Mentor materials
The impacts upon the ect of their inquiry - planning to present
Mentor materials content
ECT Mentor session
Module 8: Developing quality pedagogy and making productive use of assessment
Week 14: The impacts upon the ECT of their inquiry. Planning to present
Learning Intentions for this session
The focus of your mentee’s inquiry for Module 8 is on an element of the Early Career Framework (ECF) from Standards 4, 5 or 6. They might have chosen a focus which combines different elements of these standards.
Look at the individual case studies below to see what the featured teachers had learned by this stage of their inquiries, derived from across the ECF Standards, but mainly Standards 4, 5 and 6.
Further learning intentions for this session:
▪ clarifying what your mentee has personally gained from the Module 8 inquiry
▪ deciding how your mentee will present their findings
Introduction
Last week during their self-directed study time, your mentee collected and analysed further evidence related to their inquiry, including ‘overheard’ and ‘unexpected’ evidence.
They also considered the range of impacts the inquiry has had on themselves, and will be ready to discuss this with you this week.
In this session you will also look ahead to your final mentor meeting of Module 8, when your mentee will present their inquiry findings.
Case Studies
You have seen these case studies before: they explore how four teachers – improving their practice and without adding to their workload – conducted their own practitioner inquiries into developing quality pedagogy and making productive use of assessment.
You can read back to Weeks 3 or 5, if you want to remind yourself of the issue they wanted to tackle and the alterations to their practice that they implemented.
Here we see the inferences they make from the range of evidence they collected. We also see the range of impacts the inquiries have had upon them personally: on their beliefs, workload and relationships with colleagues. Finally, we see the ideas they had for presenting their findings.
When reading these case studies, your mentee will need to take account of their own pupils’ characteristics, the context of their classroom and the nature of the material that they are teaching.
Case Study A: Grouping Pupils Effectively
Andy’s approach to grouping pupils effectively in Year 1
Andy devised this evaluative inquiry question:
How can I use group activities over two half-terms to improve the engagement and attainment of my Year 1 pupils?
After making small adjustments to his inquiry to account for pupils’ feedback, he was able to draw these insights from the deliberate evidence:
1.3. Teacher expectations can affect pupil outcomes; setting goals that challenge and stretch pupils is essential.
- by repeatedly making his intentions clear, he has been able to ‘bring the children with him’ on this journey to helping them to work productively with any of their peers
4.9. Paired and group activities can increase pupil success, but to work together effectively pupils need guidance, support and practice.
- by using near attainment grouping in every literacy lesson for a term, and extending this to numeracy lessons after one half-term - and by switching from near attainment to mixed attainment groupings for other topics - he has given the children many opportunities to practise working with others, and therefore to get better at doing so over time
4.10. How pupils are grouped is also important; care should be taken to monitor the impact of groupings on pupil attainment, behaviour and motivation.
a small number of the mixed attainment groupings have proven problematic
several of his pupils have become much more confident in working with a wider range of peers
Through engaging in the inquiry so far, Andy has also learned better how to communicate a belief in the academic potential of all of his pupils, by:
1a. Using intentional and consistent language that promotes challenge and aspiration.
▪ his Teaching Assistant (TA) – who had been working in Key Stage 1 for many years – feels the class have made much faster progress than other classes she has known
And he has:
1e. Created a culture of respect and trust in the classroom that supports all pupils to succeed (e.g. by modelling the types of courteous behaviour expected of pupils).
▪ publicly celebrating the features of productive talk he wanted to see more of, such as listening carefully, sharing resources and building on the ideas of others
From the wider emergent (overheard and unexpected) evidence, Andy made these inferences:
▪ he overheard his pupils say things like ‘I used to not like working with X, but now I like it’ – the new pupil grouping is having the desired effect
▪ his Year 1s overall made unexpectedly rapid progress with the accuracy of their mark making – the new pupil grouping improved the pupils socially and in their written literacy
He inferred that this was because he had understood that:
4.9. Paired and group activities can increase pupil success, but to work together effectively pupils need guidance, support and practice.
