First Graduates of Level 2 Integrated Education Certificate

Congratulations to students from Raheen Wood ALFA school in Ireland, who are the first graduates of the Crossfields Institute Level 2 Integrated Education Certificate. Their teacher, Cormac Griffith, is a recent graduate from the Post-Graduate Certificate in the Philosophy and Practice of Integrative Education, delivered by Crossfields Learning. The students’ Independent Projects were inspiring and very diverse, and they confidently demonstrated development of their Creative Thinking Skills. Find out more about the ACTS project and Creative Thinking Skills, and the suite of qualifications developed by Crossfields Institute with Creative Thinking Skills and transdisciplinarity at their core.

Teacher Cormac Griffith with 5 of the Raheen Wood ALFA students who received their Crossfields Level 2 Integrated Education Certificates.

New Integrated Education qualification for schools

Crossfields Institute is delighted to announce that a new qualification for schools has been launched.

Crossfields Institute Level 2 Integrated Education Diploma

is now open for registrations and interested schools are invited to seek centre approval.

This qualification is for students aged 14 and over and contains twelve modules, three of which are mandatory. The qualification delivers a broad curriculum which will be taught and assessed using transdisciplinary work, with a focus on collaborative and individual project work and problem solving.  It includes an Independent Project module that enables students to follow their passion and explore an interest or career aspiration in depth and modules that assess Creative Thinking Skills, and Personal and Social Learning Skills, drawing on formal, non-formal and informal learning and any area of the taught curriculum.

This qualification has been developed to encourage more transdisciplinary work across subjects, increase students’ ability to think laterally and work creatively. As schools are increasingly constrained by knowledge-focused, high stakes exam based qualifications this provides an opportunity for students to think for themselves and develop as more autonomous learners. This approach is in direct response to the needs of employers who want more creative thinking in their future employees.

This qualification was developed as a result of the ACTS project (https://acts.cloud/) which was recognised and funded by Erasmus+ (Key Action 2, School Education Strategic Partnership Project 2015). The project was led by the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (UK) in partnership with Sammenslutningen af frie Rudolf Steiner skoler i Danmark (Denmark); Steinerskoleforbundet (Norway); Steinerkasvatuksen liitto (Finland) and Crossfields Institute. Together, the four national federations of Steiner Waldorf Schools brought a wealth of curriculum and pedagogical expertise to the project and development of this qualification.

Crossfields Institute is a Gloucestershire based education charity, approved by Ofqual (the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulations in England) as an awarding organisation. The Institute specialises in the development of qualifications that take an integrative, human-centred approach to learning and development.

Any schools who are interested in finding out more about offering this qualification should contact qualityassurance@crossfieldsinstitute.com

New Integrated Education qualifications for schools

Crossfields Institute is delighted to announce that two new qualifications for schools have been launched.

Crossfields Institute Level 2 Integrated Education Certificate
Crossfields Institute Level 3 Integrated Education Certificate

are now open for registrations and interested schools are invited to seek centre approval.

These qualifications are for students age 14+ (Level 2) and age 16+ (Level 3) and contain two modules. An Independent Project enables students to follow their passion and explore an interest or career aspiration in depth whilst developing the ability to self-direct and coordinate their own learning. Creative Thinking Skills develop the skills of making connections and using different perspectives to communicate ideas or concepts. Students will also develop skills of reflection and making reasoned judgments. The Creative Thinking Skills module draws on formal, non-formal and informal learning and any area of the taught curriculum.

These qualifications were developed as a result of the ACTS project (https://acts.cloud/) which was recognised and funded by Erasmus+ (Key Action 2, School Education Strategic Partnership Project 2015). The project was led by the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship (UK) in partnership with Sammenslutningen af frie Rudolf Steiner skoler i Danmark (Denmark); Steinerskoleforbundet (Norway); Steinerkasvatuksen liitto (Finland) and Crossfields Institute. Together, the four national federations of Steiner Waldorf Schools brought a wealth of curriculum and pedagogical expertise to the project and development of this qualification.

Crossfields Institute is a Gloucestershire based education charity, approved by Ofqual (the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulations in England) as an awarding organisation. The Institute specialises in the development of qualifications that take an integrative, human-centred approach to learning and development.

Any schools who are interested in finding out more about offering these qualifications should contact qualityassurance@crossfieldsinstitute.com

Pisa tests: UK lags behind in global school rankings

Results from the recent Pisa test confirms at least two important points: 1) teacher education is vital and more work is needed to address the situation in the UK but 2) the Pisa test itself focuses on a very particular kind of learning and does not assess other ways of knowing or take into account our human diversity. Crossfields Institute in collaboration with the Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship are launching a new teacher education programme (with a focus on 14-19 education) in September 2017. This programme will focus on gaining competence in teaching, learning and assessment, the core principles of the new ACTS Diploma, such as transdisciplinary approaches, the integration of Creative Thinking Skills, Steiner pedagogy and more. Follow the developments by keeping in touch. If you wish to hear more, write to charlotte@crossfieldsinstitute.com