When we think about 鈥榚ffort鈥�, few people would boast it comes naturally. It takes effort to exercise on dark and cold winter mornings. It takes effort to shop for, cook and feed our children healthy food. It takes effort to remain calm and to be kind 鈥� to others and to ourselves! And, of course, it takes effort to learn and to improve.
Whilst some would argue that good learners are natural learners, academics and educationalists agree that 鈥榯alent鈥� is not the essential ingredient for success. Yes, natural ability helps with learning but it is effort that is the key to ensuring students grow and succeed.
As Winston Churchill observed, 鈥淐ontinuous effort 鈥� not strength or intelligence 鈥� is the key to unlocking our potential鈥�.
So, how do we help our children push beyond their comfort zones to feel confident about their abilities? And, importantly, how do we encourage our children to make more of an effort 鈥� whether they are learning at school, playing sport, forming healthy friendships or eating their greens?
American professor and co-founder of the Institute for Habits of Mind, Arthur Costa urges parents and teachers to help children develop positive 鈥榙ispositions鈥�, also known as habits of mind or characteristics, that are essential for expansive learning, such as persistence, risk-taking and responsibility. Costa warns that without these dispositions, 鈥溾�tudents are not able to become the productive, innovative problem solvers for our economy and our democracy鈥�.
At 国产麻豆AV at Buderim on the Sunshine Coast, the concept of effort is taken very seriously.
Inspired by the leading work of Costa and other education leaders, Flinders鈥� Primary School of 550 students from Prep to Year 6 recently developed criteria, called the 'Approach to Learning', that identifies five key dispositions for ensuring effort leads to successful learning.
Flinders Head of Primary, Trudi Edwards explains Flinders is committed to helping its students understand that effort + learning = success.
鈥淲e explicitly teach the qualities which enable each student to give of their best effort: persistence (sticking to it), responsible risk taking (having a go), taking responsibility (stepping up), responding to feedback (taking it on board) and committing to shared goals (we are all in this together)," Trudi said.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why our teachers all use the Approach to Learning criteria with our students to explicitly teach the qualities that enable each student to give their best effort," she said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 empowering for our students to see what effort actually looks like and how they are in charge of their learning.鈥�
Flinders Primary Head of Learning and Teaching Debbie Planck said the Approach to Learning helps parents, teachers and students demystify the concept of 鈥榚ffort鈥�.
鈥淲e want all our students to know that they can experience success in how they approach their learning and to know that effort is the key,鈥� Debbie said.
鈥淚f they approach learning with persistence, confidence, responsibility and risk-taking, then they鈥檙e more likely to become a successful learner," she said.
鈥淥ur aim is to guide our students out of their comfort zones as learners so they feel confident to challenge themselves and grow.鈥�
Flinders Year 4 teacher Sarndra Street agrees that it is vital for children have a healthy view of their abilities and realise they are capable of changing their habits for the better.
鈥淚t is worrying to hear students say, 鈥業鈥檓 always messy鈥�. Or, 鈥業 never finish things properly鈥�. Or, 鈥業鈥檝e always been disorganised鈥�,鈥� Sarndra says.
鈥淭hose views are unhelpful to a child because they negatively permeate their self-belief and can hold them back in life," she said.
鈥淲ith our Approach to Learning criteria it鈥檚 wonderful to see a students鈥� eyes light up when they realise, for example, that they won鈥檛 always be scared of taking risks; they can actually become more confident so they reach a point where new learning challenges don鈥檛 feel scary at all.鈥�
Year 4 Flinders student Jasmine Nathan explains how the Approach to Learning criteria has helped her in class.
鈥淢y strength is being organised and taking responsibility for my work. It feels good to know that is an important habit for learning,鈥� Jasmine said.
鈥淏ut I used to struggle with taking on feedback. I would think straight away that I had tried my best and that was all I could give. But now I can see that feedback just means that my teacher or parents are trying to help me to improve," she said.
鈥淔rom my teacher鈥檚 feedback, I鈥檝e started using paragraphs in my writing and I can see how my stories and reports are improving. I love writing and using my imagination. It feels like I鈥檓 in a whole new world.鈥�
HOW TO: Flinders鈥� five-criteria 'Approach to Learning' to help students improve their effort
鈥� Responding to Feedback (Take it on board) Sometimes it鈥檚 hard to hear feedback, but if you can accept that feedback is help, and make the improvements, then you will continuously improve.
鈥� Persisting (Sticking to it) Can you stay on task and see your activity through to the end? Learning can be tough at times, and you may feel like giving up or doing mediocre work, but if you persist you will feel more confident next time you try something that is tricky.
鈥� Responsible Risk Taking听(Have a go)听When you try something new, you may expect to be good at it straight away. But it鈥檚 ok to make mistakes when learning. Keep practising and never give up! Soon you will improve and become a responsible risk-taker and a better learner.
鈥� Taking Responsibility听(Stepping up) When you work in a group, make sure you contribute your ideas and help to finish tasks so your group can achieve its work. And when you鈥檙e working alone, keep up the great work and take responsibility for your own learning, time management and organisation.
鈥� Commitment to Shared Goals听(We鈥檙e all in it together) You are an important part of your class, your school, your family and your community, so make sure you are a willing participant and help to encourage and assist others to achieve your shared goals.
