A Learner's Toolkit

Reflecting on A Learner’s Toolkit in 2024: Growth, Milestones and Momentum As the year draws to a close, Vicky Leighton PhD reflects on the momentum that helped the ALT programme deliver significant achievements in 2024 and highlights what is on the horizon in 2025. With a continued focus on empowering learners and teachers alike, 2024 has been a transformative year for ALT Partner Schools and low-cost Teacher Professional Development initiatives. We are grateful to our now over 50 Partner Schools (with nearly 20 schools coming on board in 2024) for their engagement and support – what a year it has been! https://lnkd.in/e5FRu-iw

The A Learner's Toolkit is delighted to share the exceptional work of the team (Rebecca Birch, Lara Harvey, Carla Younan, Emma Bergin and Jennifer Green) at the Queenwood School in developing their Study Smart program. Unlike conventional wellbeing programs, Study Smart is grounded in the Science of Learning and emphasises explicitly teaching approaches to planning, organisation and study skills based on research about how students learn. Queenwood has tailored this research to fit their unique context, presenting the material and training in a way that best suits their students. This comprehensive approach addresses academic stress and enhances student wellbeing by equipping them with effective learning strategies.

Using Practionner Evidence to Drive the Development of Teacher Mastery Vicky Leighton PhD and Steven Taylor look at how the initial cohort of teachers in the A Learner's Toolkit for Teacher's PD program grew through the first module, "The Jigsaw of Translation". Using the novel "Training for a Responsive Instructional Model (TRIM)" rubric, they look at teachers’ growth across specific science of learning (SoL) skills through the use of practitioner evidence and reflection. Together with the previous corresponding post (that looked at the nature of strategy deployment), this reflection offers a unique insight into how we move from initial understanding to skilled application. Analysing the assessment data from teachers' initial translation (exposed just to theory) against their second translation (theory + translation + feedback), we’ve spotted some exciting trends highlighting teachers' journey as they gain confidence and expertise in SoL strategies. https://lnkd.in/gDBtheGu

Developing Teacher Expertise in the Theatre of their Practice: Moving Beyond “Bolt-on” Professional Learning In our first module, The Jigsaw of Translation, we worked with our pilot cohort to move beyond using Science of Learning (SoL) strategies as isolated steps, guiding them to embed these principles into responsive, purposeful teaching practices. Through practitioner evidence and tailored "feedforward" feedback, teachers aligned SoL principles with their unique goals, contexts, and classroom dynamics. One key insight is that teachers, like students, benefit from continuous, purposeful feedback. Targeted, sometimes challenging feedback supported participants in shifting from “ticking off” strategies to making SoL an integral part of their lessons, fostering a more adaptable, student-centred approach. This work inspires a shift from bolt-on techniques to a deeper understanding that builds expertise in practice. Stay tuned as we continue this journey, striving for purposeful, adaptive teaching grounded in cognitive science and driven by practitioner evidence. https://lnkd.in/gngFJ3DC

A Learner’s Toolkit (ALT) for Teachers Professional Learning Program The ALT team (Vicky Leighton PhD and Terry Byers) is delivering its ‘A Learner’s Toolkit for Teachers’ online PD course to over 30 teachers from 19 schools across Australia and New Zealand for the first time. This course delves into cognitive science principles and how they can be tailored to individual classroom settings. The course allows teachers to learn from International Leaders (Dr Tom Perry, University of Warwick; Sarah Cottinghat, Ambition Institute; and Professor Mark McDaniel, Washington University in St Louis) in the field of Science of Learning (SoL) translation, Memory and Training Student Metacognition and Regulation. The program responds to a growing consensus that despite strong evidence supporting cognitive science techniques like retrieval, spacing, and interleaving in lab settings, bringing these practices into real-world classrooms has proven challenging. Current reports show disappointing outcomes when cognitive science strategies are integrated at scale through default PD approaches. As Cottinghat and Perry (2022) suggest, “When we try and operationalise SoL in the classroom, something gets lost in the translation”. As a result, the A Learner’s Toolkit team have developed a classroom-centric teacher professional learning program that seeks to circumvent the translation problem faced by the SoL movement. A Learner’s Toolkit for Teachers differs from other professional learning programs by focusing on translating principles into practice. We've developed a unique metric inspired by Tom Perry and Sarah Cottingham's work and the Dreyfus model to help teachers reflect on their practice through real-world examples. This metric offers practical reflection and feedback, making it a valuable tool for educators: real classrooms, real strategies, and real applications. Additionally, we are introducing Cognitive Coaching for Responsive Expertise. This approach helps teachers refine their practices based on situational demands and evolving knowledge. For instance, a coach might observe a teacher proficient in the SoL translation making rapid, intuitive decisions and seamlessly adjusting to the classroom context. The teacher notices subtle signs of confusion or disengagement, such as incomplete responses, and intuitively offers the right support without disrupting the lesson flow. This course is affordable ($200), accessible and scalable to any teacher, anywhere. It fits within a single school term and is mapped to the ATSIL and New Zealand’s Standards for Teachers.  We will soon open registrations for individuals and small school-based teachers in our Term 1 2025 intake. We are also looking at providing avenues to help develop in-situ translation trainers within Schools to deliver the program to larger teams and across the whole school. Learn more at: https://lnkd.in/givREG2x

