THE ART OF LEARNING

www.taolearn.com lance@taolearn.com

“Over the last few years Lance King has had a significant influence on the curriculum development of the
IB’s programmes. First with the IBCC then most recently with the Middle Years Programme and now with
the Diploma Programme. His ideas around the development of resilience and the use of learning skills
focused, guided inquiry learning in the classroom have been potentially transformative and have helped
shape the direction of all of these programmes. By the time all his present work is released his ideas will
be influencing the learning of up to 750,000 students in 3,500 schools in 120 countries.”
Malcolm Nicolson, (former) Head of Diploma Programme Development
International Baccalaureate Organization, The Hague

“Mr. King conducted full day workshops on effective examination preparation for our Year 11 and Year 13
students about to sit external examinations. I have been very impressed by what he has to offer and
thoroughly recommend his organization to other schools.”
Maggie McCorkell, (former) Executive Principal, Warwick Academy, Bermuda

"By teaching our most under-achieving boys the skills of effective study and exam preparation, along with
self-motivation and resilience building, Mr King's Art of Learning programme has dramatically lifted their
performance resulting in record exam results for Harrow School for the last seven years – the best in living
memory."
Dr Iain W Farrell, (former) Director of Studies, Harrow School, London

Go to www.taolearn.com/endorsements/ for more comments from schools and individuals about

Lance King and the Art of Learning programmes

STATISTICS:

 100% New Zealand owned private company

 in business 24 years
 home office in Raglan, New Zealand
 specialists in resilience development and ATL Skills training for teenagers
 courses delivered in over 300 schools in New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore,
Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, China, Macao, Japan, India,
Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, Ghana, the Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Germany, France, Spain,
Italy, Greece, Poland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland, Morocco and the
United Kingdom
 more than 250,000 students plus their teachers and parents through our courses to date
 many references available both national and international

PROGRAMME:

 Two different ATL skill development courses for senior students to improve the effectiveness of
their learning, their motivation, their resilience and their academic achievement at school
 One after-school seminar for teachers to introduce the ATL skills-based and resilience building
approach to teaching
 Two different evening seminars for parents to help them to understand how a focus on the skills of
effective thinking and learning both at school and at home can help their children achieve greater
academic success and achieve their full potential
  Up to three days of interactive workshop training for teaching and administration staff in ATL skills
programme design and implementation - developing effective, resilient, self-managed learners in
the standard classroom
 Consultancy in ATL skill programme design and implementation.

STUDENT COURSES:

For students 14-18 years old – all MYP & DP students

EXAM CONFIDENCE - practical skills of effective study, self-management and resilience building
necessary for high achievement in all assessment situations.
On this course students learn how to:
 develop clear purpose and use intrinsic motivators to their advantage
 reflect on and learn from past mistakes
 use positive self-talk and visualisation to generate self-motivation
 focus, concentrate and deal with distractions
 create an exam study timetable and manage time effectively for assignment completion
 set up their home study environment
 use good quality multi-sensory, internet based subject material in all their subjects
 apply key word summarising to written text
 recognise and deal with stress, overcome exam nerves
 use good exam room technique

For students 14-18 years old – all MYP & DP students

COURAGE, RESILIENCE AND FAILING WELL – developing the affective skills of resilience, self-
motivation, emotional management and perseverance to enable students to manage time, pressure and
stress, study effectively and create the mind-set necessary for high achievement in external examinations.
On this course students learn how to:
 reflect on and learn from past mistakes – ‘fail well’
 manage internal attributions for success and failure
 self-motivate, overcome challenges, cope with difficulties
 focus, concentrate and deal with distractions
 manage time effectively and work to deadlines
 turn information into understanding
 use good quality internet based resources in all subjects
 develop the characteristics of resilience to deal with stress, overcome exam nerves
 develop an internal Locus of Control and use positive psychology to their advantage
 use practical strategies for becoming a self-regulated, resilient learner

SPECIFICATIONS:
 
Course Length:
 all student courses last one full school day (5 hours minimum)
 
Student Numbers:
 usually a maximum of 30 Senior (Year 10-13, Grade 9-12) students per course but larger numbers
can be accommodated by special arrangement
 
Fees (all fees in $US nett of any withholding taxes):
 one whole day course (for one group of students) is $1000 ($33/student)
 participant numbers over those specified are charged pro-rata
Free After-School Seminar for Teachers:
After each student learning course Lance is available to run a one hour after-school seminar for teaching
staff for no charge. This seminar outlines the ATL skills framework and gives practical suggestions on how
to incorporate a focus on developing these skills into regular classroom practice. Ideas discussed will
include the structure of the skills framework, vertical and horizontal articulation, cognitive, metacognitive
and affective skills, teaching and assessing learning skills, designing inquiry-based learning around these
skills and developing self-regulated learners through helping students to take responsibility for their own
skills assessment and development.
- There is no limit on numbers for this seminar.
 
Free Evening Seminars for Parents:
To help parents learn how to get involved effectively in their own children’s learning and development
Lance is also available to run one of the following free, ninety minute seminars for parents in the evening
following a students’ or teachers’ course.

