Writing Revision: Evidence for Learning

ABSTRACT

This paper identifies evidence that significant procedural learning can emerge from process approaches to teaching writing, including from the transition of pupils’ writing from draft to revision. It shows how writing schemes that use an underlying process framework to structure learning, give pupils ownership of their own writing and exploit the resources of classes as learning communities can enable pupils to learn how to write more effectively, and in some cases to discover what they want to say through the process of composition. The paper draws on this and other work to set out a number of implications for teaching and classroom practice.     

Inclusive pedagogy in action: getting it right for every child

A key assumption underpinning formative assessment strategies is that individual pupils must be fully involved in the process. While such engagement and attention on the individual is important, studies suggest that teachers do not always readily engage with formative assessment as a reciprocal process which involves pupils. Additionally, a focus on individual differences between pupils can be problematic if the work that is set for some is differentiated to such an extent that they are not able to participate in classroom activities with others. Inclusive pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning that attends to individual differences between pupils but avoids the marginalisation that can occur when pedagogical responses are designed only with individual needs in mind. Using participant observation and video footage from three classrooms that captured ‘learning moments’ identified by teachers and pupils, this study documents how the professional craft knowledge of teachers develops as they learn to use what their pupils have to say about learning in the context of whole class teaching. By concentrating on the findings from one site, this paper shows how teachers can use what they learn from listening to pupils’ self-assessments of their learning in ways that meet the standard of inclusive pedagogy.     

The contribution of research to teachers’ professional learning and development

This paper summarises findings from several systematic research reviews about the contribution of research to effective continuing professional development and learning (CPDL) activities and their impact on pupils and teachers. It starts with a review of how teachers engage in and with research as part of CPDL, how teachers and researchers shape professional learning activities and identifies key processes linked to positive outcomes. Finally it explores how different research contributions can be developed to make a more visible contribution to CPDL.The paper highlights common characteristics of effective CPDL, including: sustained collaboration with professional colleagues, including both making use of specialist expertise and structured peer support for embedding specialist contributions; an understanding of and commitment to professional learning, including enquiry-oriented learning and learning to learn from looking; a focus on refining teaching and learning, working towards aspirations for specific pupils side by side with theory; and effective scaffolding and modelling of learning by both teachers and leaders for colleagues and for pupils. The key implications of these findings are explored in the conclusions and include the importance of conceptualising researchers’ contributions to CPDL as specialist expertise and/or researchers and Masters tutors harnessing the potential of peer support between teachers. They also explore overlaps between core research and teaching skills and the need for a shared language between teachers and researchers to enable concepts like analysis, theory and criticality to be valued as practical tools for enhancing professional practice.     

在实践性阅读教学活动中让学生“活”“动”起来

新课标强调了语文实践的重要性,而实践性阅读教学活动把本来单调、枯燥、乏味的语文知识传授用生动有趣的教学形式组织起来,使学生乐学、会学,活学活用,达到寓教于乐,寓学于用的目的,让学生真正成为了学习的主人。同时,也使教师真正成为了学习的组织者和引导者。实践性语文阅读教学活动要注重活动的情趣性、自主性、整合性,使学生在课堂学习中"活"、"动"了起来,从而促进学生主动、生动、活泼地发展。     

在实践性阅读教学活动中让学生"活""动"起来

新课标强调了语文实践的重要性,而实践性阅读教学活动把本来单调、枯燥、乏味的语文知识传授用生动有趣的教学形式组织起来,使学生乐学、会学,活学活用,达到寓教于乐,寓学于用的目的,让学生真正成为了学习的主人.同时,也使教师真正成为了学习的组织者和引导者.实践性语文阅读教学活动要注重活动的情趣性、自主性、整合性,使学生在课堂学习中"活"、"动"了起来,从而促进学生主动、生动、活泼地发展.     

VAKing out learning styles—why the notion of ‘learning styles’ is unhelpful to teachers

The notion of learning styles, and the multiple intelligence theory from which some of this derives, has come to be one of the dominant themes in the discourse on learning and teaching. This article argues that much of the language associated with this recent educational phenomenon is misleading for teachers. The author argues that instead of drawing attention to how children learn and the tools and processes of learning, learning style theories have led to pupils being labelled as being particular types of learners. The article argues for a more sustained debate on the notion of learning styles that will encourage teachers to interrogate underlying concepts more deeply.     

