The S.O.L.E Approach - Letting children free within safe educational spaces

‘SOLE’ a Self Organised Learning Environment is the brainchild of Sugata Mitra, Professor of Educational Technology at Newcastle University. Through SOLE, children direct the learning process and follow pathways that many of the traditional educational approaches do not make room for. SOLE relies on the use of technology, collaboration and encouragement as the basis for encouraging learning. Through the use of the internet, SOLE can be used as the way of learning in class.

Sugata Mitra’s vision: “My wish is to help design the future of learning by supporting children all over the world to tap into their innate sense of wonder and work together. Help me build the School in the Cloud, a learning lab in India, where children can embark on intellectual adventures by engaging and connecting with information and mentoring online. I also invite you, wherever you are, to create your own miniature child-driven learning environments and share your discoveries”.

The SOLE curriculum uses minimally invasive teaching, allows children to learn for themselves, provides encouragement but not direction and creates an environment to promote curiosity. The children negotiate with others for evidence of their learning, observe and record and apply their knowledge.

Within Honiton Primary, the guiding principles are evident and becoming deeply embedded. Our teaching staff are comitted to teaching children vital skills and necessary knowledge from the National Curriculum but allowing them to express and evidence their learning in formats and means that suit their individuality – playing to their individual strengths.

The culture of learning together is a promoted and exemplified by staff and we are proud to be growing children who are remembering how to question learning, to self organise and to take calculated risks within safe boundaries – to take themselves and their learning to new and exciting places.

There is more depth around this explored in the Teaching and Learning tab under Curriculum, Intent, Implementation and Impact