From the Head of Learning and Teaching

‘The score takes care of itself’

Ever heard this saying from legendary American coach, Bill Walsh?  Walsh encourages his players to focus on the process that produces the results, not the results themselves. This idea, often expressed in sports and performance contexts, means that if you focus on the effort and the preparation, the final outcome (the scoreboard) will reflect that effort naturally.

The philosophy of taking care of the process is highly applicable to learning at school. Unfortunately, high stakes testing in Australia and globally has precipitated an emphasis on the product of learning rather than a valuing of the process. The problem? It perpetuates a focus on the final marks instead of the factors and habits that lead to them.  Educational research consistently emphasises that real improvement comes not from chasing grades but from mastering the processes that produce them. If a student wants an A in Mathematics, for example, they should focus on daily revision and regular practice rather than last-minute cramming.

A student who excels, according to Professor Andrew Martin from UNSW, is one who has mastered the processes of learning. This student knows how to break down a task, how to plan, research, revise, reflect and they put the effort in to complete these tasks. Year in, year out I am tasked with analysing Year 12 results. Every year at every school, students who achieve excellent growth are the students with consistent engagement. This engagement manifests in positive behaviours such as participation, task management, self-management persistence and organisation. Interestingly, I often find that the students who receive the top results at schools are often not those with the highest Allwell scores.

So, what can we take from this? The most important place to look on a school report is the effort indicator or approach to learning rather than the mark or grade. Effort, discipline and preparation drive success. Encourage your daughter to chase excellence in preparation and control what she can – she can control her effort, planning, discipline. Celebrate a good mark, says Professor Martin, but move quickly to the factors that contributed to the mark – the planning, effort, the discipline. He also urges parents to ‘untether’ self–worth from grades, as an overemphasis on performance can lead to fear of failure, avoidance behaviours, and reduced self-efficacy – ultimately hindering learning.

This week, Year 12 students have been having progress conversations centred on their engagement in learning. We have piloted an engagement scoring system to encourage reflection on persistence, organisation, task management, and self-efficacy. After reviewing the trial, we will refine the approach before implementing it with Year 11. We will then look to ways we can include this information on formal reports for other years.

 We are confident that prioritising the processes of learning will drive meaningful student growth.

– Melissa McMahon
Head of Learning and Teaching