Thinking about...modelling and mastery

We can’t learn from simply watching experts, if we could we’d all be elite sports performers. We need this performance broken down into chunks that can be carefully examined. Modelling is a strategy that is frequently employed, by teachers, to allow pupils to know ‘what a good one looks like’. Modelling is an effective cognitive support but it is much more than just showing pupils a good piece of work.

I have experienced lessons where teachers have provided an explanation of a concept and modelled what they expected from the pupils before swiftly setting a number of tasks for them to complete independently. It quickly became apparent that the pupils lacked the understanding to complete the work and, as a result, the teacher spent the majority of the lesson racing around the room trying to explain, with little effect, what to do. Similarly, Barak Roshenshine recognises this in his paper on Principles of Effective Instruction. He identifies that the least successful teachers provide very short explanations before passing out worksheets and asking pupils to complete a range of problems. Under these conditions the pupils made too many errors and had to be retaught the lesson. Whereas, in contrast, the most effective teachers guide pupils’ practice by providing more detailed explanations and instructions, giving a wider range of examples and more regularly posing questions and checking understanding

Pupils obviously need time to engage in independent practice if they are to become fluent in a skill or in order to embed essential knowledge. During this time a teacher should only need to interact with a pupil for up to 30 seconds. If teachers need to take any longer, like in the scenario explained above, then they are too dependent on the teacher, indicating that they are not secure enough in their understanding to engage in independent practice.

The diagram below, from Make Every Lesson Count, indicates the process that teachers need to take their pupils through to achieve greater independence. The least successful teachers tend to provide less feedback, pose fewer questions and they often neglect the 'joint practice and construction' phase altogether. Although they may appear to be progressing at a quicker rate their pupils' knowledge is less secure. A successful teacher’s lesson will have pace, but it will be pace in depth rather than breadth. They will provide sufficient instruction, pose questions to probe and clarify, they will connect new information to previously learnt content and provide a range of examples during explanations. Whilst modelling, successful, teachers will deconstruct and simplify work and they will discuss the comparisons between exemplar and non-exemplar work. Their pupils’ will be guided through practice by breaking a task down into simple steps, through interactive modelling and they will probe for understanding with process questions. Throughout the whole process an effective teacher will be continually monitoring their pupils and only when they are confident that they have achieved a high success rate will they progress on to independent practice.

I believe that the processes employed by successful teachers reflect mastery teaching; a pedagogical approach that involves breaking content down into a series of sequential steps. Teaching, in this way, enables 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.

The two principles discussed within Rosenshine’s paper that resonates most with mastery teaching are ‘spending more time guiding practice of new material’ and ‘obtaining a high success rate’.

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 students, the better prepared for independent work they are and the fewer mistakes they make. Whereas, 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. 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 knowledge is insecure and it is likely that it will need to be retaught again.

We cannot provide limited explanations, model a good piece of work and expect our pupils to make progress in their learning. If our pupils are to acquire important knowledge and skills and have them readily available to apply to a range of problems, we not only need to be aware of the science of learning but we need to be able to carefully craft a process that moves pupils from dependence to independence.  

Thinking about...retrieval practice

Retrieval Practice - 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 are high rates of success, the more learning is strengthened by retrieval. 

The following examples outlines some suggestions of how you might provide your pupils with opportunities to engage in retrieval practice.

Retrieval Practice Strategies for the Classroom

Regular low stakes quizzes - Possibly the easiest way to provide opportunities for regular retrieval practice is through low stakes quizzes/tests to your lesson that test knowledge that has previously been taught. Low stakes means that little emphasis is placed on the scores. Pupils’ results don’t have to be shared or recorded, it is the process of retrieving previously learnt information that is important.

Whole Class Quizzing - Create multiple choice quizzes that will engage pupils in retrieving information. You can use simple methods such as RAG pages or mini-white boards to ensure that pupils are individually accountable for answering question. This not only engages pupils in recalling learnt information but allows you to quickly assess their knowledge.

