Advancing Learning Within and Beyond the Classroom

Resetting Pedagogy for the Online Era

Bradley Lightbody

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780367677770
• eBook ISBN: 9781000476262
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This insightful book sets out five core elements of good practice that will lead to great teaching and learning both within and beyond the classroom. It looks in detail at the learning process and how teachers can support this through a rich mix of teacher-led direct instruction and collaborative and online learning, both flipped and blended.

Covering five major themes to reset our pedagogy, Advancing Learning Within and Beyond the Classroom presents the key evidence about 'what works' alongside practical activities to adopt or adapt to enhance your own practice. The chapters cover:

• the application of precise curricular knowledge
• the presentation of key questions to guide, check and deepen learning
• elaboration to build deep understanding
  
• personalised feedback to accelerate progress
• the introduction of regular challenges to drive high learning outcomes and relevant commercial and world-class standards

Including a comprehensive overview of evidence-based practice and a wealth of practical strategies to drive engagement and productive learning, this is essential reading for all teachers working in secondary schools or further education.

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CHAPTER 11

Personal development

DOI: 10.4324/9781003132783-15

Harari posed the following thought-provoking question in 2018:

A baby born today will be thirty-something in 2050. If all goes well that baby will still be around in 2100 and might even be an active citizen of the twenty-second century. What should we teach that baby that will help him or her to survive and flourish in the world of 2050 or of the twenty-second century?¹

His question reflects the rapid transformation of work and society as AI transforms everything it touches. The pace of change has prompted an international re-evaluation of how well existing education systems equip young people for the future. The emerging consensus arising from the world’s highest performing education systems Singapore, Finland, South Korea, Shanghai and Canada is the need for a shift from academic exam grades as the measure of educational success to a measure within the development of more holistic curricula focussed on overall personal development. Singapore is often celebrated for the excellence of its education system in recognition of its regular dominance of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) international rankings. In the past it has been associated with traditional classroom practice but its current national education strategy, ‘Desired Outcomes of Education’ has replaced examination grades as the primary measure of personal progress with more holistic goals as follows:

At the end of secondary school students should:

• Have moral integrity.
• Believe in their abilities and be able to adapt to change.
• Be able to work in teams and show empathy for others.
• Be creative and have an inquiring mind.
• Be able to appreciate diverse views and communicate effectively.
• Take responsibility for their own learning.
• Enjoy physical activities and appreciate the arts.
• Believe in Singapore and understand what matters to our country.

At the end of post-secondary education students should:

• Have moral courage to stand up for what is right.
• Be resilient in the face of adversity.
• Be able to collaborate across cultures and be socially responsible.
• Be innovative and enterprising.
• Be able to think critically and communicate persuasively.
• Be purposeful in pursuit of excellence.
• Pursue a healthy lifestyle and have an appreciation for aesthetics.
• Be proud to be Singaporean and understand Singapore in relation to the world.²

South Korea has similarly announced a drive to replace rote learning and memorisation of facts for examinations with a focus on creativity, innovation and personalisation.³ Finland has defined personal development as the overriding goal of education:

the objective of general upper secondary education is to promote the development of students into good, balanced and civilised individuals and members of society and to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for further studies, working life, their personal interests and the diverse development of their personalities.⁴

Within the UK the Chief Inspector of Ofsted, Amanda Spielman, has equally emphasised the importance of a shift away from exam results as the hallmark of educational success:

One of the areas that I think we sometimes lose sight of is the real substance of education. Not the exam grades or the progress scores, important though they are, but instead the real meat of what is taught in our schools and colleges: the curriculum. To understand the substance of education we have to understand the objectives. Yes, education does have to prepare young people to succeed in life and make their contribution in the labour market. But to reduce education down to this kind of functionalist level is rather wretched. Because education should be about broadening minds, enriching communities and advancing civilisation.⁵

Personal development focus

This reappraisal of educational priorities was reflected in the UK by the publication of the Life Lessons report by the Sutton Trust, “it is easy to focus on academic results as the primary consideration for a young person’s success in life. But education is, and should be, about a lot more than that.”⁶ The report identified that 94% of employers thought skills were as important, if not more important, than academic or vocational qualifications: “With increasing automation, it is the ability to show flexibility, creativity and teamwork that are increasingly becoming just as valuable, if not more valuable, than academic knowledge and technical skills.”⁷ The much earlier 2009 government commissioned report, ‘Unleashing Aspirations,’ similarly reported:

One survey showed that soft skills such as adaptability were more valuable to employers than education or qualifications… . Employers may then give increased attention to other indicators in making employment decisions … social and people skills, personal style, adaptability, team working and other softer skills have become more important to employers, driven in part by the growth in service sector employment.⁸