4.10. How pupils are grouped is also important; care should be taken to monitor the impact of groupings on pupil attainment, behaviour and motivation.
And he had learned better how to stimulate pupil thinking by:
4o. Considering the factors that will support effective collaboration.
The impact the inquiry has had on Andy’s beliefs and professional relationships
The inquiry involved Andy working more productively with his TA. He is now much firmer in his belief that:
1.1 Teachers have the ability to affect and improve the wellbeing, motivation and behaviour of their pupils
1.3 Teacher expectations can affect pupil outcomes; setting goals that challenge and stretch pupils is essential
4.1 Effective teachers can transform pupils’ knowledge, capabilities and beliefs about knowledge
4.7 High-quality classroom talk can support pupils to articulate key ideas, consolidate understanding and extend their vocabulary
4.9 Paired and group activities can increase pupil success, but to work together effectively pupils need guidance, support and practice
5.5 Flexibly grouping pupils within a class to provide more tailored support can be effective, but care should be taken to monitor its impact on engagement and motivation, particularly for low attaining pupils
7.6 Pupils are motivated by intrinsic factors (related to their identity and values) and extrinsic factors (related to reward)
8.7 Engaging in high-quality professional development can help teachers improve
How Andy presented his findings
A keen blogger, Andy wrote up his findings and published them online, where they were well-received by colleagues from other schools. As a result of comments made on his blog, Andy learned of several other methods for grouping pupils that he resolved to experiment with in future.
Case Study B: Modelling and Scaffolding
Vashti’s use of modelling and scaffolds to support writing in Year 4
To ensure she was developing her practice effectively, Vashti devised this evaluative inquiry question:
How can I use ‘speaking sentences’ well, over the space of two terms, to reduce the prevalence of basic errors in written literacy among pupils with a Speech, Language and Communication Need (SpLCN) in Year 4?
After making small adjustments to her inquiry – because her pupils were still often mis-spelling high frequency words – she was able to draw these insights from the deliberate evidence. She had learned better how to:
6b. Draw conclusions about what pupils have learned by looking at patterns of performance over a number of assessments (e.g. appreciating that assessments draw inferences about learning from performance).
▪ 5 of the 6 target SpLCN pupils have made significant progress in the summative writing assessment
4d. Provide sufficient opportunity for pupils to consolidate and practise applying new knowledge and skills.
▪ several pupils are able to describe how they have benefited from using the laminated sheet and the speaking activity to organise their thinking and their writing
Reflecting on her findings, Vashti drew the following interim conclusion for her own teaching:
Classroom talk, combined with scaffolding resources, can be a powerful driver for improving written literacy among pupils with SpLCN in Year 4. (4a, 4p)
She realised that she should continue with this approach to supporting her pupils’ writing, but keep a careful eye on the successful use of the scaffold, so her pupils could still succeed when she withdrew it.
From the wider emergent (overheard and unexpected) evidence, Vashti made these inferences:
▪ she overheard several of the non-SpLCN pupils, but who also have other additional needs, say that the ‘speaking sentences’ approach made them much more confident when writing – the approach can work with all pupils who have additional needs
▪ unexpectedly, the oracy of the SpLCN pupils also improved markedly over the period – scaffolds which reduce basic errors in one area of literacy may also have a similar effect in others
She inferred that this was because she had learned better how to:
3r. Model and require high-quality oral language, recognising that it underpins the development of reading and writing (e.g. requiring pupils to respond to questions in full sentences, using relevant technical vocabulary)
3s. Teach different forms of writing by modelling planning, drafting and editing
4a. Use modelling, explanations and scaffolds, acknowledging that novices need more structure early in a domain
4d. Provide sufficient opportunity for pupils to consolidate and practise applying new knowledge and skills.
