The Learning Landscape
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 […]
Becoming a Better Learner in the Learning Landscape
For many of us, learning is something we just do. It’s not something we learn to do well. Sure, we all understand that some people are better or faster at learning than others. But that’s often attributed (incorrectly) to “natural ability”. We think some people are just smarter than others. As teachers, our job is to […]
[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 […]
From Effort to Agency
Effort – A student’s perspective As a student, I’d get a report card at the end of each semester that had two grades on it: one for achievement and one for effort. The achievement grade told me how much I’d learned and the standard I’d achieved. School was about learning, so the achievement grade represented […]
