Mastery Learning is Where it’s At

Confusion over what Mastery Learning is can has created conflicting ideas and approaches. Heather Clements explains what it is and uses models of memory to clarify how it can be a meaningful and successful way to achieve deep learning.

Diverse group of friends work together on homework at the library. They have papers and pencils in hand.

It seems that virtually every school in the country is thinking about Mastery Learning, but from recent conversations with school leaders, it seems that very few of them have a clear understanding of what Mastery Learning actually is.

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      string(5646) "flip enough. Let’s not forget that the power of high expectations and that some cognitive load (termed as germane cognitive load) is needed to make space for the new learning in the long-term memory. Remember, teacher explanations, advice and scaffolding can be recorded and ‘flipped’ online for students to explore independently.Professional Reflection Task: Focusing on a unit you are currently teaching, reflect on the following:From the list of 12 learning elements in figure 3, which ones could you ‘flip’ for your students? Why?Which elements would you not ‘flip’, why?How would you know students have succeeded in the elements you have ‘flipped’ for them?Reflecting on the key pedagogical decisions a teacher needs to make in planning for Blended Learning, we argue strongly that these are subject specific decisions. They cannot be made unless we wear our subject-specific ’lens’. The exact blends we use will be specific to a subject and to a particular unit. This is in line with recent research carried out by the Education Endowment Fund.xiFurthermore, there is considerable evidence that self-regulation is domain-specific. For example, a student might be highly motivated and skilled enough to self-regulate in Maths but not in French, or vice versa.xii Therefore, when making decisions on the implementation of Blended Learning, it is the Subject Heads in each school who need to have the ownership over these decisions.Blended Teaching ModelsIn this section of the ‘How to….’ We offer five models of Blended Teaching. We don’t not see this as a definitive list. After looking at these models you may conceptualise a model for your subject and for the unit you are teaching currently. We accept that these models are highly simplistic and in reality, units may require a combination of these models to be delivered effectively. Each model ends with an open workshop where students are working on independent tasks in a ‘face to face’ session and the teacher is available for feedback and support. The 5 models have been summarised in figure and each one is explored in depth in the series of diagrams below.For some topics, students will harbour pre-existing misconceptions (e.g. when sugar dissolves, it disappears!). Correcting of misconceptions is not automatic or easy. Misconceptions need to be brought to the surface, expressed and then through a combination of direct instruction, inquiry and explicit discussions, the student may accept the alternative explanation. In Science, these misconceptions are well known and published.xiii In any case, experienced teachers will be aware of common misconceptions. Misconceptions are at the core of this model. Topics which are ridden with misconceptions are saved for ‘face to face’ lessons. Other topics are ‘flipped’ for students to work through.This model is inspired by Bloom Taxonomy. For each concept, students take ownership of low-level processing of knowledge (State, describe, label, explain). Resources and tasks for this level of processing are made available online. Face-to-face teacher sessions are reserved for higher-level processing of each topic (application, problem-solving, evaluation, justification). Indeed, not all topics can be split so simply using Bloom’s Taxonomy. The main goal here for students to focus on the ‘what’ and teachers to focus on the ‘how’, ‘why’ and beyond.In this model the ‘practise’ element of skill development is ‘flipped’ while modelling, showcasing, and receiving feedback are the foci of face-to- face sessions.This model is suitable for practical subjects such as Design Technology. Here, exposure and modelling of skills is ‘flipped’. Students can learn about new techniques through videos. Face-to-face sessions, which are most probably in lab where students can develop these skills by trying what they saw online. Feedback will also be the focus of these sessions.According to Goal Theory, learners are motivated to work towards a goal either because they want to perform well or because they want to master a skill (Pintrich, 2000). This model is based on ‘flipping’ the motivational ‘mastery’ element. Students independently work online to master this skill as many times they need to reach a certain proficiency. Simultaneously the teacher focuses on the other components of the unit in face-to-face sessions.Professional Reflection Task: Take an existing unit of learning in your teaching scheme and reflect on these questionsWhich aspects of this unit can you ‘flip’? Why?Are there any common misconceptions linked to this unit?Which Blended Teaching model (if any) can be used to deliver this model?Do you need to combine two models to deliver this unit? 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'How to do it' Guides

How Blended Teaching Can Enable True Blended Learning

30 Jul 2021

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      string(5782) "As an independent consultant I have the privilege of observing lessons in a wide range of schools across all ages and all subjects. This has given me a significant insight into the challenges facing teachers today. Faced with an ever-rising expectation of pupil outcomes and an increasingly complex pupil cohort, teachers are having to work harder than ever. However, that hard work has not consistently resulted in sufficiently improved outcomes for pupils, particularly in subjects where depth of understanding rather than acquisition of knowledge is required.Schools may be scoring highly in phonics or SPAG, where knowledge acquisition is key, but less so in reading, where depth of understanding and the ability to use higher order thinking is required to achieve greater depth. 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Collaborative Learning

