Looking for Learning

Roll-Out
Summary of LFL Toolkit
Recommendations
1

4 purposes of using Looking for

Learning
1
To provide the essential evidence about learning in schools that helps
to make sense of much of the other evidence that exists.
2
To provide a way for schools, school leaders and teachers to deliver
evidence that learning is happening, evidence that makes a powerful
contribution to school inspections and accreditations, school reviews,
performance management and more.
3
To provide evidence that has a significant impact on a school's
improvement planning, making it easier for a school to develop learningfocused improvement plans. (Looking for Learning also provides
evidence for other systems schools use, too, such as performance
management or professional development.)
4
To enable a transformation to take place in the way that teachers,
children and students see their own classrooms, in the way that professional
colleagues talk to each other, in the content of those conversations and in
the school ethos that emerges from those interactions.

For 1-3.. Top-Down Works,.. but for 4th, need Collegial Approach
Open & Respectful

Collegial supports GenCE Vision of

Staff Development

To Transform..
Professional Learning Environment
Required:
Shared values & vision
Collective responsibility for student
learning
Collaboration focused on learning
Individual & collective PD
Reflective professional enquiry
Openness, networks & partnerships
Inclusive membership
Mutual trust, respect & support
4

Stage 1 Review, Agree &

Consolidate a Definition of
Learning

GenCE revised: Learning is a process of

acquiring knowledge, developing skills, and
building understanding and values to help us
better understand God, ourselves and our
world.

1. Good enough for your school? OR..

2. To be modified? Next steps
1. Students brainstorming tips (p80)
2. Staff flowchart (p83)
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Stage 2 - Discuss, agree and

consolidate the key LfL
questions
Fionas training Sufficient? Staff
on board??
1. Is there any learning going
2. Is the learning appropriate?
3. Is the learning sufficient?
4. Is the learning engaging?

These are addressed

in classroom LfL
on?
observations

Feedback fr visits,
PD, LfL resources,
classrm practices
help?

5. What is the teacher doing to

6. What is the teacher doing to hinder?

On-line
database &
curric. doc
fdback

7. What is the school doing to help or hinder?8

STAGE 3- Start with the SLT in

classrooms Preparation 1
SLT
Discuss aims & approach of LfL visits
Agree date, time & length of LFL
visits
Arrange times to have follow up
learning conversations
Decide how to establish purpose of
lessons in advance
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STAGE 3- Start with the SLT in

classrooms - Preparation 2
Teachers:
All teachers should complete
questionnaire
Make it clear the work is the
training for the SLT & improving LfL
and not a performance review.
All of the visits and succeeding
discussions are confidential.
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STAGE 3- Start with the SLT in

classrooms- Preparation 3
Students:
Teachers to explain purpose of LfL
visits in advance at least 3
advantages:
1. Makes public to students that the
school is mostly interested in their
learning
2. Begins to involve students in the
LfL process

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Teacher Introductions : Key things to

mention:

The most important things I want to know is

whether you are learning and whether I am
helping you learn. So, later on today Ms/Mr X is
coming in to the classroom to help me find out.
S/he will be working mostly alongside you,
asking you some questions and watching what
is going on.
We want to make sure everyone in our school
is thinking about leaning and that we are all
learning as much as we can. Our visitor may
ask you some questions. The more you can tell
us about your learning, the more we can help
you to learn new things in the future...

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STAGE 3- Start with the SLT in

classrooms- Visits
Recommend everyone reads Skills
tipsheet preparing & protocols (pg
113-116)
LfL Classroom visit Note Sheet IPC
recommends Option 1
Allison would like to be in the rosters,
please
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STAGE 3- Start with the SLT in

classrooms- Learning
Conversations
Different than conventional:
Discusses learning before teaching
Structured around [ 7 ] LfL questions
Forward focused
Aim to leave teacher empowered
Evidence based
Ends in action planning
Essential to make judgments valid for
recording
Tips Reference Sheet 130-133

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STAGE 4: Next - Volunteer

Teachers to Work in Pairs
Go through same process as SLT.
As a result of these visits, teachers
begin to implement strategies and
ideas that increase the focus on
learning in their classrooms

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STAGE 5: Roll-out to all

teachers
Go through same process as SLT/
others
support individual teachers with their
own focus on increased learning in
their classrooms
Reinforce, expand practice of
learning conversations across staff

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STAGE 5- Roll-out to all

teachers
On-Line Database
Waiting for system - tbc
Purpose to record & disaggregate
evidence from LfL visits
Facilitates scheduling LfL visits
Translates rich qualitative
information into valid quantitative
data overtime.
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 STAGE 6 - Carry On
Use your data in two ways to improve and
increase the learning that is taking place in
your school:

in follow-up learning conversations with your

colleagues in order to improve the learning that
is taking place in classrooms
to help you develop a learning-focused
improvement plan.

Plan a regular structure of ongoing

classroom observations in school.
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