For our colleagues in Chile: You might like to attend a workshop on Learning in Depth at Colegio Santa Úsula—Vitacura – April 2014.

Conferencia Aprendizaje en Profundidad

La profesora y miembro del Equipo de Investigación de Educación Imaginativa de la Universidad de Simon Fraser, Vancouver – Canadá, doctora Jean Warburton, realizará una conferencia para el público general, en la cual explicará los principios del Aprendizaje en Profundidad y cómo éste programa puede efectivamente cambiar la relación del niño con el conocimiento.

El programa de Aprendizaje en Profundidad se está implementando actualmente en diferentes colegios. Esta charla, organizada por la Red Cultural, se llevará a cabo el próximo Martes 8 de Abril a las 19.00 hrs. en el Teatro de nuestro Colegio.  Habrá traducción simultánea, y el valor general es de $25.000 y $15.000 para socios del Club de Lectores de El Mercurio.

http://www.csuv.cl/noticias/conferencia-aprendizaje-en-profundidad

LiD and higher order thinking skills – April 2014

Mr. Mark Espinosa, as part of his Master’s program at St. Louis University in the Philippines has conducted a study of using LiD in “engaging students and promoting higher order thinking skills.” Though it was only a small pilot study with grade 5 students, the conclusion was: “The study reveals that the Learning-In-depth approach fully engages almost all of the students and enhances synthesis the most among the higher order thinking skills.”

One student summed up her experience by saying she had done well with LiD : “Because I learned more and it’s fun.” Mr. Espnosa also noted: “As a result of undergoing the Learning-In-depth approach students now realized and recognized that they became more knowledgeable about the topic given to them and it also made them increased their confidence in sharing and constructing the knowledge that they have learned. Furthermore, students’ interest and motivation to learn about the topic also grew. It shows that Learning In-depth approach numerically has stimulated and engaged students’ attention back to learning.” He adds: “Finally, The Learning-In-depth approach develops students’ ability to utilize resources which enhances their ability to do research, present and share information which enhance their speaking and confidence skills, and  trains them to become independent learners. With this, student became more engaged in learning when they have a chance to dig into complex, challenging, and sometimes even messy problems that closely resembles real life.”

Mr. Espinosa created this interesting graphic of the in-puts to LiD portfolios:

More LiD in China – March 2014

Skype conference with Prof. Kieran Egan.

Further LiD topics get underway – February 2014

We regularly hear about new LiD projects beginning, which is encouraging for us. Some of them are of new students beginning the program in schools where it has been running for a few years, such as this one at Corbett school in Oregon. And here is also a picture of a new school beginning LiD, in Birmingham, England. Welcome to all the new LiDKiDs, we hope you have fun. We were interested in the rather snappy boxes the LiDKiDs in Birmingham received at their ceremony.

Introducing LiD at Harrison Elementary School, B.C. – November 13, 2013

Students in Grades 3 to 6 all began their LiD projects after a ceremony in the school gym. Parents and siblings of the students attended. Kieran Egan was delighted and touched by the enthusiasm of the students as he handed out attractive folders with each student’s name, the topic, and a page of interesting facts and questions about each of the topics to start the students off. The principal and staff did a great job of preparing for the ceremony and launching the program. Take a look at our facebook page for pictures.

LiD starting ceremony at Corbett Charter School – September 2013

View pictures from the Sept. 2013 LiD starting ceremony at Corbett Charter School.  Note the older students who have been working on a topic for a few years helping to introduce it to the starting students.

Depth Over Breadth – Studying the Same Topic for 12 Years? July 19, 2013

Blog article from Bernard Bull: Read more …

“The love of knowledge: LiD in Chile”. May, 2013

“Small colored boxes hang from the ceilings of the classrooms of all 1st to 6th grade students at Lincoln International Academy, Santiago, Chile. There is also a table full of goodies in each class. It is the day when the students discover the topics about which they will become experts.”

Read more about the implementation and ceremony on Chile.

