referencesAn extract from Sugata Mitra's book “Beyond the Hole in the Wall”
“Two school Principals from Melbourne Australia - Brett Millott and Paul Kenna have picked up the method and have taken the idea of S.O.L.E. far beyond what I was doing. Instead of making a S.O.L.E. an alternative to schools they have found ways to integrate the new methodology into regular schooling – something I could never do. The work of Brett Millott and Paul Kenna in spreading and developing the use of S.O.L.E.s in Australia is a fantastic boost to what is, increasingly, becoming a global phenomenon. They are pioneers and S.O.L.E. Central is proud of our association with them." Sugata Mitra, Director, SOLE Central Professor of Educational Technology, Newcastle University, UK Hi Paul and Brett, Thank you both again for your valuable input into what has been a truly inspirational project for our initial 20 schools. The feedback that we received after their final day yesterday was amazing. They are so inspired to change their teaching practice and embrace inquiry learning for their students through SOLEs. In large part, we have you both to thank for that and I hope that our collaboration across both states can continue in the future. Cheers Jennifer JENNIFER YORK SEO2 QUALITY TEACHING CONSULTANT ICT CURRICULUM INTEGRATION K-12 DEC South Western Sydney Region |Glenfield Education Office p 02 9203 9960 | f 02 9203 9999 | m 0457 543 616 | e [email protected] | t #icteach | w http://www.icteach.com.au | w https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/regions/sthwest_sydney/index.htm Dear Paul and Brett,
What a wonderful couple of days! Our project participants have really shifted in their thinking about S.O.L.E. having seen your mastery in the demo lessons. It's now real, do-able and so very exciting. Our Edmodo group activity has increased and the converted have all turned up today ready to innovate in their schools. Thank you again and have a wonderful time back in your schools! Cheers, Cathy Brennan Leader - Curriculum, Professional Learning and Leadership Glenfield Education Office, South Western Sydney |
Dear Paul and Brett
Thank you again for sharing your insight, experiences, humour and expertise in S.O.L.E.s to our latest cohort of schools. This is just one example that represents most of the feedback generated from yesterday with you both… I used to think... Teaching was about writing programs, directing a class full of learners and managing behaviour. It was all about me being the captain who steered the ship, and the students being the crew who followed specific directions so that we all arrived at our destination at the same time. Now I think... That I need to let go and trust the students to find their own answers and construct their own meaning. My job is to make sure the learning environment is conducive to the student’s needs, not my needs. I am still wondering about... How to make sure the "left over" kids (the ones who are on the outside of every friendship group, or have special needs, or are not assertive enough to ask to join groups) are part of the process. How to start small - I want to do this for everything I teach!!!!!!!!! Cheers, Jennifer York Curriculum Advisor Public Schools NSW Glenfield Education Office, Roy Watts Road, Glenfield, 2167 Dear Paul & Brett,
I wanted to say thank you for your presentation on Monday regarding SOLEs. The team from my school (Granville South Creative and Performing Arts High School) were thoroughly impressed and challenged! We are extremely excited coming back into our school to try and implement this new and innovative teaching tool. Again thank you for a wonderful and humorous day on Monday and for developing our enthusiasm. Kind regards, Louise King Head Teacher Teaching and Learning Granville South Creative and Performing Arts High School Rowley Rd, Guildford NSW The work in Melbourne has been critical to the development of classroom practice using S.O.L.E.s, because of the recognition that teachers face a tension between developing student inquiry/autonomy as against covering curriculum content. Two related principles have been important here:
1. The time spent by teachers planning appropriate questions which relate to the curriculum; 2. Maintaining 'a line of sight' back to the curriculum in order to make connections with curriculum content. In addition the schools in Melbourne have made a notable contribution by integrating S.O.L.E.s with the planning of curriculum units, so they either lead into or out of other curriculum activities. This work overall has given S.O.L.E.s great credibility as a coherent part of a specified and planned curriculum. Professor David Leat Professor of Curriculum Innovation Research Centre for Learning and Teaching School of Education, Communication and Language Science King George VI Building Newcastle University Newcastle NE1 7RU Tel: 0191 208 6578 |
It has been fantastic to collaborate with Brett and Paul on a project that incorporates S.O.L.E. into the Incinerator Gallery’s education program. Over the past year their students have investigated big questions which are explored in S.O.L.E sessions in the classroom and then within the gallery. Learning outcomes have been evident, with insightful responses and meaningful connections made between the provocation set up at school and the artwork they discover in the gallery.
