Learning to Learn - A Co-Constructing Experiment Part 1

Student Voice and Independent Learning are two aspects of education that I'm very interested in. I've been experimenting with incorporating them in a variety of ways this year.

Term One

• Students told me who they were on a Google form, using questions based on a TKI Know Your Learner resource. 
• My Level 2 English class used a Google form to tell me what kinds of topics interested them as we tried to find a film we all would enjoy studying.
• My Year 10s did a collaborative project where they created websites about History of English Language.
• Two classes of Year 11 students researched Anti-Semetism and World War 2 as part of both their formal writing standard and their written text standard.
• All year levels wrote me a short letter in their journals telling me how they were coping with their studies thus far; reflecting on their capabilities in English.

As much fun as all these things were, and as useful as the feedback was from my kids, I felt like it was missing something. On the surface I thought I was achieving what I wanted to achieve - but as things progressed, a void was forming. There was a gap - but the trouble was, I didn't know what was missing.

Illumination struck.

In all that I was doing, it was superficial. The kids were given a voice - but in most instances, it lacked a purpose. They were given independent learning projects, but they lacked the skills to execute them well. The year 10s' project wasn't even strongly linked to the curriculum. There were aspects of curriculum in there - oh to be sure, it wasn't completely flying blind - but when I came to mark it I found I'd created a big dilemma for myself.

And then the Eureka!

Students need to "Learn to Learn" so they can have a voice people will listen to.
Students need to "Learn to Learn" so they can investigate issues independently.
Students need to "Learn to Learn" so they can personalise their learning experience.

Two gifted educators, Thea and Claire, have been working on similar things this term - completely independent of each other. They don't work at the same school, but through the virtue of the internet, I have watched their work unfold. Thea has been focusing on what it means to be a good learner, and Claire has been advocating student agency and dynamic pedagogy. A few days ago I read Bringing Authenticity to the Classroom by Andrew Miller where he says "When students are engaged in real-world problems, scenarios and challenges, they find relevance in the work and become engaged in learning important skills and content". Perfect! I had the idea for what my year 9s and my year 11s were going to do for the last two weeks of term. Co-construct a "What does 'Learning to Learn' Mean?" project.

Term 2: Co-Constructing the Learning to Learn Project.
If I don't know what 'learning to learn' means, then I need to find out. I have two weeks left of term, with two classes who have fully completed this term's course work. Two heads are better than one, and 50 heads are better than two.

The Plan
Step One - Identify the Curriculum Objectives for Each Year Level.
I have printed out the Achievement Objectives from the curriculum document - this time I am going to make sure the students are producing work that is of benefit to them! English has an amazingly flexible curriculum, so all I have to do is ensure that they are Reading, Viewing, and Listening to texts that are appropriate for their level. The students then need to demonstrate their understanding of what they've read through Speaking, Writing, and Presenting.

Step Two - Find Out What the Students Already Know
I really wanted to know what their understanding was of "Learning to Learn" at this point in time. Before I said anything about what we're doing, I asked them to write an essay (I gave them 15 minutes because I anticipated they wouldn't have a strong pool of knowledge to draw from). The question on the whiteboard asked: "What is 'Learning to Learn'?"

Interesting side note - some became stuck at this point. They couldn't start writing because they wanted me to explain this concept. Their argument: "How can I write an essay if I don't know what you're talking about?" A thought struck me, as I watched these two or three students floundering: when did learning become about what is right or wrong instead of being about the expression of natural curiosity?

Step Two - Present Curriculum to Students
On Thursday, the students arranged their desks and chairs into a circle, and I sat on the floor in the middle with the curriculum and felt pens around me. I read out each Achievement Objective, one at a time, and the students suggested what they needed to do to meet that objective. For example, for Purposes and Audiences, the students suggested finding texts with information that was directed at teachers, parents, and teenagers.

I considered getting the students to do this in small groups, however I decided that due to the words on the document - and this being my first time doing a co-construction - that we would do this together as a class. That way I could explain what the words meant, and adapt to what the students were suggesting as we went along.



Step Three - Modes of Assessment
After we'd gone through the curriculum, I asked the students to design their assessment tasks. In pairs, they were to come up with the way that they were going to present their information. After seeing how excited the students were about their presentations, I'm not sure if this was the right order to do things. They are now focused on the presentation, rather than on the information. Time will tell, I guess.

And that's where we are at the moment.
The students have gone home to research "What is Learning to Learn?" and next week in class I'll be teaching them skills to unpack what they're reading, viewing, and hearing so that they can meet the curriculum requirements. The students are keen to have a guest speaker come in and talk with them about 'learning to learn', and so one student has emailed Thea to invite her to speak with us.

This could be amazing or it could be one massive learning event (read: fail)! Which way it goes waits to be seen. I'm excited - and I'm nervous. We're on the road and we're going somewhere. Destination yet unknown!