Below are downloads for the 12 ppts (these are often embedded in the lesson plan, but this is not always the case, so all 12 are here for ease of reference)
You already have access to the episode by episode descriptions as part of Unit 3, section 3d – the stuff we were exploring yesterday – for Pers, Qn, Collab and Revise.
From the unit navigation pane (top right), you can find the episode by episode detail for the other 8 behaviours.
This resource takes a leadership perspective on developing students’ learning power and is designed to offer you, as senior leaders, a view of the strategic concerns that will arise when the school takes on ‘Playing the Learning Power Game‘. It offers questions, think pieces, frameworks, slide decks and diagrams to help leaders:
feel reassured about the purpose, benefits and frameworks of learning power;
explore important leadership roles when taking on the development of Learning Power through the school;
introduce each unit of the programme to staff
maintain momentum into the future;
understand ways forward beyond this initial stage.
These issues are considered over 6 sections:
Overviews – this section;
The Leadership Questions that need to be addressed by school leaders before ‘Playing the Learning Power Game’ is introduced to the school;
How to lead teachers through Unit 1 – Understanding Learning and Cultures;
How to lead teachers through Unit 2 – Classroom Cultures;
How to lead teachers through Unit 3 – Constructing Learning;
How to lead teachers through Unit 4 – Broadening the Range.
Playing the Learning Power Game is an on-line programme that aims to help teachers discover their students’ learning behaviours and, with that knowledge, enable them to fashion their classroom culture and teaching methodologies to ensure students, knowingly, become better learners.
The Big Ambition of Playing the Learning Power Game.
This chart shows the big ambition of the programme. It distils what it’s all about.
the cells in yellow capture what leaders, teachers and learners will need to do in relation to each row:
tracking the growth of learning behaviours;
adapting classroom cultures to strengthen 4 key learning behaviours;
adapting how the curriculum is delivered in order to build 4 key learning behaviours;
experimenting with and expanding the number of learning behaviours consciously being used by students;
the blueboxes capture the outcomes such changes could make to classrooms; cultures and curriculum delivery.
the greenboxes capture the anticipated outcomes for people; leaders, teachers and learners.
The vertical axis to the left shows the 4 main aims or thrusts of the programme. These four components involve:
Unit 1. The formative work of finding out about their students’ learning behaviours and how they have the potential to improve/grow;
Unit 2. The practical work of shifting classroom culture to better accommodate learning behaviours, using 4 foundational learning behaviours to get teachers started;
Unit 3. The practical work of purposefully blending the use of learning behaviours into lesson design, again focusing on just four foundational behaviours;
Unit 4. The work of gradually bringing more of the original researched learning behaviours into play in order to build students’ use of them over time. This is in preparation for the Phase 2 programme.
The horizontal axis across the top shows the 3 main groups of players in the game and what they will need to do to make it all work.
The central 12 cells
These cells serve 2 purposes. Firstly:
The text in each cell gives an indication of who needs to do what, in very broad terms, at each stage of this journey;
When looked at vertically down the page, they map out the 4 stages of this first part of the learning power journey;
When looked at horizontally across the page, they show the players in the game and how what they do needs to interact.
The cells to the bottom and to the right
The green cells across the bottom give an outline of how the school’s players will have developed by the time teachers have finished this first stage programme. The blue cells to the far right give an indication of the anticipated outcomes for each part of the journey from; discovering students learning behaviours, to shifts in classroom cultures, to early shifts in lesson design accommodating learning behaviours, and to the beginning of consciously using a much broader range of learning behaviours across the curriculum.
2. How the programme is organised.
Assisting the learning. At the beginning of every section of every Unit there are notes on; the intentions of the section; the best way of tackling the section; the impact the content should have on the staff member. This information enables staff to manage their way through the material, understanding its intent, the how-to’s of making it work and what they should expect as a result.
Units and sections…
Each unit deals with a key aspect of understanding and growing learning power:
Unit 1. Discovering learning and culture. This unit has sections covering:
The warp and the weft, foundational ideas of learning power; the basic ‘must knows’
Finding Learning Power, the ‘must dos’ of collecting evidence about students’ learning behaviours
Unit 2.Classroom cultures. This unit has sections covering:
Aspects of a learning friendly classroom culture
An easy to access catalogue of practical ideas designed to help teachers shift their classroom culture to support the growth of the foundational four learning behaviours.
Unit 3.Constructing learning. This unit has four sections covering:
The big picture of curriculum planning
Designing units and lessons
Activity design to stimulate learning habits
A catalogue of learning activities are displayed in a second, easy to access, grid framework of ideas. The point is to blend some of these ideas into the curriculum and their lessons.
Unit 4. Broadening the range. Here teachers are encouraged to spread their wings and begin to add some of another eight learning behaviours to the mix. This unit has eight sections covering:
Noticing, Making links, Imagining, Reasoning, Capitalising, Listening, Planning, Meta-learning.
This development helps to prepare teachers to move on to a deeper Phase 2 of the programme.
Strengthening classroom cultures to build students’ use of learning behaviours
The content of each unit and section of the course
Unit 1, Section 1A. The warp and weft of learning
Here teachers will find:
a whistle stop tour of the two frameworks that shape the development of students’ dispositional learning powers;
an overview of the classroom culture framework (the teachers’ palette) that shapes building learning behaviours;
an overview of the supple learning mind framework that identifies the learning behaviours and how they fit together.
Timing. We suggest teachers spend an hour or so in the first week exploring these big shaping ideas of Learning Power.
Unit 1, Sections 1B/C/D/E. Finding Learning Power
Here teachers will find:
an exploration of why learning behaviours are so important for 21st century learners;
information about progression in learning behaviours, what ‘getting better’ at learning looks like;
the opportunity to reflect on their own learning behaviours and those of 2 students teachers know well;
guidance to support teachers in producing and analysing their students’ learning profiles.
Timing. We would suggest teachers spend a couple of months collecting and understanding this data. Their view of their students’ learning behaviours will henceforth influence and shape their practice. If their programme started at the beginning of an educational year teachers should aim to complete this unit by the end of the first half term. (e.g. Sept to end Oct)
A catalogue of practical ideas to create a learning friendly classroom culture
Here teachers will find 3 short sections, explorations of:
Section 2A – Relating for Learning, how they might enable students to take greater responsibility for their own learning;
Section 2B – Talking for Learning, how they might enable students to understand and talk about the process of learning;
Section 2C – Celebrating Learning, how they might organise classrooms to celebrate learning over performance.
Plus – Section 2D has a practical four by four framework organised around:
four foundational, really important, learning behaviours at
four levels of growth, with
practical packages of ideas, across
three aspects of classroom cultures.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid format, illustrated here.
We’ve done the sorting for you. All teachers have to do is select what they need!
Timing. We suggest teachers spend 2 or 3 months exploring this catalogue. So for example if teachers started the programme in September teachers should be ready to move on from Unit 2 by mid-February.
Unit 3. Constructing learning
Here teachers will find:
Section 3A – The big picture of curriculum planning…planning that integrates progression in content with progression in learning behaviours;
Section 3B – Designing units and lessons…the fundamentals of lesson design;
Section 3C – Activity design to stimulate learning habits…suggesting a hierarchy of activity types, going from ‘Listening’, through to ‘Discovery’.
Section 3D has a practical four by four framework organised around:
the four foundational learning habits;
four categories of learning activities;
and with over 100 ideas to try.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid, illustrated here.
Timing. We suggest teachers spend at least 2 or 3 months exploring this catalogue of lesson ideas. So, if teachers started this programme at the start of the educational year in Sept. and teachers kept to our suggested timing for earlier units, teachers should be ready to move on from Unit 3 by mid May.
Unit 4. Broadening the range
This unit offers teachers an opportunity to spread their wings and begin to work across another 8 of the learning behaviours.
It has 8 small sections, each based on one learning behaviour – Noticing; Making links; Reasoning; Imagining; Capitalising; Listening; Planning, Meta Learning.
Here teachers will find:
A staged way of introducing the behaviours by;
Firstly… making students aware of the use and importance of a habit…when, where, why, how they could be using it
Then... exploring the learning habit a little more through its language
Try... using the behaviour as a lesson starter to tune students into using it
Then start... blending the behaviour into the way teachers teach content. Use specific strategies to deepen content understanding.
Ensure… students reflect on the success or otherwise of their new frame of mind as a result of consciously using the behaviour.
The content of this section encourages teachers to play with introducing more learning behaviours.
Timing. We would suggest teachers spend a couple of months exploring this section. If the school started this programme at the start of a school year and teachers have kept with the times suggested for previous units, teachers could be using these ideas in the last couple of months of the summer term, readying themselves to begin the deeper learning power journey in Phase 2 of the Programme.
3. A blended learning framework to bring ideas alive in practice.
While the online programme provides teachers with the research and classroom ideas that work the ideas alone can’t bring about change in classrooms. There’s a long road between teachers ‘knowing’, teachers ‘doing’ and teachers ‘doing things differently’ which this programme is designed to support.
Changing teachers’ working practices is known to be hard and delicate work and they need support to ensure these ideas take root in classrooms. While we can’t insist schools use any particular staff development practice our suggestions are heavily influenced by the the work of Dylan Wiliam and EEF’s Effective Professional Development guidance report.
The programme is a careful blend of learning:
online learning units that… are available at any time, faithfully present researched content, are broken into manageable chunks and encourage the use of prior knowledge;
professional learning team sessions that……are strategically placed throughout the programme, provide a carefully structured agenda to ensure effective meetings, offer social support, give prompts for setting and agreeing learning goals, is a forum for affirming and reinforcing progress;
trying things out in classrooms where…teachers follow their plans and monitor their actions because “learning by doing” is integral to the development of expertise and expertise needs ample opportunities for practice, reflection, and adjustment.
This trio of learning opportunities work together to help teachers replace long-standing habituated practices with more effective ones. Such learning opportunities can also be reinforced by other staff development formats such as coaching partnerships to provide more practical social and technical support.
Across the four units there are seven agendas for Professional Learning Team meetings and these will need to be scheduled by the school.
A combination of online content learning, learning with and from colleagues, and learning from small scale enquiries in classrooms.
4. Leadership questions you’ll want to muse on
The prospect and potential of taking on such a programme will inevitably raise all manner of critically important questions…
how will the school benefit from this resource?
what impact will it have on students?
what sort of time and effort will staff need to make?
what changes to the school’s operations will need to be accommodated?
These and many other strategic, leadership or management questions deserve serious consideration before school leaders can make a reasoned decision about whether / how to implement Playing the Learning Power Game.
This critically important section called ‘Leadership Questions’ outlines both the questions and suggested answers relating to 7 aspects of leadership considerations, namely: Shared Values; Skills; Staff; Systems; Structure; Style; and Strategy.
Take your time to reflect on all 7 aspects – it is only when you address all 7 that you will have laid the foundations of success.
5. Resources for bringing staff onboard
Here we offer resources you may need to introduce ‘Playing the Learning Power Game’ to staff. This isn’t a simple show and tell session. It’s designed to provoke deep thinking about learning and about classroom culture.
Each slide contains a suggested commentary in the notes underneath. It will take around an hour to talk through the Powerpoint, depending on how much detail you add to the suggested commentary.
Introducing ‘Playing the Learning Power Game’ content to your teachers
The slide deck could be used to introduce teachers to the key ideas behind the Playing the Learning Power Game. It helps teachers to understand the content and purpose of the programme and explains how the blended learning programme will work.
You might use this slide deck:
just as it is to introduce the ideas to staff;
to help structure a learning conversation amongst/in teams;
adapted to meet the needs of a particular audience;
added to strategic presentation of your own to ensure staff gain a holistic picture.
Brief explanatory notes can be found under each slide.
The slides in the presentation cover the following key issues:
the 2 models of Learning Power
the nature of the blended learning programme
the big ambition of the programme
In doing so you will be encouraging staff to use their own learning behaviours such as noticing similarities and differences between what they know now and this way of looking at learning and at classroom culture. Questioning some of their own practice, and distilling the key messages and their appropriateness to the school.
Welcome to a resource that helps you understand and improve your learning habit known as… Perseverance
Getting better at learning
This unit is one of a set of self-help resources which aim to help you, as a learner, to understand more about yourself as a learner. Each unit aims to help you to:
become interested in the process of how you learn
learn about one of your learning habits and how it can grow
plot where you think you are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how you learn
This unit aims to help you build your Perseverance habit.
