Strategies to Improve Teaching

The current picture“We need to do four things: • Be clear what kinds of learning we value to get teaching really focused on this

learning; • Invest in effective professional development; • Evaluate, and measure properly, teaching quality using multiple sources of

validated evidence to support diagnostic and constructive improvement; • And whenever we make a change, evaluate its impact as robustly as we can. Education has existed in a pre-scientific world, where good measurement of anything important is rare and evaluation is done badly or not at all. It is time we established a more scientific approach”.Professor Coe

An informed approach“Professional knowledge and skills that do have a positive impact on student outcomes are consistent with evidence-based principles of teaching effectiveness” Timperley 2008• Make sure all teachers know what

constitutes teacher effectiveness• And what doesn’t! In 2014,

research suggested that 90% of teachers still believed in the importance of preferred learning styles

A double-focused approach“Focus on valued student outcomes...to establish a firm foundation for improved student outcomes, teachers must integrate their knowledge about the curriculum and about how to teach it effectively [with] how to assess whether students have learned it” Timperley 2008:• Where are the biggest learning gaps?• Where are the biggest learning strengths?

As a schoolAs a departmentAs a teacher

• Keep it closely focused• Don’t forget to ‘Grow the Bright Spots’

“We must stop trying to do too many good things.” Dylan Wiliam

A united approach

Avoid ‘fixed mindset’ labelsSet the same targets for everyone:• What are you improving through practice?• What are you sharing as an area of mastery?• Get everybody thinking: “Why teachers

adopt particular practices, the purposes they aim to achieve, their theories about what learning is and how it happens and their conceptual models of the nature and role of teaching in the learning process all seem to be important.” What Makes Great Teaching Report 2014

FocusImprovingSharing mastery

“Every teacher needs to improve. Not because they’re not good enough but because they can be even better.”Dylan Wiliam

A personalised approach

Focus on improving or sharing:• A lesson ingredient• An aspect of technical proficiency• An aspect of subject mastery• The learning of a type of group• The learning of a type of learner• An aspect of subject pedagogy

Focus Impact on achievement

Improving

Sharing mastery

A graduated approach• Supportive Review• Lesson Study• Coaching• Peer Support• 15 minute forums• Open Classroom Teaching• Peer Bright Spot Learning Walks• Buddying• Campus Crawls• Learning Classrooms: Ideas Trials• Teacher Learning Communities• Lesson Ingredient Videos• Professional Reading• Book Club• Learning Hub Website• Research & Development• Professional Learning Visits• Teach Meets• Pedagogical Planners

“We learn most by observing others and then having an opportunity to ask questions and discuss assumptions.” David Didau

A collaborative approach“School people carry around extraordinary insights about their practice... I call these insights craft knowledge... If one day we educators could only disclose our rich craft knowledge to one another, we could transform our schools overnight... Regrettably, as a profession, we do not place much value on our craft knowledge or on those who share it.”Roland Barth “To make significant changes to their

practice, teachers need multiple opportunities to learn new information and understand its implications for practice. Furthermore, they need to encounter these opportunities in environments that offer both trust and challenge.” Timperley

A realistic approachCreate time from:• Overstaffing• Briefings not meetings• Co-teaching parallel groups• Collaborative planning, assessment

and feedback• Reconsidering reports

A thought-through approach Vision Skills Incentives Resources Action Plan Outcome

YES YES YES YES Confusion

YES YES YES YES Anxiety

YES YES YES YES Opposition

YES YES YES YES Frustration

YES YES YES YES False Start

Tim Brighouse

Professional Learning rather than Professional Development

Avoid CPD which:• Is not expert• Is not up-to-date• Is one-off with no follow up• Is undifferentiated• Is too top down and encourages learned

helplessness• Is not matched to learners’ needs• Is not subject specific• Is not opportunity costed• Is faddism• Is tokenism• Does not promote teacher creativity and

ownershipMore thoughts from @Headguruteacher and @Edutopia

“Sustained improvement in student outcomes requires that teachers have sound theoretical knowledge, evidence-informed inquiry skills, and supportive organisational conditions.” Timperley

Building a Professional Learning Culture

A shared vision on:• What it will look like• What it will feel like• What it will sound likeThe presence of necessary qualities:• Trust• Autonomy• ResponsibilityWhat spaces will it need?• Time• Physical space• Psychological space

1. Reflect and auditPrecise diagnosis• Complete the Lesson Ingredients

Audit• Look at your data• Get feedback from others:a. Self reflectionb. Studentsc. Buddyd. Peere. Line managerf. CoachIndividual professional learning plans should start with identifying the teacher’s change intentions

“[If] teachers are to change, they need to participate in a professional learning community that is focused on becoming responsive to students... As an intervention on its own, a collegial community will often end up merely entrenching existing practice and the assumptions on which it is based.” Timperley

2. Identify Improvement StrategiesPractical strategies• Evidence-based: use what works• Plan your approach using the Lesson

Ingredients Improvement Strategies• Focus on the practical e.g. Increasing

student time on task• Professor Coe suggests content-

focused improvement strategies focused on teachers’ knowledge of subject content & how students learn it

• What support will be needed?• Improvement plans need to be

practical, action-focused and time-bound

3. PracticeImprovement necessitates sustained, deliberate practiceProfessor Coe suggests: • At least 15 contact hours spent on

CPD, preferably 50• Practice sustained over 2 terms• Active practice: opportunities to try

out & discuss • Supported practice: external

feedback and networks to improve and sustain

• Evidence based practice: using strategies supported by robust evaluation evidence

For more ideas see @Huntingenglish

“The secret to improving at a skill is to retain some degree of conscious control over it while practising, to force oneself to stay out of autopilot.” Josh Foer ‘Moonwalking with Einstein’

4. Review Impact on OutcomesHow will you measure impact?• Evaluate• I tried...• I improved...

“Getting good at using feedback — being coachable — is a skill with far-reaching implications. When people use feedback and improve, and see themselves improve at things, they come to believe in practice and in using feedback...The process of intentionally implementing feedback is likely to keep people in a practice state of increased consciousness and thus steeper improvement.” Doug Lemov

5. Share good practice• Praise• Collate• Teaching Learning Communities• Model• Coach • Open Classrooms• Share in school• Lead on• School blog• Teach Meets