·  Begin a lesson with a short review of previous learning.

• Present new material in small steps with student practice after each step.

• Limit the amount of material students receive at one time.

• Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations.

• Ask a large number of questions and check for understanding.

• Provide a high level of active practice for all students.

• Guide students as they begin to practice.

• Think aloud and model steps.

• Provide models of worked-out problems.

• Ask students to explain what they had learned.

• Check the responses of all students.

• Provide systematic feedback and corrections.

• Use more time to provide explanations.

• Provide many examples.

• Re-teach material when necessary.

• Prepare students for independent practice.

• Monitor students when they begin independent practice.

   (Rosenshine, 2011)

Perceiving the process of learning as information processing through multiple routes and measures and implementing these principles to facilitate this stimulus-processing-response journey is critical for teachers.

I had been aware of the importance of “revisiting” in learning both from the perspective of daily reviews and re-teaching concepts but I have recently started using it as a routine in my lessons. As I use triple screen learning intentions for sharing learning objectives and success criteria, I have started using it as a tool to review daily what we have accomplished in the previous lessons. The third part of the learning intention screen is about reflecting on the skills, knowledge and attitudes acquired to make learning successful. This reflection builds a bridge between the previous and next lesson as we review this section before moving on to the next target. Our inquiry board is another effective tool to review where we are in our learning journey and what we have learnt. I also believe that homework is yet another tool to review how students are developing understandings in their learning journey. Discussing home tasks that were designed to support the learning and reinforce concepts can reveal misconceptions and challenging points that need to be corrected or retaught. Reviewing mathematical facts and vocabulary on regular basis can increase achievement and confidence in students (Rosenshine, 2011).

The diversity in the cognitive abilities of our students in our classrooms cannot be neglected. In order to make our students independent learners, I believe in making them aware of the importance of breaking down information, instructions and tasks to understand and complete the activity and retain the information successfully. As Ritchhart and Church (2020) has highlighted the limitation of our short term memory in taking 7+ items at a time and due to unidentified factors this capacity in humans has reduced to 5+, I strongly hold on to this information and release new information through carefully segmented sections of learning. Also, I provide a variety of examples and visual support to make sure the information is grabbing students’ attention and chances of passing through the short term memory increase. Teaching students writing is a complex learning process. Introducing mentor texts to deconstruct the structure of the genre, identifying examples of text specific features, discussing the vocabulary, type of sentences and punctuation at the same time is overwhelming for students. I integrate mini lessons for each target during the writing workshops to make students comfortable with their learning. Students get to work with models before they are expected to produce the product. Similarly, conducting independent inquiry is an overwhelming process of collecting information, sorting it and evaluating it. This process is multifold and requires students to display attitudes and skills necessary to carry out effective investigations. However, providing students with a checklist of actions and following them step by step help my students display ownership in their learning.

Whole class discussions in my classroom are not unplanned talking activities. I design questions to target my students thinking and collecting their understandings and misconceptions. I am quite comfortable with presenting hinge point questions as an assessment instrument in the middle of my lessons, also, I offer reflection tools that encourage my students to ask questions from teachers and peers. As I work in an inquiry based pedagogical setting, where questions hold value, I have developed “question starts” for students as thinking prompts to encourage questioning in my classroom and release the cognitive load. Success rate increases when I scaffold the thinking and learning process with appropriate examples, models, thinking prompts and smaller steps.

One of the most challenging aspects of these principles to apply in my milieu is extending time for practice for my students. Students in higher grades need to work on multiple mathematical strategies for understanding the idea behind concepts. The time table does not allow ample provision for the independent practice of these strategies. Although students do practice mathematical strategies independently during lessons, however, for more complex concepts extra practice is required. I use homework and learning station activities to make provision for this extra practice and then use the form tutor time every morning to review these strategies and correct mistakes. Re-teaching concepts on monthly and weekly bases is also challenging due to time constraints. Therefore, I use IXL to support the continuity and revision of learning.

 References

Ritchhart, R. & Church, M. (2020). The power of making thinking visible I The Learner’s Way.

https://thelearnersway.net/ideas/2020/8/2/the-power-of-making-thinking-visible-with-ron-ritchhart-amp-mark-church 

Rosenshine, B. (2012).  Principles of instruction: Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/Rosenshine.pdf

Rosenshine, B. (2011). Educational practices series–21. International Academy of Education. http://www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Publications/Educational_Practices/EdPractices_21.pdf

McLeod, S. A. (2015). Cognitive psychology. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive.html

Lewis, T. (2018, September 28). Human Brain: Facts, Functions & Anatomy. Livescience.com. https://www.livescience.com/29365-human-brain.html#:~:text=The%20human%20brain%20is%20the

A Reflective Journey At the onset of this coaching course, my goals were nebulous, driven by curiosity but lacking a clear understanding of coaching's intricate process. Over time, a profound transformation occurred, leading to a comprehensive grasp of coaching, its responsibilities, and the diverse roles a coach assumes. This journey involved dispelling myths, embracing intentional questioning, and acquiring valuable skills through dedicated learning and practice.

Growth in Coaching Capacity: My coaching capacity has undergone significant evolution. Skills in active listening, effective questioning, and creating a supportive coaching environment have been honed. A deeper understanding of various coaching models allows me to tailor approaches to meet the specific needs of teachers. This growth in capacity enhances my effectiveness as a coach, fostering meaningful connections with those I support.

Development of Emotional Intelligence: A heightened sense of emotional intelligence has emerged, recognizing the importance of empathy, understanding, and emotional support in coaching relationships. This evolution enables the establishment of stronger connections with educators, fostering an environment conducive to their professional development. Emotional intelligence has become a cornerstone of my coaching philosophy.

