NTEN Staff Presentations: Wave 1: November 2014_March 2015

‘The National Teacher Enquiry Network (NTEN) is a collaborative partnership of schools and colleges committed to innovation and improvement in staff professional development. By engaging in

existing evidence to develop world-class practitioner research, our members work together to improve, share and promote highly

effective, evidence-based practice across the network and beyond.’

http://tdtrust.org/nten/lesson-study/

Enquiry

‘Which works more effectively: friendship groupings or seating plans, in order for year

10s to progress?’

Lauren DraperOnomen EdekoAndrew Stansfield

What’s the point in having seating plans?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMdTBep3W9c

Initial ResearchStudents have shown to use social activity to develop co-operative learning strategies across a range of different classroom settings and while not all lead to equally effective strategies in learning most if not all such strategies are related to the development of a portfolio of transferable skills such as self esteem or the ability to work well with others (Slavin, 1988)

"...students tended to use friends on their program of study as a referral point to judge their own academic competency"

"...students who were categorised as friends were seen as a valuable source of knowledge, which was not subject to a hierarchical structure based on seniority" (Antonio, 2004)

"...Our attempts to identify and understand deep structures will remain just that - attempts.“ (Sims-Schouten et al. 2007)

Students

Drama (AST):

JC – Tends to be unfocused and doesn’t contribute or develop any ideas

GL – Can be a difficult student, average ability but tends to try hard

JR – An able student, can be talkative but usually engaged

LL – Naturally gifted, but seeks reassurance frequently. Often struggles when put outside of her comfort zone

Maths (OED):

LL – Can by ‘whingey’ but very capable student. However, struggles to apply herself to tasks

SC – Unenthusiastic and can appear unfocused, but very bright

LH – PP student, fairly quiet but very engaged in lessons

JK – Lacks concentration and doesn’t apply herself fully to tasks

Drama – Friendship groupings

Drama – Teacher set groups

Drama – Findings (student)

Maths – Friendship groupings

Maths – Teacher set groups

Maths – Findings (student)

How does working in friendship groups affect your learning?

How does working in teacher-set groups affect your learning?

Advantages and Disadvantages

Staff Questionnaire and Feedback

To sum everything up…

“Ofsted suggest that the best way of getting serious work out of boys in a mixed school is getting them to

sit with slightly lower ability girls.  If they sat with higher ability girls then they just go into learned helplessness

mode and get the girls to do their work for them.  If they are sat with girls of the same ability range they go all stupid and competitive.  But if you sit them with girls

they can help, they change character immediately: becoming nurturing, gentle, supportive and interested

in their own attainment and that of others.” (Phil Beadle, How to Teach)

NTEN Nat

Closing the ‘gender’ Gap!Boys will be Boys!

Roma Lafferty, Khaver Ehsan

1. Diagnostic stage

Objective:

Identify strategies that show engagement and motivation, (or lack of).Factors for underachievement.Strategies to move them forward.

Students identified and utilised for the research project

Student Reading Age AssessmentReading

AssessmentWriting

End of KS3 Target

RD 11.5 4c 4c 5a

WP 13.25 5b 6c 6a

LC 15 4b 5a 5a

JR 12 4a 4c 6c

2. Research and delivery

• Four underachieving boys who are very able, were identified to observe the factors that were contributing to their underachievement.

• Class teacher designed a series of lessons that challenged their motivation.

• Strategies included: - Being taught by a male and female teacher. - Scaffolded lessons that addressed any misconceptions. - Activities that engaged and motivated learners.

ExperimentExperiment 1

• Class teacher (male) performed a lesson that intentionally lacked direction and clarity of tasks.

• The same experiment was carried out by a female teacher, using the same strategies.

Observations• Observer noted that the

students in both lessons were unsettled and lacked motivation in completing tasks set.

• They were easily distracted and were determined to distract others.

• Observer noted that the distractions and disruptions were heightened in the female teacher’s class.

ExperimentExperiment 2

• Class teacher (male) then set up a lesson that was personalised to suit the needs of the learners and directed in a way that addressed all misconceptions.

• The same experiment was carried out by a female teacher, using the same strategies.

Observations

• Observer noted that the students in the male teachers class were very focused and engaged.

• The explicit nature of the instructions allowed the students to independently guide their own learning.

ExperimentExperiment 2

• Class teacher (male) then set up a lesson that was personalised to suit the needs of the learners and directed in a way that addressed all misconceptions.

• The same experiment was carried out by a female teacher, using the same strategies.

Observations

Observer also noted that the students were engaged in the female teachers class but were heavily dependent on her.

They were determined to work well for her and needed reassurance that the quality of the work was up to standard.

ExperimentExperiment 2

• Class teacher (male) then set up a lesson that was personalised to suit the needs of the learners and directed in a way that addressed all misconceptions.

• The same experiment was carried out by a female teacher, using the same strategies.

Observations

They did not have the same desire in the male teacher’s lesson as, stereotypically, male teachers will not have as high expectations of boys and will focus their attention heavily on their behaviour.The disruptions were not as evident in comparison to the previous experimented lesson, but still lacked focus.The female teachers lesson aided more discussion while the male teacher made effective use of ICT to engage and motivate.

