One of the things that has changed about our approach to learning at school is our understanding that learning is a social activity. While many parents will recall their school days as emphasising a time when learning was an individual and silent enterprise, the reality is that at particular stages of childhood and adolescent development the socialisation imperative is so powerful that it predominates students’ motivation. Asking students to “just stop talking” is sometimes necessary, but oftentimes, harnessing the social imperative to augment learning is more effective. In this way, learning can be structured to go with, and not against, the grain of natural development.

This week was replete with examples of times when our students showed that learning together can be more powerful than solitary work.

On Monday, I attended our Magid Campus Ensembles Concert. On top of the huge range of brilliant musical performances that showcased our students’ emerging talents, I noticed the genuine collaboration, team work and unity that is required to perform in an ensemble. Alongside the musicality and technical skills with their instruments, we saw our students listening carefully to others, focusing on one another's timing, sharing the physical space, moderating their volume to align with their peers and looking for visual and audio cues regarding when to come in and stop.

As the skill develops it becomes such a vital part of the experience that it becomes a whole bodied musical conversation - a call and response - that uplifts all participants. It occurred to me that what we were really seeing emerge was the musical embodiment of the value that lies at the heart of KDS - community-mindedness.

This week also saw our Year 5 students participating in the peak activity Write a Book in a Day. In small groups our students worked from morning until nighttime to write a novel. The students were offered a prompt chapter and then spent the day being mentored to develop their characterisation, setting, plot and writing style. They were able to incorporate many of the ideas that they have been exploring in The Writing Revolution program that informs our practice in Integrated English.

It was so inspiring to see our students so deeply engaged in this project. However, the real power was in witnessing the students riff off one-another. Each student was required to write consecutive chapters and this required plentiful conversation about character motivations, logical flow, continuity and consistency and picking up on threads and plot clues presented in earlier chapters. Students were generous in their support of one another and in their gratitude about accepting others’ input. I sat with one group and saw how a student’s idea germinated, grew and morphed into a more powerful one through others’ contributions. The rich learning here was about literacy but also about working in genuine collaboration with one’s peers to achieve something great together.

Yet another moment of social learning occurred when I was invited to observe the Year 8 Drama class’ performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Year 8s are studying the play as an introduction to Shakespeare and the performance marked an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and creativity in front of their peers, teachers and families.

Once again, the value of the exercise was in the collaborative endeavour. The students learnt from and with one-another, were highly reliant on teamwork and building on their interpretations of particular characters and in unpacking the complex language. Sitting in the audience I was struck by how much joy they derived from taking on this challenge together and how as a collective, their learning went so much deeper.

As the above examples show, the benefits of fostering academic development supported by social learning opportunities are not limited to the key curriculum knowledge but extend to the vital collaborative skills that we need to flourish in life.

As we move into the examination period that will round out Semester One for most students at Magid Campus, there will be opportunity for students to do more individualised and solitary learning. Nonetheless, I hope that our community recognises the value in the carefully designed and varied pedagogical choices employed by our wonderful educators that are combining to offer our students every opportunity to thrive both now and into the future.