Our focus is on designing an interdisciplinary Year 8 problem-solving unit between the English and Science departments. A key aim is to provide some significant choice for students, in a meaningful way, so that they take more ownership of their learning. We would like students to be readily able to connect knowledge across their subjects, we would like to see student achievement, engagement, and wellbeing enhanced through a mix of pedagogies, and we would like to see teachers developing confidence, competence and agility to reshape their practice. We have been talking a lot about learning dispositions and the explicit teaching of collaboration skills.
English and Science are planning a small bridging project with Year 7 Ignite-style presentations on the Solar System and persuasive techniques next year, so that teachers and students can prototype what this might look like on a larger scale in 2019. Checkpoints, documentation, project calendars, critique, and feedback rubrics feature strongly in the planning discussions. Managing the balance between providing staff with permission and support, and also providing a challenge for those who might benefit from it, is an interesting leadership learning curve. We also know that we need to include our “drifter” students in the planning process as we keep student agency, and their passions and interests at the forefront.
Our ELEVATE team members are also beginning to think about what broader off-shoot projects might emerge beyond 2019.
Thank you so much for sharing your ideas about thinking and learning, Cameron. Inspiring.