Teaching Independence with Current Affairs

Strong critical thinking skills can strengthen social and cognitive development at all stages. Chloe Taylor shows how her classroom has implemented the Socratic method in the English classroom by teaching current affairs and getting students to read the news.

The digital age has brought with it a rapidly changing and often unpredictable media landscape. Heightened accessibility to media sources means that everyone is increasingly aware of the world around them—adults and children alike. As educators, we have a responsibility to ensure that our students are trained to identify reliable news sources, understand a range of perspectives and be receptive to current affairs outside the classroom walls. Teaching current affairs often lies within the remit of Humanities lessons, but there is no reason that it cannot be incorporated into other lessons such as science and maths. The challenge is ensuring that current affairs teaching remains neutral and engaging. While the media landscape can be challenging to navigate, nevertheless, training students on how to effectively dissect the news will help them develop key critical thinking skills which will strengthen their social and cognitive development, and translate into the world outside the classroom.

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      string(3995) "to thank an adult who may have come into school to take an assembly, making a request to the governors for a change to something in school or conducting a survey and writing up the results as a report rather than just a table in maths.Shared writing is also a good technique for demonstrating the skill of summarising, as is making pupils work to a word count to reduce a passage or a set number of bullet points. Although the teacher will have worked out the summary in advance, often pupils will come up with alternatives which may be just as valid as the one you have written. Text marking is a good activity to use to identify the main points of a piece of writing, and using two colours of pen can be very effective here – one to highlight information that definitely has to be included and the other for details that may be included if there are enough words.Year 6: Composition Objectives:Writes effectively to specification e.g. of style, audience, purpose, length, timingCan use internalised pre-drafting to reduce the need for multiple revisionsCan write when necessary in mature, formal, consistent voiceIs a confident narrator, showing as much as telling the story, using detail and nuance to communicate meaningCan summarise quickly and competently to a set lengthBy Year 6 pupils should have developed not only the technical level of accuracy required to secure the attention of a reader, but they also need to be able to appropriately apply the skills they have acquired to different tasks and texts. In Year 6 there is an opportunity to allow pupils to occasionally choose what they want to write about and the type of text they want to use. Allowing choice and freedom often appeals to boys and it is something we don’t do often enough as we continue to control the content and purpose of their writing in order to be able to teach what we have planned, but ‘orchestrating the whole’ is the challenge for the writer at this stage.Pupils will be building on the work begun in Year 5 in summarising longer pieces of writing, and they may already have tried writing to an approximate length e.g. reducing the text by one-third or reducing it to three paragraphs.  Working to an exact word limit, especially if it is a very limited one like 100 words, means not just deleting superfluous words and contracting sentences, but also can mean forming new sentences altogether and writing a different text that still retains the meaning of the original. Shared writing is the best way to model this and is ideally done with a group rather than the whole class. When pupils first attempt this, using ICT is helpful because they can experiment and start again if they wish. There are a number of things to do with text on screen. If texts are prepared and cover different text types from information text to a diary to a match report, the blank page is avoided and the content can be directed to pupils’ interests. For example, pupils can work with a prepared match report by:changing it from positive to negative change from negative to positivereorder the sentences and paragraphs that have been jumbled and include subheadingsreduce the text to a set number of wordsincrease the text by a set number of wordsadd a final paragraph to the reportThroughout Year 6, although schools concentrate on ensuring that the vast majority of pupils achieve the required standard in English, there is also a need for teachers to prepare the pupils for the secondary phase of education by increasingly developing independence and providing situations where pupils have to organise their own writing tasks–from initial planning through the writing process, to the final piece of writing.Wendy Morton taught for over 20 years before becoming one of the first primary national strategy consultants and a KS3 specialist consultant. She was a regional director for English in the Secondary National Strategy, and is now an independent education consultant."
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Composing Coherently Inspiring Independence in Writing

