Janine’s blog

A workshop session at the Curriculum Corporation conference in Adelaide last week.Ann Langman and her two year 6 presenting students gave an inspiring overview of the “Round Table Assessment” (RTA) process used by many schools, but in this case the Grange School in South Australia.

RTA involves

1. students selecting an area for inquiry based on their own interests and/or expertise from heart, head and mind perspectives
2. Undertaking an inquiry and in the process incorporating new learning
3. Choosing a small community of people to present to (teacher, parents or relatives, community member) and writing letters to them
4. Planning and developing a presentation (as culminating performance)
5. Performing the presentation
6. Being assessed by the community

As part of the school learning culture students learn about Art Costa’s Habits of Mind and incorporate these into their learning. They are required to reflect and document 5 habits of mind that they have used during their inquiry. Ann (the teacher) described a rich classroom environment that incorporated a wide range of powerful pedagogies, with students in charge of their own learning.

I found this session particularly inspiring because it was a powerful, achievable, practical example of putting the principles described in other more theoretical sessions (eg preparing for the knowledge society). I understand that Round Table Assessment is also widely used in the ACT.