Building Resilience: Coaching often involves navigating challenges and setbacks. Through this journey, resilience has been cultivated. Challenges are now viewed as opportunities for growth, and setbacks are approached with a mindset of continuous improvement. This newfound resilience fortifies my commitment to coaching, allowing me to persevere through obstacles and maintain motivation.

Embracing Lifelong Learning Habits: An unwavering commitment to lifelong learning has become integral to my coaching philosophy. Actively seeking new knowledge, staying updated with the latest coaching practices, and participating in professional development opportunities contribute to ongoing growth. Sharing this learning with the broader community through social media adds a layer of positivity and clarity.

Taking Feedback for Improvement: Feedback, once perceived as a potential threat, is now embraced as an invaluable tool for self-improvement. Actively seeking feedback from peers, colleagues, and those I coach has become a routine. Constructive criticism is welcomed, providing insights that refine my coaching approach and contribute to continual professional development.

In conclusion, this reflective journey through the coaching landscape has shaped my professional and personal growth. From enhanced coaching capacity to the development of emotional intelligence, building resilience, embracing lifelong learning, and valuing feedback, each aspect contributes to a holistic and effective coaching approach. As I continue on this coaching expedition, I look forward to further refining these aspects and making a positive impact on the educators and the broader educational community I serve. create a social media post for this journey telling the audience importance of instructional coaching and my achievements in the most catchy and summarised form

One of my students finds it challenging to communicate in English language effectively. This is a general statement about my student and if I need to work on his deficiencies, I must know which particular skill needs to be developed. I conducted a series of assessment in which he had to develop complete sentences using the given words, unjumble the words to form sentences and choose the correct form of a sentence from the given sentences.

All three assessments were in three different formats, oral (productive language), digital game and written form respectively, but the purpose was the same; assess his sentence structure. He found the sequencing of the words quite challenging, the sentences he developed from the given words were very simple and mostly with incorrect syntax, however, I observed that he chose correct sentences from the given choices. The purpose of all the learning experiences was the same but I observed different outcomes. This allowed me to pin the position from where I had to move ahead. I started off with concrete exercises and moved to more abstract ones throughout the year. I usually use alternative assessment strategies to evaluate my students. Let us take a look into a few of them.

Observations

As students are working in their groups or pairs, I use my communication skills to interact and record their dialogue and the process using an appropriate assessment tool like a checklist or anecdotal record sheet. It is highly important to use “observations” as an assessment strategy because it allows the teacher to see the child as a whole, interacting using social and communication skills, sharing ideas using thinking skills, planning and executing the process through self-management skills. Although I do not focus on assessing all the skills at the same time, this picture helps in making the picture clearer to analyze the learning goal and mark the areas of achievement and improvement through the checklist record or the written narrative during observations. As Renkon (n.d.) states that;

Observing in this setting looks at the whole child not fragments or skills that are out of context. When a child is counting to see how many friends are at school today, there is authenticity; but when asked to count objects for a test, the reason is absent. One of the important benefits of doing observations is that teachers are viewing many components at the same time. Unlike standardized tests, which focus only on cognition, observations allow the teacher to see the whole child. The emotional, physical, social, and cultural dimensions of the child are equally important, especially with the younger child. (p. 51)

I use these narratives for reflecting on my lesson, and later I plan accordingly, as it is a great opportunity to assess what are the students’ needs and style of learning. Hence, these commentaries are a window that provides a complete insight of each student’s social, emotional and cognitive processes and needs.  

Selected Response-Hinge Point Questions

Dylan William is considered as the father of assessment. I learned this strategy of assessing students in one of his workshops that I attended two years back. I often use this strategy in the process of inquiry for more tricky concepts. Not only the question itself, but the tool used to record the responses is found interesting by my primary grade students.  A hinge point question is a multiple choice question, carefully crafted to capture the understanding of students. I provide relevant, complete and incomplete answers, logical and superficial statements to assess the depth of understandings and the way students connect their ideas. It requires a lot of time and effort to craft such responses that are not incorrect but incomplete and display superficial understanding. I introduce it in the middle of the lesson to my students to assess how they are building upon their prior knowledge and how well they are connecting ideas across the concepts. I introduce it through multimedia as it is easy, however, students record their responses on their mini whiteboards. I capture the answers in my camera and provide feedback accordingly. It saves my time in terms of taking individual responses and helps to negate the shaping of responses of other students’ listening to the response of any particular student; authentic and clear picture is achieved. This strategy helps reveal the thinking and reasoning process and expose any misconceptions building up in the mind. Identification of such areas of improvements helps in developing the differentiated learning process.

Wide-Ranging Methods of Assessments

 In wide-ranging methods of assessment, the complete task consists of various phases and strategies. This method is metacognitive in nature and provides the three dimensional bigger picture of the learning, the process of learning and the reasoning. I recently designed an assessment task which was a combination of assessment strategies. This was a summative assessment task about the significance of plants. It consisted of three parts; the role play, a quiz developed for peers, assessing the responses and giving constructive feedback. The process of assessment started off by choosing the concepts; structure, interdependence and reproduction. Students independently chose the concepts they wanted to elaborate in their role plays and started planning out the demonstrations and making any necessary props. As I visited each group and listened to their planning, I provided the initial feedback on their planning sheets. Students continued to develop the role plays considering the feedback as a helpful tool. One of my purpose in opening the assessment task without predetermined measures was to help students realize and uncover the pointers for assessment criteria themselves. In the second phase of planning I asked students to share what they have been planning for their role plays; what will they consider in order to make it successful? The responses came out as, acting, dialogues, details in the content, eye contact, voice clarity, communication, entertainment etc. I assessed that a planning phase coiled with effective feedback helps develop sound criteria for assessment.

