Thringboard: Issue 2, May 2022 by uppinghamschool1584

Issue 2 – May 2022

Thringboard

A journal for teacher development and research

Contents

Editorial

Which written corrective feedback practices are effective and time efficient in MFL? by Anna Gadd, Head of Spanish

The limitations of procedural teaching methods in science by Dr David Boyce, Physics Department

Designing better assessments by Dr Clare Pemberton, Biology Department

A report on the development of an induction programme for overseas boarding pupils by James Birch, Housemaster of Farleigh

Building a culture built on values by James Holroyd, Deputy Housemaster of Highfield

Thringboard Issue 2 – May 2022

Editorial

Welcome to the second edition of Thringboard. This issue gives you an insight into both the micro and macro of pedagogy: from how to maximise efficiency and effectiveness of marking; to building a culture of shared values. Over the second half of the Lent Term, teachers spent a significant amount of time marking. The article Which written corrective feedback practices are effective and time efficient in MFL is a welcome critique of different practices to get the most out of marking. A critique of the procedural teaching method used in Physics also investigates a specific area of classroom practice and similarly has a wider application beyond that subject. The article highlights the importance of questioning various teaching methods, looking at their original purpose and examining whether they are still relevant to the current educational context. Zooming out a bit, Designing Better Assessments details the key questions which should be considered when planning assessments. Specifically, the article discusses desirable difficulty and the thinking behind which hurdles to leave in the assessment and which to remove, depending on what you are assessing. Above all, to invest time in re-examining the questions we use and experimenting with different techniques to get the most out of the assessment. The last two articles look at the macro side of teaching and learning. Report on The Development of an Induction Programme for Overseas Boarding Pupils argues that Uppingham could do, and is increasingly doing, more to support overseas pupils. The report features action research which was carried out to determine whether an induction could help pupils integrate more swiftly and effectively into Uppingham School. Creating a set of shared values in a cohort, house, or department is not simple. Even harder is to sustain them, incorporate them into learning, and embed them in the DNA of a department. All the rage in September but forgotten by February is an all too familiar tale. Building a Culture Built on Values offers a must-read roadmap to the creation and maintenance of a flourishing culture. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and feedback on the issues raised in this edition of Thringboard. Please let us know if you have any constructive suggestions on how to improve before issue #3 towards the end of the Michaelmas term. Hugh Barnes Assistant to Assistant Head: Teacher Development

Thringboard Issue 2 – May 2022

Which written corrective feedback practices are effective and time efficient in MFL? by Anna Gadd, Head of Spanish Background I am studying for a part-time MSc in Learning and Teaching at the University of Oxford. I conducted this research for my first-year assignment, investigating which written corrective feedback (WCF) practices in second language acquisition (SLA) are more time-efficient for teachers while remaining impactful in developing learners’ written accuracy and promoting long-term learning. It is worth noting that I conducted this research in my previous school, an independent school for girls in the South of England. The problem As a Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) teacher, I devote a considerable amount of time to marking and responding to errors in pupils’ writing. Despite providing this written corrective feedback (WCF), I find that my pupils continue to make many of the same mistakes. My MFL colleagues share my frustrations, yet we feel pressured to correct errors in pupil work even if we do not have faith in this approach. Despite years of classroom experience, many of us are unsure of which feedback type is most effective at helping pupils address gaps in written accuracy. Furthermore, many of my MFL colleagues continue to use comprehensive written corrective feedback (CWCF), i.e. they respond to all written errors in their pupils’ writing. This approach is time-consuming, yet none of us has evidence that it works better than others. Motivated by this problem, I conducted a literature review exploring the theoretical and empirical research on WCF.

The literature My review found that – considering the potential harm to teachers’ wellbeing and professional identity due to time-consuming marking in SLA (Gibson et al. 2015) – it is clear that CWCF should be abandoned except in particular settings where it is judged to be most appropriate. Indeed, considering that studies on WCF types show great variability in their effect and that, according to Bitchener (2021), individual learners’ personal and contextual characteristics might moderate how effective WCF types are, teachers could benefit from more time to receive continuous professional development (CPD) on WCF in SLA (Bitchener, 2019) and to

discuss with their colleagues how to best use WCF alongside other teaching and learning tools to further their pupils’ learning at each stage. Intervention This research prompted me to conduct a trial in the classroom on how timesaving WCF strategies help improve my pupils’ written accuracy and knowledge of certain Spanish language features. These time-saving strategies took into account potential moderating factors (see Figure 1 below) in order to tailor WCF to the needs of my pupils and to the particular learning purpose of the written task.

