Thinking about...what we can learn from John Wooden

 John Wooden led his basketball teams to ten national championships in twelve years and is regarded as one of the greatest sport coaches in History. However, it is not his success and achievements that make Wooden so popular, it is the way he lived his life. His integrity, class and humility have inspired people from all walks of life and I believe the that teachers, schools and the education system can learn a lot from him.  

The road is better than the end

After Wooden had retired he was asked if he missed it [coaching basketball]. He explained that he missed the practices and working with the young people under his supervision but that he did not miss the games and the tournaments. Wooden expressed that the importance is in the preparation and not the outcome. He felt that ensuring his players were prepared to perform at their potential would have a greater influence on the result than constantly stressing over the outcome. Does your school focus on the road or on the end?  In education, like basketball, an outcome is inevitable; we can’t avoid the examinations that our pupils will sit at the end of their five years of schooling. We can, however, focus more on how they might grown as an individual throughout their five-year journey. We can make sure that our young people are defined by their character and not by their exam results.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation

Wooden disregarded reputation because it was something that he had no control over. He felt that his teams couldn’t necessarily control if they win or lose but they could control how they played the game.  Wooden believed that success is what you consistently do and that you cannot be defined by a single moment, game or tournament. He would watch how his team played to determine if they were successful or not. Wooden would often say that ‘there were games when we scored more than the opposition but we had lost and vice versa’. In education, do we care how well young people play the game or are we only concerned with their results? Some schools become so focused on their reputation, on their results and on their Ofsted grading that they lose focus of what matters. The children!  

John Wooden was asked, after one outstanding season, if this was his best job and he replied that he wouldn’t know for twenty years. He explained that it is what your youngsters do after they have left your supervision that really determines whether or not you have done a good job. What good are a school’s results, or its reputation, if its pupils fail to make a positive contribution to and succeed within society?

Never mention winning

Ironically, those schools that become overly focused on winning (results and Ofsted grades) are more likely to fail (by their own standards). Wooden himself has experienced this. When discussing the 16 years prior to his first championship title he explained, ashamedly, that there were times when he wanted to win so much that he hurt his team’s chances by overworking his players or trying to give them too much. In education we are currently facing a workload crisis; a number of teachers are reportedly leaving the profession due to being over worked and over stressed. Perhaps, as Wooden suggested, we are hurting our chances of being successful as we are focused too much on winning. We are focused too much on what Ofsted want. If we want to succeed; take a step back, let teachers do their job and stop putting the emphasis on winning.

Real happiness and success comes from the things that cannot be taken away from you

Perhaps we need to revisit our moral purpose, the reason we got involved in the profession and what it actually means to be an educator. When reflecting on his life, Wooden stated, that true success can only be measured by the lasting things in life, those things that cannot be taken away.  He explained that he always tried to live his life by the motto: ‘you can’t have a perfect day without doing something for another without any thought of return’. How many perfect days have you had recently? In education are we fulfilling our moral purpose and allowing our pupils to fulfil their potential? Or are we teaching in return for good results or an Ofsted grade? John Wooden will not be remembered as being a winner but for being successful. It is not the ten national championships that gravitate people towards him but rather the influence and inspiration he had on his players and those who he worked with. Perhaps our education system can learn the difference between winning and success from John Wooden and focus a little more on character and less on reputation.  

Thinking about... my visit to Michaela

Michaela: ‘You’ll leave with more questions than answers’ 

Barry Smith, Deputy Headteacher at Michaela, wasn’t wrong. After two days at the school, my head is spinning. I am still trying to digest and comprehend everything that I have witnessed and heard. I am unsure of exactly how I feel about Michaela and I have been left pondering if I want to join the revolution.

During her introduction to Michaela’s ‘The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers’ event on Saturday morning Katharine Birbalsingh, the Headteacher of Michaela, exclaimed that ‘We’re thinking differently and we’re part of the revolution. Join us and be on the right side of history!’

