Quality Teaching – The Need for a Common Framework Prof. John Stannard CBE FRSA Principal Consultant CfBT Education Trust

National Strategic Plan Ministry of Education committed to providing: ‘Quality education... of international standard, which fosters valuable and marketable skills and encourages a life-long learning orientation that will contribute to a harmonious and politically stable society...in which our students’ learning attainments are comparable with international standards.’ Strategic Plan (p5)

Factors affecting standards Non-school factors parents –opportunity, experience, attitudes peer group –belonging, conforming, roles and relationships system factors: –national curricula –testing and assessment policies –too much pressure with too little support –professional culture resistant to change

Factors affecting standards School Factors: Some schools have major impact despite socio- economic factors Individual school performance can vary widely Weaker schools can improve rapidly and significantly Challenge of moving up from adequate to good Homogeneous school performance is more often a sign of system-wide weakness than strength

Sustained school improvement mainly due to: School culture and climate – behaviour, expectations, relationships, ground rules Quality of leadership: –promoting the vision for staff, pupils and parents –monitoring and tracking at every level to identify and respond to weaknesses –clear and supportive performance management to assure quality Persistent focus on improving teaching quality with common policy for all.

Sustaining improvement Last year’s improvement mainly due to: –effects of sharper focus –external support for students. May be a further year’s improvement from these effects Improvements in teaching quality are the key Some system improvements may also be needed Value of agreed principles and practices – a Common Framework for teaching and learning

A Common Framework for learning and teaching A practical policy with clear, observable criteria to underpin quality and improvement Can be applied to all subjects, not just English Commitment from teaching community e.g. at national. subject, school, department levels Foundation for professional development Criteria for assessing quality of learning and teaching Aligned with aims and principles in MoE Strategic Plan.

SUCCESSFUL LEARNING?? SUCCESSFUL TEACHING?? successful teaching grounded in successful learning

What do successful learners do?

What successful learners do They: –achieve –learn actively –progress towards increasing independence –work collaboratively –have positive learning attitudes.

SUCCESSFUL LEARNING SUCCESSFUL TEACHING?? SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT ACTIVE STRATEGIC REFLECTIVE COLLABORATIVE LEARNING INCREASING AUTONOMY POSITIVE ATTITUDES A COMMON FRAMEWORK

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING Two prerequisites: Expert subject and curricular knowledge Detailed knowledge of individual students – achievement, progress and learning needs

Five characteristics of effective teaching 1.Assessment for learning 2.Interactive teaching strategies 3.Teaching active learning strategies 4.Class management: practical ground rules for behaviour and learning 5.Effective planning and lesson structure.

1. Assessment for learning objectives/targets for every student diagnostic teaching - assessment integrated in the teaching process systematic and frequent individual pupil tracking rapid response to needs and problems, at the point of learning involving students in assessment of their own progress promoting confidence and success for every pupil.

2. Interactive teaching differentiation to include all students building on students’ contributions promoting language production – speaking and writing: moving students from informal (context-bound) to more formal (context-free) uses of language ‘scaffolding’ new learning responding constructively to misconceptions making time to think and to work in depth.

3. Teaching active learning strategies: planning, monitoring, checking and self correcting information retrieval, investigation and problem-solving, uses of imagination, play and exploration hypothesising and testing inference

4. Classroom management Common ground rules and established routines for: –behaviour –class and group discussion –what to do if stuck or when finished –routines – getting attention, noise levels, transitions –resources – organisation and access –management of time in lessons.

5. Planning and lesson structure Lessons with: realistic, observable learning objectives managed progression from directed to independent work focussed group work for collaboration and teaching plenaries for reflection and self-evaluation well planned organisation and resources.

SUCCESSFUL LEARNING SUCCESSFUL TEACHING SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT ACTIVE LEARNING COLLABORATIVE LEARNING INCREASING AUTONOMY POSITIVE ATTITUDES PLANNING & LESSON STRUCTURE INTERACTIVE TEACHING TEACHING ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES ASSESSMEN T FOR LEARNING CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT A COMMON FRAMEWORK

Evidence from teacher observation main strengths to build on: lesson planning classroom management use of resources subject knowledge teachers’ general rapport with class.

Evidence from teacher observation areas for improvement differentiation and inclusion student involvement students’ progress in lessons promoting students’ use of English fostering independence.

CfBT Commitments Work with teachers to develop a common framework for learning and teaching Focus on effectiveness i.e. quality of learning Increase emphasis on school-based, on-the-job, support: –sharing and demonstration –mentoring –problem-solving –resource development –action research in the classroom Strengthen partnership with local teachers to sustain improvement.

A Framework for Learning and Teaching