Vivek: Implementing the Discovery Framework in Early Years
Posted: 01 August 2018
Meenu Sahi shares her advice on how to introduce the Round Square Discovery Framework to students in Early Years. Methods within and outside of the curriculum are shared, alongside advice on educating staff and parents.
Author and position: Meenu Sahi, Head of the Junior School
School:
Vivek High School, India
Introduction
Over the past three years, I have attended a number of Round Square conferences, where the topics of Round Square’s relevance to primary years students and the introduction of the Discovery Framework have been discussed. In the Framework, I immediately saw an aptitude for our young students. Character education is vital for young children as it is in their youth, and through their journey of childhood, that they can learn to develop the skills we know they need to become strong and balanced human beings. At this impressionable age, their ability to acquire these skills is something that they seem to do effortlessly as they discover, grow and mature in all areas.
We have introduced a variety of techniques to promote the Discoveries to pupils in our Kindergarten (aged 3 to 6) and Junior School (aged 6-9) both within and outside of the curriculum. As students have begun to embed these Discoveries, parents have observed the positive change in their children, a change that has also resulted in a significant culture shift within our school.
Planning
Our Round Square Rep introduced the Discovery Framework to our staff during INSET. To bring the Discoveries to life in our context, she invited staff to discuss where they had seen the Discoveries exhibited in their class. All the educators could give examples of this. We then looked at the Discoveries from another approach: rather than focusing on the outcome of the Discovery, we asked ourselves how we might achieve it. What would the absence of a Discovery look like, could we see evidence of this also, and how we might create a pathway to build that Discovery?
Having considered this in some depth, we then focused on how to implement the Discoveries. We identified some of the Discoveries that could be integrated into the school routine easily – Courage, Communication, Compassion – and considered ways that these could be highlighted and developed.
We then observed the opportunities in our curriculum. Our lesson plans are drafted at the start of the term allowing us to consider the activities that best fit with a Discovery or set of Discoveries. For example, a Maths topic might lend itself to Problem Solving, an outdoor activity to Teamwork, or a school outing to Compassion.
A visit from the Discovery Framework Programme Manager developed our thinking and encouraged us to consider how we could work with parents to embed the Discoveries even further.
Activity
Discoveries as Part of Kindergarten School Life and Curriculum
Three years ago, we amalgamated all three Kindergarten year groups into one class and had seen how such a change altered the social dynamics. We had, in effect, created a mini society: the older children took on leadership roles and the younger ones looked to the older ones for mentorship. We found that the Discoveries came up now and again, even without us planning it.
When these situations occurred, we made a point of recognising the Discovery. Whereas before, we may have recognised a child’s achievements expressing that we were ‘happy’ with them, instead we used the explicit terminology, complimenting them on the ‘courage’ they had displayed in their accomplishment. This allowed us to show how the Discoveries relate to children’s everyday experiences and by ensuring we were explicit in using the language, we enabled them to grow in their understanding of that Discovery.
As we grew in confidence with the Framework, we identified opportunities within our daily routine to develop students’ self-awareness and sense of responsibility. From the age of two, students are expected to be responsible for all their belongings in school. They are also expected to clean up after themselves, after engaging in an activity or following snack times. All students work towards this expectation and within a year, they can all do it.
Another approach we have taken is to set-up our snack table in such a way that students need to be aware of others’ needs. The snack table purposefully only seats four children. Students soon learn to think about their actions and the needs of others, for example, to notice when someone is hungry and waiting for a space, and to hurry up finishing their own meal to help them. Equally, the student waiting to be seated needs to learn how to wait patiently and respectfully. It’s incredible to see how aware the students are of the needs of others. For example, if many students are waiting, they are often aware that there may be a student that has been waiting longer for a space, and will hold back from taking that place when it becomes available.
We have also found interesting ways to embed the Discoveries into the curriculum. For example, to demonstrate tenacity, we set the students a construction challenge: to make a Roman arch with the challenge that the keystone (central stone) had to lock all the other stones into position. The task drew upon the students’ tenacity as they often had to try a number of times to fit the stones correctly together. For some, it might take a day, others a week, or perhaps even months: there was no time limit set. The important message we aimed to convey was that the students should keep striving and that they have the aptitude to find the solution themselves.