The students involved in these sessions have displayed emotional and visual literacy, and by linking their enquiry to the exhibition content, creative and critical thinking opportunities are provided. Their art enquiry challenges them to look at works in both historic and cultural contexts from a variety of perspectives. The S.O.L.E sessions run by Paul and Brett have brought students from three different schools together and have fostered an inclusive environment where all students feel comfortable to voice their experience or understanding of an artwork. The Incinerator Gallery’s remit is Art for Social Change and as S.O.L.E requires active engagement in learning, everyone gets to hear and understand the viewpoints of others. This is an important part of social justice.
Thank you to Brett and Paul for the opportunity to learn about S.O.L.E, which is a strategy I will continue to use in my art teaching practice.
Amy Grevis-James, Incinerator Gallery
Moonee Ponds
BLOGS & ARTICLES
These Australian Principals Have a Plan to Mainstream Self-Organized Learning Posted by: Brett Brownell March 24th, 2015 18:54
Note: This post was updated on March 25 to include further details about Kenna & Millott's strategy...
I'm convinced that my video conference with Paul Kenna and Brett Millott was cutting in and out not because they were in Australia and I was 8,000 miles away in San Francisco, but because their sheer level of excitement for Self-Organized Learning Environments was so electric that it was interfering with the wifi signal. Or maybe it was just a bad connection. Whatever the reason, there's no denying that Kenna and Millott are huge advocates for the S.O.L.E. model, and they agree it's now their preferred mode of learning.
They're both Principals at primary schools in the Melbourne. Kenna at Belle Vue Park and Millott at Aberfeldie. In 2010, they attended a conference in Melbourne where Sugata Mitra was speaking. They were immediately struck by how relevant Mitra's message was. "He talked about issues we've been struggling with in our schools," said Kenna, "students taking responsibility for their learning."
The guys followed up with Mitra via email and Skype, and have been collaborating with him ever since.
In 2013 they started the SOLE Australia Network, where other principals and teachers can see self-organized learning in action, and the possibilities it offers.
Kenna says they've evolved the process since their first S.O.L.E.s. He says they develop in their students "the art of conversation and collaboration using computers as the hook" and Millott adds, "It's very close to what Sugata did his first hole in the wall... we've stayed true to that."
Following our Skype interview, Kenna and Millott provided me with some interesting details about how they integrated S.O.L.E. into their schools. First, they agreed to implement the exact same strategy in both schools. They would start by focusing on students in grades 5/6, and let those students serve as mentors to students in grades 3/4.
"The older students then introduced the protocols and the method to the younger students in master classes and acted as a “resource” person to the younger students by attaching themselves to a group. The mentors were able to observe and then provide feedback to the younger students - their "S.O.L.E. mates."
Prior to that fateful conference in 2010, Kenna says that both schools were "grasping at straws trying to capture kids' attention." Now their focus is to "mainstream" the idea of self-organized learning.
Kenna says "People get excited when they hear Sugata speak but they don't know how to make it work in their classrooms or where to start. That is what we have been working on - action research that is authentic because it has all been classroom based." During our fast-paced conversation Kenna says the idea of self-organized learning is "mainstream" now in his school, and Millott stressed that their job now is to take the idea of S.O.L.E.s "so others can implement it in their schools".
They were approached by the South Western Sydney region to implement a S.O.L.E. strategy in 80 of their primary and secondary schools . This was achieved through a combination of professional learning for the teachers, classroom demonstration lessons, Q&A, and development of learning sequences.