Michaela are certainly challenging the status quo or ‘ripping up the rule book’, as Katharine would put it. Teachers at the school are required to challenge what has become the ‘known truths’ in education and, in doing so, they have become unashamedly knowledge focused and they have adopted a tough-love ideology. Their philosophy and practices have raised debate, scepticism and, in some cases, have been opposed very strongly. I was unsure what side of the fence I would fall on, but I went with an open-mind and as Katharine requested of delegates, I was willing to change my mind.

I visited the school on Friday and had the opportunity to drop into lessons. The best way to describe what I saw is absolute consistency. Pupils’ movements and actions in lesson were unified, teachers taught lessons through drilling and didactic teaching and using the exact same structure. Even on the corridors pupils moved consistently, in lines and with purpose.

The event, Michaela hosted the following day, was really valuable because I had seen the school in operation but I did not have the opportunity to listen to the reasoning behind their methods and values. This is why, when I left on Friday, I had more questions than answers. The majority of these were addressed throughout the ‘The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers’ event and the following is what I took away. 

One aspect of Katharine’s opening speech that resonated with me was a section on ‘personal responsibility’. It is clear that this underpins the routines and no-excuse behaviour policy at Michaela. The school does not aim to oppress children, contrary to the suggestions of some of Michaela’s critics. Rather it is used to inspire them to rise to the ‘top of the pyramid’, a metaphor used to articulate the extremely high standards that the school has for their pupils. A pupil at Michaela operates at the ‘top of the pyramid’ simply because it is ‘who they are’. Their behaviour represents their intrinsic motivations rather than their desires to simply avoid a sanction, to please others or to benefit their future self.

I witnessed this first hand, during a conversation over lunch, a year 9 pupil explained how they had been given a detention in a Maths lesson for talking. He expressed gratitude for having the opportunity to learn from his mistake so that he could become a more successful individual. The systems in place at Michaela ensure that pupils take personal responsibility seriously. How many behaviour systems across schools in England result in pupils staying at the bottom of the pyramid? Behaving just to ‘fall into line’ or to achieve rewards and please their teachers? The large majority I assume. Michaela could argue, for this reason, that it is the large majority of schools that are oppressing our school children.

How can I improve our school systems so that pupils’ take greater personal responsibility? This is one question I will take away; behaviour is excellent in my school but how can I change the attitudes of my pupils so that they act in manner that reflects their desire to become a better version of themselves rather than simply to conform to the school rules?

Whilst recounting his experience of joining the Michaela teaching staff Mike Taylor expressed a concern that ‘teaching is becoming anti-intellectual’, sadly I agree. However, as a member of SLT am I part of that problem? For teachers to be more effective and for the profession to be an intellectual one we need to provide time for our teachers to refine their practice and to develop their subject knowledge. Mike outlined how, as a teacher at Michaela, he had the rest and freedom to be a better teacher.

What is the learning return on the time invested? This one question, posed by Jessica Lund, will become my most important takeaway from the weekend. If I want my staff to become experts in their subjects, I need to give them the time and freedom to do so. I definitely can’t ask them to do anymore!

Jessica Lund’s speech, No nonsense. No burnout. No marking, discussed the one huge challenge facing our profession; workload, wellbeing and teacher burnout. This is something taken very seriously at Michaela. The staffs questioning nature extends to their own work. Jessica regularly posed a question that they frequently use; ‘what is the learning return on time invested?’. The use of this question has resulted in Michaela not marking work and centralising homework. Jessica explained that ‘we don’t mark we give feedback’. She emphasised that pupils are more similar, in terms of their learning, than different. So why write the same targets in 90% of pupils’ books? Why not focus on teaching the 10% and the common misconceptions before they arise?

What is the learning return on the time invested? I need to ask this question to determine how efficient and effective our school’s choices are. Do they have a greater impact on staff or pupils? If the answer is staff. We need to change or stop what we do.

