麻豆区

At the centre of Building Purposeful Lives sits our graduate outcomes: to nurture young people who: Engage with an Authentic Faith, Peruse Virtue and Excellence, Create from Wisdom and Confidence, and Relate to Community through Service. Throughout 2025, our college has focused on defining, seeking and growing wisdom and a heart for lifelong learning in our staff, young people and our community.

鈥淟ove the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.鈥� (Matthew 22:37)

Our college verse in Matthew urges us to engage in the full expression of learning: emotional, spiritual, and intellectual. It鈥檚 an invitation to see wisdom as more than knowledge; it is understanding life through God鈥檚 perspective. At Norwest, we define wisdom as seeking God鈥檚 mind, looking to the Bible to help us understand ourselves, others, and the world and celebrating the diversity we find.

Professor John Hattie鈥檚 work on Visible Learning, shows that the most powerful learners are those who take ownership of their learning, who can reflect, question, and see themselves as active participants in the learning process. Hattie reminds us that when young people are supported to understand how they learn, and when teachers and parents partner to make learning visible, their capacity for growth deepens.

Across the year, several key members of staff have been wrestling with Ron Ritchhart from Harvard University鈥檚 Project Zero. Ritchhart highlights the importance of cultivating cultures of thinking within classes, where curiosity, reflection, and dialogue are valued. In such cultures, learning becomes more than acquiring facts; it becomes a way of being. These classes look different. To the onlooker they may even look chaotic. Young people are noisy, busy and active. There is rich purposeful dialogue as young people are engaged in discovery, questioning and wonder. In these classes the role of the teacher also shifts from deliverer of information and knowledge to 鈥渙rchestrator鈥� conducting, guiding and supporting the learning in a manner that engages young people.

Parents also play an essential role in shaping these cultures of thinking. The conversations that are had, the questions asked, and the attitudes modelled, all signal to our young people what we value most. When adults show that learning continues long after school ends when they read, reflect, or share new insights they demonstrate that lifelong learning is simply that 鈥� life long.

So, how can we, as a community, help our young people grow in wisdom and a love for learning?

1. Embed curiosity as a virtue

Encourage questions that go beyond the immediate 鈥淲hy do you think that happened?鈥� or 鈥淗ow might we see this differently?鈥� When curiosity is celebrated at home, young people learn that wonder is wisdom in formation.

2. Model the journey of learning yourselves

Let your children see you learning, reading, reflecting, trying new things, and even failing forward. As Hattie reminds us, one of the most powerful influences on a learner鈥檚 mindset is seeing learning modelled authentically by significant adults.

3. Connect learning with purpose and service

Help your young people see how what they learn connects to God鈥檚 world and their capacity to serve others. When learning is linked with meaning, it shapes both heart and mind wisdom in action.

When parents and educators nurture a love of learning grounded in God鈥檚 wisdom, young people begin to see themselves not just as recipients of information, but as active creators in God鈥檚 story. They develop the confidence to think deeply, act compassionately, and engage with the world thoughtfully and as a result they don鈥檛 just prepare for the future; they help shape it.

Nicole Smith
Director of Professional Learning and Accreditation 


References
Hattie, J. (2012). Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning. Routledge.
Ritchhart, R., Church, M., & Morrison, K. (2011). Making Thinking Visible: How to Promote Engagement, Understanding, and Independence for All Learners. Jossey-Bass.
Ritchhart, R. (2015). Creating Cultures of Thinking: The 8 Forces We Must Master to Truly Transform Our Schools. Jossey-Bass.