SOLO Taxonomy for Deepening the Learning Journey

10 Oct 2018

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      string(5761) "cyclical process ofthe lesson, intervention or unit, in order to adjust teaching to needs.At the decision levelTwo key points to guide processes seem to be emerging:■ Learning needs to be visible to teachers and pupils – Hattie’s work on VisibleLearning is crucial to understanding the power and impact of this.■ We need to have a readily accessible way of identifying ‘surface understanding’ and‘deep learning’, ideally wider than the taught criteria.Making the leap to deeper learningWhat is emerging at impact level? The most significant implication, noted in ourdiscussions, is the frequency with which we are returning to the following sources forguidance, learning from the past to guide our development work.The significance and importance of the work of John Hattie, making learning visible,is being revisited. Hattie’s work guides us to ensure planning considers not only priorand intended achievement, but also learning dispositions. If we are to enable pupils tobecome self-aware as learners, we need to plan for and support the development ofthese and to create ‘growth’ mindsets – points relevant to both the guidance from theCommission on Assessment without Levels and current Ofsted expectations (see alsothe work of Carol Dweck and Shirley Clarke).Hattie’s work on the teacher as ‘activator’ picks up ‘mastery learning’ andchallenging goals. He talks about the art of teaching being to balance the need forsurface knowledge with deep processing of this knowledge. Both are essential, butcrucially, ‘You can’t do the deep stuff until you know the shallow stuff’.7 As one assessmentadviser said to me recently, ’I had forgotten how relevant and powerful this is’.We are revisiting the need for learning objectives and success criteria to use‘active’ verbs, in order to make learning intentions visible for assessment by teacherand pupil. How do you assess, for example, the curriculum requirement ‘to be awareof…’? Combining active verbs with a developing understanding of ‘mastery’, leadersand teachers have referenced tables such as the one below, drawn from the NationalCollege for Teaching and Leadership report ‘Beyond Levels’8, connecting Bloom’smetacognition and active verbs.The knowledgedimension1Remember2Understand3Apply4Analyse5Evaluate6CreateA. Factualknowledgelist summarise classify order rank combineB. Conceptualknowledgedescribe interpret experiment explain access planC. Proceduralknowledgetabulate predict calculate differentiate conclude composeD. Metacognitiveknowledgeappropriateuseexecute construct achieve action actualiseTable 1: From the NCTL report, ‘Beyond levels’, adapted from the work of David R. Krathwohl945Vol 7.3School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadershipSkillsAssessmentHowever, while Bloom’s Taxonomy has proven an accessible and useful planning tool,which many teachers and pupils have become adept at using to structure questions,leaders and teachers are asking if we use it in a way that is too restrictive. In a taughtsession, is use of such a matrix sufficiently accessible to support the flow across ‘surface’to ‘deep’ learning for the breadth of teaching, learning and assessment?Hattie’s Visible Learning Labs are also asking questions about Bloom’s; they havebeen exploring the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO), created byBiggs and Collis. Is this a more accessible, easily applied tool, which supports planningand assessment across ‘surface’ to ‘mastery’? Using a simple structure, SOLO describesa progression of increasing complexity in learning to reach ‘deep’ understanding.Figure 2 has been a useful focus for discussion because it connects active verbs withprogression in a way that makes progression in understanding and learning visible toboth teachers and pupils, assisting our understanding of mastery.Figure 2 (Image: John Biggs)Both Hattie and Pam Hook have noted a high degree of consistency between teachersand pupils using SOLO to make judgements about achieved learning and next steps.10The progression from ‘quantified’ knowledge to connecting and using knowledgeindependently and purposefully in familiar and new contexts is easily understoodand instantly accessible. It is guiding planning, questioning, feedback and pupil self-awareness of their learning.If SOLO gives us a means by which to identify and respond to personalisedprogression in learning, how do we structure a taught session to include such a rangeof differentiation where we need to provide both support and independence? Onceagain, we are returning to past wisdom. The work of Belle Wallace, Thinking Actively ina Social Context (TASC), is a powerful resource. Revisiting the TASC Framework, we havebeen able to see how it connects to and supports many of the points discussed above.The TASC Framework:■ requires collaborative learning, supporting mixed ability classes and/or groups, anda culture committed to the development of ‘growth mindsets’;■ employs a simple structure that connects learning skills and questions to promotemetacognition and self-awareness as a learner;■ can be aligned with Bloom’s and supports use of SOLO; sohttp://www.johnbiggs.com.au/academic/solo-taxonomy/46Vol 7.3School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadershipSkillsAssessment ■ provides for focused independent application of learning, requiring and prompting‘deep’ learning/mastery.The TASC wheel (Image © Belle Wallace, used here with permission)In Table 2, I have summarised developing thoughts, indicating how using"
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Leadership

Is your assessment fit for purpose?

