ThisworkislicensedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives4.0InternationalLicense.Toviewacopyofthislicense,visithttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

ImprovingLearningPowerwiththeCrickLearningforResilientAgency(CLARA)SelfAssessmentInstrument

LearningPowerResearchFoundationsIn2002a teamof researchers identifiedthesevendimensionsof 'learningpower'whichenablepeople to learn. The dimensions were not skills or competencies but holistic qualities ordispositions,allinvolving‘thinking,feelinganddoing’.TheresearchteamcreatedandvalidatedasurveytoolthatmeasuredLearningPower(theEffectiveLifelongLearningInventoryorELLI)givingpeople feedback on their strengths and weaknesses as learners. Over the next decade, withskilledfacilitation,thisfeedbackwasusedbyteachers,coachesandleadersaroundtheworldasastartingpointforlearningconversationsandstrategiesfordevelopinglearningpower,individuallyand collectively. This research into LearningPower at theGraduate Schoolof Educationat theUniversityofBristolisthefoundationonwhichtheCLARASelfAssessmentInstrumentisbuilt.ResilientAgencyIn 2014, the Learning Emergence researchteam set about re-analysing the data setswhichhadbeencollectedover15years,totestthe model and explore particular hypothesesaboutlearningpowerwhichhademergedfromresearch and development over that time. Inthisanalysis,Resilience,whichenablespeopleto respond positively to challenge, risk anduncertainty,was identifiedasamorecomplexprocess thatcan’tbesufficientlymeasuredbya single scale. Resilience requires learners tobe self-awareand to take responsibility for theirlearningjourneyovertime.Thisincludesidentifyingandowningtheirpurposeandfindingwaysofgoing about achieving it, particularly in the face of challenge and complexity and risk. Thiscombination of awareness, ownership and responsibility is what we mean by Agency and thesignificant need for Resilient Agency at every stage of a learning journey – from purpose toperformance - called for thedevelopmentof anew, scientifically rigorous instrumentknownastheLearningforResilientAgencySelf-Assessment.Structural equation modeling produced a more robust set of measures, with fewer surveyquestions.ItenabledtheLearningEmergenceresearchteamtoexploretheinternalstructureoflearningpower,lookingmorecarefullyattherelationshipsbetweenthedifferentdimensionsandbetweentheconstructsmakingupeachofthem.Anewdimension,MindfulAgency,isfoundtobeakeyelementof learningpowerwhichpredictscreativity, sense-making,curiosityandhope.LearningRelationshipshas, in fact, twodistinctaspects:collaborationandbelonging. Aneighthmeasure,OpenReadiness, reflects an emotional state towards learning,whose optimumvaries

Mindful…

Sensemaking

Creativity

CuriosityBelonging

Collaboration

Hopeand…

2

accordingtocontextandliessomewherebetweenthetwoextremesof‘RigidPersistence’ontheone hand and ‘Dependent Fragility’ on the other. Both extremesmay be appropriate in somecontexts (for example undergoing an operation on the one hand or pioneering in challengingcircumstances on the other), however it ismore productive, in learning, tomaintain a healthytensionbetweenfragilityandpersistenceandremainopenandreadytorespondtochallengeandchange.The centrality of these concepts together with the name of our lead researcher, Ruth Crick,informedthechoiceofname:theCrickLearningAssessmentforResilientAgency,orCLARA.ThepurposeofCLARA is toprovide individuals,groupsandsystemswitharobustandaccurateself-reportoftheirlevelsofLearningPower,combinedwithdeeperinsightintothepoweroflearningtosustainhumanagencyinthefaceofthe21stCenturyconditionsofambiguity,uncertaintyanddoubt.CLARAisapracticalonlinelearninganalyticdesignedtostimulateimprovementinlearningandperformancethroughrapidfeedbackofdatatoindividuals,teamsandorganizations.Itisalsosubjecttotherigorousqualityofsocialscienceresearchintermsofreliability,validity,trustworthinessandauthenticity.

CLARAmeasuresthewaysinwhichindividualsregulatetheflowofenergyandinformationovertimeinordertoachieveaparticularpurpose–theirlearningpower.Thisisanecessarybutnotsufficientpartofalearningjourneywhichmovesfrompurposetoperformanceovertime,fuelledbylearningpowerandtheprocessofstructuringandre-structuringknowledge.CLARAenablesindividualsandteamstoreflect‘backwards’towardsidentityandpurposeandtonavigate‘forwards’totheachievementofpurposethroughknowledgestructuringandproblemsolving.Allstationsofthelearningjourneyareimportantinlearningdesignandinbecomingaresilientlearner.

