quality teaching in nsw public schools - darcy moore's · pdf file ·...

Quality teachingin NSW public schools

Discussion paper

Professional Support and Curriculum Directorate

May 2003

2 Quality teaching in NSW public schools

Quality teaching in NSW public schools

Discussion paper

© 2003 State of NSW

Department of Education and Training

Professional Support and Curriculum Directorate

SYDNEY NSW

Downloading, copying or printing of materials in thisdocument for personal use or on behalf of another person ispermitted. Downloading, copying or printing of material fromthis document for the purpose of reproduction or publication(in whole or in part) for financial benefit is not permittedwithout express authorisation.

ISBN: 0 7313 8255 2

SCIS number: 1131553

Discussion paper 3

Purpose of this documentThis discussion paper has been developed to focus andsupport the work of school leaders and teachers inaddressing teaching and learning in NSW public schools as along-term strategic priority. The paper proposes a model forpedagogy that can be applied from Kindergarten to Year 12and across all key learning areas.

This discussion paper will be used as a reference point tofocus attention on, and provide consistent messages about,pedagogy across schools and within the Department for thenext two years. During this time feedback on the model willbe collected to add to and enrich discussion about pedagogyin NSW public schools.

The model proposed in the paper can be used by principalsand school executive to lead and focus the work of the schoolcommunity on improving teaching practice and hencestudent learning outcomes. Teachers can use the model as aself-reflection tool to help them to understand, analyse andfocus their own teaching practices for improved studentlearning. Schools can also share the model in discussionswith parents and community members about teaching andlearning in the school.

The model will also be used by officers of the Department toinform and guide the nature of support provided to schoolsfor teaching and learning. In primary schools the model willsupport the delivery of all primary syllabuses, includingsupport for the implementation of the new Mathematics K–6syllabus from 2003. In secondary schools it will be used tosupport the introduction of the new Years 7–10 syllabusesand the continuation of support for Stage 6 syllabusimplementation.

Go online and have your sayAs you work with the pedagogy model in this paper,opportunities to engage in discussion forums and providefeedback are offered on the Professional Support andCurriculum Directorate web site.

Go to: www.curriculumsupport.nsw.edu.au for moreinformation and to have your say.

AcknowledgementsThe model described in this paper was developed by DrJames Ladwig and Professor Jennifer Gore from TheUniversity of Newcastle in consultation with and on behalf ofthe NSW Department of Education and Training.

… a reference point tofocus attention on, andprovide consistentmessages about,pedagogy …

For more informationand to have your saygo to:www.curriculumsupport.nsw.edu.au


IntroductionThe core business of the profession of teaching is pedagogy.As the art and science of teaching, pedagogy is evident bothin the activity that takes place in classrooms or othereducational settings and in the nature or quality of the tasksset by teachers to guide and develop student learning.Pedagogy focuses attention on the processes through whichknowledge is constructed, produced and critiqued. Crucially,the term pedagogy recognises that how one teaches isinseparable from what one teaches, from what and how oneassesses and from how one learns.

The NSW Department of Education and Training is committedto providing a public school system, which develops fully thetalents and capacities of all students in the pursuit ofattaining the highest educational standards irrespective ofstudents’ background or circumstance. Clearly, pedagogy isonly one dimension of the larger school context including thelocal school community, the organisation of curriculum,cultural traditions and personal relationships. Research hasconsistently shown that, of all the things that schools cancontrol, it is the quality of pedagogy that most directly andmost powerfully affects the quality of learning outcomes thatstudents demonstrate. While teachers work in extremelycomplex environments, with a host of factors impacting ontheir work, the nature and quality of pedagogy is their corebusiness.

The model of pedagogy described in this document has beendeveloped as a framework for teachers’ professional self-reflection and for school improvement practices in NSWpublic schools. With the aim of improving pedagogy andhence student learning, the model is available for use byschools and teachers to focus discussion and criticalreflection on the teaching and assessment practices that takeplace in classrooms.

The model is based on a sound research understanding ofhow teaching and school improvement can promoteimproved student learning outcomes. Building on thegrowing documentation of best practice in NSW and the mostreliable national and international pedagogical research, theelements of this model of pedagogy can be applied across allyears of schooling, K–12, and all curriculum areas.