29 Mar 2016

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      string(523) "... these are themulti-coloured boxes! In addition to staff discussion,we used other evidence to reach these conclusions,such as our pupil progress data and knowledge-based leadership provision observations, whichincluded lesson observations, pupil discussion andscrutiny of books.93Vol 7.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comPrimaryFileSchoolstoriesFigure1: LAPsresource,‘Astructureforacultureofhighexpectationsandachievement’, ascolour-codedbyRavensthorpePrimaryteachersandleaders94Vol 7 ..."
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      string(5685) "story.mailto:maisie@teachingtimes.commailto:maisie@teachingtimes.comhttp://teachingtimesbookshop.co.uk/product/teaching-and-leadership-skills/learning-assessment-pathways-laps/92Vol 7.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comPrimaryFileSchoolstories Identifying our prioritiesThe LAPs toolkit is structured around six pathways, each providing a specific startingpoint where you can begin to evaluate and improve practice. Here at Ravensthorpe, webegan with the Yellow Pathway, which is designed to help schools evaluate how wellthey create and sustain a culture of high expectations and achievement, purposefullyaddressing barriers to learning. My deputy head, Rachel Wheatley, and I felt the timingwas right to revisit our work on raising expectations and achievement for all. The threepieces of work highlighted in this article were carried out with teaching staff and schoolleaders. Rachel completed the enquiry (the third piece), as we wanted to review theeffectiveness of our Teaching Assistants (TAs) in light of Sutton Trust research.2This work underlined that we now needed to take provision to the ‘next level’ interms of curriculum development, learning to learn, metacognition and so on, if wewere to achieve our aim of teaching and learning being judged as ‘good’ overall. Theseareas fed into our next School Development Plan (SDP) as a result of using the LAPsmaterials.We began with the LAPs resource ‘A structure for a culture of high expectations’. Adiscussion of this document took place during a staff inset day in February 2015 whenreviewing the following SDP priorities:1. Ensure that high expectations are maintained for pupils in all years sothat they make good progress and achieve well in reading, writing andmathematicsa. To evaluate impact of intervention and support for pupils who fall behind and/or have additional needs to ensure that gaps to national averages are narrowed2. Improve the quality of teaching to ‘good’ overall (planning, lessonobservations, assessment, evidence in books)a. To develop teaching practice so that lessons are well differentiated withappropriate challenge to meet the needs of different groups of learnersb. To develop purposeful, discrete opportunities for higher ability children todevelop literacy and numeracy skillsc. To underpin the curriculum with ‘Attitudes lens’ and ‘Assertive mentoring’ toenable children to be more independent in their learning and to be resilientwhen solvingproblems“3. Improve leadership at all levels so leaders,managers and governors effectively driveschool improvement based on accurate self-evaluationa. To monitor the impact of pupil premiumspendingb. To continue to increase the effectiveness ofthe management and leadership of the schoolthrough systems, coaching and observationThe resource features a range of practices andapproaches that promote high expectations andachievement for all. Staff were asked to discuss andrate the different areas as:■ Red – work not begun or tackled■ Amber – work started but patchy■ Green – consistently making a difference to pupilsYou can see the results of this in figure 1. There weresome areas we couldn’t decide upon—these are themulti-coloured boxes! In addition to staff discussion,we used other evidence to reach these conclusions,such as our pupil progress data and knowledge-based leadership provision observations, whichincluded lesson observations, pupil discussion andscrutiny of books.93Vol 7.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comPrimaryFileSchoolstoriesFigure1: LAPsresource,‘Astructureforacultureofhighexpectationsandachievement’, ascolour-codedbyRavensthorpePrimaryteachersandleaders94Vol 7.5School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comPrimaryFileSchoolstories How did we do?The green shading shows the many areas of strength we were able to confirm. Someof the boxes highlighted amber could and should be turned green through sharingof good practice across school and with other schools in our cluster. Areas that wereflagged for attention following this exercise are indicated by red or a combination ofyellow and red shading. These were built into our next SDP. Below are a few examples ofareas we highlighted for attention.■ Growth mindset modelled by all adults and developed in pupilsSome leaders had read Carol Dweck’s work on growth mindset, but this had notbeen widely shared. NQTs had not heard of it at all. We realised that this could bea lever to further raising aspirations—pupils needed to learn how to learn fromchallenge and failure, and that achievement is not fixed and based purely on talent,but on effort and hard work. This could be particularly powerful in our school,where aspirations of pupils were generally low. We therefore planned staff trainingin the next cycle in this area and adapted our marking and feedback policy toreflect growth mindset principles.■ Leaders at all levels deploy systems to share effective practice, supportdevelopment and build consistencyCoaching and sharing of best practice across the school had been identified as apriority for the school’s leaders. However, this audit highlighted that this was anarea which had not been developed to a point where it had a high impact on pupilprogress.■ Curriculum includes attention to metacognition/Memory skills are taught andutilised in displaysWe realised at the time that teachers had prioritised developing their knowledgeof the new curriculum, rather than these areas. Once the curriculum became morefamiliar, we knew it would become easier to plan problem-solving activities"
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Leadership

Our journey beyond special measures

4 Oct 2016

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