Brilliant effort but no progress

I promised myself I wasn’t going to blog this weekend as I have done a lot this weekend However, I find myself stuck on a train, without a decent book and with no signal on my phone. Oh, and the man next to me is eating crisps like he is a broken hoover. So, what do I do: blog.

Pedagoo London was a fantastic experience; and, again, I met some lovely people. I thoroughly enjoyed networking, and gossiping, on a Saturday morning in a building that modelled itself on an Escher drawing. The stairs! Leaving the building involved me walking up some stairs, down some stairs, up some more stairs and finally down so more stairs. Logic usually tells us that down and out is the usual way out, but this building defied logic. I went up, down, up, across, down, up, across and then out.

Anyway, my talk. My talk was about progress. It is the latest ball and chain to attach to teachers. The key questions people ask of students are when they creep into a room:

•       What level are you working at?

•       What is your target?

•       What do you need to do to improve?

All of these are designed to analyse the progress. Does the students know where they are in the learning journey? Do they know what they have to do? Do they know where they are going?

We are in the storm of raising progress – I am still waiting for the eye of the storm. Everything is geared around progress. We must raise the levels of progress. It is not your ‘A to C’s that really matter now. It is your three levels of progress. But, I think that a lot of things are in the way of progress. The key one being effort.

Now, I applaud Mr Gove’s effort. It is excellent. It is brilliant. He has certainly put a lot of effort into improving education. In fact, I will give him a nice, pretty, golden sticker, because he has worked harder than others in politics. But, sadly, there has been little progress. Effort good. Progress limited. This I feel is the problem with data, reporting and things in the classroom: we look at the effort first and progress second.  

Look at the sorts of phrases I have been guilty of writing on students’ work.

Brilliant effort

Good effort

Superb effort

Average effort

Poor effort 

Lacks effort

Needs more effort


 In fact, a lot of reports that parent’s receive are focused on effort. We number it. We grade it. Yet, progress is something a parent has to infer from a collection of numbers or grade. We explicitly talk about effort, but we implicitly talk about progress. A parent is supposed to look at a target grade and a working at grade and decide if it is a sign of good or bad progress. A parent might see a level 7 target and the report says their child is currently working at a 6. They might infer it is bad. They might infer they are close, so there is no need to worry. They might infer that it is better than last year and shrug their shoulders. They might infer that they need to call a tutor. They might infer that the colour-coding of these grades in pretty. We report effort more than progress, because as long as they are working hard things will turn out alright in the end. It doesn’t always work that way: How many schools have Year 11 intervention plans? Yes, they worked well in Years 7-10, but they are miles away from their target.

I recall a student I taught and his poor efforts in lesson. I nagged. I moaned. I cajoled. I punished the student for not working hard enough. He did not produce the 50 pages I equate to superb effort in his written work. Instead, he produced measly pieces of work and I spent hours of my time writing: poor effort – you must work harder. But, on reflection, I now realise I missed a key point. He showed progress in those little pieces of work. He listened to my lessons and fitted all the ideas and skills into his writing. He did everything (apart from write pages and pages of work) I asked him to do. He made more progress than others, yet I was punishing him for not conforming to a model of an A* student. Because he wasn’t working to my idea of what hard work looks like in a lesson, I wasn’t picking up on the progress he had made.

If I think to my method of marking, the first thing I judge is the effort. It is either: wow, there’s a lot to mark. Or: phew, not much to mark – there’s a relief. Then, there are the various shades of grey between those levels. I know, you are thinking: we mark effort because it is encouraging and supportive towards the student. Let’s go back to Gove.  I could applaud his effort; it might encourage him to stay in education. He will, however, feel that he is doing the right thing and doesn’t need to improve or adapt his methods. Unless I inform him that the level of progress he is making is minimal, he will keep doing things in the same way. It worked last time so why should I change it.  


Rather than comment on the effort, I now tend to use these three phrases:
 

Progress

Some progress

No progress

Irrespective of the amount they have done, key is the learning. This doesn’t mean I allow, support, small pieces of work and tiny efforts in my lesson. I just will not be blinded solely by effort. When marking, the first thing I think of now is progress. Does this piece of work show evidence of progress?
We don’t give teenagers enough credit. They know this flaw in our system – they are clever enough to not mention it.  If we think writing ‘poor effort’ on a piece of work several times is going to improve a student, we have another thing coming to us. If it was simply a case of writing more, then everyone in schools would be getting A grades. The A grades do write a lot, but their work shows progress.

Like an Escher drawing, we are in this endless journey of going up and down in lots of directions. Maybe. Just maybe if we toned down our emphasis on effort and focused on progress, we might see the progress we all want to see. Those all-important three levels of progress. Because, for all our efforts to improve effort, we could be like the drawing going down when it looks like we are going up.
Thanks for reading,

Xris  

 
P.S. I do intend to blog more about my session, but I wanted to show progress in the blog and not impress you with my effort. More next week, I hope.

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher’s blog

Blooming Bloom’s Taxonomy

I am in the process of fine-tuning a workshop I am giving next weekend and I am thinking about a recent piece of CPD I have had. I always think a good sign of a good piece of CPD is the amount of thinking that takes place after the session. For years, I have sat in numerous sessions in various schools. I have led, participated, listened and watched. I have written on post-it notes, sugar paper and flipcharts. They can be usually categorised into three categories: ‘I know that’ category; ‘made me think’ category; and ‘it won’t work’ category. It is not that I am being cruel or arrogant, but some CPD works and some doesn’t work. It is not a criticism of the person leading it, but the ideas that are being propagated.
Ofsted are struggling now with the concept of teaching styles and preferable ways of education. As they hold so much power, it is not hard to see why their judgements are seen as indicators of what is right and what is wrong. CPD too is a minefield. In its use by schools, it can be suggested that some CPD ideas are the right ideas and your failure to use these ideas is failure of your teaching. The best CPD is CPD that makes me think. It makes me look at my current model/s of teaching and consider this additional question. This idea. It becomes a mirror to my own practice. Look at myself and consider what I could do to be better.

Education is like a greengrocer. It is full of vegetables. They are all good for you. They provide minerals and vitamins, and other stuff. You can cook the vegetables in lots of different ways. You still, however, get the same minerals, vitamins and other stuff. There are so many different ways to cook and prepare that no one person cooks in the same way. The end results are fairly the same: energy. Yet, the preparation, the cooking and the meal all look different. Education is like that. Full of vegetables – not in that sense of the word! CPD should be like cooking. It should be like watching Nigella or Delia. They both cook. They both make nice meals. They just do it in a different way. Nigella might have a better recipe for my Year 7s, but Delia’s recipe for tripe and onions works a treat with Year 11s. One thing: I just know that Jamie Oliver’s ideas will never work with the class. For a start, it is so difficult to do that in English.     

Anyway, I had a CPD session that fell in to that category of ‘made me think’ CPD. It had already generated one blog post. See it here: Frankenstein’s Essay. But, it also made me think of another question:

Does Bloom’s Taxonomy really work in English?

It is a simple question. Most might say yes. It is assumed that it will. Bloom has become a mantra for some teachers. A lull in a discussion or meeting on planning or curriculum could eventually lead to Bloom’s Taxonomy.  How does this fit in with Bloom? It is as if Bloom is an extra student you have to consider in every lesson you teach?

So, what is my ‘beef’ with Bloom’s Taxonomy? Let’s just remind ourselves of the structure of learning according to Bloom.

Remembering

Understanding

Applying

Analysing

Evaluating

Creating

We are led to believe that ‘remembering’ is less complex skills than ‘creating’ and therefore it is one of the first things that students do in the learning process. I would say that I am a good little teacher and I get students to do a lot of these skills in lessons.

Problem 1: Creating

We have the impression that creating is a high-level skill. The verbs used in association with this aspect of the taxonomy are:

categorizes, combines, compiles, composes, creates, devises, designs, explains, generates, modifies, organizes, plans, rearranges, reconstructs, relates, reorganizes, revises, rewrites, summarizes, tells, writes

The problem I have is that in English we are constantly creating. Like Art, Drama and Music, we spend most of our time creating something. We are the subjects that create. A story. A poem. An article. For us, creating is articulating. It is how students communicate in our subject. We compose all the time. Composition is our game. Creating is more complex than being a high or low-level skill. In fact, a lot of my lessons are inversions of Bloom’s Taxonomy. I start them creating something. Then, they evaluate it and analyse what they have done. I teach them something to help their understanding. Finally, I get them to remember what they have learnt. To be honest, I start complex and things become simple.
 
