Implementing Learning Strengths in Schools

Imagine a school where the motto is “Here Everyone Gets Smart’. Not just some students. All students.

Imagine a school where every student knows their learning strengths & also knows how to use them to enhance other areas of learning.

Imagine a school where every teacher knows their own learning strengths & knows how to differentiate & utilise the contribution of skilled students. This process is called ‘neuro-developmental differentiation.’

Imagine a school where parent-teacher-student meetings are opportunities to create success plans that build on learning strengths & use them to develop other areas over the next term.

When students know their learniing strengths, it increases engagement & sets them up for success. Learning strengths are based on the latest reseach about how brains process information.

Over 11,000 students across the world have completed the analysis in the 5 months the website has been in operation.

1. Discover your own Learning
Strengths Profile.
Begin by completing the analysis for yourself. This will help you to determine how to use the information to incease success for your students. Go to www.mylearningstrengths.com and complete the analysis. It is free.

2. Learning Strengths Analysis letter
Have students & their parents complete the learning strengths analysis at www.mylearningstrengths.com & bring their letter to school to discuss.

Often this is best completed by students & their parents at home as it familiarises parents with the approach.

3. Learning Strengths Analysis letter + Personalised Learning Plan
Base a scheduled parent-teacher-student meeting on the letter from www.mylearningstrengths.com

This enables a meeting that is focused on proactively planning what learning strengths to capitalize upon & how to use these to improve areas that are yet to develop.

Parents are actively engaged as co-educators & are asked to discuss & then take on developing some of the activities outlined in their child’s learning strengths areas as well as the area that has been identified as yet to develop.

The detailed Personalised Learning Plan specifies a student’s learning strengths in order, outlines strategies for improving each area and relates it to potential careers that utilize that learning strength. It costs $20.

Two areas to develop are also specified with suggestions of what to do over the next term.

It is recommended that students repeat the learning strengths analysis once a term and the full personalised learning success plan every six months.

Differentiated Teaching
In addition to the actions mentioned above, teachers start to actively utilize the learning strengths of their students to guide & differentiate the types of activities and groupings of students for completing tasks.

In the brief example below the teacher has tallied all of her students’ letters to provide the overview table below.

Overall the teacher can see the class has strengths in spatial reasoning, numbers and concentration and memory. Presenting information pictorially about numbers and using it to generate concentration and memory challenges is likely to engage most of the class.

The teacher can also see that Nitika is not so strong on spatial reasoning but has learning strengths in planning and sequencing and words. The teacher may choose to pair Nitika with a student who is strong in spatial reasoning or may use her to plan sequences and stories that will help the class to understand concepts.

Overall the class is relatively low in perceptual-motor skills. It is likely that they under utilize their bodies in learning. The teacher may gradually increase the use of gesturing and movements in her lessons. Sarah H. may be called upon to devise a way to remember that way we solve a mathematic problem using a stepping stone approach to logical problem solving.