Knowsley Council is going to close down all of its 11 Secondary schools and replace them with 8 Learning Centres. These will be open longer hours and offer more flexible, personalised learning pathways for all learners in the borough whatever their age. It forms part of the Building Schools for the Future programme. Personalised learning has been a huge theme in Knowsley for a long time, I even attended a keynote speech on the subject at a Network Learning Conference back in 2004. However it seems to suddenly be in the news.
Earlier in the month Stephen Downes’ Old Daily picked up this post from Graham Attwell’s Wales Wide Web. He sees this as

the first big crack in the present model of schooling which dates from the first industrial revolution. And it won’t be the last.

Attwell then goes on to quote from an article in the Independent on May 14th which called this a “dramatic step” and reported in some depth the proposed changes to the Learning Centre day.

The style of learning will be completely different. The new centres will open from 7am until 10pm in both term-time and what used to be known as the school holidays. At weekends, they will open from 9am to 8pm.
Youngsters will not be taught in formal classes, nor will they stick to a rigid timetable; instead they will work online at their own speeds on programmes that are tailor-made to match their interests.
Children will be able to study haircare, beauty therapy, leisure and tourism, and engineering as well as the more traditional academic subjects.

A pdf document from 2006 available from the Knowsley Council web site clearly states that the proposals were first made in 2004;

In the Statement of Implementation(2004) Knowsley set out its plans to replace all 11 existing secondary schools with 8 new learning centres. These are being carried forward through Building Schools for the Future.

Mr Read sounds a cautious note about Microsoft’s involvement with the plans and I must admit what jumped out at me was that the bit about working their way through “tailor- made programmes”. I do hope they get the chance to work on something like Extreme Learning and not end up slogging their way through something like CLAIT . (Groans at the memory - oh, how I loathed CLAIT!)
It’s an amazing chance to re-invent the experience of secondary education for the teenagers of Knowlsey. I wonder what they’ll make of it…….

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Tom tells a great story on his blog to expand and explain more about his involvement in Project-based learning. A local wild flower is endanger of extinction and most of the suggestions for how the children could help had been classroom focussed. Now these were nice, media rich, digital projects, build a web site, design posters - the usual. Interesting, maybe even fun, learning opportunities but just not very real. Here’s what he helped them come up with and perhaps more importantly how he did it:
Tryangulation: Reinventing project based learning

I conducted a simple problem analysis exercise with the students and one of our biology teachers, where we stated the problem (threat of extinction), and then ask why (loss of habitat). You ask why again (urban sprawl, intensive agriculture), and keep asking why until you get the big picture that shows how this problem relates to a larger system. As we looked at the bigger picture, we saw that a media campaign in the school community would not touch people who were close enough to the problem to do anything. But we did realize that we could take a different and more effective approach by collecting seeds in the wild and propagating them on our campus. The creative juices started flowing and we saw the potential for producing enough seeds to share with other schools in the area, and even for establishing a low-tech seed bank to help protect other endangered wildflowers in our province.

Although some of our students might have felt content with a nice website and a contest, bringing in a learning tool from “the real world” helped us find a solution that could have a genuine and sustainable impact.

I’d love to have seen this extended a stage further and here’s where the digital tools could have addded a dimension. Instead of the static web site a blog for the students to share and reflect on their learning during the process and to draw in those in a similar position who might be inspired by the work. A flickr photo stream to document it all, including the notes from that problem analysis excercise, would have been nice too
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See my full notes on Usefulwiki and feel free to add your own thoughts on the subject to the wiki.
As I said in my last post I did manage to make a virtual appearance at the NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) in Atlanta USA today. Many thanks to Andy for the use of his mac as my faithful old iBook finds Skype too much for it It was a busy room by the sounds of things with about 250 people in the audience and Tom and I on Skype. Jane and Suzie had their hands full, but in a good way. Many of the people there were obviously interested in the topic of Project Based Learning.
Jane and Suszie emphasised that there was lots of good project based work going on but that it was easy for it to be happening out of sight, sometimes even other teachers in the same school didn’t know about it. So it’s all about using technology to share best practice. Ewan got a name check in the introduction and they used a quote from him during the session too.

Tom had some interesting insights as his background is in project management for development rather than education though he now works for a network of schools. I love his assumption that all participants, both pupils and adults are learners. It’s so obviously true but sometimes adults are too close to it to see it themselves.

