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EXPANSIVE EDUCATION

why is progress so slow?

Professor Guy Claxton King’s College London

July 2014

What is Expansive Education?

•Expanding AIMS; Expanding MINDS

•Expanding the range of valued outcomes of schooling to include qualities of mind • Independence and self-discipline

• Facing uncertainty / complexity • Thinking on your feet

• Becoming your own teacher / coach

•Globally, a variety of terms - • Capabilities, competencies, habits of mind, character

strengths, learning ‘muscles’ • NOT skills but dispositions

Expansive Education Organisations

• Building Learning Power, UK

• Habits of Mind, USA

• Learning Network, NZ

• Visible Thinking, USA

• Hands On Learning, Aus

• International Baccalaureate

• Feuerstein Institute, Israel

• Leonardo Effect, UK

• Learning Futures, UK

• ExpandED Schools USA

• Philosophy for Children, USA

• Thinking Schools, UK, USA

• Expeditionary Learning, USA

• Mindset Works, USA

• Tools for the Mind, USA

• Optimise Learning, Singapore

• Whole Education, UK

• ……..

Some possible learning habits

1. Organising and designing your own learning

2. Thinking on your feet - “floundering intelligently”

3. Persisting with difficulty - determination

4. Managing your attention amidst competing calls

5. Questioning and checking knowledge claims

6. Forming effective teams for work and study

7. Diagnosing and improving your own work

8. Seeking and acting on feedback

•How confident are you of your judgements?

•How could you collect better data?

•How could you help your students improve?

Good intentions are global

• Our vision is for young people:

• who will be creative, energetic, and enterprising

• who, in their school years, will develop the values, knowledge, and competencies that will enable them to live full and satisfying lives

• who will be confident, connected, actively involved, and lifelong learners. (NZ)

• The curriculum must ensure that schools meet the challenges of the 21st century… adaptable and resilient, independent and critical, questions and reflects, works well in teams, takes risks, is innovative, appreciates beauty… (Singapore)

• The key [outcomes] of the Junior Cycle [include]: being flexible, being positive about learning, imagining, exploring options, taking risks, discussing and debating, learning with others, being curious, reflecting and evaluating… (Irish Junior Cycle, Key Skills)

“The purposes of education include more than achievement…Among the most important…is the development of citizens with challenging minds and dispositions who become active, competent and thoughtfully critical in our complex world…Schooling should have a major impact on the enhancement of character.”

– John Hattie, Visible Learning for Teachers (p4)

“Dispositions to learning should be key performance indicators of the outcomes of schooling. Many teachers believe that, if achievement is enhanced, there is a ripple effect to these dispositions. However such a belief is not defensible. Such dispositions need planned interventions.”

- John Hattie, Visible Learning (p40)

Benefits of BLP

•Raised results

•PLUS

•better preparation for university / life

•PLUS

•More satisfying teaching

Many schools are doing it

•NZ – Greerton, St Cuths

•Australia – Toorak, Bankstown

•Singapore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur

•Poland, Finland, Dubai

•Argentina – Ushuaia, Rosario

• Ireland, Jersey, Isle of Man

•Scotland, Wales, England, NI

Nationally they fizzle out…

•UK ‘personal learning and thinking skills’

•NZ ‘key competencies’??

•Singapore ‘desired outcomes of education’

•Australia ‘general capabilities’?? •Tasmania ‘essential learnings’ •Queensland ‘new basics’ •South Australia ‘teaching to learn’ ???

What goes wrong?

1. Politicians – dysfunctional democracy

2. Either / or thinking - Results OR Habits for Life

3. Fixed intelligence

4. Bad language

academic - ‘metacognitive awareness’, ‘managing impulsivity’

vague aspirations – ‘excellence’, ‘world-class’, ‘best practice’…

ambiguous – e.g. ‘improving learning’

5. Bolt-ons and quick fixes: Underestimating time and effort required

6. Hype vs. solid evaluation: “How do we know it’s working?”

7. Teacher inertia / control / anxiety

8. Just another bloody initiative

A JABI?

