We are pleased to announce the online global symposium TRANSFORMING EDUCATION: Ethics Education for Learning to Live Together, which will take place on 22-23 November 2021. We invite educators, policymakers, faith-based and civil society organizations, and other stakeholders to join us to reflect, collaborate and prompt action to transform education together!
This year, the GHFP was invited by Beijing Normal University to teach a credit course on HCE. Dr Scherto Gill and Professor Kenneth Gergen, a fellow of the GHFP, provided the lectures together.
Participants are masters, doctoral and post-doctoral students. The lectures focused on the theories and practices of Human-Centred Education. The course concluded with a peer-evaluation day when students reflected on their own learning and discussed how they might take some of the ideas to their own research and work. A high note was reached when one of the students burst into tears about her awakening to this humanising view of students and the potential such human-centred approach might have in transforming lives of children and the society.
On 16th October, 52 school principals and their key members of staff travelled from different corners of the country to attend a one-day lecture on HCE provided by both Dr Gill and Prof Gergen. This lecture was likewise appreciated by the Principals, but they felt this was only a beginning. Schools in China are eager to learn how to integrate HCE practices in classrooms.
For a school to become a learning community, it requires processes whereby leaders, staff members, students, parents and others in the community integrate and live out human-centred values and imbibe a human-centred culture. Redesigning the school involves a systemic approach to transformation in five core areas:
- Uniting all stakeholders around a common vision and a shared set of values. The more a school and its members are clear and aware of its vision and values, the more likely they will live and embody the values of care and respect, the more such values become the very fabric of the community.
- Adopting a set of HCE policies, agreed upon by the community as a whole, which will guide practice in the school. These policies must be aligned with the main aim of education as the holistic development of the students as whole persons.
- Introducing some elements (curriculum areas) of the HCE curriculum, in accordance with the school’s conditions and situation. These should be introduced in conjunction with HCE pedagogy and evaluative practices.
- Nurturing a HCE culture, in which there is no fear (e.g. of failure, of authority, of teachers, of punishment, of speaking one’s mind). This is a starting point for the creation of a culture of caring, respect and mutuality.
- Developing institutional processes to train and support teachers. In doing so, teachers will begin to relish newly defined activities within the HCE curriculum and welcome new opportunities for personal and professional learning. This involves shifting teachers’ mindset from teaching as instructing and delivering, towards teaching as dialogue, collaboration, co-creation and facilitation.
For support with integrating an HCE approach in your school, including teacher training and professional development, please do contact us.
| Title | Author | Publisher | ISBN | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taking Education Really Seriously | Michael Fielding | RoutledgeFalmer | 0415252105 | 2001 |
| Real Education: varieties of freedom | David Gribble | Libertarian Education | 0951399756 | 1998 |
| Understanding Waldorf Education : Teaching from the Inside Out | Jack Petrash | Gryphon House | 0876592469 | 2002 |
| The Foundations of Human Experience | Rudolf Steiner | Steiner Books | 0880103922 | 1996 |
| The Montessori Method | Maria Montessori | Kuperard | 0805209220 | 1989 |
| Alternative Approaches to Education | Fiona Carnie | Routledge (UK) | 0415248175 | 2002 |
| The Pestalozzi Experiment in Child-based Education | Rebecca Wild | Shambhala Publications | 1570624550 | 2006 |
| To Educate the Human Potential | Maria Montessori | Clio Press | 1851090940 | 1989 |
