Learning To Learn: A foundation for School Engagement

Dr Chris Goldspink

International Graduate school of Management, University of South Australia.

Personal address, PO Box 591, Tanunda, South Australia

Learning To Learn: A foundation for School Engagement

Abstract

An analysis is presented of an approach to school reform undertaken at selected sites within the State education system in South Australia. The reform was first introduced in 1999 and involved some seventy-seven schools and pre-schools. It was initiated to respond to concerns that prior change attempts had led only to incremental improvement rather than the desired transformational change. Following its success, it has been extended and widened to provide a foundation for curriculum co-development within the State. Data was collected from teachers, school leaders and key policy officers using interviews and case studies. This was used to identify peoples experience of the reform, the effectiveness of strategies pursued and the outcomes achieved at the site level. This paper discusses the emergent model of change resulting from the project. The findings are compared with the more general findings on school based reform drawn from the literature. Parallels and divergence with past experience in related Western educational systems are discussed. Lessons on successful school level change drawn from the findings are identified.

Key Words: School reform, learning to learn, educational reform, school improvement, constructivism.

Wordcount: 11,700

Introduction

There has been broad agreement among educational policy advocates in many Western countries that the role of education and the way in which it is delivered needs to change (Bingler 1998; OECD 1999; Delors 2000). This claim is driven in part by observation of changing economic, social and geo-political settings (OECD 1999; Sterling 2001) and in part by concern regarding the efficacy of past approaches (Louis and Miles 1990; Newmann 1996; Caldwell 1998). In response, many countries have introduced a succession of change programs. Despite such initiatives, commentators note that schooling looks and works in very similar ways today as it has in the past (Louis and Miles 1990; Spillane 1999) and the broad conclusion is that school reform is difficult (Louis and Miles 1990; Sarason 1990; Fullan and Hargreaves 1991; Fullan 1994; McDonald 1996). Examples of successful change are therefore important. This paper discusses findings from research into a reform undertaken over a three year period commencing in 1999 (and now ongoing) in the state school sector in South Australia. The focus of this reform was initially school level (since expanded) and was concerned with improving learning outcomes for students by deepening teachers’ understanding of learning theory and their capacity and willingness to apply it in their classrooms.

Context and Background to the reform

In 2001 the State of South Australia had a population of approximately 1.5 Million (source: ABS). As at 23 February 2001, there were 611 schools and 413 pre-schools in the State(Employment 2001)Metropolitan schools numbered 317while 294 were in the country. There were 12,772 teachers practicing (full or part time) in this year. Female teachers comprised 66% of the teaching force and the average age of teachers was 45 years. There has been widespread concern at a decline in teacher morale and public respect for the profession (Commonwealth 2000). Australian Governments[1] have responded in a variety of ways to these issues, with many initiating reforms and often at the same time demanding higher standards, particularly around ‘basics’ such as literacy and numeracy (Johnson and Reid 1999).

Learning to Learn

The reform studied through this research was known as the Learning to Learn Project. It was initially funded for three years with the first round ending in June 2001. Thisfirst round involved seventy seven schools and pre-schools (hereafter referred to as sites). This is just under thirteen per cent of all State schools. Over the course of the three years of the first round some 4615 (36%) of State sector teachers were involved in some way with activity/programs associated with the Project. The project specifically targeted early and middle year schooling and did not include senior secondary years.

The reform grew out of dissatisfaction with past central curriculum development initiatives found here, as elsewhere(Louis and Miles 1990; Spillane 1999), as generating‘patchy’ take up by teachers.. In the local context the way in which curriculum development had previously been undertaken did not assist with “The generation of new thinking and understandings about the learning process - knowledge generation [and] The translation of this knowledge and learning outwards to the system as a whole.”(Foster 2000: 5). Learning to Learn, therefore, had afocuson whole school reform. The stated aim was to support the development of a leading edge futures oriented curriculumdirected at holistic development of the child and improvedmeta-cognitive skills. This is significant as the literature suggests that what works to improve conventional ‘academic’ attainment is different from that which supports more flexible learning ability in many life roles.

