Skip to main content
Beta
This is a new service – contact continuing-professional-development@digital.education.gov.uk with any feedback
  • Support for early career teachers
  • Education Development Trust
  • Year 1: First half-term: developing effective classroom practice
    • Spring week 3

    Mentor materials

    Expositions

    Intended outcomes

    The intended outcomes of this topic are for Early Career Teachers to:

    Learn how to make good use of expositions, by:

    • Starting expositions at the point of current pupil understanding
    • Combining a verbal explanation with a relevant graphical representation of the same concept or process, where appropriate
    • Using concrete representation of abstract ideas (e.g. making use of analogies, metaphors, examples and non-examples)

    Activities

    Reflecting on learning (10 minutes)

    The ECT should have taught the lesson that was used in the previous topic to explore scaffolding. The beginning of this topic is a good time to reflect upon how it went.

    Suggested dialogue for mentors: Last topic we looked at effective scaffolding. We worked on a lesson you were going to teach and thought about how the tasks could be scaffolded effectively, what models could support that scaffolding and how your explanations can support pupils move from novice learner to independence. Let’s catch up about that lesson now. How did it go? Did the scaffold support pupils? Was it the right level of scaffold? What have you learned? What will you do the same/differently going forward?

    Explain that the focus of today’s mentor topic is what the ECT can do to plan lessons effectively. It will focus on three key statements of the ECF:

    • Starting expositions at the point of current pupil understanding.
    • Combining a verbal explanation with a relevant graphical representation of the same concept or process, where appropriate.
    • Using concrete representation of abstract ideas (e.g. making use of analogies, metaphors, examples and non-examples).

    You might ask whether they were aware of the expositions they made since the last mentor topic. What did they notice?

    Note: The ideas of abstract and concrete will be revisited in module 4: The importance of subject and curriculum knowledge.

    Starting expositions at the point of current pupil understanding (10 minutes)

    Guidance for mentors:

    • Expositions will have been covered already to some extent within other topics.
    • The ECT should know from the self-study materials that breaking down explanations into small steps supports pupils to learn.
    • An exposition is: ‘a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory’ – so it is more than simply an explanation.

    Suggested dialogue for mentor: An exposition is more than simply an explanation – it is a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory. As you develop as a teacher, you will find that you are able to do this more ‘off the cuff’. However, at the beginning of your career, this is difficult. It is important to plan your expositions in advance of lessons, especially when there are difficult concepts to teach. One of the most important things to think about is to make sure you start your exposition at the point of current pupil understanding.

    Ask:

    • Can you think of a time when you had a difficult concept to teach and you felt underprepared to explain that concept to your pupils?
    • What happened?
    • How did that make you feel?
    • [The mentor could insert a story here from a time that this has happened to them].
    • How can you work out what the point of current pupil understanding is?
      • Through questioning and other forms of formative feedback (this is dealt with explicitly in module 5)
      • Start the lesson with a short low-stakes quiz
      • Use a multiple-choice question that exposes misconceptions
      • Give pupils a homework task that assesses their prior understanding before the lesson
    • What are the challenges with this?
      • You have a whole class of pupils who may be at different starting points.

    For a lesson that the ECT plans to teach in the next week where a difficult concept is going to be covered, the ECT will work for the rest of this topic on planning an effective exposition.

    Pose the question: For the lesson you have chosen, what is the right starting point for the exposition?

    Using graphical representations (15 minutes)

    Read the following information together:

    • Combining a verbal explanation with a relevant graphical representation of the same concept is known as ‘dual coding’.
    • There are many ways to represent material visually, e.g. infographics, timelines, cartoon strips, diagrams, and graphic organisers.
    • Combining words and visuals can support working memory. “Dual coding and learning styles sound similar but are not quite the same thing. While dual coding has scientific evidence backing its use, learning styles theory has been repeatedly tested and shown not to improve learning.” (The Learning Scientists)

    Pose the question: Thinking about the exposition you are planning, what graphical representation could you use alongside your verbal explanation to support students in their understanding?

    Using concrete representations of abstract ideas (15 minutes)

    Share the following definitions with the ECT:

    What is an abstract idea?

    An abstract idea or concept is one that can be difficult to grasp and/or vague. Often the definition of the abstract idea or concept is itself full of vague terms.

    An abstract idea is one that is removed from what you can see in front of you – a concrete idea. So, while an apple in your hand is concrete, the idea of apples or fruit more generally is abstract. Extending this further, some words don’t actually have a concrete equivalent – bravery, power, justice or freedom for example. Some abstract concepts are symbolic, representing concrete things – while seeing three coins is concrete and visible, the number 3 is an abstraction. Young children will need to learn about ‘threeness’ from the physical world before they can use it in mathematics.

    Expecting pupils to understand what an abstract idea is from its definition alone is insufficient to support their understanding. It might help pupils to understand an abstract concept through a concrete example: a beach is a concrete example of the concept of erosion.

    What is a concrete representation?

    Concrete representations are used to support students to understand ideas that are abstract. A concrete representation of an abstract idea could be:

    • An analogy: a comparison between one thing or another e.g. explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog, you understand it better, but the frog dies in the process.
    • A metaphor: a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, e.g. my brother is the black sheep of the family.
    • An example: an illustration or exemplification of a concept, e.g. some examples of energy are coal, wind and the sun.
    • A non-example: an example that is irrelevant to a rule or definition already used to show the boundaries of a concept, e.g. some non-examples of energy are batteries and sockets.

    Pose the question:You can use concrete representations with your expositions to make them clearer and more understandable for pupils. Thinking about the exposition you are planning, what concrete representations could you use?

    Bringing it all together (5 minutes)

    Suggested dialogue for mentors: Now that you have looked at the range of ways you could create an effective exposition, what will your final version look like? What is the narrative explanation going to cover? Will you include visuals? Will making it concrete help?

    Planning for action

    The mentor should agree that they will come and observe the ECT deliver the exposition. They should explain that they will be looking for the following:

    1. How clear was the exposition?
    2. Did the exposition start at the point of current pupil understanding?
    3. Did the graphical representation that was used support pupil understanding?
    4. Did the concrete representations of abstract ideas used support pupil understanding?

    It might be possible to film the lesson if there is capability for this available in the school.

    Model effectively

    Intended outcomes

    The intended outcomes of this topic are for Early Career Teachers to:

    Learn how to model effectively, by:

    • Narrating thought processes when modelling to make explicit how experts think (e.g. asking questions aloud that pupils should consider when working independently and drawing pupils’ attention to links with prior knowledge)
    • Exposing potential pitfalls and explaining how to avoid them

    Activities

    Reflecting on learning (10 minutes)

    The ECT should have taught the lesson that was used in the previous topic to explore scaffolding. The beginning of this topic is a good time to reflect upon how it went.

    Suggested dialogue for mentors: Last topic we looked at effective scaffolding. We worked on a lesson you were going to teach and thought about how the tasks could be scaffolded effectively, what models could support that scaffolding and how your explanations can support pupils move from novice learner to independence. Let’s catch up about that lesson now. How did it go? Did the scaffold support pupils? Was it the right level of scaffold? What have you learned? What will you do the same/differently going forward?

    Explain that the focus of today’s mentor topic is what the ECT can do to plan lessons effectively. It will focus on three key statements of the ECF:

    • Starting expositions at the point of current pupil understanding.
    • Combining a verbal explanation with a relevant graphical representation of the same concept or process, where appropriate.
    • Using concrete representation of abstract ideas (e.g. making use of analogies, metaphors, examples and non-examples).

    You might ask whether they were aware of the expositions they made since the last mentor topic. What did they notice?

    Note: The ideas of abstract and concrete will be revisited in module 4: The importance of subject and curriculum knowledge.

    Starting expositions at the point of current pupil understanding (10 minutes)

    Guidance for mentors:

    • Expositions will have been covered already to some extent within other topics.
    • The ECT should know from the self-study materials that breaking down explanations into small steps supports pupils to learn.
    • An exposition is: ‘a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory’ – so it is more than simply an explanation.

    Suggested dialogue for mentor: An exposition is more than simply an explanation – it is a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory. As you develop as a teacher, you will find that you are able to do this more ‘off the cuff’. However, at the beginning of your career, this is difficult. It is important to plan your expositions in advance of lessons, especially when there are difficult concepts to teach. One of the most important things to think about is to make sure you start your exposition at the point of current pupil understanding.

    Ask:

    • Can you think of a time when you had a difficult concept to teach and you felt underprepared to explain that concept to your pupils?
    • What happened?
    • How did that make you feel?
    • [The mentor could insert a story here from a time that this has happened to them].
    • How can you work out what the point of current pupil understanding is?
      • Through questioning and other forms of formative feedback (this is dealt with explicitly in module 5)
      • Start the lesson with a short low-stakes quiz
      • Use a multiple-choice question that exposes misconceptions
      • Give pupils a homework task that assesses their prior understanding before the lesson
    • What are the challenges with this?
      • You have a whole class of pupils who may be at different starting points.

    For a lesson that the ECT plans to teach in the next week where a difficult concept is going to be covered, the ECT will work for the rest of this topic on planning an effective exposition.

    Pose the question: For the lesson you have chosen, what is the right starting point for the exposition?

    Using graphical representations (15 minutes)

    Read the following information together:

    • Combining a verbal explanation with a relevant graphical representation of the same concept is known as ‘dual coding’.
    • There are many ways to represent material visually, e.g. infographics, timelines, cartoon strips, diagrams, and graphic organisers.
    • Combining words and visuals can support working memory. “Dual coding and learning styles sound similar but are not quite the same thing. While dual coding has scientific evidence backing its use, learning styles theory has been repeatedly tested and shown not to improve learning.” (The Learning Scientists)

    Pose the question: Thinking about the exposition you are planning, what graphical representation could you use alongside your verbal explanation to support students in their understanding?

    Using concrete representations of abstract ideas (15 minutes)

    Share the following definitions with the ECT:

    What is an abstract idea?

    An abstract idea or concept is one that can be difficult to grasp and/or vague. Often the definition of the abstract idea or concept is itself full of vague terms.

    An abstract idea is one that is removed from what you can see in front of you – a concrete idea. So, while an apple in your hand is concrete, the idea of apples or fruit more generally is abstract. Extending this further, some words don’t actually have a concrete equivalent – bravery, power, justice or freedom for example. Some abstract concepts are symbolic, representing concrete things – while seeing three coins is concrete and visible, the number 3 is an abstraction. Young children will need to learn about ‘threeness’ from the physical world before they can use it in mathematics.

    Expecting pupils to understand what an abstract idea is from its definition alone is insufficient to support their understanding. It might help pupils to understand an abstract concept through a concrete example: a beach is a concrete example of the concept of erosion.

    What is a concrete representation?

    Concrete representations are used to support students to understand ideas that are abstract. A concrete representation of an abstract idea could be:

    • An analogy: a comparison between one thing or another e.g. explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog, you understand it better, but the frog dies in the process.
    • A metaphor: a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, e.g. my brother is the black sheep of the family.
    • An example: an illustration or exemplification of a concept, e.g. some examples of energy are coal, wind and the sun.
    • A non-example: an example that is irrelevant to a rule or definition already used to show the boundaries of a concept, e.g. some non-examples of energy are batteries and sockets.

    Pose the question:You can use concrete representations with your expositions to make them clearer and more understandable for pupils. Thinking about the exposition you are planning, what concrete representations could you use?

    Bringing it all together (5 minutes)

    Suggested dialogue for mentors: Now that you have looked at the range of ways you could create an effective exposition, what will your final version look like? What is the narrative explanation going to cover? Will you include visuals? Will making it concrete help?

    Planning for action

    (5 minutes)

    In the next topic, ECTs will be focusing on adapting teaching, namely understanding that pupils are different and considering how to cater effectively for those differences.

    They will need to have completed Activity 3.3 in the self-directed study materials, so remind them of this. They will also need to bring a class list for their class or a class they teach, which they want to focus on in the next topic. It would be useful if this class list contained information on pupil differences, e.g. performance data, gender, SEN status etc.