Patterns of Variation in Teaching the Colour of Light to Primary 3 Students

This paper shows how the patterns of variation created in the teaching were critical in helping a class of Primary 3 students in Hong Kong to learn about the colour of light, so that the students attained conceptual rather than procedural knowledge. A ‘Learning Study’ approach was adopted, which is a Lesson Study grounded in a particular learning theory to improve teaching and learning. This study, based on the learning theory of Variation advanced by Marton and Booth, was premised on three types of variation: variation in students’ ways of experiencing what is to be taught/learnt (V1), variation in teachers’ ways of dealing with the ‘object of learning’ (V2), and the use of ‘pattern of variation’ as a guiding principle of pedagogical design to enhance students’ learning (V3). In planning the lesson, a conscious effort was made to create relevant patterns of variation, i.e. varying certain critical aspect(s) while keeping other aspects of the object of learning invariant in order to help students to discern those aspects. Comparison between the results of the pre- and post-test shows that there was significant gain in the students’ learning outcomes with respect to the intended object of learning. The findings contribute knowledge to how the Theory of Variation can be used in practice. It also illustrates how teachers can make use of this theoretical framework to analyze their own teaching and thereby, develop an analytical awareness of teaching and learning.     

What trainees in England learn about teaching pupils with special educational needs/disabilities in their school-based work: the contribution of planned activities in one-year initial training courses☆

The project reported in this paper addresses the issue of trainee teacher learning with regard to special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) during the school placement element of one-year postgraduate teacher training programmes in England. Through a focus on the university/school partnership, school organisational and classroom pedagogic processes, the project aimed to improve knowledge and understanding about teacher education relevant to the special educational needs and inclusive education fields. Specifically, the project examined and compared the school-based learning and outcomes of postgraduate teacher trainees in primary and secondary programmes that used different approaches to preparing teachers for the special needs aspects of their future teaching. Three kinds of school-based approaches are examined: one that involved a practical teaching task; a second which involved a pupil-focused task (but not practical teaching); and a third where there was no specific pupil-focused SEND task other than class teaching practice.

The paper reports on what and how trainees learned about teaching pupils with SEND and on differences related to the use of SEND tasks. Findings indicate that what trainees learn about teaching pupils with SEND is strongly interlinked with what they learn about teaching in general. The pedagogic knowledge learned from undertaking planned pupil-focused SEND tasks, however, centres on pupils’ personal learning needs, something that was less likely to be learned from only whole-class teaching experience. Implications for schools, initial teacher education (ITE) providers, national and international policy are presented as evidence-informed questions with possible options.     

Comparing variation theory with Piaget’s theory of cognitive development: more similarities than differences?

ABSTRACT

Lo’s variation theory is a learning and teaching theory based on Marton’s phenomenographic approach and is one of the most important backbones of learning studies. The proponents of variation theory demarcate their approach from constructivist learning approaches, stressing constructivism as philosophical framework, but not as learning theory. At the same time, the phenomenographic approach emphasizes the importance of Piaget’s work about the cognitive development, which should be considered when talking about learning and teaching. We argue that – from a theoretical point of view – Piaget’s theory of how cognitive schemata are developed and how variation theory proposes that learning can be fostered entails many similarities which are not apparent at first glance. We demonstrate the similarities and differences using a teaching example from an English as second language classroom and show the implications for practical instructional work. Finally, we discuss concrete suggestions how variation theory could benefit even more from Piaget’s theory.     

Learning for Everyday Life: Pupils’ conceptions of hearing and knowledge about tinnitus from a teaching–learning sequence

As a result of young people frequently exposing themselves to loud sounds, researchers are advocating education about the risks of contracting tinnitus. However, how pupils conceive of and learn about the biological aspects of hearing has not been extensively investigated. Consequently, the aim of the present study is to explore pupils’ learning about hearing and tinnitus. Pupils in Grades 4, 7, and 8 (aged 10–11, n = 48; aged 12–13, n = 71; aged 13–14, n = 80) were studied. The pupils’ learning was evaluated in connection with a teaching intervention based on a teaching–learning sequence (TLS) about sound, hearing, and health. In pre‐, post‐, and delayed post‐tests, pupils were asked to use drawing and writing to express their answer to the question: ‘What happens to a sound that has reached your ear?’ A questionnaire concerning tinnitus, experiences of tinnitus, and listening behaviour was also given. The results show that the pupils’ knowledge of hearing and tinnitus had increased as a result of the intervention and that this knowledge was well retained one year later. The pupils in Grade 4 learned just as much as the older pupils, although it was more difficult for them to understand cell structures and causal chains. To conclude, pupils are capable of learning about hearing and tinnitus already at the age of 10–11. Knowledge of hearing and tinnitus may be an important prerequisite for conceptualizing the risk of being exposed to loud sounds.     