As Price, Pierson and Light state, “rubrics are both a tool to measure students’ knowledge and ability in a formative manner as well as an assessment strategy for use in a summative manner”, we see that students constructing the criteria display a broader picture of learning than handing them a success criteria to follow. We recorded the pointers in a single point rubric and entered the second phase of the assessment; practicing the role plays and developing a quiz for peers based on the conceptual understanding demonstrated in their role plays. This quiz was another method of assessing students’ understanding in three dimensions; designing effective questions, answering the questions of other groups and giving constructive feedback on other’s responses.  This multi-dimensional assessment took us three days to conduct and reflect but provided a comprehensive picture of students’ learning. Throughout the assessment procedure, students juggled through various skills and reframed the process and products to make them effective. Summative tasks are not meant to be the final word on learning and teaching, they are the major turning points on the learning journey.

Assessment of learning

KIQ: What I know? What I find interesting? What questions do I have?

I usually use this assessment strategy during reading. The purpose is to make students concentrate on the content they are reading and use it to initiate productive discussions around the concept and further develop questions to drive the inquiry process. Language is fully embedded in my curriculum within the six unit of inquiries. I use rich and stimulating reading texts as provocations to engage my learners and help them generate questions around the key and related concepts to explore these ideas during the inquiry process. I do not use it before reading but during and after reading as a tool to assess what my students have understood from the text and as historians what authentic questions they are raising to find out more about the topic to complete the picture. After reading every paragraph or a page, I ask my students to reflect and record what the “already know” from this paragraph and what have they “found interesting”. This motivates them and allows them to feel confident about their learning and record what new information they have come across and can discuss it further with peers (Brookhart as cited in Using Assessment to Drive Instruction, n.d.) .

Recently I have completed this assessment activity in my class while reading the story of Sadako Sasaki as a stimulus to generate discussion on the consequences of armed conflicts in the world and construct knowledge around peace, exploitation, reconciliation and conflict. Students read the text independently and recorded what they knew about armed conflicts and what they did not know and found interesting in the story about the concepts in hand. The assessment task helped me check the ways of thinking that were indicative of my student’s comprehension skills and how well students can engage in "content talk" that is supported by evidence and explanation from the text. I use this information to “reteach”, “reinforce” and differentiate instruction and learning opportunities for my students (Western and Northern Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Education, 2006) in the next lessons to engage everyone in the process of inquiry and help them grow and learn.  Then we used question developing techniques to raise questions around the causes of conflicts, perspectives of people involved in these conflicts and our responsibility towards upholding human rights.

Assessment as learning

After completing the reading, discussion and question developing process, I encourage students to record their learning process in their reflection journals; what skills they have used to examine the text? How it has helped them in constructing knowledge around the concepts, what other skills do they need to drive their learning and take it to the next phase?, How well they have constructed the questions around the concepts and what expectations do they have for their inquiry process?

In this way students keep a record of the various skills they are practicing and developing that is helping them in acquiring language and grip research abilities to move throughout the phases of inquiry. Often they compare these records with the learning goals and success criteria of the unit to self-asses and monitor their learning (Western and Northern Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Education, 2006). They then review and adjust their goals for the next phase of inquiry. It helps me keep them on the track with clear goals and intentions in mind.

As I have collected knowledge about feedback from various readings in this unit, I have come to know the various types of feedback that I was using unconsciously as assessment tools in my instructional practices. “What went well” in students’ work indicates what they have been successful in adding to or completing in their task, whereas, “even better if” the form of suggestion that I add to my feedback indicating what they now need to improve or add to their work and learning. This feedback is different for different tasks and students in which they not only improve or revise their work but interact with me on my feedback through the last part of our feedback protocol; INK, I now know that… . This last part of the feedback procedure, in my class, is a modified form of an assessment strategy that allows students to reflect on their work. I have deliberately made it reciprocal in nature to initiate a dialogue with students and allow them multiple chances to improve their work and make their improvements a conscious act of learning through “I now know” reflective prompts that become highly metacognitive in nature.

This reciprocal act of receiving and responding to my feedback and feed forward is highly effective in class as the student teacher thinking is transferred through words and offer students to “close the gap” in their learning (Western and Northern Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Education, 2006). As this feedback differs from student to student and from subject to subject, I construct my feedback on the following aspects of learning;

• knowledge acquired by the student and the quality of content added to the discussions and assignments

• Approaches to learning skills used by the learner to unfold and process their learning; research, communication, thinking, self-management and social.

• The process of learning; achieving learning goals, construction and revision of generalizations and modifications in learning.

Content Area, Grade Level and Topic

The lesson plan is designed for a Social Studies focused unit of inquiry about the causes and effects of migration on individuals and communities for grade ten. Where the students investigate the challenges faced by the immigrants, it is critical to add a perspective that projects courage and perseverance for the students to see how our actions may bring about change in ourselves and in the communities we live. The content area offers students to dig into history and revere the value of human psychology and norms of sociology at the same time.

Non-fiction Supplemental Text and its Relevance

The text chosen for this unit is “Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town” by Warren St. John. The book uniquely discusses the varied backgrounds and challenges of the American-educated Jordanian Luma Mufleh who found a youth soccer team comprised of immigrant children from Liberia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Balkan states (Plugged In, n.d.). The narrative created to display the determination of Luma, creatively envelopes the stories of the troubled pasts of her multicultural team members by reflecting the after effects of these episodes on their lives who were trying to develop a common bond as they adjust to life in a new homeland. The biographical non-fiction text will help provide details of the challenges faced by the children and their families in different places (Banks, n.d.) and let them develop the concept of cause and effect.