The stumbling block is the primacy accorded to examination results as the principal measure of educational and personal success. The headmaster of Eton College, Tony Little, commented in 2015 “the message we have given our children is that assessments and exams are no longer milestones on a journey, but the sole purpose and destination.”⁹ More recently in September 2020 the current headmaster of Eton, Simon Henderson, in common with many other leading UK academics, signed a letter to the Sunday Times recommending an end to the current system of single-subject General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) examinations. The letter criticised the narrow repetition of basic factual knowledge and the absence of opportunities to build and develop personal skills: “no credit is given to those who are skilled communicators, thoughtful team players, clever problem solvers or creative thinkers; in short the stuff that helps you thrive in life and makes you invaluable to employers.”¹⁰ The future of learning envisaged is not so much about leaving school with a set of neatly wrapped parcels of knowledge but helping each individual to pursue and develop their personal passion whether academic study, vocational skills, sporting prowess, artistic talents, musical ability, etc. The Sutton Trust specified the importance of personal fulfilment and an education for life rather than simply employment:

Adult life requires a range of skills in order for people to flourish, both in the workplace and in their daily lives, from the confidence and motivation to seek challenges and complete tasks, to the interpersonal skills that aid teamwork and other social interactions. These essential life skills are crucial to people achieving their potential, and therefore it is natural that they should also lie at the heart of our education system.¹¹

Given the knowledge that 30% to 40% of each cohort underachieve, it is important for schools and colleges to seek to foster an intrinsic interest in learning.

Why learn

The answer to the question ‘Why learn’ is commonly expressed in utilitarian terms i.e. the prospect of securing a future high salary. Universities regularly make this a feature of their degree publicity, and career advisers often highlight the high starting salaries commanded by STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) as opposed to humanities graduates. However, students tend to follow their hearts rather their heads and are motivated not by the prospect of financial reward but what they find enjoyable, interesting and stimulating. They instinctively lean towards intrinsic rather than extrinsic reward and this tendency is often reflected in student surveys. In 2020 the Pearson Global Learner Survey revealed that the goal “to have a better life” was ranked first by the majority of the respondents as their primary motivation for engaging in education. The goal “to feel confident” was ranked third and the goal “to create well-rounded citizens” was ranked fifth and placed above the goal “to earn more money” which was relegated to sixth position.¹² The survey results evince Abraham Maslow’s (1908–1970) hierarchy of needs, which identified self-actualisation as the highest goal of personal development.

Maslow’s hierarchy

Maslow’ hierarchy, first published in 1943, identified five needs for personal well-being: physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualisation. Whereas the robustness of Maslow’s evidence base has been questioned and particularly how far each step is dependent on the preceding step, his concept of self-actualisation remains widely endorsed as the highest reach of self-development. However, it should be noted that Maslow qualified his research in his final years. He singled out the values of mysticism and spiritualism as the very pinnacle of self-actualisation and worthy of separate categorisation as ‘self-transcendence.’ Maslow was not responsible for the famous triangle, but it has a new peak. The overall import is that our actions are driven not by the anticipation of reward but by the personal satisfaction derived from engagement alone. Witness any young person who enjoys a particular hobby, sports or social activity, and they will devote hour after hour to the pursuit of karate, swimming, tap-dancing, Fortnite, playing the clarinet, painting, football, drama, Minecraft, keeping tropical fish, etc. What drives them is an intrinsic interest – an inner drive – and commitment to that hobby, sport or social activity. This intrinsic interest can produce sports stars, pop stars, inventors, writers, artists, actors, entrepreneurs, etc. In the case of Mya-Rose Craig, an early childhood experience of birdwatching ignited a passion for birds and their habitats. At age twelve Craig began blogging her interest and observations as ‘Birdgirl’ and topped 4 million views. In 2020 the blog was converted into a book and at aged eighteen Craig found herself in the centre of a bidding war between fourteen different publishers. Coming from a mixed heritage background, Craig also established ‘Black2nature’ as a campaign to attract more underrepresented ethnic minority groups into countryside pursuits and associated environmental activism. Craig is far from alone in the pursuit of a personal interest, as illustrated by the further examples in Chapter 15, and they collectively reveal the value and transformational impact of intrinsic motivation.

Promoting intrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation is associated with the highest learning outcomes because it drives effort and sustained application. Our goal is to trigger an intrinsic interest in academic and/or vocational study i.e. why study English or history or biology or why pursue a career in caterin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Preface
• Knowledge
• Questions
• Elaboration
• Feedback
• Challenge
• Index