About learning habits
Learning involves all sorts of feelings and strategies – it’s not just about the end result. We want you to understand that learning is full of ups and downs, trial and error, feelings of frustration and confusion, as well as moments of pride or delight at having mastered a tricky skill or understood a difficult idea.
You already have some learning habits and you might think of them as the raw ‘building blocks’ of your learning. There’s a small set of learning behaviours that are thought to be the most valuable in helping students to learn and thrive in a complex world. The good news is that these learning behaviours are inherent in us all, they are not fixed at birth, or when we leave school: they can be developed by everyone regardless of ‘ability’, social background, or age. There are no limits to extending your learning power habits.
What will section 1 help me understand?
Section 1 What does Perseverance mean?
Section 1 will help you to understand what the learning habit called Perseverance is really all about. There you will find explanations of how the learning habit works, a quiz to help you spot yourself doing it in lessons and some ideas about what your teachers do to help you become better at Perseverance.
What will section 2 help me to do?
Section 2 Where do my strengths lie?
Section 2 will help you to understand how the learning behaviour of Perseverance grows. There you will find a chart which shows how this learning behaviour can grow, given the right circumstances. You are asked to look carefully at the chart, note down which colour shows where you think your Perseverance behaviours are now and where they could develop.
How will section 3 help me to improve?
Section 3 Some ideas to practise
This section invites you to think harder about what, when and where you use your learning behaviours. It then offers some ideas you might try at school or in your life generally that will help you improve how you learn. There are two sorts of things you could try:
Activities you might try at school or at home
Positive self-talk phrases you could practise.
How will section 4 make sure I improve?
Section 4 Planning and reviewing how I learn
This section helps you move forward and offers materials to help you to;
plan the changes you want to make
monitor what happens, and
reflect on the impact of those changes before making another plan.
Welcome to a resource that helps you understand and improve your learning habit known as… Collaboration
Getting better at learning
This unit is one of a set of self-help resources which aim to help you, as a learner, to understand more about yourself as a learner. Each unit aims to help you to:
become interested in the process of how you learn
learn about one of your learning habits and how it can grow
plot where you think you are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how you learn
This unit aims to help you build your Collaboration habit.
About learning habits
Learning involves all sorts of feelings and strategies – it’s not just about the end result. We want you to understand that learning is full of ups and downs, trial and error, feelings of frustration and confusion, as well as moments of pride or delight at having mastered a tricky skill or understood a difficult idea.
You already have some learning habits and you might think of them as the raw ‘building blocks’ of your learning. There’s a small set of learning behaviours that are thought to be the most valuable in helping students to learn and thrive in a complex world. The good news is that these learning behaviours are inherent in us all, they are not fixed at birth, or when we leave school: they can be developed by everyone regardless of ‘ability’, social background, or age. There are no limits to extending your learning power habits.
What will section 1 help me understand?
Section 1 What does Collaboration mean?
Section 1 will help you to understand what the learning habit called Collaboration is really all about. There you will find explanations of how the learning habit works, a quiz to help you spot yourself doing it in lessons and some ideas about what your teachers do to help you become better at Collaboration.
What will section 2 help me to do?
Section 2 Where do my strengths lie?
Section 2 will help you to understand how the learning behaviour of Collaboration grows. There you will find a chart which shows how this learning behaviour can grow, given the right circumstances. You are asked to look carefully at the chart, note down which colour shows where you think your Collaboration behaviours are now and where they could develop.
How will section 3 help me to improve?
Section 3 Some ideas to practise
This section invites you to think harder about what, when and where you use your learning behaviours. It then offers some ideas you might try at school or in your life generally that will help you improve how you learn. There are two sorts of things you could try:
Activities you might try at school or at home
Positive self-talk phrases you could practise.
How will section 4 make sure I improve?
Section 4 Planning and reviewing how I learn
This section helps you move forward and offers materials to help you to;
plan the changes you want to make
monitor what happens, and
reflect on the impact of those changes before making another plan.
Welcome to a resource that helps you understand and improve your learning habit known as… Questioning
Getting better at learning
This unit is one of a set of self-help resources which aim to help you, as a learner, to understand more about yourself as a learner. Each unit aims to help you to:
become interested in the process of how you learn
learn about one of your learning habits and how it can grow
plot where you think you are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how you learn
This unit aims to help you build your Questioning habit.
About learning habits
Learning involves all sorts of feelings and strategies – it’s not just about the end result. We want you to understand that learning is full of ups and downs, trial and error, feelings of frustration and confusion, as well as moments of pride or delight at having mastered a tricky skill or understood a difficult idea.
You already have some learning habits and you might think of them as the raw ‘building blocks’ of your learning. There’s a small set of learning behaviours that are thought to be the most valuable in helping students to learn and thrive in a complex world. The good news is that these learning behaviours are inherent in us all, they are not fixed at birth, or when we leave school: they can be developed by everyone regardless of ‘ability’, social background, or age. There are no limits to extending your learning power habits.
What will section 1 help me understand?
Section 1 What does Questioning mean?
Section 1 will help you to understand what the learning habit called Questioning is really all about. There you will find explanations of how the learning habit works, a quiz to help you spot yourself doing it in lessons and some ideas about what your teachers do to help you become better at Questioning.
What will section 2 help me to do?
Section 2 Where do my strengths lie?
Section 2 will help you to understand how the learning behaviour of Questioning grows. There you will find a chart which shows how this learning behaviour can grow, given the right circumstances. You are asked to look carefully at the chart, note down which colour shows where you think your Questioning behaviours are now and where they could develop.
How will section 3 help me to improve?
Section 3 Some ideas to practise
This section invites you to think harder about what, when and where you use your learning behaviours. It then offers some ideas you might try at school or in your life generally that will help you improve how you learn. There are two sorts of things you could try:
Activities you might try at school or at home
Positive self-talk phrases you could practise.
How will section 4 make sure I improve?
Section 4 Planning and reviewing how I learn
This section helps you move forward and offers materials to help you to;
plan the changes you want to make
monitor what happens, and
reflect on the impact of those changes before making another plan.
Welcome to Playing the Learning Power Game on-line programme
You are now in the contents page of the programme.
A. The intention of this page is to..
…give you an overall picture of the structure and intent of the programme. The programme is designed to take a school somewhere between a year to fifteen months to work through. It offers and represents an important shift in educational thinking about classroom practice.
B. The best way of tackling this page is to..
…read through it fairly quickly and hover on the greater depth bits such as The Big Ambition. This shows the intent and possible outcomes of each Unit of the programme. It’s a good general overview of what it’s all about and could act as a monitoring tool to keep you on track.
C. As a result it should have the following impact.
You will have gained an overview of the purpose and structure of the first phase of programme and hopefully gleaned enough information to make you excited about the journey you are making a start on.
This on-line programme aims to help you to discover your students’ learning behaviours and, with that knowledge, enable you to fashion your classroom culture and teaching methodology to ensure students, knowingly, become better learners.
1. What this programme is about.
The Big Ambition of Playing the Learning Power Game.
This chart shows the big ambition of the programme. It distils what it’s all about.
the cells in yellow capture what leaders, teachers and learners will need to do across each row representing a unit of the course:
tracking the growth of learning behaviours;
adapting classroom cultures to strengthen 4 key learning behaviours;
adapting how the curriculum is delivered in order to build 4 key learning behaviours;
experimenting with and expanding the number of learning behaviours consciously being used by students;
the blueboxes capture the outcomes such changes could make to classrooms; cultures and curriculum delivery.
the greenboxes capture the anticipated outcomes for people; leaders, teachers and learners.
The vertical axis to the left shows the 4 main aims or thrusts of the programme. These four components involve:
Unit 1. The formative work of finding out about your students’ learning behaviours and how they have the potential to improve/grow;
Unit 2. The practical work of shifting classroom culture to better accommodate learning behaviours, using 4 foundational learning behaviours to get you started;
Unit 3. The practical work of purposefully blending the use of learning behaviours into lesson design, again focusing on just four foundational behaviours;
Unit 4. The work of gradually bringing more of the original researched learning behaviours into play in order to build students’ use of them over time. This is in preparation for the Phase 2 programme.
The horizontal axis across the top shows the 3 main groups of players in the game and what they will need to do to make it all work.
The central 12 cells
These cells serve 2 purposes. Firstly:
The text in each cell gives an indication of who needs to do what, in very broad terms, at each stage of this journey;
When looked at vertically down the page, they map out the 4 stages of this first part of the learning power journey;
When looked at horizontally across the page, they show the players in the game and how what they do needs to interact.
The cells to the bottom and to the right
The green cells across the bottom give an outline of how the school’s players will have developed by the time you have finished this first stage programme. The blue cells to the far right give an indication of the anticipated outcomes for each part of the journey from; discovering students learning behaviours, to shifts in classroom cultures, to early shifts in lesson design accommodating learning behaviours, and to the beginning of consciously using a much broader range of learning behaviours across the curriculum.
2. How the programme is organised.
Units and sections…
Each unit deals with a key aspect of understanding and growing learning power:
Unit 1. Discovering learning and culture. This unit has sections covering:
The warp and the weft, foundational ideas of learning power; the basic ‘must knows’
Finding Learning Power, the ‘must dos’ of collecting evidence about students’ learning behaviours
Unit 2.Classroom cultures. This unit has sections covering:
Aspects of a learning friendly classroom culture
An easy to access catalogue of practical ideas designed to help you shift your classroom culture to support the growth of the foundational four learning behaviours.
Unit 3.Constructing learning. This unit has four sections covering:
The big picture of curriculum planning
Designing units and lessons
Activity design to stimulate learning habits
A catalogue of learning activities are displayed in a second, easy to access, grid framework of ideas. The point is to blend some of these ideas into the curriculum and your lessons.
Unit 4. Broadening learning. Here you are encouraged to spread your wings and begin to add some of another eight learning behaviours to the mix. This unit has eight sections covering:
Noticing
Making links
Imagining
Reasoning
Capitalising
Listening
Planning
Meta-learning
This development will help prepare you to move on to Phase 2 of the programme.
Strengthening classroom cultures to build students’ use of learning behaviours
The content of each unit and section of the course
Unit 1, Section 1A. The warp and weft of learning
Here you will find:
a whistle stop tour of the two frameworks that shape the development of students’ dispositional learning powers;
an overview of the classroom culture framework (the teachers’ palette) that shapes building learning behaviours;
an overview of the supple learning mind framework that identifies the learning behaviours and how they fit together.
Timing. We suggest you spend an hour or so in the first week exploring these big shaping ideas of Learning Power.
Unit 1, Sections 1B/C/D/E. Finding Learning Power
Here you will find:
an exploration of why learning behaviours are so important for 21st century learners;
information about progression in learning behaviours, what ‘getting better’ at learning looks like;
the opportunity to reflect on your own learning behaviours and those of 2 students you know well;
guidance to support you in producing and analysing your students’ learning profiles.
Timing. We would suggest you spend a couple of months collecting and understanding this data. Your view of your students learning behaviours will henceforth influence and shape your practice. If your programme started at the beginning of an educational year you should aim to complete this unit by the end of the first half term. (e.g. Sept to end Oct)
A catalogue of practical ideas to create a learning friendly classroom culture
Here you will find 3 short sections, explorations of:
Section 2A – Relating for Learning, how we might enable students to take greater responsibility for their own learning;
Section 2B –Talking for Learning, how we might enable students to understand and talk about the process of learning;
Section 2C –Celebrating Learning, how we might organise classrooms to celebrate learning over performance.
Plus – Section 2D has a practical four by four framework organised around:
four foundational, really important, learning behaviours at
four levels of growth, with
practical packages of ideas, across
three aspects of classroom cultures.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid format, illustrated here.
We’ve done the sorting for you. All you have to do is select what you need!
Timing. We suggest you spend 2 or 3 months exploring this catalogue. So for example if you started the programme in September you should be ready to move on by mid-February.
Unit 3. Constructing learning
Here you will find:
Section 3A – The big picture of curriculum planning…planning that integrates progression in content with progression in learning behaviours;
Section 3B – Designing units and lessons…the fundamentals of lesson design;
Section 3C – Activity design to stimulate learning habits…suggesting a hierarchy of activity types, going from ‘Listening’, through to ‘Discovery’.
