What’s the evidence?

The following quote is attributed to Peter F. Drucker, a well-known management expert. I’m unsure of the context so maybe I’m mis-using it, but if we take the quote at its face value then it’s easy to say that – fortunately – he couldn’t be more wrong.

“Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the ‘naturals,’ the ones who somehow know how to teach. “

The myth of the ‘natural-born’ teacher dies hard, but dead it certainly is.

Education is now awash with evidence about what works in the classroom and what does not.  There is no room for the belief that teacher performance is a ‘gift’, and plenty of reason to believe that teaching and learning improves with evidence-based practice.

Robert Marzano and John Hattie are just two education experts who have spent considerable time sifting through the research into educational practice to identify the school structures and teaching pedagogies – practices, strategies, techniques and approaches – that best assist learning.

It makes sense, doesn’t it, to take advantage of all of this research?

Teachers often use pedagogies either because they are familiar and therefore comfortable or, in some cases, because they are new and therefore exciting.  Professional discussions about the value of particular pedagogies or approaches are rare.  (Yes, I acknowledge the time pressures: teacher meetings do have crowded agendas, but arguably the ‘core business’ is a focus on improving student achievement. Often agendas are crowded with non-educational items that can be dealt with in other ways made possible by technology, for instance.)

What happens in your classroom?  Which of these approaches or pedagogies do you use? (Add to the list ….)

 whole class instruction*group instruction*peer teaching*spelling lists*scheduled time for student reflection on their own progress and learning*other self-assessment strategies*worksheets*ability grouping*interest grouping*learning intentions and success criteria*oral feedback*written feedback*peer feedback* flipped classroom instruction* inquiry learning*problem-based learning*collaborative learning with or without the aid of technology*technology to enhance feedback*technology to enhance presentation skills* homework*gamification*play-based learning*negotiated curriculum*teaching grammar in the context of student reading and writing*modelling* graphic organisers*learning styles*use of portfolios, digital or otherwise*simulation*role-play*immersion* …

• Which of these approaches or pedagogies do you know for certain are evidence-based?
• Do you know for certain which approaches you use are more effective or influential than others? (Hattie argues that while most things that teachers do are effective to some degree, some things certainly work better than others. )

The conscious use of evidence-based practices in the classroom leads to improved student achievement.  Perhaps, when articulated and shared with parents, the fact of evidence-based practice, with its emphasis on the professional skill of teaching, will also lead to an enhanced public perception of the teacher’s role. Perhaps we’ll even get rid of the notion held by non-teachers such as politicians  that they ‘know’ how teachers should be teaching…

The power of words

Student attitudes to learning are shaped by the language we – and they – use in the classroom.

For instance, if we talk about the ‘work’ that they have to do, then that’s exactly how they’ll view the activities we ask them to undertake as part of their learning.  Abolish ‘work’ and replace it with ‘learning’.

When we say things like “If you’re good, I’ll let you …. (eg have some free time)”,  we’re using language that focuses on the fact that students need our permission and approval – that they are reliant on us.  We can encourage student ownership and responsibility by changing the language to something like this: “Would you like to have some free time? Well, what if you … (eg, finish off that activity)?”  This puts the onus back onto the student and gives him or her the ‘power’ to choose.

We also move responsibility to the students if we stop saying ‘should’, ‘must’ and ‘ought’.  Instead of “I think you should ….” we can say “Have you thought about …..?“  And instead of  “You really ought to ….”  we can say  “My advice is to …..”

Avoiding the use of ‘but’ when we’re giving feedback – and encouraging students to avoid its use when they’re giving peer feedback – is a way of emphasising the next step without taking away from what has already been achieved.  So, instead of saying

“Well done!  You’ve written a long and detailed answer … but it’s not very neat.”

perhaps we could say

“Well done!  You’ve written a long and detailed answer, and now what can you do to make it neater?”

Encouraging students to use language that acknowledges their own responsibility for learning – and their behaviour – is a key way to promote learning.

• Don’t let students get away with saying  “I’ll try …..”  This really amounts to providing an excuse in advance.  Follow up such comments by asking them, for example, what strategies they might use to help them be successful.
• Ask students to use ‘won’t’ instead of ‘can’t’.  For example, “I can’t do this” becomes “I won’t do this” .  If students are encouraged to say ‘won’t', they are being asked to acknowledge that they’re making a choice, and that success is likely to be the result of trying harder and perhaps asking for assistance from their teacher or peers.
• Ask students to start sentences with ‘I’.  Instead of saying “This is boring”, ask them to say “I am bored with this”.  Or instead of  “This is a waste of time”, they might say “I don’t think this is worthwhile”.  When they make the ‘I’ statement they can be asked to explain their reasons, and learning can occur in the dialogue that results.

