When it comes to teaching pupils new skills or knowledge, teachers are in their comfort zone. Walk into any classroom and more than likely you’ll witness three things:
1. Some expert modelling, in which the teacher breaks down and demonstrates what the pupils need to do.
2. Clear, careful questioning, with the opportunity for discussion to deepen understanding.
3. Independent, deliberate practice, allowing pupils to consolidate and automate the new learning.
This is a tried and tested recipe for supporting people to learn new things. You’ll see it in grade 1 violin lessons, through to undergraduate theoretical physics seminars.
So why is it that, when it comes to teaching teachers, we so often forget or ignore exactly what works?
To be clear, I’m talking specifically about how rare it is for teachers to practise new skills. After school CPD sessions and termly insets will often introduce some new theory or initiative (for example, growth mindset, retrieval practice or cold calling), but rarely are teachers given the opportunity, in the session, to stand up and practise exactly how they would do it in their classroom.
The reasons for this are threefold, in my experience. First, it’s awkward rehearsing in front of other adults; most people find themselves feeling self conscious during this kind of role play. Second, it can feel patronising to ask other professionals to stand up and practise something. After all, this is what we ask the children to do. And lastly, it can feel as though time is too stretched. There isn’t enough time during CPD as it is, and adding in rehearsal only squeezes these precious slots further.
And yet, the evidence on professional development is becoming increasingly clear. Way back in 1985 Professor David Berliner said that teachers learning about a new pedagogical method or teaching strategy “without applying the concepts is nonsense!” Berliner goes on to imagine that a group of teachers have just been told that they should support pupils to work in small groups. “If we want someone to have a repertoire of behaviours for running a small cooperative group, we must provide them with practice opportunities, perhaps on a small scale, perhaps through simulations.”
As well as spending his career observing high performing teachers, Berliner draws on the work of Professor K Anders Erickson, who showed how expertise in any domain requires large amounts of domain specific knowledge and ample opportunities for deliberate practice. Other high status professions enjoy this type of practice, which he defines as guided by an expert, enhanced by opportunities for feedback and repetition.
More recently still, the EEF’s Effective Professional Development Guidance Report PD guide demonstrates how modelling new techniques for teachers, rehearsing these techniques and providing monitoring and feedback are key mechanisms present in effective PD approaches. Finally, in a neat study Sam Sims et al have shown that modelling matters for teachers.
As well as spending his career observing high performing teachers, Berliner draws on the work of Professor K Anders Erickson, who showed how expertise in any domain requires large amounts of domain specific knowledge and ample opportunities for deliberate practice. Other high status professions enjoy this type of practice, which he defines as guided by an expert, enhanced by opportunities for feedback and repetition.
More recently still, the EEF’s Effective Professional Development Guidance Report PD guide demonstrates how modelling new techniques for teachers, rehearsing these techniques and providing monitoring and feedback are key mechanisms present in effective PD approaches. Finally, in a neat study Sam Sims et al have shown that modelling matters for teachers.
So, given just how critical deliberate practice is for professional development, how do we break through the barriers in order to accelerate teacher development?
The first thing is to acknowledge and normalise how it can feel a bit weird to rehearse in front of another person, even if this is a trusted coach. It can be helpful for the coach to ