On the first two days of this term Santa Sabina teachers led a conference entitled ‘Curiouser and Curiouser’, a line from the story ‘Alice in Wonderland’ which reflects the College’s focus on Inquiry, which is at the heart of a Dominican education. The conference was designed to bring the College’s Learning Principles to life. There was a strong focus on what students need to know and do in order to deepen their inquiry and have agency over their learning, and what teachers need to know and do in order to enhance their knowledge of students and deepen both their own learning and the learning of their students. The Conference successfully showcased the expertise of staff and promoted the attributes and dispositions we want to see in all learners at the College – being curious, asking questions, experimenting, taking risks, accepting challenges and finding solutions.
All Santa Sabina staff, like Alice, were journeying through a Wonderland of ideas guided by our own teachers and academics from Macquarie university who modelled good questioning, problem solving, risk taking, and curiosity.
The Keynote Address from Dr Maree Herrett posed ‘big picture’ inquiry questions about aspects of the College that could be explored to enhance and deepen learning at the College while the Head of Teaching and Learning Ms Cath Horan gave insight into the ways our Learning Principles reflect a Dominican perspective of Education.
Our academic partners from Macquarie University, deepened our understanding of two of our Learning Principles – the notions of a growth mindset and the how to continue to develop a collaborative community of inquirers. Dr Anne McMaugh presented us with strategies to be good action researchers and Dr Mitch Parsell demonstrated ways of developing good collaboration for all learners.
A panel of ex-students from a range of professions spoke about the importance of collaboration in the workplace and the need for new sets of skills and ways of thinking. This reinforced for us the importance of building in our College, an “inquiry collective” of learners equipped with the skills and knowledge inherent in our Learning Principles.
Presenters of 24 workshops were drawn from across the College teaching staff ranging from Jackie Baxter, Director of Mary Bailey House looking at Inquiry and Young Children, to teachers from the Primary Campus looking at ideas such as the ‘Quest for Questions across the Curriculum’ to explore how to embed curiosity in teaching and learning or how physical spaces can enhance inquiry, to secondary staff presenting workshops such as how to design interdisciplinary learning, use data to inform teachers’ knowledge of students and their learning, how to differentiate effectively. The Pop Up Gallery showcased every Key Learning Area and strategies, technologies or ideas they had used successfully to engage students and deepen their learning.
The sense of excitement and challenge and the anticipation of new opportunities for all learners will be harnessed through the establishment of a variety of learning teams which will focus on ideas coming from the conference workshops. All teachers will participate in one or more learning teams and will carry out action research to gather data on the embedding of the Learning Principles into teaching and learning. The participation of the students in this action research will be an important element.
