Module 1

A good teacher or teachers I have known

Whatever a teacher is teaching, they need to have a good understanding of what they
are trying to teach, but they also need to be able to gain the attention of and hold their
students’ interest if they want to maximize their learning. It may be that the good
teachers you have in mind were very knowledgeable about their subject and also very
enthusiastic about it, so that you could not help but be interested in what they were
teaching. Or it could be because they gave you time to ask questions or talk to others
and share ideas about how to solve a problem. Whatever you have listed, we can all
agree that a good teacher needs a range of attributes and skills that they can use in
.different combinations, depending on the situation and the students they are teaching

Early days

Being a teacher does give you a degree of power because you have a clearly defined
role and are seen as more expert than your students. But it is important that you use
that power wisely and try to gain the respect of your students by also respecting them
as learners. As young people, they have already had a wide range of life experiences
that have formed them into the people they are. It is very important that this
understanding drives all you do to enable all your students to have an equitable
experience and a quality education. To do this, you have to gain the students’ respect,
attention and interest, otherwise they will not become involved and will not reach
their potential. On a more negative note, they may even become bored and disruptive
and give you a different type of challenge as you will then have to deal with
disruptive behavior. Organizing the classroom as you wish may be easy or not
depending on the kind of classroom you have and whether your school works on a
double shift. If you are limited and unable to negotiate with the other teacher who
uses the same room, there are other ways you can work that will still involve students
more. For example, you might train your students to move the furniture quickly, or
you or they could make displays and charts that can be easily carried around or stuck
up on walls in the corridor. The way you present yourself and organize and work in
your classroom will set the tone and atmosphere of your lessons, so thinking about
this now is crucial, before you start planning actual lessons (which will be addressed
in the next Unit). Sharing your ideas about your successes and concerns with your
colleagues in school or other teachers participating in the NAT programme will help
you find strategies and systems that work for you and your students. As you start, it is
important not to change too many things at once, but give new strategies and routines
.time to take effect

Thinking about classroom routines

Taking time to think through an idea and to assess all the implications is crucial if the
idea is to be successfully implemented. You do need to anticipate that there may be
times when your system may not be appropriate and to always be aware of the
individual students and their needs. Sometimes you need to think differently for some
students so that they can access the same experiences. This process of matching
provision to students’ needs is called differentiation. You may have to differentiate
within some of your class systems to help students access resources, for example, but
also you may have to differentiate in your lesson planning to give students different
kinds of tasks. Some students may need more structured tasks than others to help
them achieve the same Learning outcomes. This will be picked up again in the next
Unit. Here, it is important to be aware that until you know your class really well you
will not understand their precise needs, so thinking about different ways to do the
same thing is a useful strategy just in case you meet the unexpected. The most
important issue is that students feel as though they are valued in their own right and
.included in the classes

Establishing a routine or system in my class

Whatever routines you have set up in your classes, it is crucial to monitor their
effectiveness and adapt or abandon any system that is not working towards your goal
of helping all the students achieve their best. However, it may take time to implement
any routine or system fully, so allow time for careful evaluation of a system’s impact
before deciding to change or abandon it. Involving the students in this process could
help you identify ways to refine your strategies. Students have their own perceptions
of the workings in a classroom. Tapping into their ideas may provide the answer or at
least stimulate you to think differently about an issue. The important thing to
remember is that any routine developed should have a positive impact on the teaching
and learning of your students. If it doesn’t, then it should not be continued. Whatever
routines you have set up in your classes, it is crucial to monitor their effectiveness and
adapt or abandon any system that is not working towards your goal of helping all the
students achieve their best. However, it may take time to implement any routine or
system fully, so allow time for careful evaluation of a system’s impact before
deciding to change or abandon it. Involving the students in this process could help
you identify ways to refine your strategies. Students have their own perceptions of the
workings in a classroom. Tapping into their ideas may provide the answer or at least
stimulate you to think differently about an issue. The important thing to remember is
that any routine developed should have a positive impact on the teaching and learning
.of your students. If it doesn’t, then it should not be continued

The curriculum framework

The Activity above has given you a chance to gather an overview of the dimensions
of the curriculum that you need to be aware of in order to help your students achieve
the aims of UNRWA. These themes and threads will be explored throughout the
programme and at the workshops to help you keep them in mind when planning your
lessons every week. For example, when planning to teach an English language class,
you could include opportunities for your students to develop their communication
skills in ways that help them become more able to advocate for themselves and others
when necessary. Using a role-play situation where students discuss friendship might
help someone who is new to the class integrate into the community easily. We know
that discussing and negotiating in a second, third or other language is not easy at any
time, but role-playing such situations can give a real purpose to developing
vocabulary and ways to debate or argue a cause. The outcomes of doing these more
interactive types of work are greater than just learning new vocabulary and using the
language – they can help build self-esteem, and develop thinking and social skills that
.will impact on all aspects of students’ lives

?What do I need to do to plan a lesson

Refining your planning skills is a key part of your training as a teacher. The questions
you have devised will help you. Good planning that is matched to students’ needs and
interest will help them achieve more. Being able to identify those students who need
extra support and those who need more of a challenge in your plans will make the
lesson even more focused for all students. Planning the content of the lesson and the
ways in which students are able to participate and work together is also key to
building up understanding and the interaction between a student’s social and learning
skills. The number of questions you listed in Activity 6 does not equate with how well
you did the Activity. So it does not matter whether you have broken down the
planning cycle into six or 16+ questions – the purpose of the exercise was to highlight
the many different elements there are to consider when planning a lesson. These
include what to teach, and how. There are also all the organizational aspects that need
to be considered, such as what resources you and your students will need. The most
important – but perhaps more difficult – element when you first start teaching is how
to match your teaching and activities to all your students’ needs. Resource 4: Planning
questions provides a summary of the main factors you need to consider and can be a
guide to help you as you plan. Differentiating tasks, so that those more experienced or
able in a particular topic are stretched intellectually and those who need extra support
at this stage are able to have your attention, is a skill that comes with practice and
.knowing your students