Figure 1: Bitchener’s (2021) description of the stages of the cognitive process triggered by WCF, with a description of the moderating factors relevant at each stage on the left-hand side.

MODERATING FACTORS

COGNITIVE PROCESS Preconditions Motivation + orientation to form (accuracy)

Written CF feedback type preference

Explicitness of written CF types Informativeness of written CF types Long-term memory Working memory processing capabilities Long-term memory store Language learning aptitude Types of written CF Affective factors Prior experiences

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Attention to written CF report Noticing gap between learner input + written CF input Understanding written CF input

Analysing/comparing written CF input + Long Term Memory (LTM) knowledge

Hypothesis formation + testing

Hypothesis accepted as accurate output

Hypothesis not accepted

Consolidation

Repeat episode

Research design My intervention was conducted with 32 pupils from two high-ability Year 9 classes. Two groups were used in order to allow for a larger sample of pupils of a similar ability. One of these classes participated in a previous survey which showed a positive attitude towards feedback – one of the preconditions for feedback to be effective according to Bitchener (2021) – although some pupils agreed that they often forgot feedback received in the past, which matched the perception of MFL teachers I talked to. I used two timesaving feedback strategies with all pupils: (1) indirect focused WCF (FWCF, feedback on only some mistakes) with metalinguistic information in the form of codes and (2) feedback to the teacher that informs modified instruction. I used no control group due to school policy and the ethical implications of my research – i.e. I could not fail to provide feedback to any of my pupils. The intervention followed a pre-test and post-test design which is briefly described in the table on the right:

Table 1: Time-saving feedback strategy 1: Indirect FWCF with metalinguistic information (codes) Pre-test

Pupils translate 10 sentences that include linguistic features recently covered.

FWCF with metalinguistic information (codes)

Teacher provides FWCF for sentences 1-5. Pupils correct their mistakes. Conversations between teacher and some pupils.

Post-test 1 (one week after FWCF)

Pupils translate 5 sentences with the same linguistic features as sentences 1-5 in the pre-test.

Table 2: Time-saving feedback strategy 2: Feedback to the teacher and modified instruction Feedback to the teacher informs instruction

Teacher looks at common mistakes in sentences 6-10 in the pre-test and identifies one common mistake all pupils make. The teacher delivers a lesson targeting the linguistic feature that most pupils make mistakes in.

Post-test 2 (one week after Pupils translate 5 sentences with the same lesson) linguistic features as sentences 6-10 in the pretest.

Examples of research findings Here I provide an anonymised example of a single pupil’s work over the course of the intervention. This example serves to illustrate how I analysed individual pupil data. The conclusions which follow were made considering the full sample of pupils - these aggregated results are shown in Figure 6. Firstly, consider an example of sentences 1-5 in the pre-test in which pupil was able to self-correct successfully after receiving FWCF with metalinguistic information in the form of a code:

Figure 2: Strategy 1 part 1, pre-test

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This pupil did not repeat the same mistake in the post-test the following week (see correct form ir in translation 5:

Figure 3: Strategy 1 part 2, post test 1

For the same pupil again, consider translations of sentences 6-10 in the pre-test. The red arrow indicates the common mistake that all/most pupils made (describing the weather in the past tense) and I planned a lesson on. The pupil never saw the arrow.

Figure 4: Strategy 2 part 1, pre-test 2

Notice then how this pupil translated the same sentence a week after instruction, without being aware that they made a mistake in that sentence. There is a noticeable improvement from the pre-test but it is not the perfect accurate translation. This was the case for many of their peers as well.

Figure 5: Strategy 1 part 2, post test 2

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Beyond these promising results from one pupil, I also present in Figure 6 aggregate data over the entire cohort. With regards to the first feedback strategy, this data indicates that FWCF does indeed reduce marking time (I spent 15 minutes marking the work of 32 pupils) and can contribute to improving written accuracy for Year 9 learners of Spanish, at least in the short-to-medium term. Evidence for this is that 82% of pupils were able to self-correct correctly after being provided with FWCF on one mistake. Furthermore, of those who managed to self-correct successfully, 91% of pupils avoided repeating the same mistake in the post-test. For the second feedback strategy (i.e. instruction informed by the teacher identifying common mistakes in pupils’ work) 61% of pupils were able to translate weather expressions in the past tense correctly after instruction, compared to a higher percentage of success after FWCF. However, the lesson guided by observations of common learner’s mistakes allowed for pupils to see a much larger set of weather expressions in the past (e.g. it was sunny, it was hot, it was windy, etc.) than a single correction in the form of FWCF would have allowed. In addition, although 39% were unable to produce the correct form accurately, almost all pupils were able to approximate it much more closely than in the first attempt in the pre-test. For example, one pupil wrote “es soleil” in the pre test when trying to say “it was sunny”, whereas in the post-test they wrote “hice sol”, much closer to the correct form “hizo sol”. Instruction then seems to contribute to a coarser knowledge of the form while FWCF seems to contribute more to precision.

% of students who selfcorrected correctly after stratgy 1 (FWCF) % of students who selfcorrected correctly and avoided repeating the same mistake n Yes n No

% of students who avoided repeating the same mistake after strategy 2 (instruction)

100 0

Figure 6: Aggregated data showing the percentages of pupils who managed to avoid the same mistakes in the post-tests for both strategies.

Conclusion The results presented above lead me to conclude that looking at pupil work and providing instruction in response to the needs of the majority of pupils can be effective in increasing written accuracy in addition to being a strategy that saves considerable time for teachers. Instruction also covers a larger paradigm than FCWF (i.e. a lesson covers more vocabulary and grammar than one correction made by the teacher of a pupil mistake). However, although it seems to improve written accuracy, FCWF seems more effective in eliciting the perfect accurate form from pupils in these Year 9 Spanish classes. Therefore, a potential solution is to judiciously combine FCWF and instruction, focusing feedback where necessary for learner development while remaining sustainable for teachers.

References Bitchener, J. (2019). The intersection between SLA and feedback research. Feedback in second language writing: Contexts, (2nd), pp.85-105. Bitchener, J. (2021) “Written Corrective Feedback,” in Nassaji, H. and Kartchava, E. (Eds) The Cambridge Handbook of Corrective Feedback in Second Language Learning and Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics), pp. 207–225. Gibson, S., Oliver, L. & Dennison, M. (2015) Workload Challenge: analysis of teacher consultation responses research report. London: Department for Education.

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The limitations of procedural teaching methods in science by Dr David Boyce, Physics Department Abstract The formula triangle is a procedural teaching method used in physics. It is the method of choice for several revision guides including the market leader. However some believe that it actively stops a pupil from mastering the skill it purports to help pupils with. In this work we examine the origin, use and effectiveness of this method and other procedural methods and make the case that it should not be used in teaching due to the previously unidentified risks associated with its use.

• • • •

Allowing a pupil to process a problem successfully Usually involves a trick or a gimmick to produce the answer The trick or gimmick does not require the pupil to understand the workings of the method The applicability of the method is limited to examples of a specific format

By using this set of characteristics, the author then conducted action research to see if another method – the method of converting between prefixes in area and volume calculations – prevented further and more complex learning. The test Two classes were subjected to a test. Each class watched an explanatory video and then did an online test – which focussed on their ability to convert cm2 to m2 for example. One group were given conversion factors – an example of procedural method. The other group were given an explanation of how the conversion factors were calculated – an example of conceptual teaching. Both groups then conducted two tests. One was simple and of the format common to the examples used in both videos. The second test was more complex and of a different format to the examples demonstrated. The test will be limited by its small sample size and small number of questions – but justified due to the tighter control conditions possible with the smaller sample.

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Other examples of procedural teaching • Japanese multiplication • Unit conversions • SOHCAHTOA • Sine and cosine rules

Results 1) Completion time of the task did not correlate with success. 2) Neither procedural or conceptual method had the advantage when the questions were the same as the examples used in the procedural method video. (Test 1) 3) Those that studied the conceptual method performed 17% better than the procedural group when the questions became more complex. (Test 2) Comparison of group performance Average score/10

Methodology In this work the author identified the key characteristics common to all procedural methods, including the formula triangle. These include:

8 6 4 2 0

Test 1 n Procedural group

Test 2 n Conceptual group

Conclusion and recommendation Procedural methods risk leaving a pupil without a working methodology when situations become more complex. Procedural methodologies can be identified by the test developed in this work. It is the recommendation of this report that procedural methods should not be used when conceptual methods exist. It is therefore the recommendation that formula triangles, being examples of procedural teaching, be no longer used in teaching or in resources such as revision guides.

Designing better assessments by Dr Clare Pemberton, Biology Department The ideal assessment would be one that is quick to produce, reusable and provides useful information. This sounds simple enough but is this always something that our assessments deliver? I am using the term assessment with reference to everything from full exams that assess overall performance to low stakes class questions that assess basic understanding. I should emphasise that I know it isn’t feasible to spend hours on every set of questions. And, in fact, we may also do

a lot of this instinctively. But being more aware of the design of our assessments can allow us to get the most from them. Taking care with assessment design, and making use of past paper questions – which, after all, most closely replicate what pupils will face in their final exams – need not be mutually exclusive. Three questions capture the key areas to consider when designing assessment and are summarised in the table below.

Key question

What might be considered here?

Why consider this?

What specific knowledge or skills are we assessing?

- Splitting past paper questions into separate and specific tasks. - Focus on key ideas or skills to assess, rather than a question that is simply relevant to the topic.

The assessment needs to be fit for purpose. If you are assessing a skill or topic, then you need to ensure that it is immediately accessible for pupils.

What do we want to do with the information that this assessment gives us?

- Are pupils applying their knowledge to new situations or simply recalling a topic? - Is the assessment being used as a performance indicator? If so, does the output need to be used to compare against their previous work, peers, or external benchmarks? - How will it be fed back to pupils?

- You may want to use the assessment to highlight how the theory could be used in an exam setting, to practise exam technique or to check for understanding. - The assessment could then highlight whether you need to re-teach the topic or skill. - An overall percentage can be useful as a performance indicator, but individual section scores would better highlight the areas to improve.

What is the most appropriate way to assess this?

- The options here are endless, including multiple choice, problem-solving tasks, essays, oral questions or project tasks. A varied diet is probably best for both teachers and pupils. - A carefully chosen assessment format can help reduce construct irrelevance, the possibility that other factors can influence the outcome of an assessment.

- The past paper question format feels safe and reliable - especially when exams loom large and preparation time is limited. - Ideally, we would want to produce questions that could be reused, reviewed, and developed over time. This will also provide data that might be useful for comparison in future years.

The best way to examine these ideas is to look at some example questions. The examples used here are not exhaustive, but hopefully illustrate some of the points mentioned above in more depth. Place a tick (✓) in the box next to the sequence that shows the correct order of magnitude of these measurements. Example 1 50 nm < 0.5 μm < 5 x 10-2 mm < 0.5 x 10-5 m

50 nm < 0.5 μm < 0.5 x 10-5 m < 5 x 10-2 mm

0.5 μm < 50 nm < 0.5 x 10-5 m < 5 x 10-2 mm

0.5 μm < 50 nm < 5 x 10-2 mm < 0.5 x 10-5 m

This question, taken from an A level Biology paper, is assessing multiple skills and won’t be helpful if it’s being used as a diagnostic tool in class. There are several skills assessed here: an understanding of the language of the question, such as order of magnitude; an understanding of what the symbol < means; knowledge of standard form and the ability to convert between different units of length. If a pupil were to score poorly on this question, could I easily identify which skill needs more practice? For an assessment in a lesson, I might want to do a section on symbols and what they mean; one on converting into and out of standard form and one on converting between units. For a quick snapshot of areas in need of development, multiple-choice questions might be the best format here, with options based on the most common mistakes that pupils make. Thringboard Issue 2 – May 2022

Example 2 Pectin is a substance found in some fruit and vegetables. A scientist investigated the effect of pectin on the hydrolysis of lipids by a lipase enzyme. His results are shown in Figure 1.

Lipase activity/arbitrary units

1.2

Figure 1

No pectin added

0.8

0.4

0.0 0

Pectin added 2 4 6 8 Lipid concentration / μmol dm-3

The scientist concluded that pectin is a non-competitive inhibitor of the lipase enzyme. Use Figure 1 to explain why the scientist concluded that pectin is a non-competitive inhibitor.

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This A level Biology question is worth 1 mark and the paper allows for fewer than 1 ½ minutes per mark. A pupil’s level of literacy and ability to quickly process both written and graphical content will have a significant impact on their ability to answer this question. This would be unhelpful if my aim was actually to assess whether they know the features of a non-competitive inhibitor and in a lesson I could have covered this with ‘does increasing substrate concentration reduce the effect of a non-competitive inhibitor?’ Even then I would be assuming knowledge of the term substrate. Such literacy issues can often affect the outcomes of assessment, whether it is knowledge of subject-specific terms or of non-specific words that we might assume that pupils know. The way in which exam command words can vary between boards will also have an impact. A much more detailed discussion of these ideas was featured in the Assessment Lead course. These may not be things that we analyse all the time, but it is worth experimenting with some different questioning techniques and spending a little time thinking about the questions that we use so that we ensure that both pupils and teachers get the most value out of any assessment process they engage in.

A report on the development of an induction programme for overseas boarding pupils by James Birch, Housemaster of Farleigh Background The provision of education to children from overseas backgrounds within the British boarding sector is an area of enormous growth. Numbers have increased noticeably over the last ten years1 and remained steady at 5.5% of pupils in 2019-202 . Mirroring national trends, the proportion of overseas pupils has increased at Uppingham, rising from 8% in 2009-2010 to 22% in 2020-21. As an increasingly significant cohort within British boarding schools overseas pupils demand a commensurate increase in management focus. In many cases - Uppingham included - practice has lagged behind. Research The investigation incorporated action research at Uppingham within the context of wider academic literature. This data was combined to inform a SWOT assessment of the School’s overseas provision3. The patterns and trends revealed were unequivocal, especially when viewed through the lens of wider international research, with the experience of Uppingham overseas pupils mirroring closely those identified elsewhere.4

Induction The most pressing need was for a thorough induction process specific to each overseas pupil to ease their individual transition into the School, covering aspects of their physical move (e.g. linguistic challenges) with less tangible elements such as cultural or emotional needs. One of the main issues facing new overseas pupils joining British boarding schools is that of culture shock, defined as the ‘feelings of confusion on encountering a new and unfamiliar cultural experience’.5 Originally identified by Oberg, culture shock can be applied to scenarios in which individuals move to a new culture and struggle thereafter to acclimatise.6 Oberg’s model identifies a four stage process, whereby the individual undergoes initial enjoyment / excitement (honeymoon), secondary disorientation / isolation (frustration), subsequent adaptation (adjustment) and finally confidence / relaxation (acceptance) (Fig 1). Whilst no schematic will fit all cases, this theory nonetheless reflects the realities as identified in the research.

• The most immediate of these was that induction is critical to a pupil’s subsequent success and that a revised, carefully thought through programme was required. • A new, improved, induction programme has, therefore, been implemented and will continue to be improved in years to come.

TOURIST: High (unrealistic) expectations of new culture. Charmed with newness. ‘Tourist’ consciousness.

Acceptance of reality (good or bad) of new culture as present ‘home’. Comparing subsides.

8 7 Level of Adjustment

• Investigation of overseas pupils’ experiences at Uppingham identified a number of clear opportunities for improvement.

1 ISC Census 2013, P43. 2 ISC Census 2020, p15. 3 Dess, Strategic Management, p73. 4 Bell, Doing Your Research, p1-6. 5 Greenfield and Hardaker, World Class, p22. 6 Eze, International Students Studying Abroad, p44. 7 British Council, Cultural Connections, p9. 8 British Council, Studying and Living in the United Kingdom, p125. 9 Ward, Furnham and Bochner, Psychology of Culture Shock, chp7.

Figure 1. Culture Shock Diagram

In summary, the conclusions drawn were: • Overseas pupils are an increasingly numerous and important group within the School.

A wide range of factors contribute to culture shock, from climate and food to differing educational methods and the lack of friends with whom to share the experience.7 In the majority of cases culture shock has a negative effect upon the individual, affecting their academic work and their wider happiness. In minor cases this can be manifested in a general sense of homesickness, whilst in the worst cases this can result in serious emotional and psychological reactions.8 Pointedly for educational establishments, overseas students experience a disproportionately high incidence of physical, mental, and academic problems.9 It is crucial, therefore, that steps are taken to recognise and mitigate culture shock before and during the pupil’s arrival.

Decline in Adaptation

INITIAL ADJUSTMENT

5 4

Life becomes routine in a place still basically unfamiliar

3 2 Culture Shock

1 0

Pre-departure

Homesickness can be extreme Personal and family stress Comparisons between ‘home’ and ‘here’ Rejection on new culture

Time

Departure

Note: This is an illustration of a pattern, not a prescription of individual behaviour. The degree of ups and downs will vary with each individual. The objective of a predeparture orientation is to flatten and quicken the curve of adjustment.

