Why we need to remember the whole learner at the heart of apprenticeships.

Or, the importance of learning power in the spaces between study and work.

Match the school report extract with its worthy owner

There are countless examples of successful individuals who underachieved at some stage of their academic studies. It’s important to be reminded from these stories that it takes more than qualifications and raw academic performance to succeed. Further Education and HE have are places of new beginnings, where young people and adults can start again or continue their learning in a new direction.The question to ask is whether we are nurturing the lifelong learning characteristics so essential to long-term success.

Stephen Fry: “English: bottom, rightly.”Jeremy Paxman: “He must learn tact.”

Post-16 impact• Student autonomy

• Student learning capabilities and motivation

• Choice doubts

• Underachievement and drop-outThe impact of post-16 education should be positive but is marred by poor retention and students becoming disillusioned with their choices and achievement. Schools are often highly focused on examination preparation in order to secure a high local league table attainment score. But intensive examination training can leave students dependent and fragile, with weak learning capabilities.

Educ

atio

nal

psyc

holo

gist

Assessment

guru

Dr Ruth Deakin Crick

Professors Guy Claxton and Patricia Broadfoot

The Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory

“Wouldn't it be interesting if we could find out what it is about some people that makes them exceptionally effective lifelong learners? Then, if we could identify the characteristics of this quality of ‘learning power’, we could find a way of measuring or assessing them. In our assessment-driven culture, this would give them value and we could go on to develop ways of helping people get better at them.‟

Scores of academic studies during over a decade of research has helped us understand individual and organisational learning power, how to help people realise their potential and why measuring learning power is so important to evaluating educational quality.

Reliable measurement instrument.Developmental profiling tool.

home and family

Learning power

self-regulation

awareness

interest

dispositions

skills and capacities

effort

goal orientation

locus of

controlself

esteem

sense of self as a learner

self-efficacy

curriculum and assessment

practices

worldviews and

traditions

school ethos pedagogypeer group

The ELLI is a unique and power instrument because its design encompassed broad perspectives on learning. The ELLI tool emerged from questionnaire development which put together everything then known about learning.

This included the internal motivations,

dispositions and attributes of learners

such as self-regulation, interest,

effort, locus of control, self-efficacy

etc. and the external factors that impinge on the learner such

as the way the subject is taught (pedagogy), the

school ethos, the home, family, peer

group and wider worldviews and traditions of the

learner.

The unique and powerful design of ELLI makes it highly reliable.

Just as physical power depends on several components, so too does an individual’s ability to respond to their

full potential in work and study require learning power.

Learning PowerThe concept of learning power emerging from the ELLI research links personal values and identity to skills acquisition and gaining new knowledge and understanding of curriculum subjects. This is

more practically useful (and reliable) than learning styles (VARK) approaches and more developmental and context responsive than personality typologies (MBTI).

ELLI is hosted on a simple to use platform.

Administrators can analyse, filter and explore group data.

Users can return to their dashboard to re-complete and measure their growth in learning power.

Learning profiles taken at different times can be overlaid and how changing contexts affected scores considered.

Users can complete the ELLI questionnaire, see their ‘learning power’ profile, and receive feedback advice.

Complementary concepts reflected in ELLI dimensions

The seven dim

ensions of leaning

Positive pole: Negative pole:

Changing and learning Being stuck & static

Critical curiosity Data accumulation

Meaning making Passivity

Creativity Being rule bound

Learning relationshipsIsolation &

dependence

Strategic awareness Being robotic

ResilienceFragility and dependence

Meta-learning & growth mindset

High order questioning & reasoning

Resourcefulness

Imagining & problem solving

Reflectiveness

Emotional intelligence

Self-determination & grit

The Seven Dimensions of Learning reflect how individuals respond to their environment and the contexts of behaviour expected from them. They can grow or decrease and different patterns of strength and weakness can emerge in relation to how individual’s perceived different kinds of challenges.

Evidence shows the ELLI tool to be an excellent communication tool between the tutor and learner and the findings have given a useful insight into student learning. It also shows that there is a change in students’ perspectives after using it as it generates valuable data about the relationships between the learning power of different populations and a variety of learning interventions and learning contexts.

Student’s comments on ELLI:ELLI created an awareness that I did not have beforeabout how to learn.

“… it enabled me to focus on an entirely new way oflearning.”“… it shows weaknesses in learning in a positive lightand this is more motivating.”

Research insights

We’re able to draw from a broad base of research carried out in different learning environments to understand how ELLI can be used best.

“Enabling learners to develop a reflective practice is important for improved learning and the activity associated with this inventory strongly support this. They also enable greater expression of these aspects of learning by providing a framework and a coherent language.”

“ELLI also provides a framework that enables students to make helpful links between their learning in HE and that in other contexts – this has particular value for supporting the transition of mature students into HE, and in supporting those in work based learning.”

“A paired course model for under-prepared college students incorporates a dual instructional approach, academic skill building and lifelong learning development, to help students do more academically and become stronger lifelong learners. In a reading support course, students improved their reading skills and applied them directly to the paired content course. They also developed lifelong learning attributes through increased self-knowledge (using the Effective Lifelong Learning Inventory), reflection, and coaching. Students showed significant gains in lifelong learning, an 85% success rate in the paired content course, and a higher retention rate than students outside the project with similar SAT critical reading scores.”