Section 3D has a practical four by four framework organised around:
the four foundational learning habits;
four categories of learning activities;
and with over 100 ideas to try.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid, illustrated here.
Timing. We suggest you spend at least 2 or 3 months exploring this catalogue of lesson ideas. So, if you started this programme at the start of the educational year in Sept. and you kept to our suggested timing for earlier units, you should be ready to move on from this unit by mid May.
Unit 4. Broadening the range
This unit offers you an opportunity to spread your wings and begin to work across another 8 of the learning behaviours.
It has 8 small sections, each based on one learning behaviour – Noticing; Making links; Reasoning; Imagining; Capitalising; Listening; Planning, Meta Learning.
Here you will find:
A staged way of introducing the behaviours by;
Firstly… making students aware of the use and importance of a habit…when, where, why, how they could be using it
Then... explore the learning habit a little more through its language
Try... using the behaviour as a lesson starter to tune students into using it
Then start... blending the behaviour into the way you teach content. Use specific strategies to deepen content understanding.
Ensure… students reflect on the success or otherwise of their new frame of mind.
The content of this section encourages you to play with introducing more learning behaviours
Timing. We would suggest you spend a couple of months exploring this section. If the school started this programme at the start of a school year and you have kept with the times suggested for previous units you could be using these ideas in the last couple of months of the summer term, readying yourself to begin the deeper learning power journey in Phase 2 of the Programme.
3. Working together to ensure success
This ‘Playing the Learning Power Game’ online programme provides you with the research and ideas to work with but it can’t in itself bring about change in classrooms. To make these ideas work best in classrooms across the school you’ll need to discuss and tease out what you have read and thought about with your colleagues and then try some of them out for real with students.
Useful types of CPD include:
Teacher learning communities, or as we refer to them, Professional Learning Teams (see below)
Coaching partnerships
Small-scale learning enquiries
Classroom observations and personal review
Learning walks.
We can’t insist on particular ways of enabling these ideas to become a reality in your classrooms, but, learning with your colleagues will give you and your students a far greater chance of success.
4. Learning Team Meetings
Changing working practices is hard and delicate work. Research shows it works best when you can meet in a safe professional environment in which to explore and plan how you could change, and then share and probe the triumphs, tribulations and outcomes of the classroom experiments. Research into teacher learning communities by Dylan Wiliam, of Assessment for Learning (AfL) fame, describes such teams as:
a small group of teachers who meet together regularly
to deepen their understanding of an approach,
to commit to trying out new things,
to reflect on and share their experiments with each other.
If the school decides to adopt this professional learning approach we have provided 7 customised team meeting agendas at key points in the programme.
Discussions with colleagues are often known as Professional Learning Teams. What they aim to plan and support are thought of as Classroom Based Enquiries.
PLTs are groups of 8-10 teachers (and TA’s?) who meet together regularly to deepen their understanding of an approach. They try out ideas offered in the programme and reflect on and share their experiments with each other. Such communities work best when they are voluntary, grouping similar subjects or age groups and meet monthly for about 75 minutes over a couple of years. Such communities support and scaffold teachers’ habit change. In short this approach:
deepens staff understanding of learning;
draws on the support of colleagues;
unpacks the ‘how to’ together when it’s unclear;
results in a plan to try out new things, considering what’s doable for their students;
benefits from reflection on and sharing of data from their experiments with each other;
draws on sharing trials and tribulations and what they will do differently.
The typical session agenda follows this pattern;
Agreeing objectives and agenda (5mins)
Sharing learning enquiries (20mins) from 2nd meeting on
Re-capping the on-line materials (15mins)
Deciding what’s to be done (15mins) at whole school and individual level
Personal Action Planning (20mins)
Evaluating the meeting process (5mins)
This agenda format also works when you prefer to use learning partnerships such as;
pairs of teachers acting as a coaching partnership
one member of staff (learning champion) leading and coaching other staff
In Units 1, 2, 3 and 4 you will find suggested detailed meeting agendas aimed to keep you on track.
Unit navigation bar. You are currently in Overview.
As a teacher you are an influential character builder and so need to be mindful of how you help students form, replace, re-form and strengthen their learning habits.
The activities, think pieces and questions in this resource aim to help you, as a teacher, to make a flying start on:
introducing your students to the key learning behaviour known as Questioning
using the language of learning to strengthen students’ Questioning behaviours
designing the use of Questioning into the way you teach
developing your confidence and skill in helping students to grow and strengthen this learning habit.
B) What do we mean by Questioning?
When you use this learning behaviour, you …
are not afraid of not knowing
are curious about things and people
like to get below the surface of things and come up with your own conclusions
often wonder why
play with ideas, asking “How come?” and “What if?”
See section 1t for richer descriptions of Questioning habits.
Questioning. One of the essential learning behaviours
C) Content of this resource
This resource has 8 sections. 1t to 5tfor teachers. 1s-3s for direct use with students
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing Questioning into the way you teach:
Section 1t. What is Good Questioning? Develops your understanding of Questioning;
Section 2t. A classroom culture for Questioning. Explores the type of classroom culture that nurtures Questioning;
Section 3t. Understand how Questioning grows. Shows how Questioning has the potential to grow and develop;
Section 4t. Ideas for classroom practice. Offers a range of teaching ideas that support Questioning;
Section 5t. Develop your practice for Questioning. Explores how your language impacts on learners’ inclination to Question.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about Questioning for direct use with students
Section 1s. Introducing students to the ideas of Questioning. Offers an activity to help you experience Questioning alongside your students.
Section 2s. Exploring Questioning and how it grows. Suggests materials to explore the various uses and stages of Questioning.
Section 3s. Planning improvement and checking progress. Suggests materials to help students become consciously involved in planning the growth of their own learning power.
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing Questioning into the way you teach:
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about Questioning for direct use with students
D) An alternative DIY resource for students
If your school wishes to offer students an alternative self-help resource we can offer ‘Getting better at Questioning’ This resource is aimed at helping young people understand more about themselves as a learner and can be run on school systems such as Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams. It’s designed to enable older learners to:
become interested in the process of how they learn
learn about one of their learning habits and how it can grow
plot where they think they are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how they learn
This learning resource could be used as it is, taking one lesson a week across 3 or 4 weeks in the school timetable. Alternatively it could be offered as an assignment for use outside the school timetable.
As a teacher you are an influential character builder and so need to be mindful of how you help students form, replace, re-form and strengthen their learning habits.
The activities, think pieces and questions in this resource aim to help you, as a teacher, to make a flying start on:
introducing your students to the key learning behaviour known as Collaboration
using the language of learning to strengthen students’ Collaborative behaviours
designing the use of Collaboration into the way you teach
developing your confidence and skill in helping students to grow and strengthen this learning habit.
B) What do we mean by Collaboration?
When you use this learning behaviour, you …
are aware how you respond to other people
manage your feelings when working with others
respect other people’s points of view
are able to work effectively as part of a pair or team
share information and ideas willingly
understand the ground rules of team work
See section 1t for richer descriptions of Collaboration habits.
Collaboration. One of the essential learning behaviours
C) Content of this resource
This resource has 8 sections. 1t to 5tfor teachers. 1s-3s for direct use with students
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing Collaboration into the way you teach:
Section 1t. What is Good Collaboration? Develops your understanding of Collaboration;
Section 2t. A classroom culture for Collaboration. Explores the type of classroom culture that nurtures Collaboration;
Section 3t. Understand how Collaboration grows. Shows how Collaboration has the potential to grow and develop;
Section 4t. Ideas for classroom practice. Offers a range of teaching ideas that support Collaboration;
Section 5t. Develop your practice for Collaboration. Explores how your language impacts on learners’ inclination to Collaborate.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about Collaboration for direct use with students
Section 1s. Introducing students to the ideas of Collaboration. Offers an activity to help you experience Collaboration alongside your students.
Section 2s. Exploring Collaboration and how it grows. Suggests materials to explore the various uses and stages of Collaboration.
Section 3s. Planning improvement and checking progress. Suggests materials to help students become consciously involved in planning the growth of their own learning power.
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing Collaboration into the way you teach:
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about Collaboration for direct use with students
D) An alternative DIY resource for students
If your school wishes to offer students an alternative self-help resource we can offer ‘Getting better at Collaboration’ This resource is aimed at helping young people understand more about themselves as a learner and can be run on school systems such as Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams. It’s designed to enable older learners to:
become interested in the process of how they learn
learn about one of their learning habits and how it can grow
plot where they think they are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how they learn
This learning resource could be used as it is, taking one lesson a week across 3 or 4 weeks in the school timetable. Alternatively it could be offered as an assignment for use outside the school timetable.
As a teacher you are an influential character builder and so need to be mindful of how you help students form, replace, re-form and strengthen their learning habits.
The activities, think pieces and questions in this resource aim to help you, as a teacher, to make a flying start on:
introducing your students to the key learning behaviour known as Perseverance
using the language of learning to strengthen students’ Perseverance behaviours
designing the use of Perseverance into the way you teach
developing your confidence and skill in helping students to grow and strengthen this learning habit.
B) What do we mean by Perseverance?
When you use this learning behaviour, you …
are not put off by being stuck
tolerate feelings of apprehension, frustration or confusion without getting upset
recognise that learning can be a struggle
keep on going despite difficulties and find ways to overcome them
See section 1t for richer descriptions of Perseverance habits.
Perseverance. One of the essential learning behaviours
C) Content of this resource
This resource has 8 sections. 1t to 5tfor teachers. 1s-3s for direct use with students
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing Perseverance into the way you teach:
Section 1t. What is Good Perseverance? Develops your understanding of Perseverance;
Section 2t. A classroom culture for Perseverance. Explores the type of classroom culture that nurtures Perseverance;
Section 3t. Understand how Perseverance grows. Shows how Perseverance has the potential to grow and develop;
Section 4t. Ideas for classroom practice. Offers a range of teaching ideas that support Perseverance;
Section 5t. Develop your practice for Perseverance. Explores how your language impacts on learners’ inclination to Persevere.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about Perseverance for direct use with students
Section 1s. Introducing students to the ideas of Perseverance. Offers an activity to help you experience Perseverance alongside your students.
Section 2s. Exploring Perseverance and how it grows. Suggests materials to explore the various uses and stages of Perseverance.
Section 3s. Planning improvement and checking progress. Suggests materials to help students become consciously involved in planning the growth of their own learning power.
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing Perseverance into the way you teach:
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about Perseverance for direct use with students
D) An alternative DIY resource for students
If your school wishes to offer students an alternative self-help resource we can offer ‘Getting better at Perseverance’ This resource is aimed at helping young people understand more about themselves as a learner and can be run on school systems such as Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams. It’s designed to enable older learners to:
become interested in the process of how they learn
learn about one of their learning habits and how it can grow
plot where they think they are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how they learn
This learning resource could be used as it is, taking one lesson a week across 3 or 4 weeks in the school timetable. Alternatively it could be offered as an assignment for use outside the school timetable.
Minimal changes aside from 1B) which is lifted directly from HYLT
A) The what and how of this resource
As a teacher you are an influential character builder and so need to be mindful of how you help students form, replace, re-form and strengthen their learning habits.
The activities, think pieces and questions in this resource aim to help you, as a teacher, to make a flying start on:
introducing your students to the key learning behaviour known as XXXX
using the language of learning to strengthen students’ XXXX behaviours
designing the use of XXXX into the way you teach
developing your confidence and skill in helping students to grow and strengthen this learning habit.
B) What do we mean by XXXX?
When you use this learning behaviour, you …
are ready to rethink your plans as you go along
are flexible in your learning
monitor how things are going
review your progress and change tack if necessary
change your plans when you’ve had a better idea
See section 1t for richer descriptions of XXXX habits.
XXX. One of the essential learning behaviours
update image
C) Content of this resource
This resource has 8 sections. 1t to 5tfor teachers. 1s-3s for direct use with students
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing XXXX into the way you teach:
Section 1t. What is Good XXXX? Develops your understanding of XXXX;
Section 2t. A classroom culture for XXXX. Explores the type of classroom culture that nurtures XXXX;
Section 3t. Understand how XXXX grows. Shows how XXXX has the potential to grow and develop;
Section 4t. Ideas for classroom practice. Offers a range of teaching ideas that support XXXX;
Section 5t. Develop your practice for XXXX. Explores how your language impacts on learners’ inclination to XXXX.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about XXXX for direct use with students
Section 1s. Introducing students to the ideas of XXXX. Offers an activity to help you experience XXXX alongside your students.
