Big Picture
The Big Picture Education design is a dynamic approach to learning that has been changing the lives of students, educators, and communities in Australia since 2006. The design is based on four basic principles:
- Learning must be based on each student’s interests and needs.
- Curriculum must be relevant to the students and allow them to do real work outside of school.
- Students must connect to adult mentors outside the school who share the interests and support the learning of the students.
- Students’ development and their abilities must be measured by the quality of their work and how this work changes them.
Big Picture Learning Australia has transformed the traditional ‘grammar’ of schooling in terms of curriculum, pedagogy, organisation and assessment, and has now re-designed final year certification. The International Big Picture Learning Credential (IBPLC) is awarded to graduating Big Picture students on pathways to:
- employment
- further training
- university
Based upon the Big Picture Learning Goals, the credential is designed to capture and measure a broader array of student capacities, experiences and strengths than traditional assessment regimes.
For more information on Big Picture Learning Australia, visit their website
There are a number of design elements that, in combination, distinguish Big Picture Education from other designs of schooling. These are:
1. Academic rigour: Head, heart and hand
2. Leaving to learn: LTI’s
3. Personalisation: One student at a time
4. Authentic assessment
5. Collaboration for learning
6. Learning in advisory
7. Trust, respect and care
8. Everyone’s a leader
9. Families are enrolled too
10. Creating futures
11. Teachers and leaders are learners too
12. Diverse and enduring partnerships
Click for more information on the Big Picture Distinguishers
The International Big Picture Learning Credential is a new, personalised form of assessment. It evaluates and recognises the capacities, experiences and qualities of secondary school graduates from diverse cultures and backgrounds more comprehensively than exam-based certification systems.
Unlike other forms of assessment, no attempt is made to rank or scale students against each other. Their achievements are judged on demonstrations and observations of performance throughout their schooling against six specially constructed assessment frames in the areas of: Knowing how to learn, Empirical reasoning, Quantitative reasoning, Social reasoning, Communication and Personal qualities.
The International Big Picture Learning Credential (IBPLC) offers a rigorous non-ATAR pathway from secondary to tertiary study that is currently accepted by 17 universities around Australia, including the Australian National University (ANU), University of Technology Sydney (UTS), University of Wollongong (UoW) and Western Sydney University (WSU).
The credential is warranted by the University of Melbourne and hosted on the UAC platform Credfolio.
Students have had various pathways through Big Picture such as university, TAFE/Apprenticeship, further study (college) and employment. Access student portfolios via this document: Portfolio links
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