The Me as a Learner Profile Tool is now available. After two years of development, the A Learner's Toolkit team can share the release of its free, real-time and visual learner profile metric to its cohort of Partner Schools. What is it? • A personal tool to provide real-time and visual feedback to help you understand your learning journey over time What does it show to students? • Subject strengths and those that require work • Study strategy references • Barriers to study and learning • Metacognition (How you think about your learning process) • Learning Behaviours and Habits (How you approach learning and what learning means to you) What is its aims? 1. To provide students with real-time information that can help them foster student agency in better understanding their learning processes 2. Using a visual profile for students to get snapshot of where they currently are while providing a simple comparison to other students (from Australia and New Zealand) at their same year level and at their school 3. Repeated use will allow students to see how they change and grow through their learning journey 4. Allow them to track how (and if) their preferences, strategies, strengths and weaknesses change over time The team would like to acknowledge the significant assistance provided by Look Education through the design, development, refinement and deployment processes. Their expertise has enabled our idea to be realised. You can see the Me as a Learner Profile tool in action at https://lnkd.in/gnu344bh

Latest Blog Post - Navigating Exam Stress: Effective Strategies for Parents and Students Why do students resort to or rely on low-utility strategies for their exam preparations when faced with increased anxiety and stress? Often, they do this despite knowledge/teaching/training in better and more efficient (especially in terms of time) alternatives. https://lnkd.in/gdezi7-f

One week till A Matter of Translation (Friday 30th August at Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie)) We look forward to welcoming teachers and school leaders from across Queensland, Australia, and New Zealand in one week. There is still time to register for this event via the following link. Registrations close on Wednesday, August 28th. Registrations to attend A Matter of Translation close this Wednesday, the 28th of August. Click here for the registration link. https://lnkd.in/gvaVUP6j Finally, a reminder that all proceeds from A Matter of Translation will be directed to the Youth Homeless Accommodation Build – Anglicare Southern Queensland (anglicaresq.org.au).

The 2024 A Matter of Translation Conference program is now live. An exceptional line-up of keynote presentations starting with Emina McLean and Dr Tim McDonald. The day concludes with further keynote presentations from Professor Andrew Martin and Peps Mccrea. In between, we have the keynote presenters sharing their expertise further with associated workshops, along with classroom-focused presentations from leading practitioners such as: 1. Emma Bergin and Rebecca Birch (Queenwood School) 2. Luke Rawle (Toowoomba Grammar School) 3. Madeleine Dwyer, Kristy Bjarnelind and Patrick Sanders (Brighton Grammar School) 4. Vicky Leighton PhD and Ashton Murphy (Anglican Church Grammar School (Churchie)) The program and registration link can be found on the following page on our website: https://lnkd.in/gmwkUEJ4 Finally, the A Learner's Toolkit team is proud of its relationship with Anglicare Southern Queensland. All proceeds from A Matter of Translation will go to its Logan Youth Homeless Accommodation Build project.

The A Learner's Toolkit team is pleased to announce that Theodore State School has become a Partner School. Theodore State School is our first regional P-10 Queensland state school. Importantly, our growing cohort of Partner Schools (now over 40) is now beginning to represent schools for all 3 systems, contexts and geographies across Australia.