Blog 4 – Evidence Informed Practice

Blog Post 4

Evidence informed practice

What is evidence informed practise? Well it’s teachers either planning using existing evidences and data from school and/or educational research.

David Muij, Head of Research, Ofsted and Ann Mroz, Editor of TES talk about Informed teaching that teachers need to be able to translate the evidence into specific classroom context. Teachers have access to Blogs, Podcasts, Research and conferences but with the day to day busy schedule of a teacher do they really have time to look into the research?

We know what research tells us but it’s what it doesn’t tell us like;

What wasn’t included?

What were all the outcomes?

What didn’t work? Why?

How did this research effect my subject?

This can be a lot for a teacher so schools need one person who can best support this roll and deliver appropriate training. For example, in my school we have a member of the Senior Leadership Team who focuses of Teaching and Learning. Once a week we will receive briefings on Teaching and Learning, this would either be to discuss new teaching practises to look at and try or evaluate how our teaching had progressed. Working together in Triads we would take turns observing each other giving and receiving feedback.

The advantage of this was that you can and try new things always developing as a teacher. However sometimes it feels that you are never good enough. I understand being a teacher you need to continuously improve developing your breath, depths & pace of teaching within education. As teachers we all wants best for our pupils and sometimes the way we are teaching is the best for our pupils.

What challenges do we have to face when developing our teaching?

Thinking too narrowly about ‘evidence’ Some people look solely at the research and data to make decisions about the way they will teach. Others may just look at their evidences from the pupils the way they respond to lessons and the data from their exam results. I feel the best would be using a combination of the both of them adapting to pupils needs.

Being ‘driven’ by evidence As a teacher you can be either ‘evidence informed’ or ‘evidence based’. I feel being evidence informed I would have more control in the way I teach. As teachers we all come with our own knowledge and skill set and we should be confident to speak up and use them instead of waiting to be told.

 

Risking your own practice being challenged Evidence-informed practice invariably throws up challenges, like being observed weekly being forced to try new things make you come out of your comfort zone. It can stop people failing in to ‘our school teaching’ and moving forward trying new things ensure I’m the best practitioner I can be for my pupils.

 

Convincing others about the value of evidence-informed practice

https://impact.chartered.college/article/stoll-five-challenges-evidence-informed-practice/

Having a shared focus with everyone with what matters most will mutually benefit all. Instead of one person conducting research and then telling everyone. It would be better for a number of you to work together challenging one another. Developing your ideas in a small group other can observer and begin to engage which slowly create the by in from all staff.

For example, in my current school our SLT lead the teaching and learning and the staff were told what they would need to change this was because it had recently been taken over by a new academy. However now SLT and had members of staff stepped up wanting to be more involved wanting to deliver on the research they had gathered from reading and attending seminars. It took some time to get staff to by in to the process by now all the staff see it as a part of every day school and people seem to be engaging and relishing in new challenges. This all links back to everyone being mutually benefiting and wanting the best for the pupils.

 

I feel Good quality teaching will likely involve a combination of these attributes.

  1. (Pedagogical) content knowledge. A teacher needs to ensure they understand the content in detail. Prior to teaching anything I knew I hadn’t taught before I would re-teach myself. I felt it was important to understand how the pupils would process the information along with identifying any misconceptions. All this can be done in a number of ways from self-study or by attending department CPDs.
  2. Quality of instruction. I believe it’s about how to deliver best practice either scaffolding the work or providing a modelled answer. Within my lessons I would routinely show the class a model answer for them to copy into their books then they would attempt their turn. Depending on the level of difficult I would scaffold the questions increasing in difficulty.
  3. Classroom climate & Classroom management. You need to establish an environment that works best and gets the best from the pupils. I found having a routine and remained consistence with my expectations and discipline the pupils knew what to expect. It’s also being able to interact with the pupils, recognise progress rewarding by giving merits. It’s all about maximising the most of their learning.
  4. Teacher beliefs. Why do we teach the way we teach? For me I found watching other teachers and reading. I would then attempt to put into practise what I had observed then evaluate my lesson looking at what changes I would make. With knew practise and evidence I will continuously adapting my style of teaching to best suit the pupils needs.
  5. Professional behaviours. Reflecting on and developing professional practice, participation in professional development, supporting colleagues, and liaising and communicating with parents.