If Joe Kirby had to attribute the astonishing culture and impeccable behaviour at Michaela to one single thing, it wold probably be the Michaela boot camp. Each new cohort is inducted to the ‘Michaela way’ with an intensive bootcamp that focuses on developing the mindset and habits that pupils need to be successful. Joe stated that ‘we can’t expect children to do anything that they haven’t explicitly been taught’. Michaela prioritise culture over curriculum in this first week and teach pupils about stoicism, self-control, the school values, how to deal with being given a demerit and how to behave in detention.

The bootcamp is not only an essential induction for new pupils, it also provides a sound foundation for new teachers. Often new teachers can feel overwhelmed with the complexity of new systems and structures, this can prove especially difficult when older pupils know the rules far better than the new staff. The opportunity to observe experienced staff, team teach and practice on the new cohort develops confidence and means that pupils cannot differentiate between the new and more experienced teachers.

What are the habits I would most like to prioritise in my school? How do I model these to both staff and pupils? The culture and ethos within a school is shaped by its whole school systems and practices. Can I leave the adoption of these to chance? If I do, I am likely to find myself within a different culture to the one I envisioned.

There were other speeches throughout the day that were equally as thought-provoking but the above are most pertinent to me. The school’s new book ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers’ explains the ‘Michaela Way’ in greater detail. I recommend you read it; it is the first thing I will be doing when I finish this post. I have bought a number of copies so that staff at my school can also reflect on and learn from ‘The Michaela Way'.

Regardless of your opinion of the school you can only applaud Michaela for their openness and transparency. During my two days at the school there was no arrogance. The school doesn’t profess to be the greatest school in the world. Teachers openly admit they have made mistakes and that they are continually learning and developing. Michaela has simply put itself ‘out there’ and, in doing so, they have encouraged educators to question the practices within the teaching profession and they have inspired schools to make changes against bureaucracy and in favour of enabling both staff and pupils to flourish.

It is easy to criticise and judge from afar but my advice would be to engage with the staff, visit the school and use it as an opportunity to learn. Whilst I was there pupils were as happy, better behaved and more knowledgeable than any other pupils I have ever seen…you simply cannot ignore that.

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 two)

In my previous post; I considered how learning occurs, outlined my journey to becoming a more evidence-based practitioner and explained how I collated my research to make my staff more aware of what really makes a difference to learning. This second post presents the first three of nine ‘rules for learning’. 

Rule 1 – Combat the limitations of the working memory with mastery teaching.

‘Mastery’ has been referred to as the new ‘buzz-word’ in education. Whilst I am usually skeptical of the latest fad, mastery teaching, when used effectively, can impact on pupils’ learning. There appears to be a misconception about what mastery is; it has been simplified to ‘not moving on until pupils’ have secured the desired knowledge’. However, it is much more than simply the rate of progression. It is a pedagogical approach that involves breaking content down into a series of sequential steps. Mastery teaching will enable teachers to deal with the limitations of working memory more effectively and also ensure that pupils spend more time thinking about content, which in turn makes it more likely that learning will occur.

Barak Rosenshine (2012) published a paper on ‘research based strategies that all teachers should know’. These were based on both research into cognitive science and the most effective teachers.  The ten principles provide a research-based understanding of the art of teaching. Two of the principles, discussed within Rosenshine’s paper, resonate with mastery teaching include ‘spending more time guiding practice of new material’ and ‘obtaining a high success rate’.

Image from teachinghow2s.com

Pupils need to spend lots of time rephrasing, elaborating and summarising new material in order to store it within their long-term memory. If this rehearsal time is too short, pupils are less able to store, remember or use the new material. Another finding is that the more time spent guiding pupils, the better prepared for independent work they are and the fewer mistakes they make. Where as, if the rate of progression to independence is too quick pupils may end up encoding misconceptions.

‘Pupils must demonstrate a high level of success on tests, typically at about 80% level, before progressing to new content’. This ratio of success to mistake shows that pupils are learning material, yet also challenged by it. If a child is not secure in a topic and they are moved on too quickly, then they will carry gaps in knowledge and misconceptions to the next topic. Previously teachers have moved on too quickly because they feel a need to show progression despite the fact that it is likely insecure knowledge will need to be retaught again. 

