Independent Thinking on Teaching and Learning: Developing independence and resilience in all teachers and learners (Independent Thinking On... series)

INDEPENDENT

THINKING

ON …

TEACHING

AND LEARNING

Jackie Beere

DEVELOPING INDEPENDENCE AND RESILIENCE

IN ALL TEACHERS AND LEARNERS

This book is dedicated to my wonderful mum and my amazing grandchildren, Lyla, Josh and Taran, who all represent my fortunate past and my precious hopes for the future.

When writing this book, I was always thinking about all the inspiring teachers I have known and how much our future, as a nation, depends on them.

FOREWORD BY IAN GILBERT

Since establishing Independent Thinking in 1994, we have worked hard to share with educators around the world our belief that there is always another way. The Independent Thinking On … series of books is an extension of that work, giving a space for great educators to use their words and share great practice across a number of critical and relevant areas of education.

Independent Thinking on Teaching and Learning takes us right back to where it all really started, when I was fresh-faced and fresh out of teacher training, and no one had heard of academies, Ofsted or, indeed, me. I had come into the world of education (as a teacher of French) to be able to work directly with young people on learning and motivation, and I knew that there were many different approaches that could be used in the classroom to make things better for all young people.

While we didn’t have Twitter as a vehicle for people to tell me how stupid I was to suggest that students might learn in different ways, it meant that we could have real conversations about the nature of teaching and learning and about how, although learning is learning, we don’t have to treat everyone the same in the classroom.

And who knows, maybe some of the things people talked about back then didn’t do all that they claimed to do, but they did something and that something was worthwhile. According to Durham University researcher Steve Higgins, although the claims made about ‘pseudo-scientific’ practices were wrong, ‘the practices undertaken in schools may have some education value for other reasons’. Indeed, he suggests that those claiming such approaches can’t work because the science behind them is flawed are themselves displaying a ‘lack of critical (or scientific) thinking as brain-gym and NLP might be reliably effective at achieving certain outcomes, just not for the reasons the proponents expound’.¹

In other words, teachers aren’t stupid and who is anyone to tell them that what works doesn’t work? After all, as we have been saying for a long time now, there is always another way, especially in the world of education. Which is why long-time Independent Thinking Associate Jackie Beere is still so much in demand for sharing her insightful, compassionate and rigorous approaches to teaching and learning across the UK and further afield.

And why this book is such a perfect addition to a series for teachers which is all about thinking for yourself.

IAN GILBERT

BIRMINGHAM

1 S. Higgins, A Recent History on Teaching Thinking. In R. Wegerif, L. Li and J. Kaufman (eds), The Routledge International Handbook of Research on Teaching Thinking (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2015), pp. 19–28 at p. 21.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank Ian Gilbert for persuading me to write this book and renew my passion for the most important profession in the world. We have shared our journey through decades of change in education initiatives and in life – and if I ever want a new perspective, I know who to turn to. He has gathered around him an amazing group of educationalists at Independent Thinking, who never fail to have the energy and passion required to inspire. I want to thank the Independent Thinking family for giving me decades of opportunities to keep finding ‘another way’.

Everyone at Crown House has always been so supportive, patient and helpful throughout the long and challenging process of writing – I couldn’t imagine working with a nicer bunch of people.

Without my husband, John, to provide me with encouragement and feedback, this book would not have seen daylight, so a massive thank you to him and also to my daughters, who continue to inspire me. Since the arrival of my grandchildren, my belief in the teaching profession and the power it has to influence the next generation has multiplied. I want to thank all the teachers who work so hard to mould our children into great learners despite the challenges of the 21st century. We need to value and reward them for the vital work they do.

CONTENTS

Title Page

Foreword by Ian Gilbert

Acknowledgements

First Thoughts

Chapter 1: Unleashing Your Teacher Power

What do the learners say?

Connect and calibrate

Choose your mindset

Lose those limiting beliefs and fixed mindsets

Key points

Chapter 2: Taking Control Using Metacognition

Develop great thinking behaviours using metacognition

Behaviour 1: Self-evaluate and get curious

Behaviour 2: Believe that you can make a difference

Behaviour 3: Be endlessly curious about learning

Behaviour 4: Know that feedback is the breakfast of champions

Behaviour 5: Expect more of pupils (and yourself) by taking risks

Behaviour 6: Collaborate to grow

Behaviour 7: Use a language for learning

Chapter 3: How to Deliver a Great Lesson

Step 1: Know what works and what makes a great teacher

Step 2: Be present and in control, right from the start

Step 3: Plan the starter that primes them for learning – and finds out what they already know

Step 4: Set clear objectives and success criteria, engaging them in the learning journey

Step 5: Deliver the main activity (or activities)

Step 6: Dish up the DIRT – often

Step 7: Remember the final plenary/review

Summary

Chapter 4: Managing the Classroom – Prepare to Be Present and Take Control

Preparing for the observer in your classroom: the mind-body connection

Practise what you preach

Behaviour management

Love your pupils

Build rapport

Be a role model for communication skills

Growth mindset dos and don’ts

Chapter 5: Assessment Is Learning

Self-assessment

Peer assessment

Questioning – the essential teaching tool for assessment as learning in the classroom

Assessment for learning in the classroom: what is the difference between good and outstanding?

