What are learning progressions? Why are they important? What did you learn from today’s learning activity?

Learning progressions are the continuum of learning of skills/content that are age appropriate, which are built upon towards more complex goals.

Learning progressions are a way of scaffolding a skill/learning outcome for learners, and for teachers to plan how to teach the specific skill/learning outcome. I found a quote from my readings that really helped to clarify what learning progressions are: “Although standards and curricula are often prioritized in educational documentation, it is the progress toward the standards and meeting curricular goals that is important. This “progress” can be seen as a roadmap which supports instructional planning” (Kim and Care, 2018).

Have you ever tried to write a lengthy essay without an outline? How about trying to find a new address without the help of a map or GPS? Trying to teach a complicated set of curricula without a roadmap to guide you is far more difficult than is necessary. Learning progressions allow the teacher to plan, guide, and reflect on their teaching of a new skill/concept.

How are learning progressions formed? “Typically, learning progressions are constructed on the basis of some sort of backward analysis. An educator first identifies a significant curricular aim and then asks, “What does a student need to know or be able to do to master this aim?”” (Ascd, n.d.). In other words, it is a sort of backwards chaining/scaffolding method. Conveniently, this is something I used to use and develop daily as a behaviour interventionist. It also reminds me of the acronym S.M.A.R.T. goals: you want to make sure the skill is specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and done in a specified amount of time.

We completed a really interesting activity in class on October 30, 2020, wherein our groups had the task of creating a simple learning progression. It was difficult to do in such a short time, and even more difficult because we had to first decide on what skill/concept to progress towards. My team chose the skill of floor hockey, something I have always enjoyed, but honestly never excelled at myself. My group began by asking the question: “what are the basic skills you’d want to teach? At what age should teaching begin?” – and off we went. We decided to theoretically begin teaching the set of skills for floor hockey in Kindergarten, and progress through to grade 9 level. It was fascinating breaking up something as complex as floor hockey into the basic skills of the sport, and sportsmanship itself. We learned a lot about how we view sports in general, and realized that much of what we planned to teach would be transferable to other school-led sports activities. We also learned that there would have to be a significant level of flexibility for both the teachers and the students learning this skill. Some learners will naturally excel at sports, while others (like myself) may struggle. The key here is to have peer-support and comradery taught at the early stages, along with good sportsmanship and a basic understanding of the game itself.

All in all, we found this exercise especially enlightening… we all agreed that we could have used more time for discussions and theoretical planning, but we quickly understood that that was the lesson. Learning does take patience and time.

 

References:

Ascd. (n.d.). All About Accountability / The Lowdown on Learning Progressions. Retrieved November 04, 2020, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/apr07/vol64/num07/The-Lowdown-on-Learning-Progressions.aspx

Kim, H., & Care, E. (2018, March 27). Learning progressions: Pathways for 21st century teaching and learning. Retrieved November 04, 2020, from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/education-plus-development/2018/03/27/learning-progressions-pathways-for-21st-century-teaching-and-learning/amp/

Kurt, S. (2020, August 18). Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding. Retrieved November 04, 2020, from https://educationaltechnology.net/vygotskys-zone-of-proximal-development-and-scaffolding/

Learning Progression Definition. (2013, August 29). Retrieved November 04, 2020, from https://www.edglossary.org/learning-progression/