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Improvement actions at Uppingham A new induction programme was, therefore, implemented. • Pre-departure for Uppingham, pupils and family provided with improved and accessible literature, covering practicalities such as transport, visas, etc. Translations into native languages are ongoing. • Creation of an ‘Insider Rough Guide’ from the perspective of existing overseas pupils. (Ready for 2022 intake). • Creation of an accompanying film, produced with the assistance of the Marketing Department. (Ready for 2022 intake). • A checklist created covering the induction process for use by House staff to ensure a thorough welcome and transition. Substantial use of Zoom incorporated within this to make pupils feel welcome and engage them with key individuals in the House (HsM, Tutor, Matrons, Mentors) as well as the community as a whole. • New Pupil events held via Zoom, so that all pupils get to meet each other, and overseas pupils are not disadvantaged in comparison to domestic cohort.

arrive a few days before the official commencement of the academic year, staying locally, allowing the chance to get to know the area and the School. The programmes were personalised, but all contained common features. In many cases this was the pupil’s first visit to the School, so practical elements were incorporated, such as tours, uniform fittings, etc. Although it is too early to fully quantify the impact of this programme, its success is nonetheless apparent. In the buddy meetings held during the first term of the academic year, new pupils were asked to comment on their induction to date, resulting in feedback which was universally positive. The repeated message was that they had felt welcomed from the start, that their concerns had been addressed promptly and effectively, and that they already felt a part of the Uppingham community whose specific needs were catered for without marking them out or hindering them in the process. In particular, the three most regularly cited elements which they felt contributed to this were the support offered by their overseas buddy, the opportunity to meet early on (and repeatedly if needed) with their HsM and House team, and then the few days immediately prior to the start of the year allowing a more gradual introduction.

• Development of an overseas pupil buddying system. Each incoming pupil put in contact with an existing pupil from the same home country / speaking the same language. Pre- and post-arrival contact and support provided via this network, including ongoing support through their first term and beyond. • Overseas families encouraged to

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Bibliography Bell, J. (2005), Doing your Research Project: A Guide for First Time Researchers in Education and Social Sciences, Open University Press. British Council (2007), Cultural Connections, London, British Council. British Council (2006-7), Studying and Living in the United Kingdom, London, British Council. Dess, G. (2018), Strategic Management: Text and Cases, McGraw-Hill. Eze, O. (2015), International Students Studying Abroad Challenges: Culture Shock? in ‘International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities’, Vol.5 No.1 Furnham, A. & Bochner, S. (1986), Culture Shock, London, Methuen. Greenfield, C. & Hardaker, P. (2005), World Class Meeting the Needs of International Students in British Schools, London, BSA. Guthrie, G. M. (1975), A Behavioural Analysis of Culture Learning in ‘Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Learning’, Brislin, R. W., Bochner, S., Lonner, W. J. (eds), New York, Wiley. Ward, C., Furnham, A. & Bochner, S. (2001), The Psychology of Culture Shock, Routledge. ISC, ‘ISC Annual Cenus’, Internet. (Several years) Available: http://www.isc.co.uk/research/ Publications/annual-census

Building a culture built on values by James Holroyd, Head of Academic Drama In Drama, mistakes are needed if not encouraged. I kept asking myself, “how can I create a culture within the department where pupils are not hindered by their own inhibitions but feel comfortable to ‘go for it’ regardless of the outcome?” A few years ago, I asked my department the following question: “What values do we want our pupils to hold dearest when they leave?”

After several meetings and with the input of all Drama pupils (pupil buy-in is essential!), we settled on the following values:

In my opinion, values lie at the heart of our base motivations and actions. When two people disagree it is fundamentally rooted in a clash of values. Person A may prefer to receive feedback publicly, yet Person B might rather receive feedback one to one. If these two people fed back in their given preferences, they would clash. One values openness, the other privacy. Therefore, establishing common values within a classroom is integral to pupil development. If a culture exists, where pupils fear to express themselves, where they fear speaking out, they cannot be expected to progress and learn. As a head of department, I felt it was important to change the culture in Drama, to create a more supportive and inclusive environment. But this couldn’t be achieved through troubleshooting.