Planning a lesson, Teach the lesson you have planned, Evaluation of the lesson

An important way to help you improve your planning skills to meet such needs is that
of evaluation itself. Evaluation for a teacher is about you reviewing continually to
improve what you do subsequently. You can use evaluation to make your lessons
more interesting and better matched to students’ needs, interest, abilities and
capabilities. If you do this, they are less likely to be off task or be involved in any
disruptive behaviour in class. Planning and evaluation should be linked, as both are
important in the teaching and learning cycle. Good lessons have to be planned. As you
become more confident in planning lessons, working in the classroom and evaluating
lessons, the easier it will be. As an UNRWA teacher, you may find the situation and
needs of your students challenging, and so you need to be even more conscientious to
devise ways of working that are sensitive to the needs of your students. At times, you
will have to plan lessons and activities that are specifically designed to help students
deal with emergency situations and/or provide them with psychosocial support.
Planning becomes more important than ever in these conditions, as you work to
ensure that all students feel safe and supported. While you study the NAT
programme, make sure you do lesson plans for all new lessons you teach and then
evaluate these briefly each day to identify what went well and why, and what areas of
your planning and teaching need further development. As an UNRWA teacher on the
NAT programme you will be expected to plan, teach and evaluate your lessons as part
of your daily routine. Such practices provide you with insight into what works and
what does not, and what areas of your skills or organization need changing or
:developing. Key questions are
?What went well in that lesson •
?How do I know this? What evidence do I have to support my claims •
?What did not go as well as expected and why not •
?How can I do things differently and better •
?What did the students achieve? What evidence do I have to support these claims •
This regular evaluation of your work will deepen your understanding of your roles
and responsibilities as a teacher to your students and the school and community. It
will also provide you with material that you can use in your own assessments as you
work through the programme to become a qualified teacher. Good record-keeping is
essential for a teacher to keep track of what has been taught and students’
achievements. This will be explored more in Module 4. An important way to help you
improve your planning skills to meet such needs is that of evaluation itself. Evaluation
for a teacher is about you reviewing continually to improve what you do
subsequently. You can use evaluation to make your lessons more interesting and
better matched to students’ needs, interest, abilities and capabilities. If you do this,
they are less likely to be off task or be involved in any disruptive behaviour in class.
Planning and evaluation should be linked, as both are important in the teaching and
learning cycle. Good lessons have to be planned. As you become more confident in
planning lessons, working in the classroom and evaluating lessons, the easier it will
be. As an UNRWA teacher, you may find the situation and needs of your students
challenging, and so you need to be even more conscientious to devise ways of
working that are sensitive to the needs of your students. At times, you will have to
plan lessons and activities that are specifically designed to help students deal with
emergency situations and/or provide them with psychosocial support. Planning
becomes more important than ever in these conditions, as you work to ensure that all
students feel safe and supported. While you study the NAT programme, make sure
you do lesson plans for all new lessons you teach and then evaluate these briefly each
day to identify what went well and why, and what areas of your planning and teaching
need further development. As an UNRWA teacher on the NAT programme you will
be expected to plan, teach and evaluate your lessons as part of your daily routine.
Such practices provide you with insight into what works and what does not, and what
:areas of your skills or organization need changing or developing. Key questions are
?What went well in that lesson •
?How do I know this? What evidence do I have to support my claims •
?What did not go as well as expected and why not •
?How can I do things differently and better •
?What did the students achieve? What evidence do I have to support these claims •
This regular evaluation of your work will deepen your understanding of your roles
and responsibilities as a teacher to your students and the school and community. It
will also provide you with material that you can use in your own assessments as you
work through the programme to become a qualified teacher. Good record-keeping is
essential for a teacher to keep track of what has been taught and students’
.achievements. This will be explored more in Module 4

Classroom layouts

This Unit explores actions that you can take to enhance the classroom by looking at
classroom organization and management, as well as expectations that you could use in
your own setting to help you provide a more professional context and atmosphere for
your students. The classroom is not just a room where teachers teach and students
learn. The classroom should have the potential to be an exciting, interesting and
challenging place for both you and your students. It is also a place where students
should feel safe, secure and supported. Similarly, they need to be comfortable, for
example not too hot or too cold; nor should they be in a room that is too dark or too
light. As such, the classroom’s organization and management should be seen as a part
of the teaching and learning strategies. All students deserve a classroom space that
stimulates and facilitates their learning. This Unit aims to develop your understanding
of the different effects a classroom’s layout, organization and management can have
on learning experiences. As teachers, you may have little control over issues such as
temperature and leaky ceilings, but you can have significant influence on the
.functioning and ambiance of your classroom

Evaluating a more ‘traditional’ classroom layout

With the traditional layout, most students see the backs of the heads of their peers, not
their faces, and those at the front never even see this much of the other students in the
lesson. The way the desks are facing directs the students to focus on the teacher and
so is likely to support a teacher-centered model of teaching. Some would say that this
means students will be less easily distracted from their work and that keeping control
of students is easier. Others would argue that it may do this, but it does not enable
students to interact together and because of this they will not achieve as much as they
could. These teachers believe that if students work together to explore and construct
their ideas and understanding they will achieve more. In a traditional classroom
layout, the opportunities for students to interact easily with each other are more
limited, so teachers need to think how to change the layout to enable a more student-
centred approach to become a reality in the classroom. What do you think should be
the key principles in deciding how to organize and manage the physical environment?
Stop and think about this. Now read the list below carefully before you do Activity 12
:and see if you agree with these statements

.All students can see the board(s) •

.They can sit comfortably to work •
.They can move around the classroom when necessary •
.They can talk with their peers about the task •
.The teacher can move around easily •
.Group work can be organized easily •
.There is an area where things can be stored •
.There is an area where artefacts or students’ work can be displayed •
.There is space to display pictures and students’ work •
My classroom layout

Thinking about how a classroom should be a first step towards changing the current
environment. From your list of what you want, consider what is achievable quickly
and easily and what is really not possible at all. Do not be despondent about what you
cannot do, but see each little change as a move towards a more inclusive and
meaningful classroom environment. Not all changes need to incur costs. Be a
resourceful teacher (see Resource 6: Being a resourceful teacher in challenging
circumstances) by, for example, recycling or reusing materials. Plastic bottles with the
top cut off can become pencil holders or a box that contained the new textbooks when
they arrived could be used in a different way, such as to house some reference books.
Thinking about how a classroom should be a first step towards changing the current
environment. From your list of what you want, consider what is achievable quickly
and easily and what is really not possible at all. Do not be despondent about what you
cannot do, but see each little change as a move towards a more inclusive and
meaningful classroom environment. Not all changes need to incur costs. Be a
resourceful teacher (see Resource 6: Being a resourceful teacher in challenging
circumstances) by, for example, recycling or reusing materials. Plastic bottles with the
top cut off can become pencil holders or a box that contained the new textbooks when
.they arrived could be used in a different way, such as to house some reference books
A crucial issue is the students’ seating arrangements in the classroom. Here
modifications can be made without the need for any extra resources. Different layouts
can provide students with different types of learning, and different social and
emotional experiences. Remember about the importance of students being able to see
each other to work together. Changing the classroom in this way will contribute to
making it a more dynamic place. A crucial issue is the students’ seating arrangements
in the classroom. Here modifications can be made without the need for any extra
resources. Different layouts can provide students with different types of learning, and
different social and emotional experiences. Remember about the importance of
students being able to see each other to work together. Changing the classroom in this
way will contribute to making it a more dynamic place. It is possible to improve
communication and the learning ethos even in large classes. There has been an
assumption about learning occurring in proportion to class size, that is, the smaller the
class, the more students learn. However, research shows that students in large classes
can learn just as well as those in small ones – or even better. What counts is not the
size of the class, but the quality of the teaching. Changing the classroom layout is still
possible for large classes, using the criteria above. Pause and think why organizing
the layout of a large class should be any more challenging than a smaller one before
the next Activity, which asks you to look again at your classroom layout. First, read
the Case study that follows in which Farid, a teacher of Grade 6 students, explains
.how he experimented with his classroom layout
Other classroom layouts
When making any changes to classroom organization, it is important to reflect on the
impact on the classroom ethos. Do the changes make the kind of impact you hoped
for? How do you know this? It is important to evaluate the impact of such changes
and if they are not successful it is legitimate to drop them. There is evidence to say
that classroom layouts should change according to the content and type of activity or
task that students are undertaking (Wannarka, 2008). Classroom layouts that promote
and support pair and group work as well as individual work, if well matched to the
task, contribute to students’ well-being in terms of engaging in the task and in
developing confidence and self-esteem. The traditional front-facing classroom can be
modified to support some more interactive activities, but these are not as wide
reaching as can be achieved in other layouts. The classroom environment is a key part
of the teaching and learning cycle, so working at and adjusting the classroom layout
to a model that supports this is vital. The next section explores another dimension
within the classroom environment by looking at how display and notice boards,
among other things, can be used to share information, involve students and celebrate
success. When making any changes to classroom organization, it is important to
reflect on the impact on the classroom ethos. Do the changes make the kind of impact
you hoped for? How do you know this? It is important to evaluate the impact of such
changes and if they are not successful it is legitimate to drop them. There is evidence
to say that classroom layouts should change according to the content and type of
activity or task that students are undertaking (Wannarka, 2008). Classroom layouts
that promote and support pair and group work as well as individual work, if well
matched to the task, contribute to students’ well-being in terms of engaging in the task
and in developing confidence and self-esteem. The traditional front-facing classroom
can be modified to support some more interactive activities, but these are not as wide
reaching as can be achieved in other layouts. The classroom environment is a key part
of the teaching and learning cycle, so working at and adjusting the classroom layout
to a model that supports this is vital. The next section explores another dimension
within the classroom environment by looking at how display and notice boards,
among other things, can be used to share information, involve students and celebrate
.success
Mounting a display
Most of your students are likely to react positively to a display, especially if they have been
involved in its construction or their work is included in it. Most of us respond positively to
our work being acknowledged in this way. Displaying students’ work can have a positive
impact on their self-esteem and on how they see themselves as learners and members of the
class. Displays also provide opportunities for those who have specific learning needs to be
included more in the life of the class. However, research findings suggest that if too much of
the classroom is covered in displays and if these are left up for too long a time this can
actually have a negative impact. The secret to success is to change displays regularly (e.g.
every three weeks) but not too often (every week). Most of your students are likely to react
positively to a display, especially if they have been involved in its construction or their work
is included in it. Most of us respond positively to our work being acknowledged in this way.
Displaying students’ work can have a positive impact on their self-esteem and on how they
see themselves as learners and members of the class. Displays also provide opportunities for
those who have specific learning needs to be included more in the life of the class. However,
research findings suggest that if too much of the classroom is covered in displays and if these
are left up for too long a time this can actually have a negative impact. The secret to success
.is to change displays regularly (e.g. every three weeks) but not too often (every week)