The following key precepts were identified as having informed the design of the project. (Inferred from Foster 2001)

  • Meta learning skills are increasingly important to society and business as a basis for knowledge;
  • Education is increasingly expected to be future orientated;
  • There is a need for a catalyst or leader to trigger partnership to bring this change in orientation about;
  • Complex problems need complex solutions and these can come from those who are confronting them at a local level;
  • Vocation matters and constitutes a motivational resource in the context of education;
  • Learning comes through trust and acceptance of risk;
  • Reflection on deeply held worldviews and a questioning of identity not just administrative change is needed for sustainable benefit;
  • Transformation was needed not incremental improvement;
  • Change and uncertainty are ubiquitous and form the backdrop for transformation;
  • Sustainable change will only come through responsibility taken at a local level not through imposition.

This project drew on and promoted ‘constructivism’ as a theory base appropriate to rethinking learning processes and towards achieving improved meta-learning.This guiding theoretical position was seen to be relevant to all levels of the education system as constructivist assumptions also informed the redevelopment of the curriculum framework. In this context constructivism should be interpreted as implying recognition of a pluralism of needs and a degree of epistemological relativism(see (Le Cornu, Peters et al. 2003) and (Le Cornu, Peters et al. 2003) for a more complete discussion of the application of constructivism within this program). Systems concepts were also drawn on although the appeal to this theory is vague – signalling a concern with relationships, processes and connections as well as parts, mechanics and outputs. Overall, the evidence suggests that a somewhat pluralistic theoretical position was deliberately adopted to loosen up thinking and to keep those involved open to alternative viewpoints. There was active avoidance of adopting ‘one right way’.

The change was not seen as a ‘one off’ intervention but rather a stimulus to establish “Innovation, change and uncertainty rather than equilibrium from the natural state”(Foster 2000:4). This represents a shift away from what Middleton & Hill (1996) refer to as ‘industrial approaches’ to education and towards a system of co-discovery and co-development between the policy centre and sites and between teachers and students. A number of specific strategies were adopted as a part of the reform program.

Administrative Mechanisms and accountability strategies

The following specific strategies were adopted.

Selection process: schools were selected against criteria designed to judge readiness. These included an assessment of commitment, ideas for focus of curriculum inquiry and cultural readiness for change.

Funding: This was provided to allow for teacher release for professional development, participation in meetings and cross school forums, payment for professional development organised at school level and for minor equipment/material needs.

Accountability: Service Agreements specified a minimum set of conditions and established the respective commitments and obligations of the parties. In addition there was a requirement for schools to participate in Annual Review Meetings, Practicums and the 2002 EXPO. This provided for accountability in a manner congruent with the values informing the reform. The emphasis was on evaluating what was important and valued rather than what was easily measured. This was an attempt to focus goals onto longer term learning and system wide outcomes rather than shorter term tangibles.

Role of the Project Manager: Contrary to many attempts to reform schools, the role of the project manager was not conceived as one of policy direction, or project management and planning. Rather it was to maintain the ‘cognitive and relational congruence’ of the Project. There was an acute recognition of how entrenched the culture of dependence and control was between the policy directorate and schools and how difficult it would be for both officers in the centre and leaders and teachers to break habits of a lifetime. Letting go of the ‘command and control’ model of administration meant rethinking the role of the support team. Foster et al note, ‘The potential for old perceptions and relationships to drive the Project was strong’. Maintenance of a congruent approach was a challenge. It involved diverse tactics, from things like the ‘identity and badging’ of the project, selection of articles for distribution, and identifying the ‘big ideas’ to be privileged through the Core Learning Program. The approach was strategic, involving minimal intervention unless a clear need to help free up thinking was identified. It should be noted that this required a rare level of integrity and commitment on the part of the individuals involved so individual talent and capability cannot be dismissed – it was a critical element.

Learning Strategies

Core Learning Program:South Australia has an experienced teaching force and many skilled practitioners who have developed particular ways of working over their years as teachers. Many have relatively little university education and, while they have participated in professional development throughout their career, the type, range and nature of this was highly varied. The aim was to ensure all principals, Project leaders and staff, were exposed to leading edge research regarding learning and complementary pedagogies and methodology. The core learning program was significantly influenced by systems theory as well as constructivist learning theory (see below). Assisting sites to become future orientated meant challenging old world paradigms and the assumptions upon which they were based.