Make feedback work for you and for them

Chapter 6: Learning That Sticks and Grows

Knowledge retention

We can only store so much in our memory bank

Making connections to build understanding

More about metacognition

Mnemonics

Teaching as learning

Verbal rehearsal deepens learning

Chapter 7: The Power of Peer Coaching

Start with staff coaching

The iSTRIDE model

Introducing peer coaching in school

Self-coaching

Chapter 8: What Do I Need to Do Next to Be a Great Teacher?

How does it all work in practice?

Habit 1: Great self-management

Habit 2: Reflective practice

Habit 3: Flexibility

Habit 4: Optimism

Habit 5: Empathy

Habit 6: Courage and resilience

Habit 7: Collaboration and connection

And in those moments of weakness …

Final Thoughts

Appendix 1: Pupil Leadership Roles

Appendix 2: Growth Mindset Health Check

Appendix 3: Extend Your Learning Mindset

Pupil sheet

Learning diary

Target

Appendix 4: A Five-Minute Lesson Plan

Appendix 5: Philosophy for Children (P4C)

Structure of a community of enquiry

References and Further Reading

Copyright

FIRST THOUGHTS

Teachers are so important. According to Ron Berger, the best question you can ask any pupil or member of staff to find out what a school is like is: what does it take ‘to fit in, socially and academically’ around here?¹

And now, at last, Ofsted agrees: ‘Inspectors must use all their evidence to evaluate what it is like to attend the school.’²

Make no mistake, it is the teachers that create the experience of school for the pupils.

The advice in this book draws on the latest educational research and many of the Ofsted descriptors of ‘outstanding teaching’ that have been produced over the years. Even if they are not the latest guidance, they are still useful references for what success looks like. However, this book is determined not to merely link practice to Ofsted’s latest sound bites, because they change with every government or secretary of state for education. Each has a different agenda and tends to dispose of previous policy for political reasons. Remember initiatives like Every Child Matters, SEAL (social and emotional aspects of learning), PLTs (personal, learning and thinking skills), character education, personal development, curriculum intent, AfL (assessment for learning), safeguarding and citizenship? All have had their time in the sun and some, as you will see in this book, are still relevant and useful.

This book aims to be a timeless guide to great teaching and learning, aimed at new teachers and teachers who want to renew their passion. I have sifted through the jargon and pulled out what I believe to be the very best practice that works to help our children learn. You have the assurance that the advice in this book is not included simply to satisfy this administration or current inspection framework; it is included because it has been tried and tested by great teachers over decades.

The current focus on ‘evidence-led’ practice is helpful, but every child is an individual. We always need to remember that while research can claim that a technique works brilliantly, in practice we might find that it doesn’t work for certain children. Research can also be contradictory. Is red wine healthy or dangerous, and what really is the best way to learn to read and write? This book is based on my own judgement, informed by evidence, but grounded in my experience of the huge variety of human responses to learning in different contexts. Use this book to find out what works, then find out what works for you and your individual pupils and build on that to fulfil their potential.

There has never been a more important time to be a teacher. Our young people seem more fragile and insecure than ever. This insecurity can destroy any chance of happiness and blight potential achievement. Social media dominates their lives and has the capacity to create a contagious culture of comparison and, thereby, self-judgement. Everything from their looks, the music they choose to listen to and the places they go can be measured by ‘likes’ and ‘friends’. Teachers can offer an antidote to this pressure by modelling and nurturing the love and support for each other that is innate in all of us. Helping children to be resilient as they learn and giving them thinking strategies – metacognitive tools – will protect them from taking social media – or themselves – too seriously.

Teacher recruitment and retention is a serious problem, especially for schools in disadvantaged areas that need great teachers the most. Our school leaders are facing massive challenges – coping with budget cuts and ever-changing political diktats – but they know that their main priority is growing wonderful teachers. Teachers are all individuals with their own unique strengths and challenges: there has never been only one way to be a great teacher. I hope that teachers and leaders can use this book to build on their strengths and challenge their weaknesses so that they make the greatest impact on each and every child’s academic and personal progress.

Every child in this country will become a more resilient, productive, confident and generous citizen if they learn with teachers who care enough to show them that they have limitless potential to be happy and successful.

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

VICTOR FRANKL³

1 R. Berger, An Ethic of Excellence: Building a Culture of Craftsmanship with Students (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003), p. 35.

2 Ofsted, School Inspection Handbook . Ref: 190017 (2019), p. 39. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-eif .

3 V. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning (New York: Pocket Books, 1984 [1959]), p. 86.

CHAPTER 1

UNLEASHING YOUR TEACHER POWER

Have you any idea how powerful you are? If you have any doubt about the difference you make to the lives of the children in your class, consider your own education. Can you think of the teacher who inspired you or the teacher who belittled you with a comment that still resonates in your adult life?

No child remembers a secretary of state for education or Ofsted chief inspector, but every child remembers a teacher or teaching assistant (TA) who believed in them or shared a passion that became contagious. It’s often not the stuff they taught us that we remember, but the way they connected with us. The way they really listened, cared about us and understood our world. The way they modelled their own passion and beliefs, so we could tune in and enjoy the thrill of learning.

As teachers, we may have experienced a moment of flow when a class is truly engaged and entranced by our message. It’s a delight to connect with our learners in this way – but it takes much more than a good lesson plan and an interesting topic to do it. What makes it happen is often that unspoken