Resources - Winning Teams

From disruption to recovery – UNICEF

jodyhollis — Thu, 07 Jul 2022 12:09:13 +0000

In early 2022 the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the World Bank conducted a survey on the global effects of the Pandemic on education, and summarised their major findings entitled “Where are we on Education Recovery?“.

Their key findings were as follows:

Two years into the pandemic, schools have been fully closed for 20 weeks, and partially closed for an additional 21 weeks, on average across countries.
Data from the UNESCO Global Monitoring of School Closures reveal that about 1 in 10 countries had fully closed their schools for over 40 weeks.
Schoolchildren around the world have missed an estimated 2 trillion hours – and counting – of in-person learning since the onset of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.
The chain effect of school closures could be staggering and felt far beyond education. In addition to missed learning, school closures deprive children of the benefits to their safety, health, nutrition, and overall wellbeing provided by schools.
Prolonged school closures have deepened existing disparities in education.
Learning losses are worst for the most vulnerable children, particularly girls.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that without urgent action to recover learning that was lost before and during COVID-19, the world faces a generational catastrophe.

UNICEF, UNESCO, and the World Bank have proposed a comprehensive strategy for education recovery (RAPID):

Reach and Retain: tracking the number of children that are back in school, and retain them in school
Assess: measuring students’ current learning levels
Prioritize: prioritsing teaching the fundamentals
Increase: increase catch-up learning by implementing programmes at scale to address learning losses
Develop: providing additional measures so that every child is ready to learn

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Re-imagining the future of learning – Peer to peer learning

jodyhollis — Wed, 22 Jun 2022 13:34:22 +0000

Peer tutoring and peer-learning encompass a range of approaches in which learners work together in small teams to provide each other with learning support. Essentially, peer tutoring relies upon learners helping others learners to learn. Some see this as a teaching strategy, but we believe that it is a far broader strategy.

There are different models for peer-tutoring, in which learners are placed together based upon age, or ability levels. Some examples include:

Cross-age tutoring: in which an older learner takes the tutoring role and is paired with younger learners
Peer assisted learning: where learners assist each other in learning materials based upon their unique skills and knowledge
Reciprocal peer tutoring: in which learners alternate between the role of tutor and tutee

The common characteristic is that learners take on responsibility for aspects of learning and for evaluating their success.

Effectiveness

There are many studies that show that peer tutoring approaches have a positive impact on learning, with participants averaging an improvement equivalent to approximately five additional months’ progress within an academic year.

Of particular importance is that peer-learning approaches are extremely cost effective to implement, and provide relief to scarce teacher resources.

“Peer-learning approaches are extremely cost effective to implement, and provide relief to scarce teacher resources”

There is also evidence to suggest that peer-tutoring is particularly effective with lower performing students, and those with foundational learning gaps.

In cross-age peer tutoring, some studies have found that a gap of fewer than three years is optimal, although ensuring that the gap is wide enough so that the work is challenging to the tutee whilst easy enough for the tutor to support them is key.

Peer tutoring appears to be particularly effective when learners and tutors are provided with quality support to ensure that the quality of learning is of a high level. There is also evidence to suggest that peer-tutoring is most effective as a reinforcement of pre-taught concepts, rather than as a means to introduce new learning concepts.

Peer-led tutoring approaches also help learners to close gaps in their learning by offering targeted, peer-led support to consolidate within class learning, practice skills, and identify and overcome misconceptions.

Winning Teams’ Approach to Peer-Learning and Tutoring

We embrace the peer-learning and peer-tutoring in our approach to youth learning and development. With more than two decades of experimentation and observation, we can confirm that there is very strong evidence as to the effectiveness of peer-learning approaches. Whilst our approach relies upon a number of learning models, peer learning is an important pillar.

We incorporate these principles into our programmes in the following ways:

We engage with, and employ school-leavers who are approximately two years older than our learners, to assist with tutoring our learners in their final school years. These tutors have successfully completed their final exams, but are often unemployed, and unable to afford higher education. Our funders pay a small stipend. There is a tremendous opportunity for these school-leavers to cement their knowledge and develop the confidence to study further.
These tutors are drawn from the local communities, and in most circumstances are alumni of the schools that they are tutoring which ties their contribution to their community learning aspirations.
We provide training and guidance to these tutors as to how to conduct peer tutoring, and we also provide training in our processes and procedures, concentrating on pre-assessment, and post-assessment techniques
Our approach focuses on peer, and collaborative learning (more to follow). We believe in empowering our learners to develop lifelong learning skills so that they are uniquely equipped to continue their learning beyond the formal educational environment.

