Gwersi Brecwast - The PLN Sessions
During this summer half-term, our amazing PLN embarked on a new professional learning activity to explore some of the deeper aspects of pedagogy and practice. We thought it would be a valuable and insightful experience to have one of us teach a mini lesson to others role-playing the pupils. We put aside 30 mins before the start of the day each Friday to embark on our ‘The Gwersi Brecwast The PL Sessions’. A huge diolch to all the willing members of this small group for their time and passion during the project. Roedd y brecwast yn fendigedig hefyd.
We devised a schedule and set some basic parameters for the sessions and wanted to leave some space at the end of each one for feedback and insights. We set the focus to look at specific aspects of subject content we know the pupils find difficult and explore how the mini lesson could be improved, adapted or refined to support future planning. It was also our hope that there would be some washback in the form of being in the pupils' position when dealing with subject content that may or may not be familiar. We may or may not have prior knowledge of the domain and experiencing some of the feelings, emotions, frustrations, and barriers to learning faced by our pupils on a daily basis would be beneficial to inform our thinking on sequence and differentiation. It’s really been a fascinating and insightful venture and here are the reflections of those who took part:
Teacher 1
When the idea of teaching mini lessons within our PLN was first discussed, one of the most appealing aspects for me was that the group was made up of teachers from so many different subject disciplines. More often than not, when I am discussing new ideas for pedagogical approaches or reflecting on practice, I am doing so with members of my own faculty or in subject network groups. Although there is obviously worth in this, delivering and receiving feedback from professionals, but not experts in the subject, offered further important insights. This was particularly true when those professionals were not simply observing but were being put in the place of the learner. We were not allowed to be passive observers and I think that this is what was most effective about this process.
During the first session, maths, I was firmly transported back to the classroom. I became that student who wasn’t quite awake in the morning, the student who had forgotten information that at one time would have been easily accessible, and the student who wanted to do well but was struggling. This process was invaluable in reminding me what our students are experiencing on the other side of the desk and, as a result, made me reflect on my own practice when it comes to students in a similar situation within my own subject. After each of the sessions, it also confirmed to me that knowledge of your learner is essential in selecting which techniques from your toolkit you want to use and when you want to use them. It became obvious that the teachers were quickly assessing where their learners were and their prior knowledge and adapting their approach accordingly. This ability to adapt is something that we have gained with experience but what I found rewarding was seeing the different ways the other teachers adapted and naturally differentiated within their mini lessons. This allowed me to not only say, “Yes, I adapt as I teach” but consider the ‘how’ behind the process and whether my ‘how’ was the most effective way in different situations with different learners.
When it came to my own session, I had to consider what aspect I wanted to deliver. I settled on delivering a session on how to structure a response to a particular question type at GCSE. I knew that my learners in this lesson would be able to access the reading material and I knew that they would understand the question. Therefore, my main concern was ensuring that they answered the question in a specific way. I used the same techniques that I would when delivering this lesson to the pupils and, as a result, received honest and valuable feedback that allows me to consider my day to day teaching. If this type of professional learning is to work effectively, I think that it is imperative that the lessons being delivered reflect the truth of your classroom. If they do then the knowledge we gain from the dialogue after the sessions can, and will, be beneficial for us and our pupils.
This experience wasn’t the same as a series of distinct lesson observations and I think that is what was so important about the process. It allowed for a more open and honest dialogue about pedagogy and practice. It allowed me to see techniques that I use, and just as importantly those that I don’t, and the impact of them within a lesson. It allowed me to make connections in the way we deliver our subjects. As a group, we found similar feedback points were being given at times, suggesting specific areas of improvement (particularly when considering how we respond to and build on errors made within the classroom) and, as a result, this is something that we can now, as a group, focus on improving. This process has been informative and encouraging and, where observations can feel isolated to a lesson and sometimes lack a purposeful dialogue and reflection, this hasn’t felt like that at all.
Teacher 2
I had the pleasure of going first, having volunteered for the honour! My first thoughts were to try and deliver the stereotypical ‘outstanding lesson’ full of laminated resources, ‘awe and wonder’ and other activities that ticked boxes (although I am sure inspection teams see through these anyway). However, I soon had a word with myself and reflected that what was actually necessary was to think about why I was doing what I was doing and then the ‘how’. I began to think about a lesson/topic I teach where I feel the pupils generally ‘get it’, but some struggle and to see if my PLN colleagues could give me the reflection that maybe I wasn't able to do myself. I decided to deliver the session as I would a lesson, with the same resources, pace, questioning and differentiating, as I go, based on the learners.
I was fascinated in the lead up by the idea that actually what I was teaching them was of no consequence, the reflection focussing on the how not the what. Real professional learning concentrating on my routines, pedagogy and practice; a chance for me to learn from experts. However, the fact they were not experts in ‘my subject’ was also a strength of the process. How would a teacher from outside this specialism view it? How would they have approached the content delivery differently? What would have enhanced their experience? To me, all of this was the most powerful part of what we were doing. They were immersed in the learning and were not judging my teaching from a performance management, subject review or inspection perspective but from a teacher wanting to be better.
The 20 minute lesson followed and was delivered. The feedback was honest, informative and inspiring. Most importantly it was listened to and received, with a massively open mind. These are not people making things up to justify a post, these are not people ticking boxes for scrutiny, these are not people trying to find a fault and area for improvement; these are people I respect to be honest with me and who I have trusted to fulfil that role. The comments on the pedagogy, the principles from Rosenshine and other research informed practice like TLAC, the questioning techniques etc were all really useful and the way a colleague linked the way I delivered a sequence of learning to an aspect of digital learning and process was thought provoking. Suggestions for me to consider not just sharing a good example/modelling but ‘find the error’ rather than me explaining what the common errors were was so obvious, but not something I did. I have since built this into my practice!
After receiving the feedback, I also reflected on what I took from the session. For me I realised that I quickly established my ‘confident’ learners, ‘prior knowledge in place’ learners and my, ‘this is uncomfortable for me’ learners. Making these observations then allowed me to consider who and how I questioned - the continual focus on ‘assessment snapshots’ informing my pace, explanations and delivery. Who to ask, what to ask and why - always coming back to the why.
However, delivering the lesson was the easy part, being the pupil in four further lessons was the challenge for me. What were they going to teach? How would I cope? Would I look stupid? ‘I'll be OK in that one as I’m OK with it’ etc… I kept telling myself the process and the pedagogy are the focus but it was obvious, as we all fed back, that learner apprehension is real too, despite what the teacher and your peers tell you.
My fears were never realised as I saw skilled colleagues choose activities/tasks/questions and structures that allowed me to feel successful. I was corrected in a way that was supportive but I still knew I got it wrong. I was proud of what I achieved, even if it was not as much as others, as I was made to feel that my progress mattered. Technology was used because it helped the learning, not because it ‘ticked’ a box. Pedagogical approaches were chosen based on the topic and the learners. Adjustments made mid-lesson/activity were made because the teacher knew their learners (even in the small window we had).
I thoroughly enjoyed the four lessons that followed and saw aspects of practice that I will transfer to mine. We gave feedback to each other and, on reflection, I think we sold ourselves short with only a 10 minute slot for feedback; we could have done 30 and still not have had enough time. Passion for what we all do was so evident as was the knowledge that we all want to get better, despite how long we have all been doing it.
In conclusion, I have two main points - firstly, good teaching is good teaching, and the subject is irrelevant. Know your pupils, know your subject and know your toolkit. You can then mix and match these to deliver successful learning. Secondly, this is the future of lesson observations. I think that all staff observing a lesson in school should actually do the lesson. What does it feel like to be in this lesson? Can I access it? Can I be successful? There is a place for the more traditional focussed observation but for me this process has changed my view on lessons and learning. I think this process is upscalable and whole school improvement will follow.
Teacher 3
Maths, Science, English and Welsh were on my Friday 8am timetable for the past few weeks. I also had to deliver a lesson on introducing spreadsheets - an important but often dull part of digital and ICT lessons. I revisited aspects of school that I hadn’t even thought about for 30 years and also some that (being from the other side of the bridge!) had never been taught before. Scaffolding, modelling, questioning, and lots of practice, all delivered by my trusted colleagues and friends, ensuring that I could learn something in a very short 15-20 minute lesson. This was unlike those micro-teaches that I delivered as part of my PGCE because, at that point, I was a newbie and my critique, like those of my peers, was naive - we had barely been into a classroom and certainly hadn’t been taught about learning theories and pedagogical principles.
Our PLN has evolved naturally over the past 5 years, we each come from different disciplines but all believe that good teaching is good teaching - and that our students deserve good teaching. Our informal professional learning has changed over time in terms of both structure and focus, this was the latest iteration of what has kept us all going through some difficult years and keeps us true to our own ethos - that the students deserve us to be the best we can be, and by that I don’t mean “outstanding” in inspection speak, but that we are consistently good. Curriculum for Wales enables us to think about content more than we have for a while, but the content will only be as good as the delivery and this peer critique has enabled us to get some real, honest critique.
The lesson I delivered was one that I had taught the previous week to Year 8, mixed ability, with some success. After our Gwersi Brecwast session, I delivered that lesson another 3 times, with greater success - drawing on the critique of my PLN, exploiting the areas I had been too vague with, honing my questioning and bringing it into a real life, authentic experience for the students. I gained far more from that 30 mins in terms of bringing my lesson to the students, than any formal observation has ever given me. As a student in the other 4 sessions, I experienced the other side of the desk - particularly when being the slowest to understand what to do with the fractions, feeling that everyone was better than me as they were further on with the work, being a novice at work is not something many teachers get to experience often as we are (generally) the experts in the room. To be able to share my “pupil voice” directly with the teacher after the lesson in another true and authentic way, not just a pupil voice to say we have done one, was also so important. I could then think about times in my own teaching when I have done the same “if you’ve finished then go on and do the next 10”. How were those students who hadn’t got to that part feeling at the end of my lesson? I could share similar learner experiences from the other sessions too, all of which informed my practice as much as the critique I received from my own taught lesson.
What’s next? Not sure. This type of professional learning really works, but it requires a trusting group of educators to do this, to put yourself out there. It cannot be imposed on staff with artificial groupings, but should be allowed and encouraged to develop. This links wonderfully with a coaching approach, again with the right combination of people to ensure there is trust and respect between both parties. I am looking forward to 8am next Friday that’s for sure!
Teacher 4
During the sessions, we decided to look at teaching a micro lesson to show how we could develop pedagogical approaches. For my session, I decided to demonstrate the movement of our faculty towards explicit teaching and direct instruction using formulas from the WJEC DA physics course. As a faculty, we have implemented several strategies to ensure that pupils can select, use and rearrange formulas. We use the FIRE acronym.
F – Write out the Formulae
I – Input the values
R – Resolve the equation. Check that the units are correct and that the value you are calculating is on the left.
E – Equals – Complete the calculation
For my micro lesson, we used mini whiteboards, books and board markers. It was a very interactive session using the I do, we do and you do method of instruction. Although we usually include plenty of practice, we develop the concept of using equations from year 8 as we have mixed ability classes. It was encouraging to see the similarities in teaching approaches with mathematics. The feedback given was useful, and I will look at refining my teaching to include errors and being able to identify and correct them.
Truthfully, by participating in the other sessions, I found that it allowed me to reflect on the other areas of pedagogy. I found there were strategies that overlapped with the ones we use in our faculty but also others that gave fresh ideas on how to develop direct instruction further. An example of this would be from the English lesson where they develop their extended answer approach with clear steps and structure against the mark-scheme. I would have only used a couple of steps to help pupils develop an extended answer, but her teaching reminded me that it is important to use good examples and get the class to suggest improvements from a generic example rather than using a class example alone. Another example would be to extend the use of flooding input for key terminology we know the pupils will find difficult or be unfamiliar with. This in turn will develop the confidence of the pupils to be able to interact with the scientific terminology using KO starter, true and false, correct the mistakes and fill in the blanks.
I am grateful for the opportunity to watch and participate in these sessions as it helped me reflect on my own practice and has encouraged me to try new approaches.
Teacher 5
My first reflection is about structure! In each session, there was a purposeful activity to start that either flooded ideas for the following work or retrieval practice on a spaced learning principle and detached from the lesson objective. In language lessons, we call these universals. What struck me is the principle of activating prior knowledge or flooding knowledge that will be required in the lesson is a key feature in effective lessons. This was achieved in a range of different approaches from quizzing, matching, big ideas, and retrieval tasks. Quick activities to prime the content.
My second reflection was about how important comprehensible input is to establishing the learning objective and ensuring learners understand the key, usually level 3, terminology. We had aspects of the Freya model to establish clear definitions and avoid misconceptions, sheltered vocabulary, and worked examples in context across the sessions. There was space given to explore the terminology and establish the contextual meaning. This is central to the sequencing choices when planning. It was fascinating to be challenged with alternative ways to activate prior learning and ensure comprehended access to the key terminology needed. A key aspect of establishing this understanding was careful questioning, knowing your learners, and being responsive to the replies. It felt like all the teachers had anticipated the possible confusions/misunderstandings and actively prepared for these in their planning with explanations and examples at the ready.
In all the sessions, there was a variety of techniques that were repeated. Cold calling, modelling, worked examples, open and closed questioning, guided practice, Pose, Pause, Pounce and Bounce, independent practice and comprehension checks using mini whiteboards. These were all features of the lessons and the teaching craft was evident in how these were used seamlessly during the sessions to keep the engagement and the participation ratio high. This left me reflecting on how different techniques have a specific function and selecting from the range of options for a specific purpose is vital; an area I need to develop further in my own practice. This is also very important in terms of activity selection. Having the confidence to go with the flow of lessons and new input from the pupils is critical in chasing down what has been comprehended and what has not. “Formative assessment should not be anything less than every minute of every lesson” (William), springs to mind.
One of the features for further development that arose in all the sessions was the use of diagnostic tasks or activities that give the pupils the opportunity to isolate errors in an example. Debugging or problem solving was lacking and all teachers felt this was an aspect that could be further exploited following the modelling phase. Deliberate practice in proofing work is a skill to develop in our pupils and will help them to notice common errors. A critical eye on their own work where questioning micro-steps in a process are celebrated and welcome. This could be an effective approach for responding to whole-class feedback or common errors detected across the class.
I thoroughly enjoyed the sessions as they gave me vital insight into how pupils respond to different levels of challenge. Careful structuring of activities that both support and challenge pupils is not easy and there needs to be some flexibility or responsiveness to go after the lesson objective in a variety of ways, as the needs of pupils are very different. A strong feature of all the sessions was this careful development of the background knowledge and then filling any gaps to ensure all pupils are involved and given the opportunity to engage with the content. I also really enjoyed the reflective discussions after each session as these were rich in pedagogical knowledge and application in the classroom. I also feel this type of PL activity would be very helpful to teachers who want to try out new teaching and learning ideas or approaches with other teachers before introducing them into the classroom. Having the opportunity to trial, assess, and refine techniques and seek critical feedback in a supportive and knowledgeable environment is a positive addition to staying sharp at the chalk-face. I would happily take part in more sessions like this.
Conclusion
The impact of these sessions is clear and all those taking part benefitted from engaging in the process. Professional dialogue, coaching, reflection and encouragement were all key aspects alongside developing a range of techniques and pedagogical approaches. There is power in a PLN that seeks to develop pedagogical knowledge and refine practice because very often the expertise is already in the room. We hope these thoughts and reflections strike a chord. #Ymlaen
#15MFCymru