 

 

One challenge I know I struggle with is identifying the best style of teaching for my pupils whether it is using RAG, Variation theory or mastery. The advantage of being new to the profession I’m not afraid to ask questions and make changes. I will challenge myself to continue to observe other teachers no matter what school I teach at next and use evidence to guide me for future decisions. Another challenge I face is my subject knowledge with topics moving from the A level papers to GCSE’s and there are always new ways to be able to teach a topic I need to continuously practise and attend CPDs.

Teachers should be judged on not what the pupils’ final grade and outcome is but the progress the pupils have made. We need to work on an evidence informed system. I don’t need to know all the research but aware of how it works and how can I can use it to best support my teaching style. We need to continue to enrich our practises an although it can be challenging, we need to be able to embrace them.

 

Blog 3 -What do we want our Pupils to learn and how are we going to teach it?

Does our curriculum prepare the pupils for when they leave school, or is it just training them to pass exams?

The national curriculum is a set of subjects and standards used by primary and secondary schools so children learn the same things. It covers what subjects are taught and the standards children should reach in each subject.

In my opinion national curriculum can appear to be too ridged and some teachers fear making changes. Although my experience working within in a school has only been just over a year whilst being a part of staff meetings, I feel there is a lot of pressure to teach and move on to the next topic. When other members of staff have asked to teach topics in a different order so it flows better, we have been told that you need to teach it in the order it has been given however it’s possible to change for next year.

Is teaching it enough, how do, I really know the pupils can recall the information and relate it to every day scenarios. For example, my low ability class year 7, they struggle with learning and retaining new content so the start of every lesson I find myself recapping and taking a step back before progressing and taking two steps forward. The way I overcome this is to regularly conduct mini assessments, this allows me to identify gaps in their knowledge which I can attempt to plug before moving on. There is nothing more upsetting than teaching a number of topics and getting to the end of the year and they have forgotten everything. I feel it’s important to fill the knowledge gaps along with identifying any misconceptions and correct as soon as possible.

‘To thrive in the 21st century, it is not enough to leave school with a clutch of examination certificates. Pupils/students need to have learnt how to be tenacious and resourceful, imaginative and logical, self-disciplined and self-aware, collaborative and inquisitive.’ Claxton, Building Learning Power.

 

Its not enough to teach pupils to pass exams but to prepare them for every day scenario. I have found putting questions in context of the real world you create the hook for the pupils to engage and relate.

Will the pupils benefit from a three-year KS4? There has been a real split with some schools making their pupils decide their options in year 8. I don’t believe that the pupils are mature enough to decide what they want to study and do when they leave school. I feel schools are narrowing the curriculum for pupils and taking away the opportunity to explore new ideas.

Teaching GCSEs for three years once again aren’t we just teaching the pupils to pass exams. I was taught best practise to regularly give KS4 pupils an exam question to understand what they need to do to get full marks. It feels like a spoon-feeding exercise.

At present, the school I work within the classes are put into sets from year 7 so I have the ability to scaffold the work according to the pupils within my class who all appear to be working at the same pace. My concern is that teaching a low ability set it takes longer to get them the curriculum sometimes having to miss out teaching them and allowing them to explore the higher ability work. Are we narrowing their ability from year 7?

By expanding KS3 from years 7 to 9 allows schools to teach a broader curriculum where as starting KS4 at year 9 pupils may be able to choose between a wider range of KS4 options, for example, choosing to study triple science and pupils may achieve higher standards by year 9 due to improved literacy or problem-solving skills.

The disadvantage is its restricted opportunities for pupils to transfer between teaching groups as well as parents did not always perceive early entry to GCSE to be in the best interests of their children, as pupils might be less likely to achieve a high grade.

Amanda Spielman emphasis that children need to receive a broad education as long as they are in education. Restricting the length of time, a child spends learning a topic could potentially loose talent and imagination these children are our future. Within my school I felt the curriculum became very narrowed for our year 9’s as they had already decided their options and were beginning their GCSE pathway. Since September, they have broadened the curriculum and made Religious Education Studies to be a core subject along with music the pupils have the chance to learn things that they potential have never tried before.

As a teacher and a parent, you want the pupils to experience as many new things as possible however with Amanda Spielman putting more emphasis on seeing a broader curriculum when conducting Ofsted inspection this has led to increase work load and additional pressures to already over worked teachers.

Although the workload will increase, we are yet to see how much of a burden this will be. There has been tension raising between Amanda Spielman and the Department of Education, Damian Hinds fears this could become a hindrance taking away his key goal of reducing teachers work load and increase retention.

