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report: Study Gym
INDIVIDUAL HELP WITH LEARNING
Our Story
We started Study Gym with our first clients in April 2007. The inspiration for it came from years of trying to encourage students to study at home, but awareness that there was often nobody at home who knew how to help. When we retired Georgina and I recognized that we wanted to do something with our time other than 'lunch out', and so we developed the idea for Study Gym. We formed a small company to allow us to operate in a formal way when dealing with adults. Before we got started we were looking for a baseline test and I was preparing to make up our own when (Jackie's daughter) Bryony suggested we ask to use ELLI. Following the training session we realised that what I had covered was largely what we had wanted to do, but arranged in a more formal and precise way.
We have had nine clients over the year. Our oldest was in her 60s and the youngest 14. We have usually worked on an individual basis but we have had brothers who came together. We also held two workshops on 'Learning can be Fun', basing the activities on the ELLI research report Learning by Accident. Over the day we looked at the various learning dimensions using activities that were essentially games and finished with the participants giving presentations on their learning.
Our sessions are based on activities and images that we know will appeal to our clients so each one is created especially for them. They take away with them a record of the activities and any plans that have been made. Apart from discussing new ways of thinking about learning, we have found that the student giving presentations at the end of sessions is an excellent way of summing up and also gives them confidence.
some of our clients
M
Our first young student came following our workshop - when asked how he had got on that day, he said it was a really good day, much better than being at home! M disliked anything to do with learning: his school said that he was disruptive and that his lack of concentration was a problem for him and his teachers. We had him concentrating on research, reading, writing, and giving a presentation on his research. His mother was astounded when she came to pick him up. M subsequently became a client. He is in Yr 10, dyslexic, dyspraxic and disruptive in school. Because he lived so far away and travel was difficult, he came twice a week for four weeks so that we could cover the ground quickly. We worked on his Creativity, Critical Curiosity, Learning Relationships and Resilience (ELLI learning dimensions), and spent a lot of time building his confidence and helping him to take ownership of his work. At the same time we discussed with his mother how she could encourage her son and not 'tell him' what to do. He would arrive with his head down and a miserable look on his face and leave with head up and a smile. His mother said it was worth bringing him just to see the change as he walked out! He gained much from his sessions, but because it was over a short period we are not convinced about the lasting effects of the course. We have still to follow up to discover his progress.
K
K is 50 years old, had been a mature student at a London University, gained a first and was about to fail her NQT year. She is dyslexic and was full of doubt about her ability and lacking in self confidence. She completed the ELLI and we found that she was very strong in the Changing and Learning and Meaning Making dimensions but was not using Learning Relationships, Critical Curiosity or Resilience. We worked with her to support her own development and at the same time encouraged a dialogue on how she could use these aspects in her teaching. On advice from her union, she resigned from her position before the school authorities failed her. She got some temporary work with a summer school before starting at her present school in September. She tells us that she is using the ELLI dimensions not only to influence her teaching but also to help her with her mentoring for year 11 students. We have recently heard that she is about to successfully complete her year and has been offered a permanent contract.
N
N is a disorganized Yr 9 student, who found sitting still difficult and, so he told us, could 'only learn when I am very active'. He loved sailing and wind surfing so we used these activities to get him to plan and organise his learning. He was with us from September through to February, largely because his activities often made it impossible to come each week. This worked very well as he had time to think about and try out the various suggested new approaches to learning. He has decorated his learning space at home with mind maps and diagrams of his work and divided the maps into easy/not so easy/ difficult sections. Previously this was a boy who just worked when he had to, never planned his work and drifted from one piece of work to another. We used the Inspiration 8 Mind Mapping programme for the first time with N and this worked very well. On his final session he summed up his understanding of the dimensions in a 'giant map', adding his plans along the bottom.
A
A dropped out of University because he could not keep up with the work. He is dyslexic and was quite depressed when he came to us, although he had started a degree course at another local higher education college. He came to us because his mother was anxious that he should not fail again, rather than him wishing to come or believing that we could do anything for him. As with M, at first he arrived with his head down, but by the end of his course he arrived early and with a smile and our sessions frequently ran over time. His ELLI showed that he was using Changing and Learning and Meaning Making and very little of the other dimensions. We worked on all the other dimensions. We encouraged him to take note of the other students in his group and learn to work with them. By the end of his sessions he had become an accepted part of the group. He accepted that he had to plan and organise and think of interesting ways to work and, as a result, he had all his 1st semester assignments finished on time, he achieved a good standard and, although he would be reluctant to admit it, he enjoyed his work.
Our only student at the moment is 59 and has always seen herself as an educational failure throughout her adult life. She is recently widowed and is learning to cope with both bereavement and retirement at the same time. Currently she is gaining in confidence as she begins to believe that she can change and learn, that she can think of and ask questions, and that she can find new ways of learning.
Jackie Hoskins: jhoskins@studygym.co.uk
Georgina Hall: ghall@studygym.co.uk
March 2008
