New Horizons: A Deep Learning Experience

Richard Munro | Teacher of History

As we move deeper into the 21st Century, outdated modes of education are becoming ever more detached from the realities of our increasingly connected global world. In response to this, new pedagogies are emerging to challenge and shake up education. One such pedagogy is called Deep Learning, which has become increasingly prevalent across a range of countries, including Finland, Canada, New Zealand and the USA. Deep Learning is now being embraced by Loreto Normanhurst as an exciting new brand of teaching strategy that will help set our students up to be true innovators in a changing global landscape.

In History, we have been piloting some Deep Learning initiatives for the past 12 months, culminating in a full Deep Learning designed Assessment Task that changes the way that students access and present their learning. Within the Year 9 History Elective course, the students have been studying Slavery in the 15th-19th Centuries, with a particular focus upon Slavery and the Civil War in the US. The unit originally concluded with an assessment task that was traditionally a written summative task that tested the students on their acquired skills and knowledge in the unit of work.

With Deep Learning, we have picked out a ‘global competency’ to concentrate upon, namely the ‘Critical Thinking’ competency. Within that area, we have been learning how to look at a controversial historical issue that has two clear and polarised perspectives that have divided historians. In small groups, students research and present on an issue and analyse and assess the arguments that have been presented on both sides of the debate.

One of the key principles of Deep Learning is to provide students with a wide choice of options which is the case with this task. Some of the topics include: Was John Brown a terrorist or a freedom fighter for slave rights? Was the US Civil war about slavery or something else entirely? Should African Americans be enlisted and fight for the North in the US Civil War? Once the students have selected a topic they engage in a global partnership, which in this case meant engaging with a subscribed website called “Issues and Controversies in History”, which is a new database set up by History academics from both the US and Australia. The database is rich in primary and secondary sources on a range of controversial historical issues and is organised accessibly for a broad range of students. Before subscribing to the site, the History Department spoke directly to the creators in New York who were open to tailoring content to suit the needs of our students. This collaborative relationship with an external provider connects students and staff with the most up to date and high-level content on their topic area.

The students researched the 'for' and 'against' sides of historical arguments and had to discover their own “truth” about the issue at hand. The Deep Learning twist was that they could present their findings in any way that they wished, so long as their presentations educated the class. Throughout the process of conducting this assessment task the students showed unprecedented levels of engagement. They were universally on task, happy, excited, and enthused about their learning. This is because they had choice in their topic and the way that they could present it.

The success of this dive into Deep Learning was apparent to all the teachers who undertook this unit. Students presented their learning in a fun and engaging manner over a series of History lessons. We listened to a Rap Song that articulated the secession issues that led to the US Civil War. We marvelled at a stop motion picture film with plasticine figures debating whether Slavery was condoned by the Bible or not. We were moved by dramatic newscasts from the front line where African Americans in northern uniforms were marching proudly into Civil War. We cheered and laughed at a puppet show that had a stage, sock puppets and semi-impressive American accents. The variety was truly inspirational and attuned to the students’ own interests and creative strengths. Preliminary grading has shown that marks have significantly improved over past results.

And through all of the rigorous and difficult issues being dissected, presented and discussed, the students seemed to be forgetting just one thing…that they were not supposed to be having so much fun with their learning…