Fourstationsoflearningjourneys

Learningjourneysare‘fractal’:theyfollowrecognisablepatternsatalllevelsinorganisations:i.e.amongstudentsandemployees,amongteachersandmanagersandamongleadersandpolicymakers.Theyprovidefeedbackandfeed-forwardloopsforallprocessesinbothindividualandorganizationaldevelopmentandperformance.Becomingbetteratmakingsenseofandrespondingtotherapidflowofdataandenergy,whichweallencounterallthetime,isimportantforleadershipandinnovation.TheCLARAdimensionsarepersonalqualitiesthatcanbedevelopedandwhichreflecthowpeopleviewthemselves.Weseethemasconstructsthathaveanemergentpole(usuallypositive)andacontrastpole(oftennegativeforlearning).Theeighthdimensionisanemotionalorientationtowardsnewlearningopportunitiesthatreflectsthedegreeoftrustandreadinessapersonexperiencesinaparticularcontext–anecessarypre-requisitefordevelopingresilienceinalearningjourneyfrompurposetoperformance.

Identity&Purpose

LearningPower

KnowledgeStructuring

CompetentPerformance

3

CLARADimensions

CLARAlearningpowerdimensions

MindfulAgency

Unaware,passive,mindless

HopeandOptimism

Stuckandstatic

Sense-making

Dataaccumulation

Creativity

Rulebound

Curiosity

Passive

Collaboration

IndependentorDependent

Belonging

Isolated,splitoff,lonely.

CLARAOrientationtoLearningDimension

RigidPersistence OpenReadiness DependentFragility

Feedback for individuals is in the form of a spider diagram, with an additional slider for theOrientationtoLearningdimension.

CLARAFeedback

KeyReference:DeakinCrickR.etal(2015)Developingresilientagencyinlearning:theinternalstructureoflearningpower.BritishJournalofEducationalStudies

Mindful Agency

Sense making

Creativity

Curiosity Belonging

Collaboration

Hope and optimism

Taking responsibility for my own learning over time through defining my purposes, understanding and managing my feelings, knowing how I go about learning & planning my learning journey carefully.

Making connections between what I already know & new information & experience. Making meaning by linking my story, my new learning & my purpose.

Wanting to get beneath the surface & find out more. Always wondering why and how.

1"

Open Readiness Rigid Persistence Dependent Fragility

An emotional orientation of being open & ready to invest in learning, having flexible self-belief, willing to persist & manage any self-doubt. A necessary pre-requisite for developing resilience in learning

Using my intuition & imagination to generate new ideas & knowledge. Taking risks & playing with ideas and artefacts to arrive at new solutions.

Being part of a learning community at work, at home, in education & in my social networks. Knowing I have social resources to draw on when I need them

Having the optimism & hope that I can learn & achieve over time. Having a growth mindset;

believing I can generate my own new knowledge for what I need to achieve

Being able to work with others, to collaborate and co-generate new ideas and artefacts.

Being able to listen and contribute productively to a team.

4

CLARAis:1. awell-researchedsetofideasabouthowpeoplelearnmosteffectively2. aself-assessmentinstrumenttoaidself-analysis,diagnosisandstrategy3. aframeworkforscaffoldingopen-endedenquiry4. atooltoempowerpeopletobringaboutchange,individuallyandtogether

ThePurposeofCLARA

CLARA’s purpose is to provide rapid feedback to individuals and teams about their learningcapabilitiessothat theycanmakebetterdecisionsabouthowto interpret informationandmoveforwards. Well-deployed, it isaboutemancipationandempowerment,enhancingagencythrougheffectivelearning,forindividuals,organisations,communities.

