My last post was a response to my reading of Disengaged Teen by Anderson and Winthrop (which I have still not yet fully read) and particularly to their claim that:
“A shocking number of young people don’t see the point of school anymore.”
This post sets out to share how we might go about creating the conditions that will make school more relevant for these young people.
We simply have to find ways to help young people link what they are learning to the futures they are imagining for themselves.
In today's rapidly evolving educational landscape, we face a fundamental question: How do we design learning experiences that truly prepare students for their future? As I've observed classrooms and engaged with educational research, I've become convinced that effective learning design must move beyond traditional approaches toward something more dynamic, connected, and student-centered.
By doing so we will have more chance of moving more students into the Explorer mode:
The Power of Inquiry-Based Learning
Shifting to inquiry-based learning offers several compelling advantages. First, it amplifies student voice and choice, giving learners greater ownership over their educational journey—which naturally increases engagement and commitment. Second, it transforms classroom dynamics from passive schooling to active learning. Third, and perhaps most importantly, developing inquiry skills equips students with lifelong tools for tackling new learning opportunities in an ever-changing world.
However, making this transition isn't without challenges. Perhaps the most difficult aspect is the fundamental shift in classroom power dynamics. As educators, we're accustomed to being in control, to being the content experts, to delivering information in ways we determine best. Inquiry-based approaches require us to embrace partnership, joint ownership, and a certain level of unpredictability.
Foundation Principles for Effective Learning Design
Through my exploration of educational research and classroom practice, I've identified several core principles that should underpin effective learning design if we wish to move more students into Explorer mode (high engagement and high agency):
1. Learning Needs to Be Connected
When we teach subjects in isolation, we dramatically reduce opportunities for students to form meaningful connections across disciplines. The OECD's publication "The Nature of Learning" emphasizes "Building Horizontal Connections" across knowledge areas, subjects, communities, and the wider world. This integrated approach deepens understanding and increases relevance for learners.
2. Learning Needs to Be Co-constructed
For genuine engagement, students must feel connected to their learning—not like they're on an educational assembly line where timing, pace, and context are predetermined without their input. This doesn't mean abandoning our responsibility to cover important concepts and skills; rather, it means inviting students into meaningful conversations about how that learning unfolds.
This aligns with what many of us know as "Learner Agency" - giving students the power and choices to take meaningful action and witness the results of their decisions.
3. Learning Needs to Be Collaborative
The ability to work effectively in diverse teams with strong interpersonal skills is vital in today's workforce. Our classrooms should reflect this reality by making collaborative learning the norm, not the exception. Collaboration (whether student-student, teacher-teacher, school-school, or school-community) prepares students for an increasingly complex world.
Additional Key Principles
Beyond these foundational elements, effective learning design should also embrace:
Personalization: Recognizing and accommodating the unique needs, interests, and learning paths of individual students
Authenticity: Creating learning experiences connected to real-world challenges and opportunities
Dispositional Development: Cultivating the mindsets, attitudes, and approaches that support lifelong learning
Putting It All Together: A Vision for Modern Learning
When we integrate these principles, we arrive at a powerful vision for education:
Learning that is personalised, authentic, and connected locally and globally prepares students for their lives in the 21st century. It is centred on co-constructed high-interest projects, drawing on a range of specialist subjects, with opportunities for hands-on application and partnering with the community. There is a genuine outcome from the learning and students are partners in designing the learning.
Implications:
What could schools do to reflect the key principles above?
Explore models of Project-based learning. In Future Directions in New Zealand schooling: The case for transformation (Centre for Strategic Education, 2017), McIntosh argues that project-based learning is a model that meets the requirements needed to transform teaching and learning (p.14). A clear model that all staff understand and commit to and through which students are scaffolded is essential to provide rigour and prevent low quality experiences and outcomes. The following links could be a good place to start:
Best brief introduction to current thinking I’ve seen for a while
Buck Institute for Education is very useful not only with the ‘why’ but awesome for the ‘how?’ - great, easy to use tools
Wiggins’ model of Understanding by Design used by the Science Leadership Academy
Make every effort to provide opportunities for learning to be connected across subjects. Even with a traditional, single-subject timetable it’s not difficult to change mindsets and school practices to enable students to establish connections.
Schools could start by determining common themes that could drive learning contexts across the whole school or particular year levels. This would, at least, allow all subjects to connect to the common theme.
Meeting structures could be turned on their head and regular meetings for the common teachers of each class to discuss how learning could be connected across more than one subject. Students could work on high-interest projects which they have had a say in creating in classes timetabled for 2 or 3 of their subjects. Completing one piece of work, drawing on several subjects and being supported by several teachers will not only result in a quality outcome and deeper learning, but reduce workload for students and for teachers. Perhaps Departments could be required to find times to run their meetings when necessary, rather than having them scheduled.
Teachers in all classes could share with their students the responsibility of determining the context in which learning could take place. Teachers would still take responsibility for developing the important learning/achievement objectives but invite students to be design partners in determining the context.
Rather than informing a class that they are studying Migration and that they would do this by learning about Victorian English people and their migration to and settling in New Zealand, a Social Studies teacher could explore with students the concept of Migration and establish its worthiness of study. They could then invite students to suggest which example of migration from across history, or in the present, they (individuals, small groups) would like to explore to increase their understanding of this concept. Teachers and students would design activities together which allow the important learning objectives to be met.
Wherever possible, provide multiple opportunities for students to provide evidence of their learning (UDL).
If all students have to write an essay to show their understanding of an important science concept, then those who are poor essay writers will not do well, despite perhaps having a high level of understanding of the science concept. As long as the learning objectives can be met allow students to show their understanding, whether it be by essay, piece of art, spoken word.
Include some contact or experience with the community or expertise from beyond the school in all planning of learning programmes.
At the very least, this could be a guest speaker/facilitator but can include off-site visits, individual/small group mentor relationships, on-line communication and connection with expertise, or a client relationship.
Encourage the public exhibition and discussion of student work.
At the very least, this could be presenting findings back to the class with high expectations of how to make a quality presentation and how to provide quality feedback but can include presenting to students from outside the class or at another school, parents, and mentors and clients who have been involved in the learning.
Think about where these presentations should take place. The school might be appropriate but so might a community space (library, parks, malls), a conference or place of work.
Moving Forward
Implementing this vision requires courage - the courage to relinquish some control, to embrace messiness, to build strong relationships with our students, and to be transparent about learning expectations while inviting co-design of learning tasks.
The journey toward this kind of learning design isn't always smooth or linear. There will be growing pains. But when we see our students engaged, empowered, and developing the skills they truly need for their futures, we'll know we're on the right path.
What steps are you taking to reimagine learning design in your educational context? I'd love to hear your thoughts and what you are attempting.
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