Taking a Deep Dive into Learning

Ms Kieryn Bateman | Director of Learning

As a school community we are committed to the development of our students as compassionate warriors. But what does this mean for our students and staff on a day-to-day basis?  What does learning look like if it is designed to grow individuals into compassionate warriors - students who are equipped to face the complexities of our modern context?   

We are incredibly fortunate that we have holistic structures and approaches at Loreto Normanhurst, such as our FACE curriculum (faith, academic, community, extra-curricular) and our conversation opportunities, which enable the personalised and targeted development of each individual within our community. These factors, combined with teachers who are committed to providing rich and immersive learning experiences, are the key to growing students who feel empowered to make a difference.   

This school commitment was most apparent earlier this week when I was invited to work with our early-career teachers, leading them through an exploration of our Loreto Normanhurst Student Growth Model (LNSGM) to unpack the original intention of the model. We commenced the professional learning session by sharing our own philosophies of education and the original catalysts that spurred us on to become educators. Our motivations were diverse, ranging from: a desire to develop students who are change-agents; a determination to empower our youth; and a commitment to creating safe spaces for all students. However, what clearly underpinned all responses was a deep sense of commitment to developing strong relationships with our students to ensure their wellbeing. This discussion was the perfect segue into a quote from our LNSGM manual, one that underpins all that we do:   

"The real task of a human being – of every human being – is to construct a sense of the meaning of life and to develop one’s humanity.  This is the true purpose of education.  It is achieved through a twofold emphasis on quality learning and on quality relationships.The task of quality teaching, therefore, is to help people learn to live: to learn in order to live and to learn how to live.”  LNSGM Manual 

It is this underlying commitment of the model that makes Loreto Normanhurst such a successful educational context. This commitment of the LNSGM also has incredible synergy with the Deep Learning methodology, which was developed by a champion of educational change, Michael Fullan. The Deep Learning commitment is beautifully captured in the following extract: “The redefinition of the moral imperative includes academic achievement, which we call learning, and identity, which we call connectedness. Deep Learning should then be thought of as representing good learning and good connectedness. The focus is on becoming good at learning and good at life and their synergistic development in individuals and in groups. This synergy is what we would call well-being.” (Quinn et al, Dive into Deep Learning, 2020). The belief that academic outcomes are enhanced because of a strong sense of connectedness is what resonates with our LNSGM and what we know works in education.   

So, what exactly does Deep Learning look like in action? Deep Learning is a research-based philosophy of learning; it provides teachers with a design process for creating immersive learning experiences that enable the development of six key competencies in students: collaboration, creativity, character, critical thinking, citizenship and communication.  As a school we commenced our Deep Learning journey in the height of Covid 2021, taking a tentative dip into the shallow waters of Deep Learning by engaging in professional learning with a small group of staff.  We are now bravely beginning to wade deeper, engaging in whole-school professional development and following the teachers who are part of our 2022 Collaborative Inquiry Teams (CITs), as they propel themselves forward into deeper waters. The Science CIT has just finished implementing their first Deep Learning project with our Year 7 Science classes, covering a depth study on a parachute drop experiment, with a focus on developing the competency of collaboration. The feedback has been resoundingly positive from students and teachers alike, as captured in the following exciting evaluation comments from students:   

• “I had so much fun! I want to test how much mass my parachute can carry.”   
• “Can we do this every lesson?” 
• “We worked well together, as we communicated about the task both in class and over text, sending each other anything else we needed. We learned a lot through our mistakes.”   

The teachers’ feedback was equally energised, as they noticed that “students were ‘running’ with the task” and “the verandahs were buzzing with excitement.” Students demonstrated greater engagement in the final assessment and were well-prepared, showing higher levels of self-efficacy.   

Clearly, the Deep Learning swell is gaining momentum across Loreto Normanhurst, as Deep Learning projects are emerging across other key learning areas, such as Year 9 Elective History, Year 10 PDHPE, the Year 9 Far North Queensland learning task, the Year 10 Homelands learning task, and the Year 9 e-health partnership project.   

What are our hopes as we dive deeper into this approach? That our students will become conversant in the language of Deep Learning; that they will be able to track their own growth across Year 5-12 using the Deep Learning progressions for each of the six competencies; and that our compassionate warriors will learn to “engage the world” so that they may “change the world” (Fullan, Deep Learning, 2018).