These concerns are also the views of concerns Professor Dame Alison Peacock, chief executive of the chartered college of Teaching, said this would leave school leaders “in fear and dread”. Also Dame Rachel de Souza, chief executive of inspirations Trust academy chain, agrees that Ofsted are right to focus on curriculum but fears the extra burden the new framework will bring.

The changes are set to include creating a new quality of education grade which will replace both teaching and learning and the pupil outcomes grades which schools are currently judged on. Another issue with this is that schools receive their progress eight based on results this along with the Ofsted report is what parents use when making their decision.

I agree in part that expanding the pupil’s minds and encouraging imagination and talent to develop is a great idea but is it at the expense of teachers. Surly teaching a deep understanding of a subject to a high quality is better than a non-specialist teaching another subject just to broaden the pupil’s knowledge.

For schools to move forward to deliver the best curriculum possible they need to be able to identify what Barriers currently impact the delivery of the curriculum.

Special Educational Needs pupils – Does the school set the pupils? Is the enough support including teaching assistants?

Attendance & Behaviour – It can be frustrating teaching where pupils are missing so something you need to reteach a topic before moving forward with the scheme of work. Behaviour can also be a factor where time is lost teaching due to dealing with poor behaviour or pupils missing lessons due to their poor behaviour.

Subject Knowledge – The teacher needs to ensure they are up to date with the most recent topics and any changes made to the curriculum either by the school or exam board.

Technology Failure – Todays lessons rely heavily on technology; this is either for the planning and delivery of the lessons or for the use of online resources.

Scheme of Work – This needs to an ongoing and developing document and needs to be able to follow from topic to another.

Moving forward changes that need to be made to improve on the curriculum is to do regular CPDs to improve subject knowledge and teaching and learning. Developing your pedagogy style of teaching as well as subject knowledge.

The whole department needs to work together discussing any curriculum changes making sure the scheme of work flows but also ensuring everyone knows how much time should be spent teaching each topic.

The school also requires a strong behaviour system where minimal disruptions happens within the class and attendance officers deal with absences.

In my view a school should deliver a broad curriculum as possible but not at the sacrifice of delivering a deeper and richer curriculum that is delivered by subject specialists.

 

Blog 2 – The Last thing school needs is more structural change.

The Last thing school needs is more structural change.

Labour Governments initiatives launched in 2000 with the aim of boosting struggling schools

in deprived inner-city areas.

 

The Government having a revolving door of ministers looking to make their mark . Since the

Conservative Party have been in power there was Michael Gove from 2010 to 2014 who

wanted to narrow the gap in attainment between children from rich and poor backgrounds.

Nicky Morgan from 2014 to 2016 who makes a U-turn on all schools becoming academies.

Justine Greening from 2016 to 2018 wanted to scrap the plans where all under performing

schools become Academies. Damian Hinds from 2016 to 2019 and now Gavin Williamson

announces a push on academies and a supposed clampdown on behaviour.

 

As failing schools get closed under the local authority, more and more are then re-opening

as academies. The Conservative Party go further by wanting all schools to become

Academies by 2022. With Damian Hinds push on academies this is possible This will

inevitably change the landscape of how schools will look.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/education-35817504/all-england-schools-to-become-academies-ministers-to-announce

 

The talk of Academies has been in the news but how will it impact our schools. On the

outside it appears to be all about changing the name of the school and its uniform. How

does this improve the school? What evidence is there to say that changing to an academy is

the best solution?

 

Vernon Croaker, Secretary of State reports academies with results between 2008 and 2009

There was an increase of pupils achieving at least A* – C GCSEs. This was double the

national interest.

Although this appears to be good there is very little evidence and it will take several years

before there will be a full picture . I feel we need more schools to become academies and to

be able to compare them to a school of a similar setting. As academies are new not enough

pupils have gone through the school years for us to be able to compare recent results to

those which are not academies.

 

With there being very little evidence to state why schools should covert to Academies? This

Decision will affect parents and teacher as we go into the unknown . As a parent myself I

would what to understand what the academies priority is. What curriculum the school will be

offering? Most importantly you want to know the school will support your child. With a

school becoming an academy these are all unknown factors along with how the school will

improve as it will take some time for the changes to take effect.

