Karoline Hoel Balstad

Spurningar og svör frá Sli.Do

How exactly do you “train the teachers first” before taking on a new theme? Who does that training? And how much time goes into preparing for each cycle?

For us, “train the teachers first” means that we want the adults to experience, explore and learn before we expect them to create those learning experiences for the students.

We divide the school year into six periods, each with a common theme. Before a new period begins, we use our professional development time to build knowledge, explore possibilities and plan together. Sometimes the training is led by members of our own staff who have particular expertise, and sometimes we invite external experts. We strongly believe in using the competence that already exists within the team.

The preparation is not only about planning activities. We ask: What do we want the students to learn? Which parts of the curriculum connect naturally to this theme? What knowledge and skills do the teachers need? And how can we create tasks that require students to think, collaborate and produce something themselves?

We invest quite a lot of our professional development time in this. For us, teacher learning is not something separate from school development – teacher learning is school development.

Does this approach let you cover everything in the Norwegian national curriculum? Or do you also have to “make up the difference” with other kinds of teaching?

Yes, we still teach the full Norwegian national curriculum. The themes are not an alternative to the curriculum; they are a way of organising and connecting it.

We always start with the curriculum and the learning goals, not with an exciting activity. Then we look for meaningful connections across subjects. Some curriculum areas fit naturally into a particular theme, while others need to be taught separately. We do not force everything into the theme.

So there is absolutely room for explicit teaching, reading, writing, mathematics, practising basic skills and individual work. Creative and practical learning does not mean that everything has to be a project.

For us, the important question is not “Is this traditional or creative teaching?” It is: “What kind of teaching will create the best learning for these students, for this particular purpose?”

A really inspiring way of teaching. How have you got on with getting all of your staff actively involved?

This has taken time. You cannot simply introduce a new vision and expect everyone to work differently the next Monday.

One of the most important things we have done is to move from individual practice towards collective practice. At Bogstad we often talk about moving “from individual drive to collective power.”

Teachers plan together, share ideas, observe what others are doing and develop teaching together. We also try to make it safe to experiment. Not everything has to work perfectly the first time. If we want students to dare to take risks, teachers must be allowed to do the same.

Leadership is important here. We have to be clear about the direction while giving teachers professional freedom in how we get there. And we celebrate what works and make good practice visible across the school.

Over time, it becomes less about my classroom and more about our students, our teaching and our responsibility.

How can teachers create an environment where students dare to think differently, work well together and take an active part in their own learning?

I think it starts with the culture we create around learning.

Students need to experience that there is not always only one correct way to solve a problem. We have to give them tasks where there is actually something to investigate, discuss, create or solve – rather than tasks where the teacher already owns both the question and the answer.

But creativity also needs structure. We work systematically with cooperative learning, clear expectations, roles, modelling and reflection. Students have to learn how to collaborate; we cannot simply put four students around a table and call it collaboration.

Student voice is also important. Students need opportunities to make choices, explain their thinking, evaluate their own work and understand what they are learning and why.

And perhaps most importantly, the classroom needs to be a place where it is safe to be wrong. If students are afraid of making mistakes, they will usually choose the safest answer. If we want different thinking, we have to create a culture where different thinking is valued.

How do you handle assessment in this kind of creative school practice?

Assessment is actually essential to making this approach work.

When students are creating, collaborating, investigating and producing, teachers have many opportunities to see learning as it happens. We can listen to conversations, ask questions, look at drafts, observe strategies and give feedback during the learning process – not only assess the final product.

But creative learning does not mean unclear expectations. Students need to know what they are learning and what quality looks like. We therefore work with clear learning goals, criteria, examples, feedback and opportunities for students to assess and improve their own work.

We also use more traditional forms of assessment when they are appropriate. Again, it is not either/or.

For us, assessment should not simply answer “What did the student achieve?” It should also help answer “What does this student need to do next in order to learn more?”

That is why assessment, teaching and learning have to be closely connected.