Reading Activity

Day 1

As the students and teacher are engaged in the process of inquiry; therefore, the first step is to set clear goals for reading this text. Intentional teaching provides better outcomes as the expectations are transparent and designed with students (Improving adolescent literacy: Effective classroom and intervention practices, 2008; Ullman, 2011). Learning objectives will be shared and discussed with the students to prep them for the lesson and set the purpose of reading; cause and effect, main idea and supporting details.

A variety of learning strategies will be used to teach the text and make sure that students receive appropriate modes of representation, engagement and expression (CAST, 2018).  

Provocation: Student interest and engagement will be enhanced through the visuals (Partin, 2009) connected to migration like life in a refugee camp and people moving out with their luggage. Images with evident facial expressions and physical conditions will be used to develop a digital story board for students and let them work in mixed ability groups to move through the images and add comments for the provided events. See/Think/Wonder visible thinking routine will be used to collect the comments and to scaffold the thinking process of the students with different abilities (Improving adolescent literacy: Effective classroom and intervention practices, 2008; Partin, 2009). This activity followed by a collaborative discussion based on the responses will assess students’ prior knowledge and set the stage for the proceeding activities.

Explicit Vocabulary Instruction: Teacher will carefully collect vocabulary words from the text and teach the words through visuals, illustrations and by creating situations to help students use understand their meaning. These words are selected on by assessing “how important they are to understand the content” (Improving adolescent literacy: Effective classroom and intervention practices, 2008, p. 15).

Day 2, 3 and 4

Flipped learning model will be used to manage the time of instruction effectively. Students will be assigned a section of text to be read at home every day for three days. To meet students’ needs and scaffold the process of reading, teacher will assign Google Slides with supporting reading instruction to ESL/ELL/EFL students. These slides will provide students with quick refences to difficult words using hyperlinks, text broken down into small chunks and supporting visuals (Partin, 2009).

In class, students will bring their acquired understandings and, in small cooperative groups, discuss what they have understood. As a group, students will develop short role plays or vlogs to summarize the read content. This recorded understanding will be shared with peers through Knovio App (https://knovio.com/?nab=0) in the classroom; “listening to other groups’ Knovios will provide a meaningful review of the content to students, especially those for whom reading is challenging” (Gormley, n.d., p. 54). Intentionally designed questions, to target the selected comprehension strategies, will be provided to scaffold the learning process in the right direction and avoid unnecessary details in the video presentations. These questions will help students discuss the causes and effects of migration and the main idea of each section and the details that support that main idea.

Writing Activity

Students will use the Book Creator Application (https://bookcreator.comto) design a historical character who migrated from one place to another, faced multiple challenges but changed into a contributing personality in life. Students will set a context and cause for their character and design realistic challenges that the person faced and how it changed his/her life. The biography of this character will be illustrated using the selected application and published for the school library.  

Day 5

Students will set their writing goals by evaluating the text they have read and analyzing the basic features of a biographical narrative. The features of a text help students design and structure their own writing in similar ways. Personalized learning goals will be discussed with students who have different literacy needs and require modifications or accommodations in their writing process (CAST, 2018).   One such goal may be to provide three different challenges faced by the character rather than writing five or six different ones (Teaching secondary students to write effectively, 2016).

Day 6 and 7

Teacher will provide discussion questions regarding “target audience” and “lead” of the text.  These questions might include the following:

1. Who is my audience?

2. What would my audience like to read specifically about migration?

3. What does my audience need to know about migration that they have never come across or noticed?

4. What type of information or argument would my audience respond to and connect with?

5. What message I would convey through my writing that can bring hope to their eyes?

    

(Teaching secondary students to write effectively, 2016, p. 15).

Before engaging with the formal writing process, students will collect all the ideas in their writing organizers from the reading they have conducted as a small group. Then each student will choose their own ideas from the pool of thoughts and put a personalized mark to stay focused on the selected ideas and design their character with these qualities and events in life.

Writing conferences will be conducted for each student to discuss the personalized goals, scaffold the process of writing for students and help them identify their areas of strengths and improvements. To help students develop their writing pieces, mini lessons based on the data collected from seatwork will be conducted by the teacher to model the skills required to fill the gaps; sentence structure, point of view, paragraphing with supporting ideas etc.

Using the understanding from the text and video presentations, making use of the vocabulary and the discussed ideas, students will draft their writing on the Book Creator application.  

Day 8

Peer reviews will take place and students will share their writings in the digital library of the Book Creator application. Students will review their peers’ work according to the personalized criteria and provide feedback on the application by highlighting the sentences, asking questions and making suggestions; one thing I like about your writing, one thing I would like to ask you about and one suggestion I would like to make (Venturino, 2018). Keeping the feedback process targeted and precise would increase the chances of improvements for the specified content.

Day 9

In the final stage of the writing, students will enhance their written pieces in the application with minimal effort and maximum engagement (Wray, 2005). These biographies will be published for the audience in the school library.

1. Everyone in the learning community is a facilitator for change, however, teachers are the active change agents.

2. It takes time to bring about the desired change and innovation as it is a complex process.

3. Everyone’s capacity and understanding of change varies in a community and across various communities.

4. Students are the main focus of change and not only the physical learning environment.

5. Coalitions, collaboration and communication are critical to change.

(Shen, 2008; Battelle for Kids, 2012)

A critical component of this change, usually overlooked by educational leaders, is developing strong connections and relationships between people of the learning community especially parents. Parental involvement has many forms (Juvonen etal., 2004); taking interest in their child’s academic performance to discussing learning at home and extending a hand to form partnerships with schools to bring about change in the behaviours and actions of the learning community. Usually, parents in our culture are reluctant in showing up at schools or do not feel confident enough to take part in school activities and think it is only the school’s job to make their children learn. In real, it is the school’s job to make these parents realize the need of their presence and participation a critical component to constructing the process of change (Guo, 2006). We do not deal with a diverse cultural variance at our school but the main reason of parents not showing up is the differences in socio-economic statuses and lack of English Language proficiency. Even though these differences are not promoted and encouraged by the school, still it is our responsibility to bring the valuable community and potent helping hands closer for establishing a change-adept school (Hoover‐Dempsey et al., 2005).

