From Superficiality to Well-Reasoned Arguments: Learning to Explain

Students who can explain their ideas have a much more powerful ability to reason and argue a point, but how do you teach someone how to become a better explainer? Chris Curtis highlights some ways his school has leveraged writing and oracy tasks to increase the complexity of their writing.

Exploring Explanation

We live in a fast world and it has become a natural expectation that good things arrive quickly, whether it be food, clothes or entertainment. There is no surprise that students think that this translates to their own writing and reading. We see this in the frustration students have with books, because the engagement isn’t always instantaneous, unlike in a film where music, lighting, special effects are working to enthral a viewer the second they start to watch. Students want quick answers and this translates to giving quick answers in their work.

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      string(5640) "Activity 7: Instructions  World War II©Imaginative Minds Ltd.Activity 7: Can the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki be justified?PurposeTo examine historic evidence to draw conclusions and reachinformed opinions.Curriculum FocusHistory – Understand the diverse experiences and ideas, beliefs andattitudes of men, women and children in past societies,  identify andexplain change and continuity within and across periods of historyidentify, select and use a range of historical sources, evaluate thesources used in order to reach reasoned conclusions, present andorganise accounts and explanations about the past that are coherent,structured and substantiated, use chronological conventions andhistorical vocabulary.Communication – Oracy, reading, writing.ICT – Structure, refine and communicate information, produce apresentation.Thinking Skills – Identify the problem and set the questions to resolveit, suggest a range of options as to where and how to find relevantinformation and ideas, ask probing questions, build on existing skills,knowledge and understanding, evaluate options, use priorknowledge to explain links between cause and effect and justifyinferences/ predictions, identify and assess bias and reliability,consider others’ views to inform opinions and decisions, determinesuccess criteria and give some justification for choice.P4C – Feeling empathy.MaterialsIncluded in this pack:Activity sheet 7a – Student introductionActivity sheet 7b – Hiroshima before and after the bombingActivity sheet 7c – Detonations of the atomic bombsActivity sheet 7d – The effects of the atomic bombs(Warning: Contains graphic images of survivors of the bombings)Activity sheet 7e – Enola Gay and BockscarActivity sheet 7f – StatisticsActivity sheet 7g – Eyewitness accountsYou will also need:Internet access, ropeGroupings Whole class, four or five Activity 7: Instructions  World War II©Imaginative Minds Ltd.Procedure Before sharing any of the activity sheets with the pupils, there aretwo activities that would lend themselves to P4C. 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Creative Teaching & Learning

WWII Activity 7 - Can the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki be justified

14 May 2018

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Creative Teaching & Learning

Activity 7 Resource Pack: Can the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki be justified?

6 Jan 2014

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      string(331) "... performance, they will actively make a plan for change. In the moment, they will also draw on past experience to inform their own actions. They will step outside the bounds of what is comfortable to them in order to improve. Sub-habits of the confident learner are learning from mistakes ..."
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      string(5696) "tenacity, grit, self-control and related habits, we believe that there are essentially four habits of a tenacious thinker, which break down further into twelve sub-habits.  Centre for Real-World Learning’s Model of TenacityOur definition is applicable across the broadest possible range of subjects.ConfidentTenacious people are aware of their own self efficacy. This means they are learning-oriented rather than performance-oriented. They have a growth mindset or learn to develop one. Not hung up on trying to look clever, they actively seek opportunities to learn through challenge, mistakes and self-evaluation. Having weighed up their own performance, they will actively make a plan for change. In the moment, they will also draw on past experience to inform their own actions. They will step outside the bounds of what is comfortable to them in order to improve. 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Sub-habits of the controlled learner are controlling impulses, deferring gratification and sticking to a routine.An example of being controlled in a secondary school could be a discussion activity in a PHSE session where students are invited to think of situations when they find it difficult to control their natural impulses (to shout, get angry, hit someone, etc.). Each example is written on a card and these cards are then shared with other students who come up with practical suggestions for better control or delay of strong feelings.CommittedTenacious learners take a long view of things. They are able to persevere through difficulty because they can see the value of overcoming a problem to arrive at success. They have the wisdom to know when to quit. They don’t persist with something ‘just because’ but make sure their rationale is sound. They are able to put both success and failure into perspective, refusing to dwell on what is past or to generalise single mistakes into evidence of their own inadequacy. Sub-habits of the committed learner are seeing beyond the immediate, keeping things in context and staying optimistic.An example of being committed in a primary school might be to identify characters from children’s stories who display perseverance and create a display highlighting the kinds of things that they do.ConnectedConnected learners understand the importance of engaging with other people and seek them out. While believing that their own actions and opinions have real worth, they recognise that these can be improved by interaction with skilled others. They seek out talented and committed peers in areas of their interest recognising the power of learning from and with others who are more advanced than them.Sub-habits of the connected learner are valuing own contribution, seeking feedback and engaging with interest groups.An example of being connected in a secondary school could be the establishment of expert advisory groups for all sixth form subjects with a termly meeting of parents and local community members where adult experts give short talks on topics of relevance to the curriculum – English and journalists, art and design and artists, etc. Why tenacity matters todayDeveloping tenacity is not just a nice-to-have – it’s critical. Here are just four reasons why.Tenacity leads to higher performance. A tenacious learner persists despite obstacles and failure. Of course tenacity in itself does not necessarily imply an ‘overcoming’ of problems. One has to know how to overcome the problem. A study by Arslan et al. (2013) found a useful connection between aspects of tenacity and an individual’s metacognitive awareness – a person’s knowledge and regulation of their own ‘cognition’. It will mediate their regulation of effort, recognition of need for assistance, or deployment of learning strategies. Self-efficacy and associated concepts of challenge-seeking, and the valuing of their own contributions have consistently been shown to be associated with school achievement. Tenacity underpins social mobility. In 2012, the All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility published a report after reviewing evidence about social mobility. It concluded that ‘personal resilience and emotional wellbeing are the missing link in the chain’. In the USA similar arguments have been made by Richard Reeves and colleagues (2014) at the Brookings Institute. Tenacity is valued across societies and cultures. James Heckman (a Nobel Prize winner in Economics) and Tim Kautz (2013, p. 6) list a range of character skills that are ‘crucial to success in economic and social life’. A large number of these character skills relate to aspects of tenacity – perseverance, self-control, trust, attentiveness,"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Teaching Tenacity

