Improving the quality of talk to support pupil learning

Key issue addressed by the study  This research was designed to: –help teachers understand how they might improve their questioning skills –involve pupils more in lessons –use talk to develop pupils’ thinking and understanding

How did teachers and pupils interact in whole class teaching?  Dominant interaction pattern was teacher-child-teacher- child  Questions with predetermined answers meant teachers missed opportunities for supporting learning through helping pupils to make connections between what they already knew and new ideas

How could teachers use talk to extend the children’s thinking?  Generating and extending pupil thinking requires sensitive shaping of the classroom dialogue and sensitive listening to pupils’ responses

How did teachers generate and extend pupil thinking?  They planned the first question in a sequence carefully  But considered how subsequent questioning might extend and support learning and understanding

Example of teachers’ extending children’s thinking  Using a simple strategy of enquiring about possible reasons, the teacher elicited a more extended response to a question about why a boy hit his brother

Example of teacher extending children’s thinking  Teacher: Why do you do it?  Child: I don’t know  Teacher: Did you do it to hurt him? Had he made you cross?  Child: No he kept bugging me so he was walking along the garden and I lobbed it and it just bounced off the top of his head.

Which pupils were most involved during whole class teaching:  High achievers, especially girls, put their hands up and joined in collective responses  Low achievers and boys were more likely to be off task

Strategies for maximising participation of all pupils:  Teachers can increase all pupils’ involvement through a ‘no hands up’ policy  Inviting children to draw and reflect on personal experiences

Who were the children in the study?  The researchers observed year 2 pupils from three first schools and year 6 pupils from three primary/middle schools

How was the information gathered?  The researchers videoed 15 minute teaching episodes during literacy, numeracy and one other curriculum area  Other data were also collected: –observations of sample pupils using structured schedules to capture verbal/non-verbal responses –teacher reflections using video as prompt –notes made by researchers recording factors such as friendships and classroom interruptions

The video recordings captured:  The teacher’s talk  The pupils’ responses  The pupils’ non verbal interactions

How can teachers use the evidence in this study?  The study found that the quality of dialogue was what counted rather than simply the use of talk. Could you: –frame speculative and process questions as well as curriculum objectives when planning lessons? –ask a colleague to observe your whole class teaching session to note how often and when children give more elaborate explanations –encourage pupils to build on each other’s answers or give pupils ‘time out’ to discuss ideas with a partner?

How can school leaders use the evidence in this study?  The study found that the key point about helping colleagues to develop their questioning skills was to improve the quality of the dialogue  Could you encourage your staff to: practice their questioning skills by taking part in role plays with each other or discussing and reflecting on video recordings of classroom episodes?

Follow-up reading  Study reference: Myhill, D,. (2006) Talk,talk,talk: Teaching and learning in whole class discourse Research Papers in Education Vol. 21, No. 1 pp  Summary available at: peakandlisten/talktalk/ peakandlisten/talktalk/ peakandlisten/talktalk/

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