Mentor materials
Acquisition before application
Select a development area
Consider the development areas for this topic(below). Then make a note of the area you plan to zoom in on and when you plan to visit so you can observe your teacher in this area. Familiarise yourself with the focused development areas. You will select one later when you observe your teacher.
Development area 1: Planning for acquisition
Focused development area
- Teacher links new material to pupils’ existing prior knowledge.
- Teacher plans to secure critical knowledge, skills and concepts before they are applied or more complex content is encountered.
- Teacher, with the support of a colleague, plans to use powerful ways to convey knowledge, skills and concepts to pupils.
- Teacher introduces abstract concepts in the form of concrete examples and explains the link between them.
Example precise target: Teacher plans to secure critical knowledge, skills and concepts before they are applied or more complex content is encountered
- Not doing it at all: Plan to introduce critical knowledge and skills or check pupils know them before having pupils apply them or encounter more complex content.
- Doing it but needs some improvement: Plan for pupils to have multiple exposures to critical knowledge and skills before they apply them or encounter more complex content.
- Doing it well and needs some stretch: Plan for pupils to have to retrieve critical knowledge and skills over time to support them to remember it before they apply them without support or encounter more complex content.
Development area 2: Checking for acquisition
Focused development area
- Teacher plans times into the lesson when they will check pupils have understood the critical knowledge and skills they need before they apply them.
- Teacher, with the support of a colleague, plans and checks whether pupils have gaps, errors or misconceptions in their understanding of the knowledge and skills before they apply them.
- Teacher addresses gaps in knowledge, errors or misconceptions related to the knowledge or skills before increasing complexity for pupils.
Development area 3: Independent practice for application
Focused development area
- Teacher uses an activity for application of previously taught material.
- Teacher plans to guide pupils to apply previously taught material so they experience success.
- Teacher uses guides or scaffolds to help pupils apply previously taught material independently and removes them when pupils are achieving a high degree of success.
Observe
Consider the following questions based on a short (approximately 15 minute) observation of your teacher.
What was your teacher’s previous target? Are they meeting it? How do you know?
Thinking about the development area you have selected for this topic, what is your teacher already doing well in this area? Which focused development area best aligns with what your teacher needs to get better at? What one precise target (bite-sized action) might you work with them on during your mentor meeting?
Reminder: You can choose to stick with this previous target if they have not made enough progress. When moving on to a new precise target, you can select one from the table above or, if this doesn’t fit your teacher’s needs, you can write your own.
How will you model the target to your teacher to show them what good looks like? What questions will you ask to check your teacher understands the model? For example, ‘How it is different from your current practice?’ and ‘What impact might it have on your practice and pupils?’
Reminder: Your model should help your teacher develop their ability in some of the following:
- Link what pupils already know to what is being taught.
- Sequence lessons so that pupils secure foundational knowledge before encountering more complex content.
- Balance exposition, repetition, practice and retrieval of critical knowledge and skills.
- Identify essential concepts, knowledge, skills and principles of the subject and provide opportunity for all pupils to learn and master these critical components.
- Use concrete representation of abstract ideas.
- Remove scaffolding only when pupils are achieving a high degree of success in applying previously taught material.
- Provide sufficient opportunity for pupils to consolidate and practise applying new knowledge and skills.
- Work with experienced colleagues to accumulate and refine a collection of powerful analogies, illustrations, examples, explanations and demonstrations.
Next, meet with your teacher to work through the ‘feedback’ stage of instructional coaching.