1. Designing the curriculum to enable learners to commit to their learning
It is useful to start with asking people what do they think the levels of commitment to learning and what is their evidence base for that
Commitment to Learn is defined in a variety of ways:
‘Motivation to Learn is characterized by long term, quality involvement in learning and commitment to the process of learning’ (Carole Ames 1990)
Motivation to Learn is a competence acquired through general experience but stimulated most directly through modeling, communication of expectations and direct instruction or socialization by significant others (especially teachers and parents) Jere Brophy (1987)
‘Effort’ can be defined as an intentional act that increases commitment to the task

2. What do want to achieve?
We want many more young people who are engaged,
motivated and committed to their learning because they…
are excited and inspired by learning and want to get involved with it
are successful learners in that they know how to learn
are confident enough to persist with learning even when it seems too hard or uninteresting
have aspirations to succeed and achieve high-quality outcomes and high standards
This is based on the ‘Big picture’ and the new secondary curriculum.

3. What do we want to achieve?
We want fewer learners who are…
Disenchanted – they can’t see the point of what they are being asked to learn and do. It doesn’t reflect their interests, specialisms or needs
Disengaged – they are switched off from learning and try to avoid getting involved often because they see themselves as failures
Disappeared – around 450,000 learners are absent from school each day – often because they don’t like the experiences they have there
Disappointed – they go to school but are bored by the work and don’t feel they are achieving as much as they could
This programme is not just looking at those who leave school at the first opportunity or those who are absent from school.
We are focused on those young people who often go to school but are not as involved in learning as we wish them to be.
Many students who go to college and University still have a great disappointment in formal learning as an activity
If you talk to many adults about their school life they see that they did not reach any where near their potential.

4. What helps young people commit to learning?
Belief by everyone that commitment is more important than ‘talent’
Teachers who build good relationships
School recognition of effort and hard work
Approaches to learning that involve students
Support at a variety of stages
Schools using peer pressure in a positive way
Good focused family support for learning
A good programme of personal skills
Use of inspirational figures
Good assessment that supports learning
This is based on research with students teachers and families about commitment to learning.
Students were very clear what supported commitment

5. Beliefs can have a negative effect on commitment to learning...
Carol Dweck has identified growth and fixed mindsets
Most learning takes place in schools
Learning is just about assessment
Learners with fixed mindsets already have a picture of what they can do and tend to avoid anything outside what they believe they can do
The lack of connection with the world outside schools leads to a belief that learning is both irrelevant or unsustainable
The belief that learning is what is measured, judged or tested by others limits commitment
Carol Dweck is an American Psychologists who has done a lot of work on commitment and she talks about the importance of growth mindsets where young people and their families and teachers believe that effort can build on their talent which is not a fixed thing.
Carol Dweck’s main work has been on mindsets and how fixed mindsets for high or low achieving students will stop them progressing. If they believe that talent, intelligence, mathematical or artistic talent is fixed and cannot be changed with effort and application - they will not improve.
In our research it was a surprise to see how many young people did not see their learning as something that took place beyond the school walls and the formal subjects. Those who had a clear idea of learning as something that took place in a variety of settings were much more committed to their learning.

6. It’s attitude not aptitude that causes failure
Having a Commitment to Learning is one of the major reasons why people succeed
many students don’t achieve what they are capable of
many adults look back on school as a time of underachievement
‘I don’t know what career I want, but I do know what sort of person I want to be’
‘I want to choose who to learn with and how I learn’
‘Relationships are very important in the learning. I want teachers to show me respect’
‘I have started at a new school and its very different. I am more motivated because of my time with cadets’
This slide gives some of the most powerful views from students.
A very clear focus on the person they wanted to become rather than a specific job was a clear picture we had from many young people and when they could see the skills and personal qualities they were achieving they had a greater focus and commitment.
It was not a surprise how important relationships were in school.

7. The influence of teachers on learners’ commitment
“Teachers have to be enthusiastic and try to motivate you and make things relevant.”
“They have to answer your questions, have high expectations but also scaffold your work.”
“I want teachers to listen, not be patronising . I want teachers you can talk to and who can control the class.”
Real and authentic relationships with teachers were critical

8. Teachers and relationships with teachers are important
What can you do to ensure teachers have a positive impact on commitment?
provide training for teachers about how to motivate learners
train teachers in building learning relationships with learners
design your timetable so that teachers can build relationships....more frequent contact for longer periods of time
build in time for people to get to know each other… summer camps / team building
design rooms for good relationships
support teachers in developing emotional intelligence
In our research we looked at how much time teachers in training spent on techniques of motivation and compared this to those who trained to be sports coaches. It was a shock to see how big the gap was between the two training programmes.
Many schools do not set up their curriculum and their school day/year to enable strong relationships.

