Adventures in Learning

I was recently asked to talk about something that has impacted on my teaching over the last couple of years.

At first I thought, “Yeah, no worries. I can do that.”

But it wasn’t as easy as I thought.

There’s been a lot of things that have helped to develop my teaching and it is hard to pin down one thing.

I thought about teaching science which I was previously not very confident about. My inquiry into SOLO taxonomy gave me a clearer idea of how learning can progress and be extended. The concept of See, Think, Wonder offered a great platform for introducing and expanding ideas. I thought about learning Mandarin with the children. I considered being part of the Flat Connections project last year or even working with Google docs and apps. My work as SENCo and the Sue Larkey course that I took part in have definitely enriched my teaching ….

But when I really reflected on what has made a difference, I found that there is a larger theme here that all of these things flow on from.

There was a time not so many years ago that I felt in a slump with teaching. My enthusiasm was waning and I didn’t feel as effective in my role as I once did. Then I met, and was fortunate enough to work with, some people who were passionate about learning - not just the children’s learning but their own. I think now that you cannot have one without the other.

They helped encourage me to try new things, move out of my comfort zone and exposed me to some very interesting schools of thought. I read articles, watched TED talks, took part in Twitter chats and VLN streams.

Reading about the Learning Pit, Growth Mindset and Action Learning helped me to value the importance of making mistakes as an opportunity to progress. My understanding of myself as a learner grew.

This fed through to my classroom practise and my interactions with the children. I would sit on the floor with the children and take part in Mandarin lessons. They would see me try and fail and laugh and try again. The Mandarin speakers in the class would kindly help me and I would accept that help gratefully.

I would explore the nature of science with the class and we would all put on our scientist’s faces and say, “I wonder.”

I would make mistakes when modelling writing and ask the children what to do.

I would jokingly say, “Should I cry and throw my pencil?”

They would always laugh and reply, “ No Andrea, you just keep trying.”

It became a saying in my class, not from me but generated by the children themselves, that school is for trying.

This was most evident for a particular child who was very anxious about trying. He was stuck and progress was limited as taking risks with his learning was unsettling for him. But eventually this child became the one leading the others with the mantra, “School is for trying.” Once he realised the power of ‘having a go’, his confidence blossomed. He delighted in his attempts and not just his successes. It was lovely to see him relax into learning.

I needed to relax into learning too. The children became my role models. We share our learning and it’s made teaching a more exciting place to be.

If he could just walk

Inclusion is being talked about a lot in Education it seems. Hooray! It's all going to be peace, love and equality from here on in!  But what does inclusion mean? What does it mean to you?

I guess to me inclusion means letting everyone in. Not isolating others because of difference but rather celebrating diversity and focusing on everyone's strengths. Neurodiversity is a word I'm liking at the moment. Inclusion then requires people to understand and value the differences of others. 

Last year I completed an online course of webinars by Autism specialist and advocate - Sue Larkey. I've been on Sue's email list for many years now and love her tip sheets and resources. A lot of what I learned on the course is not unfamiliar to me but I really enjoyed the reminders of strategies and the stories of children, adults and families that she has worked with.

One of Sue's messages is - Fairness doesn't mean everyone having the same thing. Fairness means everyone having what they need to succeed.

I think that standardised testing is a thorn in the side of inclusion. If teachers see test results as a requirement rather than an indication of learning and a way to infer their planning, then they will see students who do not test well as a problem. A red cross in their data sheet. I spoke to a parent recently who was worried because his Autistic son was not meeting the National Standard. He was concerned at how this would impact on his son's feelings of self worth. 

Because people with Autism and Aspergers don't have an obvious physical difference or disability the strategies that might support them are often disregarded. My son has been fortunate to have had some teachers that have valued his strengths. I would find that it was just their ignorance of Aspergers and once I explained his difficulties, many would try to adapt lessons and be more considerate of his needs. 
However, not all his teachers were as understanding.
I remember one of my son's school reports at Intermediate. Almost every teacher had included in their comment - he just needs to focus more and be less distracted.  
I would have liked to have written a report for the teachers and have included in my comments - my son would enjoy school and be more successful if you could differentiate your programme to focus more on his abilities rather than punish him for his disabilities.

Thanks to Sonya Van Schaijik, I read a piece of Steve Silberman's speech to the United Nations. He talks at one point about the time and resources that have been put into preventing Autism and the lack of support and understanding for Autistic people.
"Imagine if society had put off the issue of civil rights until the genetics of race were sorted out, or denied wheelchair users access to schools and public buildings while insisting,
"Someday, with the help of science everyone will walk." "

To be able to achieve inclusion we need to be more open and vocal about ASD so that people have a better understanding. It is my opinion that ignorance creates the biggest hurdle to inclusion. 

I spoke about my son's report to a lovely RTLB and her response was much like Silberman's, - "so if your son was a paraplegic they would be saying that he would do much better if he could just walk."