The model has been designed to cater for a wide variety ofstudent and teacher individual differences. That is, across allthe individual differences teachers take into account in theirteaching, and across all the different styles of andapproaches to teaching, this document identifies genericqualities of pedagogy that have been successfully applied in

Pedagogy … theart and science ofteaching …

… it is the qualityof pedagogy thatmost directly andmost powerfullyaffects the qualityof learning …

… based on a soundresearchunderstanding ofhow teaching … canpromote improvedstudent learningoutcomes.

Discussion paper 5

a range of school contexts and are shown to lead toimproved student learning. While NSW teachers will continueto cater for individual learners and differences associatedwith various groups in our community, this model provides aconsistent pedagogical framework within which all NSWteachers and schools can operate.

The model has also been designed to assist the NSWDepartment of Education and Training in reaching theNational Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-first Century,known as the Adelaide Declaration (1999). In particular, themodel of pedagogy supports the Department’s commitmentto the principles of social justice and equity, including thecommitment to delivering equitable student outcomes.

The model is not intended to be the final word on pedagogy.While it builds on the most reliable current research and bestpractice in pedagogy, it will be tested out and changed asnecessary over time as teachers engage with the dimensionsand elements of pedagogy in classrooms across NSW.

Three dimensions of pedagogyThe features of classroom practice that have been linked toimproved student outcomes can be characterised asrepresenting three dimensions of pedagogy:

• pedagogy that is fundamentally based onpromoting high levels of intellectual quality

• pedagogy that is soundly based on promoting aquality learning environment

• pedagogy that develops and makes explicit tostudents the significance of their work.

These three dimensions form the basis of the model forpedagogy in NSW public schools.

… provides aconsistentpedagogicalframework withinwhich all NSWteachers and schoolscan operate.

These threedimensions form thebasis of the model forpedagogy in NSWpublic schools.

… it will be tested outand changed asnecessary over time …


Background

The New South Wales contextThe model of pedagogy outlined in this document is basednot only on research, but also builds, most importantly, onwhat teachers already know and value, and many already doin terms of quality teaching practice. At the same time,however, it gives greater attention to some aspects ofpedagogy than may have typically been the case. Inparticular, this model highlights the need to recogniseintellectual quality as central to pedagogy.

Recent NSW reports (Ramsey, Vinson) have argued stronglyfor greater attention to be given to pedagogy focusing onintellectual quality. Over recent years, a number ofdocuments from the Department have listed or outlinedaspects of good pedagogy consistent with those identifiedabove; for example, Quality Teaching Quality Learning(1997), Pedagogy for the Future (2001) discussion paper,Successful Teaching in the NSW Higher School Certificate(Ayers et al, 1998) and School Map: Best PracticeStatements (2001). Collectively these documents addresselements of teaching that constitute the dimensions ofpedagogy in this model.

The Department is also engaged in a number of majorresearch projects that have a focus on pedagogy. Theseinclude: An Exceptional Schooling Outcomes Project(AESOP), which is researching Years 7–10 public schoolingsites attaining outstanding student learning outcomes; andthe Numeracy Research in NSW Primary Schools Project,which is a three-year, cross-sectoral, Commonwealth fundedproject.

Generating a long list of specific elements of teaching is notwell supported by pedagogical research. The model in thisdocument intentionally synthesises many of these elementsand develops them into a more focused framework forschools and teachers to use.

Research background1

There has been a long history of research that has attemptedto identify teaching practices that will improve students’learning. However, it is only recently that diverse researchtraditions have come to a common understanding of qualitypedagogy. It has taken a long time to reach this consensus

1 For a more detailed analysis of the research background to the model presentedhere refer to Quality teaching in NSW public schools: An annotated bibliography(2003).

… builds, mostimportantly, on whatteachers alreadyknow and value, andmany already do interms of qualityteaching practice.

The model …synthesises many ofthe elements anddevelops them into amore focusedframework for schoolsand teachers to use.

Discussion paper 7

because it has been difficult to isolate the independenteffects of any one specific teaching technique or learningskill, and therefore difficult to implement any specifictechnique in a school-wide way. As a result, researchersbegan to seek out ways of identifying more generalcharacterisations of pedagogy.

More general characterisations of pedagogy, such asAuthentic Pedagogy (Newmann et al, 1996) and ProductivePedagogies (QSRLS, 2001) allow educators to focus onunderlying dimensions of pedagogy that have meaning inreal classrooms, can be sustained organisationally byschools, and have demonstrated positive effects on learningoutcomes for all students.

