Taking inspiration from Zoe Esner’s #roadmap for CPD blog; ( @greeborunner ) we continue to carefully orchestrate our professional training at Wellacre.
We want every member of staff to keep getting better, regardless of career stage or role. Our shared language for pedagogy, eliminates confusion about what best practice looks like and lies in the research shared by Barak Rosenshine and the Learning Scientists (@AceThatTest). Their research has contributed significantly to understanding the effectiveness of various instructional methods, culminating in Rosenshine’s principles of direct instruction and the independent learning strategies championed by https://www.learningscientists.org/.
“Many of the skills taught in classrooms can be conveyed by provising prompts, modelling use of the prompt, and then guiding students as they gain independence”
“One characteristic of effective teachers is their ability to anticipate students’ errors and warn them about possible errors some of them are likely to make”
“Increase the use of effective study and teaching strategies that are backed by research”
It resonates with teachers of all subjects and contexts, because the principles and strategies focus on aspects of teaching that are universal, namely:
questioning and practice
We hope to nurture the building of knowledge using the https://www.learningscientists.org/downloadable-materials
Our drive this year, is to implement the principles and strategies, so that our students are
- more able to recall facts so that they can confidently articulate themselves
- confidently discuss points of view, share ideas and debate topics
- think for themselves
To meet our objectives, there are several key and connected components to our 2020/21 teacher development curriculum. Tom Sherrington’s Walk Thru platform (https://www.walkthrus.co.uk/) supports our Heads of faculty in the delivery of half termly subject developmental sessions, additional time allotted for action research, built in time for reflections on our developing pedagogy and in-house coaching to build a stronger network of support.
This year, we have launched the Walk Thru’s “3 point communication” model to support developmental feedback too. All staff have the Walk Thru book and the Workbook by C Grimes (@CsargeyG) to facilitate more informed reflections and encourage collaboration.
Wellacre T&L 