Lack of parental support make our students split up between the variances of home and school environments and become deficit in developing a growth-mindset, motivation and self-esteem at school, eventually promoting school failures (Fedena, 2019). The uninterrupted process of “change” requires parents to:

• become partners with teachers in encouraging children with their schoolwork

• interact with their children at home to support school goals and programs

• understand early adolescence and middle grade programs

• assist children with decisions that affect their own and the families' futures 

      (Studies of Education Reform, 2019, para. 22)

Developing a plan to connect the work to the global vision

As a change agent, I would prefer formulating multiple platforms of communication with parents and try to employ them immaculately. These meaningful communications and “change management” plans would include web and print materials and they would also involve participants “through focus groups, community forums, surveys, and other strategies” (Battelle for Kids, 2012).

Connecting with communication specialists with a profound experience of working with stakeholders can be extremely valuable in our scenario as “a trusted, knowledgeable third party can provide strategic counsel and tactical support” (Battelle for Kids, 2012, para. 7) to help us develop and maintain communication systems and change management plans that are aligned with our exclusive enhancement aims. A good change management approach identifies conducts to promote “networks of support and engage all participants” (Battelle for Kids, 2012, para. 9) by personalizing messages to ensure relevance and understanding at all levels. Social media, websites, videos, v/blogs, magazines, etc., are some effective networks of communication.

As a change agent, I would like to keep goals transparent with the parents because most people tend to undergo “change” if they know “the why” and sense that this hard work will make a difference in the lives of their children who need to thrive in the globalized world. Understanding change and making it clear to the target community that restructuring is a significant process, it is designed to help our students and expectations are shared and reinforced regularly to ensure success.

On the other hand, it is the social change that defines and redefines our process of education. Social progress is viewed as social change but all social change is not social progress. Social progress is transforming and shifting to a particular direction with some aims and goals in mind. Such an adjustment can be called progress if it fulfils the desired aims. Thus, economic development, political awareness, improvement in moral conduct and better education for the masses are some of the indicators of social progress. This social progress can be achieved by revising, reforming and as indicated by Jacobs (2010), “reinventing” the curriculum.

The unique relationship between social change and education is the base of progress and evolution. The bilateral nature of social change and education can be used effectively by choosing, acting and reflecting on our aims, actions and outcomes, as presented by International Baccalaureate, to make it a tremendous and dynamic social progress. 

Noddings’ (2007) question further offers a wider range of thinking when he asks the audience that “is curriculum for the 21st century best organized around the traditional disciplines or is there a more promising alternative (p. 75)? “ He suggests that “stretching the disciplines”, “expanding the subjects” and “blurring the lines between them” is more effective than teaching discrete disciplines and traditional subjects with rigid boundaries. Thus, when Whitehead (as cited in Noddings, 2007) presents the jaw-dropping reality of the “ideal” curriculum and criticizes the “fatal disconnection of subjects which kills the vitality of our modern curriculum (p. 77)”, it becomes obvious that we have segregated the basic subject matter of education, “Life in all its manifestations”, into literature, Algebra, Sciences, History, Geography for our ease but then gradually compiled them into thick structured piles of facts and finally tied them into rigid boundaries of disciplines. For this reason, Whitehead uncovers the real picture as;

we offer children—Algebra, from which nothing follows; Geometry, from which nothing follows; Science, from which nothing follows; History, from which nothing follows; a Couple of Languages, never mastered; and lastly, most dreary of all, Literature, represented by plays of Shakespeare, with philological notes and short analyses of plot and character to be in substance committed to memory. (p. 77)

We observe that social change can be planned and unplanned, it can be positive, harmful or even evil. Let’s take a quick closer look at the changing society and our response towards it. We are globalized through technology, the world of information has evolved dramatically, the economy is expanding rapidly, the geographical boundaries are reframing, political scenarios are unpredictable and challenging and cultural assimilation and acculturation is influenced by education too. Not only that, we are challenged with terrorism, violence, racism, fascism, unemployment and environmental issues. How have we restructured our curriculum for such a massive and overwhelming change in our society?

As mentioned by Noddings, I also believe that International Baccalaureate has proposed a better-adapted curriculum for the social change discussed above. The mission statement presented by IB resonates with Whitehead’s “Life in all its manifestations” philosophy and Dewey’s “Education is not a preparation for life but is life itself” ideology. “The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect” (IBO, para. 1). It is offering what is required at the moment in the name of social change and acting as a prerequisite to the advancements that will follow. IB learner profile is a set of ten attributes, translated from its mission statement, presented as the outcomes of the much-needed curriculum of the 21^st century. It displays a more holistic approach towards curriculum development and attempts to develop the child as a whole unit and not as fragments that disintegrate our thinking and does not allow the development of connections between fragments. Thus, our traditional learning runs in parallel paths as dead and non-functional information that has no significant connection to real life education.

IB philosophy aims to transform students, schools and ultimately the larger community as they learn, through dynamic and continuous cycles of inquiry, action and reflection. Teachers empower and support students as they develop the approaches to learning they need not only for academic but personal success too (IBO). AS we look closer into this philosophy we observe that it takes into account a much bigger and magnificent vision of continuous development through reflection that suggests that success of today might not be enough for tomorrow or functional in the future. The action cycle allows the learners to inquire, act and reflect for further modifications and transformations in learning and growing. The Approaches to Learning empower students to approach knowledge through a set of wide-ranging skills.  This curriculum of the 21^st century not only focus on the product but the process of learning as it provides active learning opportunities, allows students to take part in larger societal improvement through service learning, offers a more democratic classroom environment, enhances the thinking process of students and develops international mindedness.

