Issue 04/ 21 March 2014 • •
From the Principal As part of the Year 12 Lunches I’m currently holding, I like to find out what is it that our young people are hoping to do when they graduate. Their choice of post-school vocation is wide and varied. I recently shared with one group of 12s that I had recently read some research that this year’s graduates were going to have 8 different careers in their lifetime - not jobs, but careers. If that is the case they will be changing careers every 5 years. Even if this research is partially correct, what it signifies is that our young people will need to be capable of constantly learning new things. The days of simply knowing one set of knowledge and skills will not be enough, if our young people are going to survive, and indeed thrive in the decades ahead they must be capable of managing their own learning. So at St Andrews we try to help students to be effective learners not only for today, and that test they have coming up, but also for the 5, 20 and 40 years into the future. This is part of the reason that the College is introducing the Habits of Mind that other Senior Leaders in our College have written previously about. The Habits of Mind or Learning Dispositions enable students to be better learners for both today and the future. They are part of making the College’s Mission Statement to Empower Lifelong Learners a reality. We have reached the pointy end of the term with a range of assessment tasks taking place in the coming days and weeks. It may sound simplistic, but being organized and using a few simple strategies can make a big difference to the outcome of an assessment task. Professor John Hattie, from Melbourne University is considered a world leader in what it is that actually makes a difference to student learning. Obviously teachers and what they do is significant; but the students themselves play an equally important role in determining the outcomes. Professor Hattie’s research has found that when it comes to organizational skills, strategies and routines that the following have the biggest impact on student outcomes- (we also know these to work from our own experience as teachers) • Making an outline before writing the Essay • Checking work before handing it into the teacher • Making a Study Plan • Writing a Mathematics Formula down until it is remembered
Recording of Information related to study tasks (i.e. writing your homework in your diary) Actually scheduling Study and Homework time
Whilst these would seem to be common sense, and perhaps they are, Professor Hattie’s research empirically validates them. It might be Week 8, but it is never too late to start. Being organized is an important first step in becoming an effective learner and realizing your potential. Cyber Safety No program my child will want to use is essential to their development, treat all programs as an added extra, a privilege. Tim Kotzur Principal
Senior School News Positive Psychology – Character Strengths Positive psychology is an umbrella term for theories and research about what makes life worth living and this includes positive experiences and strengths of character (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Character strengths are positive traits reflected in thoughts, feelings and behaviours and they can be measured (Park, Peterson & Seligman, 2004). There are 24 character strengths, including zest, gratitude, curiosity, persistence, kindness and love. It is interesting that large organisations and even the military are investigating and implementing positive psychology to enhance engagement, wellbeing and optimal functioning work force. Interestingly, when West Point Academy in America was identifying what made a good leader and what qualities did good leaders possess their research revealed that all had love as one of their top strengths (Signature Strength). Recently, our students have been completing the Values in Action (VIA) Character Strengths Inventory through the Authentic Happiness website. This will allow them to reflect on which are their top strengths also known as their Signature Strengths, which strengths they don’t tend to use (these are not weaknesses) and how the results are different from last year. Signature strengths are those that when used make you feel the most ‘you’ and the ones that you naturally