I think their use of stories was the most powerful thing about the presentation. I learn so much more from authentic narratives than from theory and hypothetic situations. No surprise then that that’s one of the conerstones of the book!

I’m interested in the idea that although this is soon going to be available as a book it’s in no sense a finished work. The book will just be a snapshot of where the work stood at one point. The conversation will continue, grow and develop and hopefully become something far richer and more useful than the book alone. Already they’ve continued their learning journey with a Flickr group and a blog. I’ve popped up a quick page about their presentation on usefulwiki but that can easily extend to become a section of the wiki if other people want to put their own examples of project based learning up there.

I was quite nervous myself, waffled on a bit about the group and the blogs, but took a leaf from their book and told a story to illustrate how the group might change as children become more involved in celebrating their own learning and that went really well
That’s all for now as it’s been a long day but I’ll post more about my thoughts soon.

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Reinventing Project-Based Learning is a great new blog from Jane Krauss and Suzie Boss..
The Classroom Displays group and blog feature in Jane and Suzie’s new book which is being show-cased at the NECC in Atlanta on June 25th. Sadly I am unable to join them physically, though I might just manage a virtual presence

Project-Based Learning Meets Web 2.0
Students take learning to new levels when they use technology tools for authentic projects.
Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age
(to be published by ISTE in late 2007).
This new book showcases teachers on the leading edge of project design. Like their students, they use emerging and older technologies to communicate, connect, and collaborate. If you’re already teaching with 21st-century projects, or are ready to begin, join the global conversation.

Jane really understands what I’ve been trying to achieve with Classroom Displays.

Look at displays contributed by 113 group members and ask yourself: What do class displays tell us about what goes on in school, and about what we value in student work? Visit Classroom Displays Group on Flickr and read host and Edublogger Award Finalist Linda Hartley’s blog. Linda describes her purpose and what she’s learning on her research site Acting to Improve.

Jane’s also started a Flickr group to support the project as well. Now I wonder where she got that idea?

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Release the pressure | Guardian Unlimited Money
You are on your way to work but you really don’t want to go. Exhausted, you’d give anything to be able to crawl back into bed. It took hours to nod off last night: negative thoughts running through your mind on an endless loop. It’s been like that for a while now. You can’t remember the last time you actually slept well, even at the weekends.

Tired all the time and irritable too, but you’re not normally such a grump. The constant headaches really don’t help. You used to enjoy your job but not any more; just the thought of being at work pushes your pulse rate up and leaves you feeling agitated.

Workplace stress
If you work in a school this might be a familiar scenario. The article goes on to pin point feelings of lack of control over the job and feelings of injustice as major triggers of work related stress.

Since the introduction of the Workplace Agreement there has been a recognition in schools of the stress teachers face. Much has been done to try to take the pressure off them but very little thought seems to have gone into where that stress then lands.
Teaching assistants, technicians and school support staff have all taken over responsibilities that were once covered by teaching staff. In many cases this has happened with little or no financial reward. In some cases recent local authority led changes have even resulted in teaching assistants in particular actually facing reductions in their wages. Schools often trade on goodwill and sometimes even emotional blackmail, knowing that people don’t want to let colleagues or children down. Too much of this and work becomes a torment not a pleasure even in a much loved job.

In some schools a start has been made with the introduction of The Well-Being Programme. I was heavily involved in this during my time at my last school and we felt we achieved quite a lot in the first year of the programme. Some schools though seem to only be paying lip-service to the change process and not really grasping the whole staff collaborative action research aspects. Sadly perhaps not all LEAs provide the level of facilitator training that I was lucky enough to receive and not all facilitators are given dedicated time in school to perform their duties.

I’m going to try to pass on some of what I learned via usefulwiki.com
over the next few weeks. I’m also going to invite other Well Being facilitators to get involved. I hope we can gather together some useful tips for new facilitators.

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For Bruce

To make this style of tofu you have to use nigari.

First you need soy milk of course. I used to make my own but I suppose you could use bought so long as it was unsweetened. I think fresh made is going to make the best tofu though. You’d have to experiment. My instructons assume you have made a batch of soy milk from 600 grams of beans.
This is all based on a book I have had for a very long time and which I rate very highly.

