May 2020
The Digital Age: Learners of the 21st Century
Digital technology has become an integral part of our everyday life, evolving and advancing at a rapid rate. As the majority of careers require the use of technology, it is clear that digital and IT skills have become a prominent attribute in which employees seek. Yet, it seems that the use of technology in primary schools does not parallel that of the wider world. Despite the integration of computers and iPads, it is clear that technology has not yet transformed education in a way that was hoped. There seems to be a ‘digital disconnect’ between schools and the wider society (Selwyn, 2011). Within schools, technology is often limited in terms of both quantity and quality. This therefore comes of no surprise that when it is expected that teachers switch to remote digital learning, many primary schools are unprepared and unaware of how to do this. This leads to question whether, as teachers, we are really prepared to teach children in a world of the digital age.
In these unprecedented times, many primary schools have a lack of understanding of where to even begin with setting up a learning platform to teach both digitally and remotely. It seems many schools have been consolidating previous learning with a great number providing paper packs and some even hand delivering these to individual houses. If you give any teacher a whiteboard and a pen, I am certain they would be able to teach you something that you didn’t know before. Yet, take these resources to your own home, somewhere without an audience, and the ability to teach new learning has seen to have diminished. In this digital age, it is clear that [many] households have some sort of device, whether it be a computer, a laptop, a tablet or a mobile phone. However, sadly, our education systems do not seem to be prepared enough to teach those who have grown up immersed in technology. Whilst this is through no fault of our own, I have become interested in ways in which we can still teach children something new each week. For my own class, I have created online tutorials through the application ‘Show Me,’ in the hope of keeping learning going. These demonstrations have been uploaded to YouTube for pupils to access through a QR code, with further set activities sent through to me and responded with audio feedback, which you can discover more on my website: https://theimpactofshowme.
Despite these difficulties, I would like to thank all teachers for everything they are doing to support children across the country at this current time. It is through the great determination, dedication and selfless nature of teachers that our education system is one which we should be extremely proud of.
Further Reading:
Selwyn, N. (2011) Schools and Schooling in the Digital Age: A Critical Analysis, Oxon: Routledge
September 2019
Intent, Implementation and Impact: The New Ofsted Framework
Through all the Ofsted inspections I have been a part of during my teaching career, no two have been alike. When the three years comes around, boundaries have been changed, expectations have increased and inevitable pressure mounts. During my NQT year, the two day inspection consisted of being observed with a clipboard for 30 minutes to the same standard as experienced teachers and receiving immediate feedback on my lesson from the inspector themselves. When this turned into a shorter one day inspection with a more learning walk approach, in line with reducing teachers’ workload, the pressure seemed to be taken off the classroom teaching itself and had a greater focus on the progress over time within books. Like many things in education, this didn’t seem to last long and the return of a two and a half day inspection under new headings will be introduced in September 2019.
The new Ofsted Framework sees the development of a new category: the ‘Quality of Education’, which encompasses a larger quantity of aspects including a focus on a broad and balanced curriculum. Within this, it is evident that children should be exposed to a knowledge-rich curriculum, which builds on what the children already know but should not be confused with children memorising a substantial amount of facts and knowledge. There is a clear emphasis as a subject leader that books should be evidently different across year groups, progressing and building upon knowledge and skills rather than repeating activities across the years. It is the idea of skill progression across each individual subject which has come to the forefront, in order to provide a broad curriculum which will equip learners for the future. It is also the responsibility of each subject leader to ensure coverage, content and structure is implemented effectively, placing a greater onus on each teacher as a leader in their subject.
Within the category the ‘Quality of Education’, the use of ‘Intent, Implementation and Impact’ also act as subcategories. Ofsted will explore with flexibility the intent of subject leaders in providing the foundations of knowledge to prepare children for later life, the implementation of the curriculum by evaluating the effectiveness of teaching and finally the impact this is having, with a focus upon what the children have learnt. It is important to emphasise Ofsted do not expect everything to be fully implemented, but schools should know what needs to be done and the direction this is going. Whilst inspectors will still be looking at external data, they will also judge the effectiveness of systems used within schools to understand the purpose of internal pupil data. The need for high expectations for all will be evident to ensure breadth of the curriculum.
During the inspection, they will ‘deep dive’ into a range of different subjects to get in-depth evidence of all areas of the curriculum, including foundation subjects. They will always carry out a ‘deep dive’ in Reading and will often conduct this within Mathematics. The total number will depend upon the size of the school but will normally see between three to five subjects within the primary setting and four to six in the secondary setting. During this, they will explore subject leaders thinking and understanding, connect examples of lessons, discuss the curriculum with teachers and pupils and explore evidence within books. It is through these three aspects which will lead to an overall decision regarding the ‘Quality of Education.’