Furthermore, the notion of creating things is a problem for me. In English, we could easily get students to write a missing chapter or write in the style of, but is it as complex as evaluating and analysing? There have been numerous sequels of well-known texts and yet we don’t hold these writers in esteem for their cleverness. In fact, they are forgotten. Surely, someone who can write in the style of Dickens is really clever. No, the people we think are clever are the people how have analysed his life and explored the motivations behind his choices.

Sadly, the writers of – yuk- the sequels to ‘The Woman in Black’ have shown that they are far from clever. If you understood the novel, you would understand that there really can’t be a sequel because the cat is out of the bag. A key feature of the ghost story is mystery. Therefore, the sequel cannot work. Unless, ‘The Woman in Black’ had a distant cousin, who just so happened had a tragic past and as a result affected her so much she wanted to kill the offspring of people.

In fact, creating an extra chapter of a book can be a far simpler process than we are led to believe:

·         Use some of the words the writer has used.

·         Use some of the techniques the writer has used.

·         Use some of the characters / settings and ideas that the writer has presented to you.

We do this kind of task because it is fun. But, I question the level it gets on the taxonomy. Is it really better than analysing? Now, parodying or satirising a text is being high-level. Why? Because in that creation of something they demonstrate a higher level of understanding. Oh, and they use humour!

 

Problem 2: Remembering

Bloom’s Taxonomy having remembering at the bottom almost suggests that if your lessons concentrate on remembering you are doing some bad teaching. Yet, I teach novels. Long novels. Novels with more than a hundred pages. Novels with big words. In English, remembering is a skill that differs across the sets. Students in Set 5 struggle to remember to use full stops and students in Set 1 remember than three months ago you promised to show them the film version of ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’.

 

When writing an essay about a novel, students getting the top bands will be students that:

·         Remember other examples in the text

·         Remember other texts that link to the idea

·         Remember other ways of saying a similar point

·         Remember precise words

The top students spot connections and patterns in work but key to doing this is remembering. You cannot make a connection if you can’t remember a thing in the opening. The students with the best memories make the best students.  

My new version of Bloom’s Taxonomy

Creating

Understanding

Evaluating

Analysing  

Remembering

Parodying  

I am sure you will disagree with me; I am happy for you to disagree. I just struggle with a rigid model of learning. We all learn in different ways. Maybe, the creative ones learn things differently. I know I do.  

Thanks for reading,

Xris

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher’s blog

Getting feedback right Part 1 – Why do we give it?

It’s become a truism that feedback is the most important activity that teachers engage in. Feedback, we are repeatedly told, is tremendously powerful and therefore teachers must do more of it. Certainly Hattie, the Sutton Trust and the EEF bandy about impressive effect sizes, but the evidence of flipping through a pupil’s exercise book suggests that the vast majority of what teachers write is ignored or misunderstood.

Teachers’ feedback can certainly have a huge impact but it’s a mistake to believe that this impact is always positive. I written in detail about marking and the power of Directed Improvement Reflection Time. I’ve  also considered some of the things we’re not usually told about feedback and the fact that it might be worth thinking about delaying or reducing the feedback we give. These musings have been important in developing my thinking, but I keep coming back to this slide Dylan Wiliam uses in loads of his presentations:

 

 

Screen Shot 2014-01-21 at 20.14.27

The point he makes is that teachers’ feedback often has unintended consequences; if we’re not careful, it may have the exact opposite result to what we intended. I’ve been thinking about this for some time now and it occurs to me that it might be helpful if we were a lot clearer about why we were giving feedback. Last week I spent the day with CPD leader, Alex Battison and together we decided that there are perhaps only 3 reasons that make giving feedback worthwhile:

  • To provide clarity – most mistakes are made because pupils are unclear on precisely what they should be doing. Providing feedback that points out misconceptions and provides clarification is an essential first step. If we don’t get this right all else is for naught.
  • To get pupils to increase effort – this is the hoary old chestnut at the heart of every success. Try harder is usually of huge benefit. Getting pupils understand what they should be doing is hard enough, but motivating them to actually do it is the master skill.
  • To get pupils to increase aspiration –  There’s certainly some merit in overlearning concepts and practising to the point that errors are eliminated, but feedback may not be necessary to achieve this. But once a goal has been met or exceeded, pupils need to aim for something more challenging. No challenge means no mistakes and no mistakes means that feedback is unlikely to be useful.

If we understood which of these purpose we were engaged in, our feedback might be a lot more useful and a lot more likely to produced the desired results. As always, if we’ve dealt satisfactorily with the why, we are much better placed to think about how.

In my next post I’ll have a punt at suggesting how we might go about giving feedback that fulfils these aims, but in the meantime, please do let me know if you think I’m on the right track.

The post Getting feedback right Part 1 – Why do we give it? appeared first on David Didau: The Learning Spy.

David Didau: The Learning Spy

Blogs for the Week Ending 1st March 2014

Originally posted on The Echo Chamber:

A round up of the best education blogs from the last week. If you are an education blogger on WordPress, please reblog this post. (And please see the announcement at the end.)