A Comparison of Pupil Learning and Achievement in Computer Aided Learning and Traditionally Taught Situations with Special Reference to Cognitive Style and Gender Issues

This article is concerned with comparing learning and achievement in the context of computer aided learning (CAL) and traditionally taught environments. The results of a small‐scale study involving 49 Year 10 pupils from a school in the north‐east of England are reported. Cognitive style, gender, attitude to CAL, and test results from a unit of work that used a CAL package and one that used traditional teaching material are analysed and conclusions are drawn. The study was too small to enable generalisations to be made although it did provide an informed picture suggesting that there are differences in how well a pupil may learn and perform in different teaching situations and that these differences are more marked for pupils of certain cognitive styles and/or gender.     

A review of the research of Ference Marton and the Goteborg Group: A phenomenological research perspective on learning

This article reviews the work of Ference Marton and his group of researchers at the University of Goteborg in Sweden. It describes and explains research into: what students learn; how students approach studying; the relationship between approach to study and learning outcomes; what students understand learning to consist of; and whether it is possible to manipulate students' approach to studying in order to influence the learning outcomes. This review is intended to build up an overall picture of learning as seen from a phenomenological research perspective.     

浅谈中职英语阅读教学的技巧与策略

英语是当今世界应用最广泛的语言,也是大中小学生必学一门语言课程。"教师如何去教、学生如何去学、学习效果如何"也就成了教师、学生、家长、社会共同关注的焦点。尤其是在新课程背景下,英语教师该如何改进教学方式、提高教学效果呢?笔者以中职英语阅读教学为例,谈了一些自己的方法和策略。     

Class‐size and Learning: the Tennessee experiment — what follows?

Abstract

The exceptionally large ‘Tennessee experiment’ — involving 7000 pupils — to elucidate the effects of class‐size on primary school pupils’ rate of learning has been widely interpreted as showing convincingly that classes of 15 pupils learn more rapidly, in an important sense, than classes of 24 pupils. The present re‐analysis in terms of value‐added in learning — the annual increase in SAT scores (rather than the absolute levels of those scores) — indicates that the benefits to average children resulting simply from a lowering of class‐size, while positive, are negligible in magnitude and not justifiable in relation to the additional economic resources required. The paper suggests that benefits are more likely to result from targeting additional resources to improved teaching styles, improved teaching materials and providing small classes for pupils with recognised learning difficulties; further research on class‐size needs to concentrate on the correct proportion of low‐attaining pupils that would benefit from attending small classes, the optimal size of such classes, and the fractions of the day which pupils with varying difficulties should attend small and normal‐sized classes.     

Educating the pupil voice

In this article John Quicke shares his concern to promote the active participation of pupils in their schools and communities. Here he argues strongly that an inclusive philosophy requires an interactionist view of learning. However, he considers that we have much yet to learn about how to identify pupils' views of learning and how these views may be encouraged to become ‘broader, more reflective and more compatible with an inclusive view of learning.’     

Teaching Grammar and Testing Grammar in the English Primary School: The Impact on Teachers and their Teaching of the Grammar Element of the Statutory Test in Spelling,Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG)