Amongst this category, there are also the categories of: ‘Behaviour and Attitudes’, drawing upon the commitment and resilience of learners, ‘Personal Development’ with the promotion of British Values and ‘Leadership and Management’, ensuring the drive of an ambitious and inclusive vision. It is through encompassing all of these areas that Ofsted will make their judgements for all. Rightly so, the focus on providing a creative and broad curriculum to equip learners and develop a love of learning from an early age is essential. However, the difficulties of the ever-changing expectations of teachers still seems to remain, with no doubt that another revised framework will be on the horizon in the next few years to come.
Further Reading:
Office for Standards in Education (2019) The Education Inspection Framework, Available at: https://assets.publishing.
Office for Standards in Education (2019) Inspecting the Curriculum, Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/
January 2019
The Lazy Teacher: Learners in Control
Reflecting upon the everyday classroom, due to the creation of cultures of accountability and the influence of standardised testing, a great amount of classroom practice takes the form of a traditional, didactic teaching approach. Often teachers traditionally lead classrooms providing the information and knowledge required and learners absorb this, rapidly recalling unchallenged memorised facts. Whilst there is definitely a place for such an approach within our classrooms, we could question as teachers how often we allow children to fully lead the learning, foster independence and develop fundamental skills needed for the wider world such as problem solving and resilience (Confederation of British Industry, 2018). With the proposed new Ofsted framework placing importance on the broader curriculum, a particular emphasis upon active learning approaches within these areas of the curriculum has been explored. Within the primary classroom, the use of the Wonder Wall, where children are encouraged to pose questions of interest and post these on the wall, has instigated curiosity amongst learners. As the learning unfolds and develops, children are given opportunities to investigate their own questions, working collaboratively to synthesise and evaluate information in order to formulate a response. As the lesson progresses, these questions remain on the wall and are discussed at the end, showcasing the progress of learning. When used within the classroom, some unanswered questions still remain on the wall and therefore children have often chosen to research these further outside of school. Undoubtedly, when children have acquired some knowledge, they will become curious about the missing knowledge and will have a desire to find out this information, developing levels of engagement as children go beyond expectations. The use of this to enable children to lead the learning can be beneficial in teaching children how to construct open ended questions, as well as developing inquisitive learners who strive to have a deeper understanding of concepts.
Alongside this, within the Science area of the curriculum, the use of planning framework sheets to scaffold learning has been successful in developing independence. The use of this resource gives children the opportunity to take ownership of their learning and investigate aspects which are of interest to them. Ultimately, this can allow learners to gather their possible choices for their experiment before deciding upon this, initiating discussions within groups and enhancing teamwork. Through the use of a stimulus, children use the post-it notes to plan the direction they would like to take their experiments, devising a question to hypothesise and test, as well as exploring different variables. Despite children often needing to seek reassurance from the teacher, this can allow children to drive the learning forward, developing critical thinking skills. As a result, the development of active learning strategies to enable children to discover information for themselves plays a fundamental role in developing competences which go beyond the everyday classroom.
Further Reading:
Khalaf, B. and Zin, Z. (2018) ‘Traditional and Inquiry-Based Learning: A Systematic Critical Review,’ International Journal of Instruction, 11 (4), pp. 545-564, Available at: http://www.e-iji.net/dosyalar/iji_2018_4_34.pdf
Confederation of British Industry (2018) Educating for the Modern World, Available at: http://cdn.roxhillmedia.com/production/email/attachment/700001_710000/CBI%20Education%20and%20Skills%20Annual%20Report%202018.pdf
October 2018
The Creative Curriculum: Are we losing the spark?
During my time in teacher training, the introduction of cross curricular themed teaching, coupled with the Independent Review of the Primary Curriculum (2009), meant that creativity was at the forefront of our Education system. Topic-based approaches, adopted through many schools as ‘Irresistible Learning Programmes’, facilitated a holistic method to learning; intertwining each aspect of the curriculum through memorable and inspirational experiences. Ultimately, this approach gave schools the freedom to experiment, explore and take risks; often renewing their planning entirely. Whilst there is no doubt that the primary classroom remains a place of motivational learning, in my recent years of teaching, I cannot help but feel that we are losing some the creativity we have nurtured for many years. The renovation of our curriculum design allowed a new, fresh approach to teaching. However, it could be questioned that we have become comfortable with what we know, rolling out existing schemes of work on a two year cycle and leaving our ‘Stunning Starts’ to become less remarkable, pushed out by both cost and time constraints. A lack of recent government research within this area has only led me to further believe that our curriculum is being driven by the forward force of substantial curriculum content rather than the development of life-long skills. Our classrooms should be providing awe and wonder, developing creative thinkers and reflective learners, yet all of this sometimes seems difficult to maintain in schools, which year upon year are often driven by the success of both data and SATs.
