learning frontiers is a unique program because it will be genuinely co-created
by leading schools in Australia and by a national support agency it's predicated
on the idea that we now have sufficient shared knowledge and they're going to be
in a position to create more upon which to base practices which will
significantly improve and increase the levels of engagement of learners in
schools but to do that we have intentionally to design it design
thinking is a relatively new skill and approach in schools but it's not
unprecedented we have examples in the literature and in the work of great
schools including in Australia of schools who identify key principles
which they hold to and which shape and inform their practice however if the
design hubs which are at the heart of learning frontiers are to be coherent
and if they're to get off to a sound start it's important to begin with a set
of high-level principles as a framework and we have identified four such
principles for schools upon which we will build a program to recap they
advocate learning which is personalized connected integrated and co-created the
first source for our for high-level principles is of course the
international research literature and we have taken a wide view noting the fact
that most goal standard evidence-based research has a time lag and is not
necessarily alert to interesting emergent practice and moreover measures
adopted are most usually test scores and too frequently pay little attention to
increasing levels of learner engagement which is the main focus of this program
however the OECD has helpfully recently published a synthesis of findings from a
whole range of research disciplines they published it in a book called the nature
of learning and we have leaned heavily on the findings of this work and indeed
on the subsequent work which osed has long
called innovative learning environments and we've taken a look too at some of
the work published by psychologists on the nature of motivation take for his
uncle Daniel pink in his book drive in which identifies the three keys as being
mastery purpose and autonomy for learners the second source for our high
level principles is the work of great and successful schools schools which are
not only achieving terrific graduation rates and high test scores high levels
of inclusion but which are also manifestly creating passionate lifelong
engaged learners we include in this category some of our partner schools
internationally who will be helping with and informing the work of learning
frontiers schools such as high tech high in San Diego which explicitly adopts a
series of design principles which shape and inform their everyday practice and
schools in the UK which have been part of forerunner programs around engagement
and from whose experience we can learn a great deal and naturally terrific
schools in Australia leading cutting-edge schools whose work will be
part of the co-creation of our designs the third source for our design
principles has been the horizon scanning worked which we have undertaken looking
at the work of successful innovators from around the world people working
from kindergarten right through schooling and into higher education
whose focus has been on deriving powerful learning designs to create
successful engaged learners who can thrive in 21st century conditions and
finally we have taken account of the growing consensus which appears to be
emerging from global education leaders in systems from the most successful to
the most urgently ambitious that the direction of travel for the redesign of
learning in the 21st century is starting to become clearer in various shapes and
forms these systems obviously with contextual sensitivity and cultural
awareness are starting to implement aspects of the
principles last year representatives from 12 such systems collaboratively
published a book in which these principles were set out and we have
drawn upon them in deriving the four principles which are the very foundation
for learning frontiers so we now have some firm foundations on which to move
forward the specific professional practices and designs based on these
high-level principles which will emerge in our work and which are already
present to some degree in schools which are coming forward to be involved in the
program are the work of the years to come we think it's an extremely exciting
prospect and we look forward very much to working with you to realizing it