Experiment

With Scaffolding

This included:• Success criteria (AFL)• Sentence stems.• Layout• Checklist• Modelled response (Good

and Bad)• ICT (chromebooks)

Observations• With two scaffolded lessons, one

directed the learning and the other allowed the students to choose the topic they wanted to write about.

• Two students enjoyed the writing task where they were allowed to write a story on a topic of their choice.

• The other two struggled to think of a story as they lacked creativity and originality and enjoyed adapting a text into their own words more.

Causes of the Gap

• Literacy• Behaviour and social groups• ‘Meta’ learning• Parental influence• Stereotyping boys in school

Literacy

“In many schools, boys’ underachievement is associated with poor skills in the use of language, which is reflected in their performance in GCSE examinations in modern foreign languages, religious education and drama, as well as in English Language and Literature. Boys achieve notably worse results than girls in National Curriculum English tests at KS2 and KS3.”

Ofsted, Boys’ Achievement in Secondary Schools, 2003

Behaviour and Social Groups

“Boys are more likely to be affected by negative peer pressure. Boys are also more likely to experience criticism and a sense of failure at school, whereas girls are more inclined to give high status to hard-working pupils. Boys are more likely to be deprived of a male adult role model, both at home and in school, and this has a negative effect on their achievement in general.”

DfE, The Research Evidence on Writing, 2012

‘Meta’ Learning

“Girls are more likely (by international measures, as well as British) to ‘control their learning’: check what they have learned and review what they still need to learn.”

Boys are less reflective and often fail to grasp the ‘bigger picture’ in the classroom.

DfE, Gender and Education, 2007

Parental Influence

“Boys benefit to a greater extent than girls from living in a household with highly educated parents or where parents display positive attitudes towards education.”

ESRC, Gender Differences in Educational Aspirations and Attitudes, 2013

Stereotyping Boys

“As children progress through school, they increasingly endorse the stereotype that girls are academically superior to boys… Our findings suggest that children not only endorse gendered academic stereotypes, but believe that adults share them.”

Hartley and Sutton, A stereotype threat account of boys’ academic underachievement, 2013

Practical Solutions from the Research

1. Whole School2. In the Classroom

#1: Whole School

• Literacy interventions• Counteract negative views of

educational achievement• Engage with parents• Avoid emphasising gender

differences

#2: In The Class Room

• Praise behaviour as well as effort and success

• Involve students in the tracking of their own progress

• Break down tasks into small stages and feedback as soon as possible.

• Tackle negative stereotypes of boys• If the subject allows it, let boys choose their

subject matter.• Teaching techniques for boys

Teaching Techniques for Boys

• Classroom discussion• Short term targets and goals• Variety of learning opportunities

including using ICT

Engage with Parents

Ensure we engage with parents and involve them in their children’s education achievement. We don’t have to focus on boys; improving all parents’ attitudes towards education should result in the boys benefitting more.• Postcards home• Phone calls• Positive communication

Counteract Negative Views

We need to present boys – particularly younger boys – with positive male role models. Research suggests they can come from a range of places:• Peer mentoring from older, academically

successful boys• Male teachers• Outside agencies (external visitors etc…)

Praising Behaviour

• Academic achievement tends to be lower• Boys tend to display lower effort levels• Behaviour deteriorates

Praise good behaviour, good effort and, finally, academic achievement.

Thank you.

Breaking down barriers to learning for EAL students

J. Cordwell, A. Middleton, E. Shorter

EnquiryKnocking down barriers to learning for EAL students when comprehending keywords and

concepts

Why?• 1st tier EAL students unable to keep up with the

pace of lessons• They write and contribute less than non-EAL

students• They spend most lesson time focussed on

comprehending basic instructions• The commonly-used school policy of total

immersion is not supporting the students’ learning in all cases

DiagnosisKnocking down barriers to learning for EAL students when comprehending keywords and concepts

• Miscue analysis and writing diagnostic (reading test with questions) showed both students below level 3 literacy

• Questionnaire about educational background, experience and culture revealed both had learnt Geographical keywords and concepts in their 1st language

Subsequent planned interventionsKnocking down barriers to learning for EAL students when comprehending keywords and

concepts

• Topic introduction packs (addressing key words and concepts)

• Use of google translate in the classroom• Use of multimodal stimuli• Continual reference to keywords throughout the

lesson• Clear and consistent use of pause for thought and

AfL• Pairing with non-EAL students• Further encouragement to contribute to class

discussion

FindingsKnocking down barriers to learning for EAL students when comprehending keywords and concepts

Measured:• Time taken to start work • Quantity and quality of written work • AfL targeted questioning• Attainment level of work produced We have visibly seen an improvement…

Whole school benefits - How do we move forward?“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”

• Smoother transitions for students• User friendly interventions• Greater confidence and intrinsic motivation in

students• Encourages a supportive atmosphere of shared

responsibility, community and inclusion• Conducive to rapid and sustained progress

across the board

Thank You.