?Why assess
Most people think of assessment as something that happens at the end of a piece of
work or topic, or more often it is done by taking a test that gives a grade or mark as a
result. But assessment is a much broader activity and is an active part of the teaching
and learning cycle. Assessment for learning (AfL), or as it is often referred to,
formative assessment, helps you make students’ learning and your own teaching more
effective. Your reflections and observations enable you to look at ways of developing
your teaching and learning practice to support learning and raise student achievement.
Assessment of learning (AoL), or as it is more commonly called, summative
assessment, assesses learning at the end of a period of study however long that may
.be
Writing learning objectives

Learning to write appropriate and effective learning objectives takes practice, but is
an important skill to develop as soon as possible to maximize students’ learning.
Identifying criteria that will help you assess what has been learned is also key in
seeing whether or not you have achieved your objectives for the lesson and for your
students. Read the Case study below to see how one teacher worked on this idea and
.gathered evidence of his students’ learning and achievement

Giving useful feedback

Providing feedback that helps students work at being better learners and achieve more
is about closing the learning gap (i.e. closing the gap between where they are now in
their learning and where you wish them to be). To do this, you will need to provide
opportunities for students to improve their work. When assessing for learning, you
may discover misconceptions or gaps in their understanding such that you have to
modify the content and style of what you have been teaching to close this ‘learning
gap’. Sometimes, this can be very simple. Very often, by slowing down with a group
of students you can actually speed up, because you give them time and confidence to
think and understand what they need to do to improve. By letting students talk about
their work among themselves and reflecting on where the gaps are and how they
might close them, you are providing them with ways to assess themselves. Key to all
of this is you, the teacher, actively demonstrating a belief in your students, giving
constructive guidance on how to improve and providing opportunities for them to
improve and practise their skills until they are competent. This is different to giving
them lots of the same exercises to keep them busy. Learning involves changes in
knowledge, competences and skills, and more of the same may not be the most
.effective way

Trying different ways of supporting learning

Assessment needn’t be a chore – for teacher or students. Good assessment practice is

an integral part of teaching and learning, and acting upon its outcomes can maximize
learning. Just as a good teacher will try to make learning experiences engaging and
purposeful, assessment should also be engaging and purposeful. Think of it as a tool
to guide your planning and learning for the next stage. For example, listening to
students’ ideas can provide insights into their developing ideas about different ways to
tackle mathematical problems. It is important that assessment does not limit the way
you teach, but actually informs your teaching so that you are more creative in the
approaches you take. Devising appropriate learning objectives is crucial and the
teaching should be geared towards achieving these. Use simple language to describe
what you want students to learn. This will make the assessment of students’
achievement much easier to carry out. If you are not using the objectives you have
written for your own assessments, you need to reconsider why not. It tends to mean
the outcome was not relevant to what was planned. Talking to colleagues about the
ways they assess their students and observing assessments by your peers and
colleagues may help you extend your skills and thinking about why assessment for
learning is so important. Talking with your students about the kinds of assessment you
are going to use will help you delve deeper into the purpose and validity of those
approaches. This will also help students develop their own understanding of what
assessment is and reflect on their own achievements. If you can, look beyond your
own classes and school and search out inspiring assessment practice elsewhere. For
example, some Grade 7 and 8 teachers reported finding relevant practice in the lower
grades of their school, where listening to students explaining what their drawings
showed proved a useful technique to use with older students, despite the difference in
.age and stage

Module 2
’… I learn best when‘

This Activity may have raised more questions for you about your learning. Here are some
:that you might have thought about

?Do you always try to learn things the same way •

Do you have different strategies that you might use to learn about a new subject or to gain a •
?new skill

?When do you know that you have learned what you were trying to learn •

?What do you do if learning is hard •

?Can other people help you learn? If so, how •

These questions illustrate how complex the interaction between teaching and learning can
be. If everyone always learned in the same way, someone would have written that book
!many years ago

Comparing your responses to the above Activity with other teachers participating in the NAT
programme when you meet at the workshops will highlight the factors that affect each
learner. For example, some responses you and your colleagues come up with might include:
… I learn best when

I am interested •

I see a purpose •

I have a need to learn this •

I can learn with others •

:Others may include much more basic factors, such as

… I learn best when

I am not hungry/thirsty •

I feel well/safe/happy •

I am not distracted by other things •

the learning is interestingly presented •

If this is what you and your peers feel about how you learn best, you can be sure that your
students, whatever their age, may have a similar range of views about how they learn best.
.The implications of this are significant for your practice in the classroom

