Learning, Identity and Place Ruth Deakin Crick University of Bristol Graduate School of Education

RSA Seminar Series: 2005/6 Opening Minds: Education for 21 st Century, RSA. BA Honours Degree, Newcastle University ELLI Research and Development programme at University of Bristol Enterprise Curriculum at London Academy Competency based curriculum at St John’s Marlborough

Research and Development Projects 20 gifted and talented 16 year olds at St Johns 15 young people not in education, employment or training 15 young offenders Undergraduates on a BA honours course in Knowledge and Society

Policy framework Personalisation Every Child Matters Well being Learning to learn Quality teaching Local solutions

Rationale The new technologies have changed the way human beings relate to the material world –Detachment v experience –Sense making v accumulating data –Knowledge v learning how to learn

Starting with the learning self –recognise the person of the learner, her intentionality, authority, relationships and story –allow these to initiate, shape and motivate the learning process –enable the learning to relate - and achieve a purpose of value - to the (accountable) world.

Such an approach is anchored in personal interest –(rather than didactic intent) starts with experience –(rather than opinion or theory) creates its own dynamic –(rather than following taught routines) relates and unites disciplines and domains –(rather than fragmenting them) Integrates values with learning –(rather than separating them) is reflexive on its process –(rather than concerned only with outcome) allows the outcome to derive from the process –(rather than pre-determine it)

The dynamics of a learner-driven enquiry 1.Personal Choice : concrete place/object 2.Observation - description 3.Generating questions 4.Uncovering Narratives 5.Mapping 6.Connecting with existing knowledge 7.Interface with curriculum requirements 8.Assessment - validation

Thinking and Learning Skills Choosing/deciding Observing/describing Wondering/interrogating Discovering/storying Navigating/mapping Spanning/connecting, Interacting/incorporating Reconciling, validating

The learning self Story Identity Hope Experience Tradition World views, culture and values

Personal power to learn Changing and learning Meaning making Critical curiosity Creativity Learning relationships Strategic awareness Resilience

Learning Outcomes Publicly valued and assessed knowledge and know how Qualifications, expert knowledge.

Publicly Valued Competencies Managing change Citizenship Problem solving Communication Assimilating technologies Managing own learning

Stations in the journey Identity Self Choice Voice Hope Story Personal power to learn Publicly valued competencies Publicly valued, assessed knowledge, skills understanding

Learning relationships: mentored movement of selective attention between self and text SELF Story, identity, hope embodied, contextualised personal power to learn, TEXT Publicly valued funds of knowledge Publicly valued competencies

Critical curiosity Or ‘detective zone.’ Asking questions and getting under the surface of things.

Creativity Or ‘springboard zone.’ Thinking around things Coming up with new ideas, sometimes a bit crazy! Trusting your hunches

Growing and learning Or ‘morphing zone’ Building ‘learning muscles’ Realizing you can get better at learning

Resilience Or ‘gritty zone’! Not giving up, even if it’s tough

Strategic Awareness Or ‘pilot zone’ Making ‘battle plans’ Thinking about how you are going to do something

Idea-Spinning! in the…. Jigsaw zone and the (Creativity) (Meaning Making) Springboard zone

Jess’s choice: Cheddar Gorge ‘I chose this person and place because it was the time in my life when things were just normal at home and it was just me, my mum and my brother and we were all happy. It makes me a bit sad because we don’t have times like that any more but also happy because we had a good day’

Questioning in the…. and the (Critical Curiosity) (Strategic Awareness) Detective zonePilot zone

Jess’s questions What will be there in 15 years? What was there before? How many people have been there? How was the gorge made? Have any famous people been there? What kind of people used to be there? Why do relationships matter?

Reflecting in the…. and the (Meaning Making) (Resilience) Jigsaw zone Gritty zone

Evaluating in the…. and the Morphing zone Team zone

Jess ‘It’s made me not so scared to learn other things,’ ‘It was a tiny little project and it spiraled into all these other things that were connected.’ ‘I didn’t think I could learn any more but now I believe you can.’ It’s not just about Cheddar Gorge, it’s about life stuff.’

Pedagogical tools for citizenship Connecting the personal to the public Engagement with a concrete place or object facilitates a learning encounter with the stories through which human communities make meaning and construct knowledge Core values are negotiated through story