The trans-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary nature of curriculum satisfies the urge of curiosity and inquiry for knowledge by developing harmony between the inner being and outer world. It dissolves the boundaries between conventional disciplines and organizes teaching and learning around the construction of meaning in the context of real-world problems (IBE); it offers a transformative curriculum and learning. Mezirow's theory (as cited in Sharma & Monteiro, 2016) of transformative learning states that teaching procedures that let learners go through a process of critical reflection guarantees a transformation in their thinking. Transformative learning occurs when students change their frames of reference by critically reflecting on their assumptions and beliefs and consciously making and implementing plans that bring about new ways of defining their worlds.

My perspective resonates with Carpenter et al. that we as educators know that the policy makers display ignorance about literacy learning in their policies. Their superficial knowledge about the challenges of educational systems and the need to transform the curriculum offers limited opportunities to the students and teachers. As a result, we still see our students employed as low waged workers in their future, however, globalization and technology have revealed on our generation the effects of traditional methods of education. They are in search of new skills, knowledge and opportunities. They are looking out for programmes like STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards) and the development of critical thinking, collaboration, creativity and communication (the 4C’s) as the new approach to teach students learn “how to learn.” Therefore, we need to “reinvent” our beliefs before reinventing the curriculum. 

Reflective and reflexive teaching practices refers to the commitment one does to work towards the “change” and “transformation” required to challenge ourselves in “the ways we think and do things”, in order to achieve sustainability in education. As the world is changing rapidly and the need to adopt reforms that can support our students in their future endeavors is increased, reflexivity is critical to reflect authentically on our learning and teaching. This is a significant part of teachers as change agents who want to become lifelong learners (Fullan, 1993) and “inclined to investigate the world to envision a better future” (Leading with the World in Mind - Project Zero, n.d. p. 6).

The most significant aspect, in my experience, that supports the authenticity of this evaluation process and holds the potential to “maximize human potential and innovation” (Leading with the World in Mind - Project Zero, n.d. p. 6) is collaboration between teachers and students. Teachers reflecting in isolation on their own practices can never be reliable enough to make decisions that can bring change. Involving other teachers for peer observations and making our students a part of this reflective evaluation is highly recommended by experts (Serra, 2017; Gatumu, 2011). These collaborative practices allow educators to initiate a process of critical inquiry for collecting information about their teaching practices and learning outcomes in a cohesive manner (Glisson et al., 2014; Fullan, 1993; Reflection and Reflexivity: What and Why, 2009). The ongoing, cyclic nature of this evaluation process allows change agents to challenge their own “assumptions, ideological illusions, damaging social and cultural biases, inequalities, and questions personal behaviours which perhaps silence the voices of others or otherwise marginalize them” (Reflection and Reflexivity: What and Why, 2009, p. 3). Richards (as cited in Gatumu, 2011) suggested that “reflective teaching” envelops advanced ways of assessing “how teaching and learning take place” it requires the teachers and learners in a learning community to acquire higher levels of self-observation and self-evaluation to collect reliable information and unify, examine and infer it to recognize the principles, norms and ethics attached to our teaching practices (p. 14).

Students can become part of this assessment process if they are exposed to critical thinking and metacognitive experiences. One of these practices could be reflection cycles conducted in class with learners as part of the learning process. Students and teachers can use “through-the-mirror writing” that “enables discovery of who and what we are in practice and why we act as we do” to collect intuitive data about the learning process (Reflection and Reflexivity: What and Why, 2009, p. 4). Critical thinkers and “reflective practitioners and learners write for self-illumination and exploration, not to create a product” (Reflection and Reflexivity: What and Why, 2009, p. 4).  In support of this type of writing for developing critical thinking in our students, Powell and Baily (as cited in Serra, 2017) have argued that the “procedure which is becoming more widely acknowledged as a valuable tool for developing critical reflection is the journal or diary” (para. 23) that helps achieve the following goals.

• provide a record of the significant learning experiences that have taken place

• help the participants come into touch and keep in touch with the self-development process that is taking place for them

• provide the participants with an opportunity to express, in a personal and dynamic way, their self-development

• To foster a creative interaction;

• between the participant and the self-development process that is taking place

• between the participant and other participants who are also in the process of self-development

• between the participant and the facilitator whose role it is to foster such development

Critically reviewing these goals reveal that a specific set of dispositions is required to establish a culture of critical thinking to promote global competence. Critical thinking (CT) is a complex process of interconnected skills and attitudes. The ability to think critically involves practices like observing, generating, examining, evaluating, forming decisions, comparing and restructuring information to use it creatively in similar and different situations (Fitriani et al., 2018). Conscious learners and thinkers possess a set of unique dispositions to make this complex process successful and authentic in the classrooms. These dispositions display a learner’ willingness, readiness or proclivity to initiate the dynamic process of CT and work through it with perseverance (Dwyer, 2019). The writing process discussed above can support the attitudes required to maintain and enhance this skill through self-questioning, open-mindedness towards others’ perspectives and challenging own beliefs, systematically documenting the collected information and analyzing it and generating evidence based solutions to problems.

“Being tolerant of divergent views and sensitive to the possibility of one’s own bias” (Walker, 2003, p. 264) are the attributes of a conscious, mindful and “willing” learner in this globalized world.  Putting aside the rigidity and wearing a flexible frame of mind can contribute to let in more than superficial information in our students’ minds. For their minds to examine and evaluate new ideas, it is important that they have multiple ideas to work with (Dwyer, 2019). I believe sowing the seeds of suspicion in our students’ minds for everything they experience can help them generate questions that can allow them to take multiple perspectives before finding conclusions (Chris, 2020). Multiple perspectives graphic organizers and thinking routines are specifically helpful in creating and maintaining a culture of appreciating perspectives and moving away from predetermined correct answers in the classrooms. 