?How do children learn

Understanding how people learn either as adults or children is not easy, but there are
some key ideas about our understanding of the process that should make you think
much more creatively about your responsibility as a teacher to help students learn and
reach their potential. In filling in your table, you will see the limitations of the
stimulus/response (behaviourist) approach that restricts student participation and
deprives them of the opportunity to learn, think for themselves and develop a deeper
understanding of themselves as learners. You may like to look now at Resource 11,
which shows how one teacher completed the table, including her interpretation of the
nature of knowledge under each theory of how learners learn and the kind of
motivation that students experience. This Resource highlights the responsibility for
you as teacher to engage students in their own learning. The difference in the
teacher’s role from the behaviourist to the social constructivist approach is quite
demanding as it implies much more planning and interaction within the classroom,
but it also promises much more excitement and interest for teachers and students in
the classroom. If you link this to better learning outcomes for your students, you will
see how the move to more interactive classrooms is crucial. Your table may look
slightly different to the one shown in Resource 11 – that does not matter. What is
important is that you have gathered together ideas about how the four aspects listed on
the left, namely knowledge, learning, motivation and teaching, are so interdependent
for successful learning. The next part of this Unit will explore one or two strategies
.that you can use to achieve an active classroom

The pros and cons of group work

Some of the obvious benefits of group work are the sharing of ideas, helping each
other and exploring ideas in a safe environment. Group work can be used for quick
activities to stimulate interest, for example at the start of a lesson, or it can be part of a
more extended period of learning, where students are trying out and testing their ideas
before reaching a conclusion that they can share with the whole class. Group activities
also contribute much to students’ perceptions of themselves as learners and to their
.developing social skills

Active teaching and learning

Active’ learning does not imply that a person has to be physically active, but rather it
is more about engaging the brain to resolve or interpret ideas to extend understanding.
Active learning means giving each student as many opportunities as possible to
participate fully in the learning process and to take responsibility for their own
learning. Of course, this makes demands on you as the teacher. After all, you have a
whole class to deal with, not just an individual student, and so you need to develop
and use a range of teaching strategies to achieve this. There are research studies that
show the classes of teachers who use a variety of teaching approaches outperform
those of teachers who only use whole-class teaching. Furthermore, even in large
classes, students will be more attentive – and their potential for learning will increase
– when they are exposed to a wide variety of teaching methods and learning
experiences. Relating new ideas to what a learner already knows is how the learner
can actively construct new understanding. As stated in the previous Unit, this is an
approach known as constructivism. However, learning is not just a matter of
assimilating new ideas into existing ideas, as the learning changes how the student
makes sense of their world. Also, if information is presented that we are unable to link
with our existing ideas, it is often quickly forgotten. This is why what Walid did in the
previous Case Study was so important. He was gathering knowledge of students’
current understanding and using these insights to challenge their thinking and plan
next steps in their learning. Active pedagogies crucially also provide a good
foundation for learning later in life. Most jobs in the future will require people to be
flexible, capable of learning ‘on the job’ and able to apply new knowledge quickly
and effectively. Active learning also, perhaps surprisingly, supports human rights.
Students need to be given the very best opportunities to achieve in school, as their life
chances depend on this. As an UNRWA teacher, you are familiar with the concept of
students’ rights and you will be committed to providing quality teaching that enables
each and every student to achieve their full potential. You will want your students to
embody the vision of the UNRWA Education Reform, that is to be confident,
innovative, questioning, thoughtful, tolerant, open-minded people, upholding human
values and religious tolerance, proud of their Palestinian identity and contributing
positively to the development of their society and the global community. This might
seem an ambitious vision, but the seeds of personal development are planted in the
home and in the school, and active learning can play a very definite role in achieving
.the desired outcomes for the students

The questions I use

There is a range of different types of open questions that you, as a teacher, can use to
help students think more carefully about what they are trying to learn. Even if you
think you are relatively good at asking questions, there will still be many things you
can do to enhance your skills. It is not just about framing good open questions, but
also about how and when you pose a question. Speak too soon and you may confuse
the students while they are still processing earlier information. The tone of voice you
use can also influence their willingness to respond. Whether you are asking open or
closed questions, students need to be convinced that you really want to hear their
ideas. As a teacher, you need to achieve a balance between closed and open questions.
Some studies of classrooms show that teachers find it easier to ask closed questions,
but learning is not just about being able to recall correct answers or procedures; it has
to be about thinking, explaining and most of all engaging. Before you try asking open-
.ended questions in class, read the following Case Study

Using open-ended questions

Asking open-ended questions is not as easy as it sounds and so practice at framing

open-ended questions is a good idea. You could write out the questions beforehand
and even put them on the board for the students to see. You should notice how the
students are more involved in the lesson when you ask open questions, and also how
less-confident students are more likely to contribute. The more you try using
questioning as a technique, the more confident you will become, and the more open-
ended questions you use, the more your students will begin to construct their own
knowledge. Setting yourself a target to use an open-ended question at least once in
.every lesson over the weeks ahead will help hone your skills

Enhancing my questioning skills

The way you ask questions can be as important as the question itself in terms of its
impact on a student. Being an active and exciting teacher needs you to be active and
excited yourself, and this will be reflected in your voice, face and language. But also
important is how you respond to the students’ answers. Being negative and saying
‘no’, or criticizing the answer, will prevent many students from wanting to respond.
They will not want to be criticized or made fun of in front of the class. Accepting all
answers without condoning silly responses can be done sensitively and clearly by
saying such things as, “That’s an interesting answer, but may be not relevant at this
stage.” Or: “We can come back to that later, but thank you for the idea.” By writing
all responses on the board, you could ask the students themselves to think which are
most relevant at this stage and then say that the others can be picked up later. Students
who are unsure and timid about answering will be more willing to try if you are
sensitive and do not dismiss their efforts. Such skills will come from practice and to
start with you may need to think about how to do this in your planning, but there are
also some skills and techniques that you can use to improve your questioning, which
are discussed below. Read through these carefully before trying the activity that
.follows

Using other techniques to improve questioning skills

The last three activities have been designed as a series of steps deliberately to help
you lay your skills of questioning on top of each other to form a comprehensive
collection of strategies that you can employ at different points in any lesson. The
more you help your students to think for themselves in response to questions you ask,
the more you will keep them curious about the world around them and eager to find
out more. Another outcome of this use of appropriate questioning is that as students’
awareness and interest in the world around them grows, the more they will generate
their own questions about aspects that interest them. If students are confident in
answering questions, they are also more likely to ask their own questions. The last
part of this combined Unit introduces the idea of encouraging students to ask their
own questions as a way of deepening their thinking. Like you, they also need to
explore the kinds of questions they can ask and construct. The final Activity in this
Unit is for you to investigate how good your students are at asking questions. First
read the Case Study, which describes how one teacher used a collection of objects
.made from different materials to help her students raise their own questions

Students raising questions

Encouraging students to take control of their own learning by asking their own questions can
help to promote deeper learning. Students will take ownership of their own learning, feel
more responsibility for finding the answers, and see how their questions will likely generate
further questions. The questions that students ask will also highlight to you where they are
not sure and where their interests lie. An activity where students raise questions can be
used at any point and for a number of reasons. For example, it can introduce a new topic
and stimulate the initial discussion around it or can assess students’ knowledge midway
through a topic. It can also be used to conclude a topic, at which point students use their
questions to set up extended learning beyond what they have studied in class. Teaching
students how to formulate their own questions about a topic will increase their
participation, but is also a life skill that goes beyond the classroom. Questioning encourages
them not to take any information or opinions offered to them at face value, but to further
.question information and ideas. This is an important lesson for their future lives as well