  • A Shout Out for Brittany Ordu of Cornerstone Prep « Teach Like a Champion March 1, 2014
  • kitchen table math, the sequel: Really existing Common CoreMarch 1, 2014
  • kitchen table math, the sequel: Help Desk, Common Core editionMarch 1, 2014
  • Progress report, bright seven year old and 9 year old. – John Bald/language and literacy March 1, 2014
  • History Lecturer : Basic history essay-writing advice March 1, 2014
  • RUN RUN RUN! March 1, 2014
  • The Everest writing scaffoldMarch 1, 2014
  • No More Grades? | Teacher Development Trust March 1, 2014
  • When 140 Characters Isn’t Enough: Weekly Update 1/3/2014March 1, 2014
  • What is the impact of discovery learning? March 1, 2014
  • Right Person, Right Job, Right School March 1, 2014
  • Unbalanced or Resultant? March 1, 2014
  • Week 7 – class lists March 1, 2014
  • Don’t say please.. March 1, 2014
  • “I don’t get it” March 1, 2014
  • Maths and Numeracy GCSEsMarch 1, 2014
  • What’s happening to Teacher Workload – and why? March 1, 2014
  • A Plea to OFSTED March 1, 2014
  • The Drama Queen March 1, 2014
  • Free Thinking: I agree with Katharine March 1, 2014
  • A summary of the Barnfield investigation findings and background March 1, 2014
  • The Case for Design in Curriculum March 1, 2014
  • takenoheedofhershereadstoomanybooks: ‘Sexy Poetry’ or ‘ways in’ to Marvell’s To His Coy MistressMarch 1, 2014
  • Commentary on #ukfechat forum discussion on graded lesson observations – 28th February 2014 March 1, 2014
  • You knew me in the womb: Delivering the Behaviour Key Note at the institute of Education – Tom Bennett – Blog March 1, 2014
  • 10 things you need to know about the teacher workload survey | Teacher Development Trust March 1, 2014
  • Schools still hording cash March 1, 2014
  • Making more effective use of classroom observation – a differentiated approach as a tool for professional learning March 1, 2014
  • The dyslexia debate – is the label ‘meaningless’? | David Didau: The Learning Spy March 1, 2014
  • We Teach Beauty « The Core Knowledge Blog March 1, 2014
  • The ridiculousness of the Ofsted Schools Data Dashboard – Icing on the Cake – An education blogMarch 1, 2014
  • Do it yourself March 1, 2014
  • Brain science and education: seeking the right connectionsMarch 1, 2014
  • Urban Legends in EducationMarch 1, 2014
  • PBODME Resources March 1, 2014
  • Marketing Technologies in U.S. Public Schools* March 1, 2014
  • Whole School Assessment and the New KS3 – How Can We Move Beyond the Best-Fit Mess? – AndAllThat.co.uk March 1, 2014
  • Common Exception Words and the Muddle over Tricky Words – phonicsblog March 1, 2014
  • Musings of a pragmatic teacher: The Many Roles of a TeacherMarch 1, 2014
  • What Education Doesn’t Know About Business – Bridging Differences – Education WeekMarch 1, 2014
  • Conor’s Commentary: Banding and Ballots March 1, 2014
  • The Merits of Merit February 28, 2014
  • What does lesson observation research actually say? February 28, 2014
  • Note To My UK Colleagues: Don’t Make Me Come Over There… « Teach Like a Champion February 28, 2014
  • To grade or not to grade – that is the question? February 28, 2014
  • Now That’s Primary Blogging Volume Six February 28, 2014
  • Excited about efficiency | Oliver Quinlan February 27, 2014
  • 5 Year Wall - February 27, 2014
  • Scientists have said…: Teach them well… February 27, 2014
  • Valuing the Measurable February 27, 2014
  • CPD – What is it good for?February 27, 2014
  • Good, but with some worrying features February 27, 2014
  • Cultivating success in #Computing February 27, 2014
  • Parent’s Evening…… February 27, 2014
  • Dyslexia: does it really exist?February 27, 2014
  • Three shockers from the GuardianFebruary 27, 2014
  • The Literacy Blog: The English writing system February 27, 2014
  • Outside In: Top Teachers Don’t Teach February 27, 2014
  • THE ATTAINMENT GAP-CLOSING IT REMAINS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE February 26, 2014
  • Tues 25 March – Alison Wolf at Big Ideas February 26, 2014
  • How did Shanghai win this year’s Education World Cup? February 26, 2014
  • How to oppress the masses February 26, 2014
  • Working for success: planning for failure February 26, 2014
  • ORRsome blog posts from the week that was. Week 8 February 26, 2014
  • What Does Mastery Really Look Like? February 26, 2014
  • The importance of curriculum design February 25, 2014
  • KS3 Assessment – our first thoughts February 25, 2014
  • A lesson on plagiarism February 25, 2014
  • What do you notice about this Free School monitoring form?February 25, 2014
  • Calamity Teacher: I have some sad news. February 25, 2014
  • Hoodies, Headphones, and Axe Spray February 25, 2014
  • Playing the school place lottery February 25, 2014
  • Moving Beyond Predict/Observe/Explain February 25, 2014
  • On being a governor and loving that the power of social media has reached Ofsted February 25, 2014
  • E-ACT and four challenges for DfE February 25, 2014
  • More Cartoons on Parents, Teachers, and Kids February 25, 2014
  • Making explanations stick February 25, 2014
  • Blog – Heather Leatt February 25, 2014
  • Eastern promise, Nordic myths and curry February 24, 2014
  • Outstanding to good: Why lessons will continue to be graded (whether reported or not) February 24, 2014
  • A newish computing teacher’s take on #yearofcode @ukcoding February 24, 2014
  • Who is getting our £17 million? More USFM chaos February 24, 2014
  • Teaching and Learning Takeover ebook and 2014! February 24, 2014
  • Musings of a pragmatic teacher: Classrooms without TAs? February 24, 2014
  • Moving onwards and upwards……. February 24, 2014
  • Pity the Poor Parsnip Packer February 24, 2014
  • Scared Crows in the Panopticon February 24, 2014
  • TDRE Boss Blog: Removing the ‘O’ Badge February 24, 2014
  • Skilled stakeholder governing body matters February 24, 2014
  • This much I know about…the trouble with educational research February 24, 2014
  • Vomit and Teaching Outdoors February 24, 2014
  • Just a Quick Post re That Ofsted Meeting! February 24, 2014
  • Can (free) schools avoid nonsense? (part 2 teaching and learning) February 24, 2014
  • Don’t read these books! February 24, 2014
  • The reality of my work / life balance: Which family do I choose? February 24, 2014
  • The Toll on Us February 24, 2014
  • Can (free) schools avoid nonsense? February 24, 2014
  • What is teaching? February 24, 2014
  • Keeping up with OfSTED’s Goalposts. What SLTs should do.February 24, 2014
  • This Week in Education – 23.12.14 February 24, 2014
  • Tackling Homophobia in Schools.February 24, 2014
  • Fiyero and the Scarecrow: defying gravity February 24, 2014
  • Teaching students how to think better February 24, 2014
  • Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher’s blog: Drawing lines in the sand – Question 4 on the AQA English Language exam February 24, 2014
  • When 140 Characters Isn’t Enough: Weekly Update 22/2/2014 February 24, 2014
  • Tripping February 24, 2014
  • Promising land? February 23, 2014
  • The Clock & The Compass: Rethinking Instruction February 23, 2014
  • What now? Evaluating teaching and learning without lesson grades February 23, 2014
  • The Goldfish Bowl » Writing endings February 23, 2014
  • Carry on Learning: Hot off the OfSTED press February 23, 2014
  • Blimey, where did that come from? | Ponderings and Musings February 23, 2014
  • Are you a ‘glass half full’ or a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person? February 23, 2014
  • Musings of a pragmatic teacher: The most used tools in my teaching toolkit February 23, 2014
  • The monster stops breathing fire February 23, 2014
  • Hidden feedback February 23, 2014
  • Seven Myths – the evidence base, part III February 23, 2014
  • An inconvenient truth? Some thoughts on school improvement February 23, 2014
  • Thank you to OFSTED – developing literacy/literacies - February 23, 2014
  • Spacing, Interleaving and Retrieval Practice in Primary Maths February 23, 2014
  • Reflections of the new Ofsted comments. February 23, 2014
  • Through the looking glass February 23, 2014
  • New: Ofsted redefine how they observe February 23, 2014
  • A licence to teach « Alex Wood.Education Consultant and Genealogist. February 23, 2014
  • How To Know When You’re A Teacher February 23, 2014
  •  I have piled my soapboxes high February 23, 2014
  • Children need to be more like tortoises… February 23, 2014
  • Being the 1% – what does it take to make CPD effective? February 23, 2014
  • Primary vs Secondary February 23, 2014
  • Half Way There: Still Got It? February 23, 2014
  • Now That’s Primary Blogging Volume Five February 23, 2014
  • No Use Crying Over Spilt Dinner Ladies February 23, 2014
  • Pupil Premium February 23, 2014

I have been invited to contribute a short feature on the Chalk Talk Podcast identifying the best blogpost of the week. Any suggestions gratefully received either in the comments below or on twitter, directed to @oldandrewuk

Thanks.

View original


Scenes From The Battleground

Keeping up with OfSTED’s Goalposts. What SLTs should do.

A blog reporting on a bloggers' meeting with OfSTED has gone crazy.

My blog post reporting on a bloggers’ meeting with OfSTED has gone crazy.

My post on Thursday, Meeting OfSTED: The Game has Changed has blasted all my previous blog stats out of the water, heading for 50,000 views in three days.  It’s been an astonishing few days of questions and queries about the real meaning of what is going on.  Mike Cladingbowl has published a clarification and even that has raised further questions. Having invited a group of us to meet him – on the basis of our blogged views on OfSTED – he even took pains to consult us on the content of the clarification. He wants to get it right; that’s what he said.

My interpretation of all of this is that Mike Cladingbowl has found himself in charge of a process that is widely misinterpreted and he is determined to change that.  He seems to see the blog-world as an agent of change and a good way to get a message out (and he has made a commitment to consult more widely.)  However, he can’t simply re-write the framework overnight; he can only issue guidance pending a more permanent change in the future, following consultation.  Nevertheless, it seems pretty clear that the final paragraph of his article is where things are heading: the whole notion of grading is on the way out.

Final Paragraph indicates the likely next wave of changes to come...

Final Paragraph indicates the likely next wave of changes to come…

However, as David Didau has outlined very clearly in this post: http://www.learningspy.co.uk/featured/ofsteds-evaluation-form-next-skirmish/, there is a fair amount of residual confusion. And until we get rid of all the thematic evidence grades, there will always be confusion.  Any graded evidence that emerges from any lesson will be attributed to that teacher, whether people like it or not – even if it is not a judgement of that teacher or the lesson.  I sense that Mike Cladingbowl is aware of this and will seek to change things as quickly as he can because, otherwise, this will rumble on and on.

