Learning to Learn Project Findings

Findings 2010

CONCEPTUALISING L2L

Seven key themes have become apparent while analysing the data and speaking to teachers across the two projects. These seven themes are represented in the diagram and are fundamental to our definition of Learning to Learn.

The two concentric circles indicate the core aspects and the facilitatory features we believe to be essential in developing a Learning to Learn approach (the inner and outer circles respectively). The three aspects in the centre circle have an active relationship with each other and we believe that each has to be present for L2L to take place in a meaningful way.

In italics are aspects of these seven aspects that we think are different in this project to other L2L approaches on the market.

CORE ASPECTS

Metacognition : a privileging of reflective and strategic thinking about learning that supports content knowledge and skills development;

Enquiry : a standpoint which looks outwards and inwards, questioning and contextualising perceived understandings of learning and teaching; and

Community : a focus on the role of a democratic network where the learning from enquiry can be made public; knowledge and processes are criticised, validated or extended by all participants.

FACILTATORY FEATURES

Pedagogy : the process of importing, customising and evaluating new approaches to teaching. A focus on learning that includes the teacher as learner; emphasising democracy and privileging authentic learning conversations, facilitating motivation and engagement and improving the quality of experience and outcomes for all learners;

Tools : support and challenge pedagogy through the enquiry process. They are approaches and techniques that change the way in which learning is experienced and understood by students and teachers. They offer opportunities for new ways to extend, assess, focus on or talk about learning and in the process they provoke new questions;

Learner action : developing learners’ capacity to be self-aware, to understand their own learning process and then encouraging them to use this understanding by being both proactive and reactive in different situations. Emphasising the role of the learner: to be engaged, to have a say and to be responsible for their own and others’ learning; and

Professional learning : making explicit and giving importance to teacher’s knowledge of what works in learning, expecting rigour and validity from all educational research and policy, weaving together formal and informal ways of knowing, making use of collaborative and individual experience to change classroom and school cultures.

We are convinced that these seven elements can be applied to all learners in the project whether they are adult or child, and affiliated with a school or college, the Campaign for Learning or the university team.

IMPACT

The majority of learners were seen to have positive, complex understanding of learning as spanning all aspects of life. There is evidence of L2L approaches changing understandings of learning, facilitating the development of metacognition and improving academic self concept.

Attainment outcomes were mixed. In L2L secondary schools just less than half gained higher than predicted GCSE pass rates (this was similar to the matched schools); however the majority of secondary schools involved since Phase 3 attained above predicted levels indicating that a sustained commitment to an approach like L2L will reap dividends. In primary schools, the data was also varied. No parallel trend relating time in the project to attainment data increases was found; however the L2L primary schools outperformed the matched sample.

The academic self concept of students involved in both project have been evidenced as increasing, particularly in relation to academic factors and especially reading. There were some gender differences which suggest that emphasis is needed on learning skills for boys, whereas girls need focus on self concept.

Learners in schools described a complex, non-linear progression to learning that relied on reflective and strategic thinking to achieve short and long term goals: reflection was seen as important for supporting awareness of learning, but too much reflection and not enough action was seen as counterproductive.

College students were not as confident in their dispositions towards learning. At this stage in the FE Project they were seen to hold understandings that were relatively simple and passive in orientation. However this could be due to the relatively early stage of the L2L project in the FE context and certainly hints at potential to narrow the gap between FE and school students in the future.

Learners’ metacognition, which has been shown to be a good indicator of academic gains, was seen to be high in Key Stage 1 and 2 (younger than expected), but tailed off significantly in secondary schools. There were no simple relationships between age and gender, but the reduction in reflective and strategic thinking in Key Stage 3 and 4 seems to indicate some structural and situation factors which are detrimental.

Teachers in the project see themselves as learners and have expressed enthusiasm in thinking differently about their professional role and being reflective and strategic while enquiring into what works in their context. Direct parallels between skills and dispositions fostered in students by the L2L approach and those they need to develop and challenge in their own learning. In FE Colleges this has been particularly liberating for participant teachers.

Being part of a community of practice that spans different geographical areas and education sectors has been an important aspect of professional learning for the teachers. The dissonance created by talking about and sharing experiences with practitioners who have a range of perspectives has been highly productive in moving thinking about learning forwards.

Organisations in the project are more joined up in their strategic thinking. They are seeing and acting on potential in formal structures to facilitate cultural change.

Phase 3 - May 2007

Learners

Consultation with learners has been an import part of the project, by the end of the project all schools were consulting pupils as an important part of their case studies.

• Pupils involved in the project were overwhelmingly positive about L2L. They were more motivated to learn and more aware of learning as a process.

• Development of a vocabulary for talk about learning was apparent in L2L classes and there was progression in this language development linked with time in the project and with pupil age.

• Pupils provided evidence of knowledge and understanding of their own learning. They not only understand the learning process but can also be skillful in the way that they approach learning across different contexts.

• Quantitative data on pupil attitudes showed pupils to have positive dispositions to learning and that this was more likely where a school-wide approach to L2L was adopted.

• In all of the schools the teachers believed that L2L had a positive impact on learning; the majority of schools (65%) had research evidence of the impact of L2L on assessed and tested attainment at group and class level, though this was not necessarily evident in school level results.

Teachers and Teaching

The positive impact of the project on the professional development of the teachers involved was clearly demonstrated.

• Teachers valued the professional autonomy that the enquiry based approach to action research which the project afforded in terms of the investigation of L2L approaches as well as their own practice.

• Teachers have been consistently positive about involvement in the L2L project and have expressed increased motivation for their work.

• Adopting L2L approaches has allowed teachers the capacity to manage change effectively, approaching new approaches and policy developments from a critical and professional standpoint.

Schools

There has been great variety in the impact of the project on schools. This has depended on the scale of the project and the profile of the lead researchers.

• The culture and structures of some schools have a better fit with the implementation of Learning to Learn.

• The success of L2L in schools has depended on the enthusiasm and commitment of key individuals, although these people are not necessarily in typical school leadership roles.

• In some schools L2L has provided a set of practices which have encouraged certain types of leadership and CPD and development processes for all staff.

Wider Community

In many schools the project has extended beyond the school to include the wider community and the increased involvement of parents understanding learning in schools.

• Four schools focused their research explicitly on innovations for consulting and involving parents’ interaction and involvement related to learning.

• L2L approaches have improved relationships and communication about learning between school and home.

Impact of ICT

ICT has supported the professional work of the teachers and the development of L2L in classrooms.

• ICT was integral to the research approach

• It was the focus of a number of school based investigations where it was found to contribute to effective teaching and learning.

• ICT can support pupils’ reflections on learning as they develop their understanding and develop their learning capabilities.

What is meant by the term Learning to Learn?

Throughout the project there has been consultation about what is meant by the term “Learning to Learn”.

• L2L is not simply a set of activities or techniques which can be implemented in schools, rather it is range of interlocking methods and approaches that can be successful in supporting the development of effective learning habits and dispositions.

• An approach based on collaborative professional enquiry into L2L through the use of practical classroom strategies is clearly supportive of such development.