Learning

Guide

Supporting Student Development of Competencies:

Create Opportunities
This learning guide shares several strategies and ideas related to
supporting student development of the competency Create
Opportunities. Some of the strategies and ideas shared are ones you
may have already used with your students. The shift is to become
intentional about highlighting/discussing how these tried and true
strategies support the development of one or more competencies.

This learning guide is designed for use by

professional learning communities, leaders,
learning coaches and teachers, or as a self-paced
study to explore practical strategies to support student
development of Albertas competencies across the
curriculum and in every classroom.

Use this Learning Guide after viewing

Create Opportunities and Alberta Educations
competency indicators related to Create
Opportunities.

Learner Profile: Successful development of the Create Opportunities competency results in a learner who
transforms ideas into actions, products or services that benefit the community or even the world. This learner
demonstrates leadership and the courage to dream and take initiative, makes ideas come alive and invites others to
share in his/her vision.

Key Strategies/Ideas:

Support your students to plan, organize and run

community partnerships, service projects or student
entrepreneurial events that result in benefits for all
involved.

Involve your class/school in We Day. This is a year-long

program that nurtures compassion and gives people the
tools to create transformative social change.

Explore how your school can create a learning commons:

an inclusive, flexible, learner-centred, physical and/or
virtual space that can provide rich opportunities for
collaboration, inquiry, imagination and play and a place to
create actions, products or service that benefit others.

Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

Nurture creativity in all students to impact student selfesteem and overall achievement. All students have
creative abilities and all students use them differently.
Create social studies or science projects that extend from
active citizenship or impact on society outcomes.

Acknowledgement:
This Professional Learning Guide was developed by the Edmonton
Regional Learning Consortium and funded through a grant from
Alberta Education to support implementation. It is provided for free
in support of improved teaching and learning under the following
Creative Commons license.

As a group or entire staff, use the Take a Stand Protocol

to articulate and reflect on each persons thinking/opinion
about the following statement: All students should be
involved in community service projects. What benefits,
challenges and successes surfaced as a result of this
protocol discussion?
What is your schools vision for a learning commons?
How do you believe a learning commons can support the
development of the Create Opportunities competency?
What other competencies might be developed within a
learning commons?
How can you address both the current priorities and
pressures in education (e.g., covering all learner
outcomes, not enough time) and support the
development of this competency in our students?
What other strategies have you used to support student
development of the competency Create Opportunities?

For more information:

Developing Community Partnerships, Alberta Education
We Day, We Day Org
Learning Commons Guidelines, Alberta Education
Sir Ken Robinson Report on Creativity, National Advisory
Committee on Creative and Cultural Education
Creativity in Education: Why it Matters, Adobe
Do Schools Kill Creativity? Sir Ken Robinson
Protocols, Expeditionary Learning, Engage NY
ATA Diversity, Equity & Human Rights Resources