July 2001
This month we bring you some thoughts on recent research in London and how it has been interpreted. There are some ideas for making learning stick, and some good news about the importance of sleep in the learning process. As usual, there's some fun stuff just to make you smile.
The future is female?
Alistair Smith has just completed his contribution to a BBC television programme which looks at how boys and girls learn. The programme, entitled The Future is Female, is part of the BBC's 4X4 Series. It goes out on the prime-time 7.30 evening slot on BBC 1 on July 23rd.
Alistair worked with John Williams of the UK high IQ organisation MENSA to devise and interpret tests which show differences in the performances of boys and girls. Alistair then went with presenter Sally Magnusson to Horsenden School in Ealing to oversee and comment on the tests. The tests looked at a number of different factors, including physical agility for six year olds, pattern discrimination and shape identification; there were also tests to do with predictions.
Expectation shapes performance
Research suggests that tests designed to challenge the top 10% of nine and 13 year olds could be used to spot bright youngsters in inner-city areas. The "world class tests" - designed by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and available on the internet from September - test a high-flying pupil's mathematical and problem solving ability.
Now researchers at the Able Children's Education Centre at Brunel University, Twickenham, have found a selection of children from a deprived area did better in problem-solving than their peers from "a leafy suburb".
Five nine-year-old pupils, from some of the worst-performing primary schools in Lambeth, south London, were chosen to sit the tests on the basis of their potential ability, rather than their performance in written tests.
"We had to rely on behavioural indicators, such as an ability to reason," co-director of the education centre, Dr Valsa Koshy said. The five scored 134 points, in comparison to the suburban pupils' 119 points.
"It's a remarkable finding, bearing in mind the type of children they are and being from inner city areas, they are not likely to be picked for anything," Dr Koshy said.
But they had such a high level of problem solving ability! "The innate ability must be there - a lack of teachers or opportunities will not irradiate talent," she said.
In the maths tests, though, the inner-city pupils did not score as well, trailing 50 points behind the suburban pupils' score of 157.
Dr Koshy believes bright pupils from deprived areas should not be selected and labelled by how they perform in traditional tests. "We need a way of identifying these pupils which does not rely only on closed tests in English and maths and problem solving could play a major role here.
"The problem solving parts of the world class tests should be used for the identification of bright children where they may not do so well in traditional tests. My initial hypothesis from that small selection is that the tests have a useful role to play in talent spotting - but more research is needed,"
Dr Koshy explained. Dr Koshy said she was encouraged by the research, but also felt guilty about the low expectations she had had of the pupils. "I thought they'd never do it. But I had to learn a lesson - that it was important to start with an open mind." The Able Children's Education Centre hopes to expand on the research carried out so far, to establish if a larger selection of children would produce similar results.
Alistair Smith commented that his team of consultants are out in schools and colleges throughout the year and are constantly pushing the view that expectation shapes performance. What Dr Koshy describes as 'astonishing' we would describe as part of the everyday experience of teachers working in the most challenging circumstances. What is astonishing is that it has taken so long for some leading educationalists to acknowledge that most tests we have inherited simply measure the ability to do well in similar tests. Change the test, change the outcome.
Making science stick
You've followed the accelerated learning cycle, ensuring you've connected the learning, given the big picture, and described the outcomes. Your next challenge is how to input the material so that it sticksƒ
The use of humour and whacky, out-of-the-ordinary approaches are two great ways to make the content of a lesson memorable. We love Suffering Scientists by Nick Arnold. This is a great book which uses humour to deliver sound content on astronomy, chemistry, biology and physics. The book was on the shortlist for the £10,000 Aventis prize for science books, awarded this year to Michael Allaby's Dorling Kindersley Guide to Weather. The shortlist included books on depression, jellyfish, quarks, genes, artificial life and a 19th Century Russian chemist - a fascinating collection of titles!
Your brain learns while you sleep
If you are looking forward to a rest over the summer holidays, here's some good news!
Scientists working in Britain and Belgium say they've discovered what appears to be one of the most important functions of sleep. They found that, during sleep, the parts of the human brain responsible for learning continue to process new information.
Volunteers were given new tasks to learn, while their brains were observed with an electronic scanner. When the same scanner was used after the volunteers had fallen asleep to examine their brain's use of glucose and oxygen, it found that the same areas were busily working to store the new techniques in the memory. The research may help to explain why lack of sleep makes it difficult to concentrate or learn new tasks. Interrupted sleep can cut across phases which are being used for learning and memory consolidation.
Just for fun!
Think you want to be a teacher? Take this test first.
Part Two: July 2001
1. Have a friend search the country to find dull museum related to obscure aspect of history with lots of hiding places. There must be no guide or attached interpretation centre or safe space for eating packed lunch. The friend must tell you 24 hours before that you must take two bus loads of 14 year olds for 5 hour period to said dull museum.
2. Go out into remote area. Shout at top of voice as long as possible. Once throat begins to hurt, stop and have half a cup of tea with powdered milk. Rush around holding tea for a bit before putting down and forgetting where you put it. Go back to shouting at top of voice and repeat.
3. Put chewing gum straight onto elbows of best jacket.
Think you want to be a parent? Take this test first.
Part Two: July 2001
1. Take crayons - the oil based variety - and break them. Put the broken bits down behind the chair covers and in your bed.
2. Go to a toy store and buy the most expensive educational toys. Play with the box for two hours.
3. Enter war zone as under-cover agent. Get caught. Experience bright lights shined into face at irregular intervals throughout the night. Have no sleep worth speaking of. Speak gibberish. Promise anything if allowed to go back to bed
Creative Writing, Creative Thinking workshops
When Steve Bowkett was thirteen, his French teacher sent him to the Naughty Corner and told him to 'do something constructive'. He started to write for his own amusement, and is now (although no longer residing in the Naughty Corner) a widely-published author of books for adults and children. Steve was a full-time classroom teacher for 18 years, and is passionate about brain-based learning and accelerated learning techniques. Alite is delighted to be able to offer his Creative Writing, Creative Thinking workshops to schools throughout the UK. Steve's workshops are inspiring and engaging, leaving children highly motivated to write their own stories and poems.