Gym, not an assembly line

Prof. Guy Claxton.

“School should be seen as a learning gym, and not as an old-fashioned assembly line,” says a leading UK educationalist visiting the Waikato.

Prof. Guy Claxton is a worldwide speaker on creativity, learning and the brain and is offering a free lecture at the University of Waikato.

His lecture – Expanding the Capacity to Learn: A new end for education – discusses why shifts in working habits are important and effective, and how to introduce and develop them. Held at the university’s SBlock (SG.01) on Friday 14th November at 4-5.00 p.m. the lecture would particularly appeal to educationalists, including teachers and senior managers in schools.

Prof. Claxton is internationally renowned for his expertise. He is the originator of the educational Building Learning Power programme: helping young people become better real-life learners. This programme is designed to help teachers develop a ‘learning to learn’ culture in their classrooms. It focuses on developing students’ habits of mind to become confident, curious and creative learners. This approach is used in thousands of schools in the UK, Australia and NZ.

The BLP approach grew after Prof. Claxton published a book on the topic. His many books on creativity, education and learning have been translated into several languages including Japanese, Greek, Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese.

His most recent release – What’s the Point of School? Rediscovering the Heart of Education – examines the education system and offers practical ways for teachers and parents to foster confident and enthusiastic learners.

Currently Prof. Claxton is the co-director of the Centre for Real-World Learning (CrL), and Prof. of the Learning Sciences, at the University of Winchester. He is a trained psychotherapist and has studied Buddhism. He has a ‘double first’ from Cambridge and a Doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and the Royal Society of Arts, and an Academician of the Academy of the Social Sciences.

His other successes include helping establish the UK’s first taught doctoral programme in education at the University of Bristol Graduate School of Education. He was also part of the founding faculty of the innovative Schumacher College at Dartington in Devon, which offers courses concerned with global environmental, political, economic and spiritual issues.

For further information about Prof. Claxton’s Waikato lecture con­tact Bronwen Cowie at the University of Waikato School of Education. E-mail: bcowie@waikato.ac.nz – Phone: 07-838 4500 ext 4987.