CCC Pedagogy - High Impact Teaching Strategies by Cooloola Christian College

CCC Pedagogy High Impact Teaching Strategies

www.ccc.qld.edu.au 1 College Rd, Southside

Contents 5

Our Pedagogy

Biblical Underpinnings

Positive Classroom Culture

Effective Questioning

Structuring Lessons

Opportunities for Mastery

Collaborative Learning

Explicit Teaching

Learning Goals

Feedback

Metacognitive Strategies

Differentiated Teaching

Recommended Reading & Viewing

Our Values

Our Pedagogy

T COOLOOLA CHRISTIAN COLLEGE our mission is to ‘Grow God’s Kingdom through Excellence in Education’. We believe God has created each of us uniquely, and in His image (Gen 1:26). We believe that we are all learners – teachers and students.

Our teachers are strong collaborators. We develop skills and capacity together through an on-going process of professional learning and reflection. We discuss curriculum and assessment, observe one another in practice, trial new approaches, and review valuable data to ensure our strategies effectively meet the needs of students in our care. At Cooloola Christian College we value the extensive work of education researchers including the Marzano Institute (2017) and Hattie (2011). Our Teaching and Learning team have synthesised an extensive inventory of teaching strategies, compiled from international research, and developed a comprehensive list as the foundation for this High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) document. This work has also drawn heavily from Department of Education and Training, Victoria (2017). Studies by Hattie and Marzano support our suggestion that, “if a teacher were to focus on developing professional capacity to implement these ‘Top 10’ strategies, the impact on student outcomes would be most positive and significant”. We trust these High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) will provide a strong framework upon which our teachers can work confidently together to ‘Grow God’s Kingdom through Excellence in Education’.

Ross Waltisbuhl Principal

Biblical Underpinnings CCC HITS pedagogy is founded on the Bible’s teaching on what it means to be human and how humans develop and learn. The Bible opens with God’s act of creation, culminating in the creation of men and women ‘in the image of God’ (Genesis 1:27). In the context of Genesis 1, image bearing means to ‘subdue’ and ‘rule over’ creation—not exploiting it but continuing God’s loving work of ordering creation. As humans, our task requires learning about and coming to understand God’s world. Although human rebellion has led all people to ‘suppress the truth’ about God (Romans 1:18), fallen humanity retains the image of God and the ability to learn. We see in the Scriptures that children learn through exploration and asking questions. During the yearly celebration of the Passover, children are invited to ask questions about what the elements of the feast mean (Exodus 12:26). In the Proverbs, wisdom is found in considering the created world (e.g. Proverbs 6:6-8) and also through riddles and puzzles (e.g. Proverbs 26:4-5). Therefore, in our schoolwide pedagogy, we will embrace exploration and joy in learning and utilise effective questioning. Wisdom is a broad category in Scripture. It includes practical skills, understanding the world, living virtuously, and ultimately fearing the LORD. Wisdom is something that is learnt through experiences and through listening to experienced teachers (Proverbs 1:8). In our pedagogy, we will acknowledge different forms of wisdom through differentiated teaching, setting goals for learning, and intentionally providing students with multiple opportunities to master skills. As God creates people, He creates a community. Although people can work together against God (e.g. Genesis 11), people are called to work together to serve (e.g. Exodus 36:1). In our pedagogy, we will provide opportunities to collaborate as learners - learning as a team, and learning to relate to teachers and peers. Though the Scriptures give foundations for our pedagogy, the Bible is given to make us ‘wise for salvation’ (2 Timothy 3:15) and not, primarily, to make us wise to teach. Therefore teachers at our college will ‘plunder the Egyptians’ (to quote Augustine, the 4th century theologian), implementing the best teaching practices that align with our Biblical foundation, and serve our students well.

