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October 29, 2006
Great job, Mum, Dad
LINDA Bruce struggled to find out how her daughter, Amber, was getting on at school. “I used to just ask her if she had a good day. I would get a mumble, and she’d go off somewhere.” When Amber’s school, Tendring technology college (TTC) in north Essex, introduced a log system, asking students to record two brief points about each lesson in their log, Bruce noticed a great improvement. “I look at the log and use it to trigger a conversation. I see her come alive, because I am showing so much interest.”
The school is endeavouring to put the theory of personalised learning into practice. The idea is that learning should be tailored to individual need, so that every pupil gets the chance to fulfil their potential, whatever their background or circumstances. But how are teachers, with upwards of 30 children in a class, supposed to deliver this particular aspiration?
According to Caroline Haynes, the principal at TTC, the answer is to involve parents. “They have the biggest influence on a child's education. Children only spend about 15 per cent of their time at school, but about 85 per cent at home. All the research shows that children whose parents engage with their education are at a huge advantage. The problem, however, is that although most of our parents want their children to do well, many are unsure how to motivate them.”
In September, TTC invited all year seven parents to a two-hour training session to explain to them how to do that. Almost half turned up to the tutorials (more than normally attend a parents’ evening), which the school ran twice a week for three weeks. The sessions were such a success that the school is now introducing a Learning to Learn diploma for parents, thought to be the first of its kind, starting in January.
Richard Brennand, an advanced skills teacher at TTC, says the key to getting parents involved is to emphasise that they can make a real difference to their children's learning.
“We explained to parents that their child’s progress has little to do with intelligence, but everything to do with emotion. We know from research that the limbic system in the brain stores emotions and feelings, so if parents can stimulate this in a positive way, it will support learning. And vice versa. For instance, we had a student with a CAT [cognitive ability test] intelligence score of 118 who got no GCSEs because of a negative attitude to learning, but another who got three A-levels with a CAT score of only 75. That struck a real chord with parents.”
But what about parents who just don't understand their child’s homework? How can they help them? Brennand acknowledges the barriers facing some parents, but explains that they can coach their child in a subject “even if they know nothing about it. They just need to show an interest in their work, ask them questions, and set them goals. Coach them, in other words.”
The response from parents has been positive. Steve Goswell, whose son Robert has just started at TTC, says: “With open evenings I can’t wait to get away, but this was very different. I now know that I can take an active part in my son’s education. When kids bring their homework in, most parents feel very negative. But the school turned that around for me and showed me how I can encourage my child with a positive mental attitude.”
The idea for the “learning logs” came from Martin Watson, the director of learning for year seven. Watson says the logs push a number of buttons. “First of all, they’re a useful tool for the teacher, because they get children to reflect on what they’ve just learnt. If they complete the log at home, parents can talk through with them what they're going to write, or they can pick up on a particular point that their child has already noted.”
Identifying problem areas
On top of that, the logs can help parents identify the areas in which their children may be struggling, as Carol Richards found out: “Already, after only a month, I know from the log that Linda is not very interested in German. But because the school explained to me that I can coach her even if I can’t speak a word of it, I get her to explain to me what she has to do and we do it together.”
The new diploma will offer parents a choice of eight subjects – including revision techniques, spelling strategy, mentoring/coaching, and basic skills – in sessions of one and a half hours. Parents who complete three different sessions will receive a diploma presented by the headteacher at a special awards ceremony.
After attending the taster session, Theresa Warden is now keen to do the diploma. “To be honest, I didn’t really want to go to the meeting, but I’m very pleased I did,” she says. “My son, Tom, had explained the learning log and so forth to me, but I didn’t really grasp the importance of it until I went along that evening. I’m going to give the diploma a go because what I want, above anything else, is his happiness and success. He can only get that through education.”
Although the diploma is new, the college has been promoting the concept of personalised learning for the past two years. Unusually, it has adopted all the “gateways” (most schools take one at a time) recommended by education theorists. These include: learning to learn, assessment for learning, new technologies, mentoring and coaching, giving students a voice and revising the curriculum to suit student demand.
Initially it was thought that each gateway should be embedded one at a time, but the school found (as research has shown) that grouping some gateways together was more beneficial to students. The college credits its marked improvements in GCSE results (up 11 per cent over the past two years) to this radical approach. The big challenge now, says Haynes, is to keep up the momentum. Her plan is to expand the project. "We want to roll it out to years eight and nine over the next couple of years, but ultimately we want to extend it to all our students.”
— Dawn/Guardian News Service
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