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Is praise counter productive?

I had an interesting discussion with Tim Taylor this morning. He said,  "At best, praising effort has a neutral or no effect when students are successful, but is likely to be negative when students are not successful." But what could possibly be wrong with praise? Surely praise is one of the most fundamental way to motivate pupils? Teachers are, generally, keen to praise pupils, and pupils , generally, welcome and expect it. We use praise to reward or change pupils' behaviour, and to that extent it may well be effective. But could this praise also be diluting learning and effort? Various research seems [...]

2013-09-22T22:15:13+01:00September 22nd, 2013|behaviour, learning, myths|

Hats, schmats: what really matters is the quality of debate

I feel the need to make a few things clear. A few days ago I wrote this: Six Silly Hats (When is it OK to mock stuff you think is daft?) and some of the response I got suggested that I was confused on several points. I clearly had no idea what the hats actually were (I do) I had gotten confused about the metaphorical nature of the hats and that people don't actually wear them (I wasn't and they do. Honestly.) The hats are just a tool to help pupils think laterally and if thinking laterally is a good thing then [...]

2013-09-21T13:51:57+01:00September 21st, 2013|blogging, myths|

Six silly hats (When is it OK to mock stuff you think is daft?)

Who doesn't love wearing silly hats? Christmas dinner just wouldn't be the same without popping on a paper hat and looking like a complete buffoon for the duration. But does this kind of behaviour have a place in education? And if you think not, is it acceptable to poke fun at those who disagree? So, firstly, let's establish whether or not Edward de Bono's Thinking hats actually are silly. Harry Webb's rule of thumb on determining whether an idea is silly or has merit is to imagine whether it could feature in a Monty Python sketch. Now clearly I'm partisan here, [...]

2020-08-01T22:38:25+01:00September 19th, 2013|myths|

A model lesson? Part 2: Marathon vs sprint

Last week I questioned the concept of outstanding lessons full of gimmicks that look great but ultimately may not result in much actual progress being made. Instead, I argued, embedding classroom routines and ensuring consistency are far more important in the long run. And, as classroom teachers, we're in it for the long haul. Who cares whether an individual lesson is a thing of beauty if your GCSE results are rubbish? Who cares if you're using al the latest gizmos and gimmicks if your students don't know how to improve? Who cares if progress zips along at light speed if it's [...]

2014-03-13T09:39:37+00:00September 14th, 2013|behaviour, learning|

A model lesson? Part 1: routines vs gimmicks

It's been a busy week this week. What with starting at a new school, getting up before 5 to drive two hours on Monday morning, living an Alan Partridge-esque existence in a particularly horrific Travelodge, and risking whatever credibility I might have by teaching a 'model' lesson in front of colleagues I'd barely met to kids I'd never met. That this was in any way successful is largely down to the efforts of co-conspirator, Fiona Aris: due to a series of unlikely but banal events, we were unable to meet up (or even meet) beforehand and she (Kindly? Foolishly?) agreed to plan said [...]

2014-08-19T15:24:12+01:00September 8th, 2013|leadership, learning, planning, training|

AfL: cargo cult teaching?

OK, so here's a quick summary of the story so far: A few days ago I suggested in a blog post that maybe AfL 'wasn't all that'. Lots of lovely people kindly got in touch to point out that I clearly hadn't got a clue what AfL actually was, and then Gordon Baillie wrote a really rather good response in defence of AfL on his blog. Right? Right. At this point I'm going to tediously catalogue what I know about AfL so no one's confused about what I might and might not be suggesting. Here's a collection of posts I've written on feedback [...]

2015-12-10T13:53:58+00:00August 31st, 2013|assessment, Featured, learning|

Chasing our tails – is AfL all it's cracked up to be?

Is it blasphemous to doubt the efficacy of AfL? While purists might argue that it's 'just good teaching', we teach in a world where formative assessment has become dogma and where feedback is king. (Don't worry, I'm not about to start upsetting the feedback applecart although there are occasions when pupils can benefit from it being reduced.) But AfL as a 'thing'? I'm not just talking about some of the nonsense that gets spouted about lolly sticks and traffic lights, I'm questioning the entire edifice. Is assessment for learning really all it's cracked up to be, or is it just me? You [...]

2013-08-29T21:17:40+01:00August 29th, 2013|assessment, learning, myths|

Motivation: when the going gets tough, the tough get going

If ever you get embroiled in a discussion on Learning Styles you may well be confronted with the chestnut of motivation. Learning styles, it seems to me, are all about motivation and management, and nothing whatsoever to do with learning. There is of course a correlation between learning and motivation but often they get conflated. Much of what goes on in classrooms is predicated on the belief that if kids are sufficiently engaged in an activity, they will learn from it. But it doesn't take a genius to spot that we can really enjoy something without learning a whole lot from [...]

2014-02-06T17:47:22+00:00August 26th, 2013|learning, planning|

Why can’t we tell a good teacher through lesson observations?

No teacher is so good - or so bad - that he or she cannot improve. Dylan Wiliam The English education system is obsessed with ascertaining the quality of teachers. And what with the great and the good telling us that teacher quality is the most important ingredient in pupils' success then maybe it's small wonder.  As Michael Barber says, "the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers." And taken in the round, assessing teacher quality and then working to develop teachers is an entirely laudable aim. Bizarrely though, many schools seem incapable of seeing beyond [...]

2020-07-17T15:38:53+01:00August 23rd, 2013|leadership, learning, myths|

The problem with fun

Getting students engaged so that they can be taught something seems much less effective than getting them engaged by teaching them something that engages them. Dylan Wiliam Could fun be the enemy of learning? I've not always been the curmudgeonly killjoy I am today. Some years ago, I took part in a department meeting where we were asked to prioritise those qualities we most valued about teaching. We came up with all the tiresomely worthy answers you might expect, but, somewhat controversially, I insisted on including 'fun'. The case I made went something like this: I don't teach for the money, I [...]

2016-10-02T13:38:59+01:00August 22nd, 2013|learning, planning|

A guide to The Learning Spy

The summer holidays are here and tomorrow I'm foolishly attempting to drive to Corsica in a 1979 Campervan. That being the case, there will be no time for writing. So, to satisfy your desire for top quality blog posts (ahem) on all things educational, here is a thematic archive of the posts I've written over the past 2 years. See you in a month! Literacy Thinking like a writer - advice on improving writing skills  4th June 2013 Does dyslexia exist? 26th May 2013 - this upset a lot of people Magic glasses and Meares-Irlen syndrome 27th May 2013 The Matthew Effect: why literacy [...]

2013-07-23T13:56:36+01:00July 22nd, 2013|blogging|
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