Thinking about...improving pupils' ability to speak well

About five years ago, whilst observing an A-Level lesson, I had a light-bulb moment. As my colleague was questioning students within his lesson, it was evident that they had developed good subject knowledge. However, it was apparent that they had difficulty articulating their knowledge in a clear and concise manner and in applying it appropriately to actually answer the question being asked.  The light bulb moment was that these same students had the same difficulty in examinations with their written answers. Since this moment I have been focused on develop oracy as an integral component of teaching and learning. David Didau, in the Secret of Literacy, emphasises that pupils’ ability to write well depends on their ability to speak well. He recommends that teachers model and encourage speech and academic language that pupils need to access our subjects.

Developing practices to ensure questions challenge learners, promote depth in discussion and promote the use of Standard English has been a whole school focus this year. This post outlines our approach to how high quality discussion have become custom and practice in every classroom.

High quality questions need to be posed if pupils are to develop their oracy skills. Planned questions are therefore a priority. Pupils don’t waste time recording objectives, we have banned differentiated outcomes but what we do insist on, is that teachers share a ‘challenging question’. During the planning process teachers identify the most important questions that they want pupils to be able to answer. These questions help teachers assess to what extent pupils have mastered key knowledge and enable them to identify and address common misconceptions. Most importantly, these questions, require pupils to think!

This question grid is in every teacher planner to help support this process. Teachers like the simplicity of this resource and how easily can be displayed. A teacher obviously can’t plan every question but this is an easy ‘go-to’ resource that does improve the quality of questions that teachers pose live within the classroom.

The Pose-Pause-Pounce-Bounce questioning technique is utilised to provide the foundations of effective classroom discussions. Posing a challenging question at the start of the lesson enables pupils to think about how they might respond and it allows them to develop their answers throughout the lesson. The ‘bouncing’ element of the technique is essential to improving spoken language and to deepen thinking.

Pupils stand up to answer questions in lessons. I have been very mindful that this practice needs to have an impact and there is a danger that it could become a mechanical process. The rational for this strategy is that it is used to develop pupils’ confidence and to form the expectation that they must contribute to the learning in every lesson. However, it is a strategy that contributes to creating a ‘growth-mindset’ culture. Once a pupil has answered a question they are required to remain standing whilst the response is ‘bounced’ around the room. Pupils are encouraged to develop answers and it is emphasised that this is advantageous to the learning of the whole class. Pupils are praised for sparking ideas that generate discussions across the classroom. Inaccuracies are seen as opportunities to develop an answer rather than perceived as a mistake. Emphasis is placed on the discussion rather than on any one answer; developing the belief that every pupil standing has equally contributed to a high quality answer.

Rich and focused discussions are developed by using an ABC approach. I first discovered this when reading ‘making every lesson count’ (Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby). This approach ensures that pupils actively listen and acknowledge the thoughts of their peers and it provides them with a structure to help them consider how they phrase their answers. We have ABC resources that are displayed in every classroom to encourage learners to agree with, build on and challenge their peers. 

Finally we use the phrase ‘say it in a sentence’ to ensure that pupils answer questions using Standard English, in full sentences and without using slang. As an inner city school and a school with a high proportion of EAL pupils this is really important. Pupils easily develop bad habits; we need to prevent them from using slang when it is inappropriate. That phrase is used to remind pupils how they are expected to speak, and to remind teachers of their responsibility to develop answers that do not only demonstrate knowledge and understanding, but are also articulated to a high standard. 

The consistency with which this is applied across whole school determines its success. It has worked because all teachers have bought into the strategies and understand the importance of developing pupils’ ability to speak well. As a result pupils are developing good habits and have started to become less reliant on the resources within the classrooms. They have started to become more aware of their standard of English and have started correcting themselves. We were particulary proud of the following extract taken from a report following a QA visit by an ex-HMI:

‘On a tour of the school with the Headteacher to Mathematics, English and Music classes I was struck by the very high expectations of teaching and learning in every classroom. Teachers are working hard to develop pupils’ verbal communication skills alongside the basics of numeracy, literacy and ICT. All pupils were able to explain what they were learning and how. Pupils told me they are not allowed to use ‘slang’ words in school and are very proud of their ability to discuss and debate issues with articulacy and coherence’.