4p. Provide scaffolds for pupil talk to increase the focus and rigour of dialogue
The impact the inquiry has had on Vashti’s beliefs, workload and professional relationships
She is now much firmer in her belief that:
3.10 Every teacher can improve pupils’ literacy, including by explicitly teaching reading, writing and oral language skills specific to individual disciplines
4.1 Effective teachers can transform pupils’ knowledge, capabilities and beliefs about knowledge
4.4 Guides, scaffolds and worked examples can help pupils apply new ideas, but should be gradually removed as pupil expertise increases
4.7 High-quality classroom talk can support pupils to articulate key ideas, consolidate understanding and extend their vocabulary
5.1 Pupils are likely to learn at different rates and to require different levels and types of support from teachers to succeed
5.3 Adapting teaching in a responsive way, including by providing targeted support to pupils who are struggling, is likely to increase pupil success
8.7 Engaging in high-quality professional development can help teachers improve
She has also saved on her workload because she has learned that:
5.4 Adaptive teaching is less likely to be valuable if it causes the teacher to artificially create distinct tasks for different groups of pupils or to set lower expectations for particular pupils.
How Vashti presented her findings
At the end of the summer term, Vashti shared her findings at an academy-wide joint practice development day, where she ran a short workshop on her ‘speaking sentences’ intervention.
Case Study C: Making Marking Manageable
Louise’s new approach to marking in Secondary History
To ensure she was developing her practice effectively, Louise devised this evaluative inquiry question:
How can I implement codes and verbal feedback well, so that my Year 9 History pupils are able to correct misconceptions and make progress, and I am able to reduce the amount of time I spend marking?
Louise noticed that some of her pupils didn’t seem to understand how they were supposed to respond to the coded feedback. After making small adjustments to her inquiry she was able to draw these insights from the deliberate evidence:
6p. Reduce the opportunity cost of marking by using codes and verbal feedback
▪ she was able to cut the marking time for a set of books from 2 hours to 30 minutes
▪ her two Year 9 classes (one experimental, one control group) achieved a very similar distribution of scores in a summative written assessment
▪ that her pupils in the experimental group had not encountered any significant problems as a result of the new way of marking
6h. Give whole-class feedback so they know what they need to do to improve and have the time to do it.
▪she practised giving whole-class feedback, having created a standard slide, which reminded her to give specific feedback and 15 minutes a lesson to do it.
Based on these findings, Louise made the following tentative claims from her inquiry:
Using codes/verbal feedback does not detrimentally affect pupil progress, compared with a standard written marking approach.
On average, using codes/verbal feedback saves the teacher about an hour a week, per teaching class, compared with a standard written marking approach
Having reviewed her practice in this way, she will use this insight to now apply the same principles of verbal feedback and minimal marking to her Year 7 and Year 8 classes, while monitoring the impact of that on her pupils and herself.