A substantial body of research linking pedagogical practicesto improved student learning outcomes supports each of thethree dimensions of the NSW model. Research hasdemonstrated that pedagogy focusing on high levels ofintellectual quality benefits students, whether they arehigh or low achievers, from backgrounds typically identifiedas educationally disadvantaged or gifted and talented, orstudents identified with special needs in mainstream classes.The positive effects of high levels of intellectual quality havebeen found to influence individual student outcomes on bothperformance-based assessment measures and conventionalstandardised achievement tests.

Research has also soundly demonstrated the importance of aquality learning environment. Research into effectiveteaching, authentic and productive pedagogy, teachers’expectations, students’ time-on task and studentengagement has consistently demonstrated that classroomsin which there is a strong, positive and supportive learningenvironment produce improved student outcomes. Whilemany teachers are justifiably concerned with improvementsin the learning environment of their classrooms as an end initself, it is also important to recognise that a high qualitylearning environment has its own independent effect on thequality of work students are able to do.

The third dimension of pedagogy identified in the NSW modelrepresents a synthesis of research into the means throughwhich teachers make learning meaningful and important tostudents both as individuals and as members of socialgroups. That is, pedagogy that promotes intellectual qualityand produces a quality learning environment also requiressome means by which teachers link the work of theirstudents to personal, social and cultural contexts outside ofthe classroom. For the work of students to have meaningand impact beyond the classroom, pedagogy must make itclear that students’ learning matters. The third dimension of

… allow educatorsto focus onunderlyingdimensions ofpedagogy that havemeaning in realclassrooms …

… pedagogy focusingon high levels ofintellectual qualitybenefits students …

… the importance of aquality learningenvironment.

… pedagogy mustmake it clear thatstudents’ learningmatters … thatlearning is seen bystudents to havesignificance.


high quality pedagogy is that learning is seen by students tohave significance.

Figure 1 below illustrates the relationship among the threedimensions of pedagogy in the NSW model. There are twoideas this diagram intends to convey. First, intellectualquality is central to pedagogy that produces high qualitystudent learning outcomes. Second, all three dimensions areessential for students to benefit from high intellectual qualitywork.

Figure 1: Three dimensions of pedagogy in NSW public schools

… all three dimensionsare essential forstudents to benefitfrom high intellectualquality work.

Discussion paper 9

The NSW model of pedagogyThe three dimensions of the NSW model

1 . Intellectual quality refers to pedagogy focused onproducing deep understanding of important, substantiveconcepts, skills and ideas. Such pedagogy treats knowledgeas something that requires active construction and requiresstudents to engage in higher-order thinking and tocommunicate substantively about what they are learning.

2. Quality learning environment refers to pedagogy thatcreates classrooms where students and teachers workproductively in an environment clearly focused on learning.Such pedagogy sets high and explicit expectations anddevelops positive relationships between teachers andstudents and among students.

3. Significance refers to pedagogy that helps make learningmeaningful and important to students. Such pedagogydraws clear connections with students’ prior knowledge andidentities, with contexts outside of the classroom, and withmultiple ways of knowing or cultural perspectives.

Elements of the NSW modelEach of the three dimensions of pedagogy can be described interms of a number of elements. Each element has beenselected and defined on the basis of:

• a sound and reliable research base linking the practices orqualities of the element to improved student learningoutcomes

• the practical capacity of each element to act as anindicator of the underlying dimension.

Intellectual qualityQuality learningenvironment

Significance

Deep knowledge Explicit quality criteria Background knowledge

Deep understanding Engagement Cultural knowledge

Problematic knowledge High expectations Knowledge integration

Higher-order thinking Social support Inclusivity

Metalanguage Students’ self-regulation Connectedness

Ele

men

ts

Substantivecommunication

Student direction Narrative

Table 1: The dimensions and elements of the NSW model of pedagogy

A summary discussion of each dimension is provided on thefollowing pages, along with an elaboration of what each elementlooks like if you were observing a classroom or if you werereviewing a documented assessment task.

1. Intellectual quality2. Quality learning

environment3. Significance

Each of the threedimensions ofpedagogy can bedescribed in terms of anumber of elements.


Intellectual qualityThe intellectual quality dimension in this model builds from arecognition that high quality student outcomes result iflearning is focused on intellectual work that is challenging,centred on significant concepts and ideas, and requiressubstantial cognitive and academic engagement with deepknowledge. In order to develop these characteristics inclassroom and assessment practices, it is important forteachers themselves to have a deep understanding of theknowledge they are addressing with students, and to seekthat depth in the work of their students.

