Metaphor of sustainable learning
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Sustainable Learning offers a complete approach to dealing with diversity in the classroom. It aligns
a way of thinking about learning and classroom action with an ethic of care by equipping learners,
teacher candidates and teachers with the capabilities to transform themselves and others, bearing
in mind the wellbeing of the planet. For example, learners in sustainable classrooms care about:
 resources and how they are used;
 relationships in the classroom, school and community environment;
 energy (personal energy for students and teachers and through the use and reuse of
physical resources);
 universal design and whether learning lasts; and,
 cooperation and meeting shared goals that improve outcomes for all.
Sustainable Learning uses the ATRiUM capabilities (Active learning that involves Thinking, Relating
to others, Using iCT, language and symbols, and Managing self) and the 8 questions of the
Responsive Teaching Framework as organising devices. It evokes a mindset and mind frames that
position teachers and teacher candidates to cope in complex, contemporary learning environments.
Specifically, in terms of sustainable learning, Van den Branden (2012, p.296) summarised the
findings of research that successfully improved the academic achievement of at-risk students with
and without disabilities from disadvantaged and migrant backgrounds (e.g. Finn & Rock, 1997;
Garcia & Kliefgen, 2011; Hattie, 2009; Marzano, 2003; Muijs, Harris, Chapman, Stoll & Russ, 2004,
Tomlin, 2006). He found that the following features of teacher behavior and school and classroom
milieu make a difference that endures:
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Teachers stimulate students’ higher order thinking skills (from primary school onwards),
crucially, the latter should not be put “on hold”;
Teachers should scaffold and actively guide the acquisition of complex skills and gradually
increase student autonomy;
Students at risk should be presented with challenging and interesting content, with teachers
having high expectations of the students’ learning potential;
Students’ existing knowledge and skills (including the students’ mother tongue skills)
should be tapped as rich resources for new learning;
Students should be provided with personalized feedback and support catered to their
personal needs with some students being granted more time to acquire key competencies
than others;
The school should provide for a safe and secure environment for learning, characterized by
good disciplinary climate, warm and positive student-teacher relations, strong investment
in students’ well-being, self-confidence and intrinsic learning motivation;
New content should be related to individual students’ background knowledge and
experiences;
Time available should be maximally devoted to academic content and the teaching of key
competencies;
Language and literacy development should be stimulated across the curriculum and
integrated with the teaching of interesting, challenging content teaching; and,
Meaningful, situated, holistic learning in context should be complimented with explicit skills
instruction. Overall, the teacher should display a wide array of methodologies and formats
to cater to different learning styles, including formats that stimulate cooperative learning
and independent learning.
Graham, L., Berman, J., & Bellert, A. (2015). Sustainable learning: Inclusive practices for 21st Century classrooms,
Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2_N4BgAAQBAJ
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Table 6.1 Looking past the disability label: Using ATRiUM to identify student capabilities
and learning needs
Active Learning
-physical access and mobility
-access to curriculum and assessment
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Access
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Participation
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Engagement
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Communication
-adjustments required to enable the student to take part, and make
contributions, on the same basis as other students
-a relevant, respectful curriculum for this student
-ability in speaking, listening, literacy, numeracy, ICT
Thinking
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-background knowledge and understanding of self and society
-cognitive development
Knowledge and
understanding
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Memory processes
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Applying knowledge
-retention, recall and application of knowledge previously
encountered
-efficiency of working memory processes
-problem solving
-creativity and ability to transfer knowledge
Relationships
-peer group ‘norms’
-verbal and non-verbal communication
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Social Skills
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Communication
-cooperation and collaboration
-respect for others
-empathy and emotional insight
Using iCT, language and -reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, representing
symbols
-mathematics including number and algebra
-organising and expressing ideas and responses
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Academic skills
-attitude to using ICT
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ICT proficiency
-opportunity to use ICT
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Communication
Managing self
-evaluation and filtering of information from e-sources
-focusing appropriately and ignoring distractions
-perseverance and persistence
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Self-regulation
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Attention
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Motivation
-managing impulses
-intrinsic motivation and motivation to please others
-self efficacy
Graham, L., Berman, J., & Bellert, A. (2015). Sustainable learning: Inclusive practices for 21st Century classrooms,
Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2_N4BgAAQBAJ
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Behaviour
-self regulation
Figure 5.5 Questions that support assessment within the Responsive Teaching
Framework
PLANNING
What frameworks do I
need to consider?
