Are learning skills a learning story?
I believe that learning skills are an important component to a learning story. learning skills are not however, the entire story.
In order to best answer this question it is important break down what a learning story is and what learning skills are, and how they play a part in the learning story.
What are the learning skills?
Learning skills are six skills outlined by the Ontario government that are taught and evaluated in the classroom. They are separate from a student’s grade. The skills are important as they are six skills which are supposed to promote learning and prepare students to be more successful going forward and with their own initiative.
The six learning skills are responsibility, organization, independent work, collaboration, initiative, and self-regulation
What is a leaning story?
A learning story is a story which describes a student’s learning processes and experiences.
As discussed in lecture, the learning story is about who the student is as a learner, the topics they enjoy, their interests, etc. Learning story also outlines their strengths and challenges in both accessing and engaging with information and what they need to successfully do so. Finally it is also about how they can express their knowledge and understanding.
Overall every student has their own learning story which shows their strengths and challenges as well as their preferences and needs to participate in all the different aspects of learning.
What is the role of each learning skill in a students learning story?
Self-regulation
Self regulation is key for a student's learning story. Self regulation allows students to react to and manage stress instead of simply reacting and shutting down. Teaching self regulation allows students to better identify stressors in their life, manage their stress, and/or ask for help if they know they're getting stressed out and need it.
As a teacher I want to help my students develop self regulation so we can work together to ensure they are in a space that they can learn. If they are constantly shutting down from stress or exhausted because they are always putting out energy due to stress, they will not be able to properly access and engage with what I'm teaching. Without self regulation you will not be able to see a students learning story develop.
Initiative
Taking initiative is an important skill for students in order to grow their mindset. They need to be willing to take steps and act on opportunities, to explore, and try new things in order to develop their learning story. They need to be able to take the initiative to start themselves on an inquiry path which much like their learning story is not necessarily a straight path, but is sure to lead them to new discoveries.
. When students learn to take the initiative they can find an idea that they like, ask questions, research it, fully understand it for themselves, and finally show others their understanding. It is important to a learning story that students take a bunch of different steps to discover their preference and needs. knowing how to take the initiative to do this is very important to a learning story.
Collaboration
Each student has unique experiences and knowledge and there is so much value in sharing with other students. By helping students develop the skill of collaboration which can be fostered in many ways, for example how the classroom is setup, collaborative projects and brainstorming, etc. you're allowing students to learn from each other and share their wisdom.
Collaboration plays an important role in learning stories because each student has different ideas and might have different approaches to problems that other students are facing. Collaboration allows students to share what has worked for them, what they have challenges with, or other ideas they have come across along the way. Doing this expose students to different options that may even work better for them, but they weren't aware of before. Especially when a student is feeling stuck, collaboration can help develop their learning story further.
How do learning skills work in conjunction between the learner and the curriculum?
The main role of curriculum is to create a standard expectation of what each child needs to learn. The curriculum provides teachers with the direction needed to design their lessons, projects, and activities so that each student gets the expected education. Learning skills relate to the curriculum in two main ways.
The learning skills are skills that have been deemed important for a students success and they are evaluated and outlined in the curriculum in order create the standard expectation the edge student learns and develops these six skills.
Second, since curriculum is suppose to provide direction for teachers, adding the learning skills gives teachers a way which they can teach the content, without being limited. Teachers like to have the flexibility to change how they teach depending on the classes needs. Being able to do this is important and therefore the curriculum does not outline specific approaches to teaching that must be used. However these six skills do provide some direction for teachers to use as a guideline to teach.
Overall, I believe that the six learning skills help to enhance the understanding of curriculum as outlined the yellow boxes. They help to support a students learning in school but go further than school and don't necessarily have to relate to curriculum. These skills that students learn over the years of being in class can be applied to so many situations in their personal lives, later on in their professional lives, and are skills that every person can benefit from having. Continuing to report on the learning skills helps to ensure they are still being taught and that students are continuing to develop these skills. There is no doubt that the learning skills are a major part of a students learning story. Learning stories are not straightforward and there are many factors which play into it. Leaning skills may not be everything in a story but they helps ensure students stay on the path and continue developing and discovering themselves and their learning story.
Independent work
Independent work is an important skill for students to have for many reasons. It is a good opportunity students to have a better understanding of their learning story. Working on their own allows them to try different learning styles and approaches and see what really works best for them. Independent work is also great for identifying their strengths and weaknesses.
Organization
Organization is important for students for many reasons. It can help them stay on top of their work, know what's expected of them, and manage their time appropriately to meet their goals. It is also key to a learning story as it allows students to examine and assess what approaches have worked for them, what they might need more help in, and overall, their strengths and weaknesses. This directly relates to them being able to further understand their learning story and learn more about themselves. In order to improve students’ organization, they need develop other things such as their executive function which can play a big part students staying organized.
Responsibility
I believe that all the learning skills are important for both student and teachers to have. Responsibility is a learning skill where I think it is most obvious that both students and the teacher have a shared responsibility to a student’s learning story.
Students have the responsibility to complete their work, to manage their behavior, and to a participate in a way that allows them to learn. Students are responsible for figuring out what works for them. They do not have to do everything alone but they are responsible for their own learning story
Teachers also have a large responsibility to their students. Many students are still exploring the options available, it is my responsibility as the teacher to provide them with opportunities to develop their learning story.
Another important aspect discussed in class was to find “the why.” Every student knows they have the responsibility to participate in school, but that is not always an easy task if students don't have a reason why. As a teacher it is my responsibility to help students understand why, and hopefully their responsibilities will feel more meaningful and they will be able to better develop their learning story as a result.