1HowwelearnCLARA is a well-researched set of ideas about how people can develop resilience and takeresponsibilityfortheirownlearningandchangeovertime.Theseideasare:

• holisticandrelational,aboutintegratingandconnecting(notjustsplittingthingsupforthesakeofanalysis)

o theyareaboutusas‘wholepeople’–thinking,feeling,doing(notjustaboutcognitionorbehaviourorskills)

o theybalanceattentiontoboththe‘person’asthelearnerandthe‘knowledge’thatisbeingconstructed.Weneedtoseeeachoftheseasinseparablylinked

o thedimensionsoflearningpowerareinter-connectedaspectsofacomplexanddynamicprocess–soyoucanusetheonesthatareyourstrengths,tohelpstrengthentheothers

o theyarerelational–aboutmyrelationshipwithmyself,withotherpeopleandwiththeworldaroundme

• dynamicanddevelopmental:seeinglearnersas‘onalearningjourney’thatmovesbetweenpurpose and performance, not defining or ‘fixing’ them for the sake of analysis orassessment

• drawnfromresearchthatconsultedwidely,amongstlearnersandpractitionersaswellasexpertsandresearchliterature

• alwaysbeingtestedanddevelopedempiricallythroughongoingresearch.2Theself-assessmentinstrumentCLARA isa self-assessment instrument to aid self-diagnosis and strategy. As a self-assessmenttool,it:

• isa‘self-report’inventory.Itreorganiseswhatwesayaboutourselvesintoaspiderdiagram(profile)ofSevenDimensionsandOrientationtoLearning‘slider’.

• iscontextual:itsoutcomeswillbeaffectedbyalearner’sperceptionofherselfatapointoftime,inrelationtoaparticularcontext

5

• canberepeatedtoreflectandreportonchangeinself-perceptionand/orthelearningcontext

• canhelptostructureandguideproblembasedlearning• shouldbecapableofadaptationtoanyagegrouporculture,subjecttore-validation• createsnumericalraw‘scores’invisibletotheindividuallearnerbutstoredinadatabase

thatmakestheanonymous,aggregateddataavailableforinterrogationandanalysis.• cancontributeusefullytoinstitutionalself-evaluation• availablefortranslationintoArabic,Italian,Malay,MandarinandSpanish

3Aframeworkforscaffoldingopen-endedenquiryCLARAprovidesalanguageandaninfrastructureforsupportingproblembasedlearningandopen-endedenquiry.Byconnectingupwiththestagesofanenquiryprocess,whetherthatisaPlan-Do-Study-Actcycle,anAuthenticEnquiryoranysystematicinvestigation,thelearningdispositionsmeasuredbyCLARAtogetherprovideawayofsupportingtheprocessesof:

• Identifyingapurpose• Analysingtheproblemspace• Selectingprocessesforidentifyingandcapturingknowledge• Mappingandstructuringknowledge• Evaluatingperformance

4.AnempowermenttoolCLARAisatooltoempowerpeopletobringaboutchange,individuallyandtogether.Assuch,it:

• hasbeenfoundtoplayasignificantpartinhelpingpeopleandorganisationsto:o engageinreflectionandbecomemoreself-awareo communicatemeaningfullyabouttheirlearningo developconfidenceandself-reliance,becominglessdependentonteachers/otherso decideonchangestrategieso recognise,monitorandreportonchangeo managetransitions,suchasbetweenkeystages,schools,schoolanduniversity,

workandformallearningandfromoneculturetoanothero mentorstudentsandsupporttheirpersonaldevelopmenttowardsemploymento movetowardsalearner-centred,non-didacticteachingstyleo respondtoproductivelytodatafordecisionmaking

TheResearchPhaseCLARA’sthreeyearresearchprogrammewillfocusonits:

• replicabilityindifferentcontexts• roleasacoreprocessinlearningjourneys• roleindispositionalanalytics• roleinsystem-widechangethroughstakeholder-drivennetworkedimprovement

communities• potentialforagent-basedmodellinganditscontributiontobigdataanalytics• contributiontolearninginfrastructures.

6

HowcanIworkwithCLARAinmyorganisation? CLARA is available for research and development as part of a stakeholder driven improvementproject, alignedwith ourwider research programme. An improvement project sets out to ask‘Howdoweknowhowwellwearedoing?’ The followingdesignprinciplesaredrawn from theCarnegieFoundation’sapproachtonetworkedimprovementcommunities1:1. Maketheworkproblem-specificanduser-centered.

Qualityimprovementstartswithasinglequestion:“Whatspecificallyistheproblemwearetryingtosolve?”Itenlivensaco-developmentorientation,engagingkeyparticipantsasproblemdefinersandproblemsolversfromtheearliestphasesofdevelopmentthroughlarge-scaleimplementation.