With the level of student engagement that such activities provide, there will be more
opportunity for you to work with those individual students who need extra support. Through
talking about their questions, students expose their lack of understanding or experience and
may be intimidated by this, but through working in small groups and sharing ideas they are
able to see that they are not the only ones. They also discover that they know different
things from each other and it is sharing these ideas that enables them to link the new
information into their own understanding. Students admitting that they do not know
something can be a very important experience for them and it shows their willingness to join
in the learning experience. Being able to say that you do not know or understand what
someone is talking about or what they are trying to do, is nothing to be ashamed of – all of
us find ourselves in this position at different points throughout life. At this stage in your
development as a sensitive and responsive teacher, it is important that you realize that you
will not always achieve perfection each day. There are days in any job where people do not
function as well as they would like. But do not despair: everyone has these days, but what is
important is how you respond to such situations. Be aware of where you are in your journey
and the areas for development in your skills. Questioning as a key teaching skill is an area
that needs constant reflection on its effectiveness and your competence. There are some
very common mistakes that many – if not most – teachers make at some time and these are
listed below for you to consider. The summary highlights the areas you have been working at
positively throughout this Unit, so that you are less likely to make the mistakes in the list. It
is often said that ‘questions are only as good as the answers they get’. Common errors in
:questioning, which discourage students from offering answers or participating, are

asking too many questions at once •

asking a question and answering it yourself •

asking a difficult question too early •

always asking the same type of question •

asking a question in a threatening way •

not using probing questions •

not giving students enough time to think •

ignoring answers •

not correcting wrong answers •

failing to see the implications of answers •

failing to build on answers •

If you do any of these, think about how you might adapt your approach and find ways of
doing the opposite. Watch and see the improvement in student performance. As a teacher,
you need to help those who are anxious and withdrawn due to a lack of understanding. How
you respond to their ideas, suggestions and questions requires you to be sensitive and to
handle the information they have proffered carefully so that the student is not embarrassed
or ridiculed as a result of what they have said. Your task is to note what they do not know
and use it to plan the next steps to help them build up the accepted understanding about
.the topic or concept

Module 3
?How do my students communicate in the classroom

At the beginning, when you taught your first few lessons, your focus would have been on
yourself. You would have made sure that you had a plan, that each plan had enough things
for you and the students to do, that you were able to speak to the class with confidence and
able to manage behaviour. It is likely that encouraging the students to talk would not have
been to the fore at the beginning, as you may well have thought that risking too much talk
would mean you lost control. This is only natural at this early stage of your career as a
teacher. It is hoped that the anxiety has reduced as you have seen what has worked and you
have become more confident about your role. So now you should be able to look at the
wider impact of what you do and its impact on the students. When you talk with other
teachers participating in the NAT programme or with your more experienced colleagues, you
will find they each had similar worries to you about different aspects of their work when
they started teaching. They may even share how they resolved some of their problems and
from whom they sought help. Sharing ideas and talking about ways to refine what you do
will help you greatly in gaining confidence and ideas about how to develop your classroom
and teaching. The first few months of teaching are very much about confidence: your
confidence and building up the students’ confidence in you as a teacher and themselves as
learners. Talking and sharing ideas and concerns with your peers and colleagues highlights
how important such discussion and exchange of ideas are. They help you to think more
deeply about what you are doing in the classroom and why. Building up your own
confidence and the kind of presence you want to have in the classroom will help you widen
your thinking about what you want to be like as a teacher. And the kind of classroom
atmosphere you want to establish for the students’ needs to help students think about what
they are learning and think about themselves as learners. So, asking yourself how important
talk is to your learning will show how important it will be to all of the students you teach.
Before you try Activity 2, read Case study 1, in which Ahmed decided he needed to observe
his class at work and listen to them speaking in class, in pairs and groups. As you read, note
how he identifies what the problems are and then involves his students in finding solutions
.to the problems

Planning and implementing ways to improve classroom communication

Spoken language skills do not develop just because students are placed in situations,
such as in pairs or groups, where they are expected to talk. These skills need to be
taught and to be practised through active tasks. Guidance needs to be given on how to
communicate effectively. Simple instructions or systems that make students take turns
or answer questions after listening to what is being said can encourage students to
listen more attentively. For example, asking students to listen for specific responses
when listening to an article being read out loud and then recalling these when asked
encourages them to listen in a definite way to find the answers. Games that require
students to take turns to achieve a collective outcome will also help them to refine
their speaking and listening skills. The power of talk to stimulate and extend thinking
has to be nurtured. This can also be done through simple activities, such as
brainstorming. As you know, brainstorming (linking ideas and thoughts together in
response to a word or a question) is an easy activity that necessitates students having
.to listen to each other and can encourage deeper thinking

Enhancing speaking and listening skills

Whatever you were trying to help the students with, whether it was how to take turns
or how to listen more actively to each speaker, you will hopefully have seen some
change in students’ understanding about what to do and why. Students respond more
positively to doing things if they can see clearly what they have to do and why it is
important for their learning. This one lesson is likely to be the start of developing
students’ expertise in this skill or technique. Helping students to see the value of
working on refining their skills will take time and commitment. As you repeat certain
activities, you need to use different resources and contexts to keep students interested,
thinking and on task. There is much research into how talk impacts on the classroom
and this Unit has given you an introduction to the place and purpose of talk in
developing the kind of classroom ethos and environment that encourages support,
enquiry and learning at the highest possible level. But the crucial message is that
students need help and support in developing their speaking and listening skills. As
they become more confident in speaking in class and public, and in questioning what
they are doing, they will think more deeply about themselves as learners and also
about their understanding of the world around them. Their curiosity is nurtured by
being encouraged to share their ideas with others, however partly formed these ideas
are. Such discussions and deep dialogue challenge their current thinking and help
them accommodate new information. The next Case study explores how one
mathematics teacher encouraged his students to talk in pairs to become more
.confident in solving mathematical word problems

?What kind of classroom do I have

Stopping to reflect on what you are doing can be very insightful. Sometimes it is not
until you stop and step outside the daily busy cycle of planning, teaching, assessing
and planning again, that you begin to see where there is potential to improve the
classroom environment or enhance student learning. One teacher commented that it
was not until she went on a day’s in-service training where they were asked to list
what they thought were the essential tasks they had to do every day that she saw that
some of her routines were not about making things easier and quicker, but in fact just
used up valuable teaching time. She said that after this she stopped lining the students
up outside her classroom and instead welcomed them as they arrived and told them
what they needed for the lesson. The result was that by the time the last student
arrived, most of the class were ready and they moved into the lesson much quicker.
She had seen the lining up as a way of a calming them down and gaining control of
the class, but in reality they were a sensible class and keen to not waste time. This
teacher said she realized she had to respect her students more and give them personal
responsibility for their actions. This did not mean there were not days when someone
was out of sorts and did not settle well, but this was not a regular occurrence unless
there had been an incident within the previous class or there was unrest outside the
school complex. The teacher commented that it was the start of a gradual but fairly
quick change with regards to her respect and trust in the students. Having reflected on
changes you would like to make in Activity 4, the next Activity asks you to make a
detailed plan, devise a timescale and carry it out. The more that students are involved
in developing the ethos of the classroom and the working environment, the more each
student will take responsibility for their own behaviour, participation and achievement
within the boundaries that they have helped develop. If you have a large class, you
may wish to read Resource 16: Working with large classes, Resource 17: Tips for
organizing large classes and Resource 18: Making large classes feel small before
going any further. These resources contain many hints that are useful for all classes,
but particularly for big ones; it may be helpful to have some of these ideas in mind as
.you work with your students to develop the classroom

