Project Based Learning: Critical Friends Protocol

Every term we come together as a team to make a Project Based Learning plan. We take many things into account to come up with a relevant, engaging plan. Some of these things include: our children's needs, curriculum gaps, ideas that would engage curiosity, current world issues etc We then bring our plan to a Critical Friends Protocol Meeting. We meet another team in the school and share our ideas. The other team critically analyse our plan and give us feedback. We have done this a few times now and I find it to be a very valuable tool. It is a great idea as another team confirms our ideas so we know it is a good way to procede, they question our ideas which makes us think deeper about our reasoning behind it and they give us new ideas which we haven't thought of. The feedback is very beneficial. We go away as a team and take on board what the other team has said. We enhance our work through the feedback and in doing the same to the other teams PBL we have contributed and enhanced theirs. This process makes us all accountable in striving for the Gold Standard Project Based Learning which we want to deliever to our children.