Visible Learning

Learning Intentions

What am I learning?

At South Coogee Public School we want to have the greatest influence on student learning.  We put our efforts into evidence-based strategies that have the strongest impact on learning.

Learning Intentions are a clear statement that explains to the students what concept, skill, strategy or approach they will be learning.

Learning Intentions may be short term (developed in a lesson) or longer term (developed over a series of lessons). Eg.  To recognise the punctuation used at the end of a sentence.  Or longer term: To work collaboratively in a team.

Learning Intentions allow the students to focus on a specific goal.

Success Criteria

How will I learn it?

The second effective strategy is for the students to understand what they have to achieve to be successful with the learning intention. The success criteria explains the pathway in simple terms for the student to gain the new concepts, skills or attitudes. Students can be actively involved in determining the success criteria for a learning experience.

Understanding what it takes to become successful in a learning task enables students to develop their confidence as learners and set higher expectations for themselves.  This encourages confident, motivated learners. Eg. Success Criteria for Working in a Team

I can share ideas, I can listen to others, I can take turns, I can be fair, I can stay on task.

Feedback

Where am I going? How am I going? Where to next?

Feedback about how students are progressing is critical in the learning process. Feedback relies on clearly defined goals (including learning intentions and success criteria) and on learning tasks or activities to track a student’s progress towards those goals. The information gathered through these activities provides the basis for feedback to our students.

We provide feedback at three different levels:

1. The learning activity – how well the task is understood or performed
2. The process of learning – what the student has to do to perform the task effectively
3. The student’s management of their learning – planning and self-monitoring (learner qualities used)

Learner Qualities are those behaviours that enhance a student’s ability to learn.

Learner Qualities are ‘life skills’. These qualities are essential for success at school and in everyday life.

By learning these behaviours now, students will be preparing for a successful future throughout their schooling and beyond.

At South Coogee Public School, Effective Learners:

The Learning Process

The Learning Process is another essential learning strategy that is intentionally taught to help students solve problems, make informed decisions, answer questions and investigate possible solutions.

We live in a knowledge era. It is critical that students learn to connect their knowledge in order to find new and different ways to solve future issues.

The Learning Pit

The focus on developing learners’ capacity to thrive in tricky situations – knowing what to do when they don’t know what to do – is highly vlaued. Teachers explicitly teach learners strategies to get out of ‘I’m stuck’ situations. Being stuck is celebrated and harnessed as an opportunity to build each individual’s learning capacity.

Mindset is a simple idea discovered by world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Dr Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success. According to Dr Dweck if we teach to the Growth Mindset theory, we develop in our students the belief that their basic abilities, such as intelligences or talents, can be developed through dedication and hard work. This is very empowering for a young person.

People with a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success—without effort.

In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.

In this talk, Dr Carol Dweck describes two ways to think about a problem that’s slightly too hard for you to solve. Are you not smart enough to solve it … or have you just not solved it yet?

Watch the video on TED