LEARNING TO TEACHTeaching to learn

Mohammad Akram Khan-Cheema OBE

AMS UK Annual Conference 2013

1. Best of what is known about learning

2. Ways in which what we know about learning may inform what teachers do about learning

3. Critical view of current offerings

• Brain friendly learning• Learning styles• Brain gym• Emotional intelligence• Assessment for learning / of learning?• etc ..........

Objectives of this presentation

I believe as educators we should aim for three things:

to teach students to learn; to teach students to think; to instil a love of/for learning.

Wisdom is more valuable than mere knowledge.

When students love to learn - and know how to learn - they can pick up and run with any topic/subject they want or feel would be useful them.

Every student who's had a good teacher loves to learn. It only takes one inspiring teacher to install that love for life. Only student's who've never had a good teacher don't (yet) love to learn.

What do you know about the core principles of teaching and learning?

How often do you talk about learning in the classroom?

Have you noticed how the space we allow for learning often gets high-jacked by things that have little to do with learning?

WORK

PERFORMANCE or

TEACHING

Do you recognise these three ‘space’ invaders? ....... and can you add others to this list ....?

WORK

Just listen to what is said in the classroom

Get on with your work

Schemes of work

Home work

Have you finished your work?

This can often lead to meaningless work, especially when people talk about being ‘on task’ without assessing the quality of learning or engagement.This ‘space’ invader can easily be tackled if teacher involves the class in consultation to agree with her that every time she or anyone else is about to use the word ‘work’ , they would try the word ‘learning’ instead.

PERFORMANCE

Performance is not learning, though it can develop from learning.

Performance tables, performance pay, performance management are popular because they can offer policy makers measurable outcomes of a limited sort. For politicians they appear effective because they can add a sprinkling of fear and pressurise teachers into the sort of accountability and compliance.

Establishing performance related lists can help politicians and policy makers to make their ‘judgements’. However there is a grave risk that teachers pass that pressure and fear on to their children. They often talk of consistency as though it were a desirable goal. Education cannot be about consistency: consistency means that you know tomorrow what you know today – and that could be consistently bad? Evidence suggests that a focus on performance can depress performance; learners end up with negative ideas about their competence, they seek help less, use fewer strategies, and become organised by the very judgements which do them down. On the other hand evidence suggests that a focus on learning can enhance performance.

TEACHING

The trend at present is to speak about ‘teaching and learning policies’ or teaching and learning strategies. However on close examination schools might as well be dealing with ‘teaching and teaching’ since there is minimal attention given to learning.

The links between teaching and learning are complex and multi-factoral – See Next SLIDE

“High-level learning does not come from teachers teaching their socks off”Chris Watkins – UoLondon IoEd

Ask yourself this question & discuss it in your groups:

“Which do you think happens more often – teaching without learning or learning without teaching?”

TeachingContexts

Teacher’sBehaviours

Teacher’sPerceptions

Teacher’s Craft Skills

Teacher’sApproach to Teaching

Teacher’sSubject Beliefs

Teacher’sPedagogical Content

Knowledge

Teacher’sSubject Knowledge Student’s

Approach to Learning

Student’sPerceptions

Student’sBehaviours

Teacher’sCharacteristics

Student’sCharacteristics

LEARNING & TEACHING

Three main views about Learning

Learning is being taught - LBT

Learning is individual sense-making - LIS

Learning is building knowledge as part of doing things with others - LBKO

Learning is being taught - LBT

Learning is individual sense-making - LIS

Learning is building knowledge as part of doing things with others - LBKO

Learning is a relatively permanent change in behavior, or behavior potential, that occurs as a direct result of practice or experience.

Latent learning is when an organism (animal, human, plant?) learns something, but the knowledge is not immediately expressed. It remains dormant, and may not be available to consciousness until specific events/experiences might need this knowledge to be demonstrated.

We must observe a change in behavior to say that learning has occurred, but if no change occurs, we can draw no conclusion. Learning may be present - “beneath the surface.” This supports a distinction between learning and performance.

