Mindsets
The Learning Landscape: The Metaphor for Better Learning
The Learning Landscape is a powerful metaphor for learning. Students and teachers alike love how it brings learning to life engages learners in the process of learning, and makes learning more enjoyable. But the true power of this metaphor lies in how it helps students develop a more growth-oriented mindset, and become better learners A […]
The Mindset Continuum: Get a Nudge in the Right Direction
Most of our attempts to change students’ Mindsets are failing. Why? Because: 1. We’ve been teaching about a Growth Mindset, instead of for a Growth Mindset We’ve treated Growth Mindset like a topic. We’ve taught people about what it is and why it’s important, and told them they should have one. But that hasn’t worked. […]
Make 2020 the year of no limits in your classroom
Welcome to the 2020 school year! As students walk into your classroom for the first time this year, how many of them have already placed limits on their learning? Perhaps some have decided which subjects they’re good at and which they are not. Others may have decided how “smart” they are and already “know” what […]
Learner types: Which is most prepared for an uncertain future?
The Learning Landscape is a powerful metaphor for learning. More than that, it offers us a way to visualise and understand what skilful learning looks like, and what teachers need to do to help students develop as more skilful learners. As we engage students in the Learning Landscape, two important points about learning become apparent. […]
Mindset and the Learning Landscape
The Learning Landscape provides a way to recognise and develop a learner’s Mindset. In many ways, a learner’s Mindset is a reflection of how well they understand the Learning Landscape and their capacity to move through it. A learner with a Growth Mindset understands they are free to roam the Learning Landscape, exploring the furthest […]
Mistakes and Feedback
In the Learning Landscape, learning is an active process. It happens by the act of moving through the landscape, and exploring new territory. It involves filling our backpacks with powerful Habits of Mind, which enable us to climb out of Challenge and gradually climb higher towards the mountains of expertise. To learn, and becoming a […]
Getting Out of the Challenge Pit!
Setting challenging tasks is not enough to ensure real learning. In the Learning Landscape, Pits represent challenges. But getting out of a Pit represents learning! Learning is an active, skilful process. In the Learning Landscape, the learners who reach the highest standards and ascend the mountains of expertise are the best climbers. They draw on […]
Challenge Pits: Four Different Types
The Learning Landscape makes learning more enjoyable. The sense of being on a learning journey – exploring the Learning Landscape, taking on Challenge Pits and climbing mountains of expertise – is engaging for learners.But the Learning Landscape is so much more than a tool to engage students. It is a metaphor for the learning process. It helps students understand how their […]
Challenge Pits – Which Zone Are You in Today?
True learning doesn’t happen without a challenge. We must stretch (not strain) ourselves to increase our standards and abilities. As Anders Ericson points out, if you never push yourself beyond your current best, you will never improve. When we challenge ourselves to achieve just beyond our current best, we go into what is sometimes referred […]
[Assessment] From Effort to Agency
Most schools report on something we might loosely call effort. It’s a way of measuring a student’s contribution to the learning process. How schools do this varies greatly. But the intent is the same. We want students to engage in the type of behaviours that are likely to lead to greater growth and achievement. Below […]
