The Pyramid of Learning Needs

Pyramid of learning needs

I love this pyramid.

What students need most is on the bottom of the pyramid.

If they aren’t fed, safe and loved then they are disadvantaged in their ability to learn.

If they also don’t have a good learning mindset with good strategies and habits, then they will struggle to learn anything at all.

However, teachers in traditional mainstream schools are being asked to create “quality first” lessons starting from the pointy part of the pyramid and working down.

Placing quality instruction at the heart of the lesson is the hard way to do it.

A teacher’s second focus is to encourage good learning strategies and habits.

Very good teachers will then also be able to promote a healthy learning mindset.

This problem is across all teaching but it is especially true for secondary age education where the teacher’s primary focus is their subject specialism and they only teach each young person for a couple of hours a week in classes of 35

I want us to invert the pyramid.

Put the pyramid back the correct way up. 

To do this, responsible adults need to take time to get to know the young people they are working with. They need to be caring and interested people and have the time and space to interact with the young people in a low pressure environment.    

Then and only then, these adults can offer suggestions for the young people to think about their learning mindset, their strategies and their habits. 

This is how it is done in Self Managed Learning.

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Definition from Google: 

"Inverting the pyramid" in an educational context typically refers to shifting the emphasis from traditional, teacher-centered, content-delivery models to a more student-centered approach where foundational elements like personal growth, critical thinking, adaptability, and reflective practice are prioritized at the beginning of teacher preparation and learning, rather than being seen as advanced outcomes. This approach flips the traditional structure, placing lifelong development, emotional intelligence, and continuous adaptation at the core of effective teaching and learning, enabling teachers to navigate evolving challenges and complexities in the classroom and beyond. 

The pyramid of learners’ needs original article link: https://abraininitiative.wordpress.com/2016/01/03/the-pyramid-of-learning-needs/