Upon moving to my latest adventure, it was difficult to believe that in 2016, QCA schemes of work were still being followed through the discrete teaching of individual subjects. Whilst at first I found it challenging to revert back to these somewhat outdated schemes, I became accustomed to this style of teaching, with a clear understanding of how well this fits in with the curriculum we currently follow. This experience made me question how much creativity we strive to achieve on a daily basis. There is no doubt that to provide these meaningful opportunities of curiosity for children, as teachers we must demonstrate enthusiasm and passion, modelling and fostering the necessary skills. It is the factors we have been struggling with for many years which make me feel, as a Year 5 teacher, that I am not always developing deep and logical thinkers, as I am forced to provide academic success for all and I am continuously overwhelmed by a plethora of projects at only one time. Recently, it has been acknowledged by Ofsted that the new framework, which is intended to be put into practise in 2019, will focus on the broad and rich curriculum and the well-rounded individual, exploring the learning behind the data. This seems a step in the right direction in developing the holistic skills and addressing the requirement that the children of the future need to be exposed to memorable experiences, which will ultimately lead to life-long learning and well-rounded individuals.
April 2018
In this ever-changing world of education, the teaching profession is regularly faced with overwhelming, challenging and exciting opportunities. In my time of training and teaching alone, I have both witnessed and experienced changes to every aspect that encompasses the teaching world. From curriculum changes to staffing shortages, as teachers, we are immersed in the lifestyle we lead on a daily basis; becoming ever more resilient to the ongoing transformations of education. It is through determination, passion and the central participants of our job, the children, which makes teaching one of the hardest but most rewarding occupations. With the ambition to inspire both current and future generations of teachers, I aim to regularly inform and update others on the challenges of teaching in the twenty-first century, alongside my personal views and creative approaches to tackling the increasingly predominant issues we face.
Mountains of Marking: Reducing the Struggle?
At the forefront of education, the burden of unnecessary paperwork coupled with the impact of this on our pupils has become a clear topic of debate. Previous research from Black and Wiliam (1998) advocated the need for increased focused marking: evidently resulting in the adoption of the ‘two stars and a wish’ policy in a plethora of primary schools. This progressively focused on developing children’s deeper thinking through the use of endless ‘gap tasks’, known to children in a variety of formats. Whilst there is no doubt that this enabled children to take ownership of their learning, more recent publications surrounding the need to reduce teacher workload (Independent Teacher Workload Review Group, 2016) has led to many schools adopting a new ‘meaningful’ and ‘manageable’ approach. The impact of detailed written comments on younger children, where they are faced with the expectation of manipulating teacher’s responses and creating a formal written dialogue, has finally become questionable. With regards to extensive ‘wish’ tasks, it can now be suggested that deepening of learning should now be found as part of the curriculum itself, in order to allow the children to experience subjects at greater depth. Within Mathematics, there has become an expectation that children should be challenged with problem solving and reasoning activities as part of their daily lessons, in oppose to allowing children to tackle these through response marking. Despite the importance of verbal feedback always being evident, it seems now more than ever that an increased emphasis is being placed upon this in preference to the detailed marking, which is perceived by teachers as one of the greatest areas of unnecessary workload.
During my five years of teaching alone, I have adopted three different varieties of marking policies, each to their own success. With my current school, alongside the many others recently adopting a ‘minimal marking’ approach, I have no doubt this ‘motivating marking’ is set to rise in order to reduce our daily mountains of marking. Even though I still remain in favour of the ‘Pink to Think’ tasks which I use within the classroom to extend learning, I feel the pressure has been taken away to constantly provide differentiated ‘wishes’ to all children and giving teachers the opportunity to mark in detail at their own discretion, when they feel it is necessary and beneficial. Our recently updated policy, which entails highlighting the WALT and ticking answers, has still meant that children are responsive to marking; questioning and striving to improve in order to have their WALT highlighted green and feeling successful when they do so. Greater research into the impact of this policy and feedback from schools will allow a clearer judgement of the effects of this upon children, in comparison to previous adopted strategies. From a personal view, my experience so far has meant that children are still as responsive to the marking but in the form of conversations between the teacher and pupil rather than written evidence of responses. Undoubtedly, confidence in schools to stray away from what we have known for so many years will play an important factor in reducing the expectations upon teachers. Despite being bound by policies which differ greatly between schools, ultimately, we must provide invaluable responses in whichever form we feel they may be, as we strive to create the best opportunities possible to educate and develop the skills of future generations.
Further Reading:
Black, P. And Wiliam, D (1998) Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards through Classroom Assessment, London: GL Assessment
Independent Teacher Workload Review Group (2016) Eliminating Unnecessary Workload Around Marking, Available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/511256/Eliminating-unnecessary-workload-around-marking.pdf
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