Alex Quigley's Blog, page 8

8 Reasons Why Learning Fails

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” Henry Ford

We can all be quick to celebrate our successes, but we can possess a natural reluctance to share or talk about failure. And yet, given how complex teaching and learning in the classroom proves, it becomes a necessity that teachers learn from failure and respond intelligently to ensure that they secure success.

Instead of assuming that failure is bad, or caused by blameworthy personal attributes, we need to recognise that failure is a natural occurrence that attends all new learning, particularly when undertaking tasks at the edge of our competence. 

Failure is ever-present when we learn because our brain is brilliant but, ultimately, unreliable. If we can better anticipate such failures, we can teach with greater likelihood of success.

 In my new book, I have defined eight common reasons for failure: 

Learning failure #1 The narrow limits of working memory 

You when that word is on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t recall it? Or when you teach a concept Monday, but by Wednesday it is like it never happened? These are the limits of working memory playing out in daily l learning failures in every classroom. Working memory is essential for new learning and particularly pupils dealing with complex tasks, so it gets a near constant workout. There isn’t an app for expanding your working memory! Instead, teachers need to grapple with storytelling, curriculum sequencing, ‘chunking’, and more.

Learning failure #2 Patchy prior knowledge 

Prior knowledge underpins all successful learning, but pupils’ patchy prior knowledge also bedevils attempts at coherent curriculum design and trips up the best planned teaching. We need to aid pupils to build their knowledge and monitor their comprehension as they read. Worked examples, quality talk, graphic organisers, along with other approaches to effective teaching can help increase the changes of learning success.

Learning failure #3 The nagging nature of misconceptions 

Misconceptions about the world are a constant cause of small learning behaviours. From notions of blue blood in science, to flagrant falsehoods that attend historical figures, pupils – and their teachers – have to manage in a minefield of potential misconceptions. There is no easy, quick fix, but attention to questioning, prediction-making, and crafted repetition can help make a difference. 

Learning failure #4 A curious case of overconfidence 

Confidence is good, right? Well, the social confidence for pupils to speak in front of their peers, or on the stage in the school play is great, but overconfidence in our knowledge or ideas can prove a problem. A failure to judge one’s own learning can lead to poor choices around class learning, homework, revision, and more. We need to help pupils to better judge their learning, and to fend off the failures of overestimation and overconfidence. With confidence tests, delayed judgements, and other strategies, we can help recalibrate confidence and fend of failure.

Learning failure #5 Faulty planning strategies 

We can all fall for the ‘planning fallacy’ – assuming we have more time and capacity than we have, but pupils can be particularly prone to poor planning. Youngsters and teens alike simply don’t plan in the ways we’d hope without ample scaffolding and a range of carefully chosen teaching and learning strategies. There are planning strategies, checklists, and more that can help, when supported with cumulative practice to scaffold independence.  

Learning failure #6 An inability to learn independently 

Independence – the pot of gold at the end of the learning rainbow! Everyone in education talks about needing it – bemoans its absence and failures – but there are fewer confident plans to develop it for all our pupils. Whether it is working on an online maths app, or practising a musical instrument, independent learning needs substantial teaching to happen. Paradoxically, offering more independent does not equate to better independent learning. The run up to exams – every year, ever – is a testament to this challenge. We can ‘name’, ‘frame’ and sustain’ independent learning strategies and craft a timely shift of responsibility over to learners – but this stuff is hard, and prone to fail. 

Learning failure #7 Wandering attention and miserly mental effort 

In an age of social media and slick short videos, how can we stave off wandering attention and miserly mental effort? By better understanding split attention, the habit of mind wandering, and attentional bias, we can better craft teaching and learning so that pupils can sustain their mental efforts. Again, an explicit approach can translate failure to success, from switching attention, stimulating interest and ‘cued remembering’ can help. 

Learning failure #8 Falling motivation in the face of failure

All this talk of learning failure reminds us that a lot of classroom experiences can drain our pupils of all their motivation. We just need to consider a pupil whose daily experience is to struggle to read words from the page of a textbook to consider the vital importance of sustaining motivation. Pupils can be nudged from sour grapes to pursuing success with targeted approaches goal-setting, ‘If…then…’ strategies, and much more.                                         

Find out much more about the problems and solutions that can attend learning failure in my new book, ‘Why Learning Fails (And What to Do About It)’, is published on the 8th May

Sign up to my blog for new FREE resources on 'Why Learning Fails'.

Order from Amazon now HERE

Order from Routledge now HERE. 

 

 

Why Learning Fails - Publication Day

It is a truth universally acknowledged – and bemoaned – that pupils do not learn all that they are taught. They may learn something. They may even learn a lot. But it may not be a lot of what we think we have taught them.

If you multiply these learning failures thirty times in the classroom, then you capture the near-infinite challenge – and the unpredictable brilliance – of learning and teaching. The reasons for these learning failures are complex and multifaceted, but if we can better understand why they occur, then we can do a better job of addressing them. When we can more accurately diagnose when learning is likely to fail, we can adapt our teaching with a greater likelihood of success.

My book draws upon an array of practical examples and research evidence to tackle eight of the most common reasons why learning fails:

1 The narrow limits of working memory

2 Patchy prior knowledge

3 The nagging nature of misconceptions

4 A curious case of overconfidence

5 Faulty planning strategies

6 An inability to learn independently

7 Wandering attention and miserly mental effort

8 Falling motivation in the face of failure.

The book is written for busy teachers and leaders looking to develop teaching and learning.

You can order from Amazon now HERE

Or order direct from Routledge now HERE. 

In the coming days, I am going to add free resources to run alongside the book, so sign up to my website for free access.

Improving Independent Learning

Every teacher can share ample examples of their students struggling to learn independently. From giving up during an extended piece of writing, to getting stuck and stopping with tricky algebra problems, or forgetting homework and avoiding revision. 

 A lack of independence is a commonplace issue in education, but less common is an agreed way forward to best address the issue of inadequate independent learning or ‘learned helplessness’. 

One issue is that every teacher can have a different idea about independent learning, how to develop it, and what it should look like in their phase or subject. If we can better define the concept – as well as developing a clear mental for model for why it typically goes wrong and fails – we make a key first step to achieving teaching and learning success. 

From ‘learned helplessness’ to ‘learned industriousness’

A phase I particularly like, that adds specificity to the concept of independent learning, is what Barbara Oakley described as ‘learned industriousness’. Why do I particularly like this phrase? For one, it challenges the misconception about the innateness of effective independent learning. Even for the pupils who appear most helpless, a sustained approach to teaching strategies to develop independence is workable. With high quality teaching, it can be learned by anyone.

Why are some pupils more seemingly inclined to ‘learned industriousness’? The answers are unsurprising. Teaching, modelling, and practice are key. For pupils who have ‘learned industriousness’ modelled and reinforced outside of the classroom environment, there are likely to be clear gains for classroom tasks over time. 

In my new book, ‘Why Learning Fails (And What To Do About It)’, I explore pupils inability to consistently undertake independent learning strategies. A related resource – see below – shares some of the strategies outlined in the book: 

 ‘Independent Learning Strategies’ 

A list of strategy is no quick-fix to what are complex challenges of course. Many of these approaches have been shared with best intent, but little has changed. For me, it is crucial that we name such strategies, and then 'frame' them with clear action-steps and subject and phases examples. Too often, pupils try them once, don't quite understand how to enact them well, so drop the strategy and carry on regardless. 

Naming, framing and sustaining

The key issue of mastery of such strategies to the (hard-won) point where they are a habit. The 'sustaining' phase of such strategy instruction is key. What does this transfer of responsibility from teaching the strategy to independent application include? Again, unsurprisingly, repetition matters - but, crucially, without sustained feedback and practice of varying the approach in different contexts, it might not stick as a strategy. 

For example, using graphic organisers to 'organise and transform your knowledge' includes lots of choices between different models of organiser (Fishbone diagrams for cause>effect; Venn diagrams for comparison etc), when to use them, for how long, and more. Pupils need worked examples, including some variation of style and use, so that pupils start to recognise the underlying features of the organiser. 

'Naming', carefully 'framing', and planning for 'sustaining' the use of these independently learning strategies is a strong start. It rejects the notion that learned helplessness is an acceptable expectation for any pupil and it promotes learned industriousness in concrete and specific fashion. 

If you are interested in learning more about improving independent learning, you can grab a copy of my book. To access free resources – including the high-res copy of the ‘Independent Learning Strategies’ resource – simply sign up to my new website. 

Sign up to my blog for new FREE resources on 'Why Learning Fails'. 

Order from Amazon now HERE

Order from Routledge now HERE.

 

The 3Rs - Reading, writing, and research to be interested in #40

Adaptive Teaching: Scaffolds, Scale, Structure and Style

Adaptive teaching may be tricky to define, but we must define it well, and exemplify it, otherwise it will prove an empty buzzword. 

I’ve tried to characterise it into broadly two types of adaptations:

Microadaptations (Corno, 2008). Sensitive, moment-to-moment adaptations responding to pupils’ learning e.g. deploying flexible grouping in a history lesson to quickly reexplain how they might more effectively plan their essay on Scrooge.Significant adaptations. Pupils with a learning difficulty or disability may require significant adaptations and schools are required to ensure reasonable adjustments are made e.g., offering additional Teaching Assistant support with complex tasks. (these can be concurrently described as ‘reasonable adjustments’ when supporting pupils with SEND). 

