Teachers: the major players in the educational process John Hattie: Visible Learning for Teachers
Overview ✤
Why start with teachers?!
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What the research says!
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Being a passionate and inspired teacher!
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Expert teachers vs Experienced teachers!
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Deep and surface learning!
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Activity
Teachers ✤
Argues that education is full of deficit theories about students!
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Hattie feels that teachers must instead see themselves as “positive change agents for the students” they teach!
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Teachers’ beliefs and commitments are the greatest influence on student achievement over which we can have some control over
Teachers
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Teachers do make a difference!
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BUT they make as many minor differences as they do major ones!
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There is also considerable variance across practice at a given school or even subject
Teachers ✤
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The difference between high effect and low effect teachers is 0.25! This equates to having students that are about 1 year behind if in the low effect teacher’s class! Hattie argues that the difference is primarily related to the attitudes and expectations that teachers have when they make key decisions about key issues in teaching!
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These key issues are! ✤
what to teach!
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what level of difficulty to teach to!
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understanding the progressions in their own teaching!
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the effects their teaching has on students
Our influence making a positive change to student achievement
The research ✤
Sam Smith (2009) introduced a teacher target setting programme in a large American High School! ✤
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teachers felt the targets were really about covering curriculum, providing resources and ensuring fairness in the classroom!
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The purpose of the targets to help track student achievement!
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sound familiar?
many teachers refused to participate! the feeling was it was not their responsibility for students to meet any targets!
The research ✤
Russell Bishop (2003) argues that minority students suffer in mainstream classrooms from the beliefs of teachers!
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Personal teacher theories of practice and beliefs often resist evidence about the groups of students they teach (ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic etc)!
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Bishop’s tested this by surveying student on the matter!
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Showing teachers the difference between what they think and the students think, forms the starting point for a discussion about theory of practice and its impact on students.
Expert versus Experienced Teachers
Expert vs Experienced Teachers
5 features of an expert teacher ✤
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Expert teachers can identify the most important ways in which to represent the subject that they teach! Expert teachers are proficient at creating an optimal classroom climate for learning!
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Expert teachers monitor learning and provide feedback!
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Expert teachers believe that all students can reach the success criteria!
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Expert teachers influence surface and deep student outcomes
Subject knowledge ✤
Teacher content knowledge has little effect on student outcomes!
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An expert in the history of New Zealand will not necessarily have the skills to translate this in a way that helps students achieve!
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The amount of knowledge doesn’t matter it’s about knowing the surface and deeper understandings of the subject!
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Essentially it’s about being able to distinguish between the little bits you need to know, when they should be actively taught, and how they connect to the deeper understandings needed to be successful in the subject!
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The sequence of learning matters, concentrating on the most relevant info at the most appropriate time
Learning environment ✤
Trust!
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It’s okay to make mistakes!
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Create an environment where peers accept the mistakes of each other!
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“Learning is cool”!
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Learning is worth engaging in
Feedback
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It’s about problem solving for students!
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What are we learning!
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How well are you learning!
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What’s impacting your learning
Success Criteria
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Must believe that intelligence is changeable not fixed!
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Look at the seven Cs on page 31
Surface and deep
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Needs elements that extend learning!
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Set challenging goals rather than “do your best” goals!
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Invite students to engage in the challenge of learning!
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Be committed to achieving them
Expert vs Experienced teachers ✤
Read pages 32-34!
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Discuss with your group what the differences are!
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How much of a typical unit of work, is surface vs deep?!
