The BIG pictureThe Blueprint part two

The Principles of Learning and Teaching

The Social Context of Teaching and Learning

St Albans April 15th 2010

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/directions/blueprint2008/thepaper.htmAccessed 28/3/10

The Blueprint for Educational Reform2003

The Blueprint for Government Schools The Minister’s reform agenda was based on the following belief:All students are entitled to an excellent education and genuine opportunity to succeed irrespective of which schools they attend, where they live or their home background.

Three areas of reform:• Recognising and responding to diverse student needs• Building the skills of the education workforce to enhance the

learning-teaching relationship• Continuously improving schools.

The Blueprint outlined seven strategies and 21 initiatives to address these three priority areas.

Flagship Strategies

1. Student Learning2. Resource allocation method3. Building leadership capacity4. Performance and development culture5. Teacher professional development6. School improvement7. Leading schools fund

Flagship Strategy 1Student learning was strengthened by the introduction of five major initiatives:

• Curriculum planning guidelineshttp://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/blueprint/fs1/guidelines/

aboutcpg.asp• Victorian Essential Learning Standardshttp://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/• Principles of Learning and Teachinghttp://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingprinciples/principles/principlesandcomponents.htm• Assessment and Reporting advicehttp://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/blueprint/fs1/assessment.asp• Knowledge bankhttp://www.sofweb.vic.edu.au/knowledgebank/default.asp

Blueprint 2008The Blueprint set out the Government’s five-year agenda for learning and development from birth to adulthood. It is the next generation of reform to improve outcomes for children and young people.

Blueprint 2008

VisionEvery young Victorian thrives, learns and grows to enjoy a productive, rewarding and fulfilling life, while contributing to their local and global communities

Mission

Ensure a high-quality and coherent birth-to-adulthood leaning and development system to build the capability of every young Victorian

Blueprint reforms

The objectives for this next phase of reform are to:

•equip all young people with the skills and capabilities they will need for economic, social and cultural success in the 21st century

•provide all young people with the productive post-school pathways and the capabilities they need to become lifelong learners

•enhance public confidence in a world class school education system for all young Victorians that has a strong and vibrant government school system at its core

• reduce the effects of disadvantage of early childhood and education outcomes.

To achieve these objectives the next phase of reform will concentrate on

three areas: 

•system development and reform

•workforce reform

•parent and community partnerships.

System development and reform

Creating a culture of excellence that delivers results in all schools for all students. To ensure each individual student achieves good progress, we propose to focus on:

• developing a high quality national curriculum• implementing detailed strategies in the priority areas of

maths, science and languages • strengthening the capacity to measure, report and improve

progress of individuals and cohorts of students, particularly in literacy and numeracy.

Workforce reformFocusing on developing teachers and school leaders and attracting and rewarding the best people so we have the best people doing the right things.To extend Victoria’s successful, flexible approach for teacher professional learning we propose to focus on:

• leadership• consistently high quality teaching• skilling teachers and supporting schools to use technology

effectively• joint professional learning between primary schools and

children’s services.

Strengthening parent and community partnerships to all maximise our contribution and opportunities to improve education outcomes

To assist schools to engage with parents and communities in ways that suit their particular circumstances, we propose to focus on:

• ensuring that schools are welcoming and encourage active parental involvement.

• support schools and teachers to use the Ultranet effectively

• provide specific, practical guidance to families on supporting their child’s learning and development at all ages.

Achievements since the introduction

of the 2003 Blueprint At a national level, the performance of Victorian students is

strong and we lead in critical national reform areas:• our primary students perform well against national

benchmarks• early years reading is now at very high levels• more students are completing Year 12 or its equivalent• by international standards, Victorian students are highly

connected to their school

Achievements since the introduction of the 2003 Blueprint

• A new world class curriculum framework, the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS), has been introduced into every school

• There has been a $1.9 billion commitment to the Victorian Schools Plan, under which every Victorian government school will be rebuilt or modernised over a ten year period

• A new student report card gives parents clearer information about their child’s progress

Achievements since the introduction

of the 2003 Blueprint • A new School Accountability and

Improvement Framework supports and streamlines school improvement activity, with clearer reporting to the community on student outcomes

• A new parent opinion survey collects and analyses feedback from over 55,000 parents every year

• All government schools are working towards a performance and development culture, with 656 schools already accredited

Achievements since the introduction of the 2003 Blueprint

• More than 2,400 teachers have undertaken professional learning leave that has improved classroom practice

• A new resourcing model, the Student Resource Package, allocates funds to schools in a way that more closely reflects costs and student needs

• The introduction of the vocationally oriented Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), which had over 17,000 enrolments in 2009

Government 282 schools 11,707 studentsCatholic 73 schools 1,913 studentsIndependent 29 schools 856 studentsAdult 46 schools 3,223 studentsTotal 430 schools 17,699 studentshttp://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/statistics/2009/section5/Section5_09.pdf viewed

25/3/10

The focus of our reform is on two key areas

• Further developing teachers and school leaders• Attracting and rewarding the best people.

Teachers deserve a clearly articulated career path, including an instructional model that outlines developmental levels, creates a common language and shared practice, and supports teachers in ongoing professional learning to move from novice to expert practitioners. They should be able to focus on teaching. It is critical to reward high performing teachers, both in recognition and performance based reward.