Changing conceptions of intelligence

• A response to uncertainty

• “Intelligence is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do” Jean Piaget

• Malleable • “The idea that intelligence is a fixed quantity is deplorable…a

brutal pessimism…Before learning subjects, learners should be given lessons in mental orthopedics: in a word, they must learn how to learn” Alfred Binet

• Componential • “Intelligence is the sum total of your habits of mind” Lauren

Resnick

• Balanced • “The essence of intelligence is knowing when to think and act

quickly, and when to think and act slowly” Robert Sternberg

THE BASIC

CHOICE

The Efficient School

• Retention

• Discussion

• Justification

• Calculation

• Tight manipulation

• ‘Knocking out small essays’

• Accepting criticism

• Achieving targets

• ……………….

The Expansive School • asking interesting questions;

• checking what we are told;

• thinking on our feet;

• designing our own learning;

• making good use of resources;

• harnessing our imaginations;

• unearthing problems;

• being bold and trying new things;

• helping ourselves when we are stuck;

• checking and improving our own work;

• seeking and valuing feedback;

• working well in different groups;

• listening carefully and respectfully;

• concentrating despite distractions;

• becoming our own teachers;

• …….

• …….

So what do we do?

JUST KEEP ON…

1. Trust your own judgement

2. Results PLUS: play the game

3. Evidence your success

4. Show it to ERO

5. Talk to the children about what you are doing

6. Talk to parents

What ExpEd teachers do

1. Notice and comment on childen’s developing learning muscles

2. Focus ‘feedback’ on aspects of learnable power

3. Get students talking and writing about the ‘how’ of learning

4. Model inquisitive and fallible learners

5. Display learning images and work in progress

6. Plan activities that deliberately stretch various learning muscles

7. Encourage extended, difficult learning projects

8. Involve learners as resources, teachers and co-designers

9. Look for links with the outside world

We know how to do it

What do we need?

• Understanding

• Reassurance

• Imagination

• Will

• It’s not centrally

about permission

or resources

• www.buildinglearningpower.co.uk

• www.expansiveeducation.net

• www.learningqualityframework.co.uk

• guy.claxton@winchester.ac.uk

THE FIVE LANGUAGES OF

LEARNING POWER

Guy Claxton

Kings College London

1. The Language of Values and Core Purpose (“Pride-ish”)

2. The Language of Learning Habits (“Learnerese”)

3. The Language of Process (“Learnish”)

4. The Language of Intelligence (”Dweckian”)

5. The Language of Possibility (“Subjunctive”)

1. Pride-ish

“What’s at the heart of Bushfield School?”

“It’s our job not just to help children master literacy and numeracy but to prepare them for a very turbulent and complex world. We are failing if we don’t prepare them with the skills they need to cope with uncertainty; to cope with differing perspectives; to cope with working with different kinds of people; to ask good questions. Our children are at a very crucial age. We need to get those skills right into the DNA of the way our children think and learn – before it’s too late.”

Dr Simon Shum, Chair of Governors

Getting the language right

• Explicit

• Shared with all, especially students

• Precise • Not vague and hopeful

• Engaging • Appealing and accessible to students and parents

• Progressive

• Able to plan for and notice improvement in LP

• Refreshed and varied • Not repetitive and stale

2. Learnerese

A new metaphor – the Mind Gym

• Brains are like muscles

• Subjects are like exercise machines

• Each lesson is a mental work-out

• The curriculum is a broad and appropriate fitness regime

• Bright slackers are wasting their time

Mental muscles

The Efficient School

• Retention

• Discussion

• Justification

• Calculation

• Tight manipulation

• ‘Knocking out small essays’

• Accepting criticism

• Achieving targets

• ……………….

The Expansive School • asking interesting questions;

• checking what we are told;

• thinking on our feet;

• designing our own learning;

• making good use of resources;

• harnessing our imaginations;

• unearthing problems;

• being bold and trying new things;

• helping ourselves when we are stuck;

• checking and improving our own work;

• seeking and valuing feedback;

• working well in different groups;

• listening carefully and respectfully;

• concentrating despite distractions;

• becoming our own teachers;

• attending closely

• …….

Use the language all the time e.g. how you write reports…

Juan is getting better at • bringing his own questions into class, asking when he

doesn’t understand, working with a range of others, thinking things through, seeing how he can improve what he’s done…

Qing is becoming more • resilient in the face of difficulty, imaginative in her writing,

thoughtful about her own work, sceptical about what she reads, careful in her checking, willing to push herself…

Describe a student’s learning power

•Think of a student you have known for a least a year (or your own child). Describe them to your neighbour in terms of any positive changes you have seen in their learning habits

• Inquisitive

• Focused

• Determined

• Adventurous

• Imaginative

• Analytical

• Making links

• Craftsmanlike

• Self-evaluative

• Collaborative

• Independent

• Empathic

• ………..

• ………..

3. Learnish

Learnish: the language of learning process classroom chat that foregrounds the ups and downs of learning

• How did you do that?

• How else could you have done that?

• Which are the tricky bits? What’s tricky about them?

• What could you do when you are stuck on that?

• How could you help someone else understand that?

• How could I have taught that better?

• Where else could you use that?

• How could you make that harder for yourself?

4. Dweckian

Talk about developing minds, not fixed ‘ability’ Is your mind a bucket or a muscle?

BUCKET

• Fixed ability • Born smart

• Proving

• Conservative learning

• Failure/mistakes bad

• Effort aversive

• Ignores information

• Shirk/blame/cheat

• Comparative/competitive

MUSCLE

• Expandable ability • Get smarter

• Improving

• Adventurous learning

• Failure/mistakes useful

• Effort pleasurable

• Focuses on information

• Try/commit/be open

• Collaborative/generous

Dweckian: talk about learning habits, not ‘ability’

• “I like the way you wrote those summaries to help you remember”

• “Well done for concentrating through all those distractions”

• “Wow – how did you come up with so many creative ideas?”

• “Let’s try to figure out what it is that is making this hard for you to learn, and what might help you get the hang of it”

• “I know you used to love being the one who knew all the answers… But I’m really excited about how you are pushing yourself more now…choosing things you are not so good at, and really sticking at them…”

• “………………..” imagine talking to a student you know…

5. “Could Be” Language

What could the colours be?

Supporting habit

change

Supporting habit change: what works?

1. Buy-in through vision and values (inspiration) and through understanding (discussion)

2. Observation in close-to-home settings (confirmation)

3. Small practical seeds to get going (illustrations)

4. Time to experiment (familiarisation and customisation)

5. Safety to make some mistakes (embedding)

6. Precise anticipation of choice-points (‘implementation intentions’)

7. Understanding of faltering nature of habit-change (forgiveness)

8. Regular sharing, discussion and support (encouragement)

9. Regular report-back (accountability)

10. Appreciation of progress (celebration)

We know how to do it

What do we need?

• Understanding

• Reassurance

• Imagination

• Will

• It’s not centrally

about permission

or resources

• www.buildinglearningpower.co.uk

• www.expansiveeducation.net

• www.learningqualityframework.co.uk

• guy.claxton@winchester.ac.uk

Reflective writing – myself as a learner…

• Today’s lesson was to be honest quite tough. It taught me to ask a lot more questions that I usually wouldn’t even think about. I don’t think I showed much sign of persevering though…Today I wasn’t a strong contributor to my group…but I thought one of my strengths was being able to listen…I don’t think I asked the right questions to intensify my learning. If I was able to question myself or others more, I think I would have gained a much better understanding of the topic… What I need to improve on for the next lesson is talking about roles and responsibilities in the group…and persevere through tough times. • Debbie Ngo, Year 9, Bankstown Girls’ School,

Sydney

•

Being a model learner

• Teaching aloud

• Visible projects

• Notice my fallibility

• Your learning life

• Opportunities to eavesdrop and watch • ‘watching and pitching in’

• At home too

The levels of engagement

•Envisioning – clarifying the desired outcomes

•Embarking (first steps) - quick wins, highly specific, low-risk

•Embedding • “The way we do things round here” • Building specific muscles

•Embodying • Shifting the discourse of the classroom

•Extending • Increased coherence, progression and

implementation • Staff culture and parental buy-in