Positive Classroom Culture This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

actively uses the Responsible Thinking Process (RTP) in the classroom (students are referred to the RTC if they continue to demonstrate undesired behaviour);

•

intervenes when students are disengaged in a way that will refocus and maintain positive relationships with students;

•

takes the opportunity to share God’s word and pray with students at various times of the day including Pastoral Care lessons;

•

clearly communicates established routines and procedures;

•

clearly communicates set expectations verbally and non-verbally;

•

explicitly states and models the school values of Courage, Learning, Excellence, Accountability and Respect (when interacting with students, the teacher will take incidental opportunities to discuss the school values);

•

has organised the physical layout of the classroom;

•

gives positive reinforcement when students adapt their choices to adhere to routines, expectation and school values;

•

clearly communicates Learning Goals and Success Criteria;

•

knows details of all their students’ background, culture, family, interests, hobbies, talents etc;

•

acts on students’ revelations of not feeling physically or emotionally safe at school.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher: • While home and family offer each person our first place of learning, at CCC we recognise schools as the training ground for living confidently and securely in the wider society. It is here that we experiment with skills for productive interactions, face social

have been asked; •

singles out students or does things that will embarrass the disengaged student;

•

leaves talking about God and praying only for Pastoral Care time;

•

gives reinforcement to superficial things that don’t align to school expectations, values or procedures.

challenges and grow in personal identity. Where a classroom becomes a Christ-centred

does not follow through with RTP when questions

learning community, students see themselves

This strategy is demonstrated when students:

as valued people, created by God for a unique

•

understand and expect the RTP to be followed;

purpose. Clearly communicated boundaries,

•

know and follow set routines and procedures without prompting;

routines and expectations provide a firm foundation for security. Teachers and students

•

understand Learning Goals (students will also be

together build positive relationships where

able to articulate their progress toward their Learning

value and worth are known, and God’s love and grace are experienced daily.

are able to state the purpose of their learning – ie.

Goal); •

feel safe, supported and encouraged in the school environment.

Effective Questioning This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

negotiates conversational protocols which support all students to make meaningful contributions;

•

targets questions, or responds to answers, in ways that acknowledge individual needs and potential contributions;

•

models acceptance and valuing of unusual ideas;

•

provides stimulus materials that challenge students’ ideas and encourage discussion;

•

engages students in dialogue, continuously extending their thinking and refining students’ understanding;

•

asks questions that probe student thinking and prompt them to justify their responses;

•

provides feedback and structures opportunities for students to give feedback to one another.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher: •

mainly asks questions that are closed, focuses on recall of information, and having one ‘right’ answer;

•

allows insufficient wait time for students to think about the question and their possible responses;

•

consistently relies on a few students to respond and does not engage all students in discussion;

•

allows the class discussion to wander without focus;

•

dominates the discussion and does not allow students to interact, challenge viewpoints and speculate.

This strategy is demonstrated when students: •

feel confident to ask questions, speculate and hypothesise, and when they respect others’ views;

•

understand how different types of questions are used to identify and clarify information;

•

give feedback to one another, and when they build on and challenge one another’s ideas.

Developing student interest and active engagement in lessons can be managed through the posing of effective questions. Questions assist in reviewing and accessing learning, probing understanding, monitoring any need for clarification and prompting further reflection. Additionally, self-assessment and self-management is modelled and guided through effective questioning. This also provides valuable feedback on the effectiveness of teaching strategies in enhancing student growth.

Structuring Lessons This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

explains the steps in the lesson to students, including presenting learning intentions, explicitly presenting new knowledge, identifying planned opportunities for practice, outlining questioning techniques the class will use, and describing the assessment formats;

•

makes clear connections between the Learning Goals, activities and assessment tasks;

•

creates transparent, predictable and purposeful routines for effective classroom learning;

•

identifies clear transitions between each step in the lesson;

•

plans the sequence of steps to scaffold student learning (I do, we do, you do);

•

monitors student understanding and provides feedback continuously through the learning cycle.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher: Well-planned lessons and familiar routines

•

keeps changing lesson structure, producing unhelpful unpredictability in the classroom environment.

provide transparency, security and purpose to classroom learning. Effective lessons: •

begin with clear goals and expectations

•

provide students with a clear structure to

This strategy is demonstrated when students: •

understand the Learning Goals and Success Criteria;

•

understand the lesson routine and confidently negotiate the sequence of steps/activities.

review prior learning •

engage students through the explicit teaching of new content

•

provide modelled and guided practice

•

involve valuable activities to apply skills and information independently

•

review learning to identify gaps and celebrate success.

