© Millgate House Promoting pupil independence in learning Brenda Keogh & Stuart Naylor NAIGS Annual Conference July 2008

© Millgate House What is independence in learning? Pupils make some decisions about Content of their learning:  We want to find out about...  Let’s focus on...  We’ll need to do this because... Process of their learning  How can we do this?  Is that the only way?  Wouldn’t this way be better?

© Millgate House What is independence in learning? Organisation of their learning:  Let’s decide who does what...  What equipment will we need?  We won’t have time to do that... Evaluating their learning  We’re really pleased with...  It would have been better if...  We didn’t manage to... but we did... Communicating their learning  These are the important points...  Let’s do this as a powerpoint...

© Millgate House What it isn’t  Pupils do just what they like  There is no support from the teacher  Pupils carry out activities individually  Pupils work independently all the time

© Millgate House Why does it matter?  It’s essential for developing many of the cognitive skills needed in science  It’s necessary for making judgements based on evidence and reasoning  It’s what we mean by pupils taking more responsibility for their own learning  It’s evident in much of the official guidance to schools  Insufficient independence contributes to loss of interest and disaffection  It leads to better academic performance...

© Millgate House Why does it matter: some evidence Learners with a strong independent learning orientation use more strategies, have more metacognitive knowledge about cognitive processes, and obtain higher achievement scores. G Schraw et al (1995) Academic goal orientation and student classroom achievement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 20(3)

© Millgate House Why does it matter: some evidence Learners with a strong independent learning orientation assume responsibility with high levels of persistence, perseverance and tenacity so as to achieve goals... This persistence and effort to achieve the proposed goals has a positive and significant effect on academic achievement. A Valle et al (2003) Cognitive, motivational and volitional dimensions of learning: an empirical test of a hypothetical model. Research in Higher Education, 44(5)

© Millgate House From M Jelfs (1982) Manual for Action. Action Resources Group

© Millgate House Some implications of independence  If pupils are learning how to be independent, they won’t always do things in the most suitable way  They won’t always get the right answer  They will do things that you can do better  They need to be taught how to be independent  We should expect pupils to get more independent as they go through school

© Millgate House Independence in learning What do you see in schools in terms in pupil independence? Do you see examples of good practice? You have some time to discuss this.

© Millgate House Some issues about independence There is a tension between working scientifically and getting the right answer. There are occasions when pupils need the right answer and accurate information. How can we do this without eliminating independence? They can’t discover most scientific ideas. How do we give them access to information without eliminating independence?

© Millgate House Some issues about independence To what extent do we use the scientific process to encourage independence? How much do writing frames for planning and recording help to encourage independence? How much do individual worksheets help to encourage independence?

© Millgate House Some issues about independence There is a tension between planning and control. The more challenging the class, and the more the curriculum is viewed as restrictive, then the more teachers will feel they need to plan the details of the activity. Planning in which pupils don’t make some significant decisions will exclude independence. Is there a link between independence, motivation and behaviour?

© Millgate House Independence, motivation and behaviour: some evidence When teachers are oriented towards controlling rather than supporting autonomy in their students, the students display lowered intrinsic motivation and self-esteem. E Deci et al (1982) Effects of performance standards on teaching style: behaviour of controlling teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(6)

© Millgate House Independence, motivation and behaviour: some evidence Teachers who are pressured to maximise student performance (as opposed to helping their students learn) teach in a more controlling way and their students show performance impairment. C Fink et al (1990) Controlling teaching strategies: undermining children’s self-determination and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 59(5),

© Millgate House Some issues about independence There is a tension between giving pupils independence and providing support. Independence doesn’t mean that pupils make all the decisions. Teachers need to decide which decisions pupils should make. Giving pupils some independence doesn’t mean that we mustn’t give them any support.

© Millgate House From World Studies Project (1979) Learning for change in world society.

© Millgate House Some issues about independence To what extent do we have a coherent view of independence, with progression in our expectations? What happens to independence at transfer ages (to KS1 and KS2 as well as KS3)? How many Y7 pupils still copy laboratory rules or draw and label a Bunsen burner in their first lesson? How are electronic media (including VLE) used to encourage independence?

© Millgate House Some issues about independence How much have we moved on from the constructivist teaching model put forward by the CLiS and SPACE research teams, in which we find out pupils’ ideas and then try to develop them? Matching activities to pupils’ ideas doesn’t work in principle or in practice. A model in which teachers make all the decisions about matching removes any pupil independence and is unmanageable for teachers.

© Millgate House Some issues about independence To what extent is independence collaborative rather than individual? Working collaboratively helps learners to be more independent, especially those who lack confidence. To what extent are teachers of science comfortable with and skilled in organising collaborative discussion and activity? Do they have a repertoire of suitable strategies?

© Millgate House Some issues about independence There is a tension between offering support and intervening too much. Teachers naturally want to support and guide their pupils. However intervention in group activities generally reduces pupil independence. Our research with the PUPPETS Project shows how teacher intervention prevents pupil talk and reduces independence.

© Millgate House Independence in learning How can we help teachers in each Key Stage to recognise and build on the development of pupil independence in the previous stage? You have some time to discuss this.

© Millgate House Independence in learning: some ways forward  A whole-school/department approach  Planning for collaborative activities  Planning where pupils make significant decisions  Lessons based on problems, not instructions  Teaching to engage and inspire, not just to improve test results  Routines which enable pupils to be independent  Informal opportunities, such as School Councils with status, pupil-devised rules for breaks, BA CREST Star Award Scheme, etc

© Millgate House Contact details Brenda Keogh & Stuart Naylor Millgate House Education Unit 1, ZAN Industrial Park Crewe Road, Sandbach, CW11 4QD Tel Fax