Thoughts on Independent Learning

A common whinge when I was at school, was; ‘why am I learning this? I am
never going to use it after I’ve left school’. What my friends and I didn’t fully
understand was that learning how to think and learning how to learn is the
most important knowledge a child can acquire at school. With the tools to
acquire knowledge, a pupil has the chance of a fulfilling future beyond school,
and it is as important to promote these skills as to teach to curriculum goals.

There are two ways in which pupils can learn independently. ‘Interactionist
independence’ refers to pupils who are motivated, creative and enjoy cooperating
with their peers on classroom tasks without constantly seeking adult
approval. ‘Isolationist independence’ refers to children who are able to work
on their own and think for themselves, perform tasks and solve problems
without reference to others.

From a teacher’s point of view, pupils who are able to learn independently
allow the teacher to plan differentiated lessons, and to concentrate on
teaching and learning over organisation.

Mayer et al’s 2008 literature review showed several benefits to the pupil:
• improved academic performance;
• increased motivation and confidence;
• greater awareness of their limitations and their ability to manage them;
• enabling teachers to provide differentiated tasks for pupils.

Jill Williams’ teacher survey identified a wide range of intrinsic benefits to the
child. Teachers believe that independent learners “further own learning by
using their own ideas to form opinions and have the confidence to test them
out”. Williams, 2003. This validates the learner’s own experiences as a source
of knowledge, which must increase self-confidence.

Independence of any type involves understanding the consequences of one’s
actions and taking responsibility for them. Independent children have a sense
of well-being that comes from the intrinsic life skills that taking responsibility
for one’s own learning can bring. Taking responsibility for one’s own learning
and that of one’s peers fosters greater social abilities, self-discipline and
mutual respect for peers and teachers which creates a richer learning
environment.

Motivation is fundamental to learning to learn independently and it is important
to motivate students to enjoy the learning process – this effect will last beyond
the pupils’ school career and stand them in good stead as economically active
adults. It is suggested that over-reliance on top-down teaching methods can
de-motivate pupils and that “teachers should not assume that because they
are teaching, pupils are learning”. (Williams, 2003). Part of independent
learning is learning how to think, and it is important to teach in a way that
develops analytical and systematic cognitive and meta-cognitive skills for the
pupil to be able to approach problem solving throughout life.

Meyer et al discovered that independent children work to a higher standard;
this effect may result from developing thinking skills that encourage creativity
in thinking. Creative thinking enables pupils to take ownership of their work,
which might provide an intrinsic motivation to do more than the minimum.
Both interactionist and isolationist independence are useful skills, but the
more rounded individual is able to work in both ways, and in our society, the
ability to work in collaboration with others is highly valued. Promoting a love of
learning, and imparting the tools for acquiring knowledge gives each pupil the
ability to shape their own life in an active sense.

What lesson could be more important than that?

References:
DFeS Teachernet web site
http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/teachingandlearning/onetoone/tutors/
accessed 20/11/10
Every Child a Chance Trust web site
http://www.everychildachancetrust.org/WhatWeDo/index.cfm
accessed 20/11/10
Joanna Budden - Role-play
http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/articles/role-play

J Wilson

Independent Learning

The TA’s role in promoting independent learning is very important. The post of TA is in existence because it has been recognised that there is a place for someone to support the teacher as well as supporting the children. It is a kind of ‘linking’ role which bridges the gap between teacher and pupil. Even the very best teacher needs a TA because they cannot deal with the varied and complicated needs of a classful of children whilst delivering a lesson at the same time. A TA is someone who is there, ‘on the ground’, as it were, who can spot things that a teacher can easily miss. This is very much true in the case of independent learning.

It is true that a TA is under the rule of the teacher and does not have autonomy when it comes to their own time. As a result they are limited as to the support that they can offer. This is because it is possible that after spending a long time building up rapport and a positive relationship with a child a TA can find that they’ve been given another job and are no longer giving support to that child. This can be frustrating for the TA and potentially upsetting for the child. Sometimes continuity is difficult because perhaps a TA only works part-time, or spends time in different classes on different days. All of these factors can make a TA’s role difficult, but, nevertheless, they have an important part to play.

A TA can promote independent learning in several ways. One-to-one TA support has already been looked at in detail, offering as it does the chance for the pupil to gain independent learning skills by asking open questions, giving choices, breaking tasks into simple steps, building strategies to cope with problems, and by role-modelling positive, realistic behaviour. Children often find TA’s more approachable than teachers, and will inevitably look to them as role-models. It is therefore very important to show children what realistic goals can be achieved, as unrealistic role-models are so often portrayed in the media in this current age of the ‘celebrity’.

The TA can also praise and encourage in a specific, realistic way. This promotes a positive self-image which in itself is possibly the most important factor in being an independent learner. A child who feels validated and empowered will be able to approach learning in a resourceful and enthusiastic manner, and will believe in their own capabilities. The TA can help a child to plan their own tasks and can encourage them without rushing them. In this way a child will be able to concentrate and think for themselves. They can also encourage reflection which in turn makes the setting of targets something which they can do for themselves. By allowing a pupil to correct their own work a TA not only gives them a degree of autonomy but helps them to understand what they did wrong and to discuss it.

By doing activities which are based on the ‘bottom-up’ approach to teaching a TA can encourage independent thinking which leads to intrinsic, rather than extrinsic motivation, as the pupil begins to enjoy the process of learning in its own right, rather than as something which they are rewarded or punished for. The psychologist Daniel Goleman developed the concept of ‘emotional intelligence’ which Linda Pound describes as “knowing one’s feelings and using them to make good decisions in life; being able to manage moods and control impulses; and being motivated and effectively overcoming setbacks in working towards goals”. Our emotions play a huge part in our learning, and if we are feeling negative emotions this will make learning very difficult. A TA can help a child to feel emotionally comfortable enough to learn.

This can all be done not only in one-to-one learning, but on an everyday basis in school. For example:

In the class at primary school that I am working in we have started to do activities centred on ’complex’ and ‘compound’ sentences as a class and in pairs. Two of the children have poor literacy skills, so while the teacher went through the exercises with the class I sat at the table with these two children and helped them, encouraging them to be as imaginative and inventive as possible. They both found the activity fun and I made sure to allow them enough time to write their ideas down and only corrected a couple of their many spelling mistakes as this was an exercise designed to think about sentence structure, and not a spelling exercise. I knew that they have separate spelling activities during the week and wanted to give them the chance to enjoy thinking up funny sentences .This had several positive outcomes: it improved their self esteem, it encouraged their intrinsic motivation, as they enjoyed themselves, it empowered them, and it meant that they could stay in the class and participate, as well as building a good relationship between myself and them.
(Reflection, November 2010).

A good TA can encourage independent learning by building on a child’s strengths, and adapting lessons to their interests, as well as adapting to different styles of learning. The TA must take great care not to do work for pupils, but allow them to take responsibility for themselves, balancing giving guidance with allowing them to understand a process and make mistakes. The TA must also balance all of this with giving support to the teacher as well, and ensure that they do not undermine them in any way.

Above all, independent learning skills will carry a child through their school life and on into adulthood. Successful adults need these skills to grow and develop, and including experiential learning into a child’s school life will build these skills for their future. The Teaching Assistant is very well placed to incorporate all of these elements into a child’s learning and, if they are creative, can make independent learning a pleasure that benefits pupil and teacher alike.

C. Thompson