Brooklyn School has conceptualised a framework for learning and teaching called CHaOS. CHaOS stands for Children Have Ownership of Schooling. The CHaOS model consists of six pillars which combine together to support students not only to learn at school, but also to become lifelong learners. The model has two ‘framing pillars’ which act as the major support structure for learning and teaching at Brooklyn School . The two framing pillars are ‘self managed learning’ and ‘authentic learning’. The remaining four pillars are all ‘linking pillars’. They are called linking pillars because when they are linked together they combine to strengthen authentic learning and self managed learning. The four linking pillars in the CHaOS model are ‘thinking strategies’, ‘learning habits’, ‘problem solving, inquiry & experimental processes’ and ‘learning through ICT’. The six pillars are constructed on a strong foundation of student 'numeracy and literacy' programmes. The underlying belief inherent in all aspects of the CHaOS model is that learning and teaching is most effective when Children Have Ownership of Schooling.
The hypothesis that underpins the CHaOS model is that when Children Have Ownership of Schooling teachers find teaching more motivating, rewarding and manageable, while students demonstrate positive attitudes to learning, are more likely to develop life long learning skills, view learning as relevant and real, and gain high achievement, reaching their full potential. This web page explains what is involved in each of the pillars of the CHaOS model. It begins by describing the two framing pillars then outlines how the linking pillars support the overall learning and teaching structure. It concludes by commenting on how important a strong foundation of numeracy and literacy is if children are to have ownership of schooling.
Self Managed Learning
The first framing pillar of the CHaOS model is ‘self managed learning’. A self managing learner is able to sustain and maintain their momentum through out the life of a learning journey. If students are to self manage learning then the school needs to ensure that it allows them to broaden and deepen their learning journeys. In order for this to happen it is important that the students are supported to understand how to learn, and that they are equipped with an understanding of strategies they can use to help them learn. It is also important that students are not locked into specific time frames in which to complete certain passages of learning. Schools need to be flexible enough to provide opportunities for students to move beyond orientation and individual development to exploration and in-depth study.
Brooklyn school has identified three dimensions to the development of self managed learners. In term one each year students work through two steps to awaken their understanding of self managed learning for the year and to acquaint themselves with the tools that can support them to self manage their learning at their particular level. During terms two, three and four students practise self managing learning. During these terms they become increasingly more confident to self manage their learning journeys, a key component of which is the presentation of their outcomes to their peers. As the year goes on the older students are encouraged more and more to embark on in depth studies during which they are being self managed learners.
The three dimensions of self managed learning at Brooklyn School
The first dimension of self managed learning at Brooklyn school is the ‘awakening’ dimension. The first step in this dimension typically takes place at the beginning of each school year, although its aims are reinforced throughout each year. During this step students develop an increasing understanding of the concepts of intelligence and creativity. They develop and reinforce their understanding of self and community in order to answer questions such as who am I?, where am I from?, where am I headed?, what does it mean to belong to this learning community?, and what do I need to do to reach my full potential? During this step students participate in a range of activities such as ‘biographical sketches’ in order to better understand intelligence and creativity, as well as to develop their sense of self and community.
The second step in the ‘awakening’ dimension is also completed during term one of each year, with understandings applied and reinforced throughout the rest of the year. During this step students focus on ‘learning how to learn’ by being introduced to the strategies that they will use to help them learn throughout the rest of the year. During this step they are introduced to six sets of tools that they will need to self manage their learning. The first of these tool sets is process tools, which involves developing an awareness of how to inquire, problem solve, and experiment. The second tool set is organisational tools and involves students developing understandings of how to plan projects, how to set goals, how to manage time and how to evaluate. During this dimension students also develop an awareness of how to use thinking strategies, of what successful learning habits are, of how ICT can support learning, and of what is required in a good presentation.
