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Curriculum Framework

Holding Each Learner in the Highest Regard

Overview

A culture of learning and growth involves sharing the expectation that all learners will reach or exceed their full potential. All learners have strengths and activating those strengths enhances the learning experience for all.

Elements

A culture of learning and growth involves a shared belief that each learner has a unique identity that will be honoured and respected. Holding each learner in a high regard involves nurturing individual characteristics, fostering skill development, and providing equitable access to opportunities – which are foundational to the learning experience.

Having a rigorous curriculum does not conflict with holding each learner in the highest regard. When educators project confidence in learners that they are capable and worthy, they are more likely to achieve excellence than if they do not feel valued, seen, and heard. It is important to define excellence holistically; not only as academic achievement but as personal achievement as well.

Teacher efficacy is the belief that one can influence how well students learn, even those learners who are less engaged or who face significant barriers and challenges. Teacher efficacy starts with holding all learners in the highest regard. Research has found teachers’ efficacy to be related to higher learner achievement outcomes, motivation, and building self-efficacy in learners themselves. In fact, collective teacher efficacy — the team of teachers believing they can influence learner outcomes — has been found to be the most influential factor in achievement.

Strategies

When the learner is held in the highest regard:

  • The learner is at the centre of the pedagogy and developing their agency is front of mind when teaching the curriculum.
  • The learner’s lived experience is valued.
  • The learners have opportunities to co-construct and to have a voice in the learning.
  • The learning is valued for today, not solely as a preparation for next steps.
  • Learners are engaged in the assessment process (e.g., talking about their own strategies for learning, setting goals, and self-assessing).
  • Universal Design for Learning strategies are used to support all learners to achieve and demonstrate personal excellence.
  • Evaluation practices reflect universal design and include triangulation of evidence of learning over time.

Resources