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WHAT THE STAFF ARE LEARNING<br />
COLLABORATIVE AND<br />
INDEPENDENT THINKERS<br />
During the April holidays I completed an International<br />
Bachelorette course on Developing Independent<br />
and Collaborative Learners. The Senior Prep profession<br />
development afternoons, held during <strong>Term</strong> 2,<br />
allowed me the opportunity to present some of the<br />
information which I found particularly fascinating and<br />
relevant. It focused on 3 main areas including Intrinsic<br />
and Extrinsic Motivation, Independent Learners and<br />
Collaboration. Below I will outline some of the topics<br />
covered:<br />
Motivation<br />
Incentives and rewards may have their place in getting<br />
people to do things they are reluctant to do but do<br />
they really help to motivate people?<br />
Students should be praised for hard work and not for<br />
attainment in order to develop a growth mind-set.<br />
Independent Learners<br />
Does our current model of education encourage<br />
learners to be independent or do we simply help them<br />
to find ‘the right’ answer? Some strategies to promote<br />
independent learning include:<br />
• Allow students to make decisions about how<br />
they learn<br />
• Ask open-ended questions<br />
• Talk less, do more!<br />
• Model behaviours and attitudes which promote<br />
learning<br />
• Organise student-led conferences<br />
• Ask for feedback<br />
• Encourage goal-setting and reflection<br />
• Don’t over-plan, allow them to explore<br />
• Focus on leaning, not work<br />
• Test less<br />
Collaborative Learning<br />
The key to working collaboratively is to provide students<br />
with a group goal while maintaining individual<br />
accountability. This can be achieved by:<br />
• Not designating a particular person to provide<br />
feedback<br />
• Insisting each student provide evidence of their<br />
contribution<br />
• Assessing students individually<br />
• Students need to learn it can be a good thing<br />
to disagree during class discussions, provided it is done<br />
correctly and respectfully<br />
This course certainly provided me with relevant and<br />
practical ideas for improving my classroom instruction.<br />
Gaining a better understanding of motivation, independent<br />
learning and collaboration will help me to get<br />
the most out of my class. I have also been able apply<br />
many of my new found strategies to my own life and<br />
am now striving to adopt a growth mind-set in all that<br />
I do.<br />
Mike MacFarlane<br />
The Ridge School <strong>Horizons</strong> <strong>Term</strong> 2 <strong>2016</strong> 24
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