Weekly Update - Thrive Framework

Secondary 'Thrive' Framework

Last week, I introduced the second element of the Framework, the Capabilities. These include:

• Critical and creative thinking
• Digital Literacy
• Ethical Understanding
• Intercultural Understanding
• Literacy
• Numeracy
• Personal and Social Capability

When I think about the capabilities, I think about the canvas onto which a tapestry is woven. Each of the capabilities run horizontally, being addressed by the different subject areas. They are also vertical, incorporating increased complexity over successive years. 

Sometimes, when we hear ‘creativity’, we think of the artistic pursuits, of music, visual arts, poetry writing or other elements of design. What has amazed me as a teacher who has been privileged to work in different subject areas has been how both critical and creative thinking are incorporated into all learning areas. Just as students in the Arts are learning to analyse and evaluate, students in Mathematics and Science are being encouraged to use imagination and innovation, as they develop solutions to new challenges.

As they progress through the Secondary years, we want to present students with opportunities to use critical and creative thinking, but also teach them more about these processes, to take a bird’s eye view of what it means to think critically and creatively. We encourage students to take a step back, to reflect on these processes and analyse how effective they have been in using them.

The Personal Project report provides a structure that helps students to step back and reflect on the process of planning and undertaking a project. This is an important learning experience for many of the Senior Secondary courses that include an independent research project. This requires students to learn in more depth about how experts within their field of endeavour undertake research so they can apply these disciplines as they embarking on their own project.

Jodie Bennett

Principal