The Power of Deep Learning at CCGS
At CCGS, we're redefining education with Deep Learning, a transformative approach designed to engage students meaningfully in their studies. It is an innovative method that goes beyond traditional learning, helping students understand not only their subjects, but also themselves and how they think. By fostering a profound and lasting comprehension, Deep Learning equips students with the skills to succeed in our rapidly evolving world.
A strategic vision for meaningful and powerful learning
We believe that learning should be meaningful and powerful. Our commitment to meaningful learning shapes experiences that accentuate critical thinking, problem-solving, and the ability to apply knowledge across various contexts. These skills are critical in a contemporary landscape, ensuring each student becomes an adaptive, innovative, and resilient learner. By integrating deep learning principles, CCGS educators aim to nurture a generation of leaders who are not only academically proficient but also equipped to navigate life beyond the classroom.
Our vision for teaching and learning at CCGS draws on the world-leading educational frameworks from the Harvard Graduate of Education, and the global New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL) network.
- Harvard’s Teaching for Understanding Framework emphasises life-worthy learning and deep, transferable understanding. We focus on what matters most to our students and their world, guiding them toward flexible learning that extends beyond skills and knowledge to a more practical application across subjects and throughout their lives.
- NPDL’s Deep Learning Network accelerates our focus on making learning meaningful. It not only strengthens core academic outcomes but also boosts student engagement by connecting learning to real-world contexts. Deep Learning is purposely designed for students of today, preparing them to learn, work and lead in the future.
Implementing high-impact teaching strategies
We bring our strategic focus to life through high-impact strategies that are supported by extensive empirical evidence and recognised globally as best practice in teaching. These strategies are employed across subjects and age groups, teaching our students to be self-reflexive learners while also ensuring that learning is presented at their individual level of challenge.
In our Visual Arts classes, one strategy employed around the competency of ‘Character’ is the use of visual prompts such as “When did you need to be flexible?” “What did you do next?” to mark key moments in their creative process. This simple yet effective technique helps our students reflect on challenges and successes in the moment, and we see students building grit and tenacity essential for tackling complex, effortful learning. In English, our students develop their understanding of what it means to be a citizen in their local and global community. They explore the ways texts reflect and respond to social concerns and, through this, examine their own responses to – and actions in – the world. Through their writing and speaking, they share their growing citizenship in ways that reflect their learning about English and strengthens their learning about themselves.
Designing learning for depth and impact
To create these rich learning experiences, we use the four Learning Design Elements and the six Global Competencies (6Cs) of the Deep Learning network:
- Learning Design Elements give a scaffold for pushing beyond the boundaries of traditional schooling into more meaningful learning. Our approach includes building strong partnerships both inside and outside the school to support student growth, leveraging exceptional learning environments for greater relevance, and utilising contemporary digital technologies to empower students as active and powerful participants in their education.
- Six Global Competencies (6Cs) - Character, Citizenship, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, and Critical Thinking - provide a framework for students to develop the essential skills that matter to them as active contributors within society. By deliberately structuring our learning with the 6Cs from Kindergarten to Year 11 we are fostering competence with what the World Economic Forum has outlined for the ten essential skills for 2025 and beyond.