The cognitive revolution and the increased focus on evidence-based practice that has swept through the teaching profession in recent years has undoubtedly brought with it many positive outcomes. Yet in the rush to embrace the modern, it would be wise to remember that many of these new ideas have very old roots, and rather than […]
Religious education (RE) has been described as ‘an uneasy coalition of several disciplines in undisciplined competition with each other’ (Chater and Erricker, 2012). It has been criticised in recent years for a lack of clear purpose, for confused and confusing curriculum design, and for a student experience identifiable by its lack of parity across the […]
“Is there a profession filled with more disagreement among its members than teaching?” This was a question posed on Twitter by lecturer in education at La Trobe University Emina McLean in October (twitter.com/EminaMcLean/status/1178879273127403520). Why, she mused, is there furious disagreement about such fundamental aspects of our profession as teaching reading, managing behaviour, assessment, inclusion, pedagogy […]
In the summer of 2010, I spent three weeks in a kindergarten in New Zealand as part of the research for my doctoral thesis. I was there to gain an insight into Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum of New Zealand. At that time, early childhood education in England had been described as having a […]
Dan Willingham’s (2009) Why Don’t Students Like School? is the first thing that all staff who work at Willingham (name is a coincidence) Primary School are asked to read. It gives a great introduction to cognitive psychology and raises the question: ‘Why have we always done X this way?’ The answer, on far too many […]
Designing a deep and durable primary mathematics curriculum By KEVIN HUBBARD Following a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD, 2014) into the findings of the 2012 PISA tests, it was suggested that 15-year-old students from education systems such as Shanghai and Singapore are, on average, up to three years ahead of 15-year-old […]
Hembree’s (1988) large and heavily cited meta-analysis of 562 studies about test anxiety found that test anxiety affects girls more than boys and can start at the ages of seven to eight years (Year 3 to Year 4). Test anxiety is a transactional construct that affects performance of working memory. One aspect of Bandura’s self-efficacy […]
The importance of the curriculum in effective teaching Walter Doyle’s seminal paper ‘Effective teaching’, written over thirty years ago (Doyle, 1985), argues that in order to assess the effectiveness of teaching, we have to take into account the curriculum and pedagogy. At a recent conference, Daniel Muijs, Ofsted’s Head of Research, made a similar point and […]
Evidence suggests that the use of ‘metacognitive strategies’ can be worth the equivalent of an additional seven months’ progress when used well (Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), 2018). The implementation of effective metacognitive strategies develops learners who are able to think about their own learning explicitly, meaning that they exhibit the qualities of a self-regulated learner. […]
A knowledge organiser (KO) sets out the important, useful and powerful knowledge on a topic on a single page (Kirby, 2015). With the content demands of new courses, and schools adopting a knowledge-based curriculum, these are becoming increasingly popular in schools at secondary and even primary level. With this in mind, what are the key […]
The Westminster School, Sandwell, is a specialist provision for pupils with moderate learning difficulties (MLD) aged 7-19. Over the last few years, the school has started to see a change in its cohort with an increased number of pupils with severe learning difficulties (SLD) and complex learning difficulties and disabilities (CLDD). This group now represents […]
Title: Outdoor learning spaces: The case of forest school Published in: Area (2018). Vol. 50(2), pp. 222–231 Author: Frances Harris, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Hertfordshire What did the research explore? The research builds on a growing body of literature that looks at the effectiveness of forest school in the United Kingdom […]
An instant formative assessment tool allowing teachers to engage with the thinking, understanding and progress of all students at once. What does it mean? Coupled with erasable pens, mini whiteboards are simple and effective learning tools. They allow students to record and share their thinking, and teachers to instantly check for understanding. They are most […]
Memory is strengthened by retrieval practice. What does it mean? According to psychologists such as Robert and Elizabeth Bjork and Yana Weinstein (one of the Learning Scientists), our capacity to remember things in the long-term is strengthened by practising the process of retrieving information from our long-term memory into our working memory. The more we […]
Headley Park Primary School is a two-form entry community primary school, with 468 pupils including a 52-place nursery. It’s located in a little-known area of Bristol with a static population of largely white working-class families. Despite relatively low income levels, deprivation indicators (and Pupil Premium funding) are low (11%) as only a small percentage rely […]
Like many other secondary schools, at Thornleigh Salesian College we face lots of challenges around ensuring a smooth and successful transition from key stage 2 to 3 (KS2 and KS3). Back in September 2015, Ofsted took a close look at transition. Their report, Key stage 3: the wasted years?, found a variety of issues around […]
Bloom’s Taxonomy is not a triangle with ‘regurgitating facts’ at the bottom and ‘creativity’ at the top. What does it mean? Bloom’s taxonomy is a way of identifying different modes of learning. The significance of placing ‘remembering’ or ‘knowledge’ at the bottom is that this is the foundation on which all the others are built […]
Learning is most effective when cognitive load is optimised. What does it mean? Our working memory is limited in capacity. This has two main consequences: The limit creates a form of bottleneck that restricts the flow of knowledge into our long-term memory. We need to break down new learning into small chunks that can be […]
We remember what we think about. – Willingham What does it mean? It is surprisingly easy to forget things. We couldn’t cope with the sheer volume of sensory or cognitive information we encounter so we prioritise remembering things we have thought about because there’s a good chance we might need that information again. This does […]
The optimal success rate for learning is high – possibly 80% – but not 100%. What does it mean? Successful learning stems from early success and applying effort to effective strategies. This requires a degree of motivation, which is supported by having a growth mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset. This helps students to […]
