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One of the most important resources in this section - a reflection tool to help us consider how well we embed the '5-a-day' tools into our daily teaching practice

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We're running free subject-specific webinars throughout January and February. Each webinar will give you guidance on the use of AI in our qualifications and will also include a Q&A session.

We ran the following events last year:

This webinar will outline the current JCQ guidance on AI and what it means for schools and assessments. OCR AI Support: Clarifying the current AI guidance

[Watch recording]

A discussion of how AI use can be managed in schools, including AI policies, guidance for students on AI use, and more. OCR AI Support: Managing the use of AI in schools

[Watch recording]

A session providing exemplars of AI use and recommendations for detecting and reporting, and supporting students to use AI appropriately. OCR AI Support: Detecting, reporting, and supporting student AI use

[Watch recording]

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Key information to support users in the use of AI technology

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An excellent book with a range of strategies based on research from Hattie

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An excellent book with a range of strategies based on research from Hattie

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In simple terms, this is a comprehensive, highly-practical manual for excellent teaching. Alongside helpful explanations of each pedagogical technique, the book also provides compelling and convincing video footage of what this might look like in the cut and thrust of a real classroom.

Mark Roberts, Author, English Teacher, and Director of Research at Carrickfergus Grammar School

"A superb directory of carefully chosen and categorised classroom techniques that every classroom teacher will be better for using. Simple to follow steps, along with video explanations makes this a bible of 'go to' strategies for every teacher, irrespective of their age or stage. I only wish I'd had access to this playbook of experience and expertise when I first started teaching!"

Jon Tait, Education Author, Leader, and Speaker

"Effective PD thrives when we have clarity and consensus around 'what good looks like'. The Playbook is the most comprehensive attempt to codify great teaching in the UK to date."

Peps Mccrea, Dean, Ambition Institute

Josh Goodrich, Founder Steplab, Teacher and Educator

Dr James Lane, Executive Headteacher and Leadership Coach

In simple terms, this is a comprehensive, highly-practical manual for excellent teaching. Alongside helpful explanations of each pedagogical technique, the book also provides compelling and convincing video footage of what this might look like in the cut and thrust of a real classroom.

Mark Roberts, Author, English Teacher, and Director of Research at Carrickfergus Grammar School

"A superb directory of carefully chosen and categorised classroom techniques that every classroom teacher will be better for using. Simple to follow steps, along with video explanations makes this a bible of 'go to' strategies for every teacher, irrespective of their age or stage. I only wish I'd had access to this playbook of experience and expertise when I first started teaching!"

Jon Tait, Education Author, Leader, and Speaker

"Effective PD thrives when we have clarity and consensus around 'what good looks like'. The Playbook is the most comprehensive attempt to codify great teaching in the UK to date."

Peps Mccrea, Dean, Ambition Institute

Josh Goodrich, Founder Steplab, Teacher and Educator

Dr James Lane, Executive Headteacher and Leadership Coach

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The Teaching and Learning Playbook: Examples of Excellence in Teaching

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Buy The Teaching and Learning Playbook: Examples of Excellence in Teaching 1 by Feely, Michael, Karlin, Ben (ISBN: 9781032187099) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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The role of routines in behaviour for learning

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Direct instruction works, says 50 years of research!

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All teachers should embrace direct instruction, according to an analysis of half a century of research.

Direct instruction (DI) was developed in the US in the 1960s and involves teachers using fast-paced, highly structured lessons.

The principles of DI have since been applied to a number of formal programmes used in US and UK schools, such as DISTAR (Direct Instruction System for Teaching Arithmetic and Reading).

An analysis by academics at the University of Oregon, US, looked at 328 studies on DI programmes carried out between 1966 and 2016.

It found that students who were taught using DI methods performed better in reading, maths and spelling than those who were not.

The authors conclude: "The estimated effects were consistently positive...only 1 in 20 of the estimates, although positive, might be seen as educationally insignificant."

Students who were taught using DI in kindergarten performed especially highly in reading, maths and spelling, they add. And there were also particularly strong results for maths students who had daily lessons using the method.

The academics recommend that the use of student-led and enquiry-based approaches should be reconsidered in light of the evidence.

The research paper has been embraced by schools minister Nick Gibb:

More evidence of the importance of well structured, step-by-step teacher-led instruction. https://t.co/HCF0lA1m0D
- Nick Gibb (@NickGibbUK) July 22, 2018

Direct Instruction 'not widely embraced'

The authors of the research paper state that despite a "very large body of research supporting its effectiveness, DI has not been widely embraced or implemented".

And they say this reluctance to use DI may be partly fuelled by "a belief that teachers will not like it or that it stifles teachers' ability to bring their own personalities to their teaching".

They argue that the proper implementation of DI does not "disguise or erase a teacher's unique style.

"In fact, the carefully tested presentations in the programs free teachers from worries about the wording of their examples or the order in which they present ideas and allow them to focus more fully on their students' responses and ensure their understanding.

The use of scripted, sequenced lessons, which can be a feature of DI, has been taken up by an increasing number of UK schools as multi-academy trusts seek standardisation.

But critics argue that the approach can be inflexible and undermine the professionalism of teachers.

The paper's authors studied programmes that used DI as it was originally conceived in the 1960s, including DISTAR, Reading Mastery, Horizons, Corrective Reading, Connecting Math Concepts and others.

They excluded what they called "lower case" direct instruction, meaning programmes that featured elements of "systematic or explicit instruction".

"Direct instruction builds on the assumption that all students can learn with well-designed instruction," the paper states.

"When a student does not learn, it does not mean that something is wrong with the student but, instead, that something is wrong with the instruction."

It is, the authors say, the opposite of approaches which assume that students' ability to learn depends on their developmental stage, their ability to derive understandings or their own unique approach to learning.

The study, "The Effectiveness of Direct Instruction Curricula: a meta-analysis of a half century of research", was published in the Review of Educational Research and written by Jean Stockard and Timothy W Wood, both of the University of Oregon, Cristy Coughlin, research director at behaviour management consultants Safe and Civil Schools in Oregon and Caitlin Rasplica Khoury, psychologist at the Children's Clinic, Portland, Oregon.

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Direct instruction works, says 50 years of research

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Highly structured teaching has a consistently positive effect on learning, finds analysis of hundreds of studies

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Rows or Groups?

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Covid wasn't good for much in schools but, in my experience, it was great for improving the learning of my class. Now, this might seem like a strange statement. But let me explain...

As part of the Covid guidance issued in 2020 for the return of children to schools after the first lockdown, the Department for Education instructed us to set up classroom seating arrangements "with forward-facing desks" in order to lessen transmission of the virus. For some of us, it reignited an age-old debate - are rows or groups better for teaching and learning?

This was all new for me. Up until that point I had spent the entirety of my teaching career with grouped tables in the classroom. Before March 2020 it was rare to find a primary school classroom with rows. Most classes were set up with small grouped tables in fours, sixes and eights. However, in response to the new guidance, I dutifully set my classroom up with all desks facing the front of the room.

I thought it would be a disaster. How wrong I was.

Rows aid both the teacher and the pupils by promoting a purposeful and calm classroom environment. They help to settle children and allow them to ignore any external distractions. In Reception and KS1, we often seat children on the carpet in rows to facilitate learning, When we apply this to the arrangement of desks, we get similar improvements in learning behaviour.

All eyes on the teacher

Something that became quickly evident during the first couple of weeks was how much easier learning became when pupils were arranged in rows. All of the children in class could see me, all the time. There were no more body contortions to try and see the board. It sounds small but I would bet there are countless classrooms in the country where children can't see the board/easel/teacher properly from where they sit. Put yourself in the vantage point of different pupils - can you see the teacher and the board?

I know all eyes are on me when I am modelling, instructing and explaining. This is necessary for the pupils to learn well.

Managing partner and group work

As educators we often feel rows are Victorian in nature and take the joy out of learning. During my teacher training I was taught that rows were bad - they were old-fashioned and strict. They stopped children from collaborating and must never, ever be used.

I have previously favoured group configurations, as do many heads and teachers. I believed this layout naturally lent itself to discussion and that there was a genuine argument to be made that this brought more collaborative learning to the classroom. Now I am not so sure.

However, rows need to be handled correctly, and well. If there is a need for partner work pupils can collaborate with the child next to them. However, if the teacher wants them to study in groups, two children can turn to face the children behind them. It can be done. If anything, having rows aids learning discussion, but it does rely on embedded routines.

To ensure that pupils are explicitly guided through the teacher's expectations of partner and group work within the row setting, teachers could model with their TA (if they are lucky enough to have one) what they expect to see and how they want the class to behave.

More equitable learning

In many ways, rows can make the classroom experience more equitable. The front-facing configuration means that, unless directed otherwise, pupils will be looking at the teacher rather than each other. This can often mean that the quieter children in class are more inclined to raise their hands and contribute to the discussion.

Rows also make the lives of both teachers and TAs easier. A layout of rows with an aisle down the middle of the classroom allows all pupils to be easily accessible, which in turn means the adults in the classroom are able to support them. It also leads to fewer collisions with the corners of those deceptively sharp tables, and so fewer bruises when you get home from work!

In my experience, probably the only advantage to seating pupils in groups is the ability for pupils to be supported by a member of staff. But this, too, needs careful consideration. When an adult is with one group, it takes them away from the other children in the class. With quality first teaching and regular assessment, all pupils - including higher and lower attaining and SEND - can be supported without having to be sitting at 'that' table.

Easier assessment

Ultimately we have to put the learning of the pupils first and do what works best for them. Giving all of the pupils equal access to you and other adults who support them is important. Rows have made formative assessment much easier. You can walk up and down those aisles and spot misconceptions in a flash.

Of course, rows don't work for every subject and I'm not advocating rows in a drama lesson. Tables can always be moved, and nothing should ever be set in stone.

The Covid rules in classrooms have long since been relaxed but I am still persevering with rows the majority of the time. Perhaps there is a reason we are still discussing rows over a hundred years after the Victorians introduced them. They are actually a really sensible way of teaching lots of young people at the same time. And, in my experience, for the majority of subjects, rows work best.

Row seating: 7 steps to success

Thinking of changing the seating arrangements in classrooms in your school? Here are some things to consider:

Make sure the teacher's desk is located where every pupils can clearly see it, and the board

Leave an aisle in the middle of the room so you can easily walk up and down to access pupils quickly and address misconceptions, and to keep an eye on behaviour

Introduce routines for pupils to enter and exit the rows quickly and efficiently, and pass out papers and books. For example, those whose desks at the back might be asked to come in first, to avoid crowding

Have a clear seating plan so you know where all pupils are supposed to be at all times. This also makes it easy to spot straight away if anyone is absent

Have pupils turn around to the rows behind them if you want to have larger discussion groups or to do group work

Don't be afraid to change table configurations if rows do not fit what you are teaching - for example, drama

Consider changing the seating arrangements termly or half-termly so pupils don't become bored or irritated by constantly sitting next to the same child, and so that the same children aren't always seated at the back or the front

Emma Cate Stokes is a former research‌ ‌lead,‌ ‌KS1 ‌lead‌ and early maths and reading lead at a primary school in East Sussex. She is now a freelance writer and education speaker. Find out more by visiting her wesite, Emma Cate Teaching

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Classroom seating - what's the best arrangement? | Attainment and Assessment | The Headteacher

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Covid wasn't good for much in schools but, in my experience, it was great for improving the learning of my class. Now, this might seem like a strange statement. But let me explain...

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The discussion evolves iteratively, with students engaging in a triangular dialogue involving themselves, ChatGPT and the teacher. This exercise is suitable for a flipped classroom and is ideal for problem-based learning where students prepare in advance.

Quality of ChatGPT responses depends on prompt quality and might need further clarification

2. Creative research brainstorming with ChatGPT

3. Debate and argumentation training with ChatGPT

Nikolas Dietis is an assistant professor of pharmacology at the Medical School of the University of Cyprus.
If you would like advice and insight from academics and university staff delivered direct to your inbox each week, sign up for the Campus newsletter.

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Three ways to use ChatGPT to enhance students' critical thinking in the classroom

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The balance between technology and traditional educational values, as well as ensuring that AI complements, rather than replaces, the human element in education, are the keys to maximising AI's benefits in the classroom, writes Nikolas Dietis

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Why are so many of our teachers and schools so successful? John Hattie at TEDxNorrkoping

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Tom Sherrington and Oliver Caviglioli team up to present 50 essential teaching techniques, each with five clear and concise illustrations and explanations. It forms a truly unique repository of key teaching methods, valuable to any classroom practitioner in any setting.

The book covers important practical techniques in behaviour and relationships; curriculum planning; explaining and modelling; questioning and feedback; practice and retrieval; and Mode B teaching. Each technique is simply explained and beautifully illustrated in five short steps, to make sense of complex ideas and support student learning.

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Teaching WalkThrus: Five-step guides to instructional coaching: Visual step-by-step guides to essential teaching techniques

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Buy Teaching WalkThrus: Five-step guides to instructional coaching: Visual step-by-step guides to essential teaching techniques Illustrated by Tom Sherrington, Oliver Caviglioli, Oliver Caviglioli, Oliver Caviglioli (ISBN: 9781912906765) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.

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The Teachers we Remember | Julie Hasson | TEDxEustis

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The One Thing All Great Teachers Do | Nick Fuhrman | TEDxUGA

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The 5 principles of highly effective teachers: Pierre Pirard at TEDxGhent

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What happens when Classrooms meet Higher Order Thinking | Dylan Hyman | TEDxAmsterdamED

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Adaptive teaching represents a welcome shift away from some of the problematic practices associated with differentiation. Yet, if you ask teachers exactly what adaptive teaching looks like in action, the answers will not typically be confident or consistent.

This is a problem, because if adaptive teaching is to live up to the hype, and not become a passing fad, we need to be able to define what it is, what it isn't and how it works in practice.

What is adaptive teaching?

The Early Career Framework describes adaptive teaching as providing the "opportunity for all pupils to experience success, by adapting lessons, whilst maintaining high expectations for all, so that all pupils have the opportunity to meet expectations".

Adaptive teaching has also been positioned as being different to differentiation. Instead of teachers developing "all/most/some" activities in the name of meeting different levels of need, adaptive teaching recentres the aim of every pupil pursuing the same learning goal, enabled by the teacher's careful consideration of adaptations, well-chosen scaffolds and support over time.

Within this broad definition, we can think about two types of adaptations:

1. Microadaptations

The term "microadaptations" was coined by American researcher Lyn Corno to refer to small and sensitive adaptations that teachers make.

This might involve pre-teaching a tricky word or concept before reading a complex text in science, or deploying flexible grouping in a history lesson so that the teacher can quickly re-explain the concept of the divine right of kings to a small group.

2. Significant adaptations

These are larger adaptations that a smaller number of pupils will need on a regular basis, such as receiving in-lesson support from a teaching assistant.

For some pupils, significant adaptations will always be necessary, but the aspiration must be to reduce the reliance on scaffolds over time.

How do microadaptations work?

In principle, the more thoughtful we are about microadaptations, the fewer significant adaptations we should need to make.

Microadaptations can be mobilised at every stage of teaching to make the curriculum more accessible for every pupil.

Let's take the example of teaching key stage 1 pupils about the Great Fire of London. There are a number of activities teachers can use before, during and after teaching this topic that will help them to diagnose pupils' levels of understanding and make timely microadaptations.

Before learning

Before learning about the Great Fire of London, ask pupils to generate 20 questions about the event.

Teachers share a timeline of British history and see if pupils can accurately place the Great Fire on it.

Share statements and ask pupils if they think these are true. For example, there was no organised fire brigade in London at the time of the fire (true).

During learning

Pupils often fail to relay being stuck, or gaps in their knowledge. Teachers should talk about gaps in understanding as "muddy points", and normalise the process of pupils taking steps to "clean up" those gaps.

A simple way to check and consolidate understanding is to pause intermittently and ask pupils to verbally explain their learning in just one minute. Draw on a representative sample of pupils to give a clear indication of meaningful microadaptations to make.

Pause at regular intervals and pose quick five-question quizzes designed to diagnose whether pupils are absorbing new historical information.

After teaching

After learning about the fire, check pupils' understanding with a "hinge-point" question, or questions, that can best help the teacher decide whether to move on to a new topic ("green light" for "go") or spend more time learning about the topic ("red light" for "no"). With a little discussion and clarification, it offers a useful formative assessment point that encourages microadaptations along with pupil reflection.

Encourage pupils to explain - either verbally or using a graphic organiser - what they knew before the topic and what they have learned after it.

For some pupils, we may need to reteach aspects of a topic before moving on. For instance, some pupils may need to reread an important source and talk it through. Be prepared to reorganise groups within the lesson for this purpose.

Adaptive teaching offers us lots of positive ways forward so that more pupils succeed, but every teacher needs support to understand it and practise it, in action.

Alex Quigley is the national content and engagement manager at the Education Endowment Foundation. He is a former teacher and author of Closing the Writing Gap, published by Routledge

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Adaptive teaching: how to use 'microadaptations'

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There are two types of adjustments teachers should consider when they are planning for adaptive teaching, says Alex Quigley

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"I'm going to smash that exam!"

"I don't need to plan - I know what I need to do."

"This will be easy; we did the Peasant's Revolt last year."

On the whole, confidence is seen as a positive thing. Whether it's a pupil standing up in front of their peers to give a speech or strutting across the stage in the school play, we generally view it as a quality to be encouraged.

In fact, when we think about confidence in the classroom, it's usually only to consider how we can boost the confidence of pupils who are struggling.

But how often do we consider the threat posed by pupils who have too much confidence?

Obviously, the type of confidence that allows someone to deliver a presentation without fear does not typically threaten their learning. Where problems occur is when pupils' confidence causes them to overestimate their existing knowledge and understanding.

This overconfidence often becomes apparent when pupils make statements like, "We've done this, Miss!", "I know this already, Sir!", or "I reckon I did great on that exam!" - only for them to later find out that they actually did rather badly.

Overestimating your learning

A new meta-analysis, by Mengtian Xia and colleagues, has shown that pupils of all ages routinely overestimate their ability to complete most tasks. Overall, the researchers found that children tended to overestimate their performance by about a third.

If we apply this to the classroom, consider the implications of your pupils routinely thinking that they are learning more than they are.

If pupils are overestimating their performance, they are less likely to sustain the levels of effort required to make progress. An overconfident Year 5 writer is less likely to plan or check their work for accuracy, while an overconfident GCSE pupil is less likely to put in the hours of revision needed to reach their potential.
Read more:
While teachers don't want to dampen enthusiasm and positivity, it's important that they nip overconfidence in the bud before it begins to hold pupils back.

Thankfully, there are some practical approaches that can help to dampen overconfidence, while also improving pupils' chances of succeeding in difficult tasks.

1. Practise forecasting

Pupils often find it difficult to accurately predict their future performance, but with a complicated task, such as writing a history essay, we can use structured nudges to scaffold pupils in forecasting how they will do.

For instance, ask pupils to list the aspects of writing the essay that they are likely to do well on and the aspects that they might find more difficult. This helps them to appraise the task more critically, factoring in the potential challenges.

This strategy involves much more than pupils just predicting their grade or score. It is promoting self-evaluation and can alter pupils' confidence levels by helping them to take a realistic view of what the task requires of them.

2. Compare multiple worked examples

Too often, teachers will model a great response to an exam question or another piece of work, and pupils will understandably try to imitate that skilled example.

This sets the bar too high, and encourages pupils to overestimate both what is expected of them and what they can realistically produce.

So, instead of selecting one great example as a model, choose two or three examples of varying quality, and get pupils to critically compare them.

By probing strengths and comparing flaws, we encourage pupils to appraise likely mistakes and pitfalls before they get a chance to make them.

3. Explicitly teach metacognitive strategies

Metacognitive strategies - which get pupils to think about their learning - are useful for helping pupils to plan, monitor and evaluate their own performance as they are working through a task.

For instance, pupils might know that essays require planning, but might not know that there are a range of strategies that can help them to do this.

Teachers need to explicitly teach pupils about the strategies that are available to them, then deliberately guide them in selecting and applying their chosen strategies.

This Education Endowment Foundation animation does a great job of explaining the process.

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Is overconfidence holding your pupils back?

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A new study has found that young people overestimate their own learning, threatening their progress, says Alex Quigley. So what can teachers do to help them have more realistic perceptions?

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Habit formation limits growth in teacher effectiveness: converging

evidence from neuroscience and social science!

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Tweets by researchED1

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The Creative Ways Teachers Are Using ChatGPT in the Classroom

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From trigonometry raps to Shakespeare translation.

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Artificial intelligence is growing by leaps and bounds. It's no longer science fiction anymore!

Lots of AI tools can serve as our own personal assistants -- answering questions, helping us write text, create images, speak more effectively, and more.

Time has always been a barrier in the classroom. Most teachers would agree that they would be able to do more -- including the things that are most important -- if they had more time.

Teachers can find AI tools that are ready to help them out right now. Lots of them are free or have "freemium" plans with limited free options.

Below is a description of AI and how you can start using it to support your work in class.

What is artificial intelligence?

Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the ability of a computer or machine to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence, such as learning, problem-solving, decision-making, and more. There are several different approaches to building AI systems, including machine learning, where a system is trained on a dataset and can improve its performance over time, and rule-based systems, where the system follows a set of predetermined rules to make decisions.

AI can be applied to a wide range of areas, including natural language processing, image and video recognition, robotics, and more. The goal of AI research is to create systems that can perform tasks at least as well as, or ideally better than, humans. AI has the potential to revolutionize many industries and transform the way we live and work, but it also raises important ethical and social questions.

30 AI tools for the classroom

We have gathered 30 of our favorite AI tools for the classroom below. You can scroll down and check them all out or jump to any category of tools by clicking on the icon below.
Note: Pricing is accurate as of our most recent update in November 2023.

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Artificial intelligence is growing by leaps and bounds. It's no longer science fiction anymore! Lots of AI tools can serve as our own personal

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Ed tech has so much potential, both for teachers and learners, so why hasn't it yet had the transformative impact on education that has long been promised?

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Ed tech has so much potential, both for teachers and learners, so why hasn't it yet had the transformative impact on education that has long been promised? examines a broad range of topics from the science of learning and assessment, to personalisation, and the continued importance of teaching facts. It explores international examples from both big brand digital teaching programs and up-and-coming start-ups in considering what has and hasn't worked well.

Daisy Christodoulou tackles both sides of the ed tech debate in answering this question, critiquing missed opportunities about how we learn, as well as areas of success. Rooted in research, and written from the educationalists' perspective, Teachers vs Tech?

The author draws throughout on her experience in the classroom and from working within the education community. She outlines a positive vision for the future: one where technology is developed in conjunction with teachers' expertise, and is ultimately used to improve educational outcomes for all.

Vive la ed tech revolution!

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Teachers vs Tech?: The case for an ed tech revolution

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Teachers vs Tech?: The case for an ed tech revolution [Christodoulou, Daisy] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Teachers vs Tech?: The case for an ed tech revolution

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Not just for science teachers!

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In Teaching Secondary Science: A Complete Guide , Adam breaks down the complex art of teaching science into its component parts, providing a concrete and comprehensive set of evidence-informed steps to nurturing brilliant science students. Adam hopes that you finds this book interesting, but his main aim is for you to find it useful. Useful when it comes to sketching out your curriculum, useful when preparing your explanations, useful for mapping out how you will check student understanding and useful for all other aspects of science teaching. This is a truly complete guide, and science teachers of any experience will find it packed with ideas that are new, challenging, interesting and, most importantly, useful.

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Teaching Secondary Science: A complete guide

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Amazon.com: Teaching Secondary Science: A complete guide: 9781913622787: Boxer, Adam: Books

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Brighter Thinking Blog | Cambridge University Press

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Published 23 September 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused various levels of disruption to teaching and learning. So we have collated some tools to help you identify how much learning has taken place. Once you are confident about your learners' current level of understanding, you'll need to consider how to build on this. Our resources will help you to create that plan to address gaps in learning.

The assessment journey for you and your learners continues beyond diagnosing areas of focus. Continuous assessment is a powerful tool to help you make progress with your class.

We support better learning with resources that help you to implement assessment for learning (AfL) effectively in the classroom.

What is AfL?

Assessment for learning is a teaching approach that generates feedback that the teacher can then use to improve student learning. The process involves establishing where the student is on their learning journey, where they need to go, and, crucially, how to get there. Our resources support teachers in asking the right questions to make student understanding visible, becoming aware of common student misconceptions and providing impactful feedback to help students with next steps.

Why is Afl beneficial for learning?

Questions help learners to challenge and explore their understanding of a particular topic. Questions can also help you and your learners identify areas where their knowledge is less secure. This is a valuable part of the learning process.

You can help them to move beyond 'struggle zones' in their learning by providing feedback that helps them to fill the gaps in their knowledge, thereby boosting both their competence and their confidence. Once it is clear to them what they must do to move forward, learners often make significant progress.

Students become more involved in the learning process and, from this, gain confidence in what they are expected to learn - becoming able to self and peer assess. Teachers can quickly see students' level of understanding of a particular concept or topic, which helps you to address any gaps in learning.

This gives you as a teacher better information about student understanding, which in turn helps you make better decisions about what to do next. This ultimately leads to better learning.
How do our resources support it?

Our resources contain the following features to help you see where students are in their learning and how to get to where they need to be.

Understanding what students need to demonstrate

Learning objectives
Each chapter of our coursebooks begins with learning objectives that state what the students' learning goal is by the end of the chapter.

Prior learning
Many of our resources contain prior learning checks at the beginning of chapters - these activities are diagnostic tools to help you see your students' current level of understanding before proceeding with the lesson.

Worked example/walkthroughs
These show students what good looks like, by taking them through the steps involved.

Evidence of student learning

Questions
The questions in our resources help consolidate student knowledge and skill, and externalise student thinking to help teachers make decisions about next steps.

Discussion questions
These facilitate debate and allow you to dig deeper into student reasoning so you can give feedback. These could involve discussion in pairs, small groups, or with the whole class.

Diagnostic questions
These identify any problems in student understanding and give you as a teacher a quick insight into any misconceptions.

End of chapter questions
These indicate that understanding is secure and that students are ready to move on. For IGCSE and AS & A Level courses, these includes exam-style questions.

Activities
These provide an opportunity for students to show you evidence of their thinking through a variety of outputs, such as written tasks, drawing and poster-making. These activities take an active learning approach.

Reflecting on student learning

Self and peer assessment
These develop critical and reflective thinking skills, and build independence. They allow students to consider their own, or their classmate's, progress through the learning objectives.

Reflection
This encourages students to think about what went well and what they could do better next time.

Once you have addressed gaps in learning and you can use some of our suggested tools to help measure the progress that your students have made.

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Using AfL to address gaps in learning | Cambridge

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The Covid-19 pandemic has caused various levels of disruption to teaching and learning. So we have collated some tools to help you identify how much...

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Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education

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The Department for Education (DfE) is committed to supporting the AI Opportunities Action Plan. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) presents exciting opportunities to improve people’s lives, including by making our public services better. AI will support with the delivery of the Plan for Change and our opportunity mission.

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Dylan Wiliam, PhD, is a consultant who works with educators all over the world to develop effective, research-based teaching. He is former deputy director (Provost) of the Institute of Education at the University of London. From teaching in urban public schools to directing a large-scale testing program to serving in university administration, his professional path has led to a variety of positions at the forefront of education.

After completing an undergraduate degree in science and mathematics, he taught mathematics, science and English in private and urban public schools for eight years during which time he gained further degrees in mathematics and mathematics education. In 1984 he joined the faculty of Chelsea College, University of London, which later became part of King's College London. Here, he worked on developing innovative assessment schemes in mathematics before taking on the leadership of the College's mathematics teacher preparation program.

From 1989 to 1991, Dr. Wiliam served as the academic coordinator of the Consortium for Assessment and Testing in Schools, which developed a variety of assessments for the national curriculum of England and Wales. He then returned to King's College to serve as Dean of the School of Education before being promoted to assistant principal of the college. From 2003 to 2006 Dr. Wiliam was senior research director at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton, New Jersey.

During his academic career, he has written over 300 books, chapters and articles including a major review of research on formative assessment coauthored with Paul Black. He left the University of London in 2010 to focus on working more directly with teachers, and now spends his time working with teachers all over the world on improving teaching and learning. He lives physically in Princeton, NJ and virtually at www.dylanwiliam.net. You can follow him on Twitter at @dylanwiliam.

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Embedded Formative Assessment: (Strategies for Classroom Assessment That Drives Student Engagement and Learning) (New Art and Science of Teaching)

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Buy Embedded Formative Assessment: (Strategies for Classroom Assessment That Drives Student Engagement and Learning) (New Art and Science of Teaching) 2 by Wiliam, Dylan (ISBN: 9781945349225) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Written under the guidance and with the support of Dylan Wiliam, Kate Jones writes about five formative assessment strategies in action in the classroom, with a foreword from Professor John Hattie. Building on the highly successful work of Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy, ideas are shared and misconceptions with formative assessment are addressed with lots of practical advice. Formative assessment in action focuses on five evidence-informed strategies that the teacher can use to support their learners to make progress. Formative assessment can help both the teacher and student understand what needs to be learned and how this can be achieved. During the learning process, formative assessment can identify students' progress as well as highlighting gaps in their knowledge and understanding, therefore giving the teacher useful insight as to what feedback and instruction can be provided to continue to move learners forward. Formative assessment takes place during the learning process. It continually informs the teacher and student as to how learning can move forward as it is happening. This is different to summative assessment, which focuses on the evaluation of student learning at the end of the process. There's a range of case studies from different subjects and key stages to show how formative assessment can be embedded across a curriculum successfully.

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Wiliam & Leahy's Five Formative Assessment Strategies in Action

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Written under the guidance and with the support of Dylan Wiliam, Kate Jones writes about five formative assessment strategies in action in the classroom, with a foreword from Professor John Hattie. Building on the highly successful work of Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy, ideas are shared and misconcept...

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In this new edition of the highly regarded Why Don't Students Like School? cognitive psychologist Daniel Willingham turns his research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning into workable teaching techniques. This book will help you improve your teaching practice by explaining how you and your students think and learn. It reveals the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences.

With a treasure trove of updated material, this edition draws its themes from the most frequently asked questions in Willingham's "Ask the Cognitive Scientist" column in the American Educator. How can you teach students the skills they need when standardized testing just requires facts? Why do students remember everything on TV, but forget everything you say? How can you adjust your teaching for different learning styles? Read this book for the answers to these questions and for practical advice on helping your learners learn better.

Discover easy-to-understand, evidence-based principles with clear applications for the classroom

Update yourself on the latest cognitive science research and new, teacher-tested pedagogical tools

Learn about Willingham's surprising findings, such as that you cannot develop "thinking skills" without facts

Understand the brain's workings to help you hone your teaching skills

Why Students Don't Like School is a valuable resource for both veteran and novice teachers, teachers-in-training, and for the principals, administrators, and staff development professionals who work with them.

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Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, 2nd Edition

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Buy Why Don't Students Like School?: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom, 2nd Edition by Willingham, Daniel T. (ISBN: 9781119715665) from Amazon's Book Store. Free UK delivery on eligible orders.

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Teach Like a Champion 3.0 is the long-awaited update to Doug Lemov's highly regarded guide to the craft of teaching. This book teaches you how to create a positive and productive classroom that encourages student engagement, trust, respect, accountability, and excellence. In this edition, you'll find new and updated teaching techniques, the latest evidence from cognitive science and culturally responsive teaching practices, and an expanded companion video collection. Learn how to build students' background knowledge, move learning into long-term memory, and connect your teaching with the curriculum content for tangible improvement in learning outcomes.

The new version of the book includes:

An introductory chapter on mental models for teachers to use to guide their decision-making in the classroom.

A brand new chapter on Lesson Preparation.

Updated and revised versions of all the technique readers know and use

A brand new set of exemplar videos, including more than a dozen longer "keystone" videos which show how teachers combine and balance technique over a stretch of 8 to 10 minutes of teaching.

Extensive discussion of research in social and cognitive science to support and guide the use of techniques.

Additional online resources, and supports

Read this powerful update to discover the techniques that leading teachers are using to put students on the path to success.

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Teach Like a Champion 3.0: 63 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College

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Buy Teach Like a Champion 3.0: 63 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College 3 by Lemov, Doug (ISBN: 9781119712619) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders.

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Progression Traffic Lights • Use traffic lights as a visual means of showing understanding. Laminate for display. • Either give students red, amber, green cards which they show on their desks or ask for raised hands. • RED = don’t understand, know nothing, not confident... • AMBER = know a little, n…

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The nationwide collapse in reading scores among American youth has lately captured the attention - if not the concern - of headline writers, educators and government bureaucrats.

The Department of Education's most recent survey, released in June, was certainly sensational: it found that text comprehension skills of 13-year-olds had declined an average of four points since the Covid-affected school year of 2019-2020, and more alarmingly that the average drop was seven points compared with the 2012 figure. The results for the worst-performing students fell below the reading skill level recorded in 1971, when the first national study was conducted.

Unsurprisingly, the blame for this dismal news has been assigned by politicians to the easiest, more obvious targets - Covid-19 and the resultant lockdown. Remote learning was bad for students, according to Biden administration officials, so the pandemic must be the chief villain. Conservatives don't disagree, but they prefer to blame the teachers' unions for encouraging their members to teach remotely - for them a greater villain than Covid is the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, a powerful Democrat who lobbied successfully to prolong school shutdowns.

Neither the bureaucrats nor the critics of the teachers' union are wrong, of course. Common sense tells us that a child alone in her bedroom, staring at the image of a teacher on a computer screen (with a smartphone close at hand but hidden from the teacher's view), is not fully focused on learning.

But while everyone bemoans the lockdown, there's been curiously little discussion in this debate about the physical object most children use to read, which, starting long before the arrival of Covid, has increasingly been an illuminated screen displaying pixelated type instead of a printed or photocopied text. What if the principal culprit behind the fall of middle-school literacy is neither a virus, nor a union leader, nor "remote learning"?

Fourth grade is when a crucial shift occurs from what another researcher describes as 'learning to read' to 'reading to learn'

Until recently there has been no scientific answer to this urgent question, but a soon-to-be published, groundbreaking study from neuroscientists at Columbia University's Teachers College has come down decisively on the matter: for "deeper reading" there is a clear advantage to reading a text on paper, rather than on a screen, where "shallow reading was observed".

Using a sample of 59 children aged 10 to 12, a team led by Dr Karen Froud asked its subjects to read original texts in both formats while wearing hair nets filled with electrodes that permitted the researchers to analyze variations in the children's brain responses. Performed in a laboratory at Teachers College with strict controls, the study used an entirely new method of word association in which the children "performed single-word semantic judgment tasks" after reading the passages.

Vital to the usefulness of the study was the age of the participants - a three-year period that is "critical in reading development" - since fourth grade is when a crucial shift occurs from what another researcher describes as "learning to read" to "reading to learn".

link to reclaim your brain home page

Froud and her team are cautious in their conclusions and reluctant to make hard recommendations for classroom protocol and curriculum. Nevertheless, the researchers state: "We do think that these study outcomes warrant adding our voices ... in suggesting that we should not yet throw away printed books, since we were able to observe in our participant sample an advantage for depth of processing when reading from print."

I would go even further than Froud in delineating what's at stake. For more than a decade, social scientists, including the Norwegian scholar Anne Mangen, have been reporting on the superiority of reading comprehension and retention on paper. As Froud's team says in its article: "Reading both expository and complex texts from paper seems to be consistently associated with deeper comprehension and learning" across the full range of social scientific literature.

But the work of Mangen and others hasn't influenced local school boards, such as Houston's, which keep throwing out printed books and closing libraries in favor of digital teaching programs and Google Chromebooks. Drunk on the magical realism and exaggerated promises of the "digital revolution", school districts around the country are eagerly converting to computerized test-taking and screen-reading programs at the precise moment when rigorous scientific research is showing that the old-fashioned paper method is better for teaching children how to read.

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Indeed, for the tech boosters, Covid really wasn't all bad for public-school education: "As much as the pandemic was an awful time period," says Todd Winch, the Levittown, Long Island, school superintendent, "one silver lining was it pushed us forward to quickly add tech supports." Newsday enthusiastically reports: "Island schools are going all-in on high tech, with teachers saying they are using computer programs such as Google Classroom, I-Ready, and Canvas to deliver tests and assignments and to grade papers."

Terrific, especially for Google, which was slated to sell 600 Chromebooks to the Jericho school district, and which since 2020 has sold nearly $14bn worth of the cheap laptops to K-12 schools and universities.

If only Winch and his colleagues had attended the Teachers College symposium that presented the Froud study last September. The star panelist was the nation's leading expert on reading and the brain, John Gabrieli, an MIT neuroscientist who is skeptical about the promises of big tech and its salesmen: "I am impressed how educational technology has had no effect on scale, on reading outcomes, on reading difficulties, on equity issues," he told the New York audience.

"How is it that none of it has lifted, on any scale, reading? ... It's like people just say, 'Here is a product. If you can get it into a thousand classrooms, we'll make a bunch of money.' And that's OK; that's our system. We just have to evaluate which technology is helping people, and then promote that technology over the marketing of technology that has made no difference on behalf of students ... It's all been product and not purpose."

I'll only take issue with the notion that it's "OK" to rob kids of their full intellectual potential in the service of sales - before they even get started understanding what it means to think, let alone read.

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A groundbreaking study shows kids learn better on paper, not screens. Now what?

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For 'deeper reading' among children aged 10-12, paper trumps screens. What does it mean when schools are going digital?

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The issue that teachers face

Questions are an integral part of classroom life and essential to every teacher's pedagogical repertoire. They are also one of the elements of effective formative assessment (Black et al., 2003). Questioning serves many purposes: it engages students in the learning process and provides opportunities for students to ask questions themselves. It challenges levels of thinking and informs whether students are ready to progress with their learning. Questions that probe for deeper meaning foster critical thinking skills and higher-order capabilities such as problem solving, and encourage the types of flexible learners and critical thinkers needed in the 21st century.

Questioning is a crucial pedagogical skill, but one that requires practised knowledge (Cavanaugh and Warwick, 2001). Paramore (2017) identifies an imbalance of questions often found in teaching, saying there is a dominance of teacher talk and an over-reliance on closed questions, providing only limited Known as AfL for short, and also known as formative assessme... Assessment for Learning (also known as formative assessment)... assessment for learning More ) information for a teacher. The issue then is how classroom questioning strategies can become more effective, as evidence suggests that teachers ask too many questions and too many of these questions are low level. More (

What the research says

The value of classroom questioning is well documented. Research tends to focus on the relationship between teachers' questions and student achievement; here are some of the important messages.

Types of questions used

Too often, questions from teachers are organisational, such as 'What do we always put at the top of our page to begin with?' or instructional in nature, such as 'Who can tell me what an adjective is?' and fail to develop deep learning. Wragg's early study (1993) found teachers commonly use three types of question:
1. Management-related, e.g. 'Has everyone finished this piece of work now?'
2. Information recall-related, e.g. 'How many sides does a quadrilateral have?'
3. Higher-order questions, e.g. 'What evidence do you have for saying that?'

In Wragg's study, 57 per cent of questions were management related, 37 per cent required information recall and only 8 per cent challenged higher-order thinking.

Closed or convergent questions have low cognitive involvement and result in limited answers such as 'Yes' or 'No'. Open or divergent questions encourage greater expansion in answers and promote better classroom dialogue (Tofade, Elsner and Haines, 2013). Closed questions are still important, however, and help assist in knowledge retrieval; but proceed with caution here, as the inevitable one-word student answers limit classroom dialogue resulting in what Alexander called 'cognitively restricting rituals' (2006: p.14). Lower-attaining students benefit from closed questions, allowing them greater accuracy of response which in turn breeds encouragement, while higher-attaining students respond better to more challenging questions (Woolfolk, 2008). In order to maximise AfL in lessons, use different types of questions but limit the procedural and emphasise questions that centre on learning, and differentiate them to maximise AfL.

Timing

Student wait time (giving a brief period of time for students to think or reflect before answering) has a positive effect on learning. Brooks and Brooks (2001) found that a rapid-fire questioning approach fails to provide teachers with accurate information about student understanding. Typically, the time between asking a question and a student's response is about one second. Cohen et al. (2004) recommend wait times of three to five seconds for closed questions and up to 15 seconds for open-ended questions.

Cognitive levels

Complex questions promote complex thinking, argue researchers Degener and Berne (2016). But is it really that simple? There is a lack of consensus in the literature. Some researchers have found higher-cognitive questions superior to lower ones while others have not. In general, the level of teachers' questions is low. Around 60 per cent of questions expect only factual information from students (Lee and Kinzie, 2012). Samson et al. (1987) found that higher-cognitive questioning strategies have a positive effect on learning, but this was not as large as has been previously suggested. Simply asking higher-cognitive questions does not necessarily produce higher-cognitive responses from students.

On balance, low-level questioning aimed at recall and fundamental-level comprehension will plateau classroom learning quickly. Higher-level questions can produce deeper learning and thinking, but a balance needs to be struck. Both have a place and a mixture of questions is recommended.

Effective approaches

Over the years, classification taxonomies have been developed to guide teacher questioning (see Krathwohl (1964); Wilen (1986) and Morgan and Saxton (1991) as early examples). Hannel and Hannel's 'highly effective questioning method' (2005) shows how teacher questions promote student engagement, and an interesting approach is the 'sequences of teacher and student questions' (Dekker-Groen, 2015). In literacy, Degener and Berne (2016) devised their six-level 'continuum of questioning complexity' to offer increased challenge at each cognitive level. Shirley Clarke's website (www.shirleyclarke-education.org) has a wide range of practical resources on AfL and proven questioning strategies.

Perhaps the most well-known questioning framework is Bloom's cognitive taxonomy (1956), later revised by Anderson and Krathwohl (2001). In this six-level hierarchy, lower-order questions gauge comprehension; medium-level gauge knowledge application, and higher-order questioning elicits synthesis, analysis and evaluation.

Comprehension
'Tell me how this works...'

Application
'Where else have you seen this pattern?'_

Analysis
'Explain to me what is happening here?'

Synthesis
'What conclusions can you draw from this?'

Evaluation
'Can you measure how effective this is?'

Trigger words are an effective way to formulate questions, as shown in Table 1.

Ideas to try in the classroom

There are many questioning tactics to choose from to promote learning and provide excellent formative assessment information:
1. No hands up. Anyone can answer, which avoids the same few students answering questions.
2. In the hot seat. Students take it in turns to sit in the 'hot seat' and answer questions.
3. Ask the expert. The teacher puts questions to a student on a given topic, extending this to encourage other students to ask questions.
4. Ask the classroom. The teacher displays a number of written questions to stimulate thinking about pictures or objects in the classroom.
5. Think-pair-share. Allows time to share ideas with a partner and respond to a posed question.
6. Phone a friend. A useful strategy in which a student nominates another to answer the teacher's question. The first student also provides an answer.
7. Eavesdropping. When groups are working, the teacher circulates around the classroom and poses questions to groups based on what is heard in their discussions.
8. Question box. An actual box has a series of questions in it devised by the teacher. Time is set aside at the end of a week to choose some to discuss as a class.
9. Here is the answer, what is the question? Deliberately back to front to encourage out-of-the-box thinking.
10. More than me. The teacher asks a student a question and deliberately cuts short the answer to involve another student to build on this answer.

Things to take into account

'It is better to have a classroom full of unanswered questions than unanswered answers' (Morgan and Saxton, 1991).

Good questions develop discussion and invite exploration. Poor questions can stifle and put undue pressure on students. Using a variety of question types to inform your assessment can transform your classroom into a 'questioning classroom'. A classroom ethos and organisation with enquiry at its heart is an effective one, where purposeful talk dominates and teachers ask fewer questions. The effective use of talk for teaching and learning, involvi... Dialogic teaching More (Alexander, 2017) uses skilled questions to extend thinking where answers to teachers' questions are built on rather than merely received. Dialogue allows a teacher to respond to students' answers and if necessary re-orientate them. Exchanges chain together, feedback from questions leads thinking forward and students' answers are extended. Questions are among the most powerful teaching tools we have and adopting best practices will significantly enhance the quality of teaching and learning.

Questions to reflect on/discuss

1. Is my classroom a 'questioning classroom'?

2. Does talk permeate my teaching and learning approach?

3. What types of questions and how many questions do I typically ask in my teaching?

4. Do the questions I ask target higher-order thinking and raise the cognitive stakes? Is this true of my teaching across all subjects?

Further reading

Excellent website with many resources to embed AfL and effective questioning in classrooms: Available at www.shirleyclarke-education.org.

Chapter 2, Questioning to learn, is very readable: Fisher R (2005) Teaching Children to Learn. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.

Practical and clear overview of Bloom's taxonomy: West Lothian Council Educational Psychology Service. Questioning. Raising Attainment sheet 1. Available at: www.westlothian.gov.uk/education.

References

Alexander RJ (2006) Towards Dialogic teaching: rethinking classroom talk. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Dialogos.

Alexander RJ (2017) Towards Dialogic Teaching: rethinking classroom talk. 5th ed. Cambridge: Dialogos.

Anderson LW, Krathwohl DR, Airasian PW, Cruikshank KA, et al. (2001) A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman.

Black P, Harrison C, Lee C, Marshall B and Wiliam D (2003) Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

Bloom BS (ed.) (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals, Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Company, Inc.

Brooks, JG and Brooks MG (2001) Becoming a constructivist teacher. In: Costa: AL (ed.), Developing Minds: A Resource Book for Teaching Thinking (pp.150-157). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Cavanaugh MP and Warwick C (2001) Questioning is an art. Language Arts Journal of Michigan 17 (2): 35-38.

Cohen L, Manion L, and Morrison K (2004) A Guide to Teaching Practice. London: Routledge.

Degener S and Berne J (2016) Complex questions promote complex thinking. The Reading Teacher 70 (5): 595-599. International Literacy Association.

Dekker-Groen A, Van der Schaaf M and Stokking K (2015) Teachers' questions and responses during teacher-student feedback dialogues. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 59(2).

Hannel GI and Hannel L (2005) Highly effective questioning 4th ed. Phoenix AZ: Hannel Educational Consulting.

Krathwohl DR, Bloom BS and Masia BB (eds) (1964) Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook II: The affective domain. New York: McKay.

Lee Y and Kinzie MB (2012) Teacher question and student response with regard to cognition and language use. Instructional Science: An International Journal of the Learning Sciences 40(6): 857-874.

Morgan N and Saxton J (1991) Teaching Questioning and Learning. New York: Routledge.

Paramore J (2017) Questioning to stimulate dialogue. In: Paige R, Lambert S and Geeson R (eds) Building skills for Effective Primary Teaching. London: Learning Matters.

Samson GK, Strykowski B, Weinstein T and Walberg HJ (1987) The effects of teacher questioning levels on student achievement. The Journal of Educational Research 80(5): 290-295.

Tofade TS, Elsner JL and Haines ST (2013) Best practice strategies for effective use of questions as a teaching tool. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 77 (7) Article 155.

Wilen WW (1986) Questioning skills, for teachers. Washington DC: National Education Association.

Woolfolk A, Hughes M and Walkup V (2008) Psychology in Education. Harlow: Pearson.

Wragg EC (1993) Questioning in the Primary Classroom. London: Routledge.

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Skilful questioning: The beating heart of good pedagogy

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The issue that teachers face Questions are an integral part of classroom life and essential to every teacher's pedagogical repertoire. They are also one of the elements of effective formative assessment (Black et al., 2003). Questioning serves many purposes: it engages students in the learning process and provides opportunities for students to ask questions themselves.

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Education Endowment Foundation | EEF

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The EEF is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement.

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The EEF is an independent charity dedicated to breaking the link between family income and educational achievement.

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Evidence Based Education is a teacher development, school improvement and research organisation, and the home of the Great Teaching Toolkit, a personalised professional development platform.

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