Workforce reform –the best people doing the right things

We propose to focus on:• Leadership, through the development and accreditation of

principals and school leaders• Consistently high quality teaching, by developing an

instructional model to ensure excellence in teaching and learning, particularly in the areas of literacy and numeracy, where teachers will work in teams to improve outcomes in these critical foundational skills

• Skilling teachers and supporting schools to use technology such as the Ultranet effectively and realise its potential to improve and share teaching practice across the system

Workforce reform –the best people doing the right things

We propose to focus on:• Creating opportunities for joint professional learning

between primary schools and children’s services.• Work with universities to ensure teacher training programs

provide a solid foundation for their graduates to succeed and grow as teachers

• Develop a scheme to encourage high performing graduates from other fields to enter teaching, modelled on the UK’s Teach First and the USA’s Teach for America programs

• Find the best ways to motivate and reward high performing teachers and school leaders

Workforce reform –the best people doing the right things

We propose to focus on:• Provide incentives, including higher salaries, for the best

teachers and school leaders to work in those schools where they are needed most

• Support teachers who have become disengaged to leave the profession, after appropriate opportunities and support have been provided to lift teaching practice

• Develop models that make best use of the skills teachers bring to their work, including through better use of non-teaching staff.

The futureA robust education system that offers real choice to Victorian parents is critical. Improving the education outcomes for Victorian children is a challenge we embrace and are motivated by because we know how important it is to our future as a productive and enriched community. Much has already been achieved on the journey of improvement – but there has never been a better time to increase our efforts, place high expectations on ourselves and specifically reject the status quo.

Purpose of the PoLT program The PoLT professional development program provides opportunities to share experiences with people across learning areas, across stages of learning groups and across year level groups.

There are three components of the PD program.

• The Professional Development in the six principles, facilitated by the PoLT coordinator in schools or cluster.

• The Leading Change Program also coordinated by the PoLT person, usually the Schools for Innovation and Excellence cluster educator.

• Consultancy support from consortia of experts.

DESIGNING THE PRINCIPLES

The principles and their components were developed from the experiences of effective teachers.They are based on the findings of international and national research.The principles are not meant to be prescriptive but indicate directions that effective practice may take.The professional development modules are designed to help teachers interpret and apply some of the components.

THE PRINCIPLES1. The learning environment is supportive and

productive2. The learning environment promotes independence,

interdependence and self-motivation3. Students’ needs, backgrounds and interests are

reflected in the learning program4. Students are challenged and supported to develop

deep levels of thinking and application5. Assessment practices are an integral part of

learning and teaching6. Learning connects strongly with communities and

practice beyond the classroom

Principle 1: The learning environment is

supportive and productive In learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

1.1 builds positive relationships through knowing and valuing each student

1.2 promotes a culture of value and respect for individuals and their communities

1.3 uses strategies that promote students’ self-confidence and willingness to take risks with their learning

1.4 ensures each student experiences success through structured support, the valuing of effort and recognition of their work.

Principle 2: The learning environment promotes independence, interdependence

and self-motivation

In learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

2.1 encourages and supports students to take responsibility for their learning

2.2 uses strategies that build skills of productive collaboration.

Principle 3: Students’ needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests

are reflected in the learning programIn learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

3.1 uses strategies that are flexible and responsive to the values, needs and interests of individual students

3.2 uses a range of strategies that support the different ways of thinking and learning

3.3 builds on students’ prior experiences, knowledge and skills

3.4 capitalises on students’ experience of a technology-rich world.

Principle 4: Students are challenged and supported to develop deep levels of thinking

and applicationIn learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

4.1 plans sequences to promote sustained learning that builds over time and emphasises connections between ideas

4.2 promotes substantive discussion of ideas 4.3 emphasises the quality of learning with high expectations of

achievement 4.4 uses strategies that challenge and support students to

question and reflect 4.5 uses strategies to develop investigating and problem-solving

skills 4.6 uses strategies to foster imagination and creativity.

Principle 5: Assessment practices are an integral part of learning and teaching

In learning environments that reflect this principle the teacher:

5.1 designs assessment practices that reflect the full range of learning program objectives

5.2 ensures that students receive frequent constructive feedback that supports further learning

5.3 makes assessment criteria explicit 5.4 uses assessment practices that encourage reflection and self-assessment 5.5 uses evidence from assessment to inform

planning and teaching.

Principle 6: Learning connects strongly with communities and practice beyond the

classroomIn learning environments that reflect this principle the

teacher: 6.1 supports students to engage with

contemporary knowledge and practice

6.2 plans for students to interact with local and broader communities

6.3 uses technologies in ways that reflect professional and community practices.

Follow up:

How can you use the Principles of Learning and Teaching?

Have a look at these sites that can provide you with student evaluation and self evaluation of your teaching.

http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/poltleadchangeimplement.pdf

Page 7 of the pdf has the middle years student perception survey.

http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/teachlearn/student/poltleadchangepedagogy.pdf

Page 6 of the pdf has the teacher survey.

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/studentlearning/teachingprinciples/onlineresource/default.htm

Provides information about PoLT.

Follow up:

The VIT Standards almost mirror aspects of the six principles of learning and teaching. You may like to consider using the eight VIT standards and the six PoLT principles as a framework for your portfolio presentations.

Compare PoLT principle three, “student needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests are reflected in the learning program” with VIT standard three, “teachers know their students”.

Or VIT five, “teachers create and maintain safe and challenging learning environments” compared to PoLT principles two and three, “the learning environment is supportive and productive and the learning environment promotes independence, interdependence and self-motivation”.

http://www.vit.vic.edu.au/files/documents/1752_Standards-for-Graduating-Teachers-jan-09.pdf