The Essentials

Hopefully you aren't reading this page to find the step-by-step instructions for rethinking learning.  Instead, what I share here are the connections we made to the mindsets and research support that exists from the Ontario Ministry of Education.  These have helped to guide our journey.  

The goals and themes of our journey, as mentioned on the 'Getting Started' page, came largely from these connections. The essentials for our 'rethinking learning' journey include the following ideas and thoughts:

The Kindergarten philosophy is based on Non-Negotiable Mindsets.  These mindsets strongly support a shift in the culture of teaching and learning.  In recent years, several research-based monographs which support this pedagogy have also been published for educators from K-12.

Student Voice, The Third Teacher, Inquiry-Based Learning, Pedagogical Documentation Revisited

Below, are the non-negotiable mindsets for K, followed by quotes from the monographs which support these mindsets:   

Kindergarten Mindsets:

  

Student Voice: 

"Provincial collaborative inquiries are leading educators to become more keenly aware of student voice for younger children as well. They are discovering “how competent and capable of complex thinking” children are when when they are deeply involved in the process of learning (Ontario Early Years Framework, 2013). They are discovering that student investment in learning opens new possibilities for children of all ages, not only for learning, but also for engagement and well-being (Natural Curiosity, 2011; Toshalis, & Nakkula, 2012). 
 "This monograph, drawing from international and classroom-based Ontario research, puts the spotlight on both the transformative potential of student voice for younger children and the challenges that educators are beginning to work through as they rethink roles and relationships in elementary education."

The Third Teacher

“We need to think about creating classroom environments that give children the opportunity for wonder, mystery and discovery; an environment that speaks to young children’s inherent curiosity and innate yearning for exploration is a classroom where children are passionate about learning and love school.”

Using Pedagogical Documentation as an Assessment Tool

"Are you ready to make some shifts?
From teaching to learning...Pedagogical documentation allows educators to see how thinking, learning, curriculum and assessment are intertwined. It offers them the opportunity to contribute to a fuller understanding of learning.
From telling to listening...describes the process as “visible listening” – using notes, slides, videos and so on – to reconstruct students’ learning progression and processes.
From gaps to assets... it supports this view of equity, affirming a view of all students, in Dahlberg’s (2007) terms, as “competent, capable of complex thinking, curious and rich in potential.”

Inquiry-based Learning 

 "Inquiry-based learning concerns itself with the creative approach of combining the best approaches to instruction, including explicit instruction and small-group and guided learning, in an attempt to build on students’ interests and ideas, ultimately moving students forward in their paths of intellectual curiosity and understanding."
"Inquiry-based learning is an approach to teaching and learning that places students’ questions, ideas and observations at the centre of the learning experience. Educators play an active role throughout the process by establishing a culture where ideas are respectfully challenged, tested, redefined and viewed as improvable, moving children from a position of wondering to a position of enacted understanding and further questioning (Scardamalia, 2002)."

On being Co-Learners and Co-Constructors of Knowledge- 

"Underlying this approach is the idea that both educators and students share responsibility for learning." 

On Educators being Provocateur for sparking new ideas and thinking-  

They play the role of “provocateur,” finding creative ways to introduce students to ideas and to subject matter that is of interest to them and offers “inquiry potential” or promise in terms of opportunities for students to engage in sustained inquiry of their own.