GREAT LEARNING

The action or process of decision making within the school or classroom can be favourable or unfavourable to Great Learning. We believe that the power to make and influence decisions should be broad  i.e. shared amongst the community with input from both staff, parents and in particular, the student voice.  All individuals should be encouraged and empowered to help make choices that best enable the school in its pursuit of Great Learning.

 

At Danube, we encourage the student voice through our active Student Council as well as our School Community Committee.  These forums provide a platform for students to discuss, reflect and make decisions regarding many aspects of school life.  Furthermore, students need to be empowered to make choices on a daily basis regarding their own learning. For example, personalised learning is a joint venture between students and teachers whereby the child can make the most appropriate choice for their own learning. A common choice that students make is deciding the best way to express their knowledge and understanding. This means that a single learning activity in a classroom can generate many forms of recorded knowledge (written assignments, presentations, or multimedia projects) depending on the students’ choice.

 

In contrast, schools that employ a hierarchical structure where decisions are taken by a very small group of people are not conducive to Great Learning. Within such an environment, many individuals lack the opportunity to share their own creativity, develop a growth mindset or establish a sense of belonging.