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Instructional Design Strategies for Adults

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Instructional Design Strategies for Adults

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Effective Learning and Instructional Design Strategies for Adult Learners

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“Education in the light of present-day knowledge and need calls for some spirited and creative innovations both in the substance and the purpose of current pedagogy.”, said Anne Sullivan, teacher and lifelong companion of Helen Keller. Pedagogy and Andragogy: are they different sides of the same coin, or are they different coins altogether? Let’s look

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What is Andragogy Adult Learning Theory?

Malcolm Knowles (1913-1977) was an influential American educator who popularised the term 'andragogy', the art and science of how adults learn. It describes the key characteristics of adult learners (as distinct from children 'pedagogy'). It has become a highly influential adult learning theory and continues to shape learning design today.

Knowles developed the first four assumptions about how adults learn in 1980 and added the fifth in 1984.

Andragogy: The five assumptions

1. Self-concept

Adults are self-directed. They:

Are independent

Like to find their own way

Can make their own decisions

Want to manage their own learning

2. Experience

Adults have breadth and depth of experiences to draw on and apply to new learning. They:

Have diverse experience and knowledge

May have ingrained ideas about things

Use problem-solving, critical reflection and reasoning skills

3. Readiness

Adults want to learn things that are relevant in a real-to-life context. They:

Are goal focused

Want just-in-time learning

See value in meaningful learning experiences

Need a clear 'why' and 'what' for learning goals

4. Orientation

Adults are engaged by learning that is problem-centred and practical. They:

Are practical - learning should apply to their lives or job

Want to be involved in planning their learning

Focus on aspects that are most useful to them

5. Motivation

Adults are intrinsically motivated by various value-drivers (not simply more money!):

Job satisfaction

Self-esteem

Quality of life

Personal growth and development

These assumptions recognise that there are differences in the ways adults learn from children. Andragogy focuses on the process of learning, rather than the product. It supports discovery-based learning, encouraging learners to construct their own understanding through problem-solving and collaboration with peers.

Respecting the principles of adult learning will help to engage and motivate participants. Keep Knowles' 5 principles of adult learning top of mind when designing your programs.

Andragogy: Adult Learning Theory

Related blog articles:

FAQs

What is andragogy adult learning theory?

Andragogy, the art and science of how adults learn, describes the key characteristics of adult learners (as distinct from children 'pedagogy').

Is andragogy the same as adult learning theory?

'Andragogy' refers to the art and science of how adults learn. It has become a highly influential adult learning theory and continues to shape learning design today.

What is adult learning theory Knowles?

Malcolm Knowles (1913-1977) was an influential American educator who popularised the term 'andragogy', the art and science of how adults learn.

What are the five principles of andragogy?

The five principles of andragogy are:

1. Self-concept

2. Experience

3. Readiness

4. Orientation

5. Motivation

Why is andragogy important in teaching adults?

Andragogy recognises that there are differences in the ways adults learn from children. This distinction is vital to help to engage and motivate adult learners.

What are the benefits of andragogy?

Respecting the principles of adult learning will help to engage and motivate participants. It supports discovery-based learning, encouraging learners to construct their own understanding through problem-solving and collaboration with peers.

What are the four principles of andragogy?

Knowles developed the first four assumptions about how adults learn in 1980 and added the fifth in 1984.

The five principles of andragogy are:

1. Self-concept: Adults are self-directed.

2. Experience: Adults have breadth and depth of experiences to draw on and apply to new learning.

3. Readiness: Adults want to learn things that are relevant in a real-to-life context.

4. Orientation: Adults are engaged by learning that is problem-centred and practical.

5. Motivation: Adults are intrinsically motivated by various value-drivers (not simply more money!).

References:

Knowles, M. (1984). The Adult Learner: A Neglected Species (3rd Ed.). Houston, TX: Gulf Publishing.

Knowles, M. (1984). Andragogy in Action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Andragogy: Adult Learning Theory - Instructional Design Australia

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Malcolm Knowles (1913-1977) was an influential American educator who popularised the term 'andragogy', the art and science of how adults learn. It describes the key characteristics of adult learners (as distinct from children 'pedagogy'). It has become a highly influential adult learning theory and continues to shape learning design today.

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Promote, deliver, and design high-quality learning opportunities.

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Article about John Hattie's Idea

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"In fact, if we can increase their sense of love of learning, the thrill, we can increase their sense of self," Hattie said. In other words, skill, will and thrill, the three inputs students all have, sometimes work in harmony, but even when that doesn't happen each aspect of a student is worth developing individually, too.

THE LEARNING MODEL

Hattie and Donoghue have tried to take everything they have learned through meta analyses to understand why some strategies that educators swear by, like project-based learning, have low effect sizes in the literature. In their paper and discussions of this proposed model it can seem like a linear progression of learning, but Hattie takes pains to point out that this model is only a conjecture and that the processes he's describing could be happening in cycles within one learning experience. The Science of Learning paper aims to propose the model, but also points out many ways that some of its claims could be further studied.

For Hattie, most learning rests on student understanding of the success criteria for a learning task. Hattie calls this a "prelearning phase" because if students don't understand what it will take to be successful, they often act blindly and without motivation. He says that students who are taught the success criteria are more strategic in their choice of learning strategies, and thus more likely to encounter the thrill of success that will lead to reinvestment in learning.

"Too often students may know the learning intention, but do not [know] how the teacher is going to judge their performance, or how the teacher knows when or whether students have been successful," Hattie and Donoghue write in their article. When students understand how they will be evaluated they can also self-evaluate more effectively, a metacognitive skill that can help students become more independent learners.

How students gain initial content knowledge that they can then manipulate has long been a discussion among educators. Some argue students need to learn basic information before they can begin to use it. Others say students will learn information when it is critical to a problem or project they are trying to understand.

The Hattie/Donoghue learning model dives into that discussion, describing learning strategies that work best at the surface level, and those that help consolidate surface learning, as well as those that develop deep learning and work to consolidate deep learning. Lastly, Hattie and Donoghue deal with the idea of transfer, which broadly means being able to identify similarities and differences between problems and effectively apply previous learning to new situations.

The authors describe surface learning as "studying without much reflecting on either purpose or strategy, learning many ideas without necessarily relating them and memorizing facts and procedures routinely." They say deep learning is characterized by "seeking meaning, relating and extending ideas, looking for patterns and underlying principles, checking evidence and relating it to conclusions, examining arguments cautiously and critically, and becoming actively interested in course content." They don't privilege one kind of learning over the other, but rather say surface and deep learning work together.

When students are acquiring their first knowledge about a topic, there are some learning strategies that seem to work regardless of the content area. Organizing, outlining and summarizing information can help students master surface level content. But Hattie says to consolidate that initial learning, "effort and deliberate practice is critical." At this stage overlearning strategies like practice tests, giving and receiving feedback, and spacing practice out over time are especially helpful. To make consolidation worthwhile the authors stress that practice cannot just be "drill and practice," but instead must change based on feedback. The point of consolidation is to move the surface knowledge to long-term memory, where it is readily available for future use.

"If you're doing this phase just to pass the test, the surface phase, then it's not very effective," Hattie said. "The whole point of overlearning is to go to the deep learning."

When it comes to acquiring deeper learning, "a major purpose is for the student to deliberately activate prior knowledge and then make relations and extensions beyond what they have learned at the surface phase." Elaboration, strategy monitoring and metacognitive strategies all have strong effect sizes at this stage and enhance learning. Consolidation of deep learning is when working with others becomes the most powerful, according to this model. Listening to others in discussion and finding ways to connect and extend knowledge are practices that help students realize what they don't know. Self-questioning and verbalizing, as well as seeking help, are also effective strategies to consolidate deeper learning.