If you’re interested in the power of language in your classroom you might like to read Choice Words – How our language affects children’s learning by Peter H. Johnston.  Thomson explores how the language we use in the classroom helps shape students as literacy learners, in particular. His other book, also highly recommended, is Opening Minds – Using language to change lives.

“Introducing a spelling test to a student by saying, ‘Let’s see how many words you know,’ is different from saying, ‘Let’s see how many words you know already.’ It is only one word, but the already suggests that any words the child knows are ahead of expectation and, most important, that there is nothing permanent about what is known and not known.”
— Peter Johnston

 

What’s the question, who’s asking and why?

Questioning is such a powerful tool, particularly as a formative assessment strategy, that it’s a pity to to overlook its role in the classroom.

Research in this area highlights the value of questioning not just to evaluate, but to interpret. This means not just listening to see if the student has the ‘correct’ answer, but instead  listening in order to identify the level of understanding and the nature of any misconceptions.

Apparently the average teacher asks around 43 questions during each teaching hour.  But how many of these questions are concerned with class management or fail to graduate beyond the level of simple recall questions? Most teachers, when asked, are fairly certain that their questioning is better than satisfactory.  One way to confirm this is by having a trusted colleague observe your lesson or lessons specifically to take note of the way in which you question – the kinds of questions you ask and the purpose of those questions.

Planning the kind of questions that will be asked of students during a lesson (mainly open questions rather than closed) and designing questions that make higher cognitive demands of students (analysis, synthesis and evaluation rather than simple recall) both need careful consideration if questions are going to yield the kinds of student responses that are in fact open to interpretation. (Making note of the kinds of questions you might ask on a given topic can be part of your lesson planning.)

Questioning is also enhanced by the use of Wait Time (sometimes called Thinking Time) and Hands Down.  Both of these techniques allow students time to process their answers.  ‘Think. Pair. Share.’ serves the same purpose and additionally involves peer interaction.  The Hands Down technique, combined with the deliberate distribution of questions around the class, is designed to encourage participation by all students – any of whom might be called on to provide an answer, rather than just those with their hands up – and frees shy or slower students from the discouragement that can stem from the dominance of more confident and extroverted students.

If students provide limited responses to your original question, further prompting questions can provide insights into what they actually know and understand.  Indeed, further prompting questions can be useful even if the answer appears to be correct.  ‘Why do you think that?’ or ‘How did you get that answer?’ are both examples of prompting questions that elicit further information that can be used in a formative way.

Sometimes as teachers we have a tendency during a class to be too aware of time, and therefore fail to engage in this prompting, or to build on inadequate or incomplete answers. We choose instead to pass on to another student who is perhaps more likely to provide the level of response we’re seeking. The resulting missed opportunities to gain information about individual students can also mean that others in the class who share the misunderstanding remain unenlightened.

Finally, who asks most of the questions in your classroom?  You or the students?  Statistics – and experience – tell us that most questions related to learning are asked by teachers and that, in fact, specific time for students to ask questions is not always a scheduled part of the lesson.  And yet the questions asked by students can tell us a great deal about their level of understanding and provide further opportunities to address gaps in their knowledge.

For questioning to be effective, the classroom culture needs to be supportive, to encourage risk-taking and to promote the understanding that learning comes from making mistakes.  Teachers model for the students how to frame worthwhile questions, how to listen attentively to answers and how to respond positively.

If you would like to explore this topic in more detail, you might like to read the relevant chapter in my book: Improving Student Achievement, A Practical Guide to Assessment for Learning by Toni Glasson. Curriculum Corporation, 2009.

Parents and NAPLAN: how concerned should you be?

NAPLAN tests in literacy and numeracy will take place on May 14, 15 and 16 for all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Both before and after those dates the media will probably feature a fair few negative articles about the test, and you might even wonder whether you should withdraw your child from the testing process.
But how much should you worry?
Firstly, it’s important to understand the purpose of the NAPLAN tests.  They’re designed
• to measure whether Australian students are meeting the outcomes outlined in the Australian Curriculum,
• to provide information about the achievements of individual students so that schools can be specific about meeting their needs, and
• to provide schools and education departments with information about the effectiveness of their educational programs.