Section 2s. Exploring XXXX and how it grows. Suggests materials to explore the various uses and stages of XXXX.
Section 3s. Planning improvement and checking progress. Suggests materials to help students become consciously involved in planning the growth of their own learning power.
Sections 1-4t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing XXXX into the way you teach:
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about XXXX for direct use with students
D) An alternative DIY resource for students
If your school wishes to offer students an alternative self-help resource we can offer ‘Getting better at XXXX’ This resource is aimed at helping young people understand more about themselves as a learner and can be run on school systems such as Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams. It’s designed to enable older learners to:
become interested in the process of how they learn
learn about one of their learning habits and how it can grow
plot where they think they are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how they learn
This learning resource could be used as it is, taking one lesson a week across 3 or 4 weeks in the school timetable. Alternatively it could be offered as an assignment for use outside the school timetable.
Welcome to a resource that helps you understand and improve your learning habit known as… XXXXX
Getting better at learning
This unit is one of a set of self-help resources which aim to help you, as a learner, to understand more about yourself as a learner. Each unit aims to help you to:
become interested in the process of how you learn
learn about one of your learning habits and how it can grow
plot where you think you are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how you learn
This unit aims to help you build your XXXXX habit.
About learning habits
Learning involves all sorts of feelings and strategies – it’s not just about the end result. We want you to understand that learning is full of ups and downs, trial and error, feelings of frustration and confusion, as well as moments of pride or delight at having mastered a tricky skill or understood a difficult idea.
You already have some learning habits and you might think of them as the raw ‘building blocks’ of your learning. There’s a small set of learning behaviours that are thought to be the most valuable in helping students to learn and thrive in a complex world. The good news is that these learning behaviours are inherent in us all, they are not fixed at birth, or when we leave school: they can be developed by everyone regardless of ‘ability’, social background, or age. There are no limits to extending your learning power habits.
What will section 1 help me understand?
Section 1 What does XXXX mean?
Section 1 will help you to understand what the learning habit called XXXX is really all about. There you will find explanations of how the learning habit works, a quiz to help you spot yourself doing it in lessons and some ideas about what your teachers do to help you become better at XXXX.
What will section 2 help me to do?
Section 2 Where do my strengths lie?
Section 2 will help you to understand how the learning behaviour of XXXX grows. There you will find a chart which shows how this learning behaviour can grow, given the right circumstances. You are asked to look carefully at the chart, note down which colour shows where you think your XXXX behaviours are now and where they could develop.
How will section 3 help me to improve?
Section 3 Some ideas to practise
This section invites you to think harder about what, when and where you use your learning behaviours. It then offers some ideas you might try at school or in your life generally that will help you improve how you learn. There are two sorts of things you could try:
Activities you might try at school or at home
Positive self-talk phrases you could practise.
How will section 4 make sure I improve?
Section 4 Planning and reviewing how I learn
This section helps you move forward and offers materials to help you to;
plan the changes you want to make
monitor what happens, and
reflect on the impact of those changes before making another plan.
This is the companion resource to ‘Playing the Learning Power game‘ online programme for staff. It is designed to support you as a senior leader to introduce your teachers to their blended learning programme and to take a strategic approach to sustaining momentum as the teachers’ programme develops.
This companion resource has 8 sections:
Overview: strategic issues and a programme for staff
This course picks up on your discoveries about your students’ learning behaviours (using the learning charts in Finding Learning Power). Following this course enables you, as a teacher, to fashion your classroom culture and teaching methodology to ensure students become better learners and grow a wide range of powerful learning habits.
1. This online course in a nutshell
The Big Picture of Playing the Learning Power Game.
This chart shows the big ambition of the course and distils what it’s all about.
the yellow boxes capture what leaders, teachers and learners will need to do in:
recognising the role of learning behaviours;
beginning to shift classroom cultures to strengthen 4 key learning behaviours;
beginning to shift how the curriculum is delivered in order to build 4 key learning behaviours;
beginning to expand the number of learning behaviours consciously being used by students;
the blue boxes capture the outcomes such changes could make to classrooms; cultures and curriculum delivery.
the green boxes capture the anticipated outcomes for people; leaders, teachers and learners.
The vertical axis to the left shows the 4 main aims or thrusts of the course. These four components involve:
The formative work of finding out about your students’ learning behaviours. You may have already done this using the module Finding Learning Power;
The practical work of shifting classroom culture to better accommodate learning behaviours, using 4 foundational behaviours to get you started;
The practical work of purposefully blending the use of learning behaviours into lesson design, again focusing on just four foundational behaviours;
The blended work of gradually adding more of the original charted learning behaviours into the mix.
The horizontal axis across the top shows the 3 main groups of players in the game and what they will need to do to make it all work.
The central 12 cells
These cells serve 2 purposes. Firstly:
The text in each cell gives an indication of who needs to do what, in very broad terms, at each stage of this journey;
When looked at vertically down the page, they map out the 4 stages of the first part of the learning power journey;
When looked at horizontally across the page, they show the players in the game and how what they do needs to interact.
The cells to the bottom and to the right
The green cells across the bottom give an outline of how the school’s players will have developed by the time you have finished this first stage course. The blue cells to the far right give an indication of the anticipated outcomes for each part of the journey from; discovering students learning behaviours, to shifts in classroom cultures to support their growth, to early shifts in lesson design accommodating learning behaviours, to the beginning of using a much broader range of learning behaviours across the curriculum.
I think the course needs re-designing using the headings down the side of above diagram.
Section 1 (shorten cos they have seen or heard about Finding) but showing the growth columns of just the 4 behaviours we are starting.
Section 2 covering culture bit relating, talking, celebrating. After a couple of introductory panels use a grid (horizontal perseverance, questioning, collaborating and revising.) (vertical grey to purple, purple to blue, blue to green, beyond green)
Section 3 covering lesson planning with same idea of shape as section 2. Grid ..learning behaviours across the top, growth stages up the side. Not worked out internal sections yet.
Section 4 as current section 6 but probably with some amends
Section 5 Broadening the range as current section 7 but suggest we remove the four we have just dealt with in the grids above
Section 6 Impacts, needs to effectively cover the green and blue boxes in the diagram.so more work needed here.
Section 7 Where next….or maybe shorten and just add on to Impacts ie suggesting the next phase can deepen impacts.
2. How the online course is designed
Section structure…
Each section deals with a key aspect of understanding learning power and has:
an introduction to what it is about … followed by some suggestions about how to ‘navigate’ the content;
part 1 aims to give you an idea of the sort of practice you are aiming for;
part 2 highlights the main ideas of the section’s content;
part 3 offers a few practical ideas to start things off;
part 4 offers a couple of tools to help you evaluate what you have read;
part 5 offers an agenda for a Professional Learning Team meeting.
Section 1 Two starting points for building better learners
The three subsections of this section draw together previous learning, helping you to link your analyses of your students’ learning power with a teaching framework to help students grow their learning power.
Here you will find:
a brief exploration of your research into your students’ dispositional learning powers
an introduction to a classroom culture framework that builds learning behaviours;
descriptions of 12 learning powers and how they grow. (as section 2 in the Finding Learning Power resource).
NEEDS SIMPLIFYING
Section 2Shifting the culture of classroom relationships USE A GRID
Important shifts in classroom roles
Here you will find:
examples of the sort of responsibilities teachers might devolve to learners;
examples of different ways to be as a teacher;
modelling the process of learning;
acting as a coach; asking not telling;
enabling greater learner responsibility;
examples of things to try out with your learners to enhance perseverance, questioning, collaboration and revising;
suggestions of ways to plan to expand devolving responsibility to students.
Section 2 Shifting the culture of talking about learning INCORPORATE INTO GRID 1
How and when to talk about learning.
Here you will find:
examples of how learners can talk about themselves as learners;
examples of different ways to talk about learning;
nudging the process;
offering feedback;
encouraging reflective self-talk;
examples of things to try out with your learners to enhance perseverance, questioning, collaborating and revising;
suggestions of ways to plan to expand your learning language.
Section 4 Shifting the culture of celebrating learning INCORPORATE INTO GRID 1
What’s seen as important in learning friendly classrooms.
Here you will find:
examples of how learners can celebrate their learning;
examples of different ways to celebrate learning;
in the growth of learning behaviours;
in re-defining failure;
in displays in the classroom;
encouragement to try things out with your learners;
suggestions of ways to plan to expand what you celebrate about learning.
Section 3 Shifting the design learning powered lessons 2ND GRID FORMAT SAME DIMENSIONS AS FIRST GRID. New internal structure
How to begin to put dual-focused lessons together.
Here you will find:
examples of how teachers manage learning in their lessons;
a format to assist in planning dual-focused lessons;
activities to help start this journey;
examples of things to try out with your learners to enhance the foundational four learning behaviours;
suggestions of ways to plan to expand your lesson design.
Section 4 A closer look at students’ learning WITH SOME AMENDS
Extending your thinking on progression in learning.
Here you’ll find:
explanations of three aspects of progression – frequency, scope and skilfulness in use;
deeper guidance on interpreting the phases of growth for;
perseverance
questioning
collaboration
revising
encouragement to consider the impact of shifts in culture on students
an opportunity to reassess your class learning profiles
Section 5 Broadening the range of learning behaviours: a catalogue of ideas SHORTEN CATALOGUE REMOVING FOUNDATION FOUR
An opportunity to spread your wings and begin to work across all 12 of the learning behaviours.
Here you will find;
A rich catalogue of teaching ideas:
for each of the 12 learning behaviour progression tables
each classified into the specific phases of growth where they may be most useful
and shorthand diagrams that summarise how this all plays out in classroom cultures.
The contents of this section offers enough material to start working across many more learning behaviours and makes this easier to focus more precisely on the phase on development. It helps you work ‘between the lines’
We would suggest you spend 2 or 3 months exploring this catalogue.
Section 6 Impacts on cultures and learners SOME AMENDS/ADDITIONS
Here you will find:
a reflection tool to help you consider how your classroom culture has developed and how your students have responded;
a reflection tool to help you to consider how your students’ learning behaviours may have changed;
a reflection tool inviting you to evaluate the impact of the changes you have made on progress and attainment.
Section 9 Where now: where next? POSSIBLY BLEND INTO NEW SECTION 6
Here you will find:
explorations of ways forward;
descriptions of the next phase of online courses to support teachers’ journey to becoming a skilled learning power practitioner.
3. How the wider blended learning programme works
‘Playing the Learning Power Game’ is simply the online content aspect of the blended learning programme which, unless it’s blended with Professional Learning Teams and Classroom Based Enquiries it’s unlikely to help you achieve the desired outcomes.
A Professional Learning Team is your support mechanism in the blended learning cycle. We hope that time for PLTs has been built into the rhythm of the school’s meeting cycle, and offer you a safe, supportive space to discuss and explore the craft of the classroom. We hope too that PLTs will encourage you to learn with and from your colleagues – to become, in John Hattie’s words, ‘learners of their own teaching’.
Classroom Based Enquiries are the third aspect of the blended learning programme. Sometimes known as Action Research, classroom based enquiries involve changing aspects of your practice in order to develop student learning behaviours. Enquiries are likely to involve you in making small changes, monitoring the impact of those changes, and sharing these outcomes at the next team meeting for professional discussion. Most schools tend to blend these 3 aspects into a 4-week cycle.
3a. Talk, support and plan with colleagues
Professional Learning Teams; small groups of teachers who meet together regularly (usually monthly) to deepen their understanding of learning and how, by developing their classroom practice, they can make the learning process more visible and relevant to students.
The team learns and develops by:
discussing and unpacking the online information;
planning how to make use of it in their classrooms;
questioning and probing their classroom experiments.
The delicate, hard work of changing practice requires a safe professional environment in which to explore and understand classroom triumphs and tribulations. The short guidelines (see download) are designed to be help a team set a collaborative, working climate to support the conversion of information and ideas in the online materials into “lived” practices in classrooms. The format of a meeting agenda below is based on research into teacher learning communities by Dylan Wiliam, of Assessment for Learning (AfL) fame.
This team session is your first one in Playing the Learning Power game so it will be essential to spend the first part of the meeting considering the purpose and working guidelines for the team.
