The following is John MacBeath’s presentation from “Tomorrow’s Teachers:Success Through Standards” Conference Zayed University 2002

THREE QUESTIONS Which world country has the highest standards? What does the word ‘standards’ mean to you? What is the best way to raise standards?

A MEASURE OF LEARNING? What can tests measure and what can’t they measure? What is most worth measuring? What can we deduce from aggregated data and what is its value? Is age of student a good basis for making comparisons? When is an outcome an outcome? How much are measures sensitive to context – time, place, relationship, mood, motivation? Does learning follow a smooth sequential path or is a more erratic process? What are the effects of testing on learning? What are the social and peer group effects on learning? Who gets the credit for what students learn?

Bottom up Top down support pressure internalexternal

Measure prior level of attainment Account for input of resources eg time Document nature of process Measure output and calculate value added THE MISSING STEPS?

attainment tactical learning understanding metacognition learning skills and strategies

attainment tactical learning understanding metacognition learning skills and strategies 4Km

Learning is most effective when:  it has a purpose for the learner  there is a goal, end point or target to be achieved  the goal is set, understood, or ‘owned’ by the learner herself  it is seen as worth investing effort in  it is neither too ambitious to be worth investing effort in, nor so unambitious that it can be achieved without effort (‘the zone of proximal development’) WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT LEARNING

But also when it is spontaneous and surprising when it sets off for one goal but achieves another when it asks critical questions of its own premises

INTELLIGENCE DEFINED “Intelligence is knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do” (Jean Piaget)

What is learning? What happens when you are learning something? How do you know when you have learned something? Why do we forget things? How do we remember things? Can we unlearn? ENTRY POINTS

THE 5 W + H WHERE? do I do my best work? WHEN? do I learn best? HOW? do I learn best? WHO WITH? Who do I like to work with/without? WHAT? motivates me? WHY? am I doing it anyway? THE 5 W + H

on the phone TV helps me relax when I’m doing HW at the dining room table everyone in living room so I can feel comfortable around young people. My mum who's clever…’ my mum my favaourite chair my computer music which helps me my friends my radio my living room stereo THINGS THAT HELP ME LEARN

Do you try to overcome your weaknesses?

When faced difficult schoolwork, do you tend to give up?

THE FORCE FIELD

Teacher knowledge, motivation attitudes, beliefs and values Pupil knowledge, motivation attitudes, beliefs and values Human capital Teachers’ plural knowledge, motivation attitudes, beliefs and values Social capital Organisational capital Knowledge, motivation, attitudes, beliefs and values embedded in organisational intelligence Pupils’ plural knowledge, motivation attitudes, beliefs and values Pupils as activists in sustaining and perpetuating organisational capital KNOWLEDGE CREATION AND TRANSFER

8 STEPS TO STANDARDS Emphasise the important Build capacity Involve stakeholders Watch –don’t copy Learn from their mistakes Listen to dissent Transform through conservation Celebrate achievement