Teachers as Designers

‘Nowadays, the “way” in which students learn seems to be more important than “what” they learn, just like the way of teaching seems to be more important than its contents. Teaching that only promotes repetitive learning, without favoring students’ active participation or sparking their curiosity, is not sufficiently challenging to elicit motivation. Learning through research and problem-solving develops different and more significant cognitive and mental abilities, whereby students do more than just receiving information, while also stimulating teamwork. However, the value of learning contents must not be underestimated. If the way students learn is relevant, the same applies to what they learn: teachers must know how to select the essential elements of cultural heritage that has accumulated over time and how to present them to students. This approach also applies to the study of the major questions mankind is facing and has faced in the past. Otherwise, the risk could be to provide a kind of teaching that is only focused on what seems to be useful now, because it is being required by contingent economic or social demands, forgetting what is indispensable for the human person.

Teaching and learning are the two terms in a relationship that does not only involve the subject to be studied and the learning mind, but also persons: this relationship cannot be based exclusively on technical and professional relations, but must be nourished by mutual esteem, trust, respect and friendliness. When learning takes place in a context where the subjects who are involved feel a sense of belonging, it is quite different from a situation in which learning occurs in a climate of individualism, antagonism and mutual coldness.’

from: Educating Today and Tomorrow: a Renewing Passion , 2014. Congregation for Catholic Education (for Educational Institutions)

How do we design to engage with the deep questions of life?

Aim

To explore the Teachers as Designers resource as a way of designing student learning experiences which consider the Horizons of Hope Learning Schema, the Renewed Religious Education Curriculum Framework and the Victorian Curriculum.

Intended Outcomes

By the end of this module, participants will have:

• identified connections between the Design Elements and the Teachers as Designers resources from the Curriculum Renewal Resources suite.
• considered how they might use the Teachers as Designers resource as a way to design learning which enact the Victorian Curriculum in a particularly Catholic context
• reflected on their practice in light of the Teachers as Designers resource

Learning Experience 1

Revisit the final reflections from the Design Core Module ‘Designing for Learning in a Catholic Context’:

1. Revisit the final reflections shared at the conclusion of this work. What do you, as a group, believe about designing for learning in a Catholic context?
2. Individually consider your personal reflection about strengths, challenges and next steps. What is it that you have tried since the completion of this module? How have you further strengthened learning design for your students? What challenges do you still identify? Share your thinking with a partner or on your teams' google+ community.

Learning Experience 2 - Teachers as Designers

• Individually explore the ‘Teachers as Designers’ resource. Take note of the coloured circles at the top of each box which connect with the Design Elements explored in the Design Core Module.

• Each member of your team is to choose one of the boxes from ‘Teachers as Designers’ to explore in greater depth. Ensure that all five boxes will be explored at least once across the team.
  • Take note of the coloured circles at the top of your chosen box and the Design Elements to which they refer.
  • Read through the questions in the box. Discuss how these questions are reflective of the Design Elements.
  • Considering the Design Elements most relevant to your chosen box, brainstorm other questions you could ask at this phase of the learning design.
  • Record your thinking in some way and share with your peers (including your team and the project's google+ community).

Learning Experience 3 - Bringing formal curriculum frameworks into the dialogue

Use a Think, Pair, Share protocol to consider the following:

• How might the Teachers as Designers resource support you to design learning which addresses the Victorian Curriculum in a particularly Catholic way?
• How might the Teachers as Designers resource support you to consider the intersections between Victorian Curriculum and the RE Curriculum Framework?
• How might the Teachers as Designers resource support you to design learning experiences which engage with the deep questions of life?
• What might the limitations of the Teachers as Designers resource be? How might you address these at your school?
• How might you make use of or adapt the Teachers as Designers resource to support you in designing learning experiences that address the requirements of the Victorian Curriculum?

Collate the thinking of the group in whatever way you wish and post this to the project's google+ community. Reflect on your responses in the light of ideas from other schools/groups. How does your thinking align? How might your thinking be challenged or extended?

Learning Experience 4 - Reflecting on our current practices

4a. Working either individually or in a small group, consider a unit of work/series of lessons in light of the Teachers as Designers Resource using the Teachers as Designers Reflection Template (either electronically or in hard copy).

• How does your learning design address each of the five considerations identified (i.e. Consider my Learners, Consider Issues or Questions etc)?
• How does your learning design bring the Victorian Curriculum into a particularly Catholic context?
• How does your learning design support students to engage in the deep questions of life?
• Where are the strengths in your learning design?
• Where are the gaps in your learning design?
• What challenges are evident in your learning design?
• What are my needs and next steps?

4b. Consider your needs and next steps

What do you see as something that you can strengthen in your learning design? Take the opportunity individually or as a team to design something new to trial in your classroom. Use the Teachers as Designers resource to assist you. Consider the evidence of learning you will gather as you undertake the learning, you will be able to look at what the impact of your changed practice was in the monitor module Student Centred Monitoring.