 

The Guardian asked teachers for their opinions about what they thought about academies;

 

‘The academy was not looking after the needs of the students’

 

“I cried when I heard about the plans to make all schools into academies. I always

felt uncomfortable at the thought of working at an academy, but when I was

struggling to find work, I took a job at one.

But what I struggled most with was what was happening to the students. The

founding and senior teachers believed that students needed to be raised from the

gutter. They believed, unquestionably, that they had discovered the method with

which to do so – a strict regime”.

 

‘In the wrong hands, academy status can create more problems than it solves

“I used to work in an academy school, and there was very little consultation with

staff about the decision to convert.

The first thing that changed was the length of the school day. The school leaders

completely disregarded staff concerns during this consultation and we found

ourselves with a longer school day, despite the fact that this meant more teaching

each week with no increase in pay. We were also asked to tighten our belts to help

save the school money, but at the same time the chief executive got a substantial

pay rise”.

 

‘Contrary to popular belief, there are no curriculum freedoms at academies

“I work in an academy so I should know. What does it offer schools that is different from local

government control? The answer is budget, which means more control over where money is

allocated in the school, you are free to choose your curriculum from a very restricted list”

 

On the outside it all appears to be an exciting new adventure for our schools when we create

endless opportunities for all pupils no matter what background you come from. However, on

the inside parents and teachers raise their concerns and don’t enjoy working or being a part

of an academy .

 

It’s difficult to draw a conclusion for which is the best idea what I can do is draw on the

experience I have had whilst completing my training at a multi academy school which has

seen to gain huge successes . Previously the school was rated as requires improvement and

was being monitored by Ofsted. At present under a new academy whilst still awaiting its first

Ofsted inspection it is in the top 1% nationally for schools along with having a progress 8

score of +1.01.

 

My school was rate inadequate by Ofsted  it was failing our pupils. This ever-expanding trust

took a chance on our school. Whilst attending briefings by the CEO I can see he is a

passionate individual who really cares about our pupils and wants to create endless

possibilities for all. Just because our pupils come from poorer backgrounds that shouldn’t

limit their potential and allow them to dream big .

 

One thing I have observed whilst working for the academy all pupils matter. Those who

struggle such as SEN pupils had the appropriate support throughout. Pupils who were on

the boarder of getting a grade 4/5 in their GCSEs private tutors were paid for by the trust to

help them gain their 5. The pupils at the top were constantly being challenged and pushed.

Staff were willing to stay after school to support pupils either with homework or mentoring. I

found the teachers were always going above and beyond for the pupils which earnt them

respect. The respect was evidenced within lessons.

 

Many of my colleagues have said the initial transition was horrific with the staff being told.

However nearly all the teachers enjoy the environment to work in, this is helped but with the

new behaviour policy so that teachers are able to teach. The pupils are really benefiting from

this which has transpired in our most recent exam results .

 

I think it will be some time before we will see the true impact of these academies

but if they are like the one that I currently work within I am excited about the

prospects for our future generations.

 

 

 

 

Blog Post 1: An examination of your own philosophy of education

Introduction

I decided to become a teacher because I felt that everyone deserves the same opportunities in life no matter what background you come from. I found school tough had to study hard to get the results and wish I had a teacher I could have turned to get support. I felt that although I didn’t have that I could become that teacher, role model for pupils to reach out too someone who has hopes and dreams for their students. I have had the opportunity to work in two schools which are very different but recently I had a pupil say to me ‘thank you, miss for taking time to listen to me. No one every listens to me, I wish there were more teachers like you and I think I would come to school more’. I was touched by this comment I haven’t done much but I knew that if I could make a difference to one child so they break the cycle stay in school and get a good education then I have succeeded. All I can hope for is this one child turns into many more as my career continues also understanding I need to continue to develop myself as a teacher so I can continue to be the best teacher I can be to my pupils.

Todays influences

With the up and coming general election many political parties have their own view on how best to deal with the education sector whether it’s to scrap tuition or delay early years education but I believe these politicians need to work in the sector before make these decisions and promises that they can’t keep. I would like them to bridge the gap between society classes. I feel that no matter your background your deserver to get the same type of education. Just because you go to a private school why would they be more likely to be come a professional over pupils from low income families which go to a state school. Bridging the gap would inevitable boost the economy and society.

There are the following acts in place ‘No child left behind’ and ‘Every child succeeds’ but since these have been in place the gap has continued to grow until the school climate improves this will never change. All I can hope for is to become a building blog along with many teachers when working together we will build this bridge.