| The Secret of Childhood | Maria Montessori | Ballantine Books | 0345305833 | 1966 |
| The Discovery of the Child | Maria Montessori | Clio Press | 185109086X | 1997 |
| The Handbook of Education and Human Development | David R. Olson and Nancy Torrance | Blackwell Publishers | 0631211861 | 1998 |
| The Philosophy of Human Learning | Christopher Winch | Routledge | 0415161908 | 1998 |
| Complexities of Teaching : Child-Centred Perspectives | Ciaran Surgrue | Falmer Press | 0750704799 | 1997 |
| The Aims of Education and Other Essays | Alfred North Whitehead | Simon & Schuster | 0029351804 | 1967 |
| How Children Learn | John Holt | Perseus Publishing | 0201484048 | 1995 |
| Learning all the time | John Holt | Addison Wesley Publishing Company | 0201550911 | 1990 |
| Summerhill: A Radical Approach to Child Rearing | A. S. Neill | Hart Pub Co | 0805512993 | 1984 |
| Summerhill School : A New View of Childhood | A. S. Neill | St. Martin’s Griffin | 0312141378 | 1995 |
| Freedom: Not License! | A. S. Neill | Hart Pub Co | 0805500162 | 1966 |
| Experience And Education | John Dewey | Free Press | 0684838281 | 1997 |
| Democracy And Education | John Dewey | Free Press | 0684836319 | 1997 |
| Education and the Significance of Life | Jiddu Krishnamurti | HarperSanFrancisco | 0060648767 | 1981 |
| Minding the Light: Essays in Friendly Pedagogy | Dalke, A., Dixson, B. and Dalke, A. (Eds) | Peter Lang Pub Inc | 0820463574 | 2006 |
| The Challenge to Care in Schools | Nel Noddings | Columbia University Teachers College Press | 0807746096 | 1992 |
Rethinking Secondary Education: A Human-Centred Approach by Scherto Gill & Garrett Thomson, published by Pearson Education in 2012. This book articulates and develops a human-centred vision from conceptual perspectives. These theories form the philosophical underpinning of Human-Centred Education.
“This is a timely, accessible and engaging book of considerable intellectual stature, bold imagination and practical wisdom.” – Professor Michael Fielding, Institute of Education, University of London, UK.
Human-Centred Education: A Practical Handbook and Guide by Scherto Gill & Garrett Thomson, published by Routledge in 2016. This book presents a HCE approach to schooling. It provides implementable suggestions as to how HCE might be adopted as a whole-school initiative, or else woven into particular aspects of existing school life. “This book is a welcome antidote to the impersonal nature of much educational theory and practice. It should be on the reading list of both trainee teachers and those teachers who need to be refreshed in their further professional development.” – Professor Richard Pring, Department of Education, University of Oxford
A human-centred school is a community of persons. This inevitably involves radically rethinking a school’s identity and the nature of its culture. This process of rethinking will vary according to the specific circumstances of each school, but there are some common key aspects to all human-centred schools:
- Students, staff and other stakeholders have a strong sense of ‘we-ness’ and belonging. Because of this, they feel a responsibility towards each other and towards the betterment of the school.
- All members know and respect one another, adults and young people alike. Such intimate knowledge and mutual respect are the fruit of interaction through collaborative learning activities, dialogues, community meetings and fora.
- All persons in the community recognise that learning is to become more fully human. This awareness of a school’s purpose and the aims of education is vitally important for the realisation of a shared culture.
- There is a close partnership with parents and others within the wider community whose participation is of pivotal importance for students’ learning and development. Parents themselves may also learn and grow as they participate in the life of the school community.
By embedding these values across the whole school community, it is possible to create a culture where curriculum, pedagogy and feedback and review can reinforce each other.
For more information on the kinds of practical features core to a learning community, see What is a Learning Community Like?