At an extended level, sustainability involves the implementation of alternative plans that steadfastly uphold this delicate balance, even in the face of challenges. It is a proactive and adaptive mindset that prioritizes long-term harmony over short-term gains. This involves a continual assessment and reassessment of our needs and wants, with a keen awareness that personal desires and illogical needs must not disrupt the equilibrium that sustains us like the desire to make more weapons or build industries on forests. 

In essence, sustainability is a dynamic commitment to responsible stewardship, emphasizing not only the present but also the well-being of future generations. It is a harmonious movement with the planet and its inhabitants, ensuring that our actions today do not compromise the ability of the world to meet the needs of tomorrow.

Atkisson says that it is "...far too early to abandon the word [sustainability], and it is also too late".

• Too Early to Abandon:

  
  

  Numerous efforts have been made by governments, business organisations, schools, and local and global communities to create awareness and put in efforts for promoting sustainability through technologies, policies and general practices. As a result people are becoming aware of sustainability and trying to adopt ways in which they can become a part of this concept. Abandoning the term now might undermine these efforts and the progress made so far.

  The idea of sustainability has gained global awareness. This term is mostly and vastly used now to organize ideas, initiate new schemes, plan technologies, design units of inquiry etc. People are using this concept to  address environmental, social, and economic challenges. removing this idea might lead to a loss of focus at a valuable content and exercises. The balance in the use of natural limits will be disturbed as we give up on this concept. 

  
  

• Too Late:

  
  

• We are facing challenges like climate change, floods, irregular rain and snow patterns, unpredictable heat waves, loss of species, poverty, war, inflation, energy crisis and many more. There is an immediate need for this concept to stay with us as a critical issue to be resolved.  Not thinking about this idea now will make us regret it badly in the near future. Therefore, we need to design our goals now. 

  We can see that the effects of the “non-sustainable” practices are in action and soon they may become irreversible. We need to act now to make sure the effects are controlled.

Myth: The notion that knowledge growth is synonymous with increased human goodness is a fallacy. While there's an information surge, it doesn't guarantee moral progress. For instance, the overemphasis on fields like software engineering or business administration over essential areas like ecology and environmental science poses risks. Gaining knowledge about something does not add wisdom and values to the human brain, they have to be deliberately explored, acquired and internalised.  People have become disconnected from their environments and upcoming challenges associated with this environment. With the rise of advanced algorithms and artificial intelligence, people have developed sophisticated tools for communication and information dissemination. However, the use of these technologies sometimes reflects a lack of ethical considerations.

Principle: What we teach today is either environmental or apart from environment. So we segregate the education into ‘sustainability knowledge’ and now we are moving away from the ‘idea of sustainability’ and we will learn something different like, mathematics or economics or physics and biology. Here is the mistake, we need to make learning integrated, transdisciplinary around the environment and sustainability. Subject matter is the tool to become ‘sustainable’ and ‘true human’; “mastery of one’s self’ is required through education and not the mastery of content knowledge. An example illustrating the importance of integrated and transdisciplinary learning around sustainability is the concept of "sustainable agriculture education." Instead of treating agriculture as a standalone subject, a transdisciplinary approach integrates various disciplines such as biology, ecology, economics, and sociology to teach students how to cultivate crops in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.

To what extent education drives sustainability? 

As I was reading through the myths and principles of education and the suggested solutions, I was continuously connecting back with my prior understanding of the IB ideology and the Triple Screen Learning Intentions I used to develop with my students; I am learning to know, I am learning to do and I am learning to become. I realized how IB does recognize the importance of developing good humans with a diverse profile consisting of values and attributes, however, it still needs to be understood by many educators and learners around the globe.

We do have value based education as a fancy term for in  educational institutes but we really do not educate for the values, we only teach values as a separate lesson. This disintegrated model is the main cause supporting the idea that sustainability is a content based standalone subject.

I strongly believe that education has to play an important role in not only designing units for teaching sustainability to learners but setting them in the real life with real world examples and challenges to recognise what it looks like, feels like and sounds like. ​The behavioural change that occurs due to this process of learning would be called ‘real ​learning’. It starts with us and the way we spend our lives as a role model for our learners. Shifting our focus away from merely designing units to fulfill tasks and achieve conventional notions of success, we should instead embrace a more impactful approach. Stepping beyond the confines of traditional classrooms and immersing ourselves in the real world, engaging with real people and authentic contexts, is essential to purposefully enhance our educational practices.If learners have to achieve a ‘standard based success’ that would count more than who they have become as humans, there is a big question mark for us to answer.

How do humans fit in my definition of sustainability?  

The element of the human is particularly significant, as sustainability involves fostering a harmonious relationship between human activities and the environment. Beyond immediate needs, sustainability requires proactive planning and adaptation to maintain this equilibrium, even in challenging circumstances. It is a dynamic dedication to responsible stewardship, prioritizing long-term harmony over short-term gains and considering the well-being of future generations. In essence, sustainability is the harmonious coexistence with the planet, ensuring that present actions do not compromise the ability of the world to meet the needs of tomorrow, while rejecting desires that disrupt this delicate equilibrium.

• Analytical Abilities:

  • Disposition: Critical Thinkers

  • Development Approach: Encourage learners to question, analyze, and evaluate information critically. Foster a habit of seeking multiple perspectives and understanding the interconnectedness of various elements in complex systems.

• Perseverance:

  • Disposition: Resilient Achievers

  • Development Approach: Cultivate a growth mindset by framing challenges as opportunities for learning. Encourage learners to persist in the face of difficulties, view failures as stepping stones to success, and develop resilience in their pursuit of sustainable goals.

