Principles of learning

   Students take leadership in classroom, present their work, and facilitate groups. Students take ownership of their reading, writing, and learning to develop, test, and refine their thinking.         Thinking and discourse are thoughtful and extend ideas or develop new understanding. All students are challenged and supported in learning at their own level. Staff development has occurred or been planned around student-centered teaching and learning strategies.

If areas of  learning  are organised in terms of subjects, an appropriately balanced allocation of sufficient time and resources is crucial.  Elements of learning  – knowledge, concepts, skills, values and attitudes – are taught within each curriculum area and again need to be balanced.

The most basic teaching method is explanation. Explanation is characterized by its function as "a tool that is used by a speaker for understanding or 'giving a sense' to the object of communication, of a debate, or a discussion ... The role of an explanation is to make clearer the meaning of an object (method, term, assignment) maintaining formally the necessary distance between the object of the action or study and the tools. In the learning/teaching process, explanation is a tool used by both, teacher and students. Its goal is to manifest comprehension. Traditionally, explanation belongs to monological teaching methods where the information is transmitted from the teacher to the students (together with e.g. narrative, description or lecture). Skalková, 1999, says that in practice, individual forms of explanation often percolate. In this perspective, explanation is seen as the task fulfilled by the teacher with students passively receiving what is presented. Collectin...

Encourage contact between students and faculty. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students. Encourage active learning. Give prompt feedback. Emphasize time on task. Communicate high expectations. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning.