'Learning is a messy business. Children do
not learn in easy linear steps' -
Sir Ron Dearing, 1992
"The best kind of teacher is one who helps you to do
what you couldn't do for yourself but doesn't do it for you."
Child, aged8, quoted in Teaching Children to Think by
Robert Fisher, 1990.
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Given our key principles, what should we expect to see and hear in our schools and learning centres?
People
Where learning and teaching is very good, all partners work together to apply key principles. But teachers have a pivotal role. Over the last fifty years, young people’s ideas about good teachers have been surprisingly consistent. Unsurprisingly, these ideas tend to focus on personal qualities and how teachers treat
learners. Some good the qualities of good teachers identified in Learning and Teaching Scotland’s
Direct Interactive Teaching are:
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Aspirational:
genuinely believe that the learner can succeed
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Assertive:
decisive and confident but firm and fair |
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Encouraging:
positive and supportive, welcoming genuine error as an opportunity to
learn |
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Enthusiastic:
believe in the value of learning, in what they are teaching, and
enjoy the job |
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Humorous: show
humour naturally and put the learner at ease
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Open: prepared to
challenge their own thinking and admit they may be wrong or do not
know |
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Respectful: genuinely like
young people, care about them, listen to them, enjoy their company and
do not use sarcasm or humiliation
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Learning Environments
The very good teacher will possess these personal qualities and will apply them to create learning environments characterised by the following:
Planning which:
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is concise |
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takes account of prior learning and preferred learning styles |
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affords challenge and opportunities for all to learn at an appropriate
pace |
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specifies what learners are expected to learn and how/when learning is to be
undertaken |
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makes best use of available
resources |
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builds in flexibility to take account of the reality of the learning environment and the needs of individual learners |
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links class-work and homework |
Teaching approaches which:
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engage and
stimulate the learner |
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allow for
regular review of progress toward learning outcomes |
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are varied to
match learning needs and preferred styles of learning |
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maximise
opportunities to work directly with learners in whole class, group
and individual situations |
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embed ICT in the
learning process |
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promote positive
social interaction |
Teacher-learner interactions
which are marked by:
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sharing the
purpose of lessons and reviewing prior learning |
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clear and
appropriately pitched explanations, expositions and instructions |
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discussions
which promote learning and build confidence, giving learners
opportunities to express their thinking and use their initiative |
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the effective
use of praise and the encouragement and valuing of all contributions |
Questioning which:
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is skilful and excites the curiosity of the learner |
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allows time for thought |
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involves all learners |
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ascertains where learning went wrong if weaknesses are apparent
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values all genuine responses and exploits them to promote further
understanding |
Learners
who:
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do not fear failure |
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become increasingly aware of how they learn |
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take responsibility for and are active in managing
their own learning
often set their own targets |
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adopt a collaborative approach |
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are confident about expressing their thinking and
listen to and respect others’ ideas |
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review their own and their peers’ progress and have a
very good idea about improvement |
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exploit skilfully the opportunities afforded by ICT to
extend their knowledge and skills
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Assessment
which:
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is well matched to clearly identified purposes and encourages learners |
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emphasises the formative, celebrating what has been achieved and
identifying what has still to be achieved to progress |
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is an appropriate blend of self, peer and teacher review |
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provides useful information which is regularly shared with learners, and
where appropriate, parents / carers and partner professionals |
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is formal (tests/exams...) and informal (’taking another look’/peer
review... ) |
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is recorded only where practicable and where there is a clear
educational need.
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“ What
happens in the classroom determines the quality of a school...
Young people deserve teachers who have the confidence to learn and to
improve, just as teachers deserve schools which help them to learn and
improve. Our society needs teachers who are clear, confident and proud
about what they are doing and can explain why…
Reflecting on practice can help teachers to establish what they believe
to be right, and to be able to articulate it. It can also help them to
challenge their own thinking and to admit that sometimes they may be
wrong and others may be right.”
Teaching
for Effective Learning, SCCC, 1996
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Teaching for Effective Learning, SCCC,1996
"They [young people] are critical of teachers who are
'strict for themselves', meaning strictness for its own sake...They are
critical of situations where what teachers expect of them is not
consistent with the way teachers behave towards them on a regular
basis..."
"Young people usually put an emphasis on 'soft'
interpersonal qualities... They balance this with stressing the importance
of 'strong' qualities such as having high expectations and challenging
young people to do better..."
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