Of course you are most interested in the impact on your child, so what’s the deal with NAPLAN?

The important thing to recognise is that NAPLAN assessment is just one part of a school’s assessment program. In no way does it provide a comprehensive picture of your child’s achievement and progress, and nor does it try to. It can, however, provide useful information about aspects of your child’s literacy and numeracy progress which might need further support. Importantly, in analysing the data provided by the NAPLAN results, schools draw on their own more extensive knowledge of individual students as part of their evaluation.
You can be reassured about this because there are various reasons why a child might not ‘perform’ on the day. Perhaps he or she is overly anxious or not feeling well, for instance. For this reason, attaching too much significance to the results can be misleading.
Having said that, I would reiterate that the information derived from NAPLAN can be extremely useful, so how can you help your child to prepare?
• Reassure children, but only if they seem to need that reassurance. If you link NAPLAN with stress, then maybe this will actually create anxiety. You know your child best, and you will know whether or not they need reassurance.
• Play down the significance of the tests, emphasising that they are just one part of the school’s assessment program and explain why they are held.
• Remind children that the focus is on effort, on doing their best, rather than on worrying about results.
• On a practical note, make sure they get a good night’s sleep before the test and a good breakfast in the morning.
Teachers will have shared examples of NAPLAN tests so that children are familiar with them. They will probably have practised answering questions.
There are four individual tests. The first one tests children’s knowledge of language conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation); the second one asks children to complete a piece of persuasive writing on a particular topic; the third one tests reading skills, and the final one tests numeracy. The specific skills that are being tested reflect the Australian Curriculum.
Otisa offers children the opportunity to practise the skills described in the Australian Curriculum.

What are pre-reading strategies?

Pre-reading strategies facilitate comprehension when reading. They work because they establish related prior knowledge that students can bring to bear in order to understand information in a text.

Here are some pre-reading strategies to try in your classroom:

1.  Give students the title of a text or a topic and ask them to work in pairs to generate a list of words that they think they might encounter when they read the text.

If you think that their prior knowledge is limited, you can provide a list of words from which they can choose.

Combine suggested words into a mega class list. While doing this, get students to explain why they think their words might be in the text. This not only helps to build vocabulary, but also to share the combined knowledge.

2.  When starting a new topic that will require a knowledge of specialist vocabulary, provide students with an electronic list of key words. Include ones that you don’t expect they will know.

Ask them to work individually to sort the words into three groups: those they know well, those they’ve perhaps heard before but are not sure of, and those they don’t know.

Then tell students to work in pairs to discuss their lists and work out the meanings of words that they don’t know or are unsure of. Their aim is to move their ‘don’t know’ words and their ‘not sure’ words into the ‘know’ group.

Depending in their progress, you might ask pairs to join with another pair and to repeat the process.

When students have moved the vast majority of their words into the ‘know’ group, ask them to pair with a new partner and ‘test’ each other on the word meanings.

Be prepared to help if necessary.

A whole class session can then identify any words still left in the ‘don’t know’ or ‘unsure’ groups.

Finally, provide students with a text that uses this vocabulary. Ask them to read it individually and test for comprehension either orally or by providing a targeted activity.

3. To encourage students to think about the content of a text, and to establish prior
knowledge, design an Anticipation Guide.

An Anticipation Guide is a series of statements related to ideas found in the text. Each one is preceded (and followed) by an Agree/Disagree choice. (Or Plus/Minus; Yes/No; True/False)

For example, in a text on Dinosaurs, some of the statements might be:
Agree/Disagree   All dinosaurs had very small brains.                              Agree/Disagree
Agree/Disagree   Paleontology is the name given to the study of fossils. Agree/Disagree

Students circle their choice of Agree/Disagree before reading the text and then again after they have finished. In this way, they – and you – can see what they have understood from their reading.

4. Other pre-reading strategies include brainstorming to create a class concept map on the topic; completing a KWL chart; sharing and discussing related visuals; designing the questions to which students would like to find answers in the text that they are about to read.

Why students need cooperative learning

“Again and again we hear that teachers value learning side-by-side with other teachers above other forms of professional learning. Educators cite the impact such learning has on their practice and treasure that they can safely try new practices and reflect with trusted colleagues.” (Tracy Crow, Learning Forward)

So teachers value cooperative learning for themselves. But what happens in the classroom? I suspect that cooperative learning is a much more widely accepted classroom configuration in the primary classroom than it is in the secondary classroom.

