Challenging Pupils’ Thinking
A St George's Group Key Target for 2013-14
The Boardroom, St George’s School, Malaga Friday December 13th
Tutor: Phil Whitehead, Chief Consultant, St George’s Group, Spain
Brief outline of the day:
Phil will facilitate the day with input from colleagues across the group. We will be looking at the different ways teachers challenge pupils’ thinking and how technology in learning can support teachers in resources for challenging thinking. This will lead to considerations of what we understand by learning, gauging challenge and the strategies teachers can employ to enhance independent learning.
The day will start with a learning walk visiting 3 different classes/phases, in small groups, focusing on the Group’s key annual development targets for learning.
This course is suitable for teachers from all phases
‘The issue of challenge needs to lie beneath all we do. I want us to look at planning for challenge, challenge through teachers´questioning, challenging children to think for themselves, and challenge through the system of delegated roles and responsibilities – senior and middle leaders- through robust appraisal of the work of their teams, and all teachers challenging students to raise achievement to the highest levels.’
James Shallcross, MBE, General Director, July 2013
8.30-9.00 Assemble in the Boardroom and coffee
9.00-9.30 – Welcome and introductions Prompt start please with a briefing on Learning Walks and forming groups for the classroom visits – please read the St George’s draft Guidelines for Learning Walks sent to you electronically with the programme and the information on the wiki – you may have to join but please persevere as many of your resources will be posted here:
Please see the wiki for uploaded docs for this course:
https://creative-educate.wikispaces.com/home - click the St George’s tab in the right pane
9.30-11.00 Learning Walks - in small groups of 3-4 colleagues please visit 3 classrooms according to the protocols discussed; hold a corridor discussion and complete the pro-formas provided. Gather at 10.30 to prepare your feedback to the whole group. Remember this is a non-judgemental activity designed to inform/gather information around a focus – our focus is to look for examples of challenging students’ thinking and independent learning – see Jim’s quote above (and to gather any examples of the Groups other key targets – using technology, and developing language skills in all subjects/classes)
11.00-11.30 Coffee and light refreshments
11.30-12.00 Feedback from each group to the whole group – there are several aspects of this short session – What did we find? What did we think of the approach? What might we do with the information gathered? This should lead naturally on to feedback and the nature of challenge – challenging ourselves and our students.
12.00-13.00 Participant-led session – I have seen, and heard of, examples of very good practice from each school around the Group. For this session, colleagues from each school will describe, briefly (10 mins each), the work they have been doing around thinking and challenge – thinking skills approaches, technology in learning to challenge thinking, challenging students through ‘high ceiling’ maths activities (see Ruth Laing’s session in Sevilla), challenging thinking through drama…Heads of School will be suggesting/nominating participants. We are particularly interested in the impact of your activity – what difference did it make to students and how do you know? You might want to team up with other colleagues from your school to present ideas for this session. Please let me know if there are resources you would like me to post on the wiki or distribute for this session.
13.00-13.15 Comfort break
13.15-14.30 The nature of Challenge – some old favourites from Vygotsky to Bloom. In order to understand challenge and through this differentiation, we really need to keep revisiting the whole business of learning. What is the difference between knowing and understanding? How do we know when our students have learned something – i.e. when they know it and more importantly when they understand it? How often are we working our students in the challenge zone? What do the students think about this? Phil will present ideas from UK schools, which have asked their students these kinds of tricky questions, and not always got the answers they might have hoped for!
14.30-15.00 Plenary - Reflection, review and personal/school group action planning
What will you feedback to your school? How will this day change your practice?
15.00-16.00 Lunch taken either in school or at a local restaurant
Colleagues will be able to share and discuss ideas and practice over a late lunch. Phil will be available to discuss any queries during lunch and for 1 to 1 discussions after lunch until 17.00.