Gregorc’s cognitive predilections concrete abstract sequential random Qu Project design

Developing a discourse culture Schools’ launch conference Oct 07

How is a discourse culture linked to higher performance in English?... ‘Marketplace’  6 groups – pairs or 3s  Read your text and transpose to no more than 10 words. Can use diagrams, cartoons, symbols, numbers  (if in a classroom) One group member holds the stall, others share out the stalls to visit and collect knowledge to bring back to home group.  We can hear the 6 stallholders together

Talking to learn Vygotsky P4C NLP Constructivism Learning to talk Metalanguage Metacognition Quality of talk Talk as text To what extent does the talk need to be made visible for the thinking/learning to be embedded?

A continuum Ping-pong talk IRF Hands-up Basket-ball talk Dialogic talk Student generated questioning Performance culture Learning culture

Culture/orientation? Learning  A belief that effort leads to success  A belief in one’s ability to improve and learn  A preference for challenging tasks  Derives satisfaction from personal success at difficult tasks  Applies problem solving and self-instruction when engaged in task Performance  A belief that ability leads to success  A concern to be judged as able and a concern to perform  Satisfaction in doing better than others or in succeeding with little effort  Emphasis on interpersonal competition, normative public evaluation  Helplessness: evaluates self negatively when task is difficult From Self-theories:their role in motivation, personality and development by Carol Dweck 2000

What do we know… about the nature of learning? Promised 4 similarities between learners (amalgamation of current research) 1. Everyone needs to work things out for themselves (constructivism) 2. Experiences that are multi-sensory, dramatic, unusual or emotionally strong are remembered far longer and in more detail than ordinary routine experiences 3. Everyone needs to feel emotionally secure and psychologically safe (blood flow restricted to ancient parts of the brain, survival behaviours) 4. Learners are more motivated, engaged and open when they have some control over their learning

…about talk in the classroom?  Mercer and exploratory talk: the thinking together project: disputational, cumulative and exploratory talk features. disputational, cumulative and exploratory talk features. Interpersonal improves the intrapersonal Interpersonal improves the intrapersonal Ground rules, objectives, models and review. Ground rules, objectives, models and review.  Alexander and dialogic talk: collective, reciprocal, supportive (conduct & ethos) collective, reciprocal, supportive (conduct & ethos) cumulative, purposeful (quality of content) cumulative, purposeful (quality of content) Organising interaction (contexts: whole, group, one-to-one), teaching talk (rote, recitation, instruction, discussion, dialogue) Organising interaction (contexts: whole, group, one-to-one), teaching talk (rote, recitation, instruction, discussion, dialogue)  SAPERE and P4C: learner centred agendas and authenticity.

(year 2 lesson on similes) Teacher: What is snow lighter than? Imagine what snow could be lighter than. (Indicates with her hands that she means weight) Child 1: Stars Teacher: What made you think of that? It’s an interesting one. Imagine. Stars light up the sky. Any others? Child 2: Sun. Teacher: So you are thinking light too. What do you think I mean when I say lighter than here? (Again she uses her hands to indicate a balancing action) Child 3: Weight. Teacher: I was imagining the weight of the snow. What could be lighter than snow? Child 4: The calendar?

The research: features of talk in the classroom  Discussion dominated by the teacher  Lack of talk which challenges pupils to think for themselves  Dominance of closed questions  Ubiquitous and unspecific praise rather than constructive feedback to inform future learning  Rarity of autonomous pupil-led discussion and problem solving

So how do we close the gap? Are there key challenges?

Whole class talk  Collective responsibility  Questioning  Curriculum of enquiry  Engagement and authenticity  Teacher disposition

Collective responsibility  Mercer and rules  Self-esteem/self image  Trust/respect/safety – Paul Ginnis maintenance strategies, framed, murder hunt, observer servers, sabotage  Group work ped pack: p16 developing social skills  4Cs and negotiation during review  QCA Giving a voice year 8 unit  Teachers as learners  Lead - learners – teaching behaviour monitoring/influencing tricks  Dfes AfL Dev. Questioning and dialogue unit: class set own goals and monitor progress  What is a learning culture? Guided learning ped pack p.16

Questioning  IRF and cued elicitation  Uncertainty and risk-taking  Dealing with wrong or unexpected answers – critical moments  Hierarchy of questions: Bloom, AfL unit, video 7b  Students’ own questioning skills: big questions to staged (modelled)  Planning question strings  Students driving the agenda from KWL to P4C

Curriculum of enquiry  Designing the curriculum Designing the curriculum Designing the curriculum  Task setting – leading in learning posters  Guided learning – instructional sequence which bridges the gap from dependence to independence p.8 ped pack  Mediation/facilitation vs instruction  Small group structures that model how to enquire (Ken)

Engagement and authenticity  Constructivist theory: Bruner  Prior knowledge  Modes of representing information  Tasks (DARTS, drama), texts, questions Tasks  Negotiated learning pathways and outcomes (Paul Ginnis)  P4C & voice

Teacher disposition  Modelling – skills, uncertainty, questioning  Facilitating – Vygotsky’s mediation p.15 Guided Learning ped pack  Instructing – the need for explanation and exposition  A co-learner – learning behaviours learning behaviourslearning behaviours

The project design  Focus  Education not training  Use of inspector bookended support  County level, as well as school level review and evaluation is not the same as inspection.

Desirable outcomes?  An engagement continuum – from isolation and truculence to dialogic and collaborative: what constructs and T&L approaches do we have as a profession to grow a groups of students?  AfL processes and materials that make the review and evaluation of talk possible  Management tools for spreading the culture in one classroom across a department (e.g. coaching materials, departmentally generated ped packs, electronic handbook)  Monitoring tools: how can we monitor the quality of classroom discourse and evaluate its impact, other than through observation? In particular, how can students’ be involved in this process (e.g. structures for questionnaires, skills audits, interviews)

Day 2?  AfL and talk  Discourse analysis and learning to talk  Philosophy 4 children  More on L6 and beyond?  Facilitation training