Session agenda
Agreeing objectives and agenda (5 mins)
Considering working practices (15 mins)
Re-capping the on-line materials (15 mins)
Personal Action Planning (20 mins)
Evaluating the meeting process (5 mins)
1. Session objectives: What do we want to achieve? (5 mins)
Feel confident about working as a team
Feel able to apply the on-line materials in the classroom
Decide the strategic cultural issues that everyone needs to apply in their classroom
Plan some do-able shifts in classroom practice
2. Consider the working practices of the team (15 mins)
Purposes of the group
Format of the sessions
Ground rules for working
Expectations of outcomes
See What-Why-How of PLT notes above for ideas
3. Recapping on-line materials: What did the content make us think? (15 mins)
Thoughts about:
what we thought about the online content
where do most classrooms operate in relation to this?
which of the four learning behaviours need most assistance? (perseverance, questioning, collaborating, revising)
things that are in place, things that need attention now/soon, things that will take longer to establish.
ideas you picked up from the content that you could use immediately.
4. Personal action planning: What am I going to do? (20 mins)
While we haven’t highlighted any specific ideas to try in this section the material will have triggered some…’what if I tried’.. thoughts.
Think of;
how you want to strengthen your classroom culture to encourage students to become more learning friendly?
What you are going to do to bring this about?
Develop an enquiry question.
You’ll gain more value from a plan by creating it around a question. Why a question? Because this is an enquiry, you want to find out if something will change (student behaviour) when you change something specific. Think of it like this:
If I do XXXX will it improve/develop/enhance YYYY?
This is the crunch question – the moment of truth. Students are unlikely to change unless your behaviour changes! Visualise how you want your students to be and then think about what you might do, or say, or model, or celebrate, or whatever…. differently to bring about this change in students. Developing an enquiry question – .pdf
The learning enquiry plan is a record of what you intend to do. It takes your enquiry question from what to how. The format below may help you think through the planning process. You can fill in your Personal Action Plan using the word document version.
For the monitoring bits of your plan you might want to look out for:
an improvement in how students engage with learning
improvement in behaviour
showing less stress or worry about learning generally
increased focus when working with other students
reduced reliance on teacher support
5. Evaluate team session: How did we do as a team? (5 mins)
Did we achieve our objectives?
Are we comfortable with what we are trying to achieve?
Any concerns at this point?
Next meeting date and time.
3b. Classroom based enquiries
Classroom based enquiries operate in the spirit of enquiry or some would say action research. It’s a quest to find out more, to consider what needs to change, to wonder what might work, to track what happens and to refine practice. It’s a process in which you, as a teacher, investigate teaching and learning so as to improve your own and your students’ learning. In effect you become a researcher of your own practice. It helps you to develop new knowledge about your classroom, you become a reflective teacher who broadens your own teaching repertoire. Importantly it puts you in charge of how you teach and become very aware of the links between how you teach and how your students learn and achieve.
4. Why a learning power ‘game’?
Why? you might wonder, have we titled this course Playing the Learning Power Game?
Games can be used as a metaphor for learning anything and you tend to get better at anything if you treat it as a game. This programme is about learning to play the familiar game of learning but with an additional ingredient which you discovered in Finding Learning Power; that of your students’ learning dispositions or powers. This subtle addition changes the game of education to one of building learning character at the same time as building knowledge. So the programme explores certain guidelines and conventions that help to frame learning in ways that allow positive learning dispositions to flourish…how you might set up the game, get to grips with some new rules and tactics and learn to appreciate how you score it’s all important new endgame…that of the self-managed learner.
As with any game, it helps if you’re enabled to play the whole game from the start. If you were learning to play Scrabble you wouldn’t get far if all you were given to learn were lists of three, four and five letter words. Far better to start straight away by playing ‘Junior Scrabble’, so you get the feel for the whole game, and then build up your sophistication as you play.
So you might look on the programme you’re about to follow as the junior game of learning power. It has all the elements you will need to introduce the values and activities of building your students’ learning power. This junior game lays the foundation for greater sophistication in further programmes.
As a teacher you are an influential character builder and so need to be mindful of how you help students form, replace, re-form and strengthen their learning habits.
The activities, think pieces and questions in this resource aim to help you, as a teacher, to make a flying start on:
introducing your students to the key learning behaviour known as Revising
using the language of learning to strengthen students’ Revising behaviours
designing the use of Revising into the way you teach
developing your confidence and skill in helping students to grow and strengthen this learning habit.
B) What do we mean by Revising?
When you use this learning behaviour, you …
are ready to rethink your plans as you go along
are flexible in your learning
monitor how things are going
review your progress and change tack if necessary
change your plans when you’ve had a better idea
See section 1t for richer descriptions of Revising habits.
Revising. One of the essential learning behaviours
C) Content of this resource
This resource has 8 sections. 1t to 5tfor teachers. 1s-3s for direct use with students
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing Revising into the way you teach:
Section 1t. What is Good Revising? Develops your understanding of Revising.
Section 2t. A classroom culture for Revising. Explores the type of classroom culture that nurtures Revising
Section 3t. Understand how Revising grows. Shows how Revising has the potential to grow and develop
Section 4t. Ideas for classroom practice. Offers a range of teaching ideas that support Revising.
Section 5t. Develop your practice for Revising. Explores how your language impacts on learners’ inclination to Revise.
…………………………………………………………………………………….
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about Revising for direct use with students
Section 1s. Introducing students to the ideas of Revising. Offers an activity to help you experience Revising alongside your students.
Section 2s. Exploring revising and how it grows. Suggests materials to explore the various uses and stages of Revising.
Section 3s. Planning improvement and checking progress. Suggests materials to help students become consciously involved in planning the growth of their own learning power.
Sections 1-5t offer practical information about using, integrating and growing Revising into the way you teach:
Sections 1s-3s offer you 3 learning to learn lessons about Revising for direct use with students
D) An alternative DIY resource for students
If your school wishes to offer students an alternative self-help resource we can offer ‘Getting better at Revising’ This resource is aimed at helping young people understand more about themselves as a learner and can be run on school systems such as Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams. It’s designed to enable older learners to:
become interested in the process of how they learn
learn about one of their learning habits and how it can grow
plot where they think they are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how they learn
This learning resource could be used as it is, taking one lesson a week across 3 or 4 weeks in the school timetable. Alternatively it could be offered as an assignment for use outside the school timetable.
Welcome to a resource that helps you understand and improve your learning habit known as… Revising
Getting better at learning
This unit is one of a set of self-help resources which aim to help you, as a learner, to understand more about yourself as a learner. Each unit aims to help you to:
become interested in the process of how you learn
learn about one of your learning habits and how it can grow
plot where you think you are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how you learn
This unit aims to help you build your Revising habit.
About learning habits
Learning involves all sorts of feelings and strategies – it’s not just about the end result. We want you to understand that learning is full of ups and downs, trial and error, feelings of frustration and confusion, as well as moments of pride or delight at having mastered a tricky skill or understood a difficult idea.
You already have some learning habits and you might think of them as the raw ‘building blocks’ of your learning. There’s a small set of learning behaviours that are thought to be the most valuable in helping students to learn and thrive in a complex world. The good news is that these learning behaviours are inherent in us all, they are not fixed at birth, or when we leave school: they can be developed by everyone regardless of ‘ability’, social background, or age. There are no limits to extending your learning power habits.
What will section 1 help me understand?
Section 1 What does Revising mean?
Section 1 will help you to understand what the learning habit called Revising is really all about. There you will find explanations of how the learning habit works, a quiz to help you spot yourself doing it in lessons and some ideas about what your teachers do to help you become better at Revising.
What will section 2 help me to do?
Section 2 Where do my strengths lie?
Section 2 will help you to understand how the learning behaviour of Revising grows. There you will find a chart which shows how this learning behaviour can grow, given the right circumstances. You are asked to look carefully at the chart, note down which colour shows where you think your Revising behaviours are now and where they could develop.
How will section 3 help me to improve?
Section 3 Some ideas to practise
This section invites you to think harder about what, when and where you use your learning behaviours. It then offers some ideas you might try at school or in your life generally that will help you improve how you learn. There are two sorts of things you could try:
Activities you might try at school or at home
Positive self-talk phrases you could practise.
How will section 4 make sure I improve?
Section 4 Planning and reviewing how I learn
This section helps you move forward and offers materials to help you to;
plan the changes you want to make
monitor what happens, and
reflect on the impact of those changes before making another plan.
How close are the sentiments and ideas to the school’s current practice?
How is development of learning behaviours viewed across the school? Why?
Might there be any stumbling blocks?
Would you know whether or how your year 6 students were better at learning than year 2 students?
” I can’t think of anything more worth learning than learning to learn. It’s like having money in the bank at compound interest” David Perkins. Project Zero, Harvard University
2. A recent breakthrough
What growth in learning behaviours looks like
Based on Bloom’s taxonomy of the emotional domain.
How we might track it
Remembering that growth is not inevitable and many people will never achieve the later levels of development.
How we might use it to organise the development in classrooms
The quest is for teachers to ‘work between the lines’ to enable students to work this emotional journey.
Teachers to discover their students’ learning behaviours:
The materials provide;
a manageable set of tools to enable teachers uncover, collect and analyse information about each of their students’ learning character
an outline of the research, value, makeup and growth of peoples’ learning character.
The tools will help schools discover, record, analyse and chart their students’ learning behaviours and use this information as an essential starting point for helping students become better learners. The resource helps schools to;
use a rich picture of their students’ learning behaviours, rather than their attainment, to underpin their approach to helping students to improve, develop or catch up on their learning.
The course is divided into units, each of which will take several months to work through. The units are available for use online by every member of staff, any time of the day or night.
Unit 1 Finding learning power...quick summary of what it’s all about and the tools to collect the data. Expect this to take a couple of months. Introduce. Collect the data. Discuss what it means.
Unit 2 The classroom culture… a summary of the big ideas and a rich catalogue of ideas linked to student growth. The teachers work ‘between the lines’ of the development charts. Expect this to take 3 0r 4 months to work through. ++
Unit 3 Lesson design...a rich explanation of curriculum and lesson building using the four foundational learning behaviours plus an extensive catalogue of practical ideas. Expect this to take at least 3 months to begin to show fruit. ++
Unit 4 Broadening the scope... a quick explanation of a further 8 behaviours with a few ideas as to how they could be introduced and used in lessons.. Expect this to take as long as you like.
This tool explores aspects of the 4 key learning behaviours – Questioning, Collaboration, Perseverance and Revising.
Playing the Learning Power Game makes a start on the foundational four learning behaviours and takes a swift venture into 8 more learning behaviours. Students are now ready and willing to engage more constructively with their learning.
The next step expands all their emotional, social, cognitive and strategic behaviours, and adds the all-important able.The Professional Learning Power Game will broaden students learning repertoire because teachers broaden and deepen the range of behaviours they surface in lessons.
Phase 2 goes broader and deeper by;
providing richer and more extensive growth charts
offering greater emphasis on curriculum and lesson development
At the heart of The Professional Learning Power Game lies a deeper concept of progression in learning behaviours. How you get better at the 12 key learning behaviours is fleshed out. It is this focus on a broader sense of progression for the wider group of learning behaviours that makes this next phase in the programme so fascinating and worthwhile.
Phase 2 is longer and more flexible
The Professional Learning Power Game’ . . . consists of online modules that offer progression charts, activities linked with teacher talk, and frameworks to help design dual focused lessons. They provide a deeper, richer look at learning so that teachers:
gain a better sense of how to steer students growth as learners;
use a richer language of learning effectively;
design a curriculum to promote growth in learning behaviours;
develop their confidence and skill as learning coaches.
The online modules can be used in whatever way the school sees fit. The modules arm teachers with material to support their efforts to apply a more forensic approach to learning.
As a teacher you are an influential character builder and so need to be mindful of how you help students form, replace, re-form and strengthen their learning habits.
The activities, think pieces and questions in this online resource aim to help you, as a teacher, to make a start on:
introducing your students to the key learning behaviour known as Revising
using the language of learning to strengthen students’ Revising behaviours
designing the use of Revising into the way you teach
developing your confidence and skill in helping students to grow and strengthen this learning habit.
