Junior School

Are We There Yet?

Last week, in Pulse, Mr Cockington reflected on our Junior Swimming Carnival at Lawson Pool. Having been in Early Learning for the last four years, this was my first attendance at a Primary Carnival in a while and it struck me once again how strong the ‘House spirit’ is amongst our Junior students.  Many of the parent helpers and I reflected on the skill of our young swimmers but also how willing many of them were just to ‘give things a go’, particularly in the dreaded butterfly race! Some of those young swimmers aren’t quite there yet, but how can we encourage our students to persevere and grapple with new concepts and skills?

The power of the word ‘yet’ is widely recognised and used in our classrooms and encourages students to consider where they are on the learning journey.  Deep learning and understanding requires curiosity, time, the development of strategies, practice and building on setbacks. John Nottingham’s ‘Learning Pit’ is a model that supports our students when tackling new concepts. Entering the ‘Learning Pit’ takes courage and a growth mindset. It also requires students to see the benefits of wrestling with uncertainty, difficulty and collaborating to try out new ideas when trying to climb out of the pit. Nottingham says that we will only experience that ‘Eureka moment’ after a struggle. If we are jumping from one side of the pit to the other, the initial challenge was too easy! 

As Carol Dweck points out, it is important to help our young learners understand that ‘nobody has a growth mindset in everything all the time.’ Defining people in the world as having a fixed or a growth mindset is an over simplification but we can grow persistence, courage and reflection to encourage children to tackle the uphill challenges- the challenges that will help them grow. Our swimmers last week demonstrated what it truly means to enter the learning pit at their current highest standard but aspire for more.

Mrs Bronwen Knebel

Leader of Curriculum & Pedagogy (JS)