Student Capabilities Matrix

Effective Learning

1. Building Learning-Focused Relationships

2. Clarity about what is to be learnt

3. Assessment Literacy

4. Promoting Further Learning

5. Active Reflection

6. Shared Clarity about next learning

1. Building Learning-focused Relationships

The success of teaching and learning is founded on the quality of the relationship built between the teacher and the student. Students must have the opportunity and capability to contribute to how learning happens in the classroom, and have shared ownership and responsibility for learning with the teacher and peers. The student must be able to answer the question: ‘What has to happen now that will best help me learn? This provides students with the maximum opportunity to build their own motivation to learn.

2. Being Clear About What Is To Be Learnt

Students will be clear about: what they are to learn; how and why they are going to learn it; and how they know when they have been successful.

3. Assessment Literacy

Assessment literacy is about the understandings and strategies students need in order to be involved in informal and formal assessment processes and use assessment information to decide on their current and future learning needs.

4. Promoting Further Learning

Promoting further learning describes the skills and strategies that students need in order to manage the quality of feedback they receive about their learning. The feedback may be from work in books, eportfolios, assignments or tasks that students are engaging in.

5. Active Reflection

Active reflection requires students, with teacher support, to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning and learning process. It is about monitoring every aspect of the teaching and learning process (planning, learning, teaching, assessment, and student achievement) so connections can be made about what has worked well and what has not been so successful, and programme adjustments can be made. This is often referred to as ‘using metacognitive strategies’.

6. Clarity About Next Learning Steps

‘Next steps’ is about:

• the knowledge students have about where the learning is headed
• the knowledge the students have of the curriculum progressions of the learning
• what the students need to do to play their part in ensuring that the teaching and learning has direction for them

Glossary

Exemplar An exemplar is a sample of a standard of work, used to demonstrate to students the standard of attainment required. It can be a national exemplar created by the Ministry of Education, an NCEA exemplar, or student or teacher generated. An exemplar can be used to co-construct success criteria.

Extrinsic/intrinsic reinforcement Extrinsic reinforcement is confirmation of success given by means of reward from others e.g. praise or chocolate bars. Intrinsic reinforcement is confirmation of success through knowing that criteria have been met or exceeded i.e. self satisfaction.

Learning intentions - global and specific Learning intentions define what is to be learnt. Global learning intentions are the big ideas or understandings e.g. we are learning grammar so that we can enjoy the language and write correctly. Specific learning intentions are the small steps along the way to achieving the global intention e.g. we are learning what constitutes a minor sentence.

Metacognition Metacognition is the planning, monitoring and evaluating of one’s own thinking and learning.

Plenary This is a structured time, usually at the end of a lesson, for students to think about how their learning is going and for teachers to think about how their teaching is going.

Relevance This needs to be understood in terms of making the learning intention relevant and making the task relevant. Relevance of the learning intention can be achieved by: o linking it with the ‘big picture’ of the learning o linking it with students’ daily lives o linking with other knowledge that students are accessing o talking with students about how it helps with understanding and contributing to the adult world (eg, knowing about statistics helps with debating racial superiority) or improving their ability to choose their own futures by knowing more about what exists. Relevance of task or activity is achieved by: o linking closely with the learning intention.