Primary teachers generally understand the value of cooperative learning and generally use it effectively. Secondary teachers tend to groan at the thought. Often they say it’s just too difficult. That it’s too time-consuming, that some students do little and let others do all the work, that there are some students who are too disruptive to operate effectively in groups, that there are others who are too domineering and that no-one wants to work with them.  And there’s no denying the fact that these challenges exist in many classrooms.

It’s sad to report that a teacher of senior secondary classes in a boys’ independent school once told me that he couldn’t get his students to work cooperatively because essentially they saw themselves as being in competition with others and they didn’t want to share knowledge.

There’s that word: competition. And linked with competition, of course, is the notion of summative assessment.

Using cooperative structures in a summative assessment environment works against the notion of using cooperative structures to foster learning. It’s not impossible – you can devise ways of allotting both a group grade and individual grades where you have clearly delineated the individual tasks of the group members – but it certainly makes it more difficult. It also makes it less likely that students will appreciate the intrinsic value of cooperative learning. It makes it less likely that they will value giving and receiving constructive peer feedback and it makes it less likely that they will develop the kinds of interpersonal skills that are so valued by society as a whole.

We talk a lot these days about evidence-based pedagogy so it’s good to know that research into cooperative learning tells us that ‘ higher achievement and more positive peer relationships (are) associated with cooperative rather than competitive or individualistic goal structures.’ (Roseth, Johnson & Johnson)

Perhaps, therefore, it’s worthwhile consciously planning to separate the cooperative learning from the summative assessment. Plan for students to engage in learning activities in pairs or groups, provide them with both teacher and peer feedback, make use of formative assessment to plan future teaching and learning – and then, where necessary, ask them demonstrate their learning for summative purposes in a separate activity or task.

How to prepare students for the NAPLAN writing task

Remember the advice: ‘You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it’. NAPLAN ‘practice’ is not necessarily the best way to prepare for the test. Rather, the best preparation you can give your students is to make sure they have the necessary skills and knowledge. You will, of course, introduce them to the testing genre and explain key terminology, but before that spend lots of time making certain they understand the persuasive genre that they will be asked to use in the test.
Here are some random ideas:
• As a whole class, explore lots of persuasive texts (magazine and television advertisements, posters, short letters to the editor – purpose written, if necessary) to identify what the authors are trying to do (their purpose) and how they do this. This gives you an opportunity to examine the language, both print and visual, that the author chooses, and to discuss why that choice might have been made.
• Have students work in pairs to create simple posters and advertisements whose purpose is to persuade others to do, think or buy something. Ask them to explain the strategies they used (images, font, language) and why they think these would be successful.
• Have students work in pairs or groups to role-play persuading others to do, think or buy something. Other students say whether they are in fact persuaded to do, buy or think, and identify the language (both oral and body language) that was used to persuade.
• Select several persuasive texts and assist students to identify the words used to persuade. Introduce the idea of negative and positive connotations. Ask students to assist in drawing up a list of the persuasive words used – adjectives, adverbs and adverbial phrases. Get them to suggest alternative words which might have the opposite effect on the reader.
• Encourage students to use persuasive words in their own texts. Ask them to identify their deliberate use of persuasive words and to explain their choice in terms of how they are trying to persuade their readers.
• Explore the use of connectives used to organise ideas in a persuasive text. Use an IWB or similar and highlight these on the text. Ask students to use some of these connectives in their own persuasive writing.
• Use blank templates – boxes labelled with the structural aspects of an argument such as Introduction or point of view, argument plus evidence, Conclusion. Cut up the text of a simple argument, and ask students to paste the relevant sections of the text into the relevant blank space on the template. (This can be done electronically). Model the process first before asking students to work in pairs to complete the activity. Particularly focus on the evidence that is used to support each argument (because ….) and on identifying the words that sequence ideas and that are used to link one paragraph to the next.
• Draft and write individual, group or class persuasive letters for real purposes, e.g. to express a point of view about a school issue or one that is relevant to the particular age group.
• Help students to understand how persuasive writing can be adapted for different audiences and purposes, by asking them to write on the same topic for two difference audiences.
The Persuasive Writing section of http://www.otisa.com.au provides more activities for students to work through in order to improve their understanding of the features of persuasive writing. Otisa is available on subscription to schools and parents.