Month: September 2018

Hattie identifies the following as being indicators of effective teaching:

1. learning intentions
2. success criteria
3. feedback
4. directive teaching methods

I think that I manage 1, 2 and 3 pretty well. I have very high expectations, I share learning intentions and success criteria and I try to work as much time for feedback into lessons as possible. For number 4 I decided to look at Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction which is considered one of the best summaries of effective direct teaching methods. He identifies the following as things that the most effective teachers do:

• Begin each lesson with a review of previous learning
• Present new material in small steps, with practice after each step
• Ask lots of questions and check the understanding of all students
• Provide models
• Guide student practice
• Check for student understanding
• Obtain a high success rate
• Provide scaffolds for difficult tasks
• Require and monitor independent practice
• Engage students in weekly and monthly review

For me I feel I am strong on most of these points but one area I feel could use improvement is the idea of a weekly/monthly review and the related area of reviewing previous learning. Whilst I often start a lesson with a review of the previous lesson I don’t ask for recall of previous topics. The idea of interleaved practice is one that I know has promise but have never really incorporated into my practice. I think this may well be a way to improve things for my pupils, as I do notice a tendency for them to think ‘oh I’ve finished that topic’ and forget much of what they have learned, giving them much more to do when it comes to revision. I am hopeful that incorporating regular reviews of previous topics will help student’s recall and ultimately their performance.

In what ways are my present practices inclusive and in what ways could these be improved?

I am quite lucky in that a lot of the issues around inclusion that I feel passionate about; equity, supporting those with learning support needs, are not big issues in the school that I work in. So instead I am going to focus on something that I have spent quite some time trying to deal with – the lack, or rather the perceived lack – of female students studying physics.

Here I am up against some pretty strong societal currents. It is still seen as an “odd choice” (a direct quote from one of my AH pupils). There is still a perception that biology is the science for women, physics being a man’s domain.

When I first started teaching at my current school there was virtually zero uptake of physics by female students. I’m pleased to say that now things are starting to move the right way. Being a small school individuals stand out. I can point to the fact that we have more female ex-pupils studying physics at university than we do male ones. Or that our highest achiever at National 5 in 2018 was female. Or that the entire Advanced Higher class this year is female. This helps students lower down the school see concrete examples of physics being inclusive. A year or so ago I decided to go one step further and I now spend a section of every S1’s first physics lesson showing important physicists who are not the stereotypical straight white male. That presentation also makes the basis of one of my permanent displays in the lab. It boldly proclaims, for all to see, that Physics is for Everyone. Throughout my practice I try to emphasise that core value.

You can find out more about the gender balance in school physics on the Institute of Physics’ website and/or check out @IoPDiversity on Twitter.