There are a number of other elements to our approach that we will write about, and update this article as we proceed. Further posts will cover collaborative learning, self-directed learning, learner engagement, and lifelong learning skills

The post Re-imagining the future of learning – Peer to peer learning first appeared on Winning Teams.

COVID: The effects of unfinished learning – McKinsey & Co

jodyhollis — Wed, 18 May 2022 12:35:34 +0000

The Lingering Effects of Unfinished Learning

McKinsey and Co have published a paper on the effects of COVID-19 on the effects of the pandemic on student learning and well-being. The paper is entitled “COVID-19 and education: The lingering effects of unfinished learning”. The paper focuses primarily on the effects of the pandemic in the US, but the recommendations have global significance.

Listen to the article: COVID-19 and education: The lingering effects of unfinished learning

The paper highlights that the fallout from the pandemic threatens to depress this generation’s prospects and constrict their opportunities far into adulthood. They specifically highlight the term “unfinished learning” to refer to the fact that students were not given the opportunity this year to complete all the learning they would have completed in a typical year.

Key Findings

The report analyses the effects of ‘unfinished learning’, and some of the findings are as follows:

By the end of 2020-2021, students, on average, were on average 5 months behind in maths, and four months behind in reading.
The initial shock was especially severe in Maths, with students learning little, if anything, in the initial shutdown. The effect on reading was less but continued to accumulate.
Parents reported increases in mental health conditions and concerning behaviours in children, particularity, anxiety, depression, lethargy, social withdrawal, self-isolation, and irrational fears.

For the full analysis refer to the report.

Key Takeaway

By our interpretation, the key finding of the report is that the pandemic and ‘unfinished learning’ will have long-term effects on lifetime earnings, economic productivity, social integration, and personal health.

” Unfinished learning is real—and inequitable “

McKinsey & Co.

Next Steps

These are not new insights, but the value of the paper lies in the recommendations that McKinsey makes as to how to remedy the problem. Whilst we do not agree that all of these recommendations are relevant to the global problem, they offer some significant insights into the past state of education and also point to future developments in education.

Specifically, they refer to the recommendations made by the ‘Coalition to Advance Future Student Success‘, a think tank of leading educational practitioners.

These priorities encompass four potential actions for education:

Safely reopen schools for in-person learning.
Reengage students and reenroll them in effective learning environments.
Support students in recovering unfinished learning and broader needs.
Recommit and reimagine our education systems for the long term.

These objectives are very similar to those recommended by UNESCO and the World Bank. See our post entitled: ‘From disruption to recovery – UNICEF’.

Re-imagine our Education Systems for the Long-Term

Of the above recommendations, what is of particular interest to us, because it complements our approach, is that McKinsey points out that opportunity gaps have existed in school systems for a long time. We think that this is a worldwide phenomenon. In their analysis, they provide recommendations to enhance education and learning in the future.

They highlight:

developing high-quality curricula
providing engaging, curriculum and instruction
delivered by diverse and effective educators
supported by effective assessments to inform instruction and support

Whilst they don’t specifically endorse our view of the importance of community-based learning, they reflect that parents are considering hybrid models, remote learning, homeschooling, or learning hubs over the long term.

They conclude as we do that the future of ‘unfinished learning’ provides the global learning community a generational opportunity to re-imagine learning and that the pandemic will no doubt have profound effects on future learning endevours.

McKinsey is the oldest and largest of the “Big Three” management consultancies, the world’s three largest strategy consulting firms by revenue. It has consistently been recognized as the most prestigious consulting firm in the world.

Any commentary is solely the opinion of Winning Teams, and is not endorsed by McKinsey & Co.

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Which children were left behind – COVID 19

jodyhollis — Thu, 05 May 2022 14:59:22 +0000

Infographic: Which children were left behind?

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