What do I bring as a
teacher?
What do my students bring
as learners?
TEACHING & LEARNING
What do I need to teach
now?
How do I teach for all my
learners?
What legislative frameworks, curriculum, culture and
community contexts, education system policies and
procedures, school context, teacher registration
requirements and physical environments do I teach within?
What cultural competence, assumptions about learning,
teaching skills and knowledge, assumptions about
disabilities and learning difficulties and levels of
responsive and reflective practice do I bring to my
teaching?
What cultural contexts, needs, interests, experiences,
capabilities, prior learning and achievement, lived
experiences do my students bring to their learning? What is
the nature of the learning group they create? What do my
students’ families/whanau bring to our learning group and
to each student’s learning?
What is the next step of curriculum intended learning
outcomes, and ATRiUM capabilities development, in
relation to what the students bring as a learning group and
as individual learners?
What common and distinctive learning needs are evident
within my class?
ASSESSMENT
What did my students
learn?
In what ways did each learner and the group respond to the
instruction in relation to intended learning outcomes,
unintended learning outcomes and factors that supported
and hindered learning?
FEEDBACK
What embedded feedback supported learning? What
delayed feedback is needed now – with respect to the task,
the processes of learning and self-regulation and to respond
to these questions of the learners? (Where am I going?
How am I going? Where to next?)
What feedback supports
my students’ learning?
EVALUATION & REFLECTION
How did my teaching
support my students’
learning?
How effective was my teaching for the group and for
individuals with respect to curriculum intended learning
outcomes and ATRiUM capabilities development? What
does this tell me about what they are ready to do next?
How will I build on my students’ learning now? What
activities can support consistent and maintained progress?
Did feedback lead to increased effort and success?
Graham, L., Berman, J., & Bellert, A. (2015). Sustainable learning: Inclusive practices for 21st Century classrooms,
Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2_N4BgAAQBAJ
4
Table 7.6 Sustainable Learning: The 10 essential skills that guide differentiated
instruction
Essential Skill
1. Planning inclusively
2. Setting clear learning
intentions
3. Using routine procedures
4. Using flexible activities
5. Probing understanding
6. Reteaching and extending
7. Using ‘different’ ways
8. Adjusting ‘on the spot’
9. Following through with
data
10. Reflecting and refining
Purpose
Structure and sequence content for your class using evidencebased approaches
Build on established classroom routines that facilitate inclusion
and differentiated instruction
Guide the lesson and keep the focus on desired student
engagement and outcomes
Organise students’ efforts so that they always know that there are
ways of asking for help; going on with related other learning
activities if the set learning activity is completed; working in
groups; contributing to collaborative tasks; pursuing a
meaningful task when other work is done
Builds from the important teacher skills of:
 Giving clear instructions
 Showing what success looks like
 Managing transitions
 Providing appropriate feedback
Prepare a number of activities that can assist in meeting the needs
of all students
Employ the simplicity principle so that minimal adjustments are
made and only when needed. Without this proviso there is the
danger that some students will always be asked to complete
easier and less challenging work
Use observations, assessment tasks and questioning to probe
students’ understanding
Identify students who are having difficulty understanding the
lesson and address their learning needs
Identify and address students’ learning needs including the need
for reteaching to reinforce understanding and eliminate
misunderstandings, or to extend students whose work shows
mastery
Access a repertoire of teaching approaches and
evidence/research-based interventions which can be used to
ensure student learning
Address the students’ needs for differentiation as soon as they are
identified
Assess and monitor student performance and the effectiveness of
teaching practices
Reflect on all available data and the experience of differentiation
to respond to the question, “Was this differentiated instruction
effective?”
Continuously refine differentiated practice so that it becomes
natural, easy to implement and evaluate, and resource friendly
Graham, L., Berman, J., & Bellert, A. (2015). Sustainable learning: Inclusive practices for 21st Century classrooms,
Melbourne, Vic: Cambridge University Press. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=2_N4BgAAQBAJ