Provide Globally expectable teaching and learning• Teaching inputs from the world’s most

effective teaching talent has been sought from the UK

• Teachers are screened not just for ‘qualifications’ and experience but also willingness to embrace change and innovation.

‘Management’ is Judged by How Well They Empower Teachers• Current failed model seeks to “control”

teachers• IBERR would place teachers at the center of

the innovation paradigm since they are on the “front lines”.

• Funding is increasingly made available to each school to manage change in the classroom.

Study after study has found that the single most important factor in determining successful education outcomes is the quality of the teacher

Effective Approach to Top Teacher Quality

Restructure School Days to Allow for More Effective Planning & Evaluation (Measuring?)• Having joint planning

sessions to discuss learner’s needs and plan lesson allows teachers to benefit from each other’s experience and extend the learning curve significantly.

• Teachers need to jointly set measurement metrics wherever possible to assess the actual impact of their teaching.

• Joint planning extends performance improvement curve of teachers – especially if all the relevant stakeholders are engaged in this process.

Professional Development Based on Cutting-Edge Research• Recent research has

revealed that effective teaching skills CAN be learned.

• Outstanding teachers received targeted professional development to improve their teaching.

• Learner centered and activity based approach

• 80% -- 20% formula

Incentivization Plans• Teachers that do well will be

rewarded financially significantly more than those that do poorly.

• Inadequate teachers will be let go quickly.

• Identifying more precisely the needs of the learners to be re-designed to incentivize the right quality of learning. Moving towards SOLE – A Self Organized Learning Environment approach to quality of learning and teaching to learn

Effective Approach towards striving forTop Quality Teaching and Learning (Outstanding)

Problems with the Existing Frameworks

Teachers given extra accountability without being given extra tools to succeed

Teacher development tends to be highly variable because of the variance in individual experience

Teachers are given extra tasks but no extra financial compensation – minimizing motivation

Teacher reviews are limited and ineffective

Recommended Solutions

Heavy emphasis on professional development – particularly in the first half of every academic

year

“Master” teachers will be available to mentor teachers and extend their learning curves

Incentive compensation for teachers will be directly tied to good educational outcomes (and

not just test scores)

“Master” teachers will do 6 performance evaluations annually, with the first 3 focused on professional development and the remaining on

assessment

Getting the Metrics Right:Incentivization That Works

Mathematics/ Science

• Mathematics is foundation to more complex learning (science, entrepreneurship, logic and problem-solving)

• Applying an Experiential model – experimentation.

• There is a direct correlation between how well learning of science develops.

• Innovation moving forward will require a significant minimum of scientific knowledge.

English/ Arabic

• Languages as “passport” to business opportunities.

• Students with poor English or Arabic language will be given extra opportunities to improve their proficiency beyond the mainstream classroom provision.

Communication Skills

• Private sector entities consistently complain of poor communication skills within their workforce hindering productivity and engendering unnecessary conflict.

• Focus on the essential aspects of communication: Written, spoken/ presentations, debating, discussion, argue with confidence

Problem-solving Capacity

• Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh…) has suffered from an over-emphasis on rote learning.

• Teachers will need to be up skilled and incentivized to provide contextual learning opportunities to students using readily available curriculum materials.

Globally Competitive Skill SetsIBERR findings - where schools are being designed to educate a leadership class which is capable of successfully competing globally. Accordingly, particular emphasis is placed on the skill sets most crucial to global competitiveness.

Nurturing Giftedness and Creativity

IKEPODRAH

NOWLEDGE

XPECTATIONS

LANNING

RGANISATION

ISCIPLINE

ESOURCES

SSESSMENT

OMEWORK

IISLAMISATION

• Reflect upon the best of our proud Heritage• 1001 Inventions – the pinnacle of Islamic

civilisation – European Dark Ages• Contribution to humanity – science & technology • What are you going to invent?• What are you going to discover?• What are you going to do with the gift of life?

A New World Order

InternationalBoard forEducationalResearch andResources

THINK

DO

FEEL

A New World Order