Forth Valley College
Excellent practice
Implementing a learning strategy
At the start of last session, the college developed a Learning Activity Planning and
Evaluation Tool that promotes reflection on how the key strands of its learning
strategy can be embedded within the learning experience. The learning strategy
incorporates such elements as: involving learners in planning; formative assessment
for learning; independent and reflective learning; health and wellbeing; citizenship;
employability and enterprise skills; developing core skills; sustainability awareness;
and promoting diversity and inclusion. For each of these elements, the planning
component of the tool asks How will you address this? and evaluation asks How well
did you address it?. The tool is simple and flexible and can be applied across the
curriculum at unit, topic, project, or lesson level. Both the planning and the
evaluation parts of the tool were piloted in one department last session where it was
used by almost all teaching staff. Following the success of the pilot, many
programme teams across the college are now using the planning component of the
tool very effectively. The tool is being used in various ways by teaching staff and
increasingly with learners, although it has not yet been adopted by all staff. The
intention is that the tool is allowed to ‘grow organically, fertilised by enthusiastic
users’.
As a result of use of the tool, teaching staff are reflecting more effectively on their
practice and more than a few have completely revised their lessons with some
addressing employability and essential skills development more explicitly. The tool
has promoted professional dialogue well among teaching staff within programme
teams.
The tool has had significant impact when used with learners. An important benefit is
providing learners with a shared vocabulary and concrete examples for terms such
as employability skills. In many cases, it has challenged learners’ preconceptions
about their role in the learning process and promoted greater learner engagement.
Learners are also more aware of the importance of essential skills to their future life,
work and learning.
Education Scotland
Foghlam Alba