• Emotional Intelligence:

  • Disposition: Empathetic Communicators

  • Development Approach: Nurture self-awareness and empathy in learners. Provide opportunities for reflection, interpersonal interactions, and understanding diverse perspectives. Build a supportive environment that values emotional well-being and fosters effective communication.

• Cultural Jamming; Builders of Culture:

  • Disposition: Cultural Stewards

  • Development Approach: Cultivate a sense of responsibility for shaping culture. Encourage learners to actively engage with and contribute to cultural narratives. Promote creativity, collaboration, and the exploration of diverse cultural expressions as a means of fostering positive societal change.

• Survival Tactics:

  • Disposition: Adaptive Problem Solvers

  • Development Approach: Instill a sense of adaptability and resourcefulness. Provide real-world scenarios that require learners to apply their knowledge and skills in novel situations. Foster a mindset that views challenges as opportunities for creative problem-solving.

• Environmental and Health/Well-being Understanding:

  • Disposition: Eco-Health Advocates

  • Development Approach: Develop awareness of the interdependence between environmental sustainability and personal well-being. Integrate lessons on environmental stewardship, healthy living, and mindfulness practices. Encourage responsible decision-making that considers both individual and environmental health.

• Mindfulness:

  • Disposition: Mindful Decision-Makers

  • Development Approach: Incorporate mindfulness practices into the learning environment. Teach techniques for self-awareness, stress reduction, and focused attention. Promote mindful decision-making by encouraging reflection before taking actions that impact oneself or the environment.

• Growth Mindset:

  • Disposition: Continuous Learners

  • Development Approach: Foster a belief in the potential for growth through effort and learning. Praise effort and perseverance rather than fixed abilities. Encourage a positive attitude toward challenges and a willingness to embrace continuous learning and improvement.

• Problem Solving:

  • Disposition: Solution-oriented Thinkers

  • Development Approach: Provide opportunities for hands-on problem-solving experiences. Encourage learners to approach challenges with a systematic and creative mindset. Foster collaboration and the exploration of innovative solutions to real-world issues.

• Purposeful Habits of Mind:

• Disposition: Intentional Decision-Makers

• Development Approach: Cultivate habits of mind that align with sustainability principles. Teach intentional decision-making by considering long-term consequences, ethical implications, and the broader impact on the community and environment. Encourage mindfulness in daily choices to instill a sense of purpose and responsibility.

My social media sharing post

Once upon a time in a quaint village nestled between rolling hills and babbling brooks, there lived a curious young girl named Lila. Lila had a unique gift – she could see beyond the ordinary and unravel the intricate web of connections that surrounded her. Her journey through life became a tapestry woven with sustainable habits of mind.

Lila's days began with the rising sun casting a golden glow over the village. Don’t stress the mess, her grandmother always said, as they tended to the wild garden that embraced the chaos of nature. Through tangled vines and flourishing blooms, Lila learned the importance of acknowledging the messy complexity of the world. Each twist and turn in the garden mirrored the interconnected elements constantly changing, a dance of life in vibrant disarray.

As Lila grew, her insatiable thirst for knowledge led her beyond the village borders. Focus on learning, not knowing, became her mantra. She traversed hills and valleys, gathering evidence from ancient trees and talking to wise elders. The history of the land whispered tales of sustainability, teaching her that true wisdom lay not in knowing everything but in the perpetual journey of learning.

One starry night, as Lila lay beneath the vast canvas of the universe, she imagined the possibilities that could shape a more sustainable world. Dreaming about innovative solutions and acting to cultivate abundance, she envisioned a village where every person played a role in preserving the delicate balance of nature.

In her wanderings, Lila stumbled upon a hidden glade where loops of cause and effect intertwined seamlessly. Look for loops, she realized, and so she did. She observed the dance of seasons, the ebb and flow of life's cycles. Lila discovered that understanding these loops held the key to identifying opportunities to create change in her village.

Nature became Lila's greatest teacher. Learn from Nature, she embraced. Reflecting on the natural processes, she sought to mimic the cycles of growth and decay. From the wisdom of ancient trees to the resilience of flowing rivers, she learned to cultivate a profound sense of connection to the natural world.

As Lila continued her explorations, she encountered individuals with diverse perspectives. Get perspective, she understood. In sharing stories with people from different backgrounds, she challenged her assumptions and gained new insights. Lila realized that the richness of life lay in acknowledging the value of others' skills and ideas.

With each encounter, Lila's mind expanded. Change your mind, she embraced. When presented with new information or making mistakes, she welcomed the opportunity to form new opinions. Through projects and plans that integrated learning into the process, Lila built structures that promoted accountability and reflection.

In the heart of the village, Lila stood by an ancient oak, pondering the future. Think beyond the here and now, she urged her fellow villagers. The decisions and actions made today, she emphasized, had far-reaching impacts into the future. The village, once a reflection of the past, transformed into a beacon of hope for generations to come.

Lila, in her quest to appreciate the intangible elements of life, became a living embodiment of value the unseen. The beauty, happiness, and joy she discovered in the simplicity of existence became guiding lights, shaping her thoughts, actions, relationships, and beliefs.

Finally, Lila understood the essence of cultivating connection. Knowing that everything is interconnected, she demonstrated care and compassion for others and all living things. Her capacity for empathy and care fueled her motivation to create a more sustainable world, a world where caring for oneself was inseparable from caring for the planet.

And so, in the village of interconnected dreams, Lila's story became a legacy – a testament to the transformative power of sustainable habits of mind. The village thrived, not just as a physical place but as a living embodiment of the interconnected elements constantly changing, a beacon of hope for a more sustainable and compassionate world.