Courageous Parenting in a Digital Age:

Today’s children are a unique group in the history of the world, the first generation growing up immersed
in the internet from birth. They have their own challenges which parents often don’t understand or quite
know how to deal with. What is a healthy balance of digital and non-digital connection with the world? How
can parents help their children to understand the important differences between their real and digital
“selves”? Is constant immersion in the digital world a risk factor or a protection for children’s mental
health? How can parents best address children’s needs and prepare them well for the digital age? This
seminar will show parents how to bring up children who are courageous, resilient, and actively engaged
with both the real and the digital world.

Courage Resilience and Failing Well:

The biggest problem facing most teenagers today is maintaining positive mental health. The pressure to
both perform academically and “look good” in an increasingly competitive world driven by social media
comparison is putting unreasonable demands on many young people. This seminar is full of practical tips
for parents to help them support their children’s mental health, help them get organised, deal with
pressure and stress, focus on what is important, develop more resilience and achieve greater success at
school. The presentation will show parents the importance of ATL skills for their children’s future and will
show them how to help their children take responsibility for their own successes and failures, learn from
each one and become resilient, self-regulated learners.

 Advertising fliers will be produced and supplied to each school for no charge to help promote these
seminars
 There is no maximum limit on numbers for either seminar but a minimum of 20 parents is required

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHING STAFF

Recent workshop participants’ comments:

o “Amazing, knowledgeable, inspiring. The best PD I have had – ever!”
o “Excellent, actually practical and immediately useful for classroom practise!”
o “Excellent, informative, interesting, inspiring, engaging, excellent pace, great quality of work”
o “Insightful, practical and interesting & the best/top5 workshops I’ve attended in the past 5 years”
o “Outstanding, staff are enthused and we will undoubtedly benefit in the long run as a school”
o “Great, very patient, very well informed, excellent specialist”
o “Knowledgeable, engaging and committed to improving the standards of teaching and learning”
Go to www.taolearn.com/endorsements/ for more teachers comments from recent courses
DESIGNING ATL SKILLS-BASED PROGRAMMES

In 2012-2014 Lance worked for the International Baccalaureate Organisation as the principal designer of
the Approaches to Learning (ATL) framework for both the Middle Years and Diploma programmes. Since
then Lance has been delivering workshops in many IB schools in the design and implementation of ATL
skill-based programmes. This large body of practical experience has evolved into the professional
development programme you will see below.

One of the difficulties in designing standard courses to help all schools to move ahead down the ATL
teaching path is that every school is at a different point in their development and has different needs. In
recognition of these differences the workshop programme you will see below has been divided up into
eight specific topics each with a descriptor and a time frame for delivery.

Each topic can stand alone as a short workshop or can be built together into a maximum of two full days
of workshop delivery. Schools are encouraged to build their own programme out of the topics listed below
and to consult thoroughly with Lance before delivery to make sure that their programme meets their
specific needs.

All topics will be delivered in a workshop style and are all designed to give schools clear practical
strategies for design, mapping, vertical and horizontal articulation, implementation, administration,
assessment and teaching of ATL skills.

TEACHING WITH ATL SKILLS IN MIND

Topic 1. Introduction – 1 hour

- What are the most important 21st Century skills for a digital age?
- What is the evidence of the need for these skills in the present student population?
- What are the links between the IB ATL framework and 21st Century skills?
- What is the overall aim, rationale and structure of any ATL skills-based programme?

Topic 2. Self-Managed Learners – 1 hour

- What are the skills of the autonomous, self-managed learner?
- What is the connection between self-management and self-regulation of learning?
- How can teachers help students to take responsibility for their own learning and develop into
autonomous, self-managed learners?
- How do you teach a skill?
- What are the levels of proficiency of skill acquisition?

Topic 3. Design and Implementation of a Core Generic ATL Skills programmes - 2 hours
- Differentiating between Core Generic and Subject Based ATL skills
- Structural frameworks of Core Generic ATL skills
- Core Generic ATL skill Introduction, Practice and Mastery – across all programmes
- Achieving ATL Core Generic skill development across a student’s school life from K-12
- Mapping Core Generic ATL skill articulation horizontally and vertically
- Teaching strategies for Core Generic ATL skills
- Best practice in ATL implementation design

Topic 4. Affective ATL Skills – Teaching Resilience, Courage and Failing Well - 2 hours
- What is the significance of failure and a student’s reaction to it?
- How can students (and teachers) learn how to “fail well”?
- What is the role of attribution and causality in success, failure and motivation?
- How can students learn to be more resilient and more self-motivated?
- How can Affective ATL skills be implemented across all programmes?
 - What are strategies for “teaching” Affective ATL skills?

