First Peoples Principles of learning are the foundation of my pedagogy.
I think that learning can be modeled by a ripple effect.
When we toss a stone into the lake it takes a set amount of time for each ripple to spread and grow. I think this is the same for students learning. Learning takes patience and time, just like a ripple of water moving over across the surface. there is nothing that we can do to speed up the ripple, it depends on the stone that we cast into the water.
I think this ripple also represents the FPPL that learning is reflexive. Each ripple as it spreads and grows can represent the deepening our understanding and learning based on our interactions with the learning.
One example of this was from my formative practicum.
I use at least one of these principles as a foundation that I based the entire course on and learning on within each of my classes. Depending on the lesson itself, I will write up which of the First People Principles of Learning applies to the class and how we are going to be using it today.
For example, the structure of the entire Chemistry 11 course was built on Jo Chrona’s explanation of the principle:
“This principle directly supports the idea that learning is an individualistic process that cannot be rushed or arrived at according to a pre-determined schedule (including specific age). This refers to the understanding that learning happens when a person is ready for it, and that learning is most effective when it occurs in a setting where the learning can be applied in an authentic context.”
The way that I applied this to my class was that there was no end to the learning other than the end of the course. So, if the learning does not make sense to a student at the first instance it is seen in class, or on the first test, then that is okay. The students is not going to be penalized for the fact that their learning is occurring on a different path.
So, what I had decided to do, was to give students multiple opportunities to show my their learning in terms of doing retests. In Chemistry, we build on our skills and they are constantly being revisited. So, in this way, students can easily show me latter on they understand the concept, and I will replace their previous mark. This flexibility I found really encouraged a lot of students and welcomed them into the learning. A failed test did not mean that they couldn’t achieve it, it meant that they had not come to that point in their learning YET. They just had to give them selves time and practice. On those later opportunities I noticed a lot of growth in students learning.