What’s the idea? A play-based curriculum is informed by children’s interests and needs (as they emerge). The teacher has fixed learning goals, but these are achieved holistically, responsively and flexibly as the children grow and develop (Van Oers and Duikers, 2013). What does it mean? A play-based curriculum puts play and activity at the centre […]
What’s the idea? An aims-based curriculum focuses on the needs and wants of students, equipping them to lead ‘personally flourishing’ lives and to help others to do so too (Reiss and White, 2013, p. 1). What does it mean? Reiss and White (2013) outline three interlinked and broad aims at the heart of an aims-based […]
What’s the idea? Selective marking involves selecting one section of work to mark in depth and using this to give specific feedback with focused, manageable improvement targets. What does it mean? With this strategy, rather than trying to mark everything a student writes, teachers ‘zoom-in’ and specifically focus on smaller sections of work and particular […]
What’s the idea? Teachers read a whole set of books – without marking each individual student’s work – and then share feedback as a whole-class activity in the following lesson. What does it mean? Originally inspired by the Michaela Community School (where the belief is that marking forces an over-reliance on teachers and wastes valuable […]
What’s the idea? Activities involving students assessing their own work, using mark schemes and checklists, to support learning. What does it mean? This is a feedback method where students assess their own work using checklists and mark schemes. This form of self-assessment can empower students by shifting the focus away from teachers (and examiners) as […]
What’s the idea? Structured, whole-class feedback sessions where a group of students collectively critique a piece of work, offering suggestions and guidance to help its owner improve. What does it mean? In An Ethic of Excellence (2003), Ron Berger makes the case for accepting only the highest standards of ‘excellence’ in students’ work. One way […]
What’s the idea? For marking to be a useful practice, the emphasis should be on teachers doing less as students do – and, therefore, learn – more. What does it mean? Marking fulfills two main purposes: To allow teachers to engage with students’ work so that they know how well they are doing and can […]
What’s the idea? Redraft and redo is a type of feedback that requires students to act. They must return to a piece of work to edit and improve specific areas or, where useful, the whole piece. What does it mean? Redraft and redo is the first in a series of five actions that students can […]
Revisit and respond is a type of feedback that requires students to consolidate their understanding by practising more questions, similar in style to the ones that have been marked. What does it mean? Revisit and respond is the third in a series of five ‘actions’ that students can take after receiving their work back. […]
What’s the idea? Relearn and retest is a type of active feedback that involves asking students to return to a previous piece of learning to ensure they have achieved full understanding or mastery. What does it mean? Relearn and retest is the fourth in a series of five ‘actions’ that students can take after receiving […]
What’s the idea? Research and record is a type of active feedback that involves students improving the quality of their work by including wider references and/or insight gained through further research. What does it mean? Research and record involves encouraging students to develop the scope of their ideas and insight using independent research. This intentionally […]
What’s the idea? Using a range of effective marking strategies in your daily teaching practice ensures that timely, effective feedback can be sustained without creating an unmanageable workload. What does it mean? Managing marking is one of the greatest workload challenges faced by teachers. With growing class-sizes, many teachers find themselves responsible for reading and […]
Build students’ confidence and fluency when using technical, subject specialist or new vocabulary through explicit teaching and practice. What does it mean? Learning new content almost always means introducing new vocabulary. It is not enough to note unfamiliar words, explain them and move on, however. If you want to support long-term mastery, each new word […]
All teachers (across every subject) should deliberately, systematically and enthusiastically teach reading skills. Reading out loud, as a class, is an excellent way to build this skill. What does it mean? As Lemov states in Teach Like A Champion 2.0, ‘reading is the skill.’ (p. 249) When students can read well, they can access the […]
Like reading or writing, oracy is a skill which should be taught explicitly across all subjects. You can develop rhetoric by providing regular opportunities for all students to engage in structured speech events. What does it mean? Verbal communication skills are crucial to success in academic life and beyond. Structured speech events are planned activities […]
In the right context, and well planned, collaborative learning (or group work) can be an effective activity to complement direct teacher instruction. What does it mean? Learning to work collaboratively to solve problems, come to a consensus or create a group performance/presentation is an important academic and social skill, which needs to be taught explicitly. […]
Teachers need to design learning so that students have a chance to check what they have learned, reinforcing their memory and understanding through retrieval practice. What does it mean? Unless students generate information from memory without support, they and their teachers can’t be sure they’ve learned or understood it properly. It’s all too easy to […]
Teachers must ensure that all students, including the highest attainers, are challenged to achieve excellence. This demands certain attitudes, curriculum planning and in-class approaches. What does it mean? There are three main areas that need attention for you to get stretch and challenge right: Mindsets and beliefs: Teachers need to believe it’s possible for students […]
It’s a common misconception that differentiation is about personalising learning at all times. Rather, it’s a pragmatic process that enables teachers to maximise each student’s learning in the long-term. What does it mean? Any group of students is ‘mixed ability’ – each learner will progress at different rates with different concepts. This doesn’t mean teachers […]
Homework can be a powerful means of supporting student learning and study habits, provided it is designed appropriately. What does it mean? Studies into the effectiveness of homework are very mixed. Typically, as Hattie’s (2008) research shows, it makes a much bigger impact for older, higher-attaining students in secondary, rather than primary, settings. This is […]