Working to develop the classroom environment and ethos

Embarking on such a development task, however big or small it is, can be quite
intimidating if you have not involved students in making suggestions and decisions
about how to develop the classroom and its ways of working before. Most students
will respond positively to being allowed to input into how the classroom functions
and be realistic about the possibilities and limitations of their setting. Their inclusion
in making decisions about the classroom will impact on their overall attitude to
learning and to their involvement in their own and others’ learning. They will accept
greater responsibility for their classroom and their actions within it will be much more
positive. This will be true for all sizes of class, but particularly in a larger class where
sometimes students feel they do not have as much involvement in matters like this.
(See also Resources 16, 17 and 18 for more strategies and hints for working with big
classes.) A direct bonus of this way of working for the students is the growth in
confidence of their own abilities and worth, which will help their self-confidence and
willingness to participate more readily in class. New friendships may also be formed,
which will add to the cohesion of the class. The bonus for you is that you will have
worked together with the students to generate interesting ideas to make the classroom
a more stimulating and positive space for learning. This can take time, as some of the
different ideas will take longer to develop and embed. It is important to remember to
not do too much too quickly. Reflect on the effectiveness of each change as you go
along and perhaps modify the next joint development. Embarking on such a
development task, however big or small it is, can be quite intimidating if you have not
involved students in making suggestions and decisions about how to develop the
classroom and its ways of working before. Most students will respond positively to
being allowed to input into how the classroom functions and be realistic about the
possibilities and limitations of their setting. Their inclusion in making decisions about
the classroom will impact on their overall attitude to learning and to their involvement
in their own and others’ learning. They will accept greater responsibility for their
classroom and their actions within it will be much more positive. This will be true for
all sizes of class, but particularly in a larger class where sometimes students feel they
do not have as much involvement in matters like this. (See also Resources 16, 17 and
18 for more strategies and hints for working with big classes.) A direct bonus of this
way of working for the students is the growth in confidence of their own abilities and
worth, which will help their self-confidence and willingness to participate more
readily in class. New friendships may also be formed, which will add to the cohesion
of the class. The bonus for you is that you will have worked together with the students
to generate interesting ideas to make the classroom a more stimulating and positive
space for learning. This can take time, as some of the different ideas will take longer
to develop and embed. It is important to remember to not do too much too quickly.
Reflect on the effectiveness of each change as you go along and perhaps modify the
.next joint development

Enhancing the classroom for a range of purposes beyond education

The above Activity provides a context for the students to learn tolerance by seeing
different perspectives on an issue or on students’ different interests and expertise.
Through such activities, students are able to think how to manage difference in a
constructive and sensitive manner. Such activities emphasize that students are entitled
to their own ideas, as long as they do not hurt or harm each other, either physically or
emotionally It is important for you to remember that good teaching must respect each
student and also needs to be modified and adapted to meet each student’s individual
needs. This does not mean teaching each student individually, but it does mean
getting to know the students’ needs, interests and abilities and grouping them in ways
that enable their needs to be met. This includes understanding their wider feelings, as
many outside factors can and do affect how well students can or cannot participate
fully in lessons. Resource 19: Classroom organization – building empathy and
resilience provides a good short visual understanding of the key ideas in organizing
the classroom to build tolerance, respect and emotional resilience. Another benefit is
that many of these strategies will also help manage student behaviour; this is the focus
.of the next Unit

Using positive language

When working with a wide range of students in different contexts and with many
targets to achieve in terms of their education, it is easy to slip into set routines and to
rely on the same strategies and language, without regularly reviewing their
effectiveness. However, each class is different and each day and lesson will bring
much variety and the unexpected. It is easy to react strongly to some unexpected
incidents with authority and negativity that includes both rough mannerisms and harsh
language. But by working at being more positive, constructive and encouraging, then
you will find that both you and the students will respond better. The Activity above –
while simple – is key, as it is one of the main ways to underpin effective management
of behaviour in the classroom. The negative statements in the table are very
judgmental and can have devastating effects on a student. It is always important to
remember when managing inappropriate behaviour that it is the behaviour that is
unacceptable and not the individual. Therefore, addressing students positively models
best practice, even when dealing with problematic situations. The first Case study in
this Unit illustrates how a teacher worked to help a new student become part of the
class rather than be seen as an outsider. The behaviour of the student was challenging
.because he did not feel welcome

Devising or reviewing classroom rules

The students may well surprise you with how much they understand about the
dynamics of the classroom and what factors impinge on their success in lessons.
Identifying the right guidance rules to support their learning is not easy, as the
students will all want different factors considered, but sometimes several can be
grouped together under one heading. For example, ‘moving around the classroom’
can cover a range of behaviours that could limit or upset learning for others. Rules
:under the heading ‘moving around the classroom’ might include

.Only move around when no one is talking to the whole class •

.Move in an agreed order •
.Have a set route for all to move round to the resource area/class library •
.Be careful as you move and respectful to those busy working •
Students need to develop an awareness of others and sensitivity to others’ needs. As
and when you begin to use the rules, the students will need time to absorb the ideas
through your regular and gentle support. This should result in a much better
atmosphere in the classroom, where all students understand the reasons for the
guidance and the benefits it has for them and others. But there will be times when, for
some reason, a student or students do not respond as you would expect and it is then
that you need sanctions. The next Activity asks you to explore with the students what
these might be. Read Resource 20: Behaviour and sanctions before you do this
Activity to have some idea of the kinds of sanctions you could agree with the students
.and which fit in with the school policy on behaviour in school

Reviewing the local area

The outside environment can be a tremendous resource for collecting artefacts and
objects that will help students better understand what they are learning about.
Sometimes it may be necessary that you or a helper collects such resources, but at
other times it might be more important for the students to do the collecting for a
variety of reasons. Knowing where something comes from and the conditions in
which it is found can add more to students’ understanding of logical reasoning or
classification, among other skills. For example, why does a specific plant grow well in
a shady position rather than in the open? Another example could be when the students
are collecting soil from the grounds to test the pH and other factors, such as whether it
is sandy or loamy. It is useful for students to see what kind of geology is prevalent in
the local area. Teaching about geology can be quite hard and abstract if students are
unable to sometimes work outside or collect samples to examine in more detail inside,
such as using a microscope to examining the rocks or soil more closely At the
beginning of a topic, in whatever subject, it is important to capture the students’
interest. The two short Case Studies below show how the teachers do this by using the
locality as their resource centre and also as an extended classroom. As you read the
Case Studies, think about the way you could do this and how the students might
.benefit

Using the local environment

It is always important to set clear expectations for behaviour when outside the school,
but hopefully the students really enjoyed the experience and worked well. Sometimes
students only need to go out for a short time to do one task as part of a lesson that is
divided between being inside and being outside. In some situations, you may have to
make alternative plans because of a change in the calmness of the surrounding area.
.The next Case study illustrates how one teacher responded in a situation like this