The problem is that we try to teach pupils too much and this is why so little of it sticks. A basic understanding of the limitations of working memory can help us to conceptualise why over-stuffing lessons and the curriculum does not work. The working memory can only cope with a limited number amount of new information at one time. When it becomes ‘overloaded’, there is no room left to think, which can then prevent new information from reaching the desired destination.

The term ‘practice by variation’ is associated with mastery teaching and it is also recognised as a pedagogical approach which is conducive to learning. It would appear that in learning new material, 3 is the magic number. To securely learn a concept a pupil must revisit it in its entirety, at least three times over a few days or weeks; with each repetition understanding does not change a great deal, but it is the reiteration itself that leads to long-term retention. It is also not as simple as re-teaching the same concept three times over. Pupils learn from exposure to concepts in a variety of different scenarios and contexts 

The biggest problem with mastery teaching is that it is difficult to judge that pupils have ‘mastered’ a topic. All we can ever do is infer from their current performance what they are likely to be able to do at a later date. Overtime, pupils forget and information previously learned becomes more difficult to access. Fortunately, we can take steps to reduce and possibly even arrest this decay but only if we assume what pupils appear to have mastered will likely be forgotten. Teachers therefore need to consider how many opportunities pupils are given to revisit topics in order to avoid learnt material being forgotten.

Rule 2 – New knowledge must build on the knowledge that already exists

To get pupils to understand, a teacher must ensure the right ideas from the pupils’ long term memory are pulled up and put into the working memory. The right features must be combined, attended to or manipulated in some way.

It is best to begin lessons by activating the pupils’ prior knowledge. This prevents teachers’ explanations repeating what the pupils already know and it can help embed learning in the long-term memory. It helps pupils form concrete links between new content and existing content, strengthen memory traces and consolidate learning.

This will also have implications for curriculum design. Teachers need to be aware of pupils’ prior learning to ensure that learning can be accelerated and learners can experience high challenge from the outset.

Rule 3 - ‘less is more’ (in relation to curriculum design)

• Threshold Concepts - Which ideas and concepts are absolutely crucial to the overall mastery of the topic?

• Mix it Up - How many opportunities to revisit these ideas within different contexts can be included in the plan?

Threshold Concepts

There has been a tendency to stuff the curriculum with content and teachers expect their pupils to absorb it and reproduce it yet very little actually sticks. It doesn’t stick because of cognitive overload – pupils have too much information to process at once. The working memory can only cope with a limited amount of information and when it becomes overloaded it is unable to hold the information and store into the long-term memory.

It is argued that teachers should aim for more depth and less breadth. If pupils can’t learn everything then teachers should focus on the concepts that come up again and again. Research suggests that a curriculum should rather be designed around threshold concepts. A threshold concept is ‘central to the mastery of a subject’ and it is often the most difficult knowledge for pupils to grasp and therefore for teachers to deliver. It is recommended that teachers need to plan the KS3 curriculum around a number of ‘big ideas’ that are most important to providing pupils with the foundations to be successful at GCSE level. It is essential that these, more difficult, threshold concepts are taught first so that they can be returned to and practiced later.

Teachers should look to expand upon the current idea before progressing to the next ones. The beauty of this ideology is that we might achieve more by doing less simply by stepping back, by deciding which content is most important and examining it in depth, rather than let five or six ideas be touched upon superficially.

Mix it up

Due to the relationship between storage and retrieval strength we know that newly learned concepts don’t seem to stick very well. Therefore, just because pupils have been taught something it does not mean they have learned it.

Single experiences rarely seem to turn into learning, but if pupils encounter information on three different occasions or within three different contexts, then there is an 80% chance they would remember it 6-months later. Teachers need to ensure they provide a number of opportunities and return to these big ideas in a range of different contexts across the curriculum.

Read part three of this blog here for rules 4-6.