Visioning for design.

The Graduate Profile is one stage of moving towards our MLE. Most schools in Christchurch who are part of the rebuild have gone through the same process.

Schools Education Vision - Project Brief- Master Planning - Design - Construction

One of these meetings was based on our vision. How do we want learning to look? What do our children need now? ... and in the future?  On our journey to this stage teachers have had the opportunity to visit a number of schools who are considered to be MLE. What strikes me is that some schools have been built  brand new, designed with this idea while others have 'developed' from what they already had- their old buildings.

Unfortunately I didn't get to visit Waimairi School but listening to the teachers who did and their feedback it was probably the one school I felt really portrayed the idea about 21st century learners rather than the idea it was all about the building. I think that is one pitfall we can get into thinking a MLE has to be new with all this 'flash' ICT equipment, amazing furniture, new buildings. But to be honest that is not what it is about. The building does not make it, it is what is happening inside that does. I think this sums up perfectly http://fcl.eun.org/learning-spaces  what 21st learning is all about.


One question we were asked was to do with our practice- how will this look like? What LEARNING ACTIVITES are needed?

Most MLE take on four things;

• Collaboration
• Personalised learning
• Authentic learning activities 
• Learning through presentation

The nest step was to look at our own Graduate Profile and based it around these ideas and questions.

Our first one was EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATORS
What activities?
How will we make it work?
What do we need to enable this to happen (resources)?
What will staff need to do.

Below are some of the ideas we came up with.

        


What I always enjoy about these activities is what other teachers come up with and how sharing our knowledge and ideas develops our own thinking and may even change some of the ways we work and teach!

I was keen to take one and try it out next term and was lucky enough a few colleague's in the UK wanted to start up a pen pal club. So that is one way we are going to be 'Effective communicators'.