What is 'great' teaching?

Last week I was sat in the garden - and a glimmer emerged. It was a really good one. Totally unexpected, it caught me off guard. I was immersed in Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s book, ‘A British Childhood: How Our Children Live Now’ so my mind was already switched on and full of illuminations. I sat back for a moment, full of musings. And then, I heard it…

“So, if you look here, this is where you would smooth it over. It’s great how you did it there. Really good grooves. The tricky bit is the corners. Can you see how I turn a little here?”

“Ah yes, just there?”

“Yep, you’ve got it. It’s helpful to move slowly and then you get the consistency right. Do you want to have a go?”

“Yeah. So, like this. Ah yeah, I see, the balance is there.”

“Great job. That looks perfect.”

I paused. I smiled. I let my mind wander. This was a conversation drifting over the garden from two builders working on a house over the way. It lit me up. It got my adrenaline going.

“Great teaching is happening there!” I exclaimed to myself.

I was flooded with memories of my own experiences in the classroom. The moments when the ‘penny dropped’, when a concept was understood or a child beamed up at me, proud of their success. My mind then quickly turned to the teachers who I have had the privilege to work alongside, to coach, in my middle leadership roles. The quick exchange of a smile of recognition (yes, using visuals did help them understand) or even an delighted thumbs up (brilliant, they’re full of enthusiasm to have a go on their own).

Yet, ‘great teaching’ can so quickly get bogged down in compliance measures. A skill to be documented on an observation checklists Great teaching can be in danger of being outsourced to those who operate externally, rather than belonging to those who are creating these moments of understanding, of success, in the seemingly most average moment of every day.

So, when we strip it back, when we quieten the external noise and focus on what really great teaching experiences look like, what do we find? Below are two suggestions which I hope can be actioned with minimal time spent preparing. Think of these more as prompts and reflection points which can help realign thinking as you prepare for the next academic year.

As I sat and continued to smile following this kind, patient and thoughtful teaching experience, my mind began to sift, sort and settle. What was it that sat within this exchange between these experienced and novice builders that jumped out as being really great teaching? And why was it that, despite not being in the market for any building work, I was desperate to find out the name of the company so I could book them in the future?

This was incredibly apparent. It was hard to tell if this was the first job these two had worked on together or their tenth. What was clear was the roles which both fulfilled. The novice builder was keen to listen to what the expert builder had to say. Not only that, but he was motivated to act on it. Relationship building can happen quickly when all parties involved are clear of their roles and the expectations which exist within these. Alongside this, the ability to nurture, to listen and to exercise patience.

For the last two years, alongside my bespoke consultancy and training services, I have been fortunate to have been doing some supply teaching. What a joy to have this experience as part of my weekly activities. To be in classrooms (where I am happiest) -teaching! Relationship building! I often get feedback from staff at schools where I work sharing that the children have warmed to me quickly and that they don’t normally “behave this well” for adults who aren’t their class teacher. Now, there is nothing that I do that is ‘magical’ or cannot be emulated. Yes, I do have a considerable number of years’ teaching experience behind me, but I know why we are able to get cracking on the lessons quickly and why we have such positive (and joyful) days. I place relationship building at the forefront of all that I do.

• So, how can relationships be built quickly with the children who you teach?

  • Prioritise learning the children’s names, and use these with them regularly. We may recognise this within ourselves as adults. When someone remembers your name (and adds a deliberate tone to the utterance of it) it means something. It matters.

  • Find out details about the children in your class which support you in building up a picture about them as a person. The more obscure, the better. Once you are aware of their interests, hobbies and little-known facts, you have an immediate springboard into conversations and moments of remembering.

  • Share your interests with the children. Not only that, share some of your vulnerabilities. I couldn’t help but wonder if the conversation between the builders was partly so impactful because the expert was once the novice. What is it that you found challenging when you first started learning it? What did someone show you that made the understanding of a concept suddenly make so much sense?