Thinking about... the rules for learning

This post presents my previous four posts on the 'rules for learning' into one, easy to digest, table. 

The table includes a definition for learning. It sounds obvious but all teachers should really share a common definition of what learning actually is. 

The table outlines a summary of of how learning occurs. I, myself, did not know enough about how my pupils actually learn and I believe that this it true of the majority of my colleagues and the profession as a whole. 

The remainder of the table presents the rules of learning. Each of the eight rules clearly links back to the summary of how learning occurs, includes a brief explanation and outlines some strategies of what this might look like in the classroom.   

The Rules for Learning

For more detailed information on the above rules please read the four blogs below:

• Part One - An introduction to the rules of learning and a summary of how learning occurs. 
• Part Two - Rules one, two and three. 
• Part Three - Rules four, five and six. 
• Part Four - Rules seven and eight. 

Please consider that I do not claim to be an expert on cognitive research. I am simply documenting the discoveries of my journey (so far) in the hope that colleagues will join me in the attempt to becoming more aware of what really makes a difference to learning. Please get in touch and let me know your thoughts and/or direct me to what I am still yet to discover. 

Thinking about... what really makes a difference to learning (part four)

This blog is the fourth and final part in the series; 'what really makes a difference to learning'. Read part one here.

This series outlines the research I have conducted into learning. I have collated and summarised the research into eight easily digestable 'rules for learning'. This blog outlines the final two, rules 7 and 8.

Rule 7 - Pupils remember (learn) what they think about 

Pupils remember what they think about and therefore the best teachers ensure pupils spend time thinking about the meaning of what they are learning.

One way to ensure pupils spend time engaged in thinking about what they are learning is through elaboration. Elaboration involves pupils giving new material meaning by expressing it in their own words and connecting it with what they already know.

The more an individual can elaborate on how new learning relates to what they already know, the stronger the grasp on new learning will be, and a greater number of connections will be created to remember it later. Simply strategies that can be employed within the classroom include:

•  Making links to other previously leant material.
• Pupils explaining concepts in their own words. 
• Asking pupils to relate concepts to their life outside of the classroom
• A powerful form of elaboration is creating a metaphor or visual image. 

Generation is another effective strategy as it makes the mind more receptive to new learning. It is attempting to answer a question or solve a problem before being shown the answer or solution. The following are generation tasks: 

•  Reading and filling in the blanks (more effective than simply reading)
• Experimental learning/problem solving.
• Skim reading and followed by explaining the key ideas that you expect to find, why it is useful to read it and how it might link to prior learning.
• Homework – solve problems before getting to class. 

Reflection - Is a combination of elaboration and retrieval practice that adds layers and strengthens skills.

Taking the time to review what has been learnt through metacognitive questions and ‘writing to learn’. Following lessons or topics pupils might be required to ‘write to learn’ by generating their own written summaries of the key ideas they have learnt.  For example; restating concepts in their own words and elaborating on the subject by generating examples of them.

One final suggestion to ensure pupils think about what you want them to learn is to organise learning by creating a conflict around a conflict. In other words, the material we want pupils to know is the answer to a question and the question generates that conflict. Start with the material you want pupils to learn and work backwards to the intellectual question it poses. This can become a real aid to learning because if it is done successfully you are engaging pupils with the actual substance of the discipline. Simple, yet effective, strategies can be used to create a conflict:

• Replace learning objectives with a key question. 
• Planned questions.
• Dialogic questioning.

Rule 8 - The pupils don’t know when they are learning

Individuals are poor judges of when they are learning and when they are not. When learning is hard, slow and feels less productive pupils tend to resort to strategies that feel more beneficial, unaware that these are temporary.

Poor study techniques such as re-reading and highlighting text provides the illusions of mastery. Pupils read a text and because they can fluently follow it gives them the illusion that they know it. However, when put to the test they cannot recall the critical ideas or apply them in a new context.

