Amy’s geography teacher has asked the class to prepare a short presentation about rainforest ecosystems. To plan this, Amy reflects on how she learned best on the last topic – using the school textbooks – and decides to read the relevant chapter before drafting her presentation points. However, when reading it, she decides that the […]
One of the many challenges facing the evidence-informed teacher or school leader is knowing when to trust the experts (Willingham, 2012). Great importance is often ascribed to meta-analysis in the EEF’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit (for example, see (Teaching and Learning Toolkit, 2018)), and by influential commentators such as John Hattie (Hattie, 2008), and as […]
This issue explores the science of learning – how insights from neuroscience and cognitive psychology can support classroom practice, with sections on making learning stick mind, mindset and learning building a science of learning.
In one of our Year 10 lessons this week, Salim called out ‘Does it have to look like that?’ His exaggeratedly aghast manner suggested several things all at once: he wanted to signal that the text I was showing him was intimidating; he wanted to distance himself from my attempt to present it as the desirable end […]
The Education Endowment Foundation is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational attainment. It funds rigorous evaluations of teaching and learning strategies that aim to raise pupils’ attainment. Its aim is to find out what is most likely to work effectively and support teachers and senior leaders to put […]
My doctorate, completed in 2017 at Middlesex University, was all about balancing teaching and parenthood. I examined what it is to be a teacher and parent from both ends of the telescope. From one end, I explored ‘role enrichment’, whereby: …teachers regularly identify and celebrate the compatibility and mutual benefits of combining the two roles […]
On a societal level we often see sleep as an afterthought, taking time away from our other pursuits. To an adult, this may be staying late in the office. For an adolescent, this may be staying up late to socialise with friends through electronic media. However, this comes at a cost. We know that sleep […]
At the heart of effective classroom practice is the need to teach children to think well. This fascinates me, especially the mysteries of metacognition. I’m not alone. My recent online search revealed over four million entries for metacognition. However, there remains debate about this complex concept. I’ve been particularly interested in the question of whether […]
Note: The author of this article, Anastasia Soola Georgiou, works for Veema Education, an organisation offering chargeable consultancy services to schools on a range of topics. Schools have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children (Department for Education, 2016). Safeguarding involves protecting children from maltreatment, preventing the impairment of children’s health or development, […]
Teaching and learning approaches that make use of retrieval, interleaving, spacing and visual cues have been found to enhance students’ performance, but are not frequently used as independent learning strategies. We have developed learning software that applies these four techniques, and tested its efficacy in a randomised control trial with school pupils. Results showed that […]
In 2014, I followed an interdisciplinary arts project called ‘Songlines’, delivered over two terms by The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. It aimed to: create an inclusive opportunity for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) stimulate social cohesion and personal development between two groups of young people made up of fifteen participants […]
Learning science research aims to replace untested assumptions and intuitions about how people learn with empirically supported principles. However, many learning principles that work in the controlled context of the lab fail to translate directly to the classroom. They may not work in the classroom context or, more likely, they may work under some conditions […]
Cognitive Load Theory (CLT) has recently become ‘The Next Big Thing’ in teaching. Dylan Wiliam tweeted on 26 January 2017 that he had ‘come to the conclusion Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory is the single most important thing for teachers to know.’ This is an emphatic statement and it is important to consider the implications. As teachers, there are huge demands on our time, so when considering a new strategy it is […]
The aim of our CPD packs is to support members in further exploring the themes raised in an issue of our journal, Impact. CPD packs provide guidance and resources to help facilitate staff CPD based on key articles from each issue. This pack is related to the article, ‘Optimising learning using retrieval practice’, written by […]
Note: The author of this article, Kelly Ashley, works as a consultant offering chargeable support, training and consultancy services to schools on a range of topics including language and literacy development. Early language and literacy development affects educational attainment and outcomes in later life (Department for Education, 2017). Effective vocabulary instruction and ‘exposure to a […]
Interleaving refers to the benefits of sequencing learning tasks so that similar items – two examples of the same concept, say – are interspersed with different types of items rather than being consecutive. This results in a more variable and challenging task but is associated with benefits in terms of memory and transfer, which apply to concept learning as well as other domains […]
In the 1970s, Professor Matthew Lipman advocated the introduction of philosophy into schools as a way to convert the classroom into a ‘community of enquiry’ ((Lipman, 2003), p. 15) and develop children’s ability to reason. Philosophy for Children (P4C) provides a way to develop skills in critical thinking, discussion and problem-solving. This article discusses the […]
According to the Oxford dictionary, myths can be defined as ‘misrepresentations of the truth’. This article aims to give an overview of some aspects that come into play when talking about the creation of myths, with particular emphasis on neuromyths in education. I will describe some of the mechanisms behind the formation of myths. One […]
Research on growth mindset suggests that students’ beliefs about intelligence have a significant impact on their attainment. Students who believe intelligence and ability can develop are more likely to demonstrate resilience and take intellectual risks (Blackwell et al., 2007). Knowing that intelligence is dynamic can focus students on learning goals rather than performance goals, and failure […]
It feels like a lifetime since I used to teach secondary science, although when I did, by far my favourite topic to teach was genetics. I loved the challenge of building concrete understanding out of abstract concepts and the sense of wonder that would emerge as students began, for the first time, to get a […]
