Clarity+about+the+learning(2)

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Shared clarity about learning

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“For students truly to be able to take responsibility for their learning, both teacher and students need to be very clear about what is being learnt, and how they should go about it.

When learning and the path towards it are clear, research shows that there a number of important shifts for students.

Their motivation improves, they stay on-task, their behaviour improves and they are able to take more responsibility for their learning.”

Absolum, M. (2006), p76.

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You can use this presentation to:

• update, review and/or reflect on the learning clarity in your classrooms and school

• use as a resource for exploring professional development in creating clarity about learning.

In the presentation you can:

• examine the purpose and value of making learning clear for students

• identify strategies that teachers can use to clarify learning for students.

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Can your students answer the following questions?

• What am I learning?

• Why am I learning it?

• How will I learn it? (Process)

• How will I know I’ve learnt it? (Product)

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Essential components of clarity

• Learning Intentions• Relevance• Examples and modelling• Success Criteria• Checking for understanding

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Learning IntentionsBoth teacher and student

need to be clear about what is being learnt.

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Where do you start?Learning Intentions can come

from:• National Curriculum• Diagnostic information• Other assessment that has identified a

learning need• Reflective discussions between teachers

and students that indicate the next learning step

• NCEA prescriptions

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Levels of learning intentions

Learning Intentions can be:global

e.g. to write persuasively

or specific e.g. to structure a persuasive essay

or more specific e.g. to write the introduction to a persuasive essay which hooks the reader in

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Levels of learning covered within each classroom are very much dependent on student need. The

learning should be in manageable ‘chunks’ that the students can handle.

The better you know your curriculum, the better able you are to define exactly, for yourself and for your

students, what it is students need to learn.

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A maths example

global

e.g. statistics

specific

e.g. to draw a line graph

more specific

e.g. to mark axes on a line graph

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global e.g. light and sound waves

specific e.g. how to measure light and sound waves

more specifice.g. to use an oscilloscope

A science example

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Examples from other curriculum areas

Can you describe the levels of learning in other curriculum areas?Art?Technology?PE and Health?

Discuss with colleagues how you go about planning for levels of learning for your students and identify how this could be improved.

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Transparency of Learning Intentions

In order for a Learning Intention to be shared effectively, it needs to be clear and unambiguous, explained by the teacher in a way that makes sense to the students, in student-friendly language.

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Don’t confuse the learning with the task. So what’s the difference?

• The Learning Intention is what you want the students to learn or understand.

• The tasks are the activities the students will carry out in order to learn.

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Revise this learning intention

• To estimate the length of a horse.

Rewrite this as a learning intention that is ‘context-free’.

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Improved Learning Intention:

We are learning how to estimate.

The horse is the context for learning. Separate the context from the learning intention so the students can begin work knowing clearly what you want them to learn.

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• To make a list of verbs which could replace ‘said’.

Write a learning intention that captures the learning behind this activity.


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Improved Learning Intention

We are learning how to use verbs to express a character’s emotion

orWe are investigating alternative words for the verb ‘said’, and considering the

impact this has.

The same learning can be undertaken using a range of verbs, not just in the

context of the word ‘said’.

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• To compare and contrast the ways in which ideas and art-making processes are used to communicate meaning in selected objects and images.

Can this be reworded as a learning intention that students could more easily understand?


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We are investigating how meaning is communicated through objects and images.

This global learning intention is better understood when it is written in student-friendly language.

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• We are learning to make a jewellery box.

What are the ‘deeper’ ideas inherent in the learning?


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We are learning the skills required to make a 3-dimensional shape from wood.

The teacher would know and discuss with students the skills required for this global

learning intention.


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Establish relevancePut the learning in context

• Discuss with the students why they are learning this at all.

• Is the learning relevant in their lives? When might they use or need this learning?

• Share with them how it fits into the bigger picture of their learning.

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Model the process or look at an exemplar

• This provides an opportunity to see what the learning might look like.

• Students have the opportunity to discuss and discern what ‘quality’ is, or is not.

• It is used to co-construct success criteria.

• Students appreciate the guidance exemplars and modelling provide.

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Marshall & Drummond (2006)

It is simply about making the learning explicit by focusing students’ attention on understanding quality. Learning is improved when notions of quality are combined with modelling.

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Duffy (2003)Modelling the Thinking – Making

Inferences“Let me show you how I figure out meaning that is not directly stated in the text by using an example like the following:”

The sky was dark and the fog blocked out everything. I couldn’t see three feet in front of me. I didn’t know which way to turn. I was frozen to the spot.

“ If it were me who was out on a dark and foggy night and didn’t know which way to turn, how would that make me feel? I would probably decide that in such a situation I would feel scared. If I would be scared in that situation, then that is probably how the character in the story feels, too.” p. 105

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Success Criteria

Success Criteria are the way that students can judge whether they are successful with the learning.

They should be: concrete

measurableobservable

….. and open to negotiation.

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Success Criteria – why bother?

• They show the students what they are aiming for and how to get there.

• Students can self and peer assess, independently from the teacher. They are not always reliant on teacher judgement.

• Students are clear about what it is they are going to be judged or evaluated on.

• Students have something to refer to when they want to check if they are on track or not.

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Students should help define Success Criteria where possible

• It involves them in the learning and in the definition of process and quality.

• They are being asked to link the Learning Intention with the criteria – they are making the connections.

• It is a much more challenging learning experience to think about what the learning might entail than being told.

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Writing example

Learning Intention: To write the introductory paragraph for a piece of persuasive writing.

Success Criteria:Opening statement defines the topic.Could contain a ‘hook’ for the reader e.g. rhetorical question, controversial statement, quotationWriter’s opinion is stated.General statement about the content of the essay.

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Specific Learning Intention:To represent data on a line graph

Success Criteria:Axes on the graph are marked and labelledAppropriate and even scaleAccurate plottingLabel and title

Maths example

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Process and Product Criteria

• How will students go about achieving the Learning Intention? (Process)

• How will they know they have achieved it? (Product)

Whether students require process or product criteria (or both) depends on the learning being covered.

Further reading: Clarity in the Classroom, p. 78

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Rust, Price & O’Donovan (2003)

Criteria are best revealed through an experience-socialization process involving such processes as: observation, imitation, dialogue and practice, further explanation, exemplars and quality discussion of the more complex or ‘invisible’ criteria.

Think about learning to ride a bike or play golf or dance!

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Check that students understand

• Give frequent opportunities for students to check their understanding (or correct their misunderstandings!) with you or one another.

• Give students time to think before responding to a question.

• Model the use of ‘thinking time’ and sharing understanding if necessary.

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Strategies to check students’ understanding

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Display Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

These need to be visually displayed for every lesson so you and the students can refer to them during the lesson.

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Recapping... • Clarify Learning Intentions at the planning stage• Create a climate where students expect a

Learning Intention• Explain the LI in student-speak and display it• Discuss the relevance of the learning• Model the process or look at an exemplar• Invite students to share in writing the Success

Criteria• Keep checking that the students understand• Ensure students refer to the LIs and SC when

working on the task

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Suggestions for syndicate or department discussions

• How might planning and classroom practices change to incorporate principles of clarity?

• How can we plan units of work to include global and specific learning intentions?

• Are we teaching according to student needs?• How can we teach to be flexible to student

needs?• Have we broken the learning down into

manageable ‘chunks’ for students, each one of them a separate learning intention?

• Are our plan books ‘live documents’?

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References and readingsAbsolum, M. (2006). Clarity in the classroom. Auckland: Hodder Education. pp 76-95.

Clarke, S. (2001). Unlocking formative assessment: Practical strategies for enhancing pupils’ learning in the primary classroom. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Duffy, G. (2003). Explaining reading: a resource for teaching concepts, skills and strategies. The Guilford Press, New York. pp 102 -108.

Marshall, B & Drummond, M.J. (2006). How teachers engage with Assessment for Learning: lessons from the classroom. In Research Papers in Education, Vol 21, no 2, pp 133 – 149.

Rust, C., Price, M. and O'Donovan, B. (2003) 'Improving students' learning by developing their understanding of assessment criteria and processes‘. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 28, no. 2, pp 147-164.

Clarity+about+the+learning(2)

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