Last Monday we engaged with Samantha Fiallo who starred as a High Tech High student in the award-winning film about the transformation of schooling Most Likely to Succeed.
It has been 10 years since the film was released and we chatted with her about the film, the experience of being a student there and how that chapter has impacted her life.
It was a wonderful chat, and her mum joined us too so we were able to ask her a couple of questions.
If you missed the live session then you can sit back and watch the recording here: https://youtu.be/1ewOxH5kGHA
Some of the feedback so far:
It was enlightening to spend some time with a student who has been through the journey of modern-day education. As educators we all have dreams and hopes for our students but to have the opportunity to unpack and reflect with Samantha took the process a step further. The key themes I noticed were confronting fear, increased confidence to tackle any challenge/assessment/project, viewing failure as a means to produce a better product, learning how to harness the skills of others and a deep understanding of her approach to learning. It was also great to hear Samantha talk about the processes & methodologies she picked up during her time at HTH. It was really affirming to see.
It’s obvious what a positive impact the HTH approach had for Samantha and her family, as she had many memorable experiences and was able to readily recall the benefits of the projects she undertook. It’s also clear that a caring and enthusiastic attitude by teachers towards students and their learning is a critical component.
I loved Samantha’s response, about the “little ways” teachers can support their students, and especially how they can “change their students’ approach to learning”. To me, that is the essence of teaching – trying to help our students love learning. That’s why I do what I do, to help students love learning. So I really appreciated the reminder.
- Long-term retention of skills and knowledge because it was experiential.
- Life-long application of soft-skills learned in career and tertiary study.
- A passion for learning unveiled by diverse opportunities.
- Parental concerns about the unknown and risk but journeying in partnership with trust.
- Flourishing as a person by being welcome, valued, known and trusted.
- A safe place for learners to be vulnerable and fail, for learning.
- Adult guides who didn’t have a rigid planned experience mapped out and have capacity to be flexible.
- Explicit articulation of challenges, mess ups, adaptations, and strategies.
- A genuine desire to engage, inquire, and learn more.
- Shifting focus from being all about the A+ to deeply valuing the learning.
- Academic success includes valuing the learning process and the product.
- Sharing and celebrating learning in a community of learners and learning.
There were some great questions and comments which reinforced the hard work and efforts by all our schools in engaging in Contemporary Learning.
Kim Powell
Learning Leader: Innovation