It is helpful to have examples of adaptive teaching, but also to present ‘non-examples’ of what it isn’t too. This is where ‘differentiation’ comes in: the forerunner to the more recently popular adaptive teaching. In training I do on adaptive teaching, I call for more of it and less differentiation (or at least the dubious practices spread in its name):

In a brilliant recent blog, entitled ‘Adaptive teaching: The Four Verbs Approach’, Clare Sealy has done an excellent job in breaking down and exemplifying approaches that can be characterised as adaptive teaching. It is so useful because she defines some of the variables that teachers must consider when setting tasks that challenge all pupils. Sealy describes the following four principles for adaptive teaching by design: 

Having to think about more thingsThe intrinsic demands of the contentHow much external support for memory demands is providedHow much the learner knows.

Differentiation by task is one of the challenging areas that we need to leave behind. If we are setting simple tasks for struggling pupils, but complex tasks for high prior attainers, how are they ever meant to catch up. As Sealy describes, “being given different work [should] become rare rather than routine”. Instead, we can approach planning lesson tasks with the above principles and high expectations that every pupil can navigate the challenge with support. 

Scaffolds, Scale, Structure and Style

It is important, if we are trying to help teachers move on from differentiation, to be clear how tasks can be adapted whilst retaining the same challenging goal. The 4 Ss of ‘scaffolds, scale, and style’ could helpfully define adaptations of a core classroom task every pupil undertakes. 

Let’s take the common task of the self-portrait in art. Both in primary school, and particularly in many year 7 classes, working on a self-portrait is a common way to learn art. Of course, lots of pupils have varying starting points. Difficulty is relative. Some pupils who may struggle can begin with the scaffold of a tracing outline, or a basic template to start (scaffolds). Additionally, some pupils may increase the degree of challenge by increasing the scale of the portrait (scale). Equally, some pupils could take a more challenging style, such as using the medium of watercolour paint for their self-portrait (style). 

The above task alterations ensures that every pupil accesses the same challenging task. It also addresses Sealy’s verbs, or principles. Templates adjusts ‘external support for memory demands’, whereas a larger scale can increase the ‘intrinsic demand’ of the task. 

In English, narrative writing tasks can be adjusted to encompass ‘Scaffolds, scale, and style’. Pupils can be supported with planning frame, sentence starters, phrase banks, style prompts, and much more (scaffolds). The task can vary in length (scale), although pupils can naively mistake the notion that ‘shorter is easier’. Pupils can be given a specific narrative structure to follow, or be expected to make unique choices independent of any style models (structure). To adjust the degree of challenge, pupils may be prompted to imitate an author, reverse a style, or similar (style). 

Writing an evaluative essay in religious studies on attitudes to artificial contraception can equally be adapted with ‘scaffolds, scale, and style’ in mind. Pupils can be given an essay structure prompt (scaffolds) or choose to write with more independent planning. We can pose additional sentence signposts for them to use (scaffolds and structure), and so on. 

If we explicit with pupils, they can begin to make independent choices about adapting tasks. We can offer scaffolds and scale and style choices, making explicit to them the varying complexities of a given task. By using the 4 Ss explicitly it could encourage self-regulation and even a greater understand of curriculum tasks. Instead of the ‘Chilli challenge’ type approach, or ‘All/Most/Some’ some tasks, there is no race to the bottom of picking the easiest task. Instead, pupils choose the supports to scaffold them to the top. 

The 4 Ss model is unlikely to perfectly match every task in the school curriculum, but it may be a helpful heuristic so that teachers can move away from planning different tasks to instead adapt with greater confidence. 

…

Related Training: I am doing an ‘Adaptive Teaching Masterclass‘ for Teachology in Manchester, live and online, on Fri 24th May. Find out more HERE.

[Image via Creative Commons licence – Preply.com Images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/1943565...]

The 3Rs - Reading, writing, and research to be interested in #39

Adaptive Teaching: Scaffolds, Scale, Structure and Style

Adaptive teaching may be tricky to define, but we must define it well, and exemplify it, otherwise it will prove an empty buzzword.  I’ve tried to characterise it into broadly two types of adaptations: It is helpful to have examples of adaptive teaching, but also to present ‘non-examples’ of what it isn’t too. This is […]

The post Adaptive Teaching: Scaffolds, Scale, Structure and Style first appeared on The Confident Teacher.

Questions about oracy

Is oracy the next big thing? Are we destined for interminable arguments about it in the coming months or is there a healthy debate to be had about oracy? 