The essentials of building powerful learners
learning is a learnable craft
learning how to learn involves attitudes, values, interests and beliefs
developing better learners is done with and by learners rather than to learners
it involves cultivating dispositions and values rather than training skills
it is not an inevitable by-product of ‘traditional effective teaching’.
it is about making students ready and willing as well as able to learn
What do we mean by Revising?
When you use this learning behaviour, you …
are ready to rethink your plans as you go along
are flexible in your learning
monitor how things are going
review your progress and change tack if necessary
change your plans when you’ve had a better idea
Revising. One of the essential learning behaviours
Why build students’ learning power?
The purpose of building your students’ learning behaviours is to facilitate the growth of their high value psychological characteristics and strengthen their learning character. These skills, attitudes and values, when used with increasing competence and confidence across many learning opportunities, become learning habits; the characteristics of successful lifelong learners.
A linked resource for students
This teaching resource has a linked resource for individual students entitled ‘Getting better at Revising’.
The complementary resource aims to alert students to:
the nature of Revising
why it is an important habit
how it can grow and develop
where they are now on this learning journey
actions they can take to improve this habit
a possible plan of action
Content of this resource
This resource has 6 sections:
Section 1. What is Good Revising? Develops your understanding of Revising.
Section 2. A classroom culture for Revising. Explores the types of classroom culture that nurture Revising
Section 3. Understand how Revising grows. Considers a progression trajectory for Revising.
Section 4. Introducing students to the ideas of Revising. Offers an activity to help teachers introduce Revising to students.
Section 5. Ideas for classroom practice. A range of teaching ideas to support Revising.
Section 6. Develop your practice for Revising. Explores how the teacher’s language impacts of learners’ inclination to Revise.
Welcome to a resource that helps you understand and improve your learning habit known as… Revising
Getting better at learning
This unit is one of a set of self-help resources which aim to help you, as a learner, to understand more about yourself as a learner. Each unit aims to help you to:
become interested in the process of how you learn
learn about one of your learning habits and how it can grow
plot where you think you are now on this learning journey
learn about some ways to improve
and make a plan of action to develop how you learn
This unit aims to help you build your Revising habit.
About learning habits
Learning involves all sorts of feelings and strategies – it’s not just about the end result. We want you to understand that learning is full of ups and downs, trial and error, feelings of frustration and confusion, as well as moments of pride or delight at having mastered a tricky skill or understood a difficult idea.
You already have some learning habits and you might think of them as the raw ‘building blocks’ of your learning. There’s a small set of learning behaviours that are thought to be the most valuable in helping students to learn and thrive in a complex world. The good news is that these learning behaviours are inherent in us all, they are not fixed at birth, or when we leave school: they can be developed by everyone regardless of ‘ability’, social background, or age. There are no limits to extending your learning power habits.
What will section 1 help me understand?
Section 1 What does Revising mean?
Section 1 will help you to understand what the learning habit called Revising is really all about. There you will find explanations of how the learning habit works, a quiz to help you spot yourself doing it in lessons and some ideas about what your teachers do to help you become better at Revising.
What will section 2 help me to do?
Section 2 Where do my strengths lie?
Section 2 will help you to understand how the learning behaviour of Revising grows. There you will find a chart which shows how this learning behaviour can grow, given the right circumstances. You are asked to look carefully at the chart, note down which colour shows where you think your Revising behaviours are now and where they could develop.
How will section 3 help me to improve?
Section 3 Some ideas to practise
This section invites you to think harder about what, when and where you use your learning behaviours. It then offers some ideas you might try at school or in your life generally that will help you improve how you learn. There are two sorts of things you could try:
Activities you might try at school or at home
Positive self-talk phrases you could practise.
How will section 4 make sure I improve?
Section 4 Planning and reviewing how I learn
This section helps you move forward and offers materials to help you to;
plan the changes you want to make
monitor what happens, and
reflect on the impact of those changes before making another plan.
Is it possible to re-energise your learners’ resilience?
A startling truth
Did you know, learning is impossible without resilience: that tendency to be ready, willing and able to lock onto learning – knowing how to work through difficulties when the pressure mounts or the going gets tough. Loss of resilience breeds a brittle and impatient attitude.
All these beliefs and anxieties can affect anyone. The massive disruption to education caused by COVID 19 and the growing hardships from the rising cost of living has meant many children have become disconnected from their former patterns of learning. Even the keenest are likely to have lost their edge of concentration while others are feeling adrift and appear unwilling to learn at all. Signs of stress such as anxiety, recklessness, depression and self-doubt, are likely to show themselves, and learning for many will have become a challenge – their Resilience being a casualty.
We know from research that resilience is the foundation of emotional tolerance and that without resilience in one form or another, learning is impossible. Time lost to learning cannot easily be recovered, catch-up is proving elusive.
But research also shows that a resilient frame of mind can be nurtured and developed by engaging classroom cultures tended by thoughtful teachers. It takes time but the sooner it starts the sooner the benefits start to show, with often surprising quick wins.
To help bridge the resilience gap we have recently put together a resource dedicated to building students’ resilience.
Re-energising Your Learners’ Resilience
Based on a simple framework offering a wide range of activity
Re-energising Your Learners’ Resilience addresses;
four aspects of Resilience in students, across
four levels of growth, with
practical packages of ideas, across
four aspects of teaching practice.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid, illustrated below.
To help a school make the most of the ‘Re-energising‘ resource leaders will need to think about not only its potential in the classroom but how, at an operational level, it will best marry with the school’s beliefs and operating systems; how they can manage the why, the how, the where and the when questions to make it work across the school.
So we have also put together a resource for school leaders titled:
Re-energising resilience, support for leadership teams
‘Re-energising Your Learners’ Resilience’ is packed full of interesting ideas for many teachers. As such it’s designed to be investigated and used by the teachers across a school. So taking the resource on board throws up some vital leadership questions:
how will the school benefit from using this resource?
what impact is it likely to have on students?
what sort of time and effort will staff need to make?
what changes to the school’s operations will ensure its success?
To help structure these leadership and management issues we have applied the successful McKinsey 7-S Change Management Model which is often used to plan and implement organisational change.
The McKinsey 7-S Model combines seven components of an organisation that must work together for effective change management. Senior leaders will want to be sure that any organisational changes won’t act in adverse ways across their concerns in the school.
A useful way of doing just that is by running the adoption of the ‘Re-energising’ resource through the 7-S model, focusing on making the most of the resource.
How will taking on this resource influence and be influenced by Structure, Strategy, Staff, Style, Systems, Shared Values, and Skills?
Seven questions (and answers)
1. How many activities/ideas does the teachers’ resource give access to?
➡️ The resource has 110big ideas. 25 to 30 for each of the four aspects of re-energising resilience.
2. Is this just a load of worksheets?
➡️ Not a worksheet in sight! These ideas are about deeper and more exciting ideas rather than disposable child-friendly worksheets. They touch on the whole culture of the classroom
3. Who can use the resource?
➡️ At the school’s choice, we will enrol every classroom practitioner (teachers and support staff) in the school.
4. Are the ideas practical for all age groups across the school?
➡️ Yes, all the ideas come from and have been tried out in schools. All age ranges are catered for as there is also a Secondary school version.
5. Will my school be able to afford it?
➡️ Yes, we think so — the price starts at £250 for a typical single-form entry primary school. The leaders’ support package is available at no extra cost.
6. How long will we have access — is it an annual subscription?
➡️ The resource will be made available for 2 years, after which you can renew for a reduced fee.
7. If we like these ideas, are there more of the same?
➡️ Yes indeed, this is just the tip of a big iceberg. Browse the ‘About BLP‘ and Professional Development pages for the big picture, or dip into Publications for more tasters.
But where do you start and which order of 7-S features/questions work towards the best answer? Here are our ideas:
Question 1. What’s worrying us at present? What’s happening in school that doesn’t fit with our Shared values.
this itch of concern or dissatisfaction might include both students’ and teachers’ be
haviours. E.G. A lack of resilience in students; Teachers hanging on to their ‘lockdown teaching behaviours’; Teaching largely from the tape denoted square at the front.
Question 2. What do we want things to be like? Which shared values do we need to restore or even amend?
can we describe to ourselves how we want students to be? What does robust resilience actually look like? How can we enable teachers to better engage with and extend the learning of students?
Question 3. How can we solve/right these issues and move forward? Is this basically a staff development issue? Is there any advice/guidance out there that would be worth tapping into?
Question 4 What are our existing systems for organising CPD?
How do we use directed time? Are these systems delivering desired outcomes?
Question 5
Question 6
Question 7
My suggestions
Question 1. Do we have an agreed understanding of the problems we face and a shared vision for how we would like things to be different? How do we achieve buy-in to these changes? Do these changes sit well with our existing whole-school values?
Question 2. What will be our strategy for achieving these changes? How will we go about it? What resources will we need? What will be the timescales?
Question 3. What current systems would we use to accommodate this change strategy…directed time, meeting patterns, agendas? Are there any tweaks we need to make to our current systems?
Question 4. How will our existing leadership structures support this? Which structures might need adapting? Who will lead on these changes?
Question 5. What sort of leadership / management and teaching styles will be needed to support these changes?
Question 6. Do all of our staff and students have the skills to achieve the necessary changes in classroom practice? How do we get a baseline measure of these skills on which we can build?
Question 7. How will we ensure that our approach to staff development supports these changes?
———————————-
This resource is a companion to the online resource for teachers. It is designed to help senior leaders draw up an appropriate change management plan to ensure success.
This resource, designed for senior leaders, accompanies the online programme ‘Playing the Learning Power game‘ for staff. It aims to support senior leaders to introduce teachers to their programme and thereafter to take a strategic approach to sustaining momentum as the teachers’ programme develops.
You might assume that, as this is a DIY resource for senior leaders, it will fall to you to lead this development, and launch ‘Playing the Learning Power Game’ to your colleagues. However, many schools have found the idea enlisting champions a good way to spread responsibility and expertise.
Enlisting the help of Learning Champions.
Larger junior and all secondary schools prefer to spread the load of managing the programme by selecting a group of the staff, often known as ‘Learning Champions’. The Learning Champions learn together and work their way through part of the Playing the Learning Power Game course before using that experience to involve all staff and manage the Professional Learning Team sessions. This route requires the module ‘Learning Champions’ – which is available on request at no additional cost.
This approach:
needs time for Learning Champions to become familiar with ‘Playing the Learning Power Game‘ and allows opportunities to iron out any practical problems;
creates practical experience of the approach within the school which can act as a ‘go to’ resource for other staff;
offers senior leaders a significant group of teachers ready, willing and able to promote / support / encourage others.
If you are considering the Champion route, the composition of your group of Learning Champions is of critical importance.
Below are some ‘must do’s’. You should ensure that:
all subject areas / phases are represented;
a wide range of experience is represented;
champions are widely regarded as sound / excellent practitioners if they are to have credibility;
you have sufficient Champions to lead the Professional Learning Teams you plan to create (see Section 3 of this module for more on PLTs and how they function);
some senior leaders need to be Champions to demonstrate SLT commitment and to provide a conduit between the Champions and SLT;
you exploit the opportunity to involve a couple of colleagues who might need to be brought on-side early, rather than leaving them to snipe from the sidelines – most schools have one or two of these;
directed time is found to enable the group of Champions to meet;
you consider how you will maintain the morale, engagement and interest in those who are not designated Champions of Learning.
So that, when Playing the Learning Power Game is launched to all colleagues, you have already built a wide network of committed teachers willing and able to support their colleagues.
If this way of working appeals, feel free to contact TLO for further advice / guidance and materials.
Accessing expert advice and support
Whichever route you choose you might consider adding support via Zoom conversations to ensure that you have access to expert advice and a named consultant who can act as critical friend as you move through the programme. If this is of interest, contact TLO to explore possibilities.
The contents of this resource.
This companion resource has 7 sections:
Overview: strategic issues and a programme for staff
Why is developing learning power a valuable goal across the school?
Stumbling blocks?
Would you know whether and how your year 6 students were better at learning than year 2 students?
Or, if your year 11 students were better at learning than year 7 students?
How?
” I can’t think of anything more worth learning than learning to learn. It’s like having money in the bank at compound interest” David Perkins. Project Zero, Harvard University
2. How is the school planning to make building learning behaviours work?
Building ideas and infrastructure.
