What if an active learning ‍culture is created?

This approach helps teachers to create an environment where learners are confident to get actively involved and engaged in their learning. Here are the five elements of the active learning culture approach.

Active Learning Culture

The Five Elements

Learners' identity,
self-belief and
confidence is grown.
Flexible environments
are created.
A Question Mark
Learners learn
about learning.
Learners are trusted
to think and do
for themselves.
Classes are a
‍community of
thinking learners.

1

1

Learners' identity, self-belief and confidence is grown.

Which means that we as teachers
Help learners uncover who they are, where they come from, their passions and talents, and what they think and believe about themselves.
So that our learners
Accept themselves and feel valued for who they are and have the self-belief and confidence to make their own decisions.

Prioritise this if you want your learners to:

  • Show Increased self-awareness and self acceptance.
  • Be more open-minded and accepting of each other.
  • Feel secure in themselves to make their own decisions.
  • Seek less reassurance from the teacher that what they are doing is OK, trusting themselves and their classmates instead.
  • Ask to do things in their own way, rather than just follow the teacher's way.

2

2

Flexible environments are created.

Which means that we as teachers
Seek student voice to set up a variety of different types of learning spaces or zones in their space, to suit learners' different learning preferences and different types of activities.
So that our learners
Can learn in the way they learn best and can choose the type of space that best suits what they are doing.

Prioritise this if you want your learners to:

  • Make suggestions for how to use the space flexibly.
  • Have input into the guidelines for using the space.
  • Give the teacher feedback on how well the environment is working for them.
  • Choose the type of space that best suits them and their tasks.
  • Respond positively when given chance to self correct their behavior or space if it is not working for them.

3

3

Learners learn about learning.

Which means that we as teachers
Identify the key concepts that learners would benefit from having a deeper understanding of, and design engaging student led activities to help them learn more about it.
So that our learners
Continue building deeper understanding of the mindset, attitudes, skills and capabilities needed to be the best they can be.

Prioritise this if you want your learners to:

  • Be able to use the language from important concepts.
  • Talk about what they have learned in their own words, and how the concepts apply to them.
  • Come up with how they could use the concepts for self improvement.
  • Apply what they have learnt consistently into practice.
  • Be more self aware of themselves as learners.

4

4

Learners are trusted to think and do for themselves.

Which means that we as teachers
Seek student voice in how things could be done, including standards and expectations; give them responsibility for routines and self management; and ensure we do not over scaffold students or ask too many leading or single "right answer" questions.
So that our learners
Are able to make being independent habitual and develop a sense of personal responsibility and self-reliance, rather than being passive and over-relying on teachers.

Prioritise this if you want your learners to:

  • Have the confidence to make their own decisions rather than try to please the teacher.
  • Suggest different ways they would prefer to do things and to set the standard or expectations.
  • Respond positively to having increased responsibility for class routines & practices, running where appropriate.
  • Interrupt your lessons less and less, because they are solving things for themselves.
  • Be engaged and responsive in lessons when the teacher is questioning.

5

5

Classes are a community of thinking learners.

Which means that we as teachers
Develop expectations, routines, opportunities and structures to get learners to, discuss, collaborate, think and learn with and from each other, so they do not just rely on teachers to support their learning.
So that our learners
Become increasingly thoughtful, independent, interdependent and resourceful.

Prioritise this if you want your learners to:

  • Regularly share their thoughts, ideas and opinions with each other.
  • Do more talking, thinking and sharing with each other than they do with the teacher.
  • Be more confident to say what they think, feel and have learned.
  • Enjoy getting responses from other learners, not just the teacher.
  • Not expect to have to sit passively listening to the teacher, for anything longer than a few minutes.

What if there were resources to create an active learning culture?

We have created downloadable & printable resources for you to help your learners move from being passive to being actively involved in their learning; where thinking, questioning, collaboration, reflection & the key competencies are evident across the curriculum.

Resources

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