Stirling Building Bridges case study
PDF file: Stirling Building Bridges case studyWallace High School and Raploch Primary School
Wallace High School, with a roll of 900, and Raploch Primary, with a roll of 200, are located in areas of multiple deprivation. Both have high levels of clothing and footwear grants and are in the top 10 per cent of the most deprived schools in Scotland.
The project was to develop in two phases. Awareness raising of the learning and teaching issues across sectors would be followed by the identification of a common starting point.
That starting point would be common approaches to note taking for functional writing. Various methodologies were considered before deciding upon examining the effectiveness of mind mapping for note taking. Subsequently, mind mapping was introduced into P5/6 and P6 and into some science and English classes in the high school.
The central concern in secondary English and science classes was the frequency with which pupils copied out chunks of texts from sources. The primary school experience was similar, with children unable to recognise key facts or to organise information effectively. Mind mapping was introduced via modelling. Teachers noted increased motivation, more coherent and organised writing and higher levels of enjoyment, particularly among boys.
The secondary school librarian, an experienced ‘mind mapper’, also used the technique as part of the S1 Information Skills course with similar outcomes.
The technique is to be replicated in other areas of the secondary curriculum, adopted by all classes in the primary and taken forward as part of the cluster development plan.