Meanwhile, what do we do?

Even aside from the nuances of grades being given as general evidence or about a specific lesson, this discussion has underlined some crucial principles that schools should take heed of.

1. It is not meaningful to judge a lesson with a grade and, without any doubt at all, there is no such thing as an OfSTED-defined grade for a lesson.

2. It is not meaningful to evaluate the quality of teaching delivered by a teacher without triangulating lesson observations with other information: the quality of work in books, exam data and so on.

This suggests to me that some immediate actions are required in schools that have not already taken these steps:

  • Stop grading lessons; at the very least, stop using ‘OfSTED Criteria’ for lesson grades.
  • Remove references to lesson grades in all Performance Management protocols
  • Remove references to lesson grades in any Performance Related Pay policies

These practices are simply untenable. Policies that, for example, suggest that ‘at least two out of three lessons observations will be Good or better’ are unacceptable. The meaning of ‘Good’ cannot apply to a single lesson. Surely that is now clear. It simply doesn’t work that way and OfSTED are making this clear.

If your school is determined to retain grading, for reasons of inertia or educational dogma, then the grades have got to be defined locally in some detail – but they cannot be assumed to be OfSTED grades because these don’t exist.  Challenge this ferociously if ‘OfSTED Grades’ persist.

Beyond grading, it is possible to develop an intelligent model for evaluating the quality of teaching and learning. It might be possible to extract teacher-specific characteristics that align with the overall Teaching judgement criteria:

The grade descriptor does NOT define what any single lesson should be like.

The grade descriptor does NOT define what any single lesson should be like.

BUT, these things cannot be evidenced in a single lesson. Only a much more comprehensive process could evaluate a teacher as contributing to an Outstanding judgement overall.

At KEGS, we are in the process of working on our evaluation systems now, working with each department to develop department-specific criteria based on what we think we should be seeing in lessons. Lesson observations will not be graded; we are simply highlighting areas of strength and areas for development, using the language of feedback to convey the level of concern where concerns emerge.  It’s taken us too long to get to this point but the OfSTED spectre has held us back; not any more.  We still have Outstanding and Good terminology peppered across our documentation; I think we need to revisit all of that and check the meaning of everything we’re saying.  A new language is probably required to eliminate the grading psyche of old.

Our Departmental Review approach is outlined here: http://headguruteacher.com/2013/06/03/evaluating-teaching-and-learning-the-departmental-review/

Our PRP approach is outlined here: http://headguruteacher.com/2013/06/29/towards-a-fair-performance-pay-policy/

A post about our Paradigm Shift is worth reading here: http://headguruteacher.com/2014/01/19/evaluating-and-improving-our-practice-a-paradigm-shift/

The key to all of these things is the use of a wide range of evidence of which lesson observations only form a part:

Our Departmental Review has triangulation embedded.

Our Departmental Review has triangulation embedded.

What about when OfSTED come?

Here, the role of SLT, Middle Leaders and the Headteacher is key.  I’d suggest having a very explicit discussion about the Cladingbowl Clarification with the lead inspector at the very beginning.  I would also ask that the grades are not shared with staff – only feedback about strengths and areas for development should be given.  Within the final Headteacher feedback sessions as the evidence grades are shared, I would be at pains to avoid linking them to individual teachers. It’s simply unfair – unethical – to do so, given that they are not designed for that.  (OfSTED should not be telling you anything new about the teachers in a school; their evidence grades should not be used to inform performance management processes in any way – they say so themselves. )

If the judgement and overall grading isn’t going the way you think it should, then do what you can to show them to other evidence and make absolutely sure that the inspection team is not using a crude average of collected grades.  For any teacher whose lessons have contributed evidence grades that are below the level expected, then it should be possible to counter that with alternative evidence.  Think about what evidence you have for the quality of teaching and the performance of each teacher that you could show if something unexpected turns up and there is an argument to be had.  How could it be true that OfSTED think teaching is less effective than you do? What evidence have you got?  (Wouldn’t it be ironic if OfSTED is trying to move away from grades and SLTs are still trying to present their own grading as evidence.)

If any inspector is still using language like ‘I saw three RI lessons and four Good lessons’ challenge them and report them.  They should not be doing this. Similarly, if they tell you that  only 65% of lessons were Good or Better and, therefore, the Teaching grade is only Good…challenge them.  It’s not how it is supposed to work.

In preparing for OfSTED, it is clear that the most important thing is to focus on sustained ingrained practice, not what a lesson should be like during an inspection.  Sensible, sustained feedback that leads to student progress as evidenced in books and folders is just as important as is adherence to normal routines for maintaining excellent behaviour.

Future changes?

1. A stronger role for self-evaluation.

I would like to see schools producing public self-evaluation reports at the very least every three years if not more often.  They should state their strengths and areas for development with reference to the evidence base.  OfSTED should use the SEF, of course, but the public nature of a summary report would force everyone to be much more honest and factual.

I think every OfSTED report should include a section for a school’s response, published with the report. This would give every school an opportunity to accept or challenge the report’s findings which parents and others could then take a view of.  It would make inspectors work more closely with Heads to agree on judgements because neither side would want to see major discrepancies made public.

2. Different types of inspection according to need and context.

If schools are doing really well, OfSTED should leave them alone, but visit every so often to test the water in a very light touch way.  That could apply to half of schools.  The more in-depth inspections should be reserved for schools where there is a clear need to probe deeply to explore areas of low attainment, slow progress or where there are other triggers.

In full inspections, the inspection team must include a serving Headteacher from the relevant phase. This may lead to a requirement for all Heads to train as inspectors as part of the job. In my view, this would help to ensure that the system is more robust and more consistent.

I can see all of these things happening.  Meanwhile, there is plenty that schools can and should be doing to develop intelligent internal processes that do justice to teachers and teaching, far beyond the crude instrument of grading.


headguruteacher

Tackling Homophobia in Schools.

This post is a way of helping to publicise the excellent materials that are produced by Stonewall to help school tackle homophobia.  The website resources are superb: http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_school/education_for_all/default.asp I’m also keen to seek out advice from others who have already been down this road with some success.

As these graphics from a Stonewall leaflet show, homophobia in schools is a very serious issue.  But there are some simple steps schools can take. (Download the pdf here: Secondary cornerstone )

The ten point plan seems like an excellent path to follow:

A Stonewall leaflet. The five step plan is clear and simple.

A Stonewall leaflet. The ten step plan is clear and simple.

And the second page:

The Stonewall plan for tackling homophobia

The Stonewall plan for tackling homophobia

At KEGS, we are planning to launch a campaign, primarily focusing on eliminating the pejorative use of ‘Gay’. This is one of Stonewall’s campaigns and they have excellent resources. We’ll be getting students to help plan and deliver the content and, in due course, will be providing information and guidance to staff and parents. It’s a subtle area. Unlike campaigns to tackle racism where certain racist terms are clearly unacceptable and easily identified, using ‘gay’ appropriately is more difficult. It’s really important to give the message that the term ‘gay’ is not taboo. In fact, used properly, it’s a term we should embrace.   The challenge is to stop people using ‘gay’ in the context of homophobic bullying, directly or indirectly.

At KEGS, we have a good record of being a tolerant, happy schools for LGBT staff and students. However, we can’t be complacent and we know there are issues with types of ‘banter’ that are simply unacceptable.  I also know from my own Year 8 SRE lessons profiled in this post, that students are increasingly likely to use the secret questions box to ask about the experiences of gay people, more and more often asking in a way that suggests that they are referring to themselves.  Thanks to Stonewall, we’ve got some good resources to help take this further.

The workplace One is Gay campaign.

The workplace One is Gay campaign.