For teachers… what do they need to build their understanding of?
key psychological characteristics?
how learning behaviours grow?
how to integrate the behaviours into the way they teach?
working collaboratively to bring all this about?
For leaders…how will you provide opportunities for staff to;
meet (in a safe professional environment) to explore putting learning behaviours into the classroom?
translate ideas from online materials into “lived” practices in classrooms?
monitor and celebrate changing practice across the school?
A combination of online learning, learning with and from colleagues, and learning from small scale enquiries in their own classrooms.
3. What do you know about your students as learners now?
The materials support the growth in learning behaviours
What are your students like as learners…now?
What are their learning characters like now and can these be moulded?
What are my students’ learning strengths or limitations
Which learning behaviours do our students need to strengthen…now?
Does learning character play any part in influencing the attainment of higher vs lower performing students?
These unusual yet vital and urgent questions form the stimulus for this resource.
A practical tool to help teachers and schools uncover their students’ learning character and use this, usually hidden and unknown information, as the very basis for developing and strengthening them as learners.
The materials help you to;
uncover, collect and analyse information about each of your students’ learning character
grow and value students’ learning characters.
use a rich picture of your students’ learning behaviours, rather than their attainment, to underpin your approach to helping students to improve, develop or catch up on their learning.
e.g Students lack resilience, fear questioning, find working together difficult or rarely review their progress or change tack. Four resources to cover resilience, questioning, collaboration and revising.
E.G. Re-energising Your Learners’ Resilience
simple-to-use
primary and secondary versions
110 ideas for building students’ resilience.
rapid access to classroom-focused material
revives, develops and grows students’ emotional learning behaviours
B. If you need a ready-made PSHE programme…
Supporting the growth of learning behaviours (12 units) These resources have two parts with a linked function;
for teachers… practical information about using and integrating one learning behaviour into the way they teach
for students… 3 learning-to-learn lessons per learning behaviour (36 altogether) dedicated to understanding and growing one of their learning habits
The teacher section focuses on knowingly integrating the key learning behaviours into lessons such that students absorb them by experiencing them. The student sessions focus students on becoming knowingly conscious of the behaviours and planning to improve their use.
C. If you want to get to know your students as leaners…
Finding Learning Power
primary and secondary versions
separate ‘how to’ resource for both leaders and staff
focus is on plotting student growth in 12 learning behaviours
leader version has resources to introduce the resource to staff.
advice on what and how to harvest student data
an essential component of Playing the learning power game
does not give suggestions about how to grow learning behaviours
a resource that’s full of intriguing surprises
D. If you’re ready to commit to an ambitious learning opportunity…
Playing the learning power game
primary and secondary versions
separate leaders and staff ‘how to’ resource
includes the resource to estimate student growth
works on transforming the culture of classrooms
starts slowly with the Foundational Four learning behaviours
offers monitoring tools to track development of the learning environment
broadens practice beyond the foundational four behaviours when they are sound.
6. How the programme goes deeper in years 2 and 3?
Why is it worth going further?
From playing to professionalising
Playing the Learning Power Game makes a start on making students ready and willing to engage more constructively with their learning.
The next step expands all their emotional, social, cognitive and strategic behaviours, and adds the all-important able.
Phase 2 goes broader and deeper by;
providing richer and more extensive growth charts
offering greater emphasis on curriculum and lesson development
Phase 2 is longer and more flexible
consists of 12 online modules that help design dual focused lessons
provide a deeper, richer look at learning… so that teachers
gain a better sense of how to steer students growth as learners
use a richer language of learning effectively
design a curriculum to promote growth in learning behaviours
develop their confidence and skill as learning coaches.
Can be used in whatever way the school sees fit. The modules arm teachers with material to support their efforts to apply a more forensic approach to learning.
Take a look at just six classroom practice ideas from various levels of the ‘Re-energising your Learners’ Resilience‘ resource.
Less than 3% of the ideas in the ‘Re-energising‘ resource.
Overcoming being stuck
An everyday teaching idea to help students overcome fear and become comfortable about being stuck.
Being stuck is a natural part of learning, we all get stuck. We come across blocks and obstacles, go into blind alleys, get flummoxed by a vast range of possibilities, or simply don’t know enough to decide what to do next.
Being able to get ourselves unstuck is as much about how we react emotionally as it is about having the practical strategies to work out how to overcome it. Being able to manage an effective way out of being stuck is a critical part of resilience.
. Design activities to ensure students are learning at the edge of their comfort zone.
Give being stuck a status
Start some lessons with something like:
In this lesson I want to make sure that you do get stuck.
When you get stuck take a look at the unsticking prompts on your table to see if these help you to get unstuck.
Later we will spend a few minutes talking about what we learned from being stuck and decide which unsticking idea worked best.
The explicit message is that students need to expect being stuck during any lesson. The implicit message is that being stuck is a good thing – something you want to see. Using this technique regularly means students come to accept being stuck as a natural part of learning. It begins to build their curiosity about the why they get stuck. What you are doing is giving stuck a status.
Managing distractions
An everyday teaching idea to help students reflect on managing distractions.
Losing focus or getting distracted is an inevitable part of learning, it happens to all of us. As learners we come across distractions, both internal and external. If we are hungry, tired or anxious we find it hard to concentrate. Equally if there is too much going on around us or something unexpected happens, we may lose our focus get side-tracked. But unless students are assisted to cope positively and practically with such situations their deep engagement with learning may be in jeopardy.
Explore the meaning of effort
Effort is a word that teachers use frequently, but what does it mean? How might students decode this and begin to do it purposefully?
Explore what is meant by ‘effort’ with your students, and discuss with them the ways in which they might apply it.
Encourage them to come up with a definition of effort and specific examples of what it might look like in the classroom – for example by;
trying different strategies to solve a problem,
using a Visible Thinking Routine (VTR)
aiming to achieve challenging goals, or
using different un-sticking techniques when something is tricky.
paying attention to whoever is speaking
Targeted Effort is now seen as a path to mastery. Students need to be aware of a connection between effort and improvement; that the sort of effort being used is causing their improvement. This is why it is important to give effort meaning. Targeted effort is effort that has direction and purpose; something is focusing their mind. It is underpinned by clear guidance and the specific goal to be achieved. What you are doing here is giving effort a size and direction. What students need to understand is that their effort has a size and a purpose.
Teacher talk
What sort of effort are you using on this activity?
I can see that this xxx sort of effort will help you to…
Is this the most appropriate sort of effort to use. You might try xxx instead.
you might get on better if you used more of…
which VTR would be useful to you here?
Make reflecting on managing distractions part of everyday lessons
Here is a very practical example of how you might develop the emotional climate of the classroom and make it managing distractions friendly.
Learning mats are A4 laminated sheets that show various aspects of a learning habit. Keep them on desks/tables or as part of a wall display.
Finding learning difficult is part and parcel of learning. Indeed when learning is not challenging it is often a case of practising / consolidating what one can already do as opposed to breaking new ground. As learners we all come across difficulties that cause us to think hard – the question is whether we are excited by the prospect of rising to the challenge, or daunted by the prospect of not rising to the challenge. Do we think ‘Great, this is tricky and I’m going to give it a go’ or ‘Oh dear, this is probably too hard for me’?
Reflect on dealing with challenge
Help students to know themselves as learners
Self talk phrases to use when monitoring as they are still doing something:
What’s happening?
What am I seeing /noticing?
How am I feeling / thinking about that?
What else is happening?
What’s changing?
What’s going best/well?
Do I need to do anything about any of this?
Self talk phrases to use when reviewing the results of learning:
What’s the most important thing that’s happened? Why?
How was it significant?
What difficulties did I meet?
How did I resolve / sort them?
Which strategies seemed effective?
What else could we / I have done?
How might it have been different?
Nudge students to self-regulate by asking: (adapted from Nuckles et al, 2009)
What would be the best way of checking your learning?
How could you reflect on these answers?
What happened when you …?
How can you account for …?
What learning goals have you achieved?
How have your ideas changed?
What aspect of this work could you now teach to others?
Blend attentive noticing into lessons
Focus the action:
Use sets of interesting pictures together with cards with a viewing window cut into them. Students place the viewing frame over the picture in seeking a range of different features. E.g. something red, made of xx, something denoting happiness, something which suggests what might happen next. It’s a good idea to move from looking firstly for concrete features before moving on to abstract features. You could:
use a poem. Use the viewer to find the stanza that is most descriptive, that makes them happy, that uses the best simile…
or use a geometrical image. Use the viewer to find corresponding angles, perpendicular lines, a reflex angle…
or an image of the water cycle. Use the viewer to find where water vapour is rising, where water is moving downwards, where it would be best to site a farm, a village, a wind turbine…
We all find it easier to put in effort and keep going when we see the point of doing it, when we have a goal that is of interest to us. Without a goal that we buy in to, why should we bother?
A goal without the will is wishful thinking
The will without the goal means rapidly fading interest
Performance related goals are less likely to engage and motivate than learning related goals
A way to help students explore the point and value of goals.
Displaying a different type of achievement
Goals are so often thought of in terms of performance. One way to entice reluctant learners to consider the idea of goals is to look at them through the lens of different types of achievement. In the picture the wall of a maths classroom has a weekly display of outcomes related to a different type of achievement, i.e. learning itself. As a result students began to realise they could dream up their own goals related to what they would be proud of or what they would work hard on to finish.
Our achievements this week;
Things we are proud of
Things we have never done before
Things that we kept trying to do and finally succeeded
Learning is impossible without resilience: that tendency to be ready, willing and able to lock onto learning – knowing how to work through difficulties when the pressure mounts or the going gets tough. Without a willingness to stay engaged, research tells us that we tend to revert prematurely into defensive mode which, although it maintains our security it does nothing to increase mastery. Loss of resilience breeds a brittle and impatient attitude.
All these beliefs and anxieties can affect anyone. The massive disruption to life caused by COVID 19 and the growing hardships from the rising cost of living has meant many children have become disconnected from their former patterns of learning. Even the keenest are likely to have lost their edge of concentration while others are feeling adrift and appear unwilling to learn at all. Signs of stress such as anxiety, recklessness, depression and self doubt are likely to show themselves, and learning will have become a challenge – their Resilience being a casualty.
We know from research that resilience is the foundation of emotional tolerance and that without resilience in one form or another, learning becomes impossible. Time lost to learning cannot easily be recovered , catch-up is proving elusive.
But research also shows that a resilient frame of mind can be nurtured and developed by engaging classroom cultures tended by thoughtful teachers. It takes time but the sooner it starts the sooner the benefits start to show, with often surprising quick wins.
This resource is designed to help teachers to enable their students grow and secure those learning behaviours that contribute to being a Resilient learner.
The resource draws on ideas teachers have developed for building their students’ resilience. Based on a background of sound research it offers you rapid access to classroom-focused material that will help to re-energise, revive and develop students’ emotional learning dispositions and behaviours.
A simple framework for a wide range of activity
Re-energising Your Learners’ Resilience addresses;
four aspects of Resilience in students, across
four levels of growth, with
practical packages of ideas, across
four aspects of teaching practice.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid, illustrated below.
deal with being stuck, the strategies students can use for overcoming it
manage distractions, ensuring continuing engagement with learning.
rise to the challenge, learning to enjoy challenge and the satisfaction of triumphing over difficulty
work towards goals, learning to design goals and pursue them with tenacity and independence
The four stages of growth are about students developing their learning attitudes;
from being unwilling to engage, saying ‘I can’t or I won’t ‘to asking for help, saying ‘show me, tell me’ (‘Lacks’ to ‘Receives’)
fromasking for help, saying ‘show me or tell me’ to trying for themselves, saying ‘I’ll try’ (‘Receives’ to ‘Responds,)
from trying for themselves, saying ‘I’ll try’torecognising the value, saying ‘I see why’ (‘Responds’ to ‘Values, )
fromrecognising the value, saying ‘I see why’ to organising themselves to do it, saying ‘I’ll make sure’ (‘Values’ to ‘Organises’)
The four aspects of teaching are about;
devolving responsibility for learning to students (things you can give away)
a language to help students understand learning as a process (things you can say)
classroom routines that will nurture resilience (things you can do every day)
the look and feel of the classroom that serves to strengthen students’ resilience (things you can display)
Clicking on any one of the sixteen yellow cells will take you into the corresponding package. The pattern of these activities is consistent across all sixteen packages, so you will quickly become familiar with the approach.