The second dimension of self managed learning at Brooklyn school is called ‘practising’. The 'practising’ dimension involves two closely related steps. The first step in the practising dimension involves students in undertaking investigations and explorations within authentic contexts which emerge from the issues, concerns and topics that students themselves identify as both relevant and real. The intention of this step is to support students to become increasingly more aware of how the authentic learning process can be used to determine the focus of learning, to specify learning intentions, to develop assessment criteria and to implement the learning process. The second step of the practising dimension involves students in learning how to take stock of their learning, celebrate what they have learnt, and produce and present new ideas to their peers.
The third dimension of self managed learning at Brooklyn school is called The ‘being’ dimension. During the ‘being’ dimension students get to become truly self managing. During this dimension students pursue issues, concerns and topics of interest to them. They use the skills and understandings developed during the previous dimensions to self manage their learning journeys. In the early years at Brooklyn school the model assumes that not all students will make it to the third dimension. By the time students are in the senior years at Brooklyn school the expectation is that the vast majority of students will have made it to this dimension and had the opportunity to self manage learning journeys through to an in depth study level.
Authentic Learning
The second framing pillar is ‘authentic learning’. Beane advocates that when negotiating curricula with students, teachers must refrain from establishing connections between the present selections of separate subjects (1993). Instead, he believes that teachers must establish collaborative working environments in which students can create their own authentic themes of study, which transcend separate subject approaches. Beane advocates that authentic learning can only be established when the curriculum emerges from the issues, concerns and topics that students themselves identify as being both relevant and real. The CHaOS model calls for schools to develop curriculum structures which enable students to negotiate with teachers and engage in authentic learning.
Tension exists between the requirements of state mandated curricula and the development of themes of study which are based upon issues, concerns and topics that students identify themselves. Brooklyn school is implementing a model for authentic learning that utilises a four step process to help ensure that learning takes place within contexts that are authentic to students, but still meet the requirements of state mandated curricula ( Stanley , 2002). The first of these steps involves teachers and students in deciding on the focus of learning. Step two involves teachers and students in becoming more specific about what will be learnt. Students and teachers then develop assessment tasks and criteria, after which they embark on step four which involves teachers and students structuring and implementing the learning and teaching processes. Once teachers and students decide that the passage of learning has reached its conclusion, then the whole process begins again.
Authentic Learning process. Steps for planning learning and teaching
The first step in the process involves teachers and students in deciding on the focus of learning. The process during this step draws heavily on the work of Beane. Individual students in a class answer a set of questions. The questions are ‘what questions or concerns do you have about yourself?’, ‘what questions or concerns do you have about the world?’, ‘what things in the world are you curious about?’, ‘what questions do you have about your future?’ and ‘what are your hopes, dreams and concerns?’ Students then form into groups to identify themes and questions that they have in common. At this point teachers and students ask whether the themes that have been identified are sufficiently deep to form the focus of a programme of work. If they decide that the themes are indeed deep enough then they work together to identify possible learning activities for each theme. If they decide that the themes are not deep enough then they regroup the themes or ask the questions again. The first step of the authentic learning process concludes with the class working through a process to decide what the key theme and questions are that the class should explore during the next programme of work. The following diagram illustrates the first step in the authentic learning process.
Authentic Learning step one: Deciding on a focus for learning
The second step of the authentic learning process involves teachers and students in becoming more specific about what will be learnt. This step begins by students and teachers identifying key knowledge, understandings, attitudes, values and skills that will be addressed through the programme of work. In order to do this students and teachers work through the following questions.
What opportunities will there be to:
- Consider the different views of others?
- Consider why people hold their points of view?
- Develop and justify our points of view?
What will we come to know and understand once we have explored our theme and questions?
Will we use a problem solving, inquiry and/or experimental process?
What ICT and/or thinking skills do we need to use to complete the process?
What learning habits will we be able develop as we explore our theme?
What opportunities will there be to act on what we discover through our theme?
Once this process has been completed students and teachers prepare a set of learning intentions for the programme of work. The answers to these questions are used as the basis for the development of the learning intentions. The following diagram illustrates the second step in the authentic learning process.
