St Leonard's College | Independent School Melbourne

Our wonderful, inquisitive students will often ask  this question of our teachers.

Sometimes the question can shake us to the core. Ten years ago David Perkins published his outstanding book Futurewise which coined the phrase ‘Lifeworthy Learning’. It confronted teachers, education systems, parents and students and challenged them to consider what is lifeworthy about the learning that they engage in?

St Leonard’s College has used the text to underpin much of our pedagogical discussion over the last decade. All our Heads of Learning challenged their staff with concepts in Perkins’ book, engaging the school community in discussions about what we need to include in our curriculum. Does the learning at St Leonard’s College prepare our students for their life to come?

Of course, it’s a movable feast. Nobody ten years ago could have accurately predicted the sudden rise in the use of artificial intelligence. Nobody ten years ago understood the effect that a global pandemic could have on learning and how we see the world (who was working from home then?!). So the challenge at the College is to create a curriculum that prepares students for a world full of things that haven’t been invented yet.

We do this at the College through our thinking pedagogies. Our close work with the Harvard Graduate School of Education is no coincidence, with both David Perkins (Futurewise author) and Ron Ritchhart (Cultures of Thinking author) having worked directly with the College. Learning ‘how’ to learn is a key pedagogical foundation that prepares all our students for their challenges ahead in adulthood.

We also continue to consider the content of our curriculum. In Year 8 next year, we’re introducing a critical thinking course where students get to explore, analyse and evaluate online content. In all our subjects, teachers and Heads of Learning consider the lifeworthiness of the content they are providing students. It’s important not to be reductionist about the discussions though. Whilst it may be tempting to deliver highly practical courses on banking and finance, the reality is that many systems will have been updated and changed by the time our students are ready to use them. Over-arching conceptual understanding is therefore what is important. And we mustn’t forget that lifeworthiness is not just practicalities. Whilst Shakespeare does practically help students with language decoding skills, it also introduces them to a world of beautiful imagery and language symmetry which enriches their hearts.

At the College our discussions of lifeworthy learning include seeing students as whole humans who will love, explore, challenge society and have relationships. They will operate in a community and need practical knowledge, but they will also create great art, generate discourse, inspire, and correct injustice. Our lifeworthy learning aims to conceptually prepare all our students for life’s multifaceted journey.

By Charles Neave, Director of Pedagogy