9. The impact of recognition on commitment
Young people need their diverse interests, specialisms and needs recognised. They need to be valued for who they are more, or as much as what they do and achieve
“We hate it:
- when we can’t see the big picture or why you are learning something.”
if you can’t see any progress and sense of improvement.”
- if people put you down - it takes away all your motivation”
“You need people to give you genuine praise.”
Parents and teachers should recognise learners’ personal growth and development.
The need for young people to see the progress they are making and the big picture of their personal and learning skills and how each subject fits into this picture.

10. Seeing the big picture supports commitment
Ensure all students:
see the purpose of learning – it makes sense to them
identify transferable skills – it connects with other learning
can see how the learning relates to business skills, community skills – is useful to their present and future lives
have the opportunity to apply skills to ‘real’ situations – is part of the real world for them
Ask your students about the big picture of their development.

11. Valid recognition supports commitment
Commitment to learning is supported when a learner
gets deserved and authentic praise for their effort and attitude as well as their achievement
has their work marked regularly and in a positive way
receives recognition for who they are and what they achieve outside of school as well as in school
It is also very powerful if parents are given the chance to celebrate their children’s attitude and effort and well as their achievements
Teachers often underestimate the importance of real recognition and praise. It is one of the most important aspects of a school. The importance of involving families is also critical.

12. Use approaches to learning that increase learners’ commitment
“You need to believe that you can be or become a successful learner.”
“We want to take more responsibility in planning our learning.... We want to co-construct our activities. We want teachers to connect learning to life outside school.”
‘I want to choose who to learn with and how to learn and different ways of learning.’
“Sometimes when you have a lesson that is just copying or listening, you just switch off and wait till the next lesson.”
The best schools use co-construction of learning by having students really involved in the way that the learning is constructed and giving the opportunity for students to be involved in research on learning. The need for high quality teaching is vital and the construction of opportunity for discovery and genuine learning.
“We want to see that we are developing as people and have that assessed. I want to know that my personal qualities are improving.”
“Teachers need to set things up for you to learn rather than tell you the answers.”

13. Design the Learning to support commitment
Approaches to designing the learning:
write the teaching/learning policy with learners to ensure it is relevant and coherent and meets their diverse interests, specialisms and needs
make sure lessons are an appropriate length for learning
encourage co-construction of the learning where learners have a say in what to learn next and how to learn it
be aware of what they really learn and have already learnt and build on it

14. Support
“You need support for your time management and to help you prioritise and see your development.”
“You often don’t have an idea of a future career but you do know what sort of person you want to be...”
“You need someone who can talk to you about learning and coach you in work.”
“You should have the opportunity to be involved in the world of work and see universities and places of work.”
‘You have someone who you could talk to if things were difficult but you need someone who will be your champion whatever happens’
The level of support in schools has improved in many ways and our students were able to identify the work of mentors and tutors in supporting their work. The need for students to have a champion in the school was very important. Every student has someone they can talk to if they are in trouble but many could not identify a champion.
“Sometimes you feel as though you have no one to fight your case or take up your cause.”

15. How can you provide support in your school?
Ensure:
each student has a person who is their champion
all staff support learning
out of hours activity is supportive of learning and is not just activity
you focus on the development of students as people
you provide careers education that does not confuse students who have no clear idea of their career
work experience takes students beyond their comfort zone and family experience
all your students get opportunity to visit universities and places of work
PLTs are an important part of what you want your learners to achieve
The best extended schools have not just provided out of hours of activity but they have used that time to support learning and ensure that young people learned skills that would support their development.
Many students involved in the research were critical of careers education and they found it a pressure to be asked what career they wanted to follow. They were very keen to knowhow they were developing as people.
The best work experience that took young people out of their comfort zone. Much of the work experience that we researched did not provide real challenge and the young person often worked with their uncle or in something that did not make their family think of other career options

16. Make positive use of peer group pressure to develop commitment
“Commitment can be undermined if people make fun of you or if you are bullied.”
Schools need to use peer group pressure and push students into supporting each other because deep down all want to do well.
Your friends can be supportive if the school is open and teachers encourage peer assessment and team work
“If you have responsibility at home you can take a role in school of supporting your friends more seriously.”
“You need to recognise who in your friends have certain skills that can support you.”
“Teachers have to create an atmosphere in the classroom where we can all support each other.”
Students showed surprise that schools did not use peer pressure in a positive way.
The best schools made it part of their ethos to challenge and use peer pressure to support learning.. They had self and peer assessment from year 7 and they often talked about the responsibility of young people to support the learning of others.
The best teachers made this peer pressure part of their classroom ethos.