  • Ensure that the learning environment belongs to you all. It is ‘our classroom’. Consider how resources can be accessed and what is on your displays - and why. When forming classroom rules, involve the children in the arrangement of these. I always use the idea of preparing each rule and cutting these up into strips. Each group of 4 has access to a pack of strips and a table with the following headings:

    • Our teacher’s responsibility

    • The pupils’ responsibility

    • Our shared responsibility

    What is always of interest to the children is that most of the rules end up in the ‘shared responsibility’ column. This feeds into the concept of team-building, pride and a shared ethos.

If you are interested in finding out more about the idea of relationship and trust building, I would recommend exploring:

Jon Hutchinson’s insightful and practical thoughts around ‘belonging’ on Inner Drive’s ‘The Science of Learning’ podcast:

Belonging

Claire Gadsby’s ‘Dynamically Different Classrooms’ full of creative ideas for organising your classrooms so that they are interactive spaces which allow relationship building to thrive:

Interactivity

My ‘glimmer’ from early this year on ‘Mattering’. What it looks, sounds and feels like to show someone that they feel valued and seen:

It was the tone of voice, not the words being said, which first caught my attention. There was an invitation, in the explanations, to get curious. The relationship and trust had been built. Now, it was time to get practical. I have always been a fan of an inspirational quote. Here are some of my favourites:

• "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!" - Audrey Hepburn

• "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new" - Albert Einstein

• "You’ve got to act, and you’ve got to be willing to fail…If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.” - Steve Jobs

Great teaching has to make space for children to try. So much has been written over the years about ‘teacher talk’. How too much of it within a lesson really does not constitute as effective teaching. I think the same can be said for a repetition of outcomes for tasks. Where after a bit of teacher talk there is a sheet to complete or a set of questions to be answered. Not only can this be predictable, and often mundane, but it is not always allowing the children to show you what they know - what they understand. I think often of Mary Myatt’s provocation, encouraging practitioners to consider a lesson being taught whilst evaluating how we can really know that the pupils have understood it. I might have taught it, but have they got it? — Mary Myatt Learning

• So, how can intentional opportunities be made for children to ‘show’ us what they have learnt and understood?

  • Consider the balance of your outcomes. Sometimes a place to record thinking or a set of questions to be answered is the best way for your pupils to demonstrate this to you. Sometimes it is not. Return to your objective - your lesson intention. Consider how you would really know if the concept or idea had been understood. Are there more open-ended, practical ways which your pupils could show you?

  • Don’t underestimate the power of the arts. Drama, visual representations, storytelling, song writing. These are all powerful vehicles for children to demonstrate their understanding. The creative elements of these outcomes invest in the flow of knowledge sharing. Many of these also remove the barriers of writing, reading and recording - the fear of putting pen to paper or of having to get something ‘right’.

  • Design tasks which may require some elements of problem solving and may be completed by a group or individually. Lessons where resources are available to be selected for their desired outcome. No set way that a problem has to be approached or completed.

  • Take the time to practically demonstrate skills. I believe that a visualiser is a a staple piece of equipment which is necessary in every classroom. There is power in the children watching you create, solve, make or design in real-time. The expert builder showed the novice builder and then invited him to replicate the motion. I love Claire Gadsby’s ‘Magpie Me’ idea (which can also be found in her ‘Dynamically Different Classrooms’ book) where the power of the number of 3 is exercised. The teacher continues to practically demonstrate a piece of new learning as the children work independently - inviting children to look over their shoulder. However, they must adhere to the following rules:

    • Nobody can leave their seat for the first 3 minutes (encouraging them to have a try on their own first).

    • Only 3 people can visit the teacher, and watch what they are doing, at a time.

    • Each person can only visit the ‘Magpie Me’ table 3 times during the lesson.

The phrase ‘Great Teaching’ landed with me when I explored the work of Evidence Based Education. I had listened to Stuart Kime speak at researchED, Dubai and the outcomes of the ‘Great Teaching Toolkit Evidence Review’ piqued my interest. It is an insightful piece of work and I found the organisation of the ‘Model of Great Teaching’ useful to explore with teachers in my Lead Practitioner role.

If you would like to continue your musings around what effective teaching looks (and feels) like in your practice, I would recommend having an explore:

Great Teaching Toolkit