Ben Kestner

Andy Burnham, MP is the Labour party Shadow Education Secretary. (UK)

I would like to focus on some key points Andy Burnham made in his speech on 12^th July entitled “21^st Century Learning- What do young people need to succeed in the Modern World?”

He talked about the essential qualities young people will need to “navigate the modern world”, without going into much detail about what these qualities are. There is some great work being done at the moment with curriculum development particularly with ‘competency based’ or ‘skills based’ curricula such as the RSA ‘Opening Minds’ curriculum or, dare I say it, the excellent competency based framework I am developing with a wonderful team of educators at my current school. These competences become a foundation and a framework for all learning within school for all those experiencing it. The competencies we are focusing our curriculum on are :

Global Connector, Creator, Communicator, Collaborator, Explorer, Thinker and Knower of Self.

By focusing on these areas across the whole curriculum we give the learning community understanding of key skills they will need throughout their lives.

I would like to see schools take on a framework like this in primary school and continue into Middle (KS3) and High (KS4), making sure that all areas of the curriculum are focusing on these skills. One way that competencies can be explored is through another area which Andy Burnham focused on in his speech, work related learning.

Work related learning should not be seen as an option for the non-‘high flyers’ in schools, but rather for all students as a way of experiencing real life. Work experience would not dilute academic achievement (however you define this) but would enhance the curriculum they are experiencing. Work experience, in the past has often been a waste of time for students who complete two weeks work making coffee in an office and then return to their normal school routine. I would like to see students pursing an area of interest through work related opportunities and then continuing exploring when they get back to school through inquiry based, self driven projects and investigations. Schools will also need to focus on forming much closer links with local businesses and industries. A two way partnership where students realize their understanding of the key competencies outside the school environment.

Look further at excellent, proven schemes such as the Big Picture Organization’s Learning Though Internship programs for evidence of how these opportunities can transform student’s lives and help them to pursue passion.

Schools would need to invest in staffing for projects like this. Dedicated staff, whose sole responsibility is to forge links with local business and help provide opportunities within the school’s surrounding area.

Students exposed to a competency based curriculum, combined with real world learning will in my opinion be really connected to the 21^st century world Burnham talks about. Real world learning relates to the child’s world and the world that they are in as well as preparing them for a world which we don’t exactly know will be like.

A competency based curriculum does not only focus on the child, but becomes a part of who every adult in the school is. Teachers need to be held accountable for quality teaching and the competencies apply to them too. This can be a very useful tool for professional evaluation and for deciding on professional development opportunities for staff.

I applaud Andy Burnham’s reference to creativity, the Arts and Sports, but am saddened that yet again the focus of support using the Arts and Sport as a means of helping students achieve more in their ‘core’ academic subjects. ALLsubjects or disciplines are core. They are all inextricably connected and this needs to be reflected in a quality curriculum.

I also agree with Burnham with his focus on reforming league tables and agree that a form of value added is important. Value added at the very least, looks at the progress of the individual child. But used as a tool for teacher and school evaluation, can lead to non-relevant standardized tests being use to gauge this value which is (or is not) being added. See article by Alfie Kohn on Value Added.

Andy Burnham also talks about how employability is not all we are preparing our students for. We want students to understand the world around them and the people around them, to understand themselves and to be critical in thought and caring in action.

Overall I very much liked what I read in the speech. I think he missed the opportunity to talk about creativity and design thinking combined with 21^st century tools for learning in schools as a critical part of what students need to succeed in the modern world.

More about the Competency based curriculum being developed by my school soon.

Follow the Tedxkids Brussels event live all day on http://www.tedxkids.be

Great line up. Also follow students blog: www.stjohnstedxkids.wordpress.com and twitter @stjohnstedxkids

Tan Lee will be here.

Here’s a blog created by some students in our middle school to generate excitement for the Tedx event to be held at our school on June 1st

St. John’s Tedx blog

Please comment!

Getting Ready for Tedxkids at St. John’s International School. If you are around on June the first book a ticket!

www.tedxkids.be

“…………..When given opportunities for curiosity, fascination, and discovery, your insights amaze me. When I offer you occasions to be brave in thought and expression, I am impressed by your abilities. You are smart, and you know that you could never tell the world who you are with a No. 2 pencil within the tight constraints of an itty-bitty bubble….”

Click on link below for full letter:

http://bitURL.net/bfce

Great Event held at St. John’s International School, Belgium. June 1st. Don’t miss it.

TedxKids Brussels

http://www.facebook.com/tedxkidsbrussels?sk=wall#!/tedxkidsbrussels

Reduce the Number of Students a Teacher Sees

The first step in this process is for administrators to work on reducing the number of students a teacher gets to see in any given week. If a teacher sees 240 plus students a week, I’m not sure if she or he can possibly know their kids. What’s the perfect number? I don’t know. I guess 1-1 teacher student ratio isn’t achievable or desirable within a school system, but anything over 80, I would say is too much.

Metacognition as an Essential part of the Curriculum

Once over this hurdle then we need to identify what kind of learners our students are. The student needs to be able to look at her or his own learning style and work out how they work best in a given circumstance. We can support this process by making room for metacognition in our curriculum. Not just make room, in my opinion, but make metacognition an integral part of the curriculum. Knowing about knowing. Teachers can use many tools and activities for helping students identify their learning style. The teachers and students can then work out when and how they use particular strategies for learning.

Getting to know the Student’s Individual Interests

As well as having a good idea of each of their students’ learning needs, the teacher also needs to get to know their students. What are their interests outside school, how many siblings do they have, what makes them happy, what makes them frustrated etc. Once this is known we can as educators, connect to those interests and use real life examples and experiences in their learning. Not just real world in terms of relating to the world around them, but real world in the way the learning connects with what the student finds interesting.

Each child is different. Each will have their own learning styles and interests. This makes designing learning experiences very difficult for a teacher. Of course, in a class of 25 students or more, a teacher will need to generalize. She or he cannot possibly plan their classes around each individual student in a situation like that. But what the teacher can do is help the student to learn about themselves and to take control and responsibility for some of their own learning. This is after all our goal. To help students become independent learners for the rest of their lives.

This Year’s Theme:

“Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women”