17. Make positive use of peer group pressure
ensure all students have the opportunity for self and peer assessment
remind students of their responsibility to support each other to do well
create a team ethos in the school and classrooms
acknowledge the responsibility many students have out of school and let them take the same level of responsibility in school
acknowledge the individual strengths and skills of different students and show you value them equally

18. Family support
There should be clear opportunities for parents to be more involved not just in school, but in learning .. People believe that teenagers don’t want parents involved but when you do well they are the people you want to tell.
“Parents often don’t know how to support you..... Schools should have lessons for parents.”
“Sometimes parents put too much pressure on you because they did not do well at school.”
“Mum used to say,’ do your best’ but that wasn’t much use. I did not now how to do my best. “
“Sometimes your Mum and Dad have higher expectations than the school.”
“I feel sorry for kids who do not have parents who can give them a lift or take them to places to help their learning.”
Many schools have improved their parental involvement in schools but students did point out that often parents were not encouraged to be involved in learning.
The best extended schools had opportunity for parents and young people to learn together around a range of leisure activity which helped parents and their children to discuss learning and how it is best done.

19. Involve families in learning increases commitment
ensure all families know how to be involved in learning
have joint learning sessions with parent / child in the same class
have a bring your parent to school day
let parents into school for learning as well as reporting
Many students felt schools should have lessons for parents and their children to discuss ways in which they could support learning and ways in which young people could access the skills of their parents.

20. Personal skills
Schools should assess pupils in their personal learning and thinking skills and show what are the next steps to develop those skills.
“It is easier to commit to learning if you have developed confidence, self belief and will power. You need to be ‘inner cocky’.”
“Ability to focus is important.”
“You have to be brave.”
“You need trust in the school and at home.”
“You want to see that you are improving as a person.”
“You need time to do the things that you are good at so you can build your confidence.”
“Schools need to encourage students to develop these skills.”
“Fear of failure is something that helps you but also makes you feel panic.”
“If you have failed in the past you feel as though you will always fail.”
Personal skills are vital to student success.

21. Inspiration
- You need examples of success in your family and from sport and life
- Schools should highlight past students who have done well
- If no one in your family has done well at school it is very difficult to do well
- You need to develop a sense of what sort of person you want to be
- You need stories and pictures to inspire you
All students in our research felt that inspiration was important. These inspirations could be from past students, sports people, and international heroes and figures from history.

22. Inspire your students use learning heroes in school
make students aware of each member of staff’s commitment to learning
use past students who have had success to come and talk to students or tell the story of their success on the school website
in assemblies and lessons use inspirational figures
offer adults in our community the opportunity to re enter education

23. Create an environment to have a positive effect on learning
Ensure:
the school has clear inspirational messages on posters screen savers etc
students have a clear idea of what learning looks like in your school
the building is welcoming and inspiring
the equipment is fit for purpose to support learning and commitment
The positive environment in which students support each other and care for each others was critical to any commitment.

24. Build an ethos of commitment
build an ethos that is aspirational and supportive of students – expect your learners to achieve and support them to do their best
listen to how students feel about school and their learning - and take action on their comments and suggestions
ensure students are deeply involved in the school and have a say in how it is run
The best schools listen very carefully to what students are saying and take their views into account when planning.

25. Assessment Learners think assessment is important!!
Learners want assessment to be ongoing and part of the learning process. They want to be involved in it.
They want to be clear about what is being tested and how well they are doing
They want tests to be at the point when they feel ready to be tested.

26. Use approaches to assessment that build commitment to learning
Learners are keen to be assessed and it helps their commitment to learning if…
they need to know the purpose of assessment
they receive feedback on their work very quickly
they have the detail of what they need to do to get the next level
can be assessed when they are ready
they choose the type of assessment
they can undertake peer and self assessment has a positive effect on commitment
Assessment was very popular with students if it fitted with their learning. They gave examples of assessment in sport and music where they could take the exams when they were ready. They also found some types of assessment meaningless and undermining of their commitment. All had found self and peer assessment very positive especially in areas like Art, drama and verbal presentations in English.