pilipili污漫

The impact of learning conditions

A school鈥檚 learning environment is both dynamic and complex. It should be viewed as a series of nested and interacting environments: classrooms within schools, and schools within communities (Bascia, 2014). The learning conditions within classrooms and schools have an impact on: the quality and degree of students鈥� attention, and their interest and engagement with school. students鈥� ability to transition smoothly from home to school, from one class- room to the next, and between class- rooms and other parts of the school. students鈥� responsiveness to teachers and other adults.

Building vital competencies requires attention to conditions

Despite coming from different scholarly disciplines and using different methods of study, experts in citizenship, creativity, social-emotional learning, health, and quality learning environments describe strikingly similar learning conditions as essential to support learning in each domain (Bascia, 2014; Ferguson & Power, 2014; Sears, 2014; Shanker, 2014; Upitis, 2014):

• classrooms support a dynamic interrelationship between students, teachers, and content.
• the whole school mirrors ideals of citizenship in democratic societies, and supports social relationships characterized by trust, interdependence, and empathy among all members.
• school-community relationships focus on students鈥� well-being, promote cross-cultural perspectives, and provide a range of diverse learning opportunities for students.

Deep links between learning conditions and competency development

Since 2015, educators from across Ontario have been field testing the use of a set of concrete, observable competencies in citizenship, social-emotional learning, health, and creativity.

In exploring how they might teach and assess these competencies, educators are considering the connections between learning conditions and students鈥� progress in acquiring the competencies. For the purposes of this work, specificity in the language is important. Knowing exactly what competency is being targeted helps teachers shape the precise learning conditions they need to support students鈥� development of that competency.

A number of themes are emerging from our work with educators on the ground:

School 鈥渓earning environments鈥� refer to the conditions in classrooms, schools, and school communities that may either support or inhibit learning. These conditions can include anything from classroom instruction (e.g. 鈥淟earning experiences are balanced and diverse 鈥� they include collaborative discussion, direct instruction, and individual and small group work鈥�) to school culture (e.g. 鈥淪chool leadership prioritizes staff motivation and commitment, the school鈥檚 instructional program, and developing teachers鈥� capacities for leadership鈥�) to community partnerships (e.g. 鈥淪chools work with external health services or community agencies to access treatment for students with mental health disorders鈥�).

In the Measuring What Matters (MWM) paper on quality learning environments, Dr. Nina Bascia speaks to the dynamism and complexity of classroom environments. Rather than viewing the learning environment as a single structure, or as a way of narrowly defining 鈥渟chool culture,鈥� the places where students learn should be viewed as a series of nested and interacting environments: class- rooms within schools, and schools within communities (Bascia, 2014). Bascia emphasizes the importance of recognizing the complex interactions between school resources, processes, and culture. She also warns against viewing each domain (creativity, social-emotional learning, citizenship, and health) as a distinct entity when considering how the MWM competencies might be further developed and implemented.

According to Bascia (2014, pp. 4-5):

• The domains are complementary and interactive. They are not discrete subjects/skills for students. For example, when Upitis (2014) argues for qualities of experimentation and risk, she is also touching on Shanker鈥檚 (2014) points about student and teacher self-efficacy, as well as students鈥� ability to develop resilience.
• Like literacy and numeracy, each domain exists within a wide array of subjects and school practices, from extra-curricular opportunities to subject areas like science, arts, and geography.
• Measuring discrete indicators in isolation from each other will, and often does, narrow and limit what is measured and what is taught, potentially constraining opportunities for schools, teachers, and students to exhibit critical, creative moments in learning and teaching.

Supporting collaborative inquiry

Research in the area of teacher inquiry and collaboration has gained attention worldwide for its capacity to engage stakeholders, build teacher leaders, and solve contextual problems that can only be solved from the field. Programs that aim to foster such capacity, like Ontario鈥檚 Teaching, Learning, and Leadership Program, see the value in supporting teachers to ask the questions, inquire, collaborate and shift their practice and learning accordingly.

One of the concerns with accountability-oriented, top-down, professional development is that it is not sensitive to the local context, and doesn鈥檛 make use of the rich knowledge within school communities. Furthermore, this approach disregards the teacher鈥檚 critical role as a professional decision maker. By engaging teachers in a collaborative, inquiry-based, critical examination of teaching, more meaningful and effective professional development will emerge, as will important links between collaboration, teacher inquiry, and educational change (Butler & Schnellert, 2012).

Measuring What Matters

Across the world, educators, policy-makers, and experts agree that success in both school and life will take more than literacy and numeracy skills and academic content knowledge. Students need opportunities to develop skills, knowledge, and habits in social-emotional development, creativity, democratic citizenship, and health.

In alignment with this global shift, pilipili污漫 proposes that:

• the development of competencies in creativity, citizenship, health, and social-emotional learning is as essential as traditional areas of academic achievement.
• the school environment itself 鈥� the opportunities and conditions that support these areas of learning 鈥� plays an essential role in ensuring students鈥� overall success.

Since 2013, we have been working with partners from universities, foundations, and government, as well as education stakeholders from across Canada, to understand how to define, support, assess, and embed these broader competencies into teaching and learning in our publicly funded education system.

References

Bascia, N. (2014). The School Context Model: How School Environments Shape Students鈥� Opportunities to Learn. In Measuring What Matters, pilipili污漫. Toronto, ON: November 8, 2014.

Butler, D. L., & Schnellert, L. (2012). Collaborative inquiry in teacher professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28, 1206鈥�1220.

Ferguson, B. & Power, K. (2014). Broader Measures of Success: Physical and Mental Health in Schools. In Measuring What Matters, pilipili污漫. Toronto, ON: November 8, 2014.

Gillborn, D. & Youdell, D. (1999). Rationing Education: Policy, Practice, Reform, and Equity. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.

Kempf, A. (2016). The Pedagogy of the school environment itself 鈥� the opportunities and conditions that support these areas of learning 鈥� plays an essential role in ensuring students鈥� overall success. Standardized Testing: The Radical Impacts of Educational Standardization in the US and Canada. London, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.

Sears, A. (2014). Measuring What Matters: Citizenship Domain. In Measuring What Matters, pilipili污漫. Toronto, ON: November 8, 2014.

Shanker, S. (2014). Broader Measures for Success: Social/Emotional Learning. In Measuring What Matters, pilipili污漫. Toronto, ON: November 8, 2014.

Upitis, R. (2014). Creativity: The State of the Domain. In Measuring What Matters, pilipili污漫. Toronto, ON: November 8, 2014.