An education guru who is ‘an inspiration to local teachers’ visited the Island yesterday and praised it as a world leader in equipping children for a lifetime of learning. Professor Guy Claxton was the guest of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Department of Education and Children. Professor Claxton created the theory ‘Building Learning Power’, mirrored in the Island’s Essentials for Learning curriculum, launched this year. E4L encourages schools to develop in pupils skills for lifelong learning – labelled the 6Rs: Readiness, relationships, resourcefulness, resilience, remembering and reflectiveness – as well as teaching them facts and figures that ensure academic success. Professor Claxton ran a workshop for 120 school leaders and gave a keynote speech to a 300-strong wider education audience at the Mount Murray Hotel and Country Club. When he was at school, he was expected to sit still, face the front, copy down notes and regurgitate them under pressure, he said, and the only certain knowledge many left school with was that they were ‘lousy at learning’. The UK is seeing a return to a ‘teach it/assess it’ approach, which he described as ‘warmed over 19th Century education’, but the Island is leading the way in breaking away from it, he commented. ‘For a long time, people thought how good you were at learning was down to how bright you were. Now it’s a lot of tricks and thoughts and attitudes that can be learned along the way. ‘In the 21st century, what’s the most important thing we know about the world? It’s that it’s tricky. It’s complicated. Schools ought to be preparing children for this uncertainty and for knowing what to do when they don’t know what to do.’ Professor Claxton said practical shifts in the way schools work – including teachers moving from “have the children learned what I taught them?” to being unafraid to show that they don’t have all the answers – could help the process. ‘Some teachers may have at the back of their minds that this will jeopardise results and “if we are going to do this new-fangled, fluffy stuff, good old-fashioned results will suffer”. However, data shows that the reverse is true.’ During his visit, Professor Claxton met Peter Karran MHK, Minister for Education and Children, and Stuart Dobson, Chief Executive Officer, and visited Dhoon and Laxey primary schools. The professor said: ‘It is really impressive the way the Department of Education and Children has put its weight behind this vision and there is clear evidence that it’s not treating it as another fad or initiative but is in it for the long haul.’ He said some of the work on lifelong learning in local schools was ‘stunningly good – as good an example as I have seen anywhere on the planet’, adding: ‘The Island’s commitment to what I would refer to as 21st century learning is as strong here as it is anywhere else I have seen it.’ Tom Thomson, Headteacher of Rushen Primary School and Secretary of the local branch of the NAHT, organised the visit. He said: ‘E4L focuses on schools developing pupils’ ability to learn skills, a significant departure from more traditional schooling, when developing children’s ability to retain and regurgitate information was considered to be more important. ‘Access to knowledge has changed phenomenally with the rapid development of digital technology. The world that pupils will enter is also changing at an ever-quickening pace. Our society needs young people who are flexible, creative, and proactive – young people who can solve problems, make decisions, think critically, communicate ideas effectively and work efficiently within teams and groups. The “knowing of knowledge” is no longer enough to succeed. Young people need the opportunity to develop learning dispositions and effective thinking skills as part of their well-rounded education. ‘Guy Claxton has researched and developed the practicalities of delivering such a curriculum and has been an inspiration to teachers in the Island. His ideas and practical advice have been introduced and used throughout our schools to make them centres of excellence that our children are privileged to have access to. ‘We were honoured to be addressed by such an eminent authority in how we can develop children’s capacity to be better learners.’ ENDS