Reflecting on Where it is Best to Learn
In recent blog posts I have written about ISA’s guiding statements and how we use them - particularly why we chose to emphasise ‘kind and inclusive’ and what that may mean for us. What follows that phrase in our mission statement is the word, ‘reflective.’ Something I will spend some time on in this post.
‘Reflective’ is both part of our opening mission statement, and one of our values. It is a core principle of learning throughout ISA’s IB programmes (PYP, MYP and Diploma), where students first learn and then reflect on what and how they have learnt, increasing their effectiveness in acquiring new understanding in the future.
It is not just students who are encouraged to reflect; teachers are encouraged to think about student learning, so they can also adapt their teaching, to make it more effective.
And so for the school as a whole. We also regularly reflect on our ways of doing this. Last week, I mentioned our review of behaviour management, how we are involving students in giving their perspective. We have also been looking at ‘homework’, or as we prefer to call it ‘home learning’
It is one of the more controversial areas of schooling - especially for an international community, where opinions vary region to region, from ‘kids shouldn’t have any at’ to ‘I want my children to study more each evening.’ If school policies strive to please everyone, and are not grounded in principles and values, teachers will always be reacting.
ISA’s approach is informed by our understanding of learning, which can be broken down into various stages.
First is new learning. When students come across new knowledge, try out a new still or grapple with an unfamiliar idea it can be tiring, and having expert support on hand is important. As students get older and especially in their final two years, they become more independent in their learning, but generally this type of learning is best done in the classroom, and not as effective at home.
Next is consolidation of learning. This happens after a student has grasped an idea - for example the difference between regular and irregular verbs in French, and the various conjugations, or how to multiply by fractions. They now need to practice for mastery. This is usefully done at home; although such exercises can reveal what a student thought they understood, but didn’t - rather than soldier on, a student should talk to their teacher and ask for more in-school help.
Then there is reflection. New learning is essential, but if we don’t consolidate through practice, we can lose what we have learnt; reflection (metacognition) can turbo-charge our learning. At a basic level, it is just talking about what you did in class (this kind of awareness is powerful when done properly). When students get used to it, reflection can be done at home because it doesn’t require any specialist knowledge, except about yourself.
Learning is intrinsic to being human; as adults we may stop formal study, but we continue to think about what we do with the aim of getting better. We actively enjoy taking on new skills and discovering new things, signing up for cooking classes or watching documentaries. Home learning can also provide space for enrichment - for students to follow a passion or explore an idea provoked by something said in class but not fully part of the curriculum
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