Aberdeenshire Head Teachers’ Conference Curriculum, Learning, Teaching and Assessment Margaret Alcorn : April 2011
The two most important and achievable ways in which school education can realise the high aspirations Scotland has for its young people are through supporting and strengthening, firstly, the quality of teaching, and secondly, the quality of leadership.
“Privacy of practice produces isolation; isolation is the enemy of improvement “ Richard Elmore
Good CPD . . .
Has impact on pupil learning Is collaborative: peers, team, cluster Is informed by self evaluation, reflection and enquiry Is contextualised Is personally-owned and Responds to external stimulus – which can challenge assumptions, stimulate ideas, illustrate new approaches
CPD: The good oldfashioned sheep dip model: “Round them up, get them telt, count their heads and let them go!�
Lord, if I die, let it be during a CPD session when the difference between life and death is imperceptible!
Three keys to developing skills
Colleagues observe one another regularly They engage in conversations with each other and with children about learning There is a shared professional language (descriptive, evidencebased, not subjective)
Learning Together
Not ‘done to’; rather ‘done with’ Emphasis on central importance of Learning and Teaching to school improvement Group observation of short bursts of practice Going beyond normal boundaries; getting close to practice in different contexts Descriptive language Not passive observers but engaged in dialogue after observations Emphasis on observers’ learning Focus on ‘Next Steps’
Learning Rounds . . . . . . promotes
transformational change in learning and teaching and is characterized by:
collegiate
approaches to professional development group observation of practice to inform observers’ learning the use of the descriptive voice building capacity to lead learning and a focus on system-wide learning and change.
The process:
Identifying a focus Learning and Teaching focus - will generate key questions to act as a focus to the observation.
Observation of Learning and Teaching in school. Visit to school investigates this focus through observation. The team gather evidence that is descriptive and specific.
Post Observation Discussion - 2 stages. Team members describe what they saw. They analyse the evidence - arranging it and identifying patterns.
Next Steps Creation. In the context of available resources, the group generate and discuss a range of ideas on what should be done next at a system wide level.
CREATIVITY
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Evaluation:
appraise, defend, predict
Synthesis:
compose, design, develop
Analysis:
compare, contrast, categorise
Application:
demonstrate, illustrate, solve
Comprehension:
describe, explain
Knowledge:
memorise, name, recognise, recall
Evaluation vs Description The teacher was good. I think he handled the children well but I thought some of his questions were rather narrow and largely biased towards the boys.
At the beginning of the lesson she asked 11 questions about the characteristics of living things. 9 of the questions were closed questions and 10 of the questions were answered by boys.
Based on‘Coaching & Reflecting Pocketbook’ Peter Hook, Ian McPhail & Andy Vass
In our school, we saw . . . In a small number of classes, not all children were “on task� Critical skills being used in some classes In most classes pupils worked collaboratively In some classes, higher order skills activities In most classes ICT was used In a few classes differentiation by task and resource AifL strategies in more than half the observations Few higher order questions asked of pupils In more than half the classes the pace was slow Across classes a wide range of learning experiences Few pupil generated questions In more that half the classes pupils were motivated and engaged Across classes the team saw a wide range of teaching styles In about half the classes, there were challenging tasks for most pupils In most classes we saw lower order recall and understanding questions In some classes, there were opportunities for personalisation and choice In most classes pupil/teacher interactions were positive and focussed on learning
If you can’t see it in the classroom – then it didn’t happen
email: margaret@cosla.gov.uk blog: http://ltsblogs.org.uk/cpdteam/ twitter: http://twitter.com/cpdc