"When teachers see learning through the eyes of the students, and when students see themselves as their own teachers."

The moments when our brains are challenged and changed are the times when learning occurs. Four St Joseph’s School Stanthorpe teachers, along with others from Toowoomba Catholic Schools, recently spent three days visiting four New Zealand schools. These schools are commited to applying the principles of Visible Learning based on the research of John Hattie. This is a commitment St Joseph's School also made at the beginning of 2018 when we began our journey as a Visible Learning Lighthouse School.

Whilst we are only in the second year of learning and applying the Visible Learning philosophies, two secondary colleges, Selwyn College and Ormiston Senior College, and two primary schools, Clevedon and Stonefields School, are nearing the completion of their first decade of instruction based on John Hattie’s research.

Mr Matthew Brown, Mrs Sarah Yates, Mr Joseph Shorter and Ms Amanda Thompson embraced the challenge to remove themselves from their usual roles as teachers and to deform and reform their thinking through the eyes of learners. Many shared values and ways of working (the whats and hows) were identified during their trip but their real education, came when faced with the differences of opinion, curriculum and ways of achieving the goal of educating young people.

Our staff engaged in, and hopefully will continue to be involved in, many passionate discussions as we work towards establishing a firm foundation for ensuring students at St Joseph's School are learning to the best of their ability and following their passions. We hope to ensure this by continuing to create a bank of shared, relevant and useful learning language, learning processes and learning tools to ensure we all have the vital clarity and support we need as we continue to empower all our learners to own and direct their learning.