A guide for learning activists

Learning stories are a way we can keep the candle of democracy burning in our classrooms because they signal that we know, respect, and care for the learner. They invite participation and inclusion — two key fundamentals of democracy.

What’s in this guide?

This guide starts with a free section that contains an overview of the key concepts of learning stories. You will also find blog posts about learning stories that dive deeper into some of the big ideas behind them. Many of those posts contain a paid section.

In the paid zone (cheap as! — NZD$19 one-time payment), you will learn about:

• The nuts ‘n bolts of writing learning stories.
• A template to get started with noticing.
• The narrative arc that gives structure to a learning story.
• Sentence stems for each part of the story.
• Examples of the sentence stems in use at each stage.
• A link to download an example of a learning story.
• A link to a template that guides you through drafting your own learning stories.

You will also find links to download in the Resources section.

Why pay to access the guide?

Learning stories are a powerful way we can respond to learning dispositions, and in doing so nurture them and help them grow, and this guide breaks it down into simple, repeatable steps.

Creating learning stories for older learners is a wonderful way for you to be a learning activist:

• They nurture the relational space between you and the learner.
• They depend on and grow your ability to notice learners, increasingly deeply.
• They support the co-construction of learning and success, helping to make education a participatory, democratic endeavour.
• They build agency and motivate learners.
• They open up space for you to value learning beyond academic achievement.

As learners get older, we tend to be less intentional in attending to these things because we work in systems that are hurried and harried, but they are still important because they help make classrooms democratic spaces by virtue of the feeling of inclusion and acceptance they foster.

Many of the principles of learning stories hold for older learners. However, there are certain adjustments we need to make, and this guide helps you with those adjustments.

• The first one is regarding time: it is hard to write learning stories for everyone all the time, so getting familiar with a clear, repeatable structure is useful.
• The second one is to do with what we seek to draw attention to: we need to speak about the learning in multi-layered ways, drawing attention to academic and dispositional learning so the stories have ‘grunt’ and help the learner see that HOW they learn impacts WHAT they achieve.
• The third is we need to open doors to worlds that are relevant: there is an opportunity to partner with the learner and co-construct this aspect, and one of the templates has guiding questions for that.

Learners of all ages respond to learning stories; they don’t have to remain a tool exclusive to the early-years. I use them in a secondary context. They have created relational warmth and feelings of inclusion that I have never experienced with other forms of reporting or feedback.

PS: If you want to read more about my use of learning stories, I recommend Guy Claxton’s book Powering Up Students: The Learning Power Approach to high school teaching.

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Learning stories: the key concepts

They are stories from you to the learner

A form of narrative assessment, their power comes when they’re seen as ‘learning love letters’ that reinforce the idea that growth in particular areas of learning, no matter how small, is possible and has been noticed.

Learning stories …

• Begin with noticing.
• Are strengths-based, responding to and seeking to build on what is present or exists in the learning.
• Carry messages of care.
• Help teachers reframe how they see learning and learners.
• Should be physical so, just like a book or photo album, they can be picked up and re-read at will.
• Provide a way of evidencing learning that supports motivation.
• Help students see themselves as powerful learners with something to offer the world.

Integrating learning stories into my practice made me a more attuned teacher, which lifted by ability to be responsive to learners. I also became aware of the other factors wrapped up in learning, like dispositions and motivation. Being tuned into those factors is a key part that helps you tell the story of learning.

Here’s a tip to get started with noticing:

• Buy a notebook.
• On each page draw a t-chart: What I notice | What I’m thinking.
• Spend 3 minutes in the lesson in a part of the room watching and listening.
• At the end of the day, spend 5 minutes looking over your notes, then at the bottom of the page write ideas in response to this: Tomorrow I need to.

Want more knowledge, tips and resources? They’re in the guide :)

Get access to the guide to creating learning stories for older learners for a one-time payment of NZD$19 — that’s cheap as!

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