2. Focusonvariationinperformance.Anetworkedimprovementcommunityaimstoadvanceefficacyreliablyatscale.Identifyingandaddressingthesourcesofvariabilityinoutcomesisessential.Ratherthandocumentingsimply“whatworks,”asinestimatinganon-averageeffect,aimtolearn“whatworks,forwhom,andunderwhatsetofconditions.”Developtheknow-howtomakeinnovationssucceedfordifferentstudentsacrossvariededucationalcontexts.

3. Seethesystemthatproducesthecurrentoutcomes.Itishardtoimproveasystemifyoudonotfullyunderstandhowitcurrentlyoperatestoproduceitsresults.Seektounderstandbetterhowlocalconditionsshapeworkprocessesandresultingoutcomes.Usethisanalysistoexplicateaworkingtheoryofimprovementthatcanbetestedagainstevidenceandfurtherdevelopedfromwhatislearnedasyougo.

4. Wecannotimproveatscalewhatwecannotmeasure.Measureoutcomes,keydrivers,andchangeideassoyoucancontinuouslytesttheworkingtheoryandlearnwhetherspecificchangesactuallyrepresentanimprovement.Constantlyask:“Aretheintendedchangesactuallyoccurring?Dotheylinktochangesinrelateddriversandtodesiredsystemoutcomes?”Anticipateandmeasureforunintendedconsequencestoo.

5. Usedisciplinedinquirytodriveimprovement.CommoninquiryprotocolsandevidentiarystandardsguidethediverseeffortsofNICs.Engageinsystematictestsofchangetolearnfast,failfast,andimprovefast.Rememberthatfailureisnotaproblem;notlearningfromfailureis.Accumulatethepracticalknowledgethatgrowsoutoffailure,andbuildonitsystematicallyovertime.

6. Acceleratelearningthroughnetworkedcommunities.NICsaimtobreakdownsilosofpracticeandresearch.Theyenlivenabeliefthatwecanaccomplishmoretogetherthaneventhebestofuscanaccomplishalone.Asharedworkingtheory,commonmeasures,andcommunicationmechanismsanchorcollectiveproblemsolving.OrganizeasaNICtoinnovate,test,andspreadeffectivepracticessoonerandfaster.

1 Extract from Bryk, Gomez, Grunow, and LeMahieu (2015) Learning to Improve: How our Nation’s Schools Get Better at Getting Better. Harvard Educational Press

7

Whatdoesa‘CLARAProject’entail?

There are several components to a CLARA Improvement Project. Some are essential, like theinitial‘ProjectLeaders’Workshop’whichensuresthatyouhaveatleasttwomembersofstafftodesign,leadandevaluateyourprojectand‘champion’theideasforyou.Themostimportantpre-conditioniscommitmentbyinstitutionalleaderstotheCLARAvalues,tobeingenquiry-led,andtoresourcingofpeople’stimeto‘doitproperly’.TheworkshopequipsyourCLARAProjectLeadstobriefandtrainotherstaff,arrangeforlearnersandleaderstoaccesstheCLARAsurvey,explaintheEightDimensionstothemandsupporttheminunderstandingandrespondingto theirCLARAprofiles. Theywillalsoknowhowtoscrutiniseandanalysethelearningpowercharacteristicsofselectedgroups.AllthestaffinvolvedcanthenuseCLARAasbothadiagnosticanddevelopmentaltool,workingwith individualsandgroupsonstrategies to build learning power in the dimensions they identify asmost needed. Itwill alsoallowforthedesignof‘prototypeinterventions’devised,ledandevaluatedbyyourownleaders.The Learning Emergence Research network has partnered with eXplorance Blue a world classsurveyprovider inanonlineplatformcalled ‘SOLA’ (Surveys forOpenLearningAnalytics),whichoperatesonanon-profitbasis.ThisisthehostingplatformforCLARA.TheSOLATeamatLearningEmergencecanadviseyouaboutcoreandadditionaloptions,theircostsandhowtheplatformcanbeconfiguredtosuityourprojectdesign.Theycanalsoconnectyouwithresearchinstitutionsandresearcherswhocansupportyouascritical friendsandcontribute toanalysis,evaluationandknowledgesharing.

Forfurtherinformation,seewww.learningemergence.net Orcontactenquiries@learningemergence.com