Some interesting comments from Deb in the live chat
“My dilemma at the moment is showing that LTP [learning through play] meets the needs of learning and assessment that is required by the school systems.
So these kids are highly agentic, autonomous and 'playing' and I think people struggle to see this as authentic learning because the planning and outcomes are not always written.
Interestingly when I started to list the school vision ideas what I found is that they were met better by LTP than a traditional approach to learning. So perhaps it is the more traditional approaches that need critiquing. For example, the words motivated, agentic and connected learners are a key part of the school vision.”
Sound familiar?
Not for one minute would Deb say being literate and numerate is unimportant. What she is saying though is if a school is serious about making it’s vision real, there needs to be a coherence between the pedagogy and the vision.
Easier said than done though, right? Especially when most of the ways schools have of measuring learning, and therefore teacher effectiveness, are focused on academic progress. This is why observation is so important when working to foster learner agency - it gives you time to see and record the links betweent the learning and the curriculum. In essence, it gives you time to do what Martyn Reynolds calls ‘re-languaging.’ It’s important work.