Opportunities for Mastery This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

links multiple exposures to the Learning Goals;

•

plans units of work that clearly identify new knowledge and

Learning

skills that will benefit from multiple exposures;

developing deep understandings

uses a variety of learning and assessment tasks that vary

and strengthening skills as firm

•

students’ interactions with the knowledge and/or skills, and support transfer of learning.

•

repeats the same activity many times with no variation in context, resulting in dull repetition;

•

does not provide timely feedback, resulting in students repeating mistakes multiple times.

life

about

foundations for the future. Skilled teachers clearly introduce new learning,

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher:

for

craft

opportunities

to practice skills and apply understandings. They recognise that gaps in understanding pose significant risks for lifelong success, and therefore ensure all learners develop mastery with each building block before

This strategy is demonstrated when students: •

consolidate their learning through opportunities that engage and re-engage them with new content over a period;

•

feel supported and confident about new learning.

progressing further.

Collaborative Learning This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

regularly sets group tasks and establishes clear expectations about how groups operate;

•

explicitly teaches students to work as a team by assigning different roles within groups so that students take responsibility for aspects of tasks;

•

differentiates learning by assigning group content based on student readiness;

•

designs tasks that require sharing expertise and ensuring each student’s contribution is valued by other students;

•

promotes interactions by organising students in flexible groupings in which group membership varies and may be based, for example, on friendship, mixed academic ability or common interests.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher:

Recognising that learning is a social activity which benefits from rich active

•

dominates class discussion;

•

allows a few students to dominate discussion;

•

gives students few opportunities to interact with, and support, each other.

engagement, teachers craft opportunities for students to work together to solve problems and create innovative solutions. Through this strategy teachers draw teams of students together to problemsolve, ideate, explore and create, each contributing valuable components to a larger whole. Through active participation

This strategy is demonstrated when students: •

understand the protocols for working collaboratively;

•

accept individual responsibility for participating and contributing to group tasks;

•

are skilled at providing feedback to each other.

students develop socially and strengthen academic learning. Opportunities for peer coaching exist naturally as students invest in their own learning and the successful outcomes of their team.

Explicit Teaching This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

explains what students need to know and be able to do by the end of the lesson or unit;

•

uses work examples to show students how to effectively follow a process to complete a task;

•

allows students enough time to practice what they have learned;

•

guides student practice by monitoring their work and providing help when it is needed;

•

reinforces the main points at the end of the lesson.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher: •

is didactic, using teacher-centred, uninterrupted monologue with few opportunities for students to be active in the learning;

•

restricts class discussions and student input is discouraged;

•

responds judgmentally to students’ attempts at problem solving activities rather than treating each attempt as an opportunity for further learning;

•

introduces new knowledge and skills with worked examples that are too complex and inaccessible to learners;

•

uses the same worked examples for all learners, including those with an already advanced knowledge of the topic or subject matter.

This strategy is demonstrated when students: •

understand the Learning Goals and Success Criteria;

•

access multiple examples before undertaking the learning tasks;

•

understand that the focus is on understanding the process required to complete the task;

•

receive feedback as needed.

Where teachers establish high expectations for learner success, there is evidence of intentional and clear teaching of critical components. With each learner in mind, teachers identify essential key content and develop lessons to ensure students understand new vocabulary, required cognitions and necessary processes. Explicit teaching guides students to link the old familiar to the new unfamiliar.

Learning Goals This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

assesses students’ prior knowledge;

•

uses evidence to differentiate Learning Goals for groups of students based on relevant, targeted curriculum standards;

•

demonstrates a purpose for learning by linking a specific lesson activity to the Learning Goals;

•

provides realistic and challenging goals and recognises effort towards achieving them.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher: With

strong

curriculum achievement

understanding

intent

and

relevant

standards,

teachers

develop Learning Goals to ensure a

•

implies by words or actions that some students are not expected to achieve the Learning Goal;

•

praises all work regardless of quality and effort;

•

assesses student work against other students’ work, rather than against prior achievement and individual

focus on the critical is maintained

Learning Goals.

throughout each unit of learning. Working together, effective Learning Goals and scales help students see the

This strategy is demonstrated when students:

direction of the unit, reflect on progress

•

own learning;

and set personal targets for success. Teachers use Learning Goals and scales

•

are strategically included to support

self-monitor their progress, and provide evidence which demonstrates they have achieved their goals;

to ensure ‘the main thing remains the main thing’ and all learning activities

actively engage with the Learning Goals to plan their

•

frame future Learning Goals based on identified strengths and areas for improvement.

student success and mastery.

