Learning skills and learning capabilities_937

ghdhair100

Learning skills and learning capabilities
Researchers at the University of London have been investigating how best to support the development of personalised learning by identifying teaching and learning strategies which actively engage and challenge learners, developing ability to focus on their learning skills and capability to take ownership of their own progress. A second aim was to identify evidence from research,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which helps teachers to understand not just what works in terms of specific teaching approaches in specific contexts but why different approaches are successful. Based on an extensive review of relevant research studies, the report concludes that there is a tension between approaches to learning skills, which emphasise content – in terms of mastery of specific skills – and process – in terms of locating skills within an overall understanding of learning approaches. So that, in the short term the most effective means to improve performance where assessment focuses on content knowledge is likely to be direct instruction. In the longer term, or where assessment focuses on conceptual understanding, metacognitive or strategic approaches are likely to be more effective. Effective approaches Effective approaches are those,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], which explicitly develop awareness of learning strategies and techniques, particularly when these are targeted at the metacognitive level. The characteristics of these approaches identified by the review include: structured tasks focused on specific and explicit strategies in the subject context capacity in lessons for more effective exchanges between learner and teacher concerning the purpose of the activity small group interactions promoting articulation about the use of learning strategies mechanisms built into learning tasks to promote checking for mutual understanding of learning goals by peers and with the teacher enhanced opportunities for the learner to receive diagnostic feedback linked directly to the content of the task. Conditions for success The research also identifies some necessary conditions for these approaches to be successful: Teachers need to good understanding of the subject,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], of different approaches to learning and to be sensitive to the demands of different types of learners. Teachers should have a repertoire of practical tools and strategies to guide the learner and enhance opportunities for feedback about learning. Both teachers and learners should have an orientation towards learning characterised by a willingness to engage in dialogue and negotiation regarding the intent and purpose of a particular teaching and learning activity. The focus of learning should be on how to succeed through effort rather than ability and through the selection of appropriate strategies by the learner. Implications The results suggest that the development of learning skills and capabilities should be embedded in the curriculum, as well as being taught explicitly to pupils, with supportive discussion of the effectiveness of strategies and approaches in different contexts. Opportunities to achieve this should be identified in the early stages of schooling as well as for older pupils. There is a need to develop and evaluate strategies to support teachers in implementing approaches which facilitate the development of these skills in their classrooms. The full report Higgins S, Baumfield V, Hall E (2007) Learning Skills and the Development of Learning Capabilities. London: EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London is available online at [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]
The Court of Appeal pointed out that R and F's submission in the county court was of overt, conscious racism, and it was not prepared to find that there had been unconscious discrimination.The decisionThe Court of Appeal said that, unlike the ordinary civil claim where the judge decides, on the claimant's evidence only, whether the claimant has made out a case, in this case the judge had had the benefit of the whole of the evidence. Despite the school's failure to comply with the statutory requirements, the judge had been entitled to find on the basis of all the evidence that R and F had not proved racial discrimination.

Making Travel Plans to Paris