Pupils prefer reading and highlighting because it feels more fluent and it ‘feels like learning’. However, the struggles experienced with trying to recall information is far more beneficial. It can, for pupils, feel frustrating but the effort actually increases your ability to recall in the future. Also, studying something after trying to recall it helps an individual learn it better than if they had not tried to recall it.

Having established what doesn’t work, pupils need to engage in more effective revision strategies that work well and make a difference to learning. These could include:

• Retrieval Practice - Pupils should engage in practice testing and regular low stake self-quizzing.
• Self-testing should be spaced out and interleaved with different topics.
• Why? Should become the main form of studying in place of re-reading. It arrests forgetting, improves storage strength and helps recall in the future (increases retrieval strength).
• Self-explanation – pupils should consider how new information can be linked to what they already know. This is where mind maps – might come in useful. The process of creating the mind map is probably more useful than the finished product itself.
• One of the most effective strategies for improving pupils’ ability to retain information is explicitly educating students about the research on effective learning strategies.  Educators are encouraged to be transparent about the frustrations but the importance of the ‘testing effect’ and the principle of ‘desirable difficulties’ whilst warning them of the ‘illusions of knowing’. 

Thinking about... what really makes a difference to learning (part three)

This blog is the third part in the series; 'what really makes a difference to learning'. Part one can be found here and part two here. 

This series outlines the research I have conducted into learning. I have collated and summarised the research into nine easily digestable 'rules for learning'. This blog outlines rules 4-6. 

Rule 4 – Pupils need more tests!

Generally, tests are considered for assessment purposes only. Teachers, in the main, have a negative perception of testing due to the significant increases in the number of tests that pupils now have to take during their school careers. However, they turn out to actually be one of the most effective tools for learning; quizzing and low stakes testing are crucial to optimise learning.

Testing has to be thought of as in a pedagogical sense. Testing, when used this way, engages learners in practicing recalling memories (information learnt). ‘The act of retrieving a memory changes the memory, making it easier to retrieve again later’. Repeated recall appears to help memory consolidate into cohesive representation in the brain to strengthen and multiply the neural routes by which the knowledge can later be retrieved. Research proves that practicing retrieval makes learning stick far better than re-exposure.

Retrieval practice is one of the most successful strategies for learning and the more effortful the retrieval the stronger the benefit. The greater the effort to retrieve learning, provided that there is high rates of success, the more learning is strengthen by retrieval. 

Rule 5 - Difficulties in learning are desirable

‘Learning is deeper and more durable when it is effortful’

The recent drive to increase the level of ‘challenge’ in lessons is an important one, but only if this challenge is focused and achievable. Teachers should take into account the expected knowledge, concepts and skills in their subject and teach just beyond this point. This way the most challenging assessment material that pupils face will not be the most challenging material they are exposed to.

Memory is the residue of thought and therefore challenges should ensure that pupils are thinking about subject content.

Rule 6 – Forgetting is the key to remembering

Forgetting does not mean information is lost but rather it is inaccessible as a result of disuse. However, it does remain in memory. Considering this forgetting is actually a desirable and important part of learning. As information is forgotten, retrieval strength decreases. When the information is presented again additional levels of learning are achieved. The struggle to recall the information improves connections within memory which leads to greater storage strength. 

Space Out Retrieval Practice 

It is important to leave a considerable amount of time between sessions of retrieval to take advantage of forgetting.

The misconception is that massed practice can lead to embedding something into long-term memory. Although this might lead to increased performance it is not conducive to learning. This is because when retrieval strength is high additional study has no effect on storage strength. When ideas have been forgotten the effort to recall them reconstructs the learning from long-term memory and makes the idea more memorable and connects it to other knowledge more recently learnt.

Mix it Up

Blocked practice where by an individual masters one type of problem before progressing onto another type of problem feels more productive. However, the mixing up of problems increases the ability to discriminate between different types of problems, helps to better spot the underlying structure of a problem and improves transfer in a later test.

In my next post I will present the final three rules (rules 7 and 8).