Facilitating Effective Learning and Teaching

TL;DR: Munro's Facilitating effective learning and teaching (FELLT) program as discussed by the authors is a professional development program for secondary teachers in Australia that aims to improve teacher practice by focusing on the following aspects of learning: the meaning of learning, individual ways of learning; attitudes; students displaying what they know; facilitating the learning of new ideas; managing concentration; learning by reading, writing and listening; facilitating remembering; learning in different contexts; students learning to organize themselves as learners; and monitoring learning.

Abstract: This investigation monitored the perceived effectiveness-of a professional development program, called Facilitating Effective Learning and Teaching, in improving teacher practice. The program assumes that improvement i3 likely when the participants understand and value the learning process and themselves as learners and teachers. Program components included a challenge for change on the part of individual teachers, teachers operating as learners, and implementation of learned ideas in the classroom. The program examined the following aspects of learning: the meaning of learning; individual ways of learning; attitudes; students displaying what they know; facilitating the learning of new ideas; managing concentration; learning by reading, writing, and listening; facilitating remembering; learning in different contexts; students learning to organize themselves as learners; and monitoring learning. Evaluation of the program with 78 secondary teachers in Melbourne (Australia) showed that the quality of teaching and learning can be improved by increasing the school community's understanding and valuing of the learning process and individual variation in learning. Positive outcomes from the program included an increased preparedness to examine change by teachers, the fostering and legitimizing of positive attitudes towards classroom change, and 2 preparedness to be involved in change processes. (JDD) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** Facilitating Effective Learning and Teaching John Munro Curriculum, Teaching and Learning, University of Melbourne, Parkville, 3052 Telephone number : (03) 3448230 Fax : (03) 347 2468 Paper presented at the International Conference on School Improvement and Effectiveness, Melbourne, January 1994. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office ol Educatronat Mesearch and Improventem EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICI 0 Tees document has :men reproduced as received Iron, ine person or organuation Originahng 0 0 Minor changes hare been made lo Improve reproductron tenably Points of view of opimons staled fn hosclocu meat do not necessauly ryprosent Ouch OEM postIton or Doc). 2 Flgi MY AVMar PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 7,L4e0.4 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES NFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." The present investigation is aimed at monitoring the perceived effectiveness of a professional development progamme intended to lead to an improvement in teacher practice. The programme engages teachers in a practical analysis of the learning process from two perspectives; as self-reflective learners and their work as teachers. A guiding foundation of the programme is a model of learning The programme has as its focus a valuing of what teachers already know about learning and teaching. It assumes that improvement is likely when the participants understand and value the learning process and themselves as learners and teachers. The evaluation of the approach so far has shown that it is achieving this aim; the quality of teaching and learning in a school can be improved by increasing the school communiq's understanding and valuing of the learning process and individual variation in learning. The paper identifies several positive outcomes of the programme, including an increased preparedness to examine change by teachers, the fostering and legitimizing of positive attitudes towards classroom change and a preparedness to be involved in change process. Teacher confidence about engaging in change knowing that at the base of the change was a sound model of learning is discussed. . A major component of the work of teachers is to put in place contexts in which their students can learn. To do this effectively demands, in part, a practical knowledge of the learning process and the means by which learning is facilitated. Over the last two decades theories of learning have undergone considerable change. One contemporary type of model of learning is the constructivist type characterised by a focus on the building of personal representations of aspects of the world (for example, see Cobb, 1986 or von Glaserfeld, 1988), with learner-initiated processes implicated in the construction process. Access to these emerging ideas is necessary if the quality of teaching and learning in schools is to be improved. Effective teachers may be expected to benefit from the opportunity to research and evaluate these ideas within the context of their regular teaching and to reflect on the implications that they have for their teaching practice. The professional development programme examined in this investigation has this focus. It involves a systematic exploration of the learning process. It recognises the complexity of this process and examines particular aspects at a time. Gradually, as more aspects are investigated, a model of learning is built up. The programme makes a number of assumptions about learning and how one goes about changing one's knowledge of learning; that (1) knowledge is acquired through active construction processes that require pupil action and the investment of attention (Cobb, 1986), (2) knowledge construction is personal; individuals construct knowledge in different ways, (3) there is a need to distinguish between the 'demonstrated knowledge' and the means by which the knowledge is constructed (4) all learners have an implicit knowledge of how they learn and that they can manage and broaden how they learning by making explicit to themselves, through processes such as reflection, what they already know implicitly, (5) learners need to be motivated to learn and to believe that they can learn; motives and purposes for learning determine the extent of engagement in learning, (6) learning is more likely when learners have framed up goals, problems or challenges for