10 Oct 2018

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      string(2366) "with whom they work and the independent learning tasks they set.     Overall Good Practice Model for Pupil Research Dr Andrew K. Shenton is a school librarian, EPQ teacher and academic specialising in information literacy. He currently has 200 published papers to his name.NotesKuhlthau, C.C. (1988). Meeting the information needs of children and young adults: Basing library media programs on developmental states. Journal of Youth Services in Libraries, 2(1), pp. 51-57.Krathwohl, D.R. (2002). A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An overview. Theory into Practice, 41(4), pp. 212-18.AQA (2015). Level 3 Extended Project Qualification (7993). URL: http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-W-7993-SP-15.PDFMarland, M. (Ed.) (1981). Information skills in the secondary curriculum. London: Methuen Educational.Paterson, E.C. (1981). Information skills 8 to 18. Hull: Professional Centre, Hull College of Higher Education (Curriculum Paper No. 3).Lincoln, Y.S. & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic Inquiry. Newbury Park, California: Sage.Shenton, A.K. (2017). Student-led research or project work. SecEd, 474, p. 10.APPENDIX: SPECIMEN FINAL ASSIGNMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE RESEARCH QUESTION, ‘WHY DID THE KNIGHT BECOME OBSOLETE AS A WARRIOR?’IntroductionThe knight’s success in campaigns (Seward, 2003)His armour and protection (Bouchard, 2015)The role of the horse (Bouchard, 2015; Medievalchronicles.com, 2018)His weaponry (Bouchard, 2015; Diagram Group, 1980)Knights as ‘the tanks of their age’ (Bouchard, 2015)Main BodyThe demise of the knight: salient factors     Missile warfare The heavy crossbow (Diagram Group, 1980; Military History Now, 2012; Perham, undated; myArmoury.com, undated; Peterson, 1962; Squadeducation, 2012)The English longbow (Diagram Group, 1980; Military History Now, 2012; Perham, undated; Bouchard, 2015)Importance of the Battle of Crecy (Froissart, 1369; Grant, 2005; Iggulden and Iggulden, 2007)The firearm (Edge and Paddock, 1993; Tunis, 1977; Peterson, 1962; Grant, 2005; Diagram Group, 1980)Standing infantry (Bouchard, 2015)The pike formation (Bouchard, 2015; Tunis, 1977)Cost (Breiding, 2004; Bouchard, 2015; Verbruggen, 1997)Chivalry (Bouchard, 2015; Grant, 2005; Iggulden and Iggulden, 2007; Verbruggen, 1997)ConclusionThe importance of the rise of the firearm (Edge and Paddock, 1993; Bouchard, 2015)"
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Creative Teaching & Learning

Modelling for Success in Independent Learning

26 Mar 2019

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      string(2368) "different approach in different subjects.Questions for a school to consider:What features of independent learning are you going to focus on? Which skillsand attitudes?What is the common key language that will be used by staff and pupils topromote independence?What will be the common reference point for staff and pupils? Learning walls?Displays around the corridor?Can you present high profile opportunities for pupils to practise and demonstrateindependent learning such as collapsed timetable days or theme weeks?The importance of the culture of the school and each classroom cannot beunderestimated in the development of independent learners. The subtle skills of theteacher will be actively coaching independence in their pupils throughout a lesson.All teachers know that independence doesn’t just happen. Developingindependent learners is a process that requires strong foundations of knowledge,skills, experiences and attitudes. Learners need to be enabled to make the best useof independence based on common strategies used throughout the school, whichwill enable them to apply independent learning strategies consistently and withincreasing effectiveness. The ability to work independently clearly takes time todevelop. However, developing young people who are capable of becoming trulyindependent learners not only makes our jobs easier and more fulfilling while theyare still in school, but also gives our pupils a greater chance of success in life afterschool.■■■■■■■■Paul Trainor isManaging Director ofPositive Synergy (www.positivesynergy.co.uk),a consultancy workingwith schools to createhigh quality teachingand learning withindependent, ambitious,motivated learners,equipped to succeed inthe 21st century. He canbe contacted at paul@positivesynergy.co.uk.http://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/helpingpupilsbecometheirownteachershttp://library.teachingtimes.com/articles/slt_its_the_school_culture_stupidhttp://www.harrisfederation.org.uk/uploads/document/2_0_a-new-design-for-learning.pdfhttp://www.harrisfederation.org.uk/uploads/document/2_0_a-new-design-for-learning.pdfhttp://www.positivesynergy.co.ukhttp://www.positivesynergy.co.ukmailto:paul@positivesynergy.co.ukmailto:paul@positivesynergy.co.uk"
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Leadership

