USING THE LEARNING DISPOSITION WHEEL TO HELPSTUDENT ENGAGEMENT, ATTENDANCE & WELLBEING
A 4CTL Case Study from Kurri Kurri High School, 2022
As told AT OUR NOV 2022 NETWORK DAYS, by SARA DA SILVA, HT Engagement (Attendance & Wellbeing) from Kurri Kurri High School.
At our school, we’re approaching our work with challenging students in a way that is proving powerful and effective. And it’s based around the dispositions of the 4CTL Learning Disposition Wheel.
MY ROLE
By the time a student is sent to me, they have shown no behavioural improvement despite our normal disciplinary channels, up through head teachers, vice principal and principal. This means I’m seeing students who have been persistently and repeatedly struggling to participate effectively in their learning.
The 4CTL Learning Disposition Wheel (LDW) has been a game changer in how I approach working with these students to help them understand and discuss where they’re struggling, and to identify and develop the dispositions that aren’t yet strengths for them.
THE PROCESS
When I begin seeing a student, I use the LDW to begin the discussion around what’s happening for the student when that leads to them engaging in behaviour that is impeding their own and others’ learning. Having an external focus on which students engage in critical reflection about their experience and choices means the conversation can proceed successfully without sinking deeply into blame, shame, despair or other negatives.
I help the student identify their learning strengths, their not-yet-strengths, and to describe the types of behaviours they engage in when they’re struggling with these not-yet-strengths. This is a profound level of self awareness and the 4CTL approach to critical reflection about their own experience and choices makes this a really positive experience.
One way I have developed my use of the dispositions in working with struggling students is to develop a helpful reflection suggestion for each disposition.
When students identify that a recent unhelpful behavioural choice demonstrated a weak use of a given disposition, we turn to the reflection suggestion related to that disposition as a scaffold for their metacognition.
In this way, the student has a tool to use, in the moment, when they feel the urge to choose an unhelpful behaviour in future. It’s a practical tool the student can have with them right when they need it most, to avert another incident they may otherwise feel unable to prevent.
HELPING TEACHERS SUPPORT STRUGGLING STUDENTS
From my discussions and reflection with the student, we build action plans that include, most helpfully, the behaviours that a teacher may witness in the student, that signal the student is struggling and could soon make unhelpful choices. This, again, requires solid critical reflection on the series of choices and events that previously led up to a student’s unacceptable behaviour choice.
The student then offers suggestions on how the teacher could help the student to avoid an escalation of the struggle, and hopefully prevent the more serious behavioural choice.
The student also includes on their action plan their personal identification of their disposition strengths, and how teachers can encourage them to draw on those strengths more when struggling.
These actions plans are given to the student’s teacher/s and I offer support to the teacher (who may not be engaged in any 4CTL related learning) in understanding the dispositions and the language of the action plan.
THE RESULTS
This process of using critical reflection to develop student self awareness and agency over the regulation of their behaviour has proven very effective - when teachers choose to engage with it. Sadly, as not all teachers make this choice, it’s with a heavy heart that some students end up back in my office, our action plan having not been adopted by their teacher. Our goal at Kurri Kurri is to continue to build genuine understanding of the power of the Learning Disposition Wheel, for teachers and students to continue to keep building more inclusive, productive and engaging learning environments.
Kurri Kurri High School has a great need to continue developing how we support struggling students, and we hope to keep generating greater teacher engagement in the 4CTL professional learning skills in future.