AHDS Conference November 2014 - Keynote by Alistair Smith

AHDSNovember 2014

Learning Together: focusing on what matters most

“You just kinda dae stuff…”

AHDSNovember 2014

Learning Together: focusing on what matters most

“If I had to reduce all of educational psychology to just one principle, the most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows...”

David Ausubel, 1968 

1.Connect

4. Consolidate 2. Activate

3. Demonstrate

Content – this is what we will learnWe will learn more about effective learning and teaching, about staff development, what works in classrooms and how we can lead learningProcess – this is how we will learnWe will learn through formal input, discussion and reflection, practical experience and transferBenefits – this is why we will learnWe will be able to use our new ideas and insights to further improve our professional practice

Where would you take me?What would you tell me?

Own your own story

Culture is different to climate: culture shapes the everyday preoccupations and determines the limits of possibility; climate is the emotional state which prevails as this occurs

CulturePoor schools talk about Coping andAdministering 

Good schools talk about Teachers and about Teaching 

Great schools talk about Learners andabout Learning

World Class schools talk about Re‐inventing

What are the everyday preoccupations? Do they work to your advantage?Shift the everyday preoccupations and secure exceptional gains 

Environment

Environment

Environment

Environment

Environment

Environment

Environment

Environment

Environment

Modelling

Modelling

Modelling

Modelling

Each space within the school provides an opportunity to reinforce what you value about the experience of learning and the behaviours of learners

Great Learner BehavioursNoticingExplaining things Asking good questionsLearning something new Practising hard till you get it rightThinking carefullyListening carefullyTrying different ways of doing thingsBeing a learning friend who helps others learnMaking someone else happyBecoming better at sharingReading every day

Challenge the casual assumptions which kill aspiration

‘It won’t work with our children…’‘We already do that…’‘My staff aren’t ready for this…’‘We are winding down for …’‘Our staff are already working flat out…’‘I’d love to do that but…’‘Our members…’

Social CapitalAdvance systems rely more and more on peers as their source of innovation and deep improvement.How the World’s Most Improved School Systems Keep Getting Better, McKinsey and Company, 2012

The most abused educational research finding these days is this: “the  quality of the teacher is the single most important determinant in the learning of the student” …  Success in any innovation is determined by the degree of Social Capital in the culture of your own school.Professional Capital, Transforming Teaching in Every School, Hargreaves and Fullan, 2014

Social CapitalBehaviour is shaped more by groups much more than by individuals. Cohesive groups with less individual talent often outperform groups with superstars who don’t work as a team.  

Professional development does not have much impact on student learning when it relies on individual learning and does not focus on follow‐through support for teams of teachers to learn together. Success in any innovation is determined by the degree of social capital in the culture of your own school.

Professional Capital, Transforming Teaching in Every School, Hargreaves and Fullan, 2014

Agree and Align what ImpactsShared Planning of Learning Episodes

(You Plan, We Practice, I Teach)

Peer Observation Trios

Coaching and Live Coaching

Focused Learning Walks

Learning Improvement Group(s)

Embedding Agenda Items

Solution Space and Briefing Butterflies

Needs and Offers

Classroom Tours

Define and Enshrine what Works

“Focus relentlessly on what matters most – learners and learning”

Core Purpose

Clarity

Coherence

Consistency

Community

and put it to the test

Fitness testFind what, for you, fits your context

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Prairie Schools

Precipice Schools

Valley Schools*  *  *

Slope Schools

Summit Schools

Pass the fitness test• Is it right for you? Is it right for your 

school? Your learners?• Is there someone with whom you can 

share it and test it?• Will it improve learning? • Is the improvement in learning 

significant?• Will it still be improving learning in 

three years time?

