Learning Characteristics - Encouraging children to be resilient, independent learners confident to take risks.

As a Trust we work hard to encourage and develop independence in our learners.  We develop and value pupil voice and independent thinking through our Pupil Parliament, school councils and a focus on engaging in debate.  Through carefully planned curriculums we encourage both independent and collaborative approaches to problem solving.

Yet we still hope to do more. In “Fear is the Mind Killer”, Dr James Mannion starts by discussing a question he asked on Twitter to educational professionals. “What’s the most helpless question a pupil has asked you?”  

Some of the answers he received will be very familiar both to staff working in schools and parents at home:

“I don’t have a chair/pen/pencil.”

“Should I use a ruler to underline the date/title?”

“How do you spell TV/ICT/KFC?”

“I’ve finished my page, should I turn over?”

“Where shall I put the rubbish?”

Dr Mannion goes on to say “the questions are almost always focused on mundane procedure, and not on learning. Just imagine how much learning could be achieved if we could teach children in such a way they become more confident, proactive, independent learners!”

What we do in school:

In my classroom, we have worked hard to reduce these “helpless questions” by having simple hand signals for tasks not linked to learning like a T for toilet or a W for water. One of our Class Meetings this year was focused on “Being less helpless and more helpful.” Like many classrooms we have Class Jobs and Year 5/6 children are given further responsibilities such as Lunch Time Office Duty and Break Time Snack sellers. We use the visual cues of the hexagons; the language of our learning characteristics; we reflect on our characteristics; we model the characteristics and we build links between them.

What parents can do:

Whilst researching independence in children I came across the book “Hunt, Gather, Parent” by Michaeleen Doucleff. In it Dr Doucleff travelled across the world to observe and practice parenting strategies alongside families in three of the world's most venerable communities: Maya families in Mexico, Inuit families above the Arctic Circle, and Hadza families in Tanzania. What she discovered it not revolutionary nor is it particularly new but it does bring together some great takeaways that parents can try at home to encourage independence, resilience and fearless risk takers.

Below are some of Dr Doucleff’s tips that link to our Learning Characteristics.

• Complete household jobs and chores alongside your child (collaboration, responsibility, participation).
• Let older children organise their own child-centred activities like clubs including logistics (independent learner, responsibility).
• Gently ramp up children’s responsibilities at home – by not rejecting their curiosity to household tasks (responsibility, curiosity).
• Try to give no more than three requests, demands or questions in an hour (independent thinking).
• Pause before giving a child an instruction; think – is it necessary? (independent thinking, responsibility).
• Let your children speak for themselves (participation, responsibility).
• Praise helpfulness and generosity (respectful, active citizen).
• Minimal intervention – step back, watch from a distance, do not intervene unless you absolutely must (determined and resilient, responsibility).
• Turn crankiness into contributions. Give them a responsibility (participation, responsibility).
• "Come and help me with dinner." Use responsibilities as rewards - working together with an adult is a privilege (collaboration, responsibility).

Independence, resilience, and risk taking – all can be encouraged with our daily interactions. As an adult we do not like to be bossed around, and by bossing children around we undermine their confidence and self-reliance. Giving children more autonomy sends them the message that they are self-sufficient and can handle problems on their independently.

 

How are the Learning Characteristics Hexagons used in our schools?