I’ve turned the workplace ‘One is Gay’ poster campaign into a looping powerpoint that I will use in assembly to launch this initiative after half-term. You can download it here:

Some People Are Gay

These images, spanning a good cross-section of job-types, make a very powerful point.  It’s perfectly normal to be gay; lots of different types of people are gay; there are likely to be gay people in every situation.  I will also be painting a picture of the normality of people being gay in my life; if you have gay friends, gay members of your family and work with gay people, it’s just a fact of life.  Most prejudice is based on ignorance and that is my place to start.  The Stonewall message plays on this: homophobia is so deeply uncool in this day and age; as well as harming others, it’s actually embarrassing to say things are ‘gay’ if they’re not; it’s basically the badge of ignorance – and who wants that? This is the line we will take – but backed with appropriate sanctions. We’re not just asking politely; we are insisting.

Recent events in Uganda, Nigeria and Russia, where laws have been passed to strengthen prejudice against LGBT people in society and in law, provide a good backdrop for taking a stance against homophobia now, giving it added relevance.  It’s clear that the persistent injustice and prejudice is all around us and schools are the best places to sow the seeds of change. That is another line I will take. Society has taken strides to tackle racism and sexism; those battles haven’t been won but homophobia is still rife across the world and that needs to change.

If you have a strong student-led process in your school, please let me know so I can share ideas with my student leaders.  It’s not easy to stand forward as the champions of an anti-homophobia campaign in a school so any ideas you have from experience, please share.


headguruteacher

Drawing lines in the sand – Question 4 on the AQA English Language exam

It is war! Well, not really – but it does feel like it sometimes! Preparing for the final exam is becoming more and more like a Roman military battle. There are some people that like to use an oracle, but I prefer to prepare my phalanx and go headfirst into battle. It might be like the battle of Thermopylae, but we are not going to go down without a fight and without our honour and dignity intact after it.

The AQA Unit 1 exam is horrible. I have mentioned it before. A mad dash to show a full range of skills in two hours and fifteen minutes. It is a hit or miss scenario for a lot of students. A good day and the student succeeds. A bad day and the student fails. Miss one question, or miss the point on a question, and you could end up with going down a whole grade. The questions are deliberately vague and students have to be incredibly clued up if they are going to do well.


As a department, we are adapting our teaching, so that we can help students with the exam paper. To do this, we have adapted a specific target system. With each question on the paper, comes a set of progressively complex (thanks to a colleague for reordering these for me) targets. The idea being that teachers select a target for students to work on. Then, they are aware of some of the next targets to help them understand the line of progression. Also, it might get them to select some of the other targets. Furthermore, it will be a revision tool fool for students to use when they prepare before the exam.

Targets

These tables will be used in lessons to help identify the successes and weaknesses of sample answers and the students’ own work.

 
Question 1: What do you understand about …?

 

A
Select quotes from the text to support your ideas
B
Use speech marks ( ‘quote’) to show you have used a quote
C
Read between the lines by using the phrase – which shows
D
Use PEE (Point Evidence Explanation) to structure your ideas
E
Make connections between different points made in the text
F
Make less obvious points
G
Highlight how there are two conflicting sides of the argument
H
Pick out a flaw in the arguments presented
I
Discuss the writer’s opinion changes on the topic
J
Link ideas to how the how text is structured
K
Offer how different readers might interpret the argument in a different way
L
Offer your opinion subtlety by using adverbs 

 
Question 2: Explain how the headline and picture are effective and how they link to the text.

A
Select quotes from the text to support your ideas
B
Use speech marks ( ‘quote’) to show you have used a quote
C
Use PEE (Point Evidence Explanation) to structure your ideas
D
Make a comment about what the picture shows in the text 
E
Make a comment about what the picture symbolises in the text
F
Point out a language point used in the headline
G
Make a reference to the language used in the text
H
Make a connection between the picture and the headline
I
Make a connection between the headline or picture and the text
J
Explain how the headline or picture supports / challenges an idea in the text
K
Explain the reader’s thoughts when they read the text
L
Explain how the reader will react to the picture or headline 
M
Explore finer details of the picture such as colour, texture, positioning, etc
N
Explore how different readers will react to the text
O
Explore how the reader’s reaction changes over the text
P
Explore how some aspects are flawed
Question 3: Explain some of the thoughts and feelings of ….

A
Select quotes from the text to support your ideas
B
Use speech marks ( ‘quote’) to show you have used a quote
C
Read between the lines by using the phrase – which shows
D
Use PEE (Point Evidence Explanation) to structure your ideas
E
Describe the thought that the person has
F
Describe the feelings the person has
G
Give a reason why the person is thinking or feeling something
H
Give a detailed reason to your idea by linking idea to what has previously happened
I
Link your idea to a particular word or phrase
J
Explore how the feelings have changed over the text
K
Select four different thoughts and feelings rather than repeat the same one
L
Select less obvious ideas
M
Offer more than one possible reading of a thought: It could also be…
N
Make a link to other parts in the text
O
Use precise words when describing thoughts and feelings
Question 4: Compare how two texts use language for effect.

A
Select quotes from the text to support your ideas
B
Use speech marks ( ‘quote’) to show you have used a quote
C
Read between the lines by using the phrase – which shows
D
Use PEE (Point Evidence Explanation) to structure your ideas
E
Describe how the texts makes a reader feel an emotion
F
Explain how a writer creates an emotion through language
G
Select a word or a phrase and link it to the emotion / effect of the text.
H
Explain why the writer uses that particular emotion/effect for the text – link to purpose
I
Explore in detail why the language creates that particular effect
J
Make more points
K
Make a connection between the two texts
L
Make comparison of how the texts use language or effect in the same way
M
Evaluate the effectiveness of a technique 
N
Explore a subtle connection, similarity or difference between the texts
O
Make connections between different parts of the text when explaining a point

 

Question 5 / 6
 

A
Write in clear sentences
B
Use commas to separate parts of a sentence and for lists
C
Use punctuation marks correctly (? ! “)
D
Make sure commonly used words are spelt correctly
E
Use connectives to link sentences together
F
Use paragraphs to separate ideas
G
Make your writing suitable for the audience – formal / informal
H
Make your writing sound and look like the text is supposed to be
I
Use a range of sentence openings / lengths for effect 
J
Use a range of punctuation marks for effect
K
Use a variety of paragraph lengths for effect 
L
Make sure your writing is structured effectively – links / opening /closing
M
Develop ideas in paragraphs by using counter arguments
N
Build links across the text
O
Vary the tone of your writing across the text
P
Aim for a consistent style of writing across the text
Q
Use knowledge from other sources within your writing
R
Use humour (irony, satire or parody)

 
 
Teaching effectively the questions

The second part of our attack if focusing precisely on the questions. Rather than complete endless questions, we are going to target the questions in a refined way. I have spent endless hours collating information from every examiner’s report and model answer looking for specifics and approaches to dealing with the question.

 

Question 4 is the one that students struggle with nationally. It is a tough one. Comparing two texts and explaining how each text uses language for effect.  


From the various reports the following things I have found:

 

·         Explore individual word choices and compare those choices.

·         Band 2 – compare content and purpose

·         Generalised comments like ‘to make the reader read on’ hinder expression.

·         Need to explore a technique’s effect – shock, impress, persuade.

·         No point listing techniques.

·         Students need to discuss, explore, interpret a point rather than just compare.

·         Less able students better to write about the first text and then write about the second and compare while introducing the second text.

·         Consider students looking for the most interesting words / parts of the text.

 

Personally, I think the effect should be the driving force behind the answer to this question. The problem we have is that the question asks students to comment on the language first and then it asks for the effect. I feel we need to teach our students about the effect of the text first. They should think of the effect first and then ask the following question: How does the language create this effect? The problem with our students is that they compare language and not effect. If they compare the effect, they will get better answers. Otherwise, we have students endlessly comparing rhetorical questions, which will lead to a lot of ‘navel gazing’. For example: they both use rhetorical questions to ask the reader a question because they want them to think.

 

Effect

Activities

·         Students list a number of different feelings that a text creates.

·         Students are given a list of feelings and they have to pick the top three that best describe the text.

·         Look at a text and explore how a reader’s feelings change over the course of the text.

·         Students search a text and find examples of different effects.

·         Compare how two different texts use the same effect but with different language techniques.

