As a former teacher, when I look back at my twenty years in education in a variety of classroom and leadership roles, it still baffles me how rarely our core business is discussed—the core business of learning.
We speak about teaching, about data, about what topic we are covering in the classroom or what the latest craze is on the schoolyard.
Yet learning makes up our whole reason for being, and we don’t talk about it nearly often enough.
For too long, we have focused on content of material rather than content of the person.
Since the industrial revolution, success in education has been measured by one's ability to memorise facts and perform well in standardised tests.
However, as we move further into the technological age, the emphasis has shifted.
While a foundational knowledge of subjects is crucial, it is equally important to cultivate problem-solving abilities, adaptability, and a passion for lifelong learning. Today, it’s not just about what you know, but how you apply that knowledge in real-world scenarios.
I lost count of the amount of times I wanted a student to take a risk, be resilient, or collaborate with others. I wasn’t the only one as I often heard this in staff rooms and meetings, conferences and INSETs…yet we never stopped and thought about how we taught the students these skills that teach them how to learn.
As private tutors, our team has collectively helped hundreds of individual students on both sides of the Atlantic develop these habits and become more capable, confident learners who are willing to take risks, who are resilient enough to withstand pressure and grow from setbacks, who are independent and intellectually curious, and who see themselves as lifelong learners.
And we want to empower schools to do the same for their staff and their student bodies.
Because if helping an individual develop and strengthen these habits is the way to mould that individual’s character, helping a community develop and strengthen these habits is how you build a learning culture.
So, what is your school's learning culture?
And if there’s anything we can do to help you build the learning culture you want for your school and your community, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
Our learning philosophy focuses on teaching students more effective habits of thinking, feeling, and learning in order to help them improve key traits like self-image, willingness to take risks, resilience, independence, and curiosity.
We focus on teaching the process of learning, rather than just on the material that students need to learn in order to make a grade, and on showing students and educators alike how to approach the learning process as a game of skill.
Our research-backed and evidence-based programme uses a blend of experiential learning, student stories, and group discussions to set an entire school staff on a unified path towards creating an engaging, empowering learning culture.
I like MuchSmarter because I'm only ever competing against myself and not other people.
It makes practising fun and not stressful.
I was getting less than one quarter of maths questions correct in practise. I worked on my maths fundamentals on MuchSmarter and wound up getting two-thirds of the questions correct on my final assessment!