Motivating students to become independent and aspirational learners

10 Feb 2014

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      string(5688) "wewould all still be shuffling about on our bottoms.Look too at the multiple drafts of any novel or poem worth reading, or any pieceof music worth listening to. Real learning is riddled with ‘not right yet’ and ‘not goodenough yet’. Making children ashamed of their mistakes is a sure way of making themtimid, unadventurous and scared of novelty or difficulty. If erasers are used as a way ofletting children pretend that they never make mistakes, they can easily contribute tothat culture of shame, and thus to the retardation of learning. It’s not rocket science.So tell your class that they are not allowed to use their rubbers any more – and seehow anxious that makes the group of ‘bright girls’ (often but not always girls), who loveto sit at the front, have immaculate exercise books, and delight in shooting their handsup and delivering right answers all the time. They will hate it! But when they are in theirsecond year at college or university, they will look back and thank you.Or take the ‘riskometer’ (see image on the following page). It is a simple graphic,made by the pupils, that is displayed on the classroom wall. It looks like a thermometer,but, instead of measuring temperature, it measures the degree of risk in their learningthat a child has agreed to take.http://www.buildinglearningpower.com/30Vol 7.2School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadingLearningIndependentlearningIn the Year 2 class from which this example comes,each child had their picture with a bit of Velcro backing.Sometimes their teacher would allow them to choose thelevel of difficulty they were going to attempt. Childrencould work together on multiplying two numbers,for example, but they could make up their own sums,making them easier or harder depending on how much‘risk’ they wanted to take. Or they could have a thinkbefore painting a picture or writing a story, and decidehow experimental they were going to be. To encouragestudents to be more adventurous, and run the risk ofmaking mistakes, you could devise a mark scheme thatgives credit for the ‘degree of difficulty’ each student haschosen – just like the mark scheme that is used to judgediving competitions.Next stepsThere are dozens of ways in which you can make learningin school a better preparation for learning in life. You areprobably using many of them already. But remember:however independent and imaginative you have helpedyour pupils to become, there is always another step youand they could take. Building these valuable attitudes is ajob that is never finished.In your primary school, how much responsibility dothe children take?■ Do you show them the school budget and let them think about the real, difficultdecisions that are involved in budgeting?■ Does the student council have a sub-committee that advises the leadership teamon matters to do with teaching and learning?31Vol 7.2School Leadership Todaywww.teachingtimes.comLeadingLearningIndependentlearningKnowledge trails1. Helping pupils become their own teachers –Learner independence does not mean strugglingalone. Douglas Cremin shares his strategies to stampout the fear of independent learning.library.teachingtimes.com/articles/helpingpupilsbecometheirownteachers2. Motivating students to become independentand aspirational learners – Paul Trainor explainshow developing a school-wide culture of independentlearning can begin in the classroom, during thesimplest actions between teacher and pupil…library.teachingtimes.com/articles/motivating-students-independent-aspirational-learners.htmReferences1. Claxton, G. and Lucas, B. (2015) Educating Ruby: Whatour children really need to learn. Bancyfelin: CrownHouse Publishing.2. Talks at Google (2015) Carol Dweck: “The GrowthMindset” – Talks at Google.Availableat: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-71zdXCMU6A[Accessed 11 November 2015].3. Espinoza, J. (2015) Erasers are an ‘instrument of thedevil’ which should be banned, says academic.The Telegraph, [online] 26 May. Available at: www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11630639/Ban-erasers-from-the-classroom-says-academic.html[Accessed 11 November 2015].■ If you have to leave the classroom, are your students so self-organising that theyhardly notice – or do they still depend on you to ‘keep control’?■ Is the first lesson of every day ‘independent learning’ where the children just comein and get on – alone or in partnerships – with their own learning projects?If you say yes to all of these, I’d love to know what your next steps are going to be!Likewise, in your secondary school:■ How far are students trusted to find and return the resources they think they need?■ Do you have student lesson observers, keen to help teachers discover ways to letstudents take on more responsibility?■ Do you tell students the tasks that need to be accomplished by the end of the week– and let them sequence and prioritise the tasks as they see best?■ How much self-study do students do, and how does it increase in amount andcomplexity as they move up through the school?■ How much do older students take responsibility for younger ones?Consider too: what data do you gather from your ex-students, a year or two afterthey have left, to find out how well-prepared they feel to cope with the dramaticallyincreased freedoms and responsibilities they are bound to have met? And how is thatdata being used to improve the pedagogy and the culture of the school, so that youknow, year on year, you are doing a better and better job of preparing them for thedemands of real life?Any"
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Leadership

How to develop curious and independent learners

18 Dec 2015

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