Topic 5. Design and Implementation of Subject Specific ATL Skills - 2 hours

- Aligning ATL skills with summative assessments – what skills are needed in each subject to give
students advantage in their summative assessments?
- What are the top 10 Subject Specific skills in each subject area?
- Subject Specific ATL skill Introduction, Practice and Mastery
- Mapping Subject Specific ATL skill articulation horizontally and vertically
- Teaching strategies for Subject Specific ATL skills

Topic 6. Metacognition and ATL Skills Assessment – 2 hours

- What is the difference between meta-cognitive knowledge and meta-cognitive performance?
- How can teachers raise meta-cognitive awareness in students?
- Is it possible to assess ATL skills in isolation?
- How can students improve their own performance through meta-cognitive reflection on subject
matter, ATL skills and teaching/learning strategies?
- Developing self-assessment practices

Topic 7 – Inquiry, Blended and Self-Managed Learning – 2 hours

- What are the teaching/learning practices that generate student motivation and achieve highest
levels of understanding?
- POSBGIL - constructing and managing different styles of inquiry learning
- Utilising good quality internet resources to design inquiry based blended learning experiences
- How can teachers design learning experiences that use ATL skills, achieve subject objectives and
promote the development of self-managed learning at the level of self-regulation?
- Aligning inquiry based teaching practice with assessment

SPECIFICATIONS:

Course Length:
 schools will need to choose topics and build appropriate length courses to meet their own needs
 full-day courses are recommended (5-6 hours) but shorter courses can be considered by
arrangement

Participant Numbers:
 all teachers can attend – minimum 15 up to maximum 100 teachers per group

Fees (all fees in $US nett of any withholding taxes):

 for courses lasting less than one full day - $1000/hour
 for one full day course of 5-6 hours - $4000
 for two full days of workshop - $6000

CONSULTANCY IN ATL SKILL PROGRAMME DESIGN,

DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

Lance and his partners Eric Lauzon eric@taolearn.com, Bianca Duceppe bianca@taolearn.com, and
Malcolm Nicolson malcolm@taolearn.com can be available either individually or as a team to assist
schools with the design and implementation of their own ATL skills programme. Their combined expertise
in teaching and learning, school management, IT and on-line learning make a powerful combination to
help resolve any issues with programme development and implementation.

SPECIFICATIONS:

Consultancy duration:
 From one day to three months residential

Fees:
 Available individually or as a team
o short term $1500/day each
o long term residential by negotiation

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EXPENSES – FOR ALL BOOKINGS

Travel and Accommodation:

 Charged separately from course fees and shared between client schools. For any international
tours every effort is made to co-ordinate destinations and minimise air travel thus limiting carbon
debt and the travel cost for each school.

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CANCELLATION POLICY – Please read carefully

A confirmation email plus payment of the deposit is considered to be a formal contract of supply and the
following cancellation policy will apply:
 The deposit payment (usually flight costs plus 25% of course fees) is non-refundable in most
situations
In case of cancellation by the client:
 Cancellation more than 8 weeks prior to course delivery – no fees will be charged
 Cancellation 4-8 weeks prior to course delivery – 50% of course fees will be charged
 Cancellation 0-4 weeks before delivery – full course fees will be charged plus any additional costs
eg. hotel bookings, printing and freight costs
In case of cancellation by The Art of Learning (this has happened only once in 24 years due to accidental
injury to the presenter)
 All initial confirmation deposit fee payments plus any refunds from airlines will be returned to the
client

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PRESENTER:

Lance G. King, B. Tech, Dip. Gifted Ed.(dist), M. Ed.(hons) – is an internationally recognized author,
teacher and workshop facilitator who, in the last 24 years, has worked with over 250,000 students
worldwide as well as many thousands of their teachers and parents. He is the creator of the Art of
Learning programme taught in over 300 schools in 35 countries and is a specialist in the direct teaching of
21st Century Skills. Within the International Baccalaureate Organisation he designed and developed the
Approaches to Learning (ATL) framework for both the MYP and DP programmes which is currently being
implemented in more than 4000 IB schools in 150 countries. He is a sought-after presenter for his
workshops for teachers, students and parents and is also the author of six books on teaching and
learning, two of which are now translated into Chinese, French, Vietnamese and Spanish. Lance is
married with four grown-up children, lives in Raglan, New Zealand and divides his time between delivering
workshops around the world and writing.
Some of the schools Lance King has worked with recently are:

in England: in Thailand:
Kings College School Shrewsbury International School
Harrow School NIST International School
Wallhampton School Regent’s School
International School of London BIS Phuket
King Fahad Academy
In China:
in Bermuda: Shanghai United International School
The Warwick Academy Utahloy International School, Zengcheng
International School of Beijing
In Hong Kong: Peking University Experimental School
Renaissance College Beijing City International School
Discovery College Dwight School, Shanghai
Bradbury School Yew Wah International School Shanghai
German Swiss International School Hangzhou International School

In Indonesia/Malaysia : In the Middle East:

ACG School Jakarta
Jakarta Intercultural School
Bandung Independent School
Mont Kiara International School
International School of Penang - Uplands
SEK International School Qatar
Dwight School Dubai
GEMS World Academy Dubai

Regards,

Lance King
www.taolearn.com

Catch Lance on Twitter

or Facebook
See comments from schools and Parents
Check out “The Importance of Failing Well”