An enjoyable day at Bicton College in Devon today. The SWLSC 'Coalition' held its first seminar of the 2011/12 year with the theme of 'beyond the KPI'. This used a collaborative format where 6 of us gave short (5 to 10 min) presentations about the theme, which was followed by 45 minutes of discussion. There was a good turn out and the presentations addressed the topic from a wide range of angles, with a good mix of theory, practice, and their intermingling. All very successful as an event; informative, good natured, and considerate.
I was particularly taken by a presentation by Paul Martin from Devon Wildlife Trust who reported on longitudinal work in a local secondary school where year 7 students had been surveyed on entry and a year later using the same instrument which looked at their views on a range of sustainability issues, including their behaviours. One year in, their scores fell. However, it turns out that this was not because of a lessening of knowledge and understanding; rather, it resulted from a reassessment on their part of what they actually knew and understood, and of how effective their behaviours actually were. Thus, the school experience gave rise to a more realistic self-assessment.
Sounds like effective learning to me – including learning about learning by the sound of it.
Respond