Our Philosophy

We co-create inspiring, and empowering CPL

Learning Pioneers

is reconceptualising the notion of how teachers learn

By providing a space where teachers have agency, direction and connection to drive their own professional learning journey. Our goal is to develop our practise purposefully and collaboratively within an international, diverse, safe learning environment.

is co-creative, emergent, organically growing and expansive.

We take inspiration from the latest research into collective efficacy, learning dynamics, regenerative organisations and each other. As such, our community is owned and driven by all, has shared values and an ethos, that is ever-learning and growing.

"The greatest influence on the quality of teaching is the quality of teacher learning experiences"

Dr Kulvarn Atwal

Head of Teaching and Learning, author and researcher

Golden Threads

These are the core values that run through Learning Pioneers. They are ever-present and part of discussions both implicitly and explicitly. This means we return to them, deepen our understanding of them and make links between them.

Learning-to-learn

Learning to become better learners is at the heart of what we do; for ourselves, for our schools and for the learners in our classrooms. We are constantly and consistently working on deepening, broadening and strengthening habits for learning.

Having worked and written a book with Professor Guy Claxton, a world leader on learning-to-learn; our community designer, Becky Carlzon, is well-positioned to lead and deepen these discussions.

Professor Guy Claxton joins our community twice a year to deepen and refine our understanding of how to embed The Learning Power Approach in our classrooms and schools. Here is a snippet of his answer to one of our questions last year; we have a plethora of these thought nuggets to reflect on in our community!

"I love how the Learning Pioneers support each other in being thoughtful, reflective and curious educators who are committed to professional growth"

Kath Murdoch

Inquiry Consultant

Purpose

Every learning move we make is purposeful and well thought-out. This is achieved through hearing from the world’s experts, collectively discussing and unpicking their ideas, putting these into action, then bringing them back to discuss, re-group and re-think. As suggested by Dr Kulvarn Atwal, world leader in developing learning cultures, we aim for the 80/20 rule for developing our practise - the 80% core of what we do remains the same or is refined, 20% is innovative, expansive and ever-improving.

Dr Atwal will be an ever-present font of knowledge in our learning journey. He will join Learning Pioneers throughout the year to support us in developing learning cultures in our schools.

Empowerment

Education is empowerment. Let’s rephrase that. Education done well is empowerment. We aim to empower our children and schools by listening, giving people voice and choice and enabling people to have agency. This goes for the children in our classrooms, the parents with whom we collaborate, people within our team, whole schools and whole communities. We take inspiration from approaches like Project Based Learning and Inquiry to bring meaning and depth to our curriculums.

We have previously had David Price OBE in to speak about developing agency and project-based learning with students. This is what he has to say about Learning Pioneers:

Play

We are playful thinkers, tinkerers, wonderers. We are open to new ideas and thinking. We work smart and play smart. We know when to switch off and rest and when to get down and focus. We bring play and playful thinking into our classrooms.

Anne van Dam has previously shaped our thinking in this area and will return to deepen our understanding of playful learning environments this year. Here is a snippet of her talking with our community about documenting learning during play and developing a culture of curiosity:

How do we create new thinking and being?

Divergence: opening up, diversifying, exploring, expanding

How?

We invite in new speakers from across the globe to broaden our minds and perspectives. These speakers are chosen based on our current inquiry lines, discussions and interests within the community and the emergence of leading ideas in education.