The research examined the impact on teachers of the grammar element of a new statutory test in Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) in primary schools in England. The research aimed to evaluate the nature and the extent of changes to the teaching of grammar and to wider literacy teaching since the introduction of the test in 2013. The research explored teachers’ responses to teaching grammar to a statutory test format, and how teachers implemented rapid curriculum change in their classrooms. The research sought to learn the perspectives of teachers as they adjusted to new English assessments and new expectations for children’s language in the primary school. This paper draws on teacher interviews (n = 16) and an online survey of teaching staff (n = 170). Teachers discuss their knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of grammar at their own level, and their skills for teaching pupils; they also discuss their observations of how pupils have responded to explicit grammar teaching and the grammar test. The data give some insights into the processes for teachers of applying new requirements for teaching and testing grammar, and how teachers strive to make grammar accessible to children. The findings discussed in this paper are: (1) since the introduction of the statutory SPaG test in primary schools, time spent teaching decontextualised and contextualised grammar has increased significantly; (2) grammar is now taught explicitly and formally as a classroom literacy routine; (3) the test format influences grammar teaching content and approaches; (4) teachers observe that pupils enjoy learning grammar and taking the test; (5) teachers disagree about the extent to which explicit grammar teaching and testing have a positive impact on pupils’ language and literacy skills; (6) teachers feel more confident about teaching grammar.     

‘Trying,failing, succeeding,and trying again and again’: perspectives of teachers of pupils with severe profound multiple learning difficulties

This article explores the perspectives of seven teachers in England who teach pupils with severe profound and multiple learning difficulties about their learning to teach this group of students. Teachers’ views were captured through a combination of synchronous and asynchronous online communications. Four themes emerged from teachers’ perspectives about their own learning: learning through doing in the classroom, learning through self-inquiry and research, learning from and with others and more formal learning opportunities. A constructivist approach to teacher learning is affirmed as a helpful lens to further understand how teachers learn to teach pupils with complex learning profiles. The article supports teacher learning as a holistic process that takes place throughout teachers’ careers. It highlights the value teachers place on learning through doing in the classroom, learning through self-inquiry and research, learning from and with others, as well as formal learning.     

Re-Emphasizing the Role of Affect in Learning and Teaching

Issues of combating social exclusion are often held to be synonymous with a reduction of truancy and exclusion from schools. In the UK, for example, the Labour Party has expressed a commitment to reducing the number of pupils truanting or excluded from our schools Social Exclusion Unit (SEU) (1998). As this paper will illustrate however, the social exclusion of pupils goes way beyond simple measures of school attendance. Equally important are issues of affect, the external, observable manifestation of emotion and feeling, which are related to the engagement and active participation of pupils in schools. Drawing on years of teaching and research in Australia and the UK, this paper examines the role of affect in learning and teaching. We begin by examining the ways in which pupils' participation and inclusion is related to their perceptions of themselves, the quality of their relationships in school and their feelings about the culture of the classrooms in which they work. We then examine the ways in which teachers' perceptions of themselves and their feelings about the culture of the school in which they work influences how they teach and indeed how they learn. We argue that constructivist approaches to learning provide an opportunity for pupils, and teachers, to feel more included, rather than excluded, from the education process.     

Access to numeracy: a case study

More and more pupils with learning difficulties are being taught in mainstream settings but how inclusive is the teaching they experience? In this illustrative case study, Ruth Germain, a teacher in a mainstream primary school, looks at how Paul, a pupil with Down's syndrome, is supported during 'dedicated numeracy time'. She examines the relationships between whole-class, group and individual teaching; the nature of the support Paul receives; and his educational and behavioural responses. The article closes with a call for further research into the implications for teaching and learning of the inclusion of pupils with learning difficulties in mainstream contexts.     

Analysing Cognitive Learning Processes through Group Interviews of Successful High School Pupils: Development and Use of a Model

The focus is on the metacognitive awareness of ten high-achieving high school pupils in mathematics in Denmark and England and their understanding of their cognitive learning processes and strategies. Mainly unstructured focus group interviews investigate how they explain that they learn a mathematical concept that is new to them. I develop the ‘CULTIS model for analysis’ (Consciousness, Unconsciousness, Language, Tacit, Individual, Social), which consists of six themes in which various psychological theories of learning are expressed. The model uses the theories of Ernest, von Glasersfeld, Hadamard, Krutetskii, Mason, Piaget, Polya, Sfard, Skemp, and Vygotsky. The model is used to sort the pupils' explanations and it also functions as a tool with which to compare the pupils' explanations with the various theories. I conclude that the pupils can talk about their learning in their own words and each pupil refers to elements that the researcher associates with different theories. Half the pupils furthermore explain that how they are used to learning, or being taught, influences how they later on are able to learn. I also discuss metacognition and whether this can be an aid to enhance learning.