Teaching Matters:Teachers are a cautious lot, not willing to throw themselves with wild enthusiasm into just any old changes, because most have seen fads and fashions come and go, with little or no benefit to learners. However, there is one movement in education that is coming slowly to Ireland, and it is a commonsense, experience-based method of teaching and learning. I am referring to assessment for learning (AfL).
Perhaps part of my enthusiasm stems from the fact that Prof Paul Black, one of the academics most associated with this way of learning, really understands the pressures of the classroom. Take this typically acerbic assessment of British education written in 2001.
"Present policy seems to treat the classroom as a black box. Certain inputs from the outside are fed in or make demands of pupils, teachers, other resources, management rules and requirements, parental anxieties, tests with pressures to score highly, and so on. Some outputs follow, hopefully teachers who are more knowledgeable and competent, better test results, teachers who are more or less satisfied, and more or less exhausted. But what is happening inside?"
He goes on to declare that the emphasis on standards and inspection produces little other than learners who get better at tests, but not necessarily at learning. Our points system, for example, sometimes leads to a cynical approach, where many students will tell you that until society judges them on how well-rounded an education they have, they will settle for an approach that maximises points, even if they know it is not really educational.
The beauty of the AfL model is that intensive research shows it helps all students to improve, but particularly the weaker students. So it may not have to be a choice between "points" success and well-rounded education.
Even better, it may eventually impact on what we perceive to be appropriate methods of assessment, so that "points" success will not be seen as the be-all and end-all.
All teachers use assessment, but we tend to think of it in terms of formal exams and tests. Usually, assessment is designed to determine the level of a student's achievement on a particular task, or at the end of a module or term. Assessment for learning, in contrast, uses assessment to give detailed feedback that helps students to understand things more clearly, to be more purposeful and organised in their work, and to become more effective learners.
One of the aspects of AfL that I find most interesting is comment-only marking. Having tended towards this style of marking in recent years, it is nice to see that educational research indicates it is useful. Instead of grades, students receive brief comments that show what they did right, and what they can improve for the next time. Time is given in class, or even for homework, to improve a particular aspect of an exercise. For junior classes, traffic light marking can work well. A red dot indicates something that is wrong, an orange dot something that can be improved, and a green dot something that is very good.
However, as Prof Black says, AfL is much more than a bag of tricks, but is a change in the way in which a teacher approaches learning. Most teachers new to AfL start with "sharing the learning intention". This can be very quickly jotted on the blackboard, and a few minutes spent on asking the students how we would know we have achieved this goal.
Alternatively, one could simply share the "criteria for success". In other words, make it clear to students what will constitute success, or an objective achieved.
Questioning is another key part of AfL. Research has shown that teachers often pause for as little as a second after asking a question before re-framing it, or asking a supplementary. Slowing down, allowing the silence to lengthen is one strategy.
Another, more positive approach is to declare certain parts of the class to be "hands down". No hands up, because everyone in the class will be expected to attempt an answer. "I don't know" is still an answer!
Some teachers use, "Think, Pair, Share" for "hands down" questioning. Each student tackles the question briefly alone, then talks to the person beside them, and then briefly that pair join another pair. Most students at that stage will feel much more confident at attempting an answer. If a lot of students still cannot answer, it provides the teacher with an instant assessment, that perhaps the original method of exposition needs to be modified, or the question set at a different level.
The beauty of AfL is that you can dip your toe in, and see if certain parts of the approach enhance your teaching. I have been trying to work on my questions, for example, and in some ways it has been a chastening experience to realise how little higher-level thinking I was fostering. Of course, there can be student resistance, particularly at senior level, where people can moan about being asked to think all the time. Others thrive on it.
The sad thing is, our curriculums are so overloaded that sometimes you can feel uneasily you will never get the course finished if you teach more creatively, which usually takes more time than the "students as empty vessels into whom you pour knowledge" approach. For information, see www.ncca.ie and check out the AfL pages.
Breda O'Brien teaches at Dominican College, Muckross Park, Donnybrook, Dublin
