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Connecting up
How the idea of Learning Walks has travelled “An organised tour through a school’s learning areas, looking at those learning areas through the lens of the Principles of Learning… to focus the participants on improving the core functions of schooling. These core functions are how teachers teach how students learn, what gets taught to whom, and how schools are organised for the purposes of instruction.” The Learning Walk as defined by The Institute for Learning, Pittsburgh
As one of its first activities the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) undertook a series of visits to international centres of good practice in the field of leadership development during March and April 2001. The programme of visits provided an early demonstration of the College’s commitment to evidence-informed practice, practitioner involvement and learning from the best practice internationally. One of the Networked Learning Communities (NLC) programme’s first tasks was to revisit one of those locations – The Institute for Learning in Pittsburgh (IFL). IFL, in its own words: “Brings to working educators the best current knowledge about processes of learning and principles of instruction. The goal is to help schools create high-performance learning environments.” The Institute serves as a think tank, design centre, and learning community for groups of education professionals. It provides a ‘permanent leadership-development system’. Virtually every aspect of IFL’s work and working practices is exceptional. This is particularly highlighted by one of its tools, the LearningWalkSM . The LearningWalkSM is a professional development event engaged in by headteachers, IFL coaches/facilitators, district officers and others interested in learning about and impacting upon the state of teaching and learning in a school. During a LearningWalkSM, participants move in and out of several classrooms looking at student work and classroom artefacts, and talking with students and teachers. When they look at student work, they may view it through one or more Principles of Learning and ask themselves if the students completing the work were engaged in deep thinking and problem solving. They might also look at how the quality of the work was judged, and determine if the work was of a high academic standard. They use similar processes when looking at classroom artefacts, questioning the quality of the artefacts and whether or not they reflect the deep thinking and language of students. With teacher and principal approval, participants speak to students to determine if they know what they are learning and why it is being taught, if they have to work hard to learn it, and how they know their work is moving towards meeting standards. Outside the classroom participants gather to discuss what they have learned, by making factual statements or generating questions they have about
Learning with, from… Our enthusiasm, and the evidence of real impact, led to the idea being taken up by networks in the Networked Learning Communities (NLC) programme. what they saw which, if asked of the teachers, could provoke the teacher to think more deeply about his or her practice.
The Gung Ho NLC in Dudley and Sandwell, recently set up a series of teacher intervisitations between its six schools.
Finally, participants provide feedback to the headteacher that also follows the practice above, factual statements and provocative questions on which the headteacher can reflect as well as share with teachers to provoke their learning.
“When the teachers came back into our school after the visit they were like bottles of pop. We really felt valued, as though we had been treated like managers.” Gung Ho NLC
NLC representatives took part in a LearningWalkSM at the Vartan Gregorian Elementary School at Fox Point. The learning that was taking place in all classrooms was impressive. Children were keen, eager and well behaved, and could clearly articulate what they were learning. Rubrics and criteria charts were consistently used to establish clear expectations throughout the school. Children were able to show how rubrics and criteria charts guided their thinking, revision and improvement (eg paragraph summary rubric, discussion rubric, persuasive essay rubric).
Assessment for Learning NLC (previously BHEK NLC) had planned and identified the critical role of pupil-to-pupil enquiry about different approaches to formative assessment. Inter-visitations on 12 May 2003 were an evident success and may, with hindsight, turn out to be a ‘tipping point’ when the rhetoric of a networked learning community became a reality. At their subsequent meetings there was an almost tangible sense of ‘network pride’ about what they had achieved and a sense of momentum which they were keen to maintain. Pupils, teachers and headteachers felt enthused about being in a network of schools.
“When the teachers came back into our school after the visit they were like bottles of pop. We really felt valued, as though we had been treated like managers.” Gung Ho NLC Throughout the school the following was observed: • print-rich learning environments • staff understanding of classroom design and arrangement of furniture • expectations of high achievement through consistent use of praise/rewards • integration and use of technology • challenging tasks that forced children to stretch their thinking • motivated children ready to answer and share their learning • teachers enthused about their lessons
…and on behalf of each other The approach to networked learning walks is continually developing. Contact with other networks has been crucially important in the process of refining their practice. For example, co-leaders from Gung Ho NLC told us that the idea of including learning support assistants (LSAs) had come from the Think First NLC in Southampton, and the idea of including Year 5 pupils had come from a passing comment made at a coleaders conference. Headteachers see the initiative as developing leadership potential, and that it might be a way of creating new leadership spaces within the network. Due to the success of the learning walks, the ‘walkers’ are becoming ‘drivers’.
• efficient and effective use of time • children and staff proud to share their work.
Networked learning walks has been set up as one of seven new NLC development and enquiry programmes. For further information on these, please turn to page 22.
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