But ultimately most teachers and parents want students to learn information and skills so that they can use them in school and life beyond the specific instance when they were taught. The process of transferring knowledge has not been as well studied as other areas, but Hattie said that learning to detect similarities and differences is a key part of making it happen.

"After a task, the skill seems to be stopping the student rushing into solving a new problem [by] first asking them to elaborate on the similarities and differences of the two problems (the old and new)," Hattie wrote in an email. "Being more aware of the task constraints/ differences is the key to being successful in transfer." Much of Hattie's thinking on transfer is influenced by research done by Ference Marton, whose work is largely qualitative.

Interestingly, the only strategy that seemed to work in all four quadrants (acquiring surface, consolidating surface, acquiring deep, consolidating deep) was the jigsaw activity, which had a large effect size. In a jigsaw activity students are reading new information, discussing it with others who have read the same thing to extend their understanding, and then moving to new groups where they teach peers about what they read and learn new information from group members.
LEARNING IN CONTEXT
Hattie also emphasizes that all of the learning strategies, other than a few surface strategies like outlining, should be taught in the context of content, especially because some may look different depending on the subject area. He's also aware that the key to this model of learning is to know when to apply each strategy and how to help students develop that understanding as well. While in general Hattie believes that students need to know some information before they can do anything with it, indicating a progression from surface knowledge to deeper understanding and finally to transfer, he admits that "these are fuzzy distinctions" and there is often "much overlap in various phases."

For example, when a student is doing a project on a topic of interest, and thus extending knowledge deeper, he may encounter an aspect that he knew nothing about, at which time he may need to gain a surface understanding of that smaller topic in order to continue the project. In other words, the phases Hattie has laid out often overlap and cycle back on one another and should not be taken as a linear process.

Far from being a recipe for the "most effective" teaching strategies, this model of learning relies on teachers' professionalism. When teachers can identify where in the learning cycle a student is and suggest some strategies that might work well at that point, she can have a bigger impact. Hattie also advocates talking to students about the stages of learning so kids can begin to use the language and recognize the strategies that work for where they are. Too often students continue to use ineffective strategies because they don't know others or aren't aware that the ones they are using aren't the most effective.

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How Do You Know When A Teaching Strategy Is Most Effective? John Hattie Has An Idea | KQED

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"In fact, if we can increase their sense of love of learning, the thrill, we can increase their sense of self," Hattie said. In other words, skill, will and thrill, the three inputs students all have, sometimes work in harmony, but even when that doesn't happen each aspect of a student is worth developing individually, too.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST.

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A list to explore further

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1. Raise the school starting age. Read more...

2. Prioritise play. Read more...

3. Place students in mixed age groups with mixed abilities. Read more...

4. Eradicate standardised tests which put pupils (and teachers) under unnecessary pressure. Read more...

5. Value creativity and innovation. Read more...

6. Prioritise mental health and wellbeing. Read more...

7. Practice democracy and mutual respect between staff and pupils. Read more...

8. Value self-directed education. Read more...

9. Broaden the National Curriculum. Read more...

10. Reduce the amount of time spent at school. Read more...

11. Enhance teacher training to equip teachers for the job. Read more...

12. Reduce class/school sizes. Read more...

13. Facilitate parent/teacher collaboration. Read more...

14. Equip students with the skills needed for adulthood and the workplace. Read more...

15. The education system is outdated. Create a new model for the 21st century.

Is Schooling in Breach of Children's Human Rights?

There is a growing dissatisfaction with our state education system, as reflected by the number of changes people are calling for outlined above. Many people believe that conventional schooling is in fact in conflict with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).

Further Reading

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15 Ways to Reimagine Education - Progressive Education

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Raise the school starting age. Read more... Prioritise play. Read more... Place students in mixed age groups with mixed abilities. Read more... Eradicate standardised tests which put pupils (and teachers) under unnecessary pressure. Read more... Value creativity and innovation. Read more... Prioritise mental health and wellbeing. Read more...

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3 Brain Based Strategies to Encourage Deeper Thinking

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3 Brain Based Strategies to Encourage Deeper Thinking

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Edutopia

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Retrieval practice, elaboration, and concept mapping help students make richer, more meaningful connections between ideas.

With uncertainty hovering over fall plans, teaching and learning continue to look different from district to district than ever before. While administrators juggle with tough choices, almost every teacher is back to reading, reflecting, and restructuring their lesson plans to keep their learners engaged and learning-and as equitable as possible given the constraints. In this post, I share three strategies, informed by the learning sciences, that teachers can use online or face-to-face to deepen student learning: retrieval practice, elaboration, and concept mapping.

Strategy 1: Retrieval Practice

Retrieval practice, or the practice of remembering, is a robust learning strategy as summarized in a meta-analysis of more than 200 studies published by my colleagues and me. Retrieval practice is when you push yourself to write, tell, or draw what you've already learned, and it can be especially helpful for concepts you may not remember as clearly-the process of remembering will help strengthen your memory. Plus, you have the added benefit of identifying what you know and don't know. Some teachers use this strategy in their classrooms already-maybe you do too. If not, here are two ways to start:

1. Create a version of your study guide that has only the questions. Ask students to practice answering them without additional support. Once they're done, they can share their answers; they can also look up the correct answers, either alone or in groups.

2. Use a brain dump. Ask students to write down everything they remember relevant to your question (or the topic) on a piece of paper. You can stop here, or have students compare their work to find gaps, similarities, and differences.

Strategy 2: Elaboration

Elaboration -also known as elaborative interrogation-refers to expanding a concept to be more detailed, allowing our brain to connect multiple concepts to one central idea. The more connections we make, the more likely we are to remember relevant information. Think of the icebreaker "Tell me one fun thing about yourself." Not only does it help you remember something interesting about a person-they like rocky road ice cream, for example-but you may also think of that person every time you see the flavor. In a learning context, elaboration can often be done by asking questions that require engaging deeply with content. So instead of asking learners to simply memorize information, they can compare and contrast right and wrong answers. This approach is so simple, you likely use it in your class already. Here are two ways to start:

1. Ask learners to compare two examples of the same concept or share specific examples. For example, when covering concepts of reusable energy, ask questions such as, "What are three similarities and differences between wind and solar energy?" Use these questions in a discussion board, in a short answer prompt, or to jazz up the thinking quotient of your worksheet.

2. Learners can explain the topic out loud to themselves, friends, a sibling, or a parent. You can also incorporate it into group activities-like a jigsaw-or have students role-play as the teacher and explain the topic to the class. For virtual classrooms, Flipgrid is an excellent tool: Students can record themselves reading about a topic and then answering questions like "How do I apply this topic in my life?" For younger students who may need more scaffolding, you can ask a more targeted prompt, like "How do I consume energy every day?"

Putting It All Together: Concept Mapping

Concept mapping combines retrieval practice and elaboration through the process of drawing one's understanding of relationships between concepts. A map usually contains at least two concepts (nouns), a relationship (verb or concise description), and a directional arrow connecting the concepts. When reading the map, we create mini sentences (excusing poor grammar, of course). For example, a student learning about bacteria can create a concept map that includes any relevant ideas-such as specific types of bacteria (" Helicobacter pylori") or ways to describe them ("single-celled organism"). This layout allows learners to identify what they know and where the gaps are, in addition to the relationships between concepts. A review of more than 140 experiments suggests that this strategy is superior to rote memorization because it encourages students to make richer, more meaningful connections within a topic.

There are six stages in concept mapping, starting with the instructor providing learners with a specific guiding question.

1. Focusing stage: Learners are given or are asked to identify a guiding question-such as "How is ice formed?"-relevant to the current topic.

2. Brainstorming stage (making use of retrieval practice): Learners do a brain dump in response to the guiding question, writing down any concepts and ideas that come to mind.

3. Organizing stage (elaboration): Learners review their brain dump and pick out concepts that are central to the guiding question, followed by asking themselves, "How are these concepts connected?"

4. Layout stage: Learners build their map connecting the concepts with directional arrows showcasing their understanding. At the top of the map, they can start by writing down the main ideas of the topic, and then start connecting words together.

5. Linking stage: They complete the first draft of the concept map by labeling the arrows with these descriptions. For example, if they start with the words "ice" and "cold," they can connect the two with "is." This encourages learners to think about the relationships between different ideas.

6. Revising stage: There is no perfect concept map. Give learners the opportunity to redo and update based on their understanding.

I've written a detailed step-by-step guide on how to use concept maps, whether in the classroom or virtually.

In the past, I've done concept mapping with kindergarteners, replacing words with pictures, and it's so much fun to have them form sentences using images. The goal is to help them retrieve, elaborate, and share their understanding. (I also recommend looking into Dual Coding for Teachers and other resources by Oliver Caviglioli.)

A final tip: You don't have to do all of these strategies for every topic. Pick and choose, mix and match. Start small and build up. These strategies work because they engage the learner's attention and encourage them to think more deeply about the content.

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3 Brain-Based Strategies That Encourage Deeper Thinking

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Retrieval practice, elaboration, and concept mapping help students make richer, more meaningful connections between ideas. With uncertainty hovering over fall plans, teaching and learning continue to look different from district to district than ever before.

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A best-of-the-best collection of resources for social justice- and equity-focused educators.

Teaching and learning happen within cultural, political, and social circumstances. As much as we want to deny it, we all have biases based on our life experiences. Each of us -- teachers and students alike -- enter classrooms from different perspectives and points of view. We must learn to negotiate those differences to better understand each other and our worlds, and to advocate for a better, more equitable future. To do so, we need to build a set of social and cultural literacies via multicultural education, social justice education, and culturally responsive pedagogy that help us navigate difficult conversations, acknowledge and challenge bias and prejudice, create inclusive classroom spaces, and fight for social justice.

In this collection, you'll find hand-picked, regularly updated resources to help you better understand and practice these important social and cultural literacies. At the top, there are featured resources as well as more comprehensive curricula. Then you'll find lessons, videos, downloadables, and games organized by a few key topic areas like facilitating tough conversations, understanding bias and prejudice, and getting students civically engaged.

Jump down to a section
Social and Cultural Literacy Curricula
Challenging or Difficult Conversations
Bias and Prejudice
Civic Engagement, Activism, and Social Justice
Inclusive Communities
Research on Social and Cultural Literacy
Social and Cultural Literacy Organizations to Explore for More
= one of our favorite resources

Social and Cultural Literacy Courses and Curricula

The providers below offer more comprehensive resources for media literacy, from courses (from just a few hours to weeks) to a curriculum linked to a scope and sequence and standards.

Challenging or Difficult Conversations

Controversial and difficult conversations are unavoidable in classrooms, especially those grappling with important cultural, social, and political issues. Fortunately, these conversations are often a lot scarier in theory than in practice given the incredible research and resources available for handling them effectively.

Websites, articles, feeds, and newsletters

Lesson plans and activities

Building Classroom Community: Lessons for the First Day of School (by Facing History): Framed as a back-to-school toolkit, these five lessons will help prep classrooms to have meaningful, respectful conversations about identity and more.

Critical Practices for Anti-Bias Education: Classroom Culture (by Teaching Tolerance): These PD activities and reflections for educators help teachers make their classrooms more open and respectful, leading to better discussions and outcomes for all students.

"Where I'm From" Poem (by Remix at the University of Notre Dame): Use this poetry lesson to get students reflecting on -- and sharing -- who they are. Along the way students also get some experience using Audacity, an audio recording and editing tool.

Videos

Civil Discourse Online (by Common Sense Education): Cameron Kasky, one of the survivors of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, and a March for Our Lives activist, offers some lessons learned and advice for having political discussions online.

Handouts, infographics, and posters

Games, apps, and tools

Help students build collaboration and communication skills using the tools on these lists.

Bias and Prejudice

We all carry biases, and it's important to reflect on them and work to expand our perspectives, experiences, and communities so we act and think with less prejudice and take aim together at systems of oppression.

Websites, articles, feeds, and newsletters

Lesson plans and activities

Videos

Handouts, infographics, and posters

Games, apps, and tools

Implicit Association Test (by Project Implicit at Harvard University): This test, which is informed by and fuels research at Harvard, is a good way to show everyone that they have some level of implicit bias.

Civic Engagement, Activism, and Social Justice

When studying tough topics like injustice and oppression, it's important to connect people -- especially young people -- to outlets for their frustration, rage, and political goals. This is where activism comes in: It can channel these feelings toward meaningful ways to build community and create social change.

Websites, articles, feeds, and newsletters

10 Organizations That Empower Latinxs in America (by Cultura Collectiva): A good overview of Latinx-focused organizations for students looking to advocate for the rights and futures of Latinx people worldwide.

10 Ways Youth Can Engage in Activism (by ADL): Share these methods with students to give them an outlet for their political passions.

28 Organizations That Empower Black Communities (by the Huffington Post): While this is far from comprehensive, this list has a lot of great organizations for Black activists, and some are led by young people.

International Indigenous Youth Council: Started during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock, this organization fights to protect the natural world and indigenous culture while encouraging young people to become leaders in their communities.

March for Our Lives: Formed in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, March for Our Lives has mobilized young people to end the epidemic of gun violence.

National LGBT-Supportive Organizations (U.S.) (by LGBT Youth Allies): An excellent roundup of LGBTQ organizations, usefully broken into those that focus on young people and those that have broader missions.

Sunrise Movement: This youth-led climate change organization has been making headlines the past two years, most notably for being behind the push for a Green New Deal.

Lesson plans and activities

Activism Online (by Teaching Tolerance): A great introduction to both the possibilities and limitations of online activism.

Democracy & Civic Engagement (by Facing History): There are dozens of lessons -- across all grade levels -- available at Facing History that help students understand past struggles for justice and encourage them to imagine possible futures.

Social Media for Social Action (by Teaching Tolerance): Get students thinking more deeply about how social media can be leveraged for activism and change, but also about the negative effects inherent in the medium.

Transformational action through Art Build (by NEA EdJustice): This article shows how several school communities brought their schools and communities together to create and showcase activist art. There's also checklist of tasks you can use to organize your own Art Build event.

Videos

Handouts, infographics, and posters

Games, apps, and tools

Inclusive Communities

To be good citizens -- and digital citizens -- we must actively work against toxic ideas and communities rife with conspiratorial thinking, cynicism, and hate. Instead, we must create spaces where everyone is welcome and ideas and points of view are discussed constructively.

Websites, articles, feeds, and newsletters

Lesson plans and activities

Awareness Activities (by the Critical Multicultural Pavilion): These icebreakers and reflective activities help classrooms map and discuss their identities, differences, and commonalities.

Constructively Engaging in Digital Communities (by Teaching Tolerance): An in-depth lesson that ends with students developing classroom guidelines for effective community participation.

Countering Hate Speech Online (by Common Sense Education): Get students to explore the relationship between hate speech and xenophobia and how they can combat it in digital spaces.

Part of a Community Online (by Teaching Tolerance): Introduce young kids to the idea of emotionally supportive and empathic community-building.

Participating in Digital Communities (by Teaching Tolerance): Get students to make a commitment to creating inclusive communities and to practicing how to respond to bias and prejudice.

Responding to Online Hate Speech (by Common Sense Education): Help middle schoolers learn techniques to deal with hate speech when they see it or experience it.

Should Online Hate Speech Be Censored? (by Common Sense Education): Is hate speech free speech? Use this lesson to get your high school students to explore this quandary and offer an informed perspective.

Videos

Handouts, infographics, and posters

Games, apps, and tools

Research on Social and Cultural Literacy

Below you'll find some researchers and research organizations that focus on social and cultural literacy. We've also highlighted a few key pieces of their work.

Biased (by Jennifer L. Eberhardt): Dr. Eberhardt provides a highly readable mapping of the landscape of research into bias, bias's impact on our world, and ways forward.

Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain (by Zaretta Hammond): This book and study guide offers an important perspective on how to create inclusive but challenging classroom environments that are equally attuned to the way our brains work and how culture affects the way we engage with each other and the world.

Equity Literacy Institute (by Paul Gorski and others): Dig into this extensive list of equity-focused books and articles published by longtime educator and social justice advocate Paul Gorski and his collaborators.

Pedagogy of the Oppressed (by Paulo Freire): Dense but foundational book focused on how to upend top-down approaches to pedagogy and restore the revolutionary potential of education.

Social and Cultural Literacy Organizations to Explore for More
News and Media Literacy Resource Center

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Social and Cultural Literacy Resources for Classrooms | Common Sense Education

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Teaching and learning happen within cultural, political, and social circumstances. As much as we want to deny it, we all have biases based on our life experiences. Each of us -- teachers and students alike -- enter classrooms from different perspectives and points of view.

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Great tool for a variety of subject areas

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Network View - Digital Promise Research Map

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If you have what we call teacher clarity, you can have a much larger impact on how well your students do in your class.

Clarity is critical. Eminent educators, Dylan Wiliam and John Hattie agree that you must be very clear about what you want your students to learn. You need to know exactly what you want them to understand and what you want them to be able to do.

But the nature and usefulness of teacher clarity are a bit more complex than that. I explore some of this complexity below. But if you want to jump straight to the section How to Use Teacher Clarity to Enhance Students' Learning, please do so.
How to Use Teacher Clarity
Research on the Impact of Teacher Clarity

In Hattie's 2009 book, Visible Learning, he reports that teacher clarity has an effect size of d = 0.75. This claim was based on a meta-analysis by Frank Fendick. If you read the actual meta-analysis, you will see that this effect varied by sector. In:

Primary school d = 0.54

Secondary school d = 0.63

University d = 0.93

This may mean that teacher clarity has more impact on older students. However, Fendick also found something else that may explain this difference. The impact was higher when students rated the clarity of their teacher rather than when observers watched and rated teachers. Studies of older students made far more use of student ratings. So, it is feasible that the differences between sectors stem from how teacher clarity was measured rather than from the age of the students.

Since then, Scott Titsworth and his colleagues have conducted 2 meta-analyses (2015) on the impact of teacher clarity. They did not report separate effects for different sectors.

Their first meta-analysis included the studies analysed by Fendick + more. Through this meta-analysis, they found that teacher clarity had an effect size of:

d = 0.72 on academic learning

d = 1.21 on students' motivation and attitudes

In their second meta-analysis, they found that teacher clarity had an effect size of:

d = 1.03 for academic learning

d = 1.25 on students' motivation and attitudes

Given that they included Fendick's work in their own analysis - the average impact of teacher clarity is d = 0.88 [(0.72 + 1.03) ÷2].

The Average Impact of Teacher Clarity on Academic Learning

Yet, the real impact of teacher clarity may be slightly smaller in schools as:

Fendick's work showed lower results for primary and secondary schools

Titsworth did not show separate results for each sector

In either case, the impact is substantial.

What Is Teacher Clarity?

Fendick and Titsworth both agree that teacher clarity has several distinct components. These aspects include clarity of:

Organisation

Explanation

Examples & Guided Practice

Assessment of Student Learning

Learning Intentions & Success Criteria

I am not against using learning intentions and success criteria. They may indeed be useful ways to clarify what you want your students to learn in some context. And, such clarity is a core part of organisation (above). But:

They are only one way to achieve such clarity, and the research did not use those terms. There are other ways to do so that may be better suited to your context. What matters is that you are clear about what your students must learn.

Being clear about what your students must learn is critical, but it is only one part of teacher clarity. And, the research is clear that combining the various aspects of teacher clarity has a much larger impact on your students learning.

How to Use Teacher Clarity to Enhance Student Learning

First, you need to understand the various aspects of teacher clarity and how they fit together. I have tried to organise these aspects so that they make sense to teachers who are planning a unit or lesson. The words in the following diagram are my own (not used in the research), as I tried to make them teacher friendly. But the meaning behind them is in line with the above research.

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Step 1: Clarify What Your Students Must Learn

Essential

Always begin with the end in mind. You need to be clear about what your students need to know and be able to d o - either by the end of the lesson, unit or program.

If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up some place else
Yogi Berra

This may take the form of a list of a unit aim, unit objectives, learning intentions, a lesson goal(s), success criteria or any other form of your choice. But you must spell out what it is that you students should learn.

And, as Dylan Wiliam notes, it may not always be appropriate to share these intentions with your students at the start of each lesson.

Checking for Understanding+ in Step 1

You can check for understanding at this stage by assessing students' prior knowledge and competence in the above. The way you do this should be influenced by the nature of your objectives. Possible methods include a pre-test, a running record, a phonics check, an unassisted draft piece of writing, a concept map or any other form of assessment.

The helpful action (+) you take is using the results during step 3 when you plan how to get your students from where they are now, to where you want them to be.

Step 2: Plan Your Summative Assessment

Essential

At the unit level, you plan a summative assessment task(s) in line with what it is you want your students to learn (e.g. your unit objectives). The best assessment task(s) will depend upon what you want your students to learn.

Within a single lesson, you plan less formal ways to check your students understand what you have taught them and can do what you have shown them.

Flexible

The type of assessment task(s) you use.

Checking for Understanding+ in Step 2

You plan to check for understanding+ at this stage by designing a formative assessment(s) similar to your summative assessment.

Step 3: Sequence Your Lessons or Activities Logically

Essential

You must plan a sequence of lessons or a series of activities within a lesson. These lessons or activities must explicitly help students to achieve the intended learning.

Put another way, it must provide a logical pathway from where the students are at to where you want them to be.

And, you must build in time for reviewing past work.

Flexible

Except for the above, you can sequence learning however you want. There are some things that offer you some guidance, but they are not part of the teacher clarity concept. These include:

Checking for Understanding+ in Step 3

At this stage, it is useful to identify common misconceptions your students may hold. This could be about the unit topic or in relation to the specific lesson you are about to teach.

Step 4: Give Clear Explanations & Demonstrations

Essential

You need to clearly explain the things that you want your students to understand. And, you must show your students how to do the things you want them to be able to do.

Moreover, you should

Explain things as simply as possible

Break things down in a step-by-step manner

Stress difficult points

Stay with a topic until your students understand it

Help your students to connect new information to what they already know

Flexible

Based on research beyond teacher clarity, we now know a lot more about effective explanations and examples. For instance, we know about the importance of using visuals to support verbal explanations, and the power of faded worked examples.

Checking for Understanding+ in Step 4

It is crucial that your students have understood what you have taught them before moving onto the next part of a lesson or to future lessons. You can do this through asking questions, listening to responses and listening to discussions.

Step 5: Have Your Students Practice Assessment Like Tasks

Essential

You must give your students the opportunity to practice things that are like those that they will need to do when formally assessed.

Yet, don't just throw your students in the deep end. There should be a gradual release of responsibility, with steps in between you showing them what to do and them doing it independently.

Flexible

You can guide and support students in their practice in many ways. These include ways that are supported by research outside of the notion of teacher clarity. For instance, using faded worked examples and distributed practice.

Checking for Understanding+ in Step 5

Checking for understanding at this stage involves marking their practice attempts. The + component includes offering feedback and going over areas they are having difficulty with. Depending on the nature of the practice tasks, you can mark students work either within or after class.

Step 6: Have Your Students' Do Their Summative Assessment

Essential

Your students must complete a summative assessment task(s) that genuinely reflects the intended learning.

Flexible

You can choose any type of assessment task provided it aligns with the intended learning.

3 Key Takeaways from the Research on Teacher Clarity

You may be a bit overwhelmed by this new insight into the nature of teacher clarity, so let's break it down.

1. Teacher clarity includes but goes beyond the notion of being clear about what you want your students to know and be able to do.

2. Teacher clarity involves using the above clarity to focus subsequent teaching and assessment. These activities include initial explanations and demonstrations. They also include practice and review sessions. But teacher clarity does not rule out other types of activities provided they help to achieve the intended learning.

3. When your students have not understood what you have taught them, teacher clarity also involves explaining things a different way, giving students constructive feedback or taking other actions to help them master it.

Teacher Clarity FAQs

What is Teacher Clarity?

How to Improve Teacher Clarity

Follow these 6 steps:

1. Clarify intended learning
Be crystal clear about what you want your students to know and be able to do.

2. Aligned assessment of learning
At the unit or program level, create a summative assessment task(s) that genuinely assesses the intended learning. At the lesson level, plan ways to check for understanding.

3. Sequence lessons and learning activities
Organise and sequence your lessons (or activities within a lesson) in line with your intended learning. This should include time for review.

4. Give clear explanations
Clearly explain what your students need to know and show them what they need to do within each lesson. Check for understanding explain things again if needed.

5. Relevant practice
Give your students time to practice the sorts of things they must do in their upcoming summative assessment and offer feedback on their efforts.

6. Assess learning
Have your students complete their summative assessment task(s) and see how clearly they understood what you taught them.

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Teacher Clarity: A Potent Yet Misunderstood Teaching Strategy

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If you have what we call teacher clarity, you can have a much larger impact on how well your students do in your class. Clarity is critical. Eminent educators, Dylan Wiliam and John Hattie agree that you must be very clear about what you want your students to learn.

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6 Strategies for Effective Learning
Downloadable Resources https://www.learningscientists.org/downloadable-materials

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The videos below were design to grab students' attention and very quickly teach them about the strategies in a fun way. These videos may not be the most suitable for the classroom because of their speed.

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Harvard Business Review on effective School Leaders

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Harvard Business Review on effective School Leaders

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Transforming a school is a long, hard, and often lonely task. Some people want change, others don't, and some simply aren't prepared to wait for results to show. As a school leader sets off on this journey, how do they know what to do, when to do it, who to listen to, and how to manage critics along the way?

Our study of the actions and impact of 411 leaders of UK academies found that only 62 of them managed their turnaround successfully and sustainably transformed their school. While other leaders managed to create a school that looked good while they were there, but then went backwards, these 62 leaders built a school that continued to improve long after they'd left. We call them Architects, because they systematically redesign the school and transform the community it serves.

We studied them over eight years, using 64 investment and 24 performance variables to identify what they did, when they did it, and the impact they had. We visited the schools to see first-hand their actions and results. And we interviewed the leaders and their teams to understand the challenges they faced, when they occurred, and how they overcame them.

We found the Architects sustainably transformed a school by challenging how it operated, engaging its community, and improving its teaching. They took nine key steps over three years, in a particular order. Each step represented a different building block in the school performance pyramid. But it was a bumpy ride, with 90% almost fired at the end of their second year. Here's what they did, and how they did it.

The school performance pyramid

Building Block 1-Challenge the system: stay for at least 5 years. The first step is to develop a 10-year plan, clearly showing how you aim to transform the school and the community it serves. This shows everyone you're committed to the long haul - like your students and their families - and are prepared to make tough decisions and manage their consequences. As one Architect said, "No one trusts you at the beginning. They've been let down too many times by too many people. That's why I moved to the local area - to show I was committed to the school, the community and to making it work. I wasn't going to walk away halfway through, like the other Heads before me." In our study, it took at least five years to engage a school's community, change its culture and improve its teaching. The most successful leaders stayed for the whole of this journey, and often longer, with test scores increasing by an impressive 45-50 percentage points in the first eight years after they took over. This doubled, or even tripled, the number of students graduating with five or more grade Cs, increasing their projected lifetime earnings by £140,000.

Building Block 2-Teach everyone: expel less than 3% of students. Once you've committed to the journey, then you need to commit to the community. You can't just kick kids out to improve test scores. You need to show parents and students you want to help them. Show you want to fix the problem, not give it to someone else.

This doesn't mean you can ignore poor behavior, be nice to everyone, and expect them to like you. But you should only expel students as a last resort - when everything else has failed. In our study, the most successful leaders suspended 10-15% students in the first three years after they arrived, but expelled less than 3%. As one Architect told us, "If you start kicking kids out as soon as you arrive, then your community wonders if you're trying to help or get rid of them. Instead of expelling students and passing the problem to someone else, we created multiple pathways inside our school - so we could manage and improve behavior ourselves."

Building Block 3-Teach for longer: from ages 5 to 18. Of all the changes made by the leaders in our study, teaching kids for longer was the one with the most consistent impact. It took five years to see results, but test scores then suddenly jumped by nine percentage points and continued to improve by five percentage points each year after that.

Teaching kids from a younger age meant the schools could embed the right behaviors earlier on, teach the kids in a consistent way for longer (for 13 years, rather than 5) and create valuable resources (as revenues increased by 30-40%). And teaching them up to age 18 gave the younger kids something to aim for. As another Architect explained, "Setting up a sixth form was one of the best things we did - even though it still loses money! Last year, 51% of our sixth formers went to university - compared with only 27% four years ago. This sends a great message to our younger students, and we use the older ones to mentor them as they progress through the school." (In the UK, " sixth form " is a final, sometimes optional phase of secondary education in which students prepare for college entry exams.)

Building block 4-Challenge the staff: change 30-50%. Now it's time to start changing how the school works. That usually means changing staff. "Too many Heads duck the issue of firing poor teachers," one Architect told us. "But you have to ask yourself: who are you here to help - the students or the teachers? I believe you let down 30 students a year by protecting one incompetent teacher. Once you start thinking like that, the tough decisions become easier to take."

In our study, the most successful leaders changed 30-50% of staff in the first 3 years by clarifying teaching and marking targets, displaying real-time performance (such as attendance, behavior and test scores) on video screens in corridors and staff rooms, and managing out poor performers. Typically, a half of this change came from recruiting new staff to resource growth, a quarter from reducing the number of supply teachers and a quarter from managing out poor performers. Leaders who changed less than 30% of staff had little impact, while more than 50% created too much disruption. As another Architect told us, "The culture in the school suddenly tipped when we had 30% new staff, people who were serious about trying to transform the school and the community it serves."

Building block 5 - Engage students: keep 95% in class. It's pretty simple really. You can't teach your kids if they're not there - or don't care. However, it's easier said than done. As one Architect explained, "Half our students live in poverty, in communities that have been let down by their schools for generations. That's their starting point, so you can see why they're not interested. But, after two years of hard work, things suddenly started to change. They started believing in themselves - and that we could help them. Instead of saying 'there's no point' or 'I can't be bothered', they're now saying 'I aced that test' or 'I'm going to be a doctor'."

The turning point in the schools we studied occurred when at least 95% students attended all their classes. And the most successful leaders achieved this in the first 3 years-by bringing in external speakers to inspire students, asking students to evaluate teachers, so they felt part of the process, and getting older students mentor the younger ones, so they had someone to look up to.

Building Block 6 - Challenge the board: manage 30-60% of them. It doesn't matter what your governors say, they all want test scores to improve as quickly as possible. (In the UK system, "governors" are the school's board of directors.) They'll give you one year's grace, but then they want some hard evidence that the school is improving. If you can't do this, then you're often out of a job. But the most effective, most sustainable actions take three years to show results. So, how can you show you're on the right track when test scores are still the same?

In our study, the best early signs of sustained improvement were teaching students from ages 5 to 18, having 95% of students in class, 50% of parents at parents' evenings and 70% of staff with no absence. Leaders who achieved all this in the first three years subsequently improved test scores by 45-50% in the following six years. However, 90% of them were almost fired at the end of the second year, as test scores hadn't improved fast enough. They survived this challenge by moving the discussion away from this year's test scores to the progression of students aged 11 to 13.

Architect leaders can also emphasize other metrics, such as more students attending classes, more parents coming to parents' evenings, and fewer staff member absences. As one Architect told us, "Too many boards simply fire their Heads when there's a problem. Instead, they need to make sure the Head is around long enough to have an impact and help them make the right decisions along the way." A strong, healthy board was critical to the success of all the schools in our study, with the best leaders challenged by 30-60% of governors on key decisions in their first three years. Poor decisions were made if the challenge was less than 30%, and the leader lost control of the school if the challenge was greater than 60%.

It's important to take time to get to know your governors, build relationships with them and understand their needs-so they trust you and understand why you're not focusing on this year's test scores. Their concerns are legitimate and need to be managed. Use their challenge to help improve decision making-to better explain why decisions are made and the impact they'll have.

Building Block 7 - Engage parents: have 50% at parents' evenings. You need to start engaging your parents right from the start, but it can take a while to happen. This is particularly true in rural or coastal schools in the UK, where people are less mobile and parents and grandparents may have attended the same school. As one Architect explained, "Our parents and grandparents had very strong views about the school based on what it did for them. It took a long time to change these views. But, if we hadn't, then all our hard work would have disappeared when our students went home."

Attendance at parents' night was as low as 10% when many leaders first arrived - but the most successful ones increased it to more than 50% by the end of the third year. They did this by making it a social event with food, drink, and student performances, offering education and support services such as IT skills and career advice, and providing similar services at home through outreach programs.

Building block 8 - Engage staff: 70% with no absence. Engaging your staff also takes time. "You walk into a very stressful environment," one Architect explained. "Your staff have just been told they've failed and you're here to sort them out. You need to convince them that you're here to help. That their jobs will get easier and become more fulfilling if they work with you, rather than against you. In the year before I took over, we had 14 staff on long-term sick leave and only 20% of staff with no absence. Now it's up at 90% - that's a big shift in three years!"

In our study, the most successful schools had more than 70% staff with no absence by the end of the third year. They did this by reducing the number of supply teachers, asking teachers to evaluate each other (through informal observations), team teaching, visiting other schools (to see how they worked) and simplifying processes to reduce administration and paperwork.

Building Block 9 - Teach better: 100% capable staff. Anyone can fire staff. The real question is: How do you replace them? "Good teachers don't apply to work in failing schools in deprived areas," one Architect told us. "They want to work in good schools with engaged students. So we contacted the good schools near us who'd recently advertised jobs and had more applicants than places. We asked them who else they'd employ, if they could. We then contacted these teachers and asked them to join us! We got some of our best teachers this way. Teachers who didn't apply to work with us, but love being part of what we're doing." The most successful schools in our study all had 100% capable staff by the end of the third year. They achieved this by recruiting capable teachers, increasing informal teaching observations (through mentoring programs within and across subjects), and sharing best practices within and across schools. As another Architect said, "Too many poor teachers are simply moved from one school to another. We need to develop them, rather than simply passing them on to someone else."

Building the pyramid in practice

Pick six building blocks out of nine: the 90/60 principle. We found it wasn't always possible to put all nine building blocks in place in the first three years, no matter how hard you try. Sometimes, the board won't support you, parents won't engage with you, or you can't find the right teachers. The good news is our research clearly shows there's a tipping point in each transformation when six of the building blocks are in place - not all nine. The last three blocks help to sustain the transformation, but there are diminishing returns. Leaders who put all nine blocks in place in three years increased test scores by 50 percentage points in the following five years. But leaders who put in six blocks increased results by 45 percentage points. In other words, test scores increased by seven percentage points for each of the first six blocks put in place, but only by one percentage point for the three after that.

So, ask yourself: which are the six easiest, or most urgent, blocks to put in place first? And which can wait until later? If you can't engage parents, then engage students. If you can't engage students, then teach the ones you can, better and for longer. Find the right pattern of actions for your school; see the pyramid as a menu, rather than a recipe. Select, mix, and match the ingredients that work best for you.

Take your time. School leaders are often under huge pressure to turn the school around quickly, but sustainable transformation takes time. In our study, the schools that improved the most in the long term didn't see test score improvements until year three, and continued to get better through year five and beyond. You need to explain this to your board, so you don't get fired along the way. Fast improvements can only be achieved by expelling poor performing students or attracting better ones from other schools. And neither solution benefits the community in the long run. Instead, try to put 6 of the 9 blocks in place in the first three years. But, don't worry if it takes longer - the improvement won't be as fast, but it will happen. And it will be sustainable.

No single action or combination of actions is more significant than any other. Eighty percent of the best leaders stayed at the school for more than five years - but not all of them. And all the best schools taught kids from ages 5 to 18 - but so did 40% of the poor ones. Rather than searching for a silver bullet, put as many blocks in place as you can. Remember, the number is more important than the type.

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Research: How the Best School Leaders Create Enduring Change

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Transforming a school is a long, hard, and often lonely task. Some people want change, others don't, and some simply aren't prepared to wait for results to show. As a school leader sets off on this journey, how do they know what to do, when to do it, who to listen to, and how to manage critics along the way?

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Clear and actionable recommendations for teachers on a range of high-priority issues, based on the best available evidence.

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Icebreakers that Rock | Cult of Pedagogy

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Icebreakers that Rock | Cult of Pedagogy

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Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don’t really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.

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School leaders creating sustained change

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School leaders creating sustained change

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Transforming a school is a long, hard, and often lonely task. Some people want change, others don't, and some simply aren't prepared to wait for results to show. As a school leader sets off on this journey, how do they know what to do, when to do it, who to listen to, and how to manage critics along the way?

Our study of the actions and impact of 411 leaders of UK academies found that only 62 of them managed their turnaround successfully and sustainably transformed their school. While other leaders managed to create a school that looked good while they were there, but then went backwards, these 62 leaders built a school that continued to improve long after they'd left. We call them Architects, because they systematically redesign the school and transform the community it serves.

We studied them over eight years, using 64 investment and 24 performance variables to identify what they did, when they did it, and the impact they had. We visited the schools to see first-hand their actions and results. And we interviewed the leaders and their teams to understand the challenges they faced, when they occurred, and how they overcame them.

We found the Architects sustainably transformed a school by challenging how it operated, engaging its community, and improving its teaching. They took nine key steps over three years, in a particular order. Each step represented a different building block in the school performance pyramid. But it was a bumpy ride, with 90% almost fired at the end of their second year. Here's what they did, and how they did it.

The school performance pyramid

Building Block 1-Challenge the system: stay for at least 5 years. The first step is to develop a 10-year plan, clearly showing how you aim to transform the school and the community it serves. This shows everyone you're committed to the long haul - like your students and their families - and are prepared to make tough decisions and manage their consequences. As one Architect said, "No one trusts you at the beginning. They've been let down too many times by too many people. That's why I moved to the local area - to show I was committed to the school, the community and to making it work. I wasn't going to walk away halfway through, like the other Heads before me." In our study, it took at least five years to engage a school's community, change its culture and improve its teaching. The most successful leaders stayed for the whole of this journey, and often longer, with test scores increasing by an impressive 45-50 percentage points in the first eight years after they took over. This doubled, or even tripled, the number of students graduating with five or more grade Cs, increasing their projected lifetime earnings by £140,000.

Building Block 2-Teach everyone: expel less than 3% of students. Once you've committed to the journey, then you need to commit to the community. You can't just kick kids out to improve test scores. You need to show parents and students you want to help them. Show you want to fix the problem, not give it to someone else.

This doesn't mean you can ignore poor behavior, be nice to everyone, and expect them to like you. But you should only expel students as a last resort - when everything else has failed. In our study, the most successful leaders suspended 10-15% students in the first three years after they arrived, but expelled less than 3%. As one Architect told us, "If you start kicking kids out as soon as you arrive, then your community wonders if you're trying to help or get rid of them. Instead of expelling students and passing the problem to someone else, we created multiple pathways inside our school - so we could manage and improve behavior ourselves."

Building Block 3-Teach for longer: from ages 5 to 18. Of all the changes made by the leaders in our study, teaching kids for longer was the one with the most consistent impact. It took five years to see results, but test scores then suddenly jumped by nine percentage points and continued to improve by five percentage points each year after that.

Teaching kids from a younger age meant the schools could embed the right behaviors earlier on, teach the kids in a consistent way for longer (for 13 years, rather than 5) and create valuable resources (as revenues increased by 30-40%). And teaching them up to age 18 gave the younger kids something to aim for. As another Architect explained, "Setting up a sixth form was one of the best things we did - even though it still loses money! Last year, 51% of our sixth formers went to university - compared with only 27% four years ago. This sends a great message to our younger students, and we use the older ones to mentor them as they progress through the school." (In the UK, " sixth form " is a final, sometimes optional phase of secondary education in which students prepare for college entry exams.)

Building block 4-Challenge the staff: change 30-50%. Now it's time to start changing how the school works. That usually means changing staff. "Too many Heads duck the issue of firing poor teachers," one Architect told us. "But you have to ask yourself: who are you here to help - the students or the teachers? I believe you let down 30 students a year by protecting one incompetent teacher. Once you start thinking like that, the tough decisions become easier to take."

In our study, the most successful leaders changed 30-50% of staff in the first 3 years by clarifying teaching and marking targets, displaying real-time performance (such as attendance, behavior and test scores) on video screens in corridors and staff rooms, and managing out poor performers. Typically, a half of this change came from recruiting new staff to resource growth, a quarter from reducing the number of supply teachers and a quarter from managing out poor performers. Leaders who changed less than 30% of staff had little impact, while more than 50% created too much disruption. As another Architect told us, "The culture in the school suddenly tipped when we had 30% new staff, people who were serious about trying to transform the school and the community it serves."

Building block 5 - Engage students: keep 95% in class. It's pretty simple really. You can't teach your kids if they're not there - or don't care. However, it's easier said than done. As one Architect explained, "Half our students live in poverty, in communities that have been let down by their schools for generations. That's their starting point, so you can see why they're not interested. But, after two years of hard work, things suddenly started to change. They started believing in themselves - and that we could help them. Instead of saying 'there's no point' or 'I can't be bothered', they're now saying 'I aced that test' or 'I'm going to be a doctor'."

The turning point in the schools we studied occurred when at least 95% students attended all their classes. And the most successful leaders achieved this in the first 3 years-by bringing in external speakers to inspire students, asking students to evaluate teachers, so they felt part of the process, and getting older students mentor the younger ones, so they had someone to look up to.

Building Block 6 - Challenge the board: manage 30-60% of them. It doesn't matter what your governors say, they all want test scores to improve as quickly as possible. (In the UK system, "governors" are the school's board of directors.) They'll give you one year's grace, but then they want some hard evidence that the school is improving. If you can't do this, then you're often out of a job. But the most effective, most sustainable actions take three years to show results. So, how can you show you're on the right track when test scores are still the same?

In our study, the best early signs of sustained improvement were teaching students from ages 5 to 18, having 95% of students in class, 50% of parents at parents' evenings and 70% of staff with no absence. Leaders who achieved all this in the first three years subsequently improved test scores by 45-50% in the following six years. However, 90% of them were almost fired at the end of the second year, as test scores hadn't improved fast enough. They survived this challenge by moving the discussion away from this year's test scores to the progression of students aged 11 to 13.

Architect leaders can also emphasize other metrics, such as more students attending classes, more parents coming to parents' evenings, and fewer staff member absences. As one Architect told us, "Too many boards simply fire their Heads when there's a problem. Instead, they need to make sure the Head is around long enough to have an impact and help them make the right decisions along the way." A strong, healthy board was critical to the success of all the schools in our study, with the best leaders challenged by 30-60% of governors on key decisions in their first three years. Poor decisions were made if the challenge was less than 30%, and the leader lost control of the school if the challenge was greater than 60%.

It's important to take time to get to know your governors, build relationships with them and understand their needs-so they trust you and understand why you're not focusing on this year's test scores. Their concerns are legitimate and need to be managed. Use their challenge to help improve decision making-to better explain why decisions are made and the impact they'll have.

Building Block 7 - Engage parents: have 50% at parents' evenings. You need to start engaging your parents right from the start, but it can take a while to happen. This is particularly true in rural or coastal schools in the UK, where people are less mobile and parents and grandparents may have attended the same school. As one Architect explained, "Our parents and grandparents had very strong views about the school based on what it did for them. It took a long time to change these views. But, if we hadn't, then all our hard work would have disappeared when our students went home."

Attendance at parents' night was as low as 10% when many leaders first arrived - but the most successful ones increased it to more than 50% by the end of the third year. They did this by making it a social event with food, drink, and student performances, offering education and support services such as IT skills and career advice, and providing similar services at home through outreach programs.

Building block 8 - Engage staff: 70% with no absence. Engaging your staff also takes time. "You walk into a very stressful environment," one Architect explained. "Your staff have just been told they've failed and you're here to sort them out. You need to convince them that you're here to help. That their jobs will get easier and become more fulfilling if they work with you, rather than against you. In the year before I took over, we had 14 staff on long-term sick leave and only 20% of staff with no absence. Now it's up at 90% - that's a big shift in three years!"

In our study, the most successful schools had more than 70% staff with no absence by the end of the third year. They did this by reducing the number of supply teachers, asking teachers to evaluate each other (through informal observations), team teaching, visiting other schools (to see how they worked) and simplifying processes to reduce administration and paperwork.

Building Block 9 - Teach better: 100% capable staff. Anyone can fire staff. The real question is: How do you replace them? "Good teachers don't apply to work in failing schools in deprived areas," one Architect told us. "They want to work in good schools with engaged students. So we contacted the good schools near us who'd recently advertised jobs and had more applicants than places. We asked them who else they'd employ, if they could. We then contacted these teachers and asked them to join us! We got some of our best teachers this way. Teachers who didn't apply to work with us, but love being part of what we're doing." The most successful schools in our study all had 100% capable staff by the end of the third year. They achieved this by recruiting capable teachers, increasing informal teaching observations (through mentoring programs within and across subjects), and sharing best practices within and across schools. As another Architect said, "Too many poor teachers are simply moved from one school to another. We need to develop them, rather than simply passing them on to someone else."

Building the pyramid in practice

Pick six building blocks out of nine: the 90/60 principle. We found it wasn't always possible to put all nine building blocks in place in the first three years, no matter how hard you try. Sometimes, the board won't support you, parents won't engage with you, or you can't find the right teachers. The good news is our research clearly shows there's a tipping point in each transformation when six of the building blocks are in place - not all nine. The last three blocks help to sustain the transformation, but there are diminishing returns. Leaders who put all nine blocks in place in three years increased test scores by 50 percentage points in the following five years. But leaders who put in six blocks increased results by 45 percentage points. In other words, test scores increased by seven percentage points for each of the first six blocks put in place, but only by one percentage point for the three after that.

So, ask yourself: which are the six easiest, or most urgent, blocks to put in place first? And which can wait until later? If you can't engage parents, then engage students. If you can't engage students, then teach the ones you can, better and for longer. Find the right pattern of actions for your school; see the pyramid as a menu, rather than a recipe. Select, mix, and match the ingredients that work best for you.

Take your time. School leaders are often under huge pressure to turn the school around quickly, but sustainable transformation takes time. In our study, the schools that improved the most in the long term didn't see test score improvements until year three, and continued to get better through year five and beyond. You need to explain this to your board, so you don't get fired along the way. Fast improvements can only be achieved by expelling poor performing students or attracting better ones from other schools. And neither solution benefits the community in the long run. Instead, try to put 6 of the 9 blocks in place in the first three years. But, don't worry if it takes longer - the improvement won't be as fast, but it will happen. And it will be sustainable.

No single action or combination of actions is more significant than any other. Eighty percent of the best leaders stayed at the school for more than five years - but not all of them. And all the best schools taught kids from ages 5 to 18 - but so did 40% of the poor ones. Rather than searching for a silver bullet, put as many blocks in place as you can. Remember, the number is more important than the type.

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Research: How the Best School Leaders Create Enduring Change

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Transforming a school is a long, hard, and often lonely task. Some people want change, others don't, and some simply aren't prepared to wait for results to show. As a school leader sets off on this journey, how do they know what to do, when to do it, who to listen to, and how to manage critics along the way?

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New Learning Styles | Classroom Tools & School Software | EdTech

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Innovate My School is a community-driven website that keeps teachers informed about the latest ideas and trends in education.

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About Universal Design for Learning - CAST

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Learn more about the UDL framework and the UDL Guidelines, developed and maintained by CAST.

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Webinar Series inc CT

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Experience the pillars of Ignite My Future In School through our dynamic new webisode series. Each online event is designed to build confidence and understanding around key areas supporting computational thinking and transdisciplinary education. Register now to join LIVE.

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Open Access Archives | impact.chartered.college

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Impact: Journal of the Chartered College of Teaching

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T&L Creativity

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Disciplinary Literacy

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Teachers as Designers of Learning Environments | READ online

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Pedagogy is at the heart of teaching and learning. Preparing young people to become lifelong learners with a deep knowledge of subject matter and a br

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OECD

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by Anthony Jackson, Director, Center for Global Education at Asia Society
Andreas Schleicher, Director, Directorate for Education and Skills

In all countries, rapidly changing global economic, digital, cultural, and environmental forces are shaping young people's lives and their futures. From Boston to Bangkok to Buenos Aires, we live today in a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

The world's growing complexity and diversity present both opportunity and challenge. On the one hand, globalization can bring important new perspectives, innovation, and improved living standards. But on the other, it can also contribute to economic inequality, social division, and conflict.

How well education systems prepare all of their students to thrive amid today's rapidly changing world will determine the future prosperity and security of their nations - and of the world as a whole. Global competence education is what will empower students to do just that. Globally competent students can draw on and combine the disciplinary knowledge and modes of thinking acquired in schools to ask questions, analyse data and arguments, explain phenomena, and develop a position concerning a local, global or cultural issue. They can retain their cultural identity but are simultaneously aware of the cultural values and beliefs of people around them, they examine the origins and implications of others' and their own assumptions. And they can create opportunities to take informed, reflective action and have their voices heard.

On top of the complexity of our increasingly interconnected world, and the call of employers for better intercultural skills, we've watched in recent years as waves of nationalism, racism, and anti-globalism have swept across countries around the world. It makes global competence education that much more critical. To put it simply, the number-one solution to combating nationalist fervor is increasing global understanding.

Both the United Nations and OECD have prioritized global citizenship and global competence education in recent years, with good reason. Globally competent individuals are aware, curious, and interested in learning about the world and how it works, beyond their immediate environment. They recognize the perspectives and worldviews of others and are able to interact and communicate with people across cultures and regions in appropriate ways. And most critically, globally competent individuals don't just understand the world (which is no small thing in and of itself)-they are an active part of it. They can and do take action to solve problems big and small to improve our collective well-being.

At the end of the day, it is globally competent individuals who will be able to solve the world's seemingly intractable problems. And it's up to our world's educators to prepare those individuals for their global futures.

Schools can make an important difference. They are the first place where children encounter the diversity of society. They can provide students with opportunities to learn about global developments that affect the world and their own lives. They can teach students to develop a fact-based and critical worldview and equip students with an appreciation of other cultures and an awareness of their own cultural identities. They can engage students in experiences that facilitate international and intercultural relations. And they can promote the value of diversity, which in turn encourages sensitivity, respect and appreciation.

But how to do that? In a new publication by the Center for Global Education at Asia Society and OECD, Teaching for global competence in a rapidly changing world, we set forward the PISA framework for global competence developed by OECD, which aligns closely with the definition developed by the Center for Global Education. Based on Asia Society's extensive experience supporting educators in integrating global competence into their teaching, the publication also provides practical guidance and examples of how educators can embed global competence into their existing curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

As the publication demonstrates through its myriad examples, teachers from around the world have already recognized the importance of teaching for global competence. In one example from a political science teacher in India, students visited a nearby refugee camp to learn about the complexity of the global refugee crisis; in another, a social studies teacher in Mexico guided her students to make recommendations for reducing corruption that they then presented to local officials.

But it also shows that for all students to develop global competence - regardless of their wealth, ethnicity, gender, or background - we need to create access to high-quality professional learning for every teacher in the world. Teachers prepared to develop students' global competence is a requirement for a sustainable, livable future.

Professional learning for teachers is key, and that requires leveraging digital technology to rapidly build capacity at scale. The challenge now is providing access to these types of professional development resources for all teachers, to transform their teaching methods, their classrooms, their schools - and, eventually, each and every one of their students.

Links
Teaching for global competence in a rapidly changing world
Preparing our youth for an inclusive and sustainable world - The OECD PISA global competence framework
PISA 2018 Global Competence

Photo credit: Asia Society

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How to prepare students for the complexity of a global society

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by Anthony Jackson, Director, Center for Global Education at Asia Society Andreas Schleicher, Director, Directorate for Education and Skills In all countries, rapidly changing global economic, digital, cultural, and environmental forces are shaping young people's lives and their futures. From Boston to Bangkok to Buenos Aires, we live today in a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous.

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Educational Leadership