Our Learning Framework
When I was getting my M.Ed. one of the tasks was to create a model school plan, a dream school. It had to be connected to our personal educational philosophy. To make the best plan, I knew that I couldn’t just rely on my philosophy, but that I would have to have a design for the learning journeys that would take place in the building. So, I created a competency based framework first. I’ve decided to use it with my homeschooler this year. My dream building, by the way, was pretty amazing. I’ll dig it out for a future post.
This framework is based on not only my personal philosophy of education, to create a just and equitable world that works toward good, but also my experience as a teacher in NH; I started my career when the state was beginning to dip its toes into this type of learning and assessment. I lived and worked in the capital region and because of proximity our district was often working closely with consultants and thought leaders who were also getting an opportunity to apply this new way of thinking to their work. We did and undid so many things; I really learned a lot about structure, process and scale. My most treasured learning is that simplicity and meaning are most important if implementation is the goal. Too complicated and it takes years for teachers to unpack what the competency really means, to create rubrics that are in student friendly language and then performance tasks that assess the competency. If the competencies are too shallow, they hold no meaning for teacher or student. The framework I created is simple, four skill based competencies with six overarching principles connected to stewardship. It’s my own little vision of a graduate, and I’ll use it this year with Lil to guide her learning journey.
So, below is the basic plan. The next few blog entries will be about how we are using the competencies to build a body of evidence. Although we are using this for a homeschool plan, this really could be a plan for any school.
The Competencies
Intake Information:
Students will intake, research, evaluate and use a variety of information from varied sources and media including text, video, audio, art from creators around the world, past and present.
Creating Meaningful Content:
Students will create meaningful content including text, video, audio, art, presentations, products and processes for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Collaboration:
Students will collaboratively work in a variety of groups and pairings effectively to achieve goals and create products.
Self-Directed Learning:
Students will practice self directed learning practices such as planning, preparing, reflecting and advocating.
The Principles of Stewardship
Stewardship is synonymous with taking care. Our students will learn and practice this in six different areas preparing them for stewardship in career, post-secondary learning and participating meaningfully in community. While content skills are important, learning these skills without context and meaning is counterproductive to deeper learning. Practicing skills while learning to become stewards of the natural environment, community, information, health, humans and the economy creates purpose for learning.
Natural Environment: Students will understand how choices and actions affect the natural environment including consumption of goods, sustainable practices and conservation efforts. Students will learn to balance economic and entertainment pursuits and environmental impact.
Community: Students will understand how to impact and improve their local, state, national and global community through advocacy and service. They will learn why communities organize around common interests, culture, religion, region and environment and participate positively in communities.
Information: Students will understand how information is collected, stored and used. Students will learn the importance of managing their online presence, contribute meaningfully to the world, and to understand how others use information to influence, gain control and shift conversations.
Health: Students will understand how personal health impacts performance. They will practice balancing personal goals and healthy living pay attention to sleep, mindfulness, food and movement.
Humans: Students will understand the importance of individuals in community and work to honor individuals’ assets. Students will study social justice, equity and barriers for social and economic mobility as well as human and social capital.
Economy: Students will understand their role in the local, state, national and global economy. They will study how economic systems work, the national budget, investments, and credit and loans in order to be more informed about how money they make and spend affects themselves and others.