New (and not so new) ways of teaching
| 10:28 UK
time, Wednesday, 29 September 2010
As a primary school teacher and mother of two small children, I watched The Classroom Experiment with some trepidation. Secondary school is quite a way off for my own children, but the thought of the transition from their small and cosy primary school to a big and scary secondary already fills me with dread.Ìý
And if Year 8 at Hertswood School is anything to go by, then not much has changed since I started studying for my GCSEs twenty years ago. Pupils sat in relative silence and put their hands up to answer questions. It seems the classroom is still a hallowed place where teachers impart their wisdom with little opportunity for discussion or questioning from the students. The more able students dominate, leaving the less able to stare blankly out of the window, falling behind in their learning but afraid to ask for help.
In the programme, Professor Dylan Wiliam is trying to change the atmosphere of the classroom to enable all children to have an opportunity to improve in all subjects. His starting point is the mantra 'smart is not something you are, smart is something you get', that leads to changes in the teachers’ lesson delivery. ÌýOverall his methods seem to work very well, with the initially resistant staff and students gradually seeing real benefits.
Professor Dylan Wiliam at Hertswood School
As a fourth generation teacher, I do have a problem with the way that the techniques are portrayed as new – I know that there are very few new teaching methods, just new packaging! Most of the methods in the show are common in primary schools – the ‘no hands up’ rule, where children are chosen to answer a question at random; dry wipe boards so the whole class can show their answers at the same time; a traffic light system to show if you are understanding a topic, need some help, or are genuinely stuck; early morning exercise to improve concentration, just like 'wake and shake'.
It’s usual practice in primary schools to give feedback orally as well as on paper, with practical guidance on how to improve a pupil’s work. The obsession with grades at Hertswood (and most other schools) means that competition is fierce within the class, and ‘level driven’. Professor William’s idea of giving a comment means the students are given concrete ways as to how to perfect their work which they are more likely to take notice of in the absence of a grade. Ìý
I’m guessing the reason that old-fashioned ways of teaching still exist is that it makes it easier to control the behaviour of the class. If you allow children’s input in a more natural way, with discussion and questioning, the lesson can be disrupted and may not follow the teacher’s plan. ÌýWith the National CurriculumÌý²¹²Ô»å Ìý²¹²Ô»å pressure to perform in league tables, it’s no surprise that many teachers opt to deliver the lesson to a more passive crowd of students.Ìý
I’m sure that there are plenty of secondary schools that employ more child-friendly techniques – I hope my kids will go to one! ÌýBut if these methods do prevail amongst secondary teachers, after all one in five students now leave school without basic , then primary schools could definitely teach them a lesson in how to boost young people’s achievement.Ìý
Hannah Hunter is a member of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ parent panel.
Find out more about the programme ÌýThe Classroom Experiment,ÌýÌýpart of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Two School Season.
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Comment number 1.
At 29th Sep 2010, keeffeeley wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 2.
At 30th Sep 2010, Patrick Hampshire wrote:I enjoyed the programmes and was pleased with the success but I think there is an issue that needs to be tackled, especially with Ofsted.
The levels of attainment were never intended to be used as progress statements. I have looked at how they are used in schools and often the way levels are artificially divided up to present 'so-called' progress is merely artifical. I agree with the teachers who talked about the pressure they were under to do levelled assessments and the pressure from pupils to ask for levels and sub-levels indicating progress. What I found was that progress wasn't actually being made and that the levels were being abused. What was observed was plateau-ing not progress.
At the root of much of this has been the policy of Ofsted to ask for levels not at the end of key stages but during them - especially in pupil interviews. This perncious and artifical practice needs to stop.
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Comment number 3.
At 30th Sep 2010, Leon Cych wrote:It is quite simple - if you make effective teaching techniques transparent to both teachers and children and make information, pedagogy and knowledge and skills transfer explicit and democratic rather than exclusive and hermetic, people will teach and learn things in more effective ways. It is called mentoring and professional development. If you lock people away into boxes and make them learn in exclusive channels - then that only suits those people who can effectively use those particular protocols.
Ofsted is not a mentoring organisation - it does not do formative inspection merely summative cursory practice. Look at TeachMeets where teachers come together to show and develop each others' practice - - it's not rocket science. Make good practice, teaching and learning transparent and explicit and model it well for people and they improve. Lock it away and it is hermetically sealed and so are mistakes.
This program is, at last , mainstreaming ideas based on good research and effective ways forwards - about time.
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Comment number 4.
At 30th Sep 2010, Hannah Hunter wrote:@ keefeeley - the scottish curriculum does look much more enlightened in terms of both teaching and learning, with actual reference to practical educational theory (that has been proven to get results). I have to admit to have trained relatively recently at the Institute of Education, so perhaps that's what made William's philosphies and theories seem more usual to me, and the teaching methods at Hertswood so alien.
@ Patrick Hampshire - The idea of constantly having (essentially meaningless)levels given to students cannot fail to be divisive and unhelpful to children's learning - with all the boxes to tick, it's easy for teachers to lose sight of the fact that we are educating individual children, not creating good looking league tables/ofsted reports.
@Eyebeams - I agree that it's crucial that teaching and learning is practiced in a safe, democratic environment. Part of the problem is that there's a culture of resistance to change in some schools, and poor access to high quality professional development - I know that I have been to several terrible insets run by the local authority.
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Comment number 5.
At 4th Oct 2010, secteacher wrote:I am a mature entrant into the teaching profession becoming a teacher at the tender age of 49. I have now ben teaching for 6 years in an inner city school with high levels of SEN intake 40% non white pupils. I have seen some excellent practice in this time and have used the No hands up rule, traffic lights, and mini whiteboards in that time and still do, so these are not NEW practices.
I have to say I found this program really infuriating in its condemnation of what is common practice in many secondary schools. I understand that some of the teachers shown in the program were NQT's and so they may not have been exposed to these techniques in their training hence their apparent ignorance of these tools.
Many of the writers on this blog do not seen to appreciate the difference between Primary schools and Secondary schools.
A primary teacher is normally responsible for perhaps one class of 30 pupils together with a teaching assistant for a whole year, hence has the time to get to know these pupils well and train them using these tools.
A Secondary teacher may only see each class of 30+ pupils for an hour each week depending on the timetable and may see up to 6 different classes each day. Often without a teaching assistant as only the very poorly behaved or low ability pupil are provided support. With this turnover of classes and with the differing dynamics of year 7 to year 11 classes many of these techniques have a limited life as year 11 pupils will tend to be insulted if you treat them as primary pupils
At the end a plea! can the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ take Prof Williams and put him in an inner city school like the one I teach get him in front of a class and see if his ideas work as well in this environment with a year 10 or year 11 class.
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