Liane Granger from our primary team provides the final look at this year’s Better Learning conference, sharing her top insights from the final day of talks including the Cambridge Framework for Life Competences in Education.
For many of you the morning began at 9.30 with the crow of a truly international group of cockerels (note that there is surprisingly no collective noun for this species of bird, or a universal way to pronounce their cry). For us even earlier birds there was a short but important session introducing the newest IATEFL sig: IP and SENS.
IATEFL: IP and SENS
This was led by Varinder Unlu who explained that a massive one in eight of us have specific learning differences or SpLDS. The most common ones being dyslexia, ADHD, dyspraxia and autism. We all agree that these students need to be equipped with appropriate coping strategies in order to ensure they reach their full, and often massive, potential. Follow the IATEFL sig to find out more about inclusive teaching methods and materials for this often neglected group.
The Cambridge Framework for Life Competences in Education
After a quick visit to the aforementioned ‘farm’ Ben Knight took to the stage to present the Cambridge Framework for Life Competences in Education. Our research team have poured over all the available literature on hot topics such as life skills, 21st century skills, global competency for an inclusive world (OECD), social and emotional learning, employability skills, positive psychology, the whole child, grit/resilience, the growth mindset and most likely to succeed (pause for breath) and synthesized it into an immensely practical tool. Ben called for volunteers to contribute to this key area of our ongoing research. Please use the comments or send us an email if you are willing to participate.
Impact of technology on young learners
Later that morning we split into special interest groups and I participated in a discussion on the impact of digital technology on young learners with delegates from Turkey, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka and Saudi Arabia. We all agreed that there is a place for digital technology in the young learner’s classroom but not at the expense of books. It’s felt that the focus should be on the creation of engaging teacher tools to motivate children and harness the power of visual learning. While the use of tablets and ipads for individual learners in a classroom context is useful, interaction with them should be limited to specific tasks.
The 7 pillars of high performance
Deborah Eyre then closed the conference with an inspiring session on how to establish a culture of success in Education and ELT. She explained that there are 7 pillars of high performance:
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- mindset shift
- enquiry based learning
- expertise development
- practice and training
- feedback
- engagement of parents
- finally teaching with students, not to them
The formula for success is simple: potential + opportunity + support + motivation. Let’s try it.
I think the Better Learning conference this year will help us all made a bigger success of the forthcoming academic year and very much look forward to seeing these topics explored further on this blog!
In case you missed them, make sure to discover the insights gained from the first and second day at the Better Learning conference too.