Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2012

Equating the effort needed to learn well with the effort needed to be an exceptional musician or athlete is empowering for students. It enables teachers to discuss the behaviours and attitudes that characterise effective learning in a way that is accessible to young adolescents.

of its value. Discussions in Philosophy of Learning have allowed us to emphasise the importance of reflection by focusing on its cognitive benefits. Encouraging students to adopt a reflective approach to their learning in Year 8 will reap significant rewards in terms of their future learning. Another major focus of the School’s new subject is that of mindset. We seek to address the issue of learning mindsets through the use of neuroscientific understandings relevant to learning and the promotion of a positive approach to the cycle of challenge and feedback. Teaching girls a growth mindset, characterised by the belief that intelligence is something that can be developed through persistent and dedicated application, allows them to take the risks necessary for effective learning because they are less avoidant of situations that may result in failure (Dweck, 2006; Blackwell, Trzesniewski & Dweck, 2007). This is reinforced if they are able to view their teachers as learners who face the same difficulties as them. Kort, Reilly and Picard (2001) suggest that the practice of teachers only providing information to their classes in a polished form that omits the natural steps of making mistakes and recovering from them, means that they are not teaching students that negative feelings such as frustration, confusion and anxiety are part of learning. Students need to be able to sit with uncomfortable feelings such as these if they are to achieve their learning potential. Developing such academic resilience is a key element of the Year 8 Philosophy of Learning subject. Philosophy of Learning provides a springboard for discussions of resilience and its place in the learning cycle of challenge. It is clear that for an optimal learning environment to exist, teachers must make the promotion of academic resilience part of their responsibilities and where possible make it specific to their discipline (Nadge, 2005). This means that failure becomes an opportunity for learning and is seen as part of the learning process. This is particularly important in the education of girls as they

tend to ‘generalise the meaning of their failures’, while boys, in contrast, appear ‘to see their failures as relevant only to the specific subject area in which they have failed’ (Pomerantz in Sax, 2005, p.81). Given this propensity of girls to generalise negative feelings it is important that a uniform approach to the promotion of resilience is adopted. Accepting that failing and getting things wrong is an essential part of the learning journey allows the girls to build their academic fitness by embracing challenge. Understanding how the brain learns and how learning can be maximised is the first step in a continuous and difficult journey. The new Year 8 subject ensures that every individual is exposed to the important principles relating to this understanding. It establishes an excellent foundation for our students to embrace the life wide learning of exceptional scholarship.

Ms Samantha Bolton Dean of Studies

References

Blackwell, L., Trzesniewski, K.H., & Dweck, C.S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: a longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development , 78(1), 246–263. Bransford, J. Brown, A., & Cocking, R. (Eds.). (2000). How people learn: brain, mind, experience and school . Washington D.C.: National Academy Press. Costa, A. (2008). The school as a home for the mind . California: Corwin Press. Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset . New York: Random House. Kort, B., Reilly, R., & Picard, R.W. (2001). An affective model of interplay between emotions and learning: re-engineering educational pedagogy – building a learning companion. Paper presented at IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Techniques . Madison, WI. Martin, A. (2010). Building classroom success . London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Nadge, A. (2005). Academic care: building resilience, building futures. The Journal

of the National Association of Pastoral Care in Education , 230(1). Sax, L. (2005). Why gender matters . New York: Broadway Books.

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