From the wider emergent (overheard and unexpected) evidence, Louise made these inferences:
▪ she overheard several high prior attaining girls in her experimental Year 9 class say that they preferred the new form of feedback, because they received it much more quickly – pupils don’t necessarily ‘miss’ having their work marked all of the time
▪ she overheard a few pupils in her control Year 9 class say they heard what she was doing in her other class, and ‘why can’t we have that?’ – verbal and coded feedback might be popular with pupils
▪ expectedly, she saved time on marking; unexpectedly, she used that gained time to prepare better lessons – reducing unnecessary marking can have an overall positive impact on her teaching
She inferred that this was because she had learned better how to:
6h. Focus on specific actions for pupils and providing time for pupils to respond to feedback
6i. Appreciate that pupils’ responses to feedback can vary depending on a range of social factors (e.g. the message the feedback contains…)
6n. Use verbal feedback during lessons in place of written feedback after lessons where possible
6p. Reduce the opportunity cost of marking (e.g. by using abbreviations and codes in written feedback)
The impact the inquiry has had on Louise’s beliefs and workload
She is now much firmer in her belief that:
4.1 Effective teachers can transform pupils’ knowledge, capabilities and beliefs about knowledge
6.1 Effective assessment is critical to teaching because it provides teachers with information about pupils’ understanding and needs
6.4 To be of value, teachers use information from assessments to inform the decisions they make; in turn, pupils must be able to act on feedback for it to have an effect
6.5 High-quality feedback can be written or verbal; it is likely to be accurate and clear, encourage further effort, and provide specific guidance on how to improve
8.7 Engaging in high-quality professional development can help teachers improve
She has also saved on her workload because she has learned that:
6.7 Working with colleagues to identify efficient approaches to assessment is important; assessment can become onerous and have a disproportionate impact on workload
How Louise presented her findings
Louise shared her findings with her department, who were impressed with the results and with the fact that Louise had been able to spend more time planning lessons and creating resources. Following a presentation to the senior team, the History department’s marking policy was amended to state that teachers can either use written marking, or use verbal feedback, in combination with codes/abbreviations, where appropriate.
Case Study D: Questioning
Mo’s use of direction and elaboration to improve questioning in GCSE PE
To ensure he was developing his practice effectively, Mo devised this evaluative inquiry question:
How can I best adapt the way I ask questions, implemented every lesson for one term, to improve the quality and amount of talk among Pupil Premium girls in Y11 GCSE PE?
After extending his approach to his other classes, he was able to draw these insights from the deliberate evidence:
4m. Include a range of types of questions in class discussions to extend and challenge pupils
▪ he saw much more evidence of high-quality questioning in his second filmed lesson
▪ all 16 pupils were asked a question at some point in the lesson
6f. Prompt pupils to elaborate when responding to questioning to check that a correct answer stems from secure understanding
▪ all were asked follow-up questions to help them elaborate on their thinking
▪ there was a change in the books of the Pupil Premium girls during the inquiry period – their written responses were far more articulate and well-structured, reflecting the discussions they had had in class
4n. Provide appropriate wait time between question and response where more developed responses are required
▪ all were given sufficient wait time
▪ the pupils liked the fact that he gave them time to prepare an answer before calling on them
Based on this, Mo made the following tentative claim from his inquiry so far:
Responsive questioning is a useful tool for improving the quality of talk and writing among Pupil Premium girls in Year 11 GCSE PE.
And because he had developed his questioning practice to this extent, Mo decided to apply the same approaches to his other classroom-based lessons.
From the wider emergent (overheard and unexpected) evidence, Mo made these inferences:
▪ he overheard pupils outside of his focus group comment on his new approach to questioning. ‘Sir makes us think much harder these days.’ – this approach can work for all, not just some, pupils
▪ a colleague in the staffroom told him he had heard about Mo’s approach to questioning, and asked for more information – doing an inquiry about an aspect of teaching can improve collaborative relationships with colleagues
▪ the Pupil Premium girls also improved with their practical PE work – although tempted, Mo could not infer from that that his approach to questioning improves their sporting skills
He inferred that this was because he had learned better how to:
4l. Plan activities around what you want pupils to think hard about
8f. Contribute positively to the wider school culture and develop a feeling of shared responsibility for improving the lives of all pupils within the school.
The impact the inquiry has had on Mo’s beliefs and professional relationships
He is now much firmer in his belief that:
4.1 Effective teachers can transform pupils’ knowledge, capabilities and beliefs about knowledge
4.5 Explicitly teaching pupils metacognitive strategies linked to subject knowledge, including how to plan, monitor and evaluate, supports independence and academic success
4.6 Questioning is an essential tool for teachers; questions can be used for many purposes, including to check pupils’ prior knowledge, assess understanding and break down problems
4.7 High-quality classroom talk can support pupils to articulate key ideas, consolidate understanding and extend their vocabulary
8.7 Engaging in high-quality professional development can help teachers improve
With regard to professional relationships, Mo has also learned that:
8.3 Teachers can make valuable contributions to the wider life of the school in a broad range of ways, including by supporting and developing effective professional relationships with colleagues
How Mo presented his findings
He shared the findings of his inquiry at a PE department meeting, where he showed a short excerpt from the video of his second lesson as well as his prompt sheet with metacognitive questions. Following this, two colleagues asked if they could come and observe him teaching his Year 11 class, to help them develop their own use of questioning in lessons.
Mentor Meeting Activities
Throughout the session, try to refer explicitly to the learning intentions, and encourage your mentee to record key points in their Learning Log. Tailor your use of the Theory to Practice activities below in response to the Review and Plan sections of this session.
Review and Plan 5 mins
- Start this session by briefly following up the actions that the mentee set at the end of your last mentor meeting. Ask your mentee to summarise:
- what they did
- the impact of this on pupil learning (including how they are evaluating this)
- what they will do going forward to build on these actions
- Clarify the learning intentions for this session with your mentee.
- Invite your mentee to read the case studies on this module’s topics, or the one or two that are most relevant to their own chosen area of development and the exploratory question they are investigating. As they read, reflect on:
- how similar this scenario is to their own situation
- how, despite any differences there may be to their own context, this case study may still be relevant to them
- what lessons there might be for the way they conduct their own inquiry
Theory to Practice 40 mins
Sharing of Practice
Your mentee has prepared and rehearsed to share with you what they believe to have been the impacts upon them of their inquiry and how they have developed as a teacher.
For evidence, they looked here:
- their Learning Log
- their Module 8 audit
- the ECF statements for the standard they have focused on (but looked across the ECF too)
- their colleagues – what have they noticed about how your mentee has developed?
- the featured case study teachers – what did they notice about their beliefs, workload and professional relationships?
They were encouraged to see the impacts in these areas:
Practical knowledge – the fluency with which you use your expanded repertoire
Beliefs – in yourself and your pupils
Workload – by learning to do less of what doesn’t (and more of what does) work
Professional relationships – what you learn from each other
Now listen as your mentee shares. If they fail to mention any of these 4 areas, you may prompt them to do so.
Action Planning
Your mentee is very near the end of Module 8, where they have focused on one area, or a small number of areas, for development. They have implemented changes to their teaching and monitored the impacts of those changes on themselves and their pupils. They have achieved this mainly by conducting a practitioner inquiry.
In two weeks’ time, your mentee will make the final presentation of their inquiry findings to you. You can see in the case studies some ways other teachers have found of sharing their insights with others. You should encourage your mentee to do likewise. However, for their presentation to you, you should set out these criteria. It should cover:
- the issue they chose and how they chose it – what were they trying to learn how to do better?
- how they gathered evidence and decided on the alteration to their practice
- their evaluative inquiry question, and any adjustments they made along the way
- how they gathered a fuller range of evidence – the overheard, unexpected and counter-evidence
- the impact the inquiry had on them
- the impact the inquiry had on their pupils – their final claim
What format should they choose?
You might leave this up to them, but different formats have different advantages:
| Format | Advantages |
|---|---|
| Written report | Easily convertible to a blogpostCan be shared later in a staff bulletin |
| Poster | Can be displayed later in the staffroom to inspire othersMakes good use of visual evidence |
| PowerPoint | Can be shared later at a staff CPD eventMakes good use of visual evidence |
Next Steps 5 mins
Agree with your mentee how they will now put their learning from this week’s session into practice in their teaching. Help your mentee to clarify:
- the action(s) they will take and how these action(s) are expected to contribute to improving pupil learning
- what success will ‘look like’ in relation to these action(s)
- how they will evaluate their success in taking these action(s)
Note that the next session is the final one, in 2 weeks’ time, where your mentee will present the final outcomes of their Module 8 inquiry.