You will need
1. Nigari
Nigari is the tofu coagulant that is most commonly used in Japan; it’s magnesium chloride with other trace minerals. Gypsum or calcium sulfate is used in China. Nigari makes a firmer tofu with, I think, a better flavour.
Nigari is available powdered or flaked . I’ve used both but give instructions for making tofu with powdered nigari, which is easy to find
2. A box with holes.
Japanese shops sometimes sell nice metal ones but a tupperware type thing with holes poked through sides and bottom with a skewer (or drill) works fine.
If you aren’t bothered about the shape just use a sieve!
3.Cloth to line the box.
I used old well washed cotton sheet but big old-fashioned white hankies work too.
4. Thermometer (optional)
The soy milk should be around 75 dec C ish. Or hot but not too hot
5.Something flat to place on top of the mould, an old smaller plastic lid or a plate (if using a sieve for a mold)
Method
Heat it up the soy milk so that it’s hot but not boiling.
Mix the nigari dissolving 4 teaspoons of powdered nigari in a cup (US measure) of lukewarm water until the powder is dissolved. Stir the warm soy milk and add the nigari liquid a little at a time, Wait a few minutes between each addition. Stop adding it as soon as the curd starts to separate from the liquid. (ie. lumps form)
Ususally I end up using all the nigari. (Too much nigari gives the tofu a bitter tase)
Turn off the heat, and put a tight fitting lid on the pot. Leave for at least 20 minutes. No peeking!
Open the lid, stir very gently & see if the curds have got bigger and separated. The liquid should be yellowish.
If the curds are still small and floating in white liquid, add any nigari liquid left, or make up a bit more and add 1 teaspoon full of the mix. Leave for a futher 15- 20 mins. This may or may not work as the liquid might now be too cool.
Line the mold with clean white cloths that have been dampened in water and wrung out.(Really mustn’t be too wet!)
By now the curds should have sunk to the bottom of the pan. Scoop out the whey like liquid, trying not to disturb the curds.
Now gently scoop out the curds into your mould.
Once they are all in there (at this point I often despair at the small yield if using pre-made soy milk!) fold the cloths over the top to cover them. Now place something flat on top - I used to use a lid that was for a slightly smaller box and press down with a weight. Nothing too heavy - a tin of beans on it’s side works ok.
Leave it like this for about 15 minutes.
Fill a large bowl with water, and put your mold into it, Tip out the tofu gently & slip the cloth off.
Tofu!!!
If you are going to store it pop it into a container with water - or serve at once!

Frozen Tofu
Firm white tofu, once frozen, turns yellow and drastically changes texture. It has a meaty consistency and will soak up marinades and sauces.
Cut your moulded tofu into 4 squares and then into triangles place on kitchen paper or similar and freeze,
To cook deep fried, frozen tofu cutlets
Thaw
Squeeze out the water between paper towels pressing gently.
Cut triangles in half.
Put enough marinade in a pan to cover the tofu (1 part shoyu to 4 parts water with ginger & chili works well)
Pop in the tofu
Bring to a gentle simmer for about 20 mins.
Cool
Pat dry
Coat with fine japanese breadcumbs
Deep fry.
Yum! Nigari makes the best tofu!

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BBC NEWS | Education | No ‘hands-up’ call to help pupils

For many teachers and TAs this advice will come as no surprise. Anyone who has read the work of Sally Clarke (Buy it from usefulwiki bookstore) will be familiar with these ideas.
In fact the Better Reading Partners programme targets exactly these undemanding, under-performing children, often with remarkable results.

Comfort zone

“Invisible children”, the report finds, are quiet and undemanding and do not mind if they receive attention or not.

The research suggests helping these pupils by avoiding asking for children to put their hands up, instead choosing who should answer.

These pupils, the report adds, would also benefit from having 30 seconds to consider their answer.

“We need to make sure that no-one is left behind at any point”
Alan Johnson
Education Secretary

These are also the children that the Network Learning Community I worked for until quite recently were focussing on. We had pinpointed the transition from Key stage 1 to Key stage 2 as the moment when children like this start to fail. They seem to come to a sort of standstill and withdraw from engagement in the learning life of the classroom.

I’m going to write more about this and the approachs being taken to combat it in a series of blog post over the next couple of weeks.

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