·         Discuss why they use that effect at that particular moment 

·         Explore how there can be more than one effect or impact. For example: the word makes the reader feel scared and it highlights the severity of the issue by …

·          Highlight texts for the words with the most effect.

·         Write a set of questions that the reader has when reading the text.

·         Get students to complete the following sentences:

o   The word __________ makes me feel because ….. It also makes me think …. because…

 

Some possible effects: shock, warn, fearful, impressed, amazed, curious, worried, disappointed, guilty, sad, pleased

 

Language

·         Pick out texts and select two or three words. Students explain why that word is so effective.

·         Students are given a paragraph and they have to spot the words that create a particular effect.

·         Students pick out the most interesting words in a text. They read a whole text and then reduce it down to the three most effective words.

·         Students think of some alternative choices in an extract. They discuss why the writer didn’t pick the alternatives.

·         Students look at linking words and techniques together. They look at how combinations of words and techniques work together to create a particular effect. For example: The writers use of the word ‘lonely’ linked to the second person perspective makes the reader feel even more guilty as they feel responsible for what has happened.

·         Revise different techniques.

·         Explore why writers might use a particular technique in this circumstance. Or, explore the different reasons for using a rhetorical question, for example.

·         Categorise techniques based on effect. What techniques would you use for shock?

 

Possible sentences to use:

 

The use of _____________ (technique) and ______________ (technique) is used through source __ to create feelings of__________________________________

 

The word ‘______’ mirrors the _____________________ .

 

The reader feels _____________ through the use of ________________________.

 

The writer uses _________ to express that

 

This is reflective of

 

The reader will associate _________________ with the use of _________________. 

 

Possible phrases:

 

Invokes a sense of

To create feelings of

Understand the severity of

Reinforces the fact that

 

I think for less able students we need to get them to zoom in on one or two paragraphs rather than the whole text. A lot of the problems with this question is that students are not looking for intelligent comparisons. They just jump to conclusions. Furthermore, it is the explanation where they fall down the most. They can spot things, but they are not good at explaining things in detail.

 

Comparing

·         Compare effects. Take two paragraphs and get students to compare the paragraphs – the effect and the language.

·         Just compare two words. One from each text.

·         Write a paragraph and cover up the words taken from the text. Students have to guess the quotes used.  

 

The tasks here are about getting students to explain things better. The exam board explain how students picking out features or techniques isn’t enough. It is the explanation that gets them the higher mark and not an obscure technique.

I have drawn a line in the sand.
Thanks for reading,

Xris32

 

There are further blogs about the paper here:

Question 1

Question 2

Learning from my mistakes: an English teacher’s blog

The Twelve Sighs of Christmas

 

In the last week of term Galaxy High gave to me:

Twelve insane deadlines

Eleven movie lessons

Ten teachers leaving

Nine Ofsted excuses

Eight ignored bullies

Seven open questions

Six types of group work

Five spreadsheets

Four tellings off

Three meetings

Two observations

And an incompetent leadership team

 

Another term over, and I’ve finally found a spare few minutes to blog about what’s been happening on planet Galaxy. I’m pleased to say that this term has been utterly delightful if I block most of the interactions I’ve had with SLT from my memory. The kids have been so wonderful and have made going in to school worth it, particularly in the last few weeks. I’m sure that many teachers across the country were feeling the strains of the longest, darkest, most depressing term of the year, and I would like to think that the eager, smiling faces they spend most of their days with made it bearable.

 

Yes, there has been a lot of ‘sighing’ this term. Without exception, every single eye roll, head droop and face palm has been a consequence of the men and women that purport to manage the school. Here is just a taster of some of the tricky situations the rest of the staff and I have had to navigate over the past few weeks.

 

Twelve insane deadlines

 

Need some arbitrary data task to be done urgently? Haven’t thought about it carefully enough in advance and are now under serious pressure to get it done in time? Here’s what you should do: send several aggressive emails to junior members of staff telling them to get it done within the next twelve hours. That’s sure to do the trick. Not only does this mean you get to assert your authority, it also means you don’t have to do a dull, relatively pointless job yourself. Oh, and you can take pride in your excellent delegation skills, too. ‘But what about staff morale?’ I hear you say. ‘There is no such thing as staff morale’ according to the Head. Problem solved. And if teachers can’t do huge tasks at the last minute then frankly, they shouldn’t be in teaching.

 

Eleven movie lessons

 

Lead by example! Make a point of standing up in briefing and announcing that the showing of non-educational films is an act punishable by death and then proceed to do so yourself. Elf, anyone?

 

Ten teachers leaving

 

The last day is always bitter sweet. This time was no exception. I found myself elated to be at the end of a tough term and ready for the break and chance to catch up with friends and family, but at the same time, it was very sad to say goodbye to some excellent colleagues. Some left because they wanted a better work/life balance. Others left because they found a better opportunity elsewhere. A few left because they could no longer take the bullying they got from those in charge. All excellent teachers, all a credit to the school, none of them appreciated, none of them asked to stay.

 

Nine Ofsted excuses

 

Another excellent way of getting things done in a failing school is to use Ofsted as an excuse. They might be here tomorrow, next week, or the week after that. Either way, we need to be prepared. If we aren’t, and the school doesn’t get a decent grading, then doom and despair will consume us all.

 

Eight ignored bullies

 

Bullying problem? What bullying problem? The kids here are great; we don’t need a behaviour policy. Okay, one child called another ‘gay’. And yes, there was that one time that Ashley sexually assaulted a year 7. Oh, I suppose there is that kid who keeps shouting the ‘N word’ in the corridors. Okay, I know what we’ll do: we’ll put a poster up that says ‘Bullying is unacceptable’ or something like that. That’ll work.

 

Seven open questions

 

Ofsted said we need to ask more open questions in lessons. Let’s make it a whole school policy: every teacher must ask open questions in every lesson. Even better, let’s drop in on lessons and count the number of open questions that are used and reward the teacher that asks the most open questions with a box of Roses. We’ll be outstanding in no time.

 

Six types of group work

 

Ofsted also said we need to do more group work. Let’s make it a whole school policy: every teacher must use one of the six types of group work in every lesson. Even better, let’s drop in on lessons and count the number of group work activities that are used and reward the teacher that does the most with a box of Roses. We’ll be outstanding in no time.

 

Five Spreadsheets

 

Why have one spreadsheet when you can have five? We don’t need clarity or visibility when it comes to data. What we need is a labour intensive, low impact system that requires teachers to do five times more admin than they need to do. The most outstanding schools are driven by data- we’ve even heard of a book about it. We’ll be outstanding in no time.

 

Four telling offs

 

My last post explained how I became a victim of the Bowling Ball approach to leadership. Sadly, I’m not the only person to have been subjected to snide remarks, unfair comments and outright rudeness; several others have, too. I dealt with it by choosing not listen and not to worry about what I cannot control. Sadly, some of my colleagues took it rather more personally and (understandably) took a huge hit to their confidence.  The ranks are beginning to mobilise on this one, however. Many people are talking about getting in touch with unions and making pleas to the Head. I really hope it proves to be useful. There is also a very encouraging rumour that they main perpetrator of these attacks (a vicious deputy head who makes Bill Sikes look like a cuddly little teddy bear) has got a promotion elsewhere and might be leaving at Easter. Here’s hoping.

 

Three meetings

 

When I say ‘meeting’ I actually mean ‘interrogation’. Once the senior team has collated all the data they can from their numerous spreadsheets, they gather middle leaders together and attack them for not having made huge leaps in progress in the last fortnight. There is very little insight into the data that is collated. Instead of analysing the data and evaluating the impact of any interventions, they interrogate middle leaders and put even more pressure on them. Predictably, all this does is encourage game playing. We still use national curriculum levels so this is in fact very straightforward: Johnny needs to be a 4c for me to be left alone by SLT… he got a 3a in his last assessment… let’s just call it a 4c. Job done.

 

Two observations

 

Grade them. Grade them all until they can be graded no more. Observe, observe, observe. Look for things like open questions and group work. Blame poor behaviour on planning. Tell teachers they don’t care about children because they choose not to use card sorts. Use all of these misguided judgements to give every teacher a grade. Let that grade define them and follow them around the school like the ghost of observations past. If they fail, observe them again. And again. Eventually they will get a ‘good’ and we can congratulate ourselves on supporting our staff so well.

