SOC2035 UPDATE – LEARNING STRAND

We champion a dynamic paradigm of education that nurtures the whole child. Our vision is one where students are architects of their own lives and learning
so that they can thrive in this ever-changing world. We are a learning community and all members are learners.

GOAL: Develop Learner Attributes and Learner Profile

A team of four College Executive members (Andy Müller, Stuart Walls, Sarah Lillywhite and Fiona Auton) are involved in an on-going project with the University of Melbourne: New Metrics for Success. This is a research practice partnership between 37 Australian schools and the university’s Graduate School of Education. The aim of those involved is to re-imagine schooling that creates future ready students. Scotch Oakburn is excited to be involved in this project as it will help us to develop ways of evaluating our ten newly launched Learner Attributes and eventually integrate these into a meaningful Learner Profile that our students will leave the College with.

The outcomes of this project will help us to better represent students, “New Metrics for Success” seeks to transform what we value in schools. To reform the organisation of learning so that new learning ambitions can be realised, new ways to track learner success is needed.  The collaboration project seeks to provide a better basis for assessing and improving learning. New metrics for learner success can be used to design better metrics for school success and thus for national success. This project will help to expand assessment for Australian school children beyond NAPLAN and the ATAR.

Partner schools have started to collaborate together and with university experts to define, develop and trial credible ways to track student development in areas such as quality thinking, connectedness, citizenship, learner agency, communication, collaboration, ethics and character. It has been affirming to be part of this collective endeavour as we work on the development of a shared understanding and common language related to student achievement.

Scotch Oakburn College’s ten Learner Attributes (Agility, Collaboration, Compassion, Courage, Curiosity, Effective Communication, Ethics, Inclusivity, Innovation and Self- Regulation) will feed into a meaningful Learner Profile that better represents the whole student. This profile will be unique to each student and be a useful tool for universities and/or employers, providing them with an insight into student character and effort. The College is looking forward to using learning from this national collaborative project to move beyond the simple ranking of students, but instead to track their skills and competencies with respect to the attributes that our community has identified as important.