When Teachers Reclaim Learning

This account describes and analyses some of the processes which are important for teachers to maintain a creative role in promoting learning while in a climate of managerialism and performativity. It does so from the stance of someone who works with teachers and schools on a minority interest in current times - learning. Processes needed to combat some of the mechanical official discourses, and the disempowerment and demoralisation of teachers are outlined, as well as those which challenge the silence on learning. It amounts to a story of teachers reclaiming agency

Depoliticisation, demoralisation and depersonalisation - and how to better them

An important contribution to the thinking behind this paper came during a recent discussion of government policies called ‘personalisation’. When asked ‘what is the problem to which personalized learning is a solution?’, one delegate at a deputy heads’ conference replied ‘depersonalised learning’. This simple but powerful point struck a chord and helped me to think further about the way that trends in recent decades have downgraded the focus on human qualities in the field formerly known as education. For this reflection I have chosen three aspects: the political, the moral, and the personal. There could be more – perhaps it is time to coin the word ‘desocialisation’ to describe the way that consideration of social qualities and social processes can be downgraded

Developing student-driven learning: the patterns, the context, and the process

The aim of this chapter is to introduce some contextual and conceptual matters which can affect the development of student-driven learning strategies. There are four sections. The first connects the rationale for student-driven learning strategies with what we know about dominant patterns in the classroom. The second offers a multi-level view of key issues in the context that can help or hinder development. The third makes suggestions about the process of development of student-driven learning strategies. A final section considers definition

Learning about learning

This article examines the area of learning about learning and its role as a key element of effective learning in classrooms. Approaches to facilitating learning about learning in the classroom are discussed in the light of international research evidence, and a particular approach is advanced which involves enriching pupils' narratives about their learning. The effects of classroom interventions are reviewed calling on two forms of evidence: that generated by research teams and that generated by practising teachers. A framework is developed to illuminate the sort of development which occurs in pupils' talk about their learning.peer-reviewe