By developing our S.O.L.E. methodology and embedding the strategy in our schools we are successfully:
• Delivering a range of system-required content using the S.O.L.E. methodology
• Promoting the method and sharing our learning with others across a range of forums
• Demonstrating how the method and philosophy is successful across a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds
• Hosting many visits to our schools from Victoria, Interstate and overseas
• Developing a wiki site and launching our own website to promote S.O.L.E.
• Developing a range of Professional Learning to support teachers, schools and regions wishing to implement the process.
The devotion they share for self-organized learning, and their almost sitcom-like ability to converse and joke with one another is contagious. Plus, it's hard for me to imagine Kenna and Millott slowing down any time soon. So as long as they continue applying their energy, passion, and plan, you can expect it will only lead to self-organized learning becoming more and more mainstream.
Note: This post was updated on March 25 to include further details about Kenna & Millott's strategy...
I'm convinced that my video conference with Paul Kenna and Brett Millott was cutting in and out not because they were in Australia and I was 8,000 miles away in San Francisco, but because their sheer level of excitement for Self-Organized Learning Environments was so electric that it was interfering with the wifi signal. Or maybe it was just a bad connection. Whatever the reason, there's no denying that Kenna and Millott are huge advocates for the S.O.L.E. model, and they agree it's now their preferred mode of learning.
They're both Principals at primary schools in the Melbourne. Kenna at Belle Vue Park and Millott at Aberfeldie. In 2010, they attended a conference in Melbourne where Sugata Mitra was speaking. They were immediately struck by how relevant Mitra's message was. "He talked about issues we've been struggling with in our schools," said Kenna, "students taking responsibility for their learning."
The guys followed up with Mitra via email and Skype, and have been collaborating with him ever since.
In 2013 they started the SOLE Australia Network, where other principals and teachers can see self-organized learning in action, and the possibilities it offers.
Kenna says they've evolved the process since their first S.O.L.E.s. He says they develop in their students "the art of conversation and collaboration using computers as the hook" and Millott adds, "It's very close to what Sugata did his first hole in the wall... we've stayed true to that."
Following our Skype interview, Kenna and Millott provided me with some interesting details about how they integrated S.O.L.E. into their schools. First, they agreed to implement the exact same strategy in both schools. They would start by focusing on students in grades 5/6, and let those students serve as mentors to students in grades 3/4.
"The older students then introduced the protocols and the method to the younger students in master classes and acted as a “resource” person to the younger students by attaching themselves to a group. The mentors were able to observe and then provide feedback to the younger students - their "S.O.L.E. mates."
Prior to that fateful conference in 2010, Kenna says that both schools were "grasping at straws trying to capture kids' attention." Now their focus is to "mainstream" the idea of self-organized learning.
Kenna says "People get excited when they hear Sugata speak but they don't know how to make it work in their classrooms or where to start. That is what we have been working on - action research that is authentic because it has all been classroom based." During our fast-paced conversation Kenna says the idea of self-organized learning is "mainstream" now in his school, and Millott stressed that their job now is to take the idea of S.O.L.E.s "so others can implement it in their schools".
They were approached by the South Western Sydney region to implement a S.O.L.E. strategy in 80 of their primary and secondary schools . This was achieved through a combination of professional learning for the teachers, classroom demonstration lessons, Q&A, and development of learning sequences.
By developing our S.O.L.E. methodology and embedding the strategy in our schools we are successfully:
• Delivering a range of system-required content using the S.O.L.E. methodology
• Promoting the method and sharing our learning with others across a range of forums
• Demonstrating how the method and philosophy is successful across a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds
• Hosting many visits to our schools from Victoria, Interstate and overseas
• Developing a wiki site and launching our own website to promote S.O.L.E.
• Developing a range of Professional Learning to support teachers, schools and regions wishing to implement the process.
The devotion they share for self-organized learning, and their almost sitcom-like ability to converse and joke with one another is contagious. Plus, it's hard for me to imagine Kenna and Millott slowing down any time soon. So as long as they continue applying their energy, passion, and plan, you can expect it will only lead to self-organized learning becoming more and more mainstream.