Feedback This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

provides feedback on tasks that challenges students to review, reflect on and refine their understandings at various points in a learning sequence;

•

gives timely feedback, acknowledging areas well-handled and suggesting areas for improvement;

•

structures feedback to support further learning;

•

organises a variety of audiences to provide feedback;

•

uses student assessment data as a source of feedback on the effectiveness of their teaching practice.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher: •

provides feedback that is about the person (such as, ‘you are my best student’) or vague (such as, ‘good job’);

•

only provides feedback about students’ performance in formal, summative assessment situations, without the opportunity for students to refine and develop understandings based on instructive feedback.

This strategy is demonstrated when students: •

understand what they need to do to improve;

•

feel encouraged and supported to achieve the Learning Goals;

•

use feedback to monitor and self-regulate their learning.

Hattie and Timperley (2007) suggest “Feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement.” Effective feedback reflects on evidenced learning, providing the student with answers to 3 key questions: •

Where am I going?

•

How am I going?

•

Where to next? (Hattie and Timperley, 2007)

Feedback helps teachers and students to better understand what is required and consider strategies to improve processes in the future.

Metacognitive Strategies This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

provides students with specific strategies to set goals, and monitor and evaluate their learning progress;

•

assists students to identify and use strategies that support them to achieve Learning Goals;

•

demonstrates how to use a particular metacognitive strategy that make content knowledge more accessible, malleable and intriguing;

•

uses a variety of learning and assessment strategies to scaffold and personalise the learning process;

•

provides support and scaffolding for tasks through checklists, self-questioning, student-teacher conferences and self-assessment;

•

uses Information and Communication Technologies.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher: •

gives students a choice of activities but does not

Teachers use strategies to guide

explain how they can use specific strategies to achieve

students to ‘think about their

Learning Goals;

thinking’. Students grasp the

•

does not encourage students to take responsibility

purpose in learning and take

for their own learning, or for applying metacognitive

ownership of their progress.

strategies.

Effective strategies

metacognitive enable

students

to plan their work, manage their time, focus attention and organise thinking for success in learning.

This strategy is demonstrated when students: •

have a repertoire of learning strategies and can select strategies appropriate for the Learning Goals;

•

reflect on their learning processes, self-assess and acknowledge the impact of effort on achievement;

•

actively seek out feedback because they value it to improve understanding of how they learn;

•

are capable of self-regulation and proactively take control of, and responsibility for, their own learning.

Differentiated Teaching This strategy is demonstrated when the teacher: •

uses pre-assessment of student readiness, interest and learning profile to understand individual student’s needs and strengths;

•

sets high expectations for all students;

•

provides students with realistic, challenging goals, and recognises effort;

•

relies on formative assessment to monitor student learning progress toward and beyond Learning Goals;

•

uses a range of teaching strategies that support different abilities and ways of thinking and learning;

•

sets open-ended tasks that allow students to work at different levels and paces;

•

uses group and targeted interventions to remediate learning difficulties;

•

assesses student work against prior achievements rather than against another student’s work.

This strategy is not demonstrated when the teacher: •

sets the same work for all students;

•

provides little variation in teaching strategies, resources and groups composition;

•

assesses all student work against general criteria;

•

applies differentiated teaching strategies only for gifted students;

•

establishes consistently inflexible groupings.

This strategy is demonstrated when students: •

choose learning activities based on agreed goals;

•

are assessed against prior achievements, rather than against another student’s work;

•

are supported and challenged to reach their learning potential.

Recognising that God has created each learner as a unique and valued image bearer of Himself, teachers prioritise knowing students, identifying their interests, needs, strengths and gifts, and using these understandings to provide a variety of opportunities for students to engage positively with curriculum. Differentiation seeks to recognise the cultural, emotional and academic needs of learners and strives for successful growth in each individual and group.