Default-thinking is a significant problem in making changes to support future-oriented learning. Because school has been around for some time strong mental models dictate thinking and practice. Without the provision of time, support and encouragement to break-out of default thinking it will continue to prevail. I read a tweet from Australian teacher rock-star Eddie WooContinue reading "Default-thinking the enemy of design-mindset: 10 Steps to scaffold change."
Teachers as designers of learning: Step 1 Empathy
How might we support the individual student growth and achievement so that learning is personal and differentiated? Design thinking, a collaborative and participatory process, is useful in finding unique and creative solutions to complex problems. It provides a way for non-designers to co-design or co-create their way through a problem, shifting between convergent and divergentContinue reading "Teachers as designers of learning: Step 1 Empathy"
Teacher Agency: My journey from trained ‘technician’ to professional ‘designer’
Reading, reading, reading... this is the consuming pre-occupation of the PhD candidate. It consists of strategic choices, then inadvertently (or deliberately) taking rabbit holes that leads you away, before burrowing back on track again. One of these was the OECD project Future of Education and Skills 2030 that appeared in my Twitter feed. A suite ofContinue reading "Teacher Agency: My journey from trained ‘technician’ to professional ‘designer’"
Meet Sophie: Her future is our challenge.
This is Sophie. She’s an Aussie kid. I often talk about Sophie in my workshops. I want to help make learning and the learning environment relevant to Sophie’s today and tomorrow. What do I mean by ‘relevant’? It means 'appropriate to the current time, period, or circumstances'. For Sophie, it is looking at the opportunities,Continue reading "Meet Sophie: Her future is our challenge."
Relic or Really Important: Rethinking school routines, beliefs & practices
When I speak about culture I ask two questions: What do we think about school? What do we do about it? For example, if we view teaching as more monologue than dialogue we will arrange the learning environment to support the didactic teaching mode over discussion and group-based learning. Or, if we think that educationContinue reading "Relic or Really Important: Rethinking school routines, beliefs & practices"
Relic or really important? Challenging the relevance of current school culture, learning and design to today and tomorrow
Is it a relic or really important? I posed this question to a group of educators, encouraging them to take stock of what they think, see, hear and experience around them everyday. We can become desensitised to our environment and it seems part of human nature to hold onto elements of the past, rather thanContinue reading "Relic or really important? Challenging the relevance of current school culture, learning and design to today and tomorrow"
7 steps to differentiated learning through empathy: Walking in their shoes
Being able to differentiate learning is considered important for enabling engaged and empowered learners. Approaches such as project-based, problem-based and enquiry-based learning are vehicles that can support differentiation, but there is greater benefit when the design of learning is overlaid with empathy, seeking to gain an understanding of student motivation and concerns. This post containsContinue reading "7 steps to differentiated learning through empathy: Walking in their shoes"
Paradigm shift: from solo-teacher to teaching team
My professional focus is the future of learning and learning environments. I see that the design of the spaces where learning occurs, plays a significant part in providing the context for the education our students need today. The innovative learning environment (ILE) enables an array of opportunities for student learning, supporting a variety of learningContinue reading "Paradigm shift: from solo-teacher to teaching team"
Relic or really important: Should students call their teachers by their first name
“Sara", the student shouted down the corridor, "do you have a key to this classroom?” Often when I visit schools in Europe, we are hosted by students who show us around and tell us about their school. On this particular occasion, we faced a locked door. The student noticed the principal at the other endContinue reading "Relic or really important: Should students call their teachers by their first name"
Culture | Learning | Design Tours 2018-19
So glad you dropped by. Thanks for your interest professional study tours which I have been arranging and leading since 2011 in my work with SCIL, sharing the journey with more than 80 people across 10 tours in that time. These adventures are so much more than guided tours, but opportunities for professional dialogue, understandingContinue reading "Culture | Learning | Design Tours 2018-19"
culture | learning | design 