From the Principal's Desk
Normally in November each year, after our Year 12 cohort has graduated, I tend to express the sentiment about what a year it has been, but this certainly fits the bill now, as I reflect on our year thus far.
By necessity we, like many schools, considered what educational continuity looked like for online learning, based on the fundamental premise that education is liberating, and learning – whether at home or at school – is inherently valuable.
In preparing our A.B. Paterson College Online Learning Plan, we turned our attention to how we might use the timing of the College day differently, and reconceptualized the notion of time spent by students on their curriculum endeavours online. This required a review of our timetable, and also consideration of how we could ensure students continued to learn deeply through this process. In our Online Learning Plan, we purposefully sought to build a culture of thinking that would complement our delivery platform with our teachers painstakingly attending to the architecture of our students’ learning progression – considering the skills and attributes they might need to acquire and when, as well as the dispositions and academic discipline that needed to be privileged and nurtured as they progressed through their subjects.
In addition to delivering content, our teachers have continued to embed those skills that set A.B. Paterson College students apart; the ability to plan their online learning with purpose while collaborating with their teachers and other students, the ability to be creative, innovative and importantly to consider that learning is a continuum. They designed carefully sequenced lessons that include opportunities for students to cycle back to learned concepts and transfer their understanding to new contexts – a vital part of any educational curriculum.
In planning and delivering our online learning, I have been witness to teachers talking about how ‘effective learning’ is similar to project management. To develop an area of expertise, we first have to set achievable goals about what we want to learn – these are our learning intentions. Then we have to develop strategies to help us reach those goals – our collaborative spaces in Teams help to facilitate this – and that learning benefits from reflection; that moment of calm, some cognitive quiet or silent introspection. All of these aspects are essential features of our Online Learning Plan.
For our students, learning in its broadest sense has been happening in spades. They have adapted to new online learning platforms, new timetables, new routines, and new modes of delivery of teaching and learning like ducks to water. They have continued to amaze us with their resilience and their mindset – that, while they may not be in control of everything, they can choose their outlook and embrace the opportunities presented to them and continue to do their best. Our students are learning that things we often don’t think of as essential, are actually vitally important; qualities like self-awareness, ingenuity, courage and compassion are essential when stepping into the unknown world of online learning. What we have seen though, is that our students are made for learning and for collaboration, and our A.B. Paterson College Online Learning facilitates this.
Our yearly plans may have changed, but as our students so frequently remind us, plans often do. It is not about what has happened, it is how you respond that matters.
Joanne Sheehy Principal/Head of College