Authentic Learning step two: Becoming more specific about what will be learnt
The third step of the authentic learning process involves students and teachers working together to develop assessment tasks and criteria. The previous step concluded with teachers and students agreeing upon a set of learning intentions for the programme of work. This third step begins with teachers and students agreeing upon which of these learning intentions are the most important and, therefore, will form the basis of assessment for the programme of work. Once teachers and students have agreed upon the key learning intentions, they then work together to establish criteria that will be used to describe the degree to which students are successful in achieving each learning intention. For each learning intention they identify four levels of capability – novice, apprentice, practitioner, and expert.
Teachers either by themselves or in partnership with students have a further task to complete at this point in the process. They take the full set of learning intentions that have been developed and relate these to the achievement objectives from the New Zealand curriculum. This process of correlating learning intentions against achievement objectives provides teachers and students with an insight into the achievement objectives from the curriculum which are not likely to be covered through the programme of work. They make decisions about which of these additional achievement objectives could form the basis of learning experiences that would support students to develop knowledge, understanding, skills, values and attitudes associated with the general direction of the programme of work. Teachers either by themselves or in partnership with students develop learning intentions, assessment tasks and criteria for these parallel achievement objectives. The following diagram illustrates the third step in the authentic learning process.
Authentic Learning step three: Developing assessment tasks and criteria
The fourth step of the authentic learning process involves teachers and students in structuring and implementing the learning and teaching programme. Students take the learning intentions and develop a problem solving, inquiry and/or experimental plan. Once this has been developed they begin the process of implementing their plan. Meanwhile teachers prepare learning experiences for the development of knowledge, understandings, attitudes, values and skills that will support students as they implement their inquiry or problem solving plans. Teachers support students as they implement their plans through the provision of ‘just in time’ and ‘just in case’ learning experiences on a whole class, group and individual student basis as need dictates. In addition teachers develop learning experiences for the parallel learning intentions that were identified in step three of the authentic learning process. Some of these learning experiences flow through to directly support student inquiry and/or problem solving plans while other experiences are implemented purely for their own sake.
The following diagram illustrates the fourth step in the authentic learning process.
Authentic Learning step four: Structuring and implementing the learning and teaching process
As student learning journeys draw to an end teachers and students decide upon the time in which the passage of learning has reached its natural conclusion. Once consensus has been reached the whole process begins again with students and teachers negotiating the focus for the next passage of learning.
Learning Habits
The first linking pillar of the CHaOS model is ‘learning habits’. A student who has well developed learning habits will use a range of rituals, behaviours, practices, routines and ways of learning to help them move their learning journeys systematically and thoughtfully from orientation through to in-depth study. The CHaOS model assumes that schools will identify, develop, teach and practice a set of positive learning habits.
Brooklyn school has adopted Costa’s “Habits of Mind” as the basis for their learning habits programme (2001). Perkins in his foreword to Costa and Kallick’s book ‘Integrating and sustaining Habits of Mind’ (2000a), suggests that we “should have habits of mind such as persistence and flexible thinking, just as we have habits like brushing our teeth or putting the dog out or being kind to people. Habits are not behaviours we pick up and lay down whimsically or arbitrarily. They are behaviours we exhibit reliably on appropriate occasions, and they are smoothly triggered without painstaking attention” (viii). Costa and Kallick define Habits of Mind as “dispositions displayed by intelligent people in response to problems, dilemmas, and enigmas, the resolutions of which are not immediately apparent” (2000b). Furthermore, they describe “a Habit of Mind as knowing how to behave intelligently when you DON’T know the answer” (2001).
There are sixteen Habits of Mind. Students are progressively introduced to and taught how to use each of the habits as they move through the first six years of their time at Brooklyn School . In years seven and eight students are supported to use all of the habits as and when appropriate to support their learning journeys. The following graphics depict which habits of mind are introduced at each year level.
