Time for New Learning and Rich Conversations

A significant part of our planning day in Week Seven was dedicated to time for new learning and rich conversations. To start with we discussed parts of the presentation that Mark Osborne had shared at the Learning @ Schools Roadshow in Palmerston North in 2013. Following this, we returned to the ‘Future-Oriented Learning and Teaching' Curriculum Update. As a group, we looked at the personalising learning section and discussed ways we are currently personalising learning.

Following this, we were asked to complete a research challenge. We had time to complete a mini-inquiry in relation to the big idea of 'Future Focused Education'. This was an opportunity to revisit the vision for learning and teaching that we had developed at the end of 2014 and time to explore some of these ideas further.  We developed an inquiry question and shared them with the group. We then had to plan, find, analyse and communicate our new learning. As part of the presentations, we were asked to include examples from our classrooms this year so that this could also be an opportunity for celebrating success.

The inquiry questions that we researched were:

• What is the role of a teacher in a future focussed learning environment?
• How do you develop agentic learners?
• How has our understanding of developing ‘knowledge’ changed?
• How can we use technology effectively in a future focussed learning environment?