Teaching and Learning: making it a meaningful and genuine aspect of Performance Management

Mariella Wilson and Anna Griffiths

FELTHAMCOMMUNITY COLLEGE

& SIXTH FORM

FCC

December 2014• New approach to Teaching and Learning with

the TfL team• Changes to Performance Management and

greater accountability and focus for Ofsted inspections

• Two thirds of our staff engaged in Masters research

• Collaboration• Success of autumn twilight CPD

FELTHAMCOMMUNITY COLLEGE

& SIXTH FORM

How could we improve the Performance Management process - and at the same time, harness all the significant enthusiasm and commitment to academic and/or action research?

FELTHAMCOMMUNITY COLLEGE

& SIXTH FORM

• We organised staff into groups of 5 with a Group Lead - on or heading towards Expert Teacher status

• We asked staff to identify an area of teaching and learning that they wanted to improve

• We planned out the 3 twilight sessions and what expected outcomes would be

• We provided teachers with the necessary documentation and fully briefed them and Group Leads FELTHAM

COMMUNITY COLLEGE

& SIXTH FORM

Why are we running these sessions this way?

Because Performance Management should be rooted in our Teaching and Learning

Because we know that often the best learning takes place when we work with others and can reflect and evaluate on our practice

Because we want to grow our rich culture of research based evidence

Because we want to do it differently

FELTHAMCOMMUNITY COLLEGE

& SIXTH FORM

How will this afternoon work? You will shortly leave the Hall and meet your Group

Lead and group members This is an opportunity to share and discuss your T

& L strengths and the area you want to further develop

You will see how you can support others in your group and vice versa.

Use this time to identify a piece (s) of research that can underpin the area you want to develop. Discuss that research. How might others in your group support?

How will your own learning impact on the students?

Your turn:

• How engaged are teachers in your school with what the research says?

• Is the PM process in your school as meaningful and fit for purpose as it can be – in improving teaching and learning?

• Have you done something similar/ better in your school? If not could you introduce something similar in your school?

FELTHAMCOMMUNITY COLLEGE

& SIXTH FORM

Examples of teachers’ questions:

• How can progress be better evidenced through both written and oral feedback within Drama?

• How can a range of dialogues through marking impact on student progress?

• Investigate the impact of specific AfL techniques for essay questions in ESL IGSEC exam

• Which forms of feedback are most effective for low ability students?

FELTHAMCOMMUNITY COLLEGE

& SIXTH FORM

Skills

• L4 I can perform the skill with some control and accuracy. Explain your answer.

• L5 I can apply what I have learnt with precision, control and fluency.

• L6 I can perform skills consistently and accurately and examine their effectiveness in game situations.

• L7 I can perform advanced skills and tactics in complex activities and judge their effectiveness.

Research Project

How can I differentiate effectively at AS level?

The situation

2 key things they need to do:

1) Generate ideas [both advantages and disadvantages] on a range of topics from alcohol and smoking to fashion and image.

2) Remember these ideas and respond to questions appropriately using them.

Higher ability students already do this confidently, using ideas discussed as a class.

So I wanted them to focus on generating their own, original ideas successfully.

AS level French: The speaking exam (21 March)

2 key things they need to do:

1) Generate ideas [both advantages and disadvantages] on a range of topics from alcohol and smoking to fashion and image.

2) Remember these ideas and respond to questions appropriately using them.

AS level French: The speaking exam (21 March)

I wanted lower ability students to focus on this section alone for the time being, using ideas discussed in class, until their accuracy had improved.

Scaffolding for new content

Moore: “[Scaffolding can] become an overused mechanism for restricting and constraining thinking and writing…”

Avantages Inconvénients

Individu

Société

Questions possibles

Higher ability students to complete this from scratch as they have demonstrated that they do not need the scaffolding.

Lower ability students to fill this table with ideas given to them by me.

What does the research say?

What is the best way to feed back to each student after their

mocks?

Robert Marzano: Formative assessment is ‘one of the more powerful weapons in a teacher’s arsenal.’ Black and Wiliam: ‘Many of [the studies] show that improved formative assessment helps the (so-called) low-attainers more than the rest, and so reduces the spread of attainment whilst also raising it overall.’

Formative Assessment Dylan and Wiliams: ‘For formative assessment to be productive, pupils should be trained in self-assessment so that they can understand the main purposes of their learning and thereby grasp what they need to do to achieve.’

General

Questions

26 Feb

What I liked What I need to see improved

• Response to ‘pourquoi as-tu choisi le français?’

• Excellent answer to school subjects question

• Good answer to future plans question

• Good fluency overall• Bien que je sache que• Il y aurait

• Response to living abroad question

• The difference between lycée and collège

• j’espère d’étudier = j’espère étudier

General

questions 10 March

Formative Assessment

Mixed ability pairings

A B C D E F G H I

Il va sans dire que…

En outre…

Bien que je sache que…

Ils remplissent les hôpitaux avec leurs maladies

Le gouvernement devrait sans doute..

Je crois que…

J’estime que…

également

Did it work?

The results of the three mocks in February and March are as follows:

Did it work?

Based on the speaking exam we predicted them the following as their overall grade:

The December mock results.

Their March predicted grades.

Reflection

Scaffolding: Always successful for this group of students, especially lower ability. Formative assessment: Higher ability students engaged better with this form of assessment. What can I do to engage lower ability students with formative assessment?Mixed ability pairings: An enjoyable activity – but perhaps only due to the competitive element? Did ALL students benefit from these pairings?

Next steps

• August – results.

• How can I differentiate for the other skills: writing, reading and listening?

• Moving towards independent learning – flipped learning.

Problems…• Log ons• Difficulty in accessing particular research around

specialist areas• Insufficient time between finishing ‘trials’ and

then reporting back in Review meeting with PM Reviewer

• Group composition

FELTHAMCOMMUNITY COLLEGE

& SIXTH FORM