Habits of Mind introduced at years 1 and 2 at Brooklyn school
Habits of Mind introduced at years 3 and 4 at Brooklyn school
Habits of Mind introduced at years 5 and 6 at Brooklyn school
Problem Solving, Inquiry and Experimental Processes
The second linking pillar is ‘problem solving, inquiry and experimental processes’. Students are more likely to be successful problem solvers, inquirers and experimenters if they utilise consistent problem solving, inquiry and experimental models across learning areas and year levels. The problem solving, inquiry and experimental processes used in a school should remain the same irrespective of the achievement level at which a student is operating. What changes as students move through the achievement levels is the complexity with which they operate within each of the stages of these three processes. The CHaOS model requires a school to embrace a model for each of these processes and use them consistently across learning areas and achievement levels.
Many models for inquiry learning have been developed world wide (Berkowitz and Eisenberg, 2001; Gawith, 2004; Capra and Ryan, 2004; McKenzie, 2000; etc). Brooklyn school has adopted the inquiry process at the heart of Capra and Ryan’s (2004) information literacy planning overview as the model for inquiry throughout the school. The model is a six step process that can be implemented in either a linear or non linear fashion. If the inquiry process is described linearly then it begins with the defining stage. At this point in the process students build on prior knowledge in order to define what it is that they want to find out, and conclude by developing a research plan for their inquiry journey. Once this is completed they begin the process of locating and recording information to help them answer their research questions. They then analyse the information that they have gathered and select those parts of it which are going to help answer their questions. This information is organised and synthesized to best support their conclusions. Students then create and present new information or conclusions related to their research questions. They then evaluate how effective they were in implementing their research process and reflect on how they could improve it for the next research process. The following graphic depicts the inquiry process used at Brooklyn school.
Inquiry process at Brooklyn school
Brooklyn school has developed its own process for problem solving. This process is used as a consistent model for solving problems across a range of learning areas. It has its roots in the technology capability process from the technology curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1995) and the social decision making process from the social studies curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1997), and draws on the problem solving process from the mathematics curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1992). Having identified a problem, be it in a social or technological sense, students conceive of a range of possible solutions to that problem. They then develop and use a set of criteria to evaluate which of the solutions will be most effective in solving the problem. Having made their decision about the most preferred solution they then develop and trial this solution to measure its effectiveness in relation to the initial problem. The final step in the problem solving process is to create and present a presentation that documents how and why the solution solves the problem and how it could be improved further. The following graphic depicts the problem solving process used at Brooklyn school.
Problem solving process at Brooklyn school
The experimental process used at Brooklyn school has its roots in the science curriculum. Although the process is mostly used in a science context, it is also sometimes used across other learning areas. The first step in the experimental process is to develop a hypothesis as a prediction of what students think will happen as a result of the experiment. Once they have developed their hypothesis students come up with an experiment plan which includes a description of how they intend to test their hypothesis. They then implement their plan and analyse the results that are generated. They use the analysis to draw conclusions about the validity or otherwise of their original hypothesis. Finally they create and present a presentation of the experimental process and the conclusions that were drawn from it. The following graphic depicts the experimental process used at Brooklyn school.
Experimental process at Brooklyn school
Thinking strategies
The third linking pillar of the CHaOS model is ‘thinking strategies’. A wide range of thinking tools and strategies, ranging form De Bono’s six thinking hats to graphic organisers, exist in the world today. Students who are skilled in the use of these tools and strategies are more likely to be able to think creatively, critically and systematically than students who are unfamiliar with them. The more practice a student has in the use of these tools and strategies then the better they will become in using them. The CHaOS model assumes that schools will identify a core set off thinking strategies and then encourage and support students to use these often within their learning journeys.
Brooklyn school has developed a matrix of four groups of strategies that can be used to support thinking across the school. The matrix includes strategies for: self evaluating; comparing, organising and contrasting; predicting, justifying and checking; and synthesising thoughts.
