How St Aloysius’ College gave pupils ownership of their learning

Geography teacher Ross McLean wanted to introduce a more interactive and independent learning model in his teaching. As part of the Geography dept and Eco Lead at St Aloysius College in Glasgow, learning for sustainability is his passion. In 2025 he discovered ITZA and it looked like a way forward. Before launching it with his classes, he spent time familiarising himself with the content, saying that he, “wanted to test the product before I let pupils loose on it.” Getting to know the platform took him a couple of hours but he says, “Once you’ve done it once, it takes far less time.”

The One Planet Challenge within ITZA covers ground that often sits at the edges of the curriculum. Ross saw it as, “a real place to look at conservation education.”

Starting with the Eco Club

Ross brought the One Planet Challenge to the school’s eco and sustainability group. Around 10 pupils took it on and he says, “They really kind of ran with it.” Over two to three months, several pupils completed the challenge. Some went on to apply for the prestigious Villar’s programme, a global youth leadership initiative run by the Villars Institut (https://villarsinstitute.org/)e in Switzerland. One pupil won a place and gained an amazing experience with young leaders from all over the world.

He went on to use it in class too. Last school year that meant three or four periods, with about 20 minutes each time set aside for independent work. He is planning for more this year.

Pupils in the driving seat

Pupils worked on their own for 80 to 90% of that time. Ross kept the direction light: “Just please go and look at one of these areas.” After that, it was “free rein”.

ITZA has many learning pathways, so pupils could follow different topics within the same focus.

“There is no right answer in that regard. There are multiple pathways and multiple ways that you can go, and it’s equally as successful.”

The biggest surprise came from his quietest pupils. In a structured lesson, even cold calling got a sheepish answer. Given room to explore, they came to him.

“They wanted to tell me about it rather than me telling them what they should be learning.”

“It was something that they found out themselves.”

The class favourite? The thorny dragon in Australia. Its spiky body helps it avoid losing water through its skin. Pupils found it amazing and wondered why we don’t have spikes too?

Not a filler

Ross’s role changed during these lessons, but it didn’t shrink.

“It becomes much more facilitator rather than leader, but facilitating is also leadership.”

Independent learning still needs planning. Different pathways bring different answers. The teacher has to bring that learning back together and review it.”

Pupils got into it fast, especially the videos. But they also had to read and work with other sources. Ross sees that as helping them develop, “a different way of thinking”.

Next: GetSet with S1

This year Ross plans to bring GetSet to all of S1 at the school. Currently that is 72 pupils across three classes of 24 to 25.

GetSet gives pupils a clear first step into independent learning. Each session opens with a classroom hook, then 20 minutes of independent work. He thinks, “that structure will be more beneficial in the classroom because teachers can actually physically allocate that timing.”

And if a session runs over? “You roll with that.”

His message to other teachers

In Scotland, learning for sustainability is an entitlement. But Ross points out that ITZA goes much wider: financial literacy, physics, classics, history. “There’s space for everybody.”

“Chalk and talk isn’t something that we should be promoting anymore. We should be utilising every tool in our arsenal to make teaching easier and education better.”

Ross McLean, Teacher of Geography and Lead Eco Teacher, St Aloysius' College, Glasgow, Scotland.

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GetSet is here to help students become independent learners and explore a growing range of real-world subjects, and our learning resources for teachers looking to bring the class together on subjects beyond their specialism. From Financial Literacy and Space Science to Sustainability and Creative Arts.