 

And an incompetent leadership team

 

I think this goes without saying. I would like to stress two important things at this point: firstly, I know that the leadership team I work for are particularly bad and are by no means representative of the wider community of school leaders that are out there. There are so many exceptional people on Twitter that have shown me that what I experience isn’t the norm and that I could work for better people elsewhere. So please do not read this post as an ‘all SLT are rubbish’ whinge. What I hope many will take from this is that bad leaders do exist and that they need to get better. I can’t imagine that leading people is an easy task, but I’m genuinely quite amazed at the extent of my SLT’s incompetence. I hope that in pointing out some of these glaring errors I am highlighting what could be done differently. Instead of interrogating staff, work with them; instead of giving them extra, largely arbitrary work to do, create useful systems that will make it easier for them to do their job. Don’t crush people- support them.

 

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I do love my job. As I said at the beginning of this post, I adore my students and can’t think of anything I would rather spend my days doing than teaching them. I am getting much better at ignoring the nonsense from above and just closing my door and getting on with it. This blog post is just a way to blow off some steam.

 

So, in spite of the insane policies, huge workload and repeated bullying, I am still feeling hopeful. I’m hopeful that I will continue to learn about what makes a good leader and what does not, and that when I do eventually leave (at the end of the year) that I will have made some small contribution to the school and the pupils I teach. I just want to do a good job for the kids. That is all. And at Christmas time there is plenty of time to sit back and think about all the things I have learnt this term, and what I might do differently next term.

 

Maybe SLT are doing the same this holiday. Maybe they’ve taken on board some of the feedback they have received from staff of late. Maybe I will come back in January to a new and improved leadership team that really want to get the best out of their teachers.

 

Maybe.

 

Merry Christmas, folks!  


Tabula Rasa

Can OFSTED stop publishing ridiculous reports, even if they try?

I’m struggling to keep up with developments regarding OFSTED, particularly as they’ve been in the news recently (I’ll try to comment on that tomorrow or Wednesday) but I am not going to miss the opportunity to write a post about the letter to inspectors Sir Michael Wilshaw sent out last week. I’m not the first blogger to present the text of this letter (it was on this blog on Saturday and an extract was available here  earlier in the week) but I can’t resist repeating it, and commenting. I will include the full text, with some additional observations throughout and further comments at the end.

Over the last 18 months, I have emphasised in a number of speeches that Ofsted is not prescriptive about the way that teaching is delivered and does not recommend a suite of preferred teaching styles. Inspectors should only be concerned with the impact that teaching has on children’s learning, progress and outcomes. Our new guidance on the inspection of teaching in schools reinforces this. I quote:

‘Inspectors must not give the impression that Ofsted favours a particular teaching style. Moreover, they must not inspect or report in a way that is not stipulated in the framework, handbook or guidance. For example, they should not criticise teacher talk for being overlong or bemoan a lack of opportunity for different activities in lessons unless there is unequivocal evidence that this is slowing learning over time.

It is unrealistic, too, for inspectors to necessarily expect that all work in all lessons is always matched to the specific needs of each individual. Do not expect to see ‘independent learning’ in all lessons and do not make the assumption that this is always necessary or desirable. On occasions, too, pupils are rightly passive rather than active recipients of learning. Do not criticise ‘passivity’ as a matter of course and certainly not unless it is evidently stopping pupils from learning new knowledge or gaining skills and understanding.’

Nevertheless, I still see inspection reports, occasionally from HMI, which ignore this and earlier guidance and, irritatingly, give the impression that we are still telling teachers how to teach. Let me give you a few examples from recent reports I have just read:

‘Teaching will improve if more time is given to independent learning’

‘Insufficient time was given to collaborative learning’

‘Students are not given sufficient opportunity to support their classmates in their learning’

‘Pupils are not sufficiently engaged in their own learning’

‘Teaching requires improvement because pupils do not get enough opportunities to work alone or in groups’

‘Weak teaching is characterised by teachers talking too much.’

I think what’s most gratifying about reading these very familiar sounding phrases is that it suggests that, finally, the chief inspector is doing what I’ve been doing for almost a year now and actually reading the reports his organisation puts out. This would also explain why so many reports recently had been changed or held up, with these sorts of phrases being removed. Of course, this leaves the question of what he was doing up until this point. He seemed content to change the various documentation which tells inspectors what to do, and then just leave it at that when it is ignored. There is still no sign of any specified sanction or consequence for any inspector who ignores the advice, but at least they now know he’s watching them.

It is quite acceptable for a teacher to talk a lot as long as the children are attentive, interested, learning and making progress. If not, it is quite legitimate for inspectors to say that poor planning and lesson structure meant that children lost focus and learnt very little.

There is so much more that could be said about teaching without infringing the professional judgement of teachers to decide the most appropriate style of teaching to get the best out of their students. For example:

Do lessons start promptly?

Are children focused and attentive because the teaching is stimulating?

Is the pace of the lesson good because the teacher is proactive and dynamic in the classroom?

Is homework regularly given?

Is literacy a key component of lessons across the curriculum?

Do teachers use display and technology to support teaching?

Are low expectations resulting in worksheets being used rather than textbooks?

Are the most able children provided with work which stretches them and allows them to fulfil their true potential?

Are children expected to take books home to do their homework and return them the following day?

Does marking give a clear indication of what the children have to do to improve and are clear targets being set?

Is the structure of the lesson promoting good learning and are children given sufficient time to practise and reinforce what is being taught?

Do teachers have sufficient expertise to be able to impart to students the necessary knowledge and skills to succeed?

Does the school have a robust professional development programme which is improving the quality of teaching by disseminating good practice across the school or college?

Are teaching assistants supporting teaching effectively or are they simply ‘floating about’?

These are some remarkable recommendations. Some seem quite random, or possibly out of date. While I can imagine that there was once a time when worksheets were seen as less demanding than textbooks, I’m not sure that can really be claimed these days. A lot of my worksheets are photocopies from old textbooks, used because the newer textbooks are too dumbed down. @cazzypot has written a critique of these suggestions on her blog. I’m, perhaps, more sympathetic to these than she is, but only with the proviso that they are used to gauge whole school expectations not assess individual lessons. Too many of them are dependent on the culture of the whole school to be a fair way to judge individuals.

In summary, inspectors should report on the outcomes of teaching rather than its style. So please, please, please think carefully before criticising a lesson because it doesn’t conform to a particular view of how children should be taught.

In saying all this, I recognise that a report-writing orthodoxy has grown up over the years which owes as much to the formulaic approach of the national strategies as to any guidance that Ofsted has given inspectors. We must continue to break free of this and encourage inspectors to use their freedom to report in language that has meaning and relevance to the institutions we inspect and the parents and students who read our reports.

Only by doing this can we hope to use inspection to raise standards.

It is an interesting point about the national strategies. It would indicate that some of his inspectors reflect a culture that involves an orthodoxy older and more established than Sir Michael’s involvement in OFSTED. As a comment on Twitter pointed out (when Mark McCourt made similar observations), OFSTED are “like the Dementors who act for but are not under [the] control of the Ministry of Magic”.

However, the phrase “please, please, please” is also revealing. How much influence does he have to change anything? There is new guidance. There is a precedent for reviewing, editing or delaying reports that don’t comply. There is a begging letter. Will inspectors comply? Well, as I understand it, this letter was published on the 22nd. That same day the report for King Solomon High school was published. It told us:

In the best lessons… Students respond well to the chance to think things out for themselves and choose the work they do. In a mathematics lesson, students who had already grasped the concepts being taught were then tasked to lead the learning of others. They responded well to the challenge and others say they benefited from the support they received from their peers…

…The best behaviour in lessons results from high quality teaching where there are plenty of opportunities for students to find out things for themselves in a supportive, but challenging, environment. This does not happen often enough and results in some students not taking an active role in their own learning.