Core Purpose

Clarity

Coherence

Consistency

Community

focusing on what matters most

and make it your own

Authenticity testFind what, for you, feels authentic and real

Pass the Authenticity Test• Judgments about authenticity and ‘impact’ are too subjective 

• Observers are often ‘seduced’ by the elements and do not see the whole. We are ‘unduly optimistic about our powers of observation’ (Coe 2014) 

• Too often we focus on ‘proxies’ for Learning (Coe 2014) 

• We are heavily influenced by the judgments of others around us (Milgram 1969)

Which recent educational ideas could your school track?• Drafting and Re‐drafting based on peer feedback ‐ Ron Berger• Interleaving and Desirable Difficulties ‐ Robert Bjork• Applications of neuroscience – Sarah Jayne Blakemore• Highly structured lesson observation – Robert Coe• Metacognition and Learning to Learn ‐ Guy Claxton• Nurturing  Growth Mindsets ‐ Carol Dweck• Developing Social Capital – Hargreaves and Fullan• Evidence Based Interventions ‐ John Hattie• Co‐Operative Learning – Spencer Kagan• Peer Influence in Classrooms ‐ Graham Nuthall• Purposeful Formative Assessment ‐ Dylan William• Applying Cognitive Science ‐ Daniel Willingham• SOLO taxonomy and Constructive Alignment – John Biggs

intentionalityfocusing on what matters most

Intentionality testFind deliberation and purpose in what youchoose to do

Which individual, amongst your colleagues, would you consider to be the ‘best’ teacher and why?

• Is confident in the content to be taught

• Is confident in how the content taught will be assessed

• Knows the existing and target Performance Levels of  all individuals within the class

• Knows which students have special or particular needs 

• Knows or has accessed the reading ages of the class

• Has adapted or differentiated the lesson to suit needs of all in the class

• Has a lesson plan in some form and has prepared in advance of the lesson

• Engages the class from the outset

• Accesses what class already knows or can do

• Shares the learning outcomes and refers to them throughout 

• Provides  or directs to key information 

• Asks compelling questions

• Invites contributions and ideas

• Checks for understanding 

• Provides specific feedback with time to improve 

• Reviews progress regularly  

Pass the Intentionality Test• Is your design of learning and the lessons which deliver learning based on an understanding of learner need?

• Is the process of design, or the thinking which shapes that process, deliberate?

• Do you ‘own’ the process of design and the thinking which shapes that process?

• Is there flexibility in your professional approach?

interventionfocusing on what matters most

£25,000£5,000£250£50

Intervention Impact 1. High Teacher Expectations High Medium Low

2. Purposeful Intensity High Medium Low

3. Improvement Feedback and Marking High Medium Low

4. Peer Tutoring and Collaboration High Medium Low

5. Sharing and Revisiting Learning Outcomes High Medium Low

6. Interactive Learning Environment High Medium Low

7. Metacognition High Medium Low

8. Spaced Rehearsal and Review High Medium Low

9. Teacher Subject Knowledge High Medium Low

10. Reduced Group Size High Medium Low

11. Improving Pupil Questioning High Medium Low

12. Growth Mindset in Pupils High Medium Low

Influence Impact 1. Growth Mindset in Pupils High

2. High Teacher Expectation High

3. Improvement Feedback and Marking High

4. Metacognition High

5. Spaced Rehearsal and Review High

6. Sharing and Revisiting Learning Outcomes High

7. Peer Tutoring and Collaboration High

8. Interactive Learning Environment Medium

9. Purposeful Intensity Medium

10. Improving Pupil Questioning Medium

11. Teacher Subject Knowledge Low

12. Reduced Group Size Low

Impact vs cost

Cost per pupil

Effe

ct S

ize

(mon

ths

gain

)

£00

8

£1000

Meta‐cognitive

Peer tutoringEarly Years1‐1 tuitionHomework 

(Secondary)

Teaching assistants

Mentoring

Summer schools After 

school

AspirationsPerformance pay

Smaller classes

Setting

Most promising for raising attainment

May be worth it

Small effects / high cost

Feedback

Phonics

Homework (Primary)

CollaborativeSmall gptuition Parental 

involvementIndividualised 

learning

ICT

Behaviour

Social

www.educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/toolkit

The classroom interventions which I  think have most impact…

• Accessing Prior Knowledge and Utilising Prediction

• Authentic Engagement

• Reinforcing and modelling High Expectations 

• Differentiated Challenge 

• Enquiry and High Quality Questioning 

• Finding Excellent Solutions or Products

• Metacognition 

• Land‐Marking Progress against agreed Outcomes

• Purposeful Assessment and Feedback

• Pragmatic Rehearsal, Consolidation and Transfer  

AHDSNovember 2014

Learning Together: focusing on what matters most

Learning Together: Focusing on What Matters Most

twitter: alataliteal@alistairsmithlearning.comwww.alistairsmithlearning.com