Part of the learning ecosystem is trying to embed positive behaviors in the users. I have been very impressed with the growth mindset work done at the Infant School I am a Governor at. The Head Teacher and the team have spent time focussing on learning walls where all the work the students are doing is displayed on the wall so that they are reminded of what they have done to help concretise the information ready to build the next level.
They have also developed learning heroes that each has a specific characteristic which underp[ins the learning culture they want to instill in the children:
- Toby Tortoise is resilient and doesn’t give up.
- Sally Squirrel is resourceful and applies what she knows to solve a problem.
- Emily Elephant is reflective. She looks back at her work to mark how she can make it better.
- Bert Bee he works well on his own or in a team. He contributes ideas.
Whilst clearly too juvenile to work in HE the principles of clarity around expected culture and a narrative of how that looks in practice is a powerful one that I believe can be harnessed at higher levels. When I was a course leader I used induction to impress on the students the culture I wanted, although at that stage it was still in its infancy in terms of the clarity and expectation. It did have an effect though. The challenge is to re-iterating and underpin it at regular points. Culture is not a ‘once-off’, it is a lived thing that needs constant oxygen like the learning heroes and learning walls.
What is the culture of your Course or School? Is it easily articulated? is it regularly referenced? This is where leveraging technology can help to give your culture the regular injection of oxygen it needs.