Planning for the unexpected in advance

You should work with the School Principal and all the other staff in your school to
develop awareness and understanding of the EiE approaches, ensure you know the
school’s contingency plan (evacuation plan, list of contacts, safe areas, safe exits, easy
access to first-aid kit, etc.) and the school’s different resources that can be employed
at such times. You should always keep up to date with local news about the situation
around the school, but do not let this mean you forget your key role of teaching the
.students to the best of your ability

Inviting a visitor into class

Being able to talk in a semi-formal setting with someone who has a particular
experience of life, or who has expertise in a subject the students are studying will help
support their learning and understanding around the topic. The effort needed to set up
such a dynamic session is worth it because of its likely impact on students. Using this
:kind of approach will

motivate the students •

stimulate their thinking •

open their eyes to the richness and diversity around them •

develop a link with the local community •

provide you with support • link the curriculum to the students’ lives •

introduce them to new experiences •

show students the relevance of what they learn in class to the outside world •

Module 4
Writing a long-term plan

Working through this process and trying to bring together the statements of the
curriculum documents and textbooks, will help you see how the big ideas have to be
broken down into manageable chunks and from these chunks into smaller units or
lessons. As you plan, you will of course need to have the appropriate level of subject
knowledge yourself and the understanding of how students can be supported to learn
such subject matter. This is crucial, so that you plan lessons that build on what
students know and reflect a progression in ideas and thinking that will help them
achieve more. For instance, recent research projects in science have found that many
students develop common misunderstandings and even misconceptions before they
reach the generally ‘accepted’ understanding about particular aspects of science. For
example, when studying how things float and sink, most children, at some stage, will
say things like, “Things float because they are lighter” or “Wood always floats”.
These statements need to be challenged by giving students a variety of experiences
that present alternative ideas and provide them with reasons to think about whether
their initial ideas were right (and if so, why, and if not, why not). Knowing that
students at certain stages may hold such half-formed ideas or misconceptions provides
you with a starting point to plan developmentally progressive activities that build up
towards the accepted understanding. For example, in science, there have been many
research projects into how students develop their scientific understanding of
phenomena such as light and whether most students go through similar patterns of
thinking until they reach the accepted norms. It is common for young students to have
misconceptions of what light is and how we see. Younger students often believe that
light goes from the eye to enable people to see. As their experience of light and the
way it works grows, they begin to think of seeing in terms of interaction between the
object and the eye. To reach the accepted idea that light is reflected off an object from
a light source and falls on the retina of the eye, the student needs to be exposed to a
range of activities that extend and challenge their thinking about how light operates
and the eye sees. As a science teacher, it is important to know about the kinds of
different ideas students already hold about a topic such as light and then plan and use
activities to stimulate their thinking more. This is where short-term planning – with
more detail about activities that can challenge misunderstandings and misconceptions
.– plays an important role in promoting deeper learning

Meeting students’ needs

Differentiation involves thinking about how you work and organize your teaching and how
you can use different techniques and approaches to support the various needs of individual
and all students in your class. The list below shows some key areas that can be differentiated
:as appropriate to meet students’ needs

Task: This involves setting different tasks for students of different abilities, but it needs to •
be handled carefully so that students are not labelled or ostracized by others. For example, the
class may all do the same task but the task is split into smaller stages for students who need a
more structured approach to help their thinking. You can also prepare extension activities for
the more able students in advance. It is important to remember that extension activities should
.not just give these students ‘more of the same’, but push their learning on

Grouping: Using groups (of similar abilities or mixed abilities) allows students to work •
together and help each other by sharing their knowledge and extending their thinking. Where
a group of students have similar levels of understanding, they are able to talk on an equal
footing about an issue and share their ideas more easily. A mixed-ability group can bring
benefits for both the able and those who need more support. The able student can explain
ideas to the less able students and as they explain it helps them think more deeply about the
ideas. A student who is finding it hard to understand may often prefer to learn from a peer
.than ask the teacher for help

Resources: Using a range of resources that present information, ideas or strategies to •

develop skills in different ways will ensure that more students are able to process these ideas
or develop these skills at their own pace. The use of technology can certainly help most
students. Some will need time to practise techniques and develop ideas more than others and
technology makes this easier. For example, technology can help partially sighted students, as
print can be enlarged. Different-coloured texts are easier for some students, such as those with
some types of dyslexia, to read. Computers can motivate reluctant writers to want to write, as
.they can change and delete text more easily and without making a mess of their written work

Pace: How you pace the lesson will make a big difference for some students. Allowing some •
activities to span across more than one lesson will help those who need time to absorb ideas
and more opportunities to practise. Students who work quickly and have a broader experience
could be given a more open-ended task so they are challenged and can be more wide-ranging
.in their responses

Outcome: All students undertake the same tasks, but a variety of results are expected and •
acceptable to illustrate their understanding. For example, simple drawings with limited
information compared with a detailed and complex representation of ideas can show different
levels of understanding. Students’ written reports, for example of an experiment, can also
.show the different levels of understanding within a class

Dialogue and support: This is the most common method of differentiation used by most •
teachers. It involves using dialogue and questioning to help different students think through
ideas to deepen their understanding. This is an interactive and ongoing method of
differentiation and relies on the teacher’s ability to assess what is going on throughout the
.lesson to determine what kind of support the students need

Thinking about ways of gathering evidence

Thinking about what possibilities there are for gathering evidence is an important first step
when planning any teaching activities. How you will know what a student thinks, knows or
understands will be easier if you anticipate what kinds of evidence you will need to support
any judgements you make. In the past, the most common form of evidence was students’
written work, whether this was done in class, at home or undertaken in a more formal setting.
The evidence of achievement or success of the work was interpreted, and feedback was often
in the form of a numerical grade with a tick and a one-word comment, such as ‘Good’ or
‘Satisfactory’. Any more feedback was much less common. Yet students’ work can provide a
very meaningful context to give useful feedback to the student on how they have worked well
and what strategies or tactics they could use to improve their work. The lack of such feedback
limits students from making better progress. By studying this programme, it is hoped that you
have moved beyond the traditional way of marking work to being much more proactive in
gathering evidence of what students can do and where they need more support. The list below
highlights some key ways of exploring what students know and understand. Many of these
have been mentioned in other parts of these materials, so the ideas are not new, but it is how
you use these techniques to gather evidence to help you support learning that is the focus for
:now. Key techniques include

listening to students as they work •

observing students at work •

questioning and discussing •

studying non-written products, such as models or drawings •

using concept maps •

Any evidence needs interpreting once gathered, either immediately (if part of a lesson) or
.perhaps at the end of the lesson to show what has been achieved

Observing to gather evidence

Look carefully at the notes you wrote in response to Activity 5. Examine the language you
have used to describe what the students were doing. Have you used words such as ‘slowly’,
‘loudly’, ‘persistently’ or ‘carelessly’? These words are judgments, as used here, and you
must have seen some action or behaviour that made you use these words. When observing
students, it is important to describe what you actually see and hear and not put your own
interpretations on what they did and said. In other words, you should not summarize what you
observed into a judgement until you have enough evidence to support such a statement. Using
more than one way of gathering evidence at any one time helps you to build up a picture more
quickly and accurately of a student’s or group’s competence and progress. The task for you is
.to hone these skills of observing to gather evidence of what they do and do not show

