Quality Teaching – The Need for a Common Framework

Prof. John Stannard CBE FRSAPrincipal Consultant CfBT Education Trust

National Strategic PlanMinistry of Education committed to providing:

‘Quality education... of international standard, which fosters valuable and marketable skills and encourages a life-long learning orientation that will contribute to a harmonious and politically stable society...in which our students’ learning attainments are comparable with international standards.’

Strategic Plan 2007-11 (p5)

Factors affecting standardsNon-school factors• parents

– opportunity, experience, attitudes • peer group

– belonging, conforming, roles and relationships• system factors:

– national curricula– testing and assessment policies– too much pressure with too little support– professional culture resistant to change

Factors affecting standardsSchool Factors:• Some schools have major impact despite socio-

economic factors• Individual school performance can vary widely• Weaker schools can improve rapidly and significantly• Challenge of moving up from adequate to good • Homogeneous school performance is more often a

sign of system-wide weakness than strength

Sustained school improvement mainly due to:

• School culture and climate – behaviour, expectations, relationships, ground rules

• Quality of leadership: – promoting the vision for staff, pupils and parents– monitoring and tracking at every level to identify

and respond to weaknesses– clear and supportive performance management to

assure quality • Persistent focus on improving teaching quality with

common policy for all.

E X A M P L EB r u n e i: 2 0 0 6 E n g lis h G C E C R E D IT S :

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19 9 6 1 9 9 7 1 9 9 8 1 9 9 9 2 0 0 0 2 0 01 2 0 02 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 0 7 2 0 0 8 2 00 9

Y e a r s

No

of C

red

it s

tudents

C u r re n t N u m b e rs Im p ro ve m e n t Tre n d P r oj e c te d T r e nd

Sustaining improvement• Last year’s improvement mainly due to:

– effects of sharper focus– external support for students.

• May be a further year’s improvement from these effects

• Improvements in teaching quality are the key• Some system improvements may also be needed• Value of agreed principles and practices – a Common

Framework for teaching and learning

A Common Framework for learning and teaching• A practical policy with clear, observable criteria to

underpin quality and improvement• Can be applied to all subjects, not just English• Commitment from teaching community e.g. at national.

subject, school, department levels• Foundation for professional development• Criteria for assessing quality of learning and teaching• Aligned with aims and principles in MoE Strategic

Plan.

 

  SUCCESSFUL LEARNING??

SUCCESSFUL TEACHING??

successful teaching

grounded in successful

learning

What do successful learners do?

What successful learners do

They:– achieve– learn actively– progress towards increasing independence– work collaboratively– have positive learning attitudes.

 

  SUCCESSFUL LEARNING

SUCCESSFUL TEACHING??

SUCCESS AND

ACHIEVEMENT

ACTIVESTRATEGIC REFLECTIVE

COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

INCREASING

AUTONOMY

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

SA COMMON

FRAMEWORK

IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHING

Two prerequisites:• Expert subject and curricular knowledge• Detailed knowledge of individual students –

achievement, progress and learning needs

Five characteristics of effective teaching

1. Assessment for learning

2. Interactive teaching strategies

3. Teaching active learning strategies

4. Class management: practical ground rules for behaviour and learning

5. Effective planning and lesson structure.

1. Assessment for learning• objectives/targets for every student• diagnostic teaching - assessment integrated in the

teaching process• systematic and frequent individual pupil tracking• rapid response to needs and problems, at the point of

learning• involving students in assessment of their own

progress• promoting confidence and success for every pupil.

2. Interactive teaching• differentiation to include all students• building on students’ contributions• promoting language production – speaking and writing:• moving students from informal (context-bound) to more

formal (context-free) uses of language• ‘scaffolding’ new learning• responding constructively to misconceptions• making time to think and to work in depth.

3. Teaching active learning strategies:

• planning, monitoring, checking and self correcting• information retrieval, • investigation and problem-solving, • uses of imagination, play and exploration• hypothesising and testing• inference

4. Classroom managementCommon ground rules and established routines for:– behaviour– class and group discussion– what to do if stuck or when finished– routines – getting attention, noise levels,

transitions– resources – organisation and access– management of time in lessons.

5. Planning and lesson structure

Lessons with:• realistic, observable learning objectives• managed progression from directed to independent

work• focussed group work for collaboration and teaching• plenaries for reflection and self-evaluation• well planned organisation and resources.

 

 SUCCESSFUL LEARNING

SUCCESSFUL TEACHING

SUCCESS AND

ACHIEVEMENT

ACTIVE LEARNING COLLABORATIV

E LEARNING

INCREASING

AUTONOMY

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

S

PLANNING & LESSON

STRUCTUREINTERACTIVE TEACHING

TEACHING ACTIVE

LEARNING STRATEGIES

ASSESSMENT FOR

LEARNING

CLASSROOM MANAGEMEN

T

A COMMON FRAMEWORK

Evidence from teacher observationmain strengths to build on:• lesson planning• classroom management• use of resources• subject knowledge• teachers’ general rapport with class.

Evidence from teacher observationareas for improvement• differentiation and inclusion• student involvement• students’ progress in lessons• promoting students’ use of English• fostering independence.

CfBT Commitments• Work with teachers to develop a common

framework for learning and teaching• Focus on effectiveness i.e. quality of learning• Increase emphasis on school-based, on-the-job,

support: – sharing and demonstration – mentoring– problem-solving– resource development – action research in the classroom

• Strengthen partnership with local teachers to sustain improvement.

A Framework for Learning and Teaching