What is learning? It sounds like a simple question, but the truth is most people, even career international educators, have different definitions of learning.
A school that embraces a shared definition of learning can in turn develop a common language through which to talk about learning, understand how it works at a deeper level, share approaches and personal experiences from the classroom and ultimately enhance learning for everyone in authentic and powerful ways. A shared language for learning — for everyone, including parents, and especially students — allows for meaningful learning principles to be created, and these principles can shape the key systems for teaching and learning in a school.
Last school year, Cayman International School focused energies on a common definition of learning. Educators, parents, students and community members came together, with the aid of an expert facilitator, to create school-wide principles, revise the school mission, design a new logo and develop a progressive strategic plan. All together, the newly formed foundational documents establish what CIS calls its “Learning Ecosystem,” which provides clarity of purpose along with direction for future action.
Cayman International School defines learning as “a process of growing, deepening and sharing conceptual understanding, competencies and character in lasting, impactful ways.”
Conceptual learning is happening when learners are:
Connecting new knowledge to prior understanding and to important concepts
Constructing theories of how things work and why things are the way they are
Testing their evolving theories in different contexts to refine them so they have increased explanatory power and to see when, where and how they apply
Competency learning is happening when learners are:
Deconstructing expert performance and comparing it with their own
Identifying the adjustments they need to make
Practising a skill in order to refine it and make it increasingly automatic
Character learning is happening when learners are:
Considering what particular dispositions and values would look like when applied in specific authentic contexts
Acting as a result of these considerations
Reflecting on the effects of these actions
In addition to a common definition, there are shared understandings about learning and a set of four “Learning Principles” at CIS that guide educational practices.
1. Language of Learning — We understand that to make learning happen effectively and collectively we need a shared language that describes what learning is and how we do it.
2. Ownership of Learning — We understand that we are all able to learn and we are each ultimately responsible for our own learning.
3. Nature of Learning — We understand that learning is emotional as well as cognitive and is both an individual and social experience.
4. Contexts of Learning — We understand that learning transfer happens best in rich, relevant contexts.
In a world of astounding divergence of educational philosophies and practices, perhaps the most critical undertaking a school can engage in is to go back to its fundamental purpose of learning and define it. Simplicity, clarity and a common language are foundational to a connected, cohesive educational environment and ultimately students are better learners when they know what learning is.
Jeremy Moore is the director of Cayman International School.