Project Colleagues: are professionals with a range of backgrounds including specialists in learning and cognition, community education, learning to learn and educational administration and research. The capacity to draw on and encourage teachers to engage with a diverse range of leading experts was seen as necessary to loosen the boundaries around established thinking and practice

Practicums:Three-day intensive professional development programs were hosted by Project sites that provided teachers and leaders with opportunities to share and learn from one another about their particular approach to reform. Practicums were a mandated part of the program and were intended to provide a basis for self-evaluation by schools among peers as well as an accountability point for the wider system

Leader Learning Circles: To support learning among leaders themselves about what worked and how to better support and encourage change, leaders were invited to share experience regularly. This approach also provided a forum for leaders to interact regularly with Teacher Educators from the University – part of the project colleague team. The University staff benefited by gaining exposure to key school management and educational leadership issues. The Project Manager benefited from the rich source of insight into the progress of change at site level and an early indication of what issues were helping or hindering leaders’ and teachers’ capacity to make change at the local level.

Expo: a three day event was held at the end of the first three year project cycle. It was intended to:

  1. Celebrate the learning of Project sites over the last three years
  2. Provide a reflection point for evaluation of the 1999 -2001 phase of the Project
  3. Share the work of the Project across the wider Department for Education, Training and Employment.

The design and program was informed by ‘three big ideas’. These were:

  • Reigniting the passion – reconnecting teachers as learners to transform engagement.
  • Valuing emergence – recognising that the journey of learning can lead us to new places in our thinking.
  • Seeking congruence – working towards congruence of values, principles and practices in whole school design.

Research Methodology

The aim of the research upon which this paper draws was to investigate the impact of the Learning to Learn Project and to theorise about that impact. The outcomes pursued by this reform weresubject to a wide range of influences. Some of wereare readily apparent while others wereindirect and difficult to identify. Qualitative data, collected using interviews, case studies and personal narratives,thereforeplayed a key role inprovidinga depth of understanding and a level of detail not obtainable from quantitative data. As the aim of the research was to inform policy and program design, it was essential that the findings be owned by and meaningful to those who would need to act upon them the use of qualitative data and an inductive approach assisted with this also. At the same time there was a need for some researcher ‘distance’ to reassure (particularly external) stakeholders. This was achieved by use of a researcher not previously involved with the project and by researcher triangulation for key stages of data analysis. The qualitative data was supplemented with analysis of existing documentation and records.

Findings - The Emergent Model of change

The following account describes the emergent model distilled from the evidence. The results are compared with key findings from relevant literature. The model, developed through induction, revealed four rather distinct phases. Each has a common theme – that of learning. Learning processes and methodologies informed each phase but what was being learned showed some notable transitions as the change process unfolded. The phases included:

The establishment of commitment – critical relationships needed renegotiating and teachers and school leaders needed to see some initial signs of real benefit beforebringing commitment.

Collaboration and engagement – became possible once commitment was gained. In most sites, provided there was strong local leadership, this then deepened and widened to involve whole school communities.

Consolidation and expansion – of networks occurred as sites engaged in wider networks of change – both with the centre and with other sites.

The system was then poised – with potential for significant further development but facing challenges in maintaining a critical mass.

Each of these phases will now be examined in more detail.

Phase One –The establishment of commitment

The keys to establishment

Evidence collected suggests that Learning to Learn became established in sites as a result of a convergence of five critical factors. These included:

  1. the provision of adequate funding;
  2. attracting ‘committed’ schools or schools with a core leadership commitment;
  3. appealing to teachers intrinsic motivation with a focus on improved learning outcomes for students and concepts of lifelong learning;
  4. pursuing change with high levels of flexibility and devolved responsibility while maintaining a high level of congruence to core values informing the change;
  5. timely and flexible exposure of teachers to diverse new ideas on learning by leading experts and permission to pursue points and issues which were personally significant. The relationship between key factors is represented in figure one below.
Funding

Funding was commonly identified as critical but not sufficient for the success of the project. Funding provided a means for schools to access critical input including, for rural schools, overcoming barriers to access such as geographical distance. It more generally provided the means for supporting and covering the absence of teachers as they participated in the program, releasing them from the day to day demands, to engage more deeply and fully in rethinking their and others’ practice. The need for time to research, learn, reflect, plan and experiment may seem self-evident but as Adelman et al. (1997) found, is all too seldom provided. In this sense the effect of funding was practical, reflecting a realistic appreciation of the minimum conditions needed to ensure teachers could participate effectively.

Equally important to the practical importance of funding was the symbolic importance. The provision of financial support sent a signal about the Department’s seriousness and was widely interpreted as recognition of and valuing of teachers by ‘the system’. This was particularly significant in an environment where declining funding and perceived ‘buck-passing’ between State and Federal authorities has been identified as having contributed to declining morale among teachers (Commonwealth 2000).