We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world.
It’s projected that learners in this generation will change careers 5-7 times and that over 60% of the jobs they will have don’t even exist yet. This means that our learners will need to quickly learn, unlearn, and relearn in order to thrive throughout their lifetimes.
Unfortunately, the traditional model develops dependent learners who rely on others to learn, who struggle to learn efficiently, and who are less self-aware about what learning will unlock deeper levels of happiness and growth.
At Learnlife, we’ve always incorporated a focus on autonomous learning, which allows for a vital shift where teachers can guide from the side, and learners can be the protagonists of their own learning.
But what exactly is autonomous learning, and how does it work?
What is autonomous learning?
Autonomous learning is an educational approach in which learners take charge of their own learning process. Its key components include self-directed learning, intrinsic motivation, personalised learning goals, and reflective practice.
All of these elements are part of what develops our learners into confident lifelong learners, ready to take on whatever challenges lie ahead.
How does autonomous learning work?
With self-directed learning, students take responsibility for their learning journey.
They identify their learning needs, set goals, and choose resources. They manage their time and evaluate their progress independently. This movement towards independence sets them up to be highly successful once they leave Learnlife, whether for a career or university.
Learners create personalised learning goals and follow individualised learning plans that they create with the help of their mentor. The goals are tailored to their interests, strengths, and future aspirations.
As learners are capable of designing their own programmes and pursuing their interests and passions, intrinsic motivation naturally follows.
Learners are driven by personal interest and curiosity, focusing on internal satisfaction rather than external rewards like grades and exam results.
What are the stages of autonomy?
Our learners have come from a variety of school experiences. Some of them have already developed the skills to direct and determine their own learning. Others have been staring at the neck of the person in front of them, taking notes and exams.
We aim to offer each learner the right amount of structure and support so that they can develop into a happy, autonomous learner.
The autonomous learner model has four stages of autonomy: Foundations, Guided, Independent, and Autonomous.
The Foundations level focuses on executive functioning skills, like time management and planning, that are needed to direct one’s own learning.
The Guided level is still largely led by the learning guides, but with a focus on transparency of learning methods so that the learners are prepared to design and execute their own learning experiences at the independent level.
For example, if a learning guide is leading a project-based learning experience, they will openly talk about each element of designing and running a project–from finding anchor texts and contacting experts to deciding upon authentic outputs for an authentic audience.
The Independent level co-creates learning experiences with their learning guides. The focus becomes more on metacognition, deeper learning, and project management. Independent learners can choose to participate in any of the workshops available to Foundations and Guided learners.
The Autonomous stage is when learners take total ownership over driving their own learning. They design their own learning experiences and schedules and pull resources from the team as needed, such as mentorship or feedback sessions.
What's the role of the learning guide?
Having a large group of learners all working on independent projects makes the traditional role of a teacher irrelevant.
Instead, teachers at Learnlife are called learning guides, to emphasise their role as guides working on the side to support, rather than direct, each child’s learning. They help learners develop skills for independent learning and provide feedback.
Perhaps similar to a mountain guide, a learning guide helps learners understand the terrain.
If a learner expresses an interest in 3D modelling, for example, the learning guide can help them understand the scope of knowledge, skills and pathways that exist in the 3D modelling universe.
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Our learning guides, experts in various fields, can help learners plan their journey, connecting them to resources or simply suggesting what to see along the way. They are there for learners as mentors when they get lost or discouraged, and they ask questions to help learners reflect on their performance and what they’ve learned.
What are the benefits of autonomous learning?
Compared to a traditional model in which children copy notes and do worksheets with the teacher at the front of the class, Learnlife learners receive much more personalised attention. In addition to personalised attention, they also have fortnightly 1:1 mentor sessions focused on holistic and wellbeing support.
Being in a more open-plan environment in which learners move freely allows them to benefit from peer-to-peer support, a vital benefit since we’ve found that learners often learn best from each other.
Another benefit of being an autonomous learner is building the most in-demand real world skills like critical thinking and creative problem-solving.
As a learner's autonomy grows, they learn how to effectively seek out and use information.
They utilise a variety of resources, including books, online materials and community experts, to solve problems and address blockers. Learners regularly explain how they use online tutorials to move them through the stages of learning, acquiring arguably more knowledge than they would in a traditional classroom.
In addition, autonomous learning emphasises developing the ability to analyse, evaluate, and create new ideas. Learners engage in projects and challenges that require thoughtful solutions.
But what about core concepts?
For many parents, it is difficult to let go of the idea that there are a set of core concepts that must be learned in school.
Some parents who arrive at Learnlife find the open structure rather disorienting at first. They ask many course-driven questions and seek to find the structure of their child’s day and the arc of their learning. In order to better understand core concepts in terms of autonomous learning, we need to reframe a bit.
Let’s use maths as an example, since it tends to be a particular area of concern for parents.
In a traditional environment, maths exists in a vacuum. Application is largely ignored. Logarithms are a good example. They have little practical application, but every student in a Catalan public school has to learn them.
At Learnlife, we aim to make Maths both interesting and useful. We hope our learners become mathematical thinkers and not just number crunchers. To this end, we’ve distilled core topics in mathematics that learners are likely to use in their lifetimes–such as proportional reasoning, compound interest and algorithms–and where they might use them.
We also offer advanced maths for learners who want to go further, and learners who want to follow what would be their grade-level equivalent maths can do this using apps like IXL or Khan Academy.
The “Math Dojo” building block is a great example of autonomous learning.
Rather than all learners learning the same thing at the same time, our learners engage in level and interest-appropriate maths activities overseen by a maths specialist in an environment where learners commit to supporting each other.
Other core competencies must be covered, but learners have freedom and flexibility in how they are acquired. Like the artistic learner who chose to learn spatial geometry through the work of MC Escher, learners can channel core competencies through their interests.
A plastics recycling advocate can cover standard biology competencies by learning about the impact of microplastics on the environment and exploring new methods to reuse and recycle plastics.
Hands-on learners can also participate in citizen science projects, such as tracking bird migrations or monitoring local water quality. They collect and analyse data, contributing to real scientific research while learning about scientific methods and data analysis.
Working with real-world applications helps increase engagement, and tying core competencies to passions is one of the best ways to get and keep children engaged.
How is autonomous learning assessed?
At Learnlife, learners show their learning in a variety of ways.
Each cycle, they present a 360, sharing their learning with learning guides, peers, and parents. They also participate in a showcase where they share the work they’re most proud of from that cycle with the whole community.
In a recent showcase, learners shared homemade terrariums, films about climate change, models about roller coaster physics and companies they started, to name a few.
In more informal ways, their learning is assessed through peer-to-peer feedback, from feedback sessions with mentors and learning guides, and regular reflective practice.
Throughout the cycle, learners regularly reflect on their learning experience, assessing what they have learned, how they have learned, and what they need to improve.
In some cases, depending on their chosen path, learners may also opt for standardised assessment. Some learners might find the GCSEs or SATs a mandatory requirement to get into a university of choice and must, therefore, prepare for those exams accordingly and build that learning into their learning plan.
What are the challenges to learners becoming autonomous?
There are several key blockers to becoming an autonomous learner:
- low self-esteem
- underdeveloped executive functioning skills
- a lack of opportunity to practise agency
- programmes that are not designed to enable autonomy.
This is why we focus on building learners’ confidence, developing their executive skills and providing lots of opportunities to practise, fail, reflect, and try again at being autonomous learners.
Learners who experience one or more of these blockers work closely with their mentor in order to overcome them.
Where to learn more
There are a number of resources available for those interested in discovering more about how children learn at Learnlife. Here are a few to get you started:
