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Development
Are you the real McCoy yet?
David Spendlove
Or are you still a classroom faker? David Spendlove helps
you to develop a more convincing role with some hints from
the world of accelerated learning
One of the most talked-about television series of this
winter was Faking It, the show in which people were coached
and supported in passing themselves off as experts - whether
in cordon bleu cookery or selling cars.
The measure of the success for the fakers was whether
they could fool the experts - the most impressive being
a burger-bar cook who successfully faked being a top chef.
In many ways, this is analogous to teacher training and
the induction period, in both of which trainees and newly
qualified teachers (NQTs) are heavily supported and coached.
But the trouble with the Faking It approach is that when
the support systems are removed, the faker must adopt a
role without support.
Nowadays, NQTs have a right to induction, support and
training to meets the needs identified in their career
entry profile. But what then?
When do you know you've stopped faking it and become a
real teacher: one who adapts to a range of situations -
a reflective practitioner? A prerequisite for any teacher
is the ability to reflect and learn on his or her own as
support systems are gradually removed. At this point, the
most effective questions to ask yourself are these:
- I am teaching, but are all my pupils learning?
- Are all my pupils learning what I think I am teaching
them?
- Are all my pupils learning all the time or just some
of the time?
- Are all my pupils learning or just some of them?
- How do I know?
Teaching is a complex activity. I recently calculated
4 billion factors that influence pupil attainment. Gender,
teaching style, learning style, times of the day - all
add increasing complexity to getting teaching and learning
to match. Unfortunately, because of the sheer number of
variables there are bound to be casualties. Groups of children
simply don't learn - not because of a lack of ability,
but because their learning style may be incompatible with
the teaching style adopted. But learning casualties can
be reduced through appropriate planning, combined with
accelerated learning and teaching techniques. Planning
isn't just something you do on a training course - it's
an essential part of education. If you can anticipate what
pupils will learn, when and how they will learn and how
you will know they have learnt, you will have gone some
way towards being a reflective practitioner. Accelerated
learning techniques are in vogue just now, but they are
simply applying our knowledge of the brain and how children
learn. Importantly, this approach recognises that children
learn best when they are settled and if they are taught
in a variety of ways. David Spendlove is a senior lecturer
at Liverpool John Moores University REMEMBER TO MIX AND
MATCH Children learn in visual, aural and kinaesthetic
(physical) ways. The more you combine activities, the more
likely you are to hit on the way pupils learn best.
- Create the right atmosphere - positive statements,
lots of visual stimulus and a calm environment in which
pupils feel comfortable.
- Set baselines, not glass ceilings: "the very
least I expect isI" And celebrate genuine success.
- Recognise that pupils' dominant intelligence may be
something that cannot be measured by our often crude
examination system.
- What's in it for me? Pupils need to know why they
are doing something. An emotional connection will aid
learning.
- Break up activities into small, manageable chunks.
A 25-minute introduction followed by a 35-minute activity
may not necessarily be conducive to learning.
- Make sure your children are not faking it. Can they
apply what you've taught them - or just regurgitate it?
- You can apply for a Best Practice Research Scholarship
(from the Department for Education) to help you develop
and reflect more systematically on your practice.
- For further information on accelerated learning, read
the work of Alistair Smith.
David Spendlove
Times Educational Supplement
For the full text see www.tes.co.uk |
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