Effort and Attitude

Tuesday 3rd March:  Introduced by Simon Milner Today’s session focused on harnessing student effort and attitude; two key components of the A Level Mindset model – VESPA. The timing of the session was important as we focus on encouraging students to make the most of their last few weeks of lessons and to reflect critically …

A Level Mindset

Introduced by Lisa Spiteri Tuesday 1st May The A Level Mindset, as described by Steve Oakes and Martin Griffin, is an approach to developing the dispositions students need to thrive in the Sixth Form. The VESPA framework identifies five key qualities that enable students to rise to the considerable challenges of A Level study: vision, …

Concept Cartoons

Introduced by Tomi Owens Tuesday 20th March 2018 Today’s session introduced a tool known as concept cartoons, particularly associated with the work of Naylor and Keogh of Milgate House Education. Devised in the context of science education, concept cartoons portray a group of figures clustered around an image, which may include some text, portraying a …

Knowledge Organisers

Tuesday 13th March Introduced by Richard Bidmead Today’s session addressed the use of Knowledge Organisers, and examples from three Faculties were shared and discussed. Knowledge Organisers provide concise, logically structured accounts of the key information for any given topic or Scheme of Learning. As Joe Kirby explains in his blog post on the subject, they …

‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Motivation?

Introduced by Simon Milner Tuesday 6th March 2018 This week’s forum explored Ryan and Deci’s work on motivation. Beginning with the observation that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are often viewed as a dichotomy, and as a ‘good thing’ and a ‘bad thing’ respectively, this session used Ryan and Deci’s work to suggest a more nuanced …

Cognitive Load Theory

Introduced by Joao Aguiar Tuesday 20th February Today’s forum provided an introduction to what Dylan William has described as ‘the single most important thing for teachers to know’: cognitive load theory. Cognitive load theory is based on the distinction between working memory and long-term memory. Working memory is used to actively process information: to think …

Modelling – with Rapport and Empathy

Introduced by Kris Spencer Tuesday 6th February Modelling is one of the six principles of expert teaching that underpin our Learning and Teaching policy. Today’s session asked us to adopt a critical perspective and to consider the possibility that we might, inadvertently, provide ‘bad’ as well as ‘good’ models. When modelling a process with students, …

Synoptic Tasks

Introduced by Jenny Morris Tuesday 30th January Today’s session began by reiterating the importance of designing learning activities that will challenge all of our students. As ‘flow theory’ suggests, when students bring a high level of skill to a highly challenging task, they can become most fully absorbed in their learning. For John Hattie, one …

Self-Efficacy

Introduced by Richard Aydon Tuesday 14th November 2017 Today’s session considered some of the implications of Albert Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy for teaching and learning in the classroom. In distinguishing self-efficacy from broader notions of self-concept and self-esteem, Alex Quigley (in his 2016 book The Confident Teacher) has written that it ‘is an individual’s belief …

Collaborative Questioning

Introduced by Danielle Mynes Tuesday 31st October Drawing on the ideas of Kagan cooperative learning, today’s session explored a number of ways that we can promote high levels of engagement, from all students, during group discussion activities. The key piece of advice was that all students must be held accountable for making contributions and fulfilling …