When translating NSW syllabuses into specific classroomprograms, lessons and learning activities, the first thingteachers will need to do is select and organise the essentialknowledge, understandings, skills and values from thesyllabus around central concepts or ideas. Once lessons arefocused on these concepts or ideas, the main task ofteachers in those lessons is one of developing the students’deep understanding of the selected knowledge,understandings, skills and values and of the connectionsamong them.

The following table shows the way the elements look in theclassroom and in documented assessment tasks.

… high quality studentoutcomes result iflearning is focused onintellectual work thatis challenging …

… developing thestudents’ deepunderstanding …

Discussion paper 11

Element What does it look like inclassrooms?

What does it look like inassessment tasks?

Deep knowledge

The knowledge beingaddressed is focused on asmall number of key conceptsand ideas within topics,subjects or KLAs, and on therelationships between andamong concepts.

Tasks focus on a smallnumber of key concepts andideas within topics, subjectsor KLAs, and require cleararticulation of therelationships between andamong concepts.

Deepunderstanding

Students demonstrate aprofound and meaningfulunderstanding of central ideasand the relationships betweenand among those centralideas.

Tasks require students todemonstrate deep ratherthan superficialunderstanding of what theyare learning.

Problematicknowledge

Students are encouraged toaddress multiple perspectivesand/or solutions and torecognise that knowledge hasbeen constructed andtherefore is open to question.

Tasks require students topresent or analysealternative perspectivesand/or solutions and todemonstrate how theconstruction of knowledgerelates to theirunderstanding of the task.

Higher-orderthinking

Students are regularlyengaged in thinking thatrequires them to organise,reorganise, apply, analyse,synthesise and evaluateknowledge and information.

Tasks require students toorganise, reorganise, apply,analyse, synthesise andevaluate knowledge andinformation.

Metalanguage

Lessons explicitly name andanalyse knowledge as aspecialist language(metalanguage), and providefrequent commentary onlanguage use and the variouscontexts of differing languageuses.

Tasks require the use ofmetalanguage, commentaryon language use and thevarious contexts of differinglanguage uses.

Substantivecommunication

Students are regularlyengaged in sustainedconversations about theconcepts and ideas they areencountering. Theseconversations can be manifestin oral, written or artisticforms.

Tasks require students tocommunicate theirunderstanding in anelaborate and substantivefashion. This communicationcan take oral, written orartistic forms.


Quality learning environmentLearning is improved when the classroom or other learningenvironments provide high levels of support for learning. Thisdimension of pedagogy draws attention to the specific needto support learning, as well as the need to support studentsin classrooms.

A positive environment is often understood as a caring, safeand supportive classroom. Students, parents and teachersrecognise the value of a positive classroom environment.However, where the classroom carries the general concernfor supporting students further to become supportive oflearning, above and beyond being generally positive, theoutcomes demonstrated by students will be enhanced.

This focus on supporting learning, needs to be sustained byall adults who share the learning environment, includingparents, caregivers, student teachers and others assistingstudents’ learning. While the focus of this document is onenvironments for which teachers are directly responsible,research has demonstrated that a focus on quality learningenvironments should extend beyond the classroom, such asin students’ homes.


… the specific need tosupport learning inclassrooms …

This focus onsupportinglearning, needs tobe sustained byall adults whoshare the learningenvironment …

Discussion paper 13


What does it look likein assessment tasks?

Explicitquality criteria

Students are provided withexplicit criteria for the quality ofwork they are to produce andthose criteria are a regularreference point for thedevelopment and assessment ofstudent work.

Tasks provide explicitcriteria for the quality ofwork students areexpected to produce andthose criteria arereference points forassessing student work.

Engagement

Most students, most of the time,are seriously engaged in thelesson or assessment activity,rather than going through themotions. Students displaysustained interest and attention.

Not necessarilyobservable in writtentasks, but may beobservable inperformance-based tasksas it would be in theclassroom.

Highexpectations

High expectations of all studentsare communicated, andconceptual risk taking isencouraged and rewarded.

Tasks demonstrate thathigh expectations areexpected of all studentsand conceptual risktaking is encouraged andrewarded.

Social support

There is strong positive supportfor learning and mutual respectamong teachers and students andothers assisting students’learning. The classroom is free ofnegative personal comment orput-downs.

Not readily observable inwritten tasks, but maybe observable inperformance-based tasksas it would be in theclassroom.

Students’self-regulation

Students demonstrate autonomyand initiative so that minimalattention to the disciplining andregulation of student behaviour isrequired.

Not readily observable inmost tasks. Observablein tasks which arestructured to promotestudent self-regulation.

Studentdirection

Students exercise some directionover the selection of activitiesrelated to their learning and themeans and manner by whichthese activities will be done.

Tasks are designed sothat students exercisesome direction over theselection of activitiesrelated to their learningand the means andmanner by which thesetasks will be done.


SignificanceTo achieve high quality learning outcomes for each student,students need to see why, and to understand that, theirlearning matters. The significance of students’ learning lies inthe connections between and among the student as anindividual and social being, the nature of the work at hand,and the contexts in which such work matters.

To make these connections clear, teachers can link lessonsto: the prior knowledge from which students work; thesocial, demographic and cultural backgrounds of students,families and the local community; the future contexts inwhich school learning would be applied; and the differingfields of knowledge with which teachers and studentsinteract. To build effective connections teachers will need towork from a combination of their knowledge of the specificsubject matter they are teaching and their knowledge of thecognitive, social and cultural backgrounds of their students.

Ways in which teachers can develop their professionalknowledge and practices related to significance include:talking with colleagues and sharing student work samples tobetter understand the continuum of staged outcomes insyllabuses; seeking feedback from students and parents;negotiating learning activities with their students;communicating with colleagues, parents and communitymembers about students and the local community; accessingcurrent research and participating in professional readingand associations.


… students need tosee why, and tounderstand that,their learningmatters.

… teachers candevelop theirprofessionalknowledge andpractices related tosignificance …

Discussion paper 15


What does it look like inassessment tasks?

Backgroundknowledge

Lessons regularly andexplicitly build from students’background knowledge, interms of prior schoolknowledge as well as otheraspects of their personal lives.

Tasks explicitly build fromstudents’ backgroundknowledge and requirestudents to demonstratelinks between old and newknowledge.

Culturalknowledge

Lessons regularly incorporatethe cultural knowledge ofdiverse social groupings (suchas economic class, gender,ethnicity, race, sexuality,disability, language andreligion).

Tasks incorporate thecultural knowledge ofdiverse social groupings.

Knowledgeintegration

Lessons regularlydemonstrate links betweenand within subjects and keylearning areas.

Tasks require students tobuild from an understandingof the links between andwithin subjects and keylearning areas.

Inclusivity

Lessons include and publiclyvalue the participation of allstudents across the social andcultural backgroundsrepresented in the classroom.

Tasks require theparticipation of all studentsacross the social andcultural backgroundsrepresented in theclassroom.

Connectedness

Lesson activities rely on theapplication of schoolknowledge in real-lifecontexts or problems, andprovide opportunities forstudents to share their workwith audiences beyond theclassroom and school.

Tasks apply schoolknowledge in real-lifecontexts or problems, andprovide opportunities forstudents to share their workwith audiences beyond theclassroom and school.

Narrative

Lessons employ narrativeaccounts as either (or both) aprocess or content of lessonsto enrich studentunderstanding.

Tasks employ narrativeaccounts as either (or both)a process or content of thetask to enrich studentunderstanding.


ReferencesAyers, P., Dinham, S. & Sawyer, W. (1998) Successful

Teaching in the NSW Higher School Certificate. NSWDepartment of Education and Training, Sydney.

Commonwealth of Australia. (2001) Pedagogy for thefuture. Canberra.

Education Queensland: Productive Pedagogies.

http://www.education.qld.gov.au/tal/pedagogy.html

Newmann, F. & Associates (1996) AuthenticAchievement: Restructuring Schools for IntellectualQuality. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

NSW Department of Education and Training. (1997)Quality Teaching Quality Learning. Sydney.

NSW Department of Education and Training. (2001)School Map: Best Practice Statements 2001. Sydney.

Ramsey, G. (2000) Quality Matters RevitalisingTeaching: Critical times, critical choices, Report ofthe Review of Teacher Education, New South Wales,NSW Department of Education and Training, Sydney.

The State of Queensland (Department of Education)(2001) The Queensland School Reform LongitudinalStudy Final Report (QSRLS). Education Queensland,Brisbane.

Vinson, T. (2002) Inquiry into the Provision of PublicEducation in NSW. NSW Teachers Federation &Federation of P&C Associations of NSW, Sydney.

For more details of the research literature relevant to themodel of pedagogy described in this paper refer to Qualityteaching in NSW public schools: An annotated bibliography(2003).

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