Thinking strategies at Brooklyn School
Thinking strategies matrix at Brooklyn School
Brooklyn school has developed its own self evaluation strategy for listening, speaking, giving feedback and for presenting. By the end of year four students at Brooklyn school are expected to be able to use teacher given criteria to verbally evaluate their work. They are also expected to be beginning to develop their own criteria for evaluation with strong teacher support. In years five to eight they are expected to become increasingly independent in the both the development and use of criteria to self evaluate listening, speaking, giving feedback and presentations.
In the early years at Brooklyn school students are introduced to a range of graphic organisers for comparing, organising and contrasting. These include mind maps, flow charts, fishbone diagrams, venn diagrams, brainstorms and spider maps. They are also introduced to a range of CoRT tools including PMI (plus minus interesting), OPV (over people’s viewpoints), C&S (consequence and sequel) and CAF (consider all factors). As students move into the senior years at Brooklyn school they are expected to become increasingly more independent in the use of the graphic organisers and CoRT tools that they were introduced to in their junior years.
De Bono’s six thinking hats (1999) are used as the key tool for synthesising thoughts at Brooklyn school. By the end of year four students have been introduced to all six hats and have had opportunities to use them individually to direct thinking in whole class situations. Initially this begins with an introduction to Yellow, Green, Black and Red hats in the first years of schooling but expands to include blue and white hats by year four. In the senior school the focus moves to using the combinations of the hats in sequences that allow students synthesise their thoughts.
The final set of strategies in the Brooklyn School thinking strategies matrix are aimed at helping students to predict, justify and check. Brooklyn school has developed its own strategy for predicting, justifying and checking. Students are introduced and taught how to use this strategy in Maths, Reading and Science. In the senior years they are supported to use these strategies to predict, justify and check across all learning areas.
Learning through ICT
The fourth and final linking pillar is ‘learning through ICT’. The potential for ICT to enhance learning and teaching across a number of domains and learning areas is well established. Provided that ample ICT infrastructure is available, that teachers themselves are sufficiently capable, and provided they have an awareness of the pedagogical potential of ICT, then it is more than probable that they will be able to support students to achieve by learning through ICT. The CHaOS model assumes that schools will embrace and promote the use of ICT as a key learning and teaching tool.
Two domains for learning through ICT at Brooklyn school
The first domain for learning through ICT at Brooklyn school is the use of ICT to support inquiry, problem solving and experimentation. Students at Brooklyn school are encouraged to use a range of information and communication technologies during all the stages of the inquiry process. Technologies such as the internet, cdroms, audio conferencing, faxes, library catalogues, videos, etc can be used to gather information. Technologies such as spreadsheets, databases, word processors, video editing, etc can be used to process information. Technologies such as publishing software, drawing programmes, photo editing, etc can be used to publish information. Technologies such as ohps, videos, multimedia presentations, etc can be used to communicate information.
Students at Brooklyn school are also encouraged to use ICT to enhance the development of student problem solving capability. As with the inquiry process, teachers can enhance the capability of students to solve problems by providing opportunities for them to use a range of information and communication technologies during all four stages of the problem solving process. Technologies such as the internet, cdroms, audio conferencing, video, etc can be used to identify problems or issues. Technologies such as databases, mind mapping software, spreadsheets, etc can be used to develop possible solutions to the problems or issues. Depending on the learning area, technologies such as CAD, drawing programmes, publishing software, video recording, etc can be used to design possible solutions. Technologies such as databases, multimedia presentation software, publishing software, etc might be used to implement, evaluate and present a report regarding the effectiveness of a chosen solution.
The use of ICT by students to support learning in the experimental process is encouraged at Brooklyn school. As with the inquiry and problem solving processes teachers can enhance the capability of students to experiment by providing opportunities for them to use a range of information and communication technologies during the six stages of the experimental process.