• California State University, Fullerton• STEM student retention, first generation college

entrance

• Education Business Partnership• School to work mentoring programme

• Yeditepe University, Turkey• Youth offending prevention

• Richland Community College, Texas• Central to their personal development planning

• Schools• Improving engagement in Year 12, transition from

KS3/4, increasing attainment.

Examples of on-going research and uses of ELLI

Active challenges to grow learning

capabilities

Diagnostics which lead to positive self-

awareness

Learning goals which are

transferrable

Shared language & conceptualisation

of learning

Evaluation of environment in terms of

impact on learning: individual and

organisational levels

Positive learning environments are those characterised by a holistic perspective towards an individual’s learning journey.

FIVE CORE ELEMENTS within POSITIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENTSsupported by use of ELLI

ELLI is a reliable measurement tool and conceptual framework through which to fully realise individual and organisational learning potential across five core aspects.

Education provision can focus heavily on processes and outcomes. These are important but can result in a skewed perspective on the learning journeys of individuals. In fact, quality is often undermined because courses and apprenticeships lacks a coherent and holistic perspective on learning. Maintaining a clear sense of the importance of the learning identity and development of individuals is essential.

Diagnostics for change of learner self-image Targets for learning which

embrace the challenge to grow

Foster active learning across curriculum with a common

language

Evaluating impact on learning motivationEngaging students and lecturers to think afresh about their personal development

Robin’s project involves learning a new skill – evaluating its use and writing a report about its value in relation to different jobs.

The evaluation requires judgement about what’s significant.

Interpreting something’s value requires awareness of wider purposes to which the skill could be used.

Reporting requires responding to the needs of others. Critical curiosity – thinking deeply about the way the skill can be

applied.Meaning-meaning – recalling information about the tasks and skills previously used in order to make better interpretations.Creativity – recognising the need to present ideas clearly and effectively.

The Seven Dimensions of Learning are easily applied across curriculum areas and work place contexts. Lecturers, tutors and teachers find ELLI helps make explicit the learning focus already implicitly encouraged. It helps put a name to effective lifelong learning capabilities.

E-learning course: introduces learning power and explains the Seven

Dimensions, how to interpret the ELLI profile, and set targets for development.

Original short animations to help

engage and explain ELLI.

Communication and Networking

Working with others

Organisational Skills

Managing myself Problem Solving and reflection

Understanding Career Pathways

Self awareness

I communicate clearly and concisely both verbally and in writing, and am able to introduce myself confidently to others in a professional way, both face to face and on digital platforms.

I am able to build relationships to work with others to achieve an agreed outcome, and am able to take direction from others or lead others.

I am able to plan and deliver my daily work or specific projects by planning and reviewing information, using relevant IT skills and by managing my time.

I am able to take responsibility for my own professional behaviour, including how I behave in more difficult situations.

I can analyse problems and help solve them by understanding the root cause(s) and then develop a plan of action to reduce the risk of them happening again.

I identify employment opportunities and career paths, ensure that I understand the entry requirements and skills that are needed.

I can identify my personal strengths and development areas in relation to my career aspirations.

Meaning making

Learning relationships

Strategic awareness Resilience Creativity Critical

curiosityChanging and

learning

Jigsaw ZoneConnecting Space for meetings, giving presentations and preparing to communicate with others. Key to good networking and communication is thinking about others’ needs and what can be shared or used from a person’s experience which is relevant.

Team ZoneCollaboratingSpace for project work, team-building exercises as well as quiet desks for independent work. This zone is about facilitating group work.

Pilot ZoneManagingSpace for planning and learning about organisation. Where young people can chart their progress and map their project milestones. Timed management activities can also feature.

Gritty ZonePersistingSpace to learn about the internal resources we need to draw from to succeed. A place to celebrate persistence, learn about behaviour management and techniques to stay focused and motivated. Job application space.

Springboard ZoneImaginingSpace for challenges, ideas creation and learning innovative problem solving techniques. Celebrating entrepreneurs and innovators. A place for employers to pose challenges and problems.

Detective ZoneExploringSpace to learn about careers and explore resources available. Place to go to investigate and

share questions.

Morphing ZoneTransformingSpace to learn about oneself, test oneself and chart personal development. This is the place where EBP celebrates the centre’s work and employers and entrepreneurs can tell their stories to inspire young people.

The ELLI dimensions can be mapped to employability skills and leadership qualities.

The extent and scope of change in learners’ profiles over time

allows for evaluation of the effectiveness of programme delivery

and support.

ELLI provides a tool to uncover contextual factors influencing learning growth.

Group profiles

The ELLI platform allows individual profiles to be grouped and analysed. Pre-post test development can be measured and group performance compared in relation to learning capabilities. The ELLI data provides a means to evaluate the learning development beneath the surface of course delivery.

Analyse, filter, explore

ELLI can be used:

• as a learning diagnostic tool to set development goals;• as the focus of tutoring support to help students build their

learning capabilities;• to help develop employability skills;• as the basis for improving course delivery through adoption of

the ELLI learning model;• as a means to evaluate the impact on learning of course

delivery;• as a framework for professional development of both teaching

and non-teaching staff.

What we provide

Diagnostic of learning capabilities and motivation E-learning and web resources to support development

of learning power Framework for personal growth which spans all study

domains and work Data to evaluate the effectiveness of provision and

interventions.

Learning power begins with ELLI Contact us for more information: learn@elli.global www.elli.global #elliglobal ELLI Global on YouTube

Nigel Newton nigel.newton@elli.global https://uk.linkedin.com/in/nigel-newton-76992624