It is our belief that our children have the greatest power over their own development. We have been looking to our Year 7s and 8s for inspiration as they are wonderful ambassadors and have seriously taken on the responsibility to positively impact and improve their lives and others around them.
As educators we are consistently looking to give our children opportunities to take ownership of their own learning in all aspects, including academics, sport, music, etc. The more you hand over to children, the more they feel in control of their own learning. By giving them ownership, we find children become more motivated, independent and develop a stronger love for learning.
This happens from Kindergarten as we implement the ‘In The Moment Planning’ with open-ended resources encouraging the imagination of our children. Or relating Reception’s topic of ‘Mini Beasts’ to activities inspired by the children’s interests while covering our curriculum. Once again by giving them ownership, we find our children are passionate about what they are studying.
Another way we hand ownership over to our children is by giving them a choice about how they approach their learning activity or present their work. This has been wonderfully demonstrated in Year 7 when the children created their own models of specialised cells that included incredible detail. Giving the children a simple choice to demonstrate how much they understand a topic. This also naturally lends itself to the children feeling inspired to stretch themselves. As a father I am also acutely aware that with some we have to initially guide them to ensure that they do choose an appropriate challenge!
We combine giving children ownership with the relevant amount of challenge. This is our favourite kind of learning because the children have true ownership over what they are doing and can direct their learning journey in a more personalised way.
It is through taking full ownership over their learning that our children truly become inspired and the lifelong learner is born!
Categories: School Blog