Category Archives: Pedagogy

Modelling Learning Dynamics

Shaofu Huang presented his doctoral research at a seminar of the Centre for Systems Learning and Leadership on Wednesday 24th April. This is an exciting application of complexity theory and systems modelling in the social sciences and demonstrates that for teachers, engaging students in deep learning is complex and unpredictable – more like a design challenge than a script to be followed.

Teaching for Effective Learning: South Australia Department for Education and Children’s Services

Visiting Fellow Chris Goldspink presents the research and practice from the Teaching for Effective Learning Programme in South Australia at the Centre for Systems Learning and Leadership at the Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol in March 2012.

The Teaching for Effective Learning Framework was developed as a part of ongoing enquiry in South Australia into the nexus between how teachers design and orchestrate learning and learner engagement. The framework was developed through consultation with international researchers, as well as local leaders and skilled practitioners, about the essential elements of quality practice. The framework provides means of measuring quality of practice through systematic observation of teaching practice and been demonstrated to be valid and reliable in this role. It supports the collection of data for research purposes but also provides a means for teachers to observe and be observed by peers, supporting deeper reflection on professional practice and providing a rich language about quality practice to support professional learning communities and individual professional development. Chris was involved in the research which led to the design of the framework as well as in its testing and use both for research and professional development purposes.

Ngambara Fimityatit: Learning Together in Daly River


These murals of a Barramundi and a Brolga have been painted by the community in Daly River, Northern Territory, Australia, to remind everyone about how the community and the children in St Francis Xavier Catholic School are learning and achieving together.  The project, led by Miriam Rose Bauman and Julianne Willis, draws everyone in the school community together to engage in learning and change.  The vision of the project is summed up in the title Ngamara Fimityatit – which means

When we learn together, sharing + living the same language for learning, we will be empowered to create a new story for our future…

It’s about bringing together local traditional knowledge systems with 21century ideas about learning, in order to empower and engage a new generation. For more details of the project you can read the latest update about how  the whole community is engaged in a process of merging two streams into a third way.  Watch the video below made by the students in the school to show how we learn together in Daly River….Animal Powers…..

Ngambara Fimityatit October 2012

PhD: Learning Analytics for Learning Power

Learning Analytics for Learning Power
Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK
3 year fully-funded PhD (Oct. 2012-Sept.2015), Stipend: £40,770 (£13,590/year)

Supervisors: Simon Buckingham Shum & Rebecca Ferguson, working in collaboration with Ruth Deakin Crick

Full details SocialLearn Research blog

Mapping the Deeper Learning Literature using Cohere

In a perfect example of Bristol/Open U. collaboration, Helen Jelfs (Grad. School Educ., Univ. Bristol and visiting OLnet Fellow, Open University) recently gave a seminar with the Open University’s Simon Buckingham Shum & Anna De Liddo.

Check out the replay and slides below…
[discussion page] [Cohere visual database] [more details]

Abstract: In this talk I will be presenting some aspects of the process of mapping ‘Deeper Learning’ literature using Cohere. ‘Deeper Learning’ focuses on the dispositions and skills of learning how to learn and enquiry-based learning, two of the most fundamental concepts for learner engagement. These dispositions and skills are at the heart of the 21st Century education – and are key to preparing “K-Life” learners (i.e. from early school days, to the current workforce, and beyond) to cope with dilemmas and levels of complexity that will make unprecedented demands on them intellectually, emotionally, and socially. Doing a literature review is a common and well understood task, so understanding how Cohere adds, or might add value – or even change the process is worthwhile. I will illustrate the process, comment on some of the difficulties I have encountered in using Cohere, and suggest some ideas for improvements.