Linda Holmes at Parent Advisory Council District Conference for BC. May, 2013

Linda Holmes attended the Parent Advisory Council District Conference for BC on Sunday, May 5th, as an IERG exhibitor.   There were approximately 200 people registered for the three day conference, with around 100 people in attendance on Sunday.
The main focus of the IERG table was LiD, with a section for Prof. Gillian Judson’s Ecological book and the IERG Brochure.  Lots of interest was shown for all brochures and everyone took something away with them.
Linda got to meet parents from the far north to Richmond.  Some of the District PAC parents she talked with already were aware of LiD and some had children who were already doing LiD at their schools.

“Learning in Depth – a journey into the unknown” April, 2013

What happens when we take on and attempt to implement a new project or idea? Well, there is the initial excitement, interest and many intended goals and hopes; however this can soon give way to confusion, regret and even despair. So what do we do when we face challenges, obstacles and/or resistance? Do we push through and reach out for help, or do we throw our hands in the air and walk away? Sometimes the latter might be required to maintain our sanity, and certainly we need to evaluate along the way what our own priorities are; nevertheless, this is not what happened for myself and a small group of colleagues who persevered through the fog of uncertainty towards a new enlightenment on our parallel educational paths with Learning in Depth.

Read more – Blog post by Jonathan Sclater.

LiD used to teach English in China February, 2013

In Guizhou University the LiD program is being used to teach English. Guizhou University is a public coeducational university, located in the suburban outskirts of Guiyang, the capital city of Guizhou Province, China. The university is one of the key 211 Project universities on mainland China. Dr. Steven Fletcher had adapted the LiD program to stimulate his students to learn and understand English. You can read more about his program by clicking here.

Macquarie University, New South Wales, Australia – February, 2013

LiDKiDs University Project
Macquarie University  is developing an initiative called LiDKiDs University aimed at building confidence, motivation and skills in children. These attributes can then be transferred to their tertiary and and/or life long learning environments. The LiDKiDs idea evolved after a presentation given by Professor Kieran Egan at Macquarie University, where he outlined his Learning in Depth (LiD) project that has been successful in Canada. This presentation generated considerable interest in LiD being developed for Indigenous students, students with disabilities and students from culturally diverse backgrounds. Professor Egan, the Research Chair of Canada, is supporting this project with a $20,000 grant. LiDKiDs is an international project that will be developed by MQAS in conjunction with ‘The Learning Studio’. edstudio_2012.pdf

Parents start their own LiD program – January 2013

In a school where some classes but not others introduced LiD, some of the parents of children in the non-LiD classes wanted the program for their children and decided to do it themselves. They had a “launch” party at the home of one of the parents, where the children received their LiD topics and their beginning portfolios. They also, appropriately, had a celebratory LiD cake.

Successful LiD Launch at University Highlands Elementary School, Burnaby, BC, Canada October 10, 2012

LiD launch UHE from JCant on Vimeo.

The Reveal Ceremony a Succes

Miss Reed’s class receives their LiD topics. The class met with four others at what they called the “Reveal Ceremony,” in which it would be revealed to the children what they were to become an expert on. They received their portfolio folders in front of a big audience of parents, siblings and friends. Here is Miss Reed’s blog: More

Learning in Depth Ceremony

At Corbett Charter School. [From the website: http://corbettcharterschool.blogspot.com/, and Superintendent Bob Dunton’s blog:]

“Launching Learning in Depth”

This event was truly a career highlight for me, as the project encompasses much of what I believe about powerful learning experiences. I would like to thank all of the teachers and administrators who put hours of thought and work into making this event possible, and of course all of us are grateful to Kieran Egan for taking the bold step of devising and advocating such a simple and elegant approach to deeper learning.” More

New LiD Book Coming

You can read the introduction to Learning in Depth: A simple innovation that can transform schooling by clicking here.

Educational Leadership

You may be interested to find and read an article on “Learning In Depth” in the November 2008 issue of Educational Leadership

One-pager outline of LiD

You may read an Introduction to the program by clicking here. (If you know someone who might be interested in this project you could refer them to this page, or you could photocopy it to hand to people who might be interested.)