Discoveries as Part of Junior School Life and in the Curriculum
We have interwoven the Discoveries into the curriculum by looking ahead to the topics being covered and identifying where there is potential to link to a Discovery or set of Discoveries.
For example, Maths lends itself to many problem-solving scenarios. In teaching students about money, we gave them a problem to solve. Each student was given a set amount of currency and a number target to reach. As part of their challenge to reach the target number, using the notes and coins provided, students recognised that there are different ways of achieving the solution. It was wonderful to see the students’ joy from having met the challenge and realising their own capabilities.
In English lessons, we often discuss the qualities shown by a character in a given text, which provides the opportunity to discuss with students when they have used these skills themselves or observed them in the people around them.
Even during our school trips, we ask the students to consider the Discoveries they are using and observing in other people. This might be thinking about picking up litter or being friendly when meeting new people.
Challenges
- Helping students face challenge – Each student will take to the same challenge differently and it’s important to respond accordingly. For some, overcoming the challenge will be easy. Where this is the case, it’s important not to blow the student’s progress out of proportion as it can do more harm than good. We want students to independently feel a sense of achievement proportionate to their challenge without always having the endorsement of their teacher. We also want to avoid the perception that ‘they have arrived’, that their efforts are good enough, when they have the potential to achieve more and harder tasks ahead. For others, the challenge will be harder and in this case, it’s important to offer support and encouragement. This might be by way of clues that help the student come to the solution without compromising their learnings from the process.
- Integrating Discovery Skills – Another challenge we have faced is how to develop certain Discoveries that may not immediately lend themselves to school activities or subjects. We are looking at ways to better teach our students the commitment to sustainability, for example. The complexity of the subject merits a deeper consideration of how we implement this, especially in the early years.
- Embedding the Discoveries – Our work with the Discovery Framework will always be a ‘work in progress’. As we look ahead, our biggest challenge is how to continue to embed the Discoveries and make them something that is part of students’ daily lives. We have worked hard to achieve this through a variety of methods but feel that we can do so much more in working more closely with parents.
Impact
Whilst we do not ‘grade’ the students on their aptitude for each skill, their development is closely monitored. As teachers, whenever we are looking for an adjective to describe a student, we consider whether a Discovery term is relevant and if so, will use this in the school feedback reports we provide to parents. The Discoveries are also discussed in parent/teacher meetings and we have often found that when we have observed a certain Discovery in a student, it has also been observed by their parents in their behaviour at home. The students are made aware of their development through many other ways, for example, in annotating their work, we often refer to a specific Discovery when highlighting their achievements.
We feel that we have taken a big leap forward. We see our students in the corridors using their graces and acting courteously, we see our students acting respectfully in the classroom (for example, noise levels have reduced), and the whole working culture in the school has changed.
The future
Our ambition for the future is to encourage parents to use the Discoveries language at home so they can support the experiences students are having in school. To promote the Discoveries, this year’s school calendar has a Discovery assigned to each month with a picture illustrating that Discovery. We also provide monthly opportunities for parents to come into the classroom and see the techniques we are using to draw out the Discoveries in their children.
Bringing parents into this thinking has had positive benefits for us all. The parents recognise that the life skills they seek for their children are developed through the activities we do around the Discoveries and as they see their children achieving things they never expected them to do, they feel an enormous sense of gratitude and reward. In turn, they help us reinforce the Discoveries by using the language at home to recognise and reward their children’s behaviour.
Advice
- Take a step back and consider how the students learn – Once you figure this out, it is easy to think of ways that you can embed the Discoveries. Kindergarten students, for example, need hands on experiences. Primary school students like to feel like they have ‘discovered the Discovery’, rather than the teacher explicitly alerting them to it.
- It’s important to get everyone on board – The staff need to own it or it won’t happen. Everyone should want to do it, not need to do it. To convince staff of the importance of this, ask them to identify a thing in their school that they really do not like and I can guarantee you that the remedy may lie in a Discovery that is not developed yet. Every teacher can identify a problem, and this gives you a point of departure. From there, you can start to discuss the solutions and how they can be achieved through developing a Discovery.
- Results will only come from continuous effort – The impact won’t be achieved with just one or two examples, just once or twice a year: it has to be a continuous effort. Look at ways to explicitly use the language in daily interactions, consider the school routines that lend themselves to Discoveries, explore the opportunities within the curriculum. There are myriad ways to use the Discoveries, you simply need to make a start.