.

In new ACE ‘levels’ 1 to 4, breadth is the key element, organised through curricular areas: Health and wellbeing, languages, mathematics, sciences, social studies, expressive arts, technologies and Religious and moral education.  Specialisation comes after levels 1 to 4. (There is debate as to whether the word ‘level’ will be used because of the connections to 5-14)  There is to be consultation over the structure of Standard grade and Higher still this summer.

Pupil voice = co-creation of the curriculum :  Leading to more personalisation and choice.

Building resilience in to the ‘pupil’s toolkit’ is seen as essential.  The ability to meet novel situations with confidence and stick at any given task.  Quick to say but perhaps on of the biggest challenges.

Assessment is for Learning techniques should be more than ‘using traffic lights’ in classrooms.  Deeper consideration of AiFL is needed.

A study of interdisciplinary learning (by Siskin?) has suggested that interdisciplinary learning is vital in helping young people to connect to more specialised, discrete learning.  I think that we are organised in almost the opposite manner in secondary schools at the moment.

Deliberately mixing age groups is encouraged for some activities, with a view to challenging negative peer group influences and encourage leadership roles amongst students.

Opportunities for reflection, both personal and collective, are built in to the teaching and learning experience.

There are still many questions to be answered in all of the areas mentioned above, not least how achievement is recorded and progression is ensured within the more flexible learning structure. 

It was clear that in East Lothian there is certainly action taking place.   In my experience, initiatives like Extreme Learning, cross-curricular projects like those happening at Preston Lodge High School (more about our most recent, The Rhythm of Life, coming soon) and new curricular structures are beginning to be tested and are presenting an early picture of how ACE is developing.