Learners, Not Students

Our Bold Vision is just a 'bold vision' without our commitment to learning and action. In ambitiously striving to produce learners, not students, we too must transform. We too must be learners.

Being a learner is a conscious choice we make. Everyone is a learner at Griffin – children, teachers, the leadership team, the administration staff. We aspire not to be knowers but rather, to be learning seekers. We embody this image through the way we interact, the way we problem solve, the way we build capability, the way we teach. We are on a continuous journey of growth.

Deliberately showing up as a learner requires us to intentionally select our mindset, favouring an inquiry stance and harnessing The Power of Yet. We shun being static in our ways of doing and being, aspiring to continuous personal development. This takes grit and passion – two things those at Griffin have in bucket-loads.

Being a learner as an educator is a humbling yet powerful state. In our classrooms, it often requires us to courageously step forward and announce ‘I don’t know’ rather than fumbling for answers in order to reinforce the traditional notion that teachers are keepers of knowledge. Instead of being ‘the knower in the room’ we are the guide on the side and the learner beside. We convey the belief that learning is not something we can do to others, but rather something we do for ourselves.

Educators and children are both learners and teachers. Our learner-teacher relationship is reciprocal, we can both teach and learn from each other. There are many experts in the room. By positioning ourselves as learners beside, we empower our children to do more of the heavy lifting. More powerful learning ensues.

We provide an important role model for our learners and each other in our commitment to being a learner. When we act and show up as learners in our classrooms, in our meetings, in our collaborations, in our professional development sessions, we enculturate the mindset that being a learner is more powerful than being a knower.

As educators who are learners, innovative practices seem more easily within reach. We overcome the hardest step, being willing to leave behind ‘what has always been done’. We see our own potential for growth but more importantly, we envision a new story of school, a new narrative, and our role in bringing it to life. We must be learners in order to Unlearn the Outdated.

Next: A Culture for Innovation