Well, that was on the day of the letter. How about since? This is from the report from Forest Gate Community school published on Friday, for an inspection in the final week before the holidays. This is one of the two most recent reports from secondary schools. Published after the letter; after reports had been withdrawn and rewritten; after all this fuss and over a month since the new guidance, quoted above by Sir Michael Wilshaw, warned against condemning passivity or demanding independent learning.

This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because … Often, there are limited opportunities for students to be actively involved in lessons, leading, on occasion, to poor behaviour…

What does the school need to do to improve further? Improve the quality of teaching … by ensuring that all teachers: plan lessons which provide opportunities for students to become more independent and take responsibility for helping themselves to improve… Improve behaviour in all lessons by allowing students to be more actively involved in tasks so that they retain their interest and do not disengage or become restless…

The quality of teaching requires improvement… Although teachers use a range of different strategies to help students to understand and broaden their knowledge and skills, in some lessons, work is over directed by the teacher and there are few opportunities for students to find things out for themselves. In these lessons, students sometimes become passive or restless and disengage from the lesson. Opportunities are missed in allowing them the independence to take more responsibility to drive their learning forwards or be more actively involved.


Scenes From The Battleground

A Blog Blog: The things that seem to matter

When I started this blog, I didn’t really expect very much.  As a veteran bedroom-studio musician, I’m used to the tumbleweed of indifference to my creations.  I flogged my music through MySpace for a couple of years and got absolutely nowhere beyond a few scraps of encouragement.  So, with low expectations to start with, the level of engagement with this blog never ceases to surprise me.

I was really happy with how it went last year, but this month things have moved to another level. For the first time, I’ve had over 50,000 views in a month, with over 1000 views every day. Some days I’ve pushed this along with quite a few tweet-outs, but on others, strange flurries of interest have developed out of nothing; a sudden interest in old blogs, a Facebook post in Sweden or an unexpected plug from the GuardianTeacher site have kept things moving.

1000+ views every day..beyond all expectations.

1000+ views every day..beyond all expectations.

The main thing that triggered this post was seeing that six of my posts have now had over 10,000 views. These six posts are the ones that deal with the everyday routine of being a teacher, which is extremely gratifying.  They say something fairly obvious about the key issues we face as teachers and our search for affirmation as professionals:

The top 6 headguruteacher blogs:

The top 6 headguruteacher blogs:

1. The runaway leader is Behaviour Management: A Bill Rogers Top 10.

In this post I am simply describing my favourite ideas from Bill Rogers; I’m just a messenger for his brilliant work. He made a massive difference to me and I hope others find the same.  Recently I had the pleasure to meet Bill at Shenley Brook End school in Milton Keynes.  I gave him a copy of my blog and told him that it comes up as the top google search for ‘Behaviour Management’.  He said he’d only just got email and the internet was new to him – so blogs and ‘google’ were alien concepts.  His materials for the CPD session were hand drawn cartoons shown under a visualiser.  He’s now even more of a legend in my book.

Meeting Bill. One of my all time biggest 'meet your hero' moments.

Meeting Bill. One of my all time biggest ‘meet your hero’ moments.

2. The second spot goes to Making Feedback Count: “Close the Gap”.

Once again, I am the messenger.  This post was a report on a visit I made to Saffron Walden County High School in Essex.  Their CPD session on ‘Close the Gap’ marking was inspirational and many other people have found the idea resonates hugely.  The post includes a superb sheet from Wilson’s Grammar School  suggesting lots of ways to reduce the workload of marking whilst also increasing the impact.  It gets downloaded several times every day.

3. Great Lessons 4: Differentiation

In all honesty, I think this post gets the hits more for its title than its quality.  It is part of the Great Lessons series I wrote last year.  This post has its place in the series where I have tried to focus on the habits of everyday teaching, but, by itself, I’m not sure it is offering too many answers.  However, I’m happy that his post helps to lead people to the others in the series, from Probing, to Explaining, to Awe and Joy.

I think the series certainly works better as a whole than when taken apart. The full series can be found here or downloaded on this pdf: headguruteacherblog

4. 12 Steps to a ‘Great Teacher’ Reputation

This is one of those list-posts.  A ‘Top 10′ that I couldn’t contain. I have tried to reflect the many ways in which teachers can create reputational ‘capital’ through engaging in a range of different elements of school life and setting high standards in different elements of routine teaching.  In some ways it is a challenging list – some people have suggested it is overly demanding and even ‘preachy’ in places.  But it works as an aspiration and it certainly covers the territory that real judgements are based on every day in schools.

5. Homework: What does the Hattie research actually say?

It still amazes and annoys me when people trot out a glib phrase suggesting that Hattie’s effect sizes show that homework doesn’t work.  It’s really an ignorant position to take, because his work doesn’t do this at all.  But why let the facts get in the way eh? John Hattie, to my huge delight, even commented on this blog himself:

Hattie on Hattie.

Hattie on Hattie.

6. 10 Reasons to Love Teaching

This was my Christmas crowd-pleaser.  It had a huge splurge of hits during the Christmas holidays leading into the start of term.  The main reason for writing it was just to remind people of the all the good reasons to talk up our profession.  I think we do ourselves down too often; we disparage the profession and our working conditions to our own detriment, diminishing how the job is perceived by others – including prospective new teachers. Actually, I think we should celebrate the job more, for all the reasons in this post – and that doesn’t mean we can’t also strive to improve it.  I am really pleased with how this post has been received – we’re not all a bunch of cynics at all!

After the top 6, there is quite a drop before the next batch.  Here they are:

The next 6.

The next 6.

As you can see, the themes are recurring: More on marking, more on homework and two posts on questioning: Probing and Think Pair Share.  Then there is a post on creating the conditions in which we can all flourish – and, finally, a leadership-orientated post about our longitudinal process for evaluating the quality of teaching and learning.

These things seem to be the ones that matter. Thanks to everyone who has read, left a comment or shared any of these blogs. There will be more to come.


headguruteacher

Employment figures for 2014 in the UK

Employment is the most basic requirement for the development and growth of an economy and United Kingdom is not an exception in this regard. From the past few decades, the world economy is in the grip of unemployment and even the economically developed country like UK had to face the brunt of this situation. However with the arrival of the year 2014, there seems to be a lot of improvement in the employment situation of UK. In the recent report drawn by the Statistical Authority, it was found that the unemployment rate in UK has reached its all time low of 7.1%. It is pertinent to know that this rate was 7.4% in the last three months of 2013 and economists around the world had anticipated for a decline of merely 0.1% which is very low as compared to the current reports.

According to office of National Statistics(ONS), there is a fall of 167000 people who’ve been affected by unemployment in the current year. Now there are just 2.32 million people in UK that are devoid of employment. The decrease in unemployment rates in the present year even indicate that now maximum number of people in the UK are having work and are capable of supporting their families. This value even indicates the biggest ever quarterly increase in the employment levels of UK. Despite of all the predications made by labor markets around the world, today Britain is experiencing an economic revolution that certainly needs more fuelling from the government.

This rate of unemployment at 7.1% is the best so far, ever since the economy of UK has started recovering from economic depression. According to ONS, following statistics relating to employment in UK in the year 2014 have been generated so far:

  • The rate of unemployment among the active population in UK is around 7.1% in January, 2014.
  • The total number of people that have a job and are actually working comprise of the 30.15 million of the total population.
  • UK government grants certain allowances to the unemployed population and it is astonishing to know that the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s allowance in January 2014 fell by 27600 people. So now the total number of people claiming such allowance is just 1.22 million.
  • The ONS conducts employment and unemployment survey every month but compares between data of three months i.e. quarterly comparisons are made.

    • In 2014, the economy of UK experienced a major change because the employment rate jumped by 280000 points to reach the biggest quarterly high of all times to record a number of 30.15 million. An important thing to note down is that such an increase in employment was last seen in Britain in the year 1971. The employment though increased well, it was the wage growth of people that drew attention of various governmental agencies. The wage growth in UK is going flat at 0.9% from the past 5-6 months which is not even at par with the current inflation rate of 2% here. Thus much of work is required to be done in this regard and a lot of major policy changes could improve the same numbers.

    There are many learning based employment apprenticeships schemes in Birmingham available for young people (aged 16 - 19 etc) - one provider of apprenticeships (Gordon Franks)