Interleaving Quiz - Regularly start a lesson with a low stakes quiz that allows pupils to revisit previously learnt information, using the following format:

1.   Question from previous lesson.

2.   Question from previous week.

3.   Question from previous topic.

4.   Question from previous term.

5.   Question requiring pupils to make a link between what they are currently learning and what they have previously learnt.

Quick Fire Questioning - This strategy simply involves asking a number of questions that require pupils to retrieve information. Consider how you make all pupils individually accountable for retrieving the memory. This could be achieve by providing pupils with some think time and insist on no hands up.

Writing to Learn - This task requires pupils to recall as much information as they can about a topic/lesson/term etc. Pupils are provided with a short period of time and asked to write as much as they can about a topic/lesson/term etc.

Homework - Forgetting is key to remembering and therefore spaced retrieval is an effective strategy.  The setting of homework is a great opportunity to encourage retrieval practice and to ensure it is spaced retrieval. Rather than set a homework relevant to the learning that has taken place during the lesson or that week why not provide pupils with a task that will require them to revisit previously taught content?

Self-explanation - Pupils are challenged to consider how new information can be linked to what they already know. In order to make links the pupils must engage in retrieval practice to recall all the previously learnt information.

Knowledge Organisers – There are a number of ways in which pupils use their Knowledge Organiser (KO) as a resource to help engage in retrieval practice.

·     Peer Quizzing - Using their KO, as a resource, pupils can quiz each other in pairs. One pupil can pose questions from the KO and check the pupils answers whilst the other is challenged to answer the questions. To help with this process encourage pupils to use Tip-Tip-Teach. If a pupil incorrectly answers a question their peer should give them a tip to help them recall the correct answer, followed by a second tip and then teach the correct answer if necessary.   

·     Cover – Write – Check - Correct - They cover the KO and aim to write down as much of its content that they can recall. Once pupils have recorded as much information as possible they check and correct their work. 

·     KO Starter Activity - Displaying one section of the KO with some information left off. Pupils are required to fill in the blanks, identify the key terms, complete a process or recall the precise definitions etc.

Cooperative Learning Strategies – There are a number of Cooperative Learning Structures that can be used to engage your pupils in retrieval practice. The main benefits of these are that all pupils are individually accountable for engaging in the activity and that half of the class are simultaneously answering a questions/recalling information at any one time.

·     Rally Robin & Pair Share – Basic structures. Pupils can recall information such as key words or speak about a topic.

·     Quiz – Quiz – Trade & Inside Outside Circle - Involves pupils pairing up and, in turns, answering and asking a question that requires pupils to recall information. Pupils can create their own questions or you could use exam questions and mark schemes.

·     Rally Coach - This cooperative learning structure involves partners taking turns; one solving a problem and the other coaching. This usually works best when the teacher has previously modelled a process for working out a problem e.g. Maths problem or answering a question with multiple steps.

Technology – There are number of ways in which you could use technology to help engage pupils in retrieval practice.

·     Classroom Apps - There are a number of apps and software that can be used to engage pupils in retrieval practice. Regularly used examples include Kahoot, Socrative and Google Forms. They allow you to create multiple choice quizzes to engage pupils in retrieval practice.

·     Flashcards Software - Here is a list of flashcard software that you can use to create your own flashcards for pupils to use (shared by @AceThatTest). These allow pupils to track their own progress, prevents them having to create their own and there are often a number of sets that have already be created that might be of use.

·     Subject Specific Software - There are a range of subject specific software which actively engages pupils in retrieval practice. These can be used as a high impact/low effort homework strategy that requires little workload. Some examples of subject specific software include; Linguascope/Memrise (MFL), Mangahigh (Maths), My PE Exam (PE) and Pearson ActiveLearn (various subjects).

Conditions for Effective Retrieval Practice

Success Rate - In order for the above strategies to be effective pupils must have a medium to high retrieval success.  If the tasks are too difficult pupils will not be able to recall any information.

Feedback - immediate feedback must be provided. Although the process is more important than the results it is still essential that pupils are provided with feedback to the non-recalled or incorrectly recalled information. Providing immediate feedback increases the likelihood that information will be stored to memory.

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.