The second domain for learning through ICT at Brooklyn school is the use of ICT in the development of numeracy and literacy capability. This role is transparent to the learner in much the same way as the use of the whiteboard or chalk is transparent to the learner. For example, the concept of how data can be represented in different ways can be easily taught by using graphing software. By making a pie graph and a bar graph linked to the same data, a teacher can change the values for different data categories and ask students to predict what will happen to each graph. The outcome is instantaneous and the concept is grasped with comparative ease. Similarly interactive cdroms, and digital learning objects add another dimension to a classroom’s numeracy and literacy programme, while contemporary communication systems such as wikis, blogs and intranets are changing the ways in which students communicate and share information. Teachers at Brooklyn school use a wide range of ICTs to enhance the numeracy and literacy programme.
Wherever possible the development of skills in the use of ICT is undertaken within the context of the classroom programme as opposed to developing these as a ‘learning area’ in their own right.
Changes in the emphasis on the two domains for learning through ICT as students move through Brooklyn school
Imagine we have been given the task of creating a graph that represents the relative emphasis that is placed on the two domains of learning through ICT at Brooklyn school. The graph would look something like this …
Relative emphasis placed on the two domains of learning through ICT at Brooklyn school
On the X axis we have a continuum of the year levels, starting at year one and ending at year eight. On the Y axis we have the relative emphasis that is placed on each of the two domains as a mechanism through which ICT skills are developed by students. The Y axis scale ranges from 0 to 100%.where 0 indicates that there is very little emphasis placed on the use of ICT in the particular domain and 100% indicates that a great deal of emphasis is placed on the particular domain.
In the early years at Brooklyn school students are most likely to be using ICT to support the development of numeracy and literacy concepts. When using ICT they will develop an awareness of how a range of applications function as they interact with them to complete tasks that often have a numeracy or literacy focus. During these years they will also use a range of technologies as they inquire into things, solve problems and experiment, but the relative emphasis on this domains of learning through ICT is considerably less than the emphasis on using ICT as a tool to support the development of numeracy and literacy concepts.
As students move into the middle years at Brooklyn school a cross over occurs. At the beginning of this period students are more likely to be using ICT as a in a numeracy and literacy context than they are to be using it to support inquiry and problem solving, but the difference between the relative emphasis on these domains of learning through ICT is less marked than in the earlier years. As students move through year three it is likely that students will be using ICT as much for inquiry and problem solving as they are to develop understanding of numeracy and literacy concepts. By year four the relative emphasis on each domain of learning through ICT reverses so that students are more likely to be using ICT to help them solve problems and inquire than they are to further their understanding of numeracy and literacy concepts.
Once students are in the senior years at Brooklyn school the relative emphasis that is placed upon ICT as a tool for problem solving, inquiry and experimenting continues to increase so that by the time students leave the Brooklyn school the emphasis on this domain of learning through ICT is far greater than the numeracy & literacy domain. As they exit the Brooklyn school it is expected that students should have a good understanding of inquiry, problem solving and experimental processes and should be using a range of technologies to enhance whatever they are doing at each of the stages of each process. The emphasis that is placed on the use of ICT for numeracy and literacy diminishes, but doesn’t disappear, as students move through the senior primary years.
Numeracy and Literacy Foundation
The six pillars of the CHaOS model are built upon a strong foundation of numeracy and literacy. If children are to develop full ownership and control of learning then it is important that they have strong numeracy and literacy skills. The CHaOS model is not expected to be fully unveiled until students are in years seven and eight. Through to year two a large part of the daily programme is based around the development of numeracy and literacy capacity with some time spent on learning habits, problem solving, inquiry & experimental processes, thinking strategies, and learning through ICT. At these year levels students spend most of their day working on teacher directed activities with the foundations of authentic learning and self managed learning being laid.
By the time students reach year eight it is expected that they will be demonstrating positive learning habits as they use problem solving, inquiry & experimental processes, thinking strategies, and ICT to help them self manage learning journeys based in contexts which are authentic to them. At this level numeracy and literacy programmes are still implemented separately from student’s self directed learning journeys, but wherever possible the content of numeracy and literacy programmes is designed and timetabled to ensure that it is based upon, and supports, the contexts that students have selected.
The degree to which the CHaOS model is implemented from year 0 through to year 8.