17 Jul 2018

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      string(5624) "Activity 11 instructions The Great War© Imaginative Minds Ltd.Activity 11: Shot at dawnDescriptionStudents use the text provided and their own research towrite an argument either for or against pardoning the menwho were executed for cowardice during WW1.Curriculum FocusHistory, literacy, thinking skillsMaterialsIncluded in this resource pack:Activity sheet 11 – ‘Shot at Dawn’ textGroupingsGroups of four or fiveProcedureRead through Activity sheet 11, ‘Shot at Dawn’, with thepupils.Explain to the pupils that they are going to write an argumenteither in favour or against pardoning the men who wereexecuted for cowardice. Pupils may wish to undertake furtherresearch in that area.In 2006, the British Defence Secretary, Des Browne,pardoned the soldiers. The pupils will write as though thepardon has not yet been granted.Teacher’s NoteThis is an emotive subject. Students may well be the sameage as a number of the soldiers shot for cowardice, makingfor a relevant and thought-provoking, but potentiallytroubling, debate.Activity sheet 11 The Great War© Imaginative Minds Ltd.Shot at DawnThe Great War quickly became the most brutal conflict in history. Militarycommanders, political leaders, even seasoned servicemen were not prepared for thescale of carnage that was to erupt.All soldiers knew what was expected of them – they had to fight, to the death ifnecessary – and this expectation was held by the majority of the British population.Some of the men who faced the full horror of this war found themselves unable tocope, many were driven insane while others ran away from sights and sounds tooawful to contemplate.Shame and dishonourThe army took a firm stance on cowards and traitors. They were not to be toleratedunder any circumstances. Justice was swift – a court martial followed by death byfiring squad.Today, many soldiers displaying the samesymptoms of the men accused of cowardice inthe Great War are diagnosed and treated forPost Traumatic Syndrome and Combat StressReaction. But this is of small consequence to the306 men from Britain and the Commonwealthwho brought such shame upon themselves andtheir country that their names do not appear anany official war memorials.There is now a monument in memory of thesoldiers executed for cowardice and desertion inStaffordshire at the National MemorialArboretum. The memorial portrays a blindfoldedsoldier, tied to a stake, ready to be shot. It wasmodelled on the likeness of Private HerbertBurden, who lied about his age, enlisting at theage of 16, and was later shot for desertion. Thememorial is surrounded by a semicircle of stakeson which are listed the names of every soldierexecuted in the same fashion.Fear the British gunsBattle weary, terrified soldiers knew they faced death on the battlefield on a dailybasis. No one knew who would die next. Whole battalions could be cut down, leavingthe small group of survivors terrified and confused.However, the reality was if the German guns did not kill them and they shirked theirduty in any way, the British guns would do the job.Failure to return to the front line was viewed as desertion by senior militarycommanders. The executions not only punished men accused of desertion, butserved to dispel similar ideas in the men’s comrades. Senior military commandersActivity sheet 11 The Great War© Imaginative Minds Ltd.believed that if such behaviour was not harshly punished, others would do the sameand the whole discipline of the British Army would collapse.This it appears only applied to enlisted men. A purpose of the court martial was tomake an example of the men on trial, so they could expect little support from medicalofficers. One such doctor later recalled: ‘I went to the trial determined to give him nohelp, for I detest his type – I really hoped he would be shot.’ Some men faced a courtmartial for other offences, but the majority stood trial for desertion. The court martialwas carried out with speed. The execution followed shortly after.Once the men had been found guilty, their deathsentence was confirmed by Field MarshalDouglas Haig the day after the trial. A chaplainspent the night in their cell, as the execution wasto take place the following dawn. Some of thecondemned faced their last moment drugged withmorphine or alcohol. Many of the men sentencedto death for cowardice later proved their braveryby refusing to be blindfolded for their executions. They stared into the faces of theirexecutioners and down the barrel of the guns.At the time of execution, the condemned was taken from his cell, blindfolded and tiedto a stake. A medical officer would place a white piece of cloth over the man’s heartwith a priest praying for him. The firing squad, made of six soldiers, was given theorder to shoot.One random member of the firing squad would be given a gun with a blank round, sothat no soldier would know who had fired the fatal shot.After the execution, the man was examined by themedical officer. If he was alive, the officer in chargewould finish him off with a revolver.Few soldiers wanted to be in a firing squad. Many of thefiring squad were men recovering from wounds thatprevented them from fighting at the front, but did notprevent them from taking part in an execution. Some ofthe ‘men’ who made up the firing squad were under theage of sixteen, as were some of those shot forcowardice.Never too young to diePrivate Thomas Highgate was the first soldier to be shot for cowardice. During theBattle of Mons, he had fled the carnage and hidden in a barn. The rest of thebattalion had either been"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Activity 11:Shot at dawn

17 May 2018