Why Classrooms Need Head Heart and Hand Learning

Your book centres on balancing “Head, Heart and Hand” — how would you explain this approach to a teacher seeing it for the first time?

The Head, Heart and Hand approach is all about teaching the way most teachers want to teach and giving children and young people the education their parents want for them: not just spending time teaching pupils content, but also having time to teach them the skills and knowledge they need to be successful learners and successful adults. We all want our pupils to succeed in exams, so that they can make choices about their future – that’s an education of the Head. An education of the Heart is about wellbeing, relationships, respect and belonging, and the time for teaching about these important things is often squeezed out. We all want our pupils to be creative, critical thinkers, to be confident communicators and great team players – that’s an education of the Hand. Unfortunately, a focus on teaching and memorising knowledge has meant that important skills like these aren’t always given the time and focus they deserve. If we teach all three in balance, children and young people will be happier, more resilient, and better able to learn and live successful lives.

Many teachers feel stretched just covering the academic curriculum — why is it important to prioritise relational and creative aspects of learning as well?

We do believe the curriculum is too packed with knowledge, but at Big Education, our schools have shown that it is possible to achieve a Head, Heart and Hand balance, and that’s exactly what the book is about. You get better learning if relationships in the classroom are strong and if children and young people can think creatively and critically. The Heart and the Hand support the Head and there is space for everything if you implement carefully.

What does a “Big Education” classroom look like in practice on an ordinary school day?

A Big Education classroom is an exciting place to learn. Pupils get to follow their own lines of enquiry, they use oracy as one of the main learning strategies (instead of always using writing), the class is a team and the teacher cares deeply about them – you won’t hear any shouting in our classrooms. Because pupils are engaged and have agency, they want to come to school and they want to learn and make progress. When there are learning challenges, the school staff act as a team to help pupils solve these challenges and focus on learning, whether that be problems at home, or difficulties with learning. School 360 has joy as one of its core values – I think that’s a word that would apply across our schools.

How can teachers begin to embed this approach without it feeling like a complete overhaul of their current teaching?

We would say to teachers, just read one chapter and try one innovative idea out, see what difference it makes to learning, and go from there. Starting small is the best way to test ideas, tweak them and improve them. One of the themes of the book is that there is no one-size-fits-all way to teach children – every context, every community, every school and every class is different. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use other people’s ideas as starting points for your own innovation projects.

The book touches on belonging and behaviour — how are these connected, and what should teachers be doing differently?

We believe in non-punitive approaches to behaviour, so our schools prefer to have a relationships policy instead of a behaviour policy. Belonging is built through strong relationships and clarity of expectations and boundaries. We are firm believers in restorative practice, where wrongs are righted through dialogue, instead of through punishment, although sanctions do have their place when required . Chapter 6 in the book gives some great ideas for how to achieve a system like this.

You explore learner profiles and agency — how can teachers give pupils more ownership of their learning while still meeting curriculum expectations?

Within every framework of curriculum expectations, there are opportunities to build in choices for pupils. When we are studying the Vikings, which particular aspect of Viking life are they interested in? How would you like to present your learning: through an essay or a presentation? Would you be able to concentrate better sitting here, or on the table outside? None of these choices stop pupils learning what they need to know, but they may well mean pupils feel a greater sense of agency and ownership.

For schools working within Curriculum for Excellence, how does the Big Education approach align with existing priorities?

We would see Curriculum for Excellence as a modern articulation of a Head–Heart–Hands model—developing thinking, character and action together. The four capabilities within CfE correspond very closely : Successful learners can be seen as the Head; Confident individuals and Responsible citizens seen as the Heart; and Effective contributors as the Hands.

CfE deliberately seeks to create a similarly holistic approach by integrating Knowledge and understanding (Head), Personal, social and emotional development – including wellbeing and values (Heart) and Skills for learning, life and work, with strong emphasis on application and contribution (Hands). This is reinforced through initiatives such as interdisciplinary learning, recognising wider achievement and the nurturing of skills development especially creativity, teamwork, leadership and resilience.

Assessment is often a sticking point — how can schools measure progress in areas like wellbeing, creativity and relationships?

Our schools have been working to create frameworks to support pupils to self- and peer-assess in important areas like these, and to help teachers teach these skills progressively. We start from the research, to find out what progression looks like and we then translate this material into pupil-friendly tools that they can use and understand. There are some great ideas on this in Part 4 of the book.

What role do teachers play in shaping a school culture that supports “Head, Heart and Hand” learning?

Part 1 in the book is all about getting the culture right. We look at different aspects of leadership that really make a difference, and offer lots of ideas of tools and strategies to try. For example, Chapter 2 describes using a Design Thinking approach to school improvement which will engage stakeholders at all levels in designing the best solutions for your school. Similarly, Chapter 3 describes how changing teacher professional development models can encourage teacher agency and improve learning in the classroom.

For schools that may not have the resources for large-scale change, what are some small but impactful steps they can take?

We would start with one of the Curriculum, Pedagogy or Assessment chapters of the book as an inspiration, and we would always advise starting small – get a group of interested staff to create a small working group, to test ideas out in their own classrooms and to develop these ideas so that they really make a difference. Once a small change is shown to be powerful, everyone else generally wants in! And you have a ready made team of ‘experts’ who can help others adopt the new approach.

What are the biggest barriers schools face when trying to adopt a more holistic approach — and how can they overcome them?

We are all under the same accountability pressures and we are all facing significant budget challenges at the moment. The school leaders and teachers who wrote this book are brave enough to try out new ideas, because they believe that ultimately, it is a holistic approach to learning that will achieve the best outcomes for children and young people. They have tried to write lots of practical tips for schools in their chapters, which will help you make positive change without additional cost or workload.

Finally, what impact do you hope this book will have on classrooms and school communities?

We hope this book offers teachers and school leaders a pathway for change, and a set of practical tips and tools to help them move in the right direction. Through our Rethinking School project, we already work with many amazing schools across the UK and would love to connect with more. Do get in touch if you’d like to join the project! sarah.seleznyov@bigeducation.org