Educate Pupils on the Process - One of the most effective strategies for improving pupils’ ability to retain information is explicitly educating students about the research on effective learning strategies.  Teachers are encouraged to be transparent about the frustrations but the importance of the ‘testing effect’. Educating pupils on the benefits of regularly testing and self-quizzing is likely to improve their motivation for such tasks and will also help them develop their own effective learning habits.

Thinking about... how to encourage teachers to take risks

Are you a teacher that has taught for ten years or a teacher who has taught one year, ten times?

We often associate taking risks with doing something different. Before taking a different course of action we carefully consider the pros and cons associated. However, the scales are often skewed in favor of inaction.

When it is suggested that we adopt a new form of pedagogy we are very effective at considering all the potential consequences. But how often do we consider the consequences of changing nothing, carrying on as normal and teaching the same way for yet another academic year? 

Last academic year, as one of the Teaching & Learning whole school priorities, we asked staff to consider how they can take measured risks in order to increase innovative practice within the classroom. But, how do you take (acceptable) risks within the classroom?

First of all we need to loose the negative connotations associated with risks. Instead of perceiving risks as bad we should see them as unavoidable. A risk is the possibility of bad consequences, therefore we can’t avoid them; every action or inaction carries some degree of risk. Once we acknowledge and accept this we can focus our energies into figuring out the risks that are worth taking in order for us to become innovative, more successful practitioners.

To encourage staff to develop their teaching and try something new we introduced ‘Risk it Weeks’. The first two weeks after February half term were devoted to ‘Risk it Weeks’ to provide staff with an opportunity take a risk in the classroom. During this time we asked staff to make a personal commitment to trying something new which would have an impact on pupils' learning. It is hoped that by taking a risk and trying something new teachers would:

• Increase their comfort zone.
• Improve their practice.
• Add more skills/activities to their teaching repertoire.

Prior to the ‘Risk it Weeks’ we held a professional dialogue session. These are regularly scheduled to provide teachers with the chance to engage in meaningful discussions with colleagues from across the school. In this session we provided a range of pedagogical approaches and scenarios and asked groups to discuss each and arrange them on to a flip chart paper, containing a sketch of a fried egg, to indicate how comfortable they would feel using that approach within their classroom. The yolk represented the comfort zone, the egg white the stretch zone and the fried crispy bits on the outside represented their panic zone.

Two weeks after the session we delivered a range of T&L Forums that teachers could opt into. These sessions were based around those pedagogical approaches that teachers felt were in their panic and stretch zone. We hoped to give teachers the understanding and tools to use these strategies and grow their teaching repertoire.

This was a perfect time to launch our ‘Risk it Weeks’ as each individual teacher had been involved in the process of considering a range of teaching practices that they would not normally use and they had been given training on how to implement them effectively. Now, was the perfect time to ‘give it a go’.

The poster below details exactly what Risk It Weeks involved

Following 'Risk It Weeks' we held an internal TeachMeet where teachers shared the risks they took and the impact these had on learning. It was great to hear teachers reflecting and sharing moments of success in their classrooms. However, it provided me with a great opportunity to identify and share any best practice.

The following year I developed Risk it Weeks further by challenging teachers to take on the ‘are you a hobnob teacher challenge?’ (See details below).

Is the whole thing a bit of a gimmick? Yes it is. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No, it is not! Teachers embraced the idea, engaged with meaningful CPD and committed to something that developed their practice in a light-hearted way. Creating pleasurable experiences for teachers can only be a good thing, especially when considering how stressful and stringent our profession has become in recent years. In my opinion, this was a basic form of classroom-based action research; All teachers investigated what will and will not work for their pupils in their classrooms. As a result of Risk it Week teachers:

• were talking more about T&L.
• had increased opportunities to reflect on their practice.
• could attend learning walks to observe their colleagues teach.
• were given training in various areas of pedagogy that they didn’t feel comfortable with.
• most importantly, were given the message that it is ok take a risk and for it to go wrong.

‘Failing forward’ is a fantastic concept and emphasises that we must learn to ‘fail intelligently’ as a result of risk taking and not carelessness

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). 

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.