Learning Mentors work with the student on one-to-one level. We tend to call this vertical mentoring which is different from horizontal mentoring, such as group mentoring and peer mentoring. There are broadly five key aspects to the work of mentoring between an adult learning mentor and a student:
Getting to know the student
– getting to know the student’s background (eg, life history)
– understanding the student’s character traits (eg. learning biography)
– knowing the student’s strengths and weaknesses (eg. talents, skills and knowledge)
– discovering the student’s personal goals (eg. main interests and passions)
Setting the context for learning
– the context of secondary education and educational processes of schooling to link education to one’s overall personal development
– the context of the curriculum and each aspect of it to clarify what to study and why
– the context of standards to understand what counts as progress and how to make progress accordingly
Helping construct personal goals, Learning Agreement and tailored curriculum
– articulating a set of goals for the short, medium and long term
– drawing up a Learning Agreement
– formulating a learning plan
– mapping out the student’s learning activities
Nurturing, challenging and supporting the student’s holistic development
– being attentive the student’s learning processes
– posing right questions at the right time to encourage the student’s reflection on learning and experiences
– helping the student pinpoint the obstacles to learning and overcome them
– enabling the student forge a picture of their future and learning trajectories towards it
Providing feedback
– providing feedback on the student learning
– reviewing student’s progress
– preparing a personalised record to represent progress (eg. learning portfolios)
Whilst one-to-one mentoring with a dedicated Learning Mentor is one approach to implementing mentoring, schools might also consider other models, such as group mentoring (facilitated by an adult) and peer mentoring, in which students are empowered to support and guide one another. These other approaches to mentoring will have many common features, and all mentors (peer or adult) will require training in active listening, dialogue and mutual learning.
In HCE, feedback from teachers and peers can offer invaluable opportunities for students to understand their progress in relation to their own learning goals, as well as to external academic and project standards. Learning review also enables students to better appreciate how these standards relate to more basic epistemological values. Feedback is an integral part of students’ learning. It is vital that teachers (i.e. mentors, facilitators and tutors) not only reflect with the student on their progress but also liaise with each other so as to give the student consistent feedback.
Could we have a system of secondary education that provides alternatives to the current mainstream schooling and its emphasis on exams, learning outcomes and the delivery of a fixed curriculum? How could such a system focus on both human and educational values? How could secondary education combine the personal development of students with good academic standards? In response to these questions, Gill and Thomson have written a new, cutting-edge text aimed at all those involved in the study of education or teacher training.
Rethinking Secondary Education explores, debates and critiques new and alternative approaches to teaching young people today. The book discusses a ‘human-centred’ approach to curriculum, pedagogy, assessment and the culture of schools and colleges. It is grounded in theory and empirical research, discussing the need for a curriculum for the future, bridging a gap between mainstream and alternative education. It also offers practical guidance on how these ideas can be put into practice, making it an ideal resource for trainee teachers, experienced practitioners and students of education alike. Key features of the text: A balanced approach, comparing and contrasting both traditional and alternative approaches to education Strong grounding in theory and research The inclusion of young people’s perspectives and ‘voices’ on their education and on being an adolescent Links to practice – showing how the theory and research can actually be put into practice to bring about change
“At a time when secondary education is so impoverished by the deadly weight of testing and league tables, by performance indicators and targets, it is important to have reasserted the aims of education in terms of personal development, human flourishing and enriching community. ‘Rethinking Secondary Education’ does this admirably. It offers the insights of alternative approaches to education, and does so with a philosophical depth that is rarely seen. This book is a welcome antidote to the impersonal nature of much educational theory and practice. It should be on the reading list of both trainee teachers and those teachers who need to be refreshed in their further professional development.”
Professor Richard Pring, Department of Education, University of Oxford
“This is a timely, accessible and engaging book of considerable intellectual stature, bold imagination and practical wisdom. Not only does it develop penetrating, elegant analyses of what is wrong with current state controlled and alternative approaches to contemporary education, it also offers imaginative, practical suggestions for a more fulfilling, human centred alternative.”
Professor Michael Fielding, Institute of Education, University of London, UK.
“With great sensitivity and force, and in wonderfully clear prose, Scherto Gill and Garrett Thomson explore some fundamental questions about what we want from our education system and what we can expect from it. […] It is highly recommended for all who are interested in education, whether from a more theoretical point of view or from a more practical point of view.”
Professor Adrian W. Moore, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford, UK.
Book Purchasing Options:
Paperback: 9781408284780
published: 2012-06-07
Hardback: 9781138145429
published: 2016-08-08