Beyond the 16 cells of activities the framework also offers;
Background know-how (the green cells along the bottom) summarising the sort of thing you need to know before tackling any particular column. It explains;
the learning behaviour in question
the stages of growth and how they work
the components of a learning friendly classroom
how to use two questionnaires. One that explores where your students are now. One that explores your current approach to classroom cultures. It would be useful to complete the questionnaires before seeking relevant activities.
Emotional outcomes (blue cells on the right) summarise what learners might be like as a result of absorbing the feelings and action of the activities over time; the sort of changes you will want to look out for in your learners over the next few months.
Getting Started
Finding your way around the resource . . .
The table below, a shortened version, is the means of navigating this resource. The yellow and green cells are interactive; clicking on the text will take you to the relevant section. Clicking top left will bring you back to this page.
This table appears at the end of every section offering you easy access to all the resources.
Importantly, please start each column with the green cell in the bottom row – labelled ‘Discover xxx’. It is here you will find 2 quizzes that offer useful starting points for exploring the teaching ideas that lie behind the 16 yellow cells.
Dealing with being stuck…
Managing distraction…
Rising to challenge…
Working towards goals…
From ‘I see why’ to ‘I’ll make sure’: Values to Organises
Learning is impossible without resilience: that tendency to be ready, willing and able to lock onto learning – knowing how to work through difficulties when the pressure mounts or the going gets tough. Without a willingness to stay engaged, research tells us that we tend to revert prematurely into defensive mode which, although it maintains our security it does nothing to increase mastery. Loss of resilience breeds a brittle and impatient attitude.
All these beliefs and anxieties can affect anyone. The massive disruption to life caused by COVID 19 will have affected all students in one way or another. So, students’ learning attitudes before lockdown will have been affected; all students will be different having returned to school.
This resource is designed to help teachers to enable their students re-energise and secure those learning behaviours that contribute to being a Resilient learner.
The resource draws on ideas teachers have developed for building their students’ resilience. Based on a background of sound research it offers you rapid access to classroom-focused material that will help to re-energise, revive and develop students’ emotional learning dispositions and behaviours.
A simple framework for a wide range of activity
Re-energising Your Learners’ Resilience addresses;
four aspects of Resilience in students, across
four levels of growth, with
practical packages of ideas, across
four aspects of teaching practice.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid, illustrated below.
How the resource is designed.
The four aspects of Resilience are;
Dealing with being stuck, the strategies we can use for overcoming it
Managing distractions, ensuring continuing engagement with learning.
Rising to the challenge, learning to enjoy challenge and the satisfaction of triumphing over difficulty
Working towards goals, learning to design goals and pursue them with tenacity and independence
The four stages of growth are about students developing their learning attitudes;
from implying ‘I can’t or I won’t ‘to ‘show me, tell me’ (‘Lacks’ to ‘receives’)
fromimplying ‘show me or tell me’ to‘I’ll try’ (‘Receives’ to ‘responds,)
from implying ‘I’ll try’ to ‘I see why’ (‘Responds’ to ‘values, )
fromimplying ‘I see why’ to ‘I’ll make sure’ (‘Values’ to ‘organises’)
The four aspects of teaching are;
devolving responsibility to students (things you can give away)
a language to help students understand learning as a process (things you can say)
classroom routines that will nurture resilience (things you can do every day)
the look and feel of the classroom that serves to strengthen students resilience (things you can display)
Clicking on any one of the sixteen yellow cells will take you into the corresponding package. The pattern of these activities is consistent across all sixteen packages, so you will quickly become familiar with the approach.
Beyond the 16 cells of activities the framework also offers;
Background know-how (the green cells along the bottom) summarising the sort of thing you need to know before tackling any particular column. It explains;
the learning behaviour in question
the stages of growth and how they work
the components of a learning friendly classroom
how to use two questionnaires. One that explores where your students are now. One that explores your current approach to classroom cultures. Please complete the questionnaires before seeking relevant activities.
Emotional outcomes (blue cells on the right) summarise what learners might be like as a result of absorbing the feelings and action of the activities over time; the sort of changes you will want to look out for in your learners over the next few months.
The table below, which is a very shortened version of the image above, is the primary means of navigating this resource. Most of the cells are interactive, and clicking on the text will take you to the relevant section. Clicking top left will bring you back to this page.
This table appears at the end of every section and enables you to move around all of the resources without the need to return to the front page and start again.
Importantly, it is essential that you start each column with the green cell in the bottom row – the one called ‘Discover xxx’. It is in this section that you will find 2 quizzes that are the essential starting point before you begin to explore the teaching ideas lying behind the 16 yellow cells.
Please be aware – the content behind the majority of these links is only available in the full version of this resource. In this Open Source version, the links in the ‘Stuck’ column are live so that you can gain a feel for the full version and judge whether it might be right for your school.
We see this resource as a starting point for teachers now, so it’s included in the mix for the whole programme. It’s really just about teachers and schools getting to know their students in a different way and it sets the scene for using this information profitably in order to build better learners.
But schools that have been playing with learning power for a while would also find it useful in all sorts of ways, not least in getting a grip on how the behaviours are growing and how they may differ in low and high achieving students
I can already see ways in which you could use this as a starter with a school. I’ve left red notes in the sections just to raise possibilities and stir your interest.
1. The what of this resource
This resource offers teachers and schools:
a manageable set of tools to enable teachers to uncover, collect and analyse information about their students’ learning character;
an outline of the research, value, makeup and growth of peoples’ learning character.
These tools aim to help your school discover and analyse your students’ learning behaviours and use this information as an essentialstarting point for helping students become better learners. In other words this resource will help you and your school to;
use a rich picture of your students’ learning behaviours, rather than attainment, to underpin your approach to helping them to improve, develop or catch up on their learning.
2. The why of this resource
What are your students like as learners…now?
Is there such a thing as a learning character?
Can this be moulded?
What are your students’ learning strengths or limitations
Which learning behaviours do your students need to strengthen…now?
Does learning character play any part in influencing the attainment of higher or lower performing students?
These unusual yet vital and urgent questions form the stimulus for this resource; a practical tool to help teachers and schools uncover their students’ learning character and use this, usually hidden and unknown information, as the very basis for developing and strengthening them as learners.
Our growing understanding of how learning habits build has led us to ask how schools might use such information to help shape teachers’, or even whole school, plans. What does growth in learning habits look like? How might teachers estimate students’ phase of growth? Might schools use this information in strategic plans of action (Intent)? What sort of activities would teachers need to use to strengthen the growth of learning habits? (Implementation) What would count as evidence of impact and how might that be captured and reviewed? (Impact).
3. The how of this resource
Each section deals with a key aspect of understanding and using the tool and reading the results.
Section 1 What makes a difference in learning?…offers you a brief introduction to the meaning, purpose and attributes of learning character /learning power.
Section 2 Uncover the mysteries of learning behaviours...offers rich descriptions of the learning behaviours that form part of this measuring tool.
Section 3 Up close and personal with learning…invites you to start considering learning behaviours seriously by looking at yourself as a learner, followed by a couple of students.
Section 4 Finding learning characteristics….suggests how you might go about gathering, recording and interpreting the evidence for just one class and then for the whole school
Section 5 Where now, what’s next? explores the changes you might make based on the data collected and the routes you might take to ensure growth in pupil’s learning behaviours.
4. The where from of this resource
The idea of learning behaviours that are explained and analysed using this resource comes from a vision of twenty-first century education and the new sciences of learning that underpin it. It starts from first principles: that we now know an individual’s ability isn’t fixed; that the brain is like a muscle; that its intelligence grows with exercise. Selling this idea to learners brings, in itself, far more enthusiasm for engaging with the potential delights of learning, helping students to become more independent, more reflective, and better able to plan and evaluate their own learning. This, as John Hattie’s research has shown, is a better way of boosting students’ attainment than more drilling in the subject-matter.
The great strength of this approach is that there is already a wealth of tried and tested strategies that teachers can introduce immediately to begin to transform the learning experience of their students, and give them a language with which to think about the process of learning.
This resource affords teachers an insight into the skills and attitudes their students use when learning…
Learning is impossible without resilience: that tendency to be ready, willing and able to lock onto learning – knowing how to work through difficulties when the pressure mounts or the going gets tough. Without a willingness to stay engaged, research tells us that we tend to revert prematurely into defensive mode which, although it maintains our security it does nothing to increase mastery. Loss of resilience breeds a brittle and impatient attitude.
All these beliefs and anxieties can affect anyone. The massive disruption to life caused by COVID 19 and the growing hardships from the rising cost of living has meant many children have become disconnected from their former patterns of learning. Even the keenest are likely to have lost their edge of concentration while others are feeling adrift and appear unwilling to learn at all. Signs of stress such as anxiety, recklessness, depression and self-doubt, are likely to show themselves, and learning for many will have become a challenge – their Resilience being a casualty.
We know from research that resilience is the foundation of emotional tolerance and that without resilience in one form or another, learning is impossible. Time lost to learning cannot easily be recovered, catch-up is proving elusive.
But research also shows that a resilient frame of mind can be nurtured and developed by engaging classroom cultures tended by thoughtful teachers. It takes time but the sooner it starts the sooner the benefits start to show, with often surprising quick wins.
This resource is designed to help teachers to enable their students grow and secure those learning behaviours that contribute to being a Resilient learner.
The resource draws on ideas teachers have developed for building their students’ resilience. Based on a background of sound research it offers you rapid access to classroom-focused material that will help to re-energise, revive and develop students’ emotional learning dispositions and behaviours.
A simple framework for a wide range of activity
Re-energising Your Learners’ Resilience addresses;
four aspects of Resilience in students, across
four levels of growth, with
practical packages of ideas, across
four aspects of teaching practice.
This four-by-four framework is presented in a simple grid, illustrated below.
The resource has a big ambition covering…
1. The four aspects of Resilience, being able to;
deal with being stuck, the strategies students can use for overcoming it
manage distractions, ensuring continuing engagement with learning.
rise to the challenge, learning to enjoy challenge and the satisfaction of triumphing over difficulty
work towards goals, learning to design goals and pursue them with tenacity and independence
2. The four stages of growth for students developing their learning attitudes;
from being unwilling to engage, saying ‘I can’t or I won’t ‘to asking for help, saying ‘show me, tell me’ (‘Lacks’ to ‘Receives’)
fromasking for help, saying ‘show me or tell me’ to trying for themselves, saying ‘I’ll try’ (‘Receives’ to ‘Responds,)
from trying for themselves, saying ‘I’ll try’torecognising the value, saying ‘I see why’ (‘Responds’ to ‘Values, )
fromrecognising the value, saying ‘I see why’ to organising themselves to do it, saying ‘I’ll make sure’ (‘Values’ to ‘Organises’)
3. The four aspects of teaching to;
devolve responsibility for learning to students (things you can give away)
use a language to help students understand learning as a process (things you can say)
devise classroom routines that will nurture resilience (things you can do every day)
ensure the look and feel of the classroom serves to strengthen students’ resilience (things you can display)
Clicking on any one of the sixteen yellow cells will take you into the corresponding package. The pattern of these activities is consistent across all sixteen packages, so you will quickly become familiar with the approach.
Beyond the 16 cells of activities the framework also offers;
Background know-how (the green cells along the bottom) summarising the sort of thing you need to know before tackling any particular column. It explains;
the learning behaviour in question
the stages of growth and how they work
the components of a learning friendly classroom
how to use two questionnaires. One that explores where your students are now. One that explores your current approach to classroom cultures. It would be useful to complete the questionnaires before seeking relevant activities.
Emotional outcomes (blue cells on the right) summarise what learners might be like as a result of absorbing the feelings and action of the activities over time; the sort of changes you will want to look out for in your learners over the next few months.
The table below, a shortened version of the image above, is the means of navigating this resource. The yellow and green cells are interactive; clicking on the text will take you to the relevant section. Clicking top left will bring you back to this page.
This table appears at the end of every section offering you easy access all the resources.
Importantly, please start each column with the green cell in the bottom row – labelled ‘Discover xxx’. It is here you will find 2 quizzes that offer useful starting points for exploring the teaching ideas that lie behind the 16 yellow cells.
Dealing with being stuck
Managing distraction
Rising to challenge
Working towards goals
From ‘I see why’ to ‘I’ll make sure’: Values to Organises