Developing my own simple concept map

The process of drawing your own concept map has hopefully shown you how it is a good tool
for stimulating students to think about their own understanding. The reflective questions
should help you analyse your experience and highlight some of the ways students may need
support when doing their maps. Concept maps can be done at the beginning of a new topic to
find out how students currently link key words/concepts together and can be revisited at
stages through the topic when students can add new ideas. This will give you some indication
of how their learning has developed towards the accepted norms. Now try this strategy in
Activity 7

Using a concept map at the start of a lesson/topic

Any assessment for learning strategies that provide useful evidence should be used towards
helping students learn and achieve more. Concept mapping clearly shows what ideas students
have in their heads and allows them to show the links that they see as relevant at this point. It
does not mean they do not know any more about the subject, but a concept map that uses
carefully chosen words can go a long way to finding out what they know at the moment. If
students are to make the best progress possible, then it is important that they receive useful
feedback on what they have or have not understood that they can use to improve their skills
and motivation. Using concept maps is one way to help you target your feedback more for
each student and help you support groups who need the same kind of help. Feedback that is
harsh and negative will more often than not be ignored and can be a significant demotivator.
:Teachers often talk of the ‘sandwich’ approach to feedback. This means

opening on a positive note •

explaining the key areas for development and improvement •

finishing with another positive comment about the student’s work, abilities or attitude •

Sandwiching’ the constructive criticism between two positive comments will help the ‘
student to see the feedback as more balanced and therefore to be more likely to strive to
improve. This is one of many steps towards encouraging students to take an active role in
assessing their own learning and to understand themselves better as learners. This will be
.expanded upon in the next Unit

Peer assessing

It is hoped that the impact on your students was very positive and that it helped many students
to be more motivated to work harder. This is something you should monitor over the next few
weeks. Just doing one session of peer review is not enough to help your students, but it will
have given you some insight into the usefulness of such an approach and ways to plan more
effective ways of working. Such assessment will help you gather evidence of your students’
development and progress as learners. This is information that you would not gain always
from your own assessment. With practice, peer and self-assessment can become dynamic
.assessment strategies that will help you gather a better picture of each student’s capabilities

Students assessing their own learning

Encouraging students to assess their own learning has many benefits. It may take time to
establish it as a regular aspect of lessons, but it does help you gather more evidence of student
learning and it raises students’ awareness of their own skills and understanding. Students do
often assess their learning even before being introduced to doing it in a formal way like this,
but as they are not required to actively do it they are unlikely to share their inner thoughts. For
example, many students know when they have done a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ piece of work, but may
not assess their learning any deeper than that. If a student is not happy with their work it can
really demotivate them, but without the student’s feedback you, as the teacher, would not be
aware of this. Then you could move on to the next stage while the student is still struggling to
understand the work from previous lesson. If you move too quickly to the next step, you run
the risk of confusing many students and they may build up muddled ideas that may develop
into misconceptions. This becomes problematic as students progress through school and if
more and more is piled on top of their learning; if they still hold a confused idea or real
misconception about an early stage of a topic, then later learning becomes harder. This is why
the importance of knowing what students already understand about a topic before you plan
any scheme of work had been stressed throughout the NAT programme. It provides you with
insights and opportunities to help the student visit some concepts again and rethink their ideas
in the light of new experiences. There can be nothing more satisfying for a teacher than when
”!a student’s face lights up and they say: “Oh, I get it now

My record-keeping

First and foremost, the whole purpose of keeping records is to help you better support the
students in their learning. Secondly, it helps you track your coverage of the curriculum and
these records can be shared with colleagues as necessary. Thirdly, when reporting to parents
at the end of semester or year, either in a written report and/or at a parents’ meeting at the
school, records provide the evidence you need to paint a picture of each student as a learner
and list their achievements over the year. The records and information are also available for
the School Principal to use, either to ask for more help for some students or to report to
.different agencies that need to monitor the effectiveness of schools

?Should students contribute to their record of learning

Both the teachers in the Case study above are working towards helping their students take
much more responsibility for their learning and achievement. They both acknowledge what
research says, that engaging students in conversation about their learning helps them to think
more deeply about what they can do and how they can work to improve. The selection of a
piece of work and giving reasons about why it is significant to them gives the teacher insights
.into the students’ perceptions of themselves and of their motivation

Two students select a good piece of work

Some students may find this task quite difficult, especially if they are not that keen on school
or motivated to learn. This signals that maybe they need to be encouraged to talk more about
their learning, either with you or with supportive peers, or with you and a group of students
with similar needs. The whole purpose of including students in the process of assessment for
learning is the positive effect it has on student progress. Gathering evidence from the student
that fully reflects their perception of their capabilities can only help to build up a more
.comprehensive understanding of their knowledge and skills

Assessing my skills of using assessment for learning with the students

Finding out what students know before you start teaching them a new topic is crucial and
should form part of the teaching and learning cycle. There are many different ways that this
can be done, including strategies such as brainstorming and questioning. Understanding how
good you are at finding out what students already know will give you insight into the kind of
support you might need to help you improve and refine your skills, such as one-to-one
support from an educational support person or your School Principal or professional
development courses. Once you have assessed the students’ current understanding, the next
stage in the assessment for learning approach is identifying clear Learning outcomes and
.using the best activities and strategies to enable the students to access the new concepts

Assessing my current assessment for learning practice

The secret to effectively assessing for learning is linking up all the aspects listed in Resource
25 into a smooth, regular way of working. When you become really comfortable with these
skills, then the prospects for the students you teach will be greatly increased. However, this is
not something that will happen overnight – it takes time, dedication and interest to try out new
.strategies that explore how students think and learn

Assessing my strengths as a teacher – part one

It is important and affirming to understand what you think you are good at as a teacher at this
moment in time. A periodic reflection on your progress allows you to enjoy the successes and
to analyse why they are successful. Such information and analysis will help you to plan your
next steps, because by identifying your strengths you will also know the areas that need more
investment so that you become a more competent teacher. The next Activity asks you to look
at Resource 26: Competency Framework for teachers (which includes roles and
responsibilities) and Resource 3: Cross-curricular themes to explore how you are progressing
.at integrating such dimensions of your role together

Assessing my strengths as a teacher – part two

It is hoped that you had much that is positive to report on your progress and development as a
teacher and that you can support your assessment with evidence from your own resources, but
also maybe from the students too. Not least it is hoped that you have enjoyed your experience
of working through the NAT programme and it has shown you how important your role is in
the future of the students you teach. To help you continue to extend your teaching and
learning, the next Activity asks you to identify the areas you think you need to focus on more.
.But before you do this, read the second part of Fakira’s reflections in Case study 11

Setting my own professional development goals

Well done in reaching the end of the programme! You have spent 15 months working as a
teacher at the same time as learning about what it means to be a teacher. The professional role
and responsibilities you have will be very varied, but for your first few years you should
continue primarily to be focused on becoming a better and more effective teacher. The
students you teach rely on you to help them understand themselves as learners, reach their full
educational potential and become useful and happy members of society. Your aim should be
to reflect constantly on how and what you teach so that you are doing your best to meet the
needs of each and every student regardless of their different abilities, by differentiating your
provision to meet their needs. Therefore, to be a good teacher, you must – as was said at the
.beginning of this course – always work towards being an inclusive teacher