U6th: Independent & Inspired Ambitious & Creative Values are a nebulous concept. They don’t physically exist. Rather, they exist as much as you allow and want them to. They exist as much as you say they do. With this in mind, to establish a culture built on values, it is important to reinforce them as much as possible, to model them, so that they are visible day to day. This has been successfully done through ‘Thesp of the Week’, often awarded to the one pupil who has demonstrated our values most prominently over the course of the week.

L5th: Learn & Develop Kind & Compassionate U5th: Embed & Refine Self-motivated & Open Minded L6th: Broaden & Enlighten Confident & Courageous

A learned friend and colleague once used the analogy of a dam to explain this to me. If a dam develops a leak (problem), and you plug it, you are only putting pressure on somewhere else in the dam. Before long another leak will develop. Quite simply, you need to build a better dam, from the foundations so that the structure is strong. Likewise, in Drama we wanted to ‘build’ strong humans by instilling in them, from the beginning, the values to flourish.

I have now held the responsibilities as Head of Department for a few years. In the past, commendations might be awarded for good work, the onus on the standard of work. Now, the focus has shifted. As a department, we have shifted to commending the behaviours, recognising when values are being met. You have to keep reinforcing these core values, putting them in the spotlight, otherwise they will disappear. Fundamentally, we want to encourage pupils to be motivated by the intrinsic value of feeling proud of themselves rather than extrinsic value of a having a good report. Ultimately, the latter will follow if the prior is given the foremost attention.

And so, as a department, we set about defining our core values. We wanted our values to prepare pupils for the theatre industry post Uppingham.

After identifying and assigning the department values there were many ways in which we tried to embed them within the department. Firstly, the

whole department needed to be aligned with our views. Modelling the behaviours we believed in was essential, be that through our chosen language, or how we showed up. We felt that the pupils needed to see what living out these values looked like. Furthermore, from a coaching perspective, we were resolute that we were not ‘fixers’ and that these pupils were not ‘broken’. Building your values is hard, living by them sometimes even harder. At times, I found myself getting frustrated at some pupil’s flagrant disrespect of the space or props. However, I had to learn that simply telling them what was right wasn’t helpful. They know the answers and pupils just needed to reflect, to have the autonomy to learn, and to recognise where they were dishonouring their values. This is how they learn what values really mean. One of my favourite questions to ask is ‘Which values are you honouring here?’ or ‘Which of your values are you not honouring?’ And so, what has the impact been? What changes have I noticed? Since shifting the focus of the department to a values-driven department, I sense that some pupils are certainly more aware of their behaviours. The pupils are more reflective, and this is demonstrated in an increased number of pupils rehearsing outside of lesson time. Pupils appear more selfmotivated and driven. However, most pleasingly, I have noticed how pupils clearly enjoy being in the space. They want to be in the theatre because they feel they can be themselves: they feel safe and, above all, they feel valued.

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Are you an aspiring Thringboard author? Do you have something we could publish, now or in a future issue? If you are and/or have been doing some small-scale research - or have an area of expertise the CR should know about - that would be appropriate to include in this journal and haven’t been invited to contribute, please accept my apologies and let me know!

Next issue The content of the next issue of Thringboard will likely include: • An update on our recently-formed Teaching and Learning groups; • Some further insights into Masters level study from those colleagues who have recently written up their theses; • An exploration of the evidence- based approach to Learning Support developed here at Uppingham; … and more. I hope that’s enough to whet your appetite!

Remember to check out the “Professional Development” pages of Uppnet (within “Staff Room”) for information, recommendations, testimonies, resources and more!

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Top CPD pick: Anatomy (foundational) coaching course Never one to miss a chance to highlight some quality professional development opportunities, each issue of Thringboard highlights a current favourite. If you haven’t yet completed the Anatomy coaching course, the next opportunity is coming up soon, delivered by our very own team of Chrissy Breakwell, Richard Hegarty, James Holroyd and Richard O’Donoghue. Designed to have impact on many aspects of our professional (and personal) lives, the coaching course will help you to build more effective and productive relationships with other human beings with the help of a toolkit of carefully developed listening and questioning skills. Of benefit to conversations in the classroom, in the boarding house, in the corridor, on the sports field, and more, be prepared to find out how we can better empower one another to be the best versions of ourselves. As always, head to the Professional Development area of Uppnet to find out more.

Thringboard Issue 2 – May 2022