New Learning

The New Learning framework, as presented by Kalantzis and Cope (2008), is a theory of learning that provides ideas for what the future of education could look like. As seen in Figure 2 above, this framework influences the development of the key elements of scientific literacy proposed by this study. New Learning asks all involved in the education process to examine how the strategies that are used to

are taking the new social conditions of those learners into account. The key element for developing scientific literacy influenced by this framework is:

Element 3: Cultural and contextual relevance: Students should understand

the relevance of science to oneself, to culture and to their community (DeBoer, 2000; Holbrook & Rannikmae, 2007).

This is due to the New Learning framework suggesting the formation of a new breed of professional educators, with new skills and sensibilities, so that their learners have the greatest chance of succeeding in a society that is changing dramatically (Kalantzis & Cope, 2008).

New Learning is based on four foundational values and principles. Firstly, diversity

is a key component of New Learning, as it reflects contemporary society and should mould thinking about education. The notion that ‘one-size-fits-all’ schooling may no longer be valid, as it may not meet the needs of today’s learners in this ever- changing society. Diversity must be understood in its broadest definition, so that differences in motivation, life experiences and knowledge, as well as the ever- changing destinations of learners are acknowledged. Therefore, education under the New Learning framework can satisfy the need for “highly creative problem

solvers able to re-imagine and reinvent entire ways of living in order to address increasingly urgent social and environmental challenges” (Kalantzis & Cope, 2008, p.

xvii).

The second foundation principle of New Learning is the cultivation of deep

knowledge through education. No longer may it be acceptable to provide learners with ‘surface knowledge’ of various abstract concepts and processes. Education within a New Learning framework should be grounded in epistemology, the study of

knowledge and justified belief. Students could strive to understand the nature of knowledge creation and the extent to which humans know.

Thirdly, New Learning is based on the principle that learning should be designed and tracked over time. Educators have a responsibility to provide learning experiences that are purposefully designed, to provide the greatest outcomes for students. Moreover, learner achievement should be tracked over time, to ensure what educators believe to be effective learning experiences are actually achieving what they set out to do. According to this framework, the success of educators is measured by learner performance (Kalantzis & Cope, 2008).

Finally, the fourth grounding principle of New Learning is that education is a global commodity, and that education with a New Learning framework is applicable

anywhere in the world. With changing technologies, economies and cultures comes the need for knowledge competencies and sensibilities that can be provided by an education grounded in New Learning. Teachers and learners are facing the same problems around the globe, and therefore a framework that is applicable to all societies is required. However, education should not focus entirely on the global problem, and as the first principle of New Learning outlines, diversity at the learner level must be acknowledged. Moreover, if the diversity of learners at the local level can be navigated, then this should also be able to occur globally (Kalantzis & Cope, 2008).

In addition to these grounding principles, this framework is also grounded in an analysis of the recent past and present states of education, which can provide insights into what education could look like under a New Learning framework.

Table 1: Summary of different approaches to pedagogy and curriculum across the modern past, the more recent times, and New Learning (Kalantzis & Cope, 2008, p. 208)

Pedagogy, curriculum and education

Mimesis: The modern past

Synthesis: More recent times

Reflexivity: New learning

Dimension 1: Pedagogy

Acquiring received knowledge (facts, theories, literatures) and being able to repeat what one has acquired in a test.

‘Understanding’ as learners deconstruct and reconstruct knowledge and come up with ‘right’ answers on ‘their own’.

Shunting backwards and forwards between different things you can do to know, connecting with diverse learning experiences, creating deeper and broader knowledge, and

reconnecting with the world in purposeful ways.

Dimension 2: Curriculum

Prescribed courses of study. A clear inside/outside distinction – outside knowledge copied inside the school.

School-based curriculum with a broader range of choice according to relevance, needs and diversity. Learner constructivism, the self- assembling individual knower; bringing in the outside of the school in a limited way through the recognition of differences, but often without addressing structures of inequality.

Alternative learning pathways to achieve comparable learning outcomes. Curriculum that supports a society in which agency has been

rebalanced. Auto- production of knowledge; ubiquitous education.

What can be seen from the New Learning Framework is a focus on the learner and the environments where they learn, and the changing nature of society in which they are living, not the educational institution where learning is ‘supposed’ to happen. This study is influenced by the values and possibilities in New Learning, particularly in regards to Dimension 2: Curriculum, as there is the potential for students to see education as critical to their everyday lives, and the suggestion that educators evaluate their pedagogy and beliefs about current education policies and procedures.

Therefore, these principles of New Learning influence this study to explore the nature of the curriculum developed in the Australian Curriculum: Science. As was seen in Table 2, the New Learning framework details how curriculum development has moved from prescribed courses of study in the modern past, to school-based curriculum with a broader range of choices in the more recent past. However, curriculum could now move to ubiquitous education, supporting alternative learning pathways and a rebalancing of the power relationships between teachers and students.

Although the study recognises that many decisions made about curriculum delivery (including subject choices and alternative learning pathways) are determined at the school level, and not by the curriculum documents themselves, it is suggested that this New Learning framework is valid when investigating the Australian Curriculum:

Science. This is because the New Learning framework can provide future ideas for

curriculum development, and provide teachers with the proposal that curriculum should be designed to facilitate learning in the changing society in which students reside.