Extreme Learning: East Lothian style

My colleague, Ewan McIntosh, has already posted his first of two reports from the meeting held in East Lothian's Council Chamber this afternoon, where some 3 dozen professionals, including one eminent visitor from Perth Academy - Neil Winton - came together to talk 'Extreme Learning'. Don Ledingham has already outlined the concept in his own blog, so I won't go into any superfluous detail here. Suffice to say that is was a real pleasure to find myself amongst a bunch of committed professionals getting down to the task of fashioning a radical and exciting notion of learning: a kind of learning in which young people will be able to bring their passions firmly inside the bounds of their schooling (instead of having to defer their real interests to their lives outside of school, as is so often the case); a kind of learning in which what has been peripheral can be pulled into the core; a kind of learning in which the curriculum, or part of it at least, is not fixed by some central authority but is negotiable; a kind of learning in which teachers can accord learners the maximum respect by recognising that they are learners too; and a kind of learning that could be a groundbreaking model for Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence in the future. It was a privilege to participate, and I hope I can continue to play a part, however minor, in the process as it moves forward Technorati Tags: extreme learning, east lothian, negotiated curriculum .

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© John Connell
The views expressed in this weblog are entirely my own and are not intended to reflect the views of any other individuals or organizations. All sources will be fully acknowledged.