Having the right attitude is the first step to building and maintaining effective approaches to learning. An approach is the way you set about doing something. In learning terms it could be defined as having the right strategies to cope with challenges by being flexible in your thinking, and having the emotional and behavioural self-regulation to control the impulses that might run counter to the successful implementation of the strategies.
Just as there are many different paths to success in learning terms, so there is a range of different approaches necessary to achieve the goal. It is also important for pupils to recognise that they need to adapt their approaches as the challenges evolve, or as they change from one key stage to another, or as mastery of one aspect ‘unlocks’ a new level of challenge.
Having the right approach to learning means:
· Being flexible in your thinking
o As you face different learning challenges you keep an open mind to different solutions, remaining positive even the face of difficulty, and recognising similarities between subjects or concepts;
· Being open-minded
o Listening and using feedback as a tool to shape and refine your approach in a particular domain, asking questions and evaluating how the ‘best’ solve the same problems;
· Being emotionally self-aware
o Recognising and controlling negative feelings or emotions that block the path to a solution, such as fear of failure, or anxiety about changing what seems to work. We call this ‘failing forwards’: learning to recognise your own strengths and weaknesses in learning terms and being prepared to challenge them both;
· Being aware that the core aspects of your approach will grow and develop
o Having the courage to recognise when an approach is no longer as effective as it should be, being creative in finding what aspect needs to change and being resilient in maintaining the change.
Self-regulation, or the ability to keep control of one’s emotions and behaviours to develop the right approach, is an important element of developing the right approaches. It means recognising one’s own strengths and weaknesses when faced with a learning challenge. Often, a lack of self-regulation leads to those phrases we often hear like ‘I can’t do this’, ‘I don’t understand any of this’, ‘This is impossible’. This is the moment to have the coaching conversation about failing forwards!