Making Sense of 'The Successful Learner' in the Context of A Curriculum for Excellence

Author(s):

Jenny Reeves(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2012

Network:

03. Curriculum Innovation by Schools and Teachers

Format:

Paper

Session Information

03 SES 11 A, Curriculum Design to Improve Learning

Parallel Paper Session

Time:

2012-09-20

17:15-18:45

Room:

FFL - Aula 4 A

Chair:

Majella O'Shea

Contribution

Since the term “successful learner” first appeared in the context of the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence (SE 2004, MacLellan & Soden 2008 ) as one of four core capacities to be developed by children and young people during their schooling its meaning has continued to evolve in guidance being issued by the national curriculum agency. This paper starts by examining the relationship between the meanings coalescing around the term ‘learner’ in Scotland and the wider international discourse of developmentalism (Knowles 1984, Bernstein 2001) that supports the implementation of lifelong learning (Biesta 2005, Gewirtz 2008) and personalisation (Leadbeater 2003, Ransom 2008). In considering the move from 'good pupil' to 'successful learner' there will be a critical focus on what are, arguably, three key characterisations of the latter: firstly as a person with an agentive orientation to the world, secondly as a master of pedagogic tools and techniques relating to the self, and thirdly as a product armed with transferable skills that can be customized and applied, particularly in the economic field (Ball 2008).

The main discussion centres around the implications that this move from pupil to learner has for relations between young people and their teachers and their joint work in school. It explores the compromises, discontinuities and tensions revealed by the evolution of the term 'learner' over the last six years in Scotland. Empirically the paper is based on both an analysis of various curricular policy texts and of data derived from eighteen classroom enquiries into students’ learning carried out during the period May 2010 – June 2011 in eleven secondary and seven primary schools. The eighteen classroom enquiries were undertaken by teachers who were on a Master’s (MEd,) course for qualifying as a chartered teacher and all the reports they wrote cited the implementation of the Curriculum for Excellence as a justification for the classroom interventions they introduced.

Method

Nine of these action research projects were carried out by individul teachers in their own classrooms and the other nine were carried out by two or more teachers working on a joint investigation. The data for the study consisted of: • interviews with the teachers who instigated the enquiry, and, in the case of a collaborative venture, a colleague involved in the project and a school manager; • reports on the enquiries written by these teachers • the portfolios of evidence submitted with these reports - these contained primary and secondary evidence for students' involvement in both classroom and enquiry processes. These sources were subject to semiotic and event analysis (Reeves 2010) to explore a) if there was evidence of a move from 'pupil' to 'learner' being enacted and, if so, b) how this change was being described by the various actors, and, lastly, c) what meanings appeared to be attached by teachers and their students to being a 'successful learner'. Additionally national policy texts, in particular the series entitled: Building the Curriculum (1-5) (SG 2006 - 2010), were examined to track how the concept of the "successful learner" was being represented in advice to schools and local authorities between 2004 - 2010.

Expected Outcomes

The results reveal a wide variation in the emerging practice of 'learnership', bundling together all three of the interpretations outlined in the introduction to the paper. In many instances the resulting interpretations are dispiriting showing an intensification of assessment work in the face an ever-growing administrative obsession with test and examination results. However, this "assessomania" does not completely override the potential for more heartening and productive interactions around the notion of 'successful learner' amidst the competing discourses to which teachers and students are subject in the contexts of their work.

References

Ball,S. (2008) The education debate. Bristol:Policy Press Bernstein,B.(2001) From Pedagogies to Knowledges, in A. Morais, I.Neves, B.Davies & H.Daniels (eds) Towards a Sociology of Pedagogy: the Contribution of Basil Bernstein to Research. New York: Peter Lang. Biesta,G.(2009) Good education in an age of measurement: on the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Education Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability 21(1)33-46 Drew, V. & Mackie, L. (2011) Extending the constructs of active learning: implications for teachers’ pedagogy and practice, The Curriculum Journal 22(4) 451-467. Gewirtz,S. (2008) Give us a break! A sceptical review of contemporary discourses of lifelong learning. European Educational Research Journal 7(4)414-424 Knowles,M.S. (1984) The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species 3rd edition Houston: Gulf Publishing. Leadbeater, G. (2003) Personalisation through participation. London:Demos MacLennan,E. & Soden,R. (2008) Succesful Learners, Confiedent Individuals, Responsible Citizens and Effective Contributors to Society: Exploring the Nature of Learning and its Implications in the Curriculum for Excellence. Scottish Educational Review 40(2)29-35 Ransom,S. (2008) The changing governance of education. Educational Administration, Management and Leadership. 36(2)201-219 Reeves, J. (2010) Professional Learning as Relational Practice. Dordrecht: Springer. Scottish Executive (2004). A Curriculum for Excellence. Edinburgh: SE. Scottish Government (2006 - 2010) A Curriculum for Excellence: Building the Curriculum 1-5 Edinburgh: SG

Author Information

Jenny Reeves (presenting / submitting)

University of Stirling, United Kingdom

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