1. Winnie-the-Pooh and the EPQ
Sarah Coulbeck, The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL),
sarah.coulbeck@gsal.org.uk
The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) is a level 3 qualification that was offered to
A-Level students at The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) for the first time in the
summer term of 2012. Recognising this as an opportunity to deliver meaningful
information literacy training to students, the library team worked closely with the EPQ
coordinator from the outset and developed an information literacy programme to be
undertaken by all EPQ students over the course of one full day in the library. This
programme included an introduction to library catalogues and online resources,
detailed instructions of how to reference correctly and produce accurate
bibliographies, and different note-taking techniques.
The final session of the day was about the importance of students becoming
reflective learners in order to evaluate their own performance. This was a new
experience to all of the students, therefore the concept was introduced using the
‘What, So What, Now What’ model, with the help of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too.
For example, if Tigger were being reflective:
What – “I took a large mouthful of honey.”
So What – “It was the first time I’d tried honey and I didn’t like it.”
Now What – “I have learnt that I don’t like honey and I won’t try it again. Furthermore,
next time I try a new food, I won’t take such a large mouthful.”
The students were then given the opportunity to reflect on their day using a number
of activities to encourage creative and reflective thought. For example: the students
were given a few minutes to play with Play-Doh, as there is a belief that stimulating
the fingertips encourages brain activity, which in turn encourages the student to think
differently. Another activity was to eat different flavoured raisins as they reflected on
their day, as trying a new food could help with thinking in a new way.
These creative and active approaches to teaching reflection enabled the students to
understand and use reflection in the session. Furthermore, the creativity and delivery
of the session also made the lesson memorable, so that the students would feel
confident in reflecting throughout their extended projects and beyond.
This Teachmeet presentation will provide full details of the lesson plan, including
Winnie the Pooh’s involvement, and a chance to sample some raisins to aid
reflection.