I have lots of questions. For me, as a former English teacher, it feels like oracy – or speaking and listening – is just part of the fabric of teaching and learning, but I recognise it can also prove totemic for how the latest trends can crash into the classrooms of busy teachers with too little time to understanding or careful application to practice. 

I have a few questions that I think should form part of a constructive debate about oracy:

What is the most useful definition for oracy? What are the most useful examples and non-examples of effective oracy practices? How might effective oracy practices in early years differ from effective practices in secondary science classrooms? What is the scope for oracy practices (‘book talk’, mathematical reasoning, debating, ‘cold calling’, active listening) in whole school policies?  What oracy practices best support the authentic communication demands of respective subject disciplines? How might oracy practices best fit with establishing and maintaining safe and secure classroom routines where every pupil can learn best? What are the most valid and reliable assessments for oracy skills? Should we focus attention on assessing oracy (if we make it a ‘target’ do we compromise efforts for effective teaching and learning)?  How do we avoid mistaking extroversion for excellence when we focus on oracy and communication?  What are the best support structures – time, training, and tools – for teachers to develop effective classroom talk routines? 

Whether you an oracy advocate or a sceptic, I think some of the above questions would benefit busy teachers and leaders to explore so we can fend off fuzzy, or even failed implementation. 

Some reflections from me:

We need to define oracy more precisely. Is it speaking and listening, ‘dialogic talk’, ‘exploratory talk’, ‘accountable talk’? There are lots of useful models for both theory and practice, but it can make things confusing for busy teachers who want clarity so they can calculate their classroom efforts. Teachers, and school needs, can best define and explain oracy through examples (it’s just good learning, right?). Too often, we can make assumptions about practice changes. This is tricky with oracy, as every teacher already does it – to varying degrees – so it is ripe for fuzzy understanding and very little meaningful change to classroom practices. Oracy is a prime area for early years. It is fundamental to developing communication. It is why so much effort goes into support practice. There are nuances to the parameters of talk when it comes to play in early years compared to teenagers reasoning over maths problems at GCSE. There is real value in lots of existing practices that could be described under the oracy umbrella. ‘Think-pair-share’, ‘cold calling’, debating, classroom discussion, or ‘book talk’ can all benefit learning. They need to be sharply defined (see points 1, 2 and 3!), scaffolded and supported, otherwise any whole school focus can quick devolve into a few tricks being displayed during annual lesson observations and not much more. As pupils progress through school, the academic demands of various disciplines become more demanding and specific. Vocabulary, reading and writing becomes highly specialised, and communication becomes reliant on rare knowledge and ways of working. This means we may need to resist formulaic whole school approaches, and instead respect approaches to communication and oracy that best fit the curriculum. Artful structured talk in one classroom can devolve into idle chatter in another. New teachers may not command the classroom and manage the nuances of excited pupils arguing about a topic. We need to ensure oracy supports pupils’ learning, whilst maintaining clear parameters of classroom control for teachers. We can ask: will it work with a really challenging class on a wet Friday afternoon in November?Assessment is tricky. I spent years assessing speaking and listening in English. It is time consuming. It was sometimes subjective, unreliable, and plain difficult. We should assess what we value, but we should tread carefully, ensuring any change to assessment is not subtly stacked against disadvantaged pupils, nor creates a new workload burden for teachers. Speaking and listening in English language was dropped as a natural measure. It was deemed unreliable and problematic. Whilst we retain high stakes national assessment, Goodhart’s Law still stands: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.” There are no easy answers to this one. We need to take care: oracy can be an area prone to bias towards extrovert pupils. There is a danger of fetishising the act – a presentation or a debate – and not the careful construction of knowledge and understanding of what is being performed. Judging by our current media, we already have enough overconfident speakers holding court when we’d be better off talking with quiet experts. Oracy…curriculum…AfL. These aspects of teaching and learning can be substantive or a passing trend. Good definitions, exemplification, and more will matter, but fundamentally, given everything we know about capacity right now – teachers need time, excellent professional development, tools, and resources. Don’t implement those support factors successfully and…well, you know the result, for supporters and sceptics alike. 

Questions about oracy

Is oracy the next big thing? Are we destined for interminable arguments about it in the coming months or is there a healthy debate to be had about oracy?  I have lots of questions. For me, as a former English teacher, it feels like oracy – or speaking and listening – is just part of […]

The post Questions about oracy first appeared on The Confident Teacher.

Supporting Exam Preparation: The Final Mile

Teachers in England spend hours marking pupils’ work and in the final mile run up to national exams teachers are often exhausted by their efforts. A key challenge appears to be how we ensure pupils work just as hard as their teachers and taking responsibility to manage their own learning.  Common issues I hear regularly […]

The post Supporting Exam Preparation: The Final Mile first appeared on The Confident Teacher.