Visible Learning
What is Visible Learning?
“Visible Learning is teachers seeing learning through the eyes of their students, and students seeing themselves as their own teachers.” (Professor John Hattie)
At The Rural Enterprise Academy, we are committed to ensuring that all of our staff have a sound understanding of what works best in education. We use this understanding to support all of our young people to achieve and attain at the highest possible outcomes. The visible learning approach is informed by clear, evidence based research.
Schools that embrace the principles behind visible learning approaches have the following features:
There is a shared ‘language of learning’ between teachers and learners e.g. we understand what makes a good learner, what progress looks like in different subjects, and how to set targets
Teachers assess the impact of the different strategies they are using and make changes when they identify more effective ways of supporting learners’ progress Regular feedback is given from the teacher to the learner, learners give feedback to each other, and to the class teacher, often feedback occurs within the lesson.
Teaching staff are passionate about doing their best for the young people they are working with, and inspire interest both in their subject and learning as a whole The systems and processes in the school support all the above, and everyone in the school community is encouraged to be a leader in learning.
How can I support my child to be a visible learner?
Young people often need to be encouraged to talk about their learning. Rather than ‘How was school?’ it can be helpful to make questions more specific.
For example: What was the best part of today? Why do you enjoy learning in that subject/ with that teacher? Was there anything you found difficult today? What did you do when you were stuck? Would you say you’re getting better at Maths/ Art/ PE? Why/ why not? What’s coming up that you’re looking forward to? What will you need to do to prepare for that?
If you would like to know more about the ideas behind the visible learning approach, you may find the following websites useful:
What is a visible learner?
Visible learners are ‘assessment capable’; that is to say, they understand how to approach learning and how to share their progress.
Visible learners:
- Demonstrate positive dispositions towards learning (Responsible, Resourceful, Resilient, Reflective).
- Understand that mistakes are part of the learning process.
- Know how to learn, with strategies to use when they face challenges.
- Seek, receive and act on feedback Explain and understand their progress (Where am I in my learning? Where am I going? How will I get there?)
- Collaborate; learning with and from others.
What does this look like in our classrooms?
Assessments are not just something that happen at the end of a topic or unit of work; teachers continually make assessment judgements based on what learners make, say, do and write in class.
Feedback on learning is focused on comments to support progress, not just on a mark or percentage.
Regular learner conversations ensure that there is a shared understanding of standards and to support target setting.
Learners are encouraged to have a growth mindset and know that practising skills leads to progress, this may be called ‘deliberate practise’.
There are opportunities for collaborative and active learning.
Teachers seek out information about what works and what does not.
Correct and Perfect
Correct: Red is used for careless mistakes and the incorrect answers.
Perfect: Green is used for improvements/expansions.
Students can become detectives in their own learning, and this is when learning truly happens. The technique should allow for students to develop metacognition strategies
Correct and perfect can be used to create a growth mindset culture.