‘REACH FOR THE STARS’

The 21st Century Learning Alliance Teacher Fellowship Scheme

Esther McQueenSharnbrook Upper School

“We need to encourage young people to invest more in themselves to become stakeholders in, and architects of, their own learning. Affiliation, agency and autonomy are key components for developing pupils’ self motivation”.

McLean, A (2003) The Motivated

School

Our Vision

We want education to be…

Exploratory

DynamicUncertain

It should be about…Making mistakes

working things through

responding creatively

having a go

We want our students to be…Independent considered thinkers

resilient determinedcommitted energised learners

Rudduck and FlutterPassive

Positive

Accepting

Attends school regularly

Quite likes school + teachers

Does what is required

Trusts school to deliver a future

Indifferent

Mistrusts school + teachers

Withdraws from sources of support

Denies concern about progress

Does not look ahead

Negative

Influencing

Wants to understand frameworks

Wants to talk to teachers about problems + progress in learning

Is ready to organise things and take more responsibility

Is ready to help other pupils

Rejecting

Refuses to accept codes

Behaviour is anti-social

Attendance is irregular

Frequently on report

Faces prospect of removal to another class or school

Active

What Level of risk is acceptable in schools?

Watch the following clip and consider the following: Should the facilitator have approved the

material in advance? Should the presentation have been

halted? Does the lesson learned justify the

embarrassment felt by all parties?

Acceptable risk?

What Level of risk is acceptable in schools?

Should the facilitator have approved the material in advance?

Should the presentation have been halted?

Does the lesson learned justify the embarrassment felt by all parties?

Providing the Right Learning Conditions

We have a moral duty to provide students with the skills they will need to be successful in the real world.

Being allowed to make mistakes should be at the heart of the work we do in schools.

Should our current approach to “protecting” students from mistakes be scaled back?

Talking this step requires a belief in the notion that it benefits students to occasionally fail.

Next Steps…

Next year’s project will use the same kind of approach with our vulnerable students.

A number of projects already happening across the school

Our middle school students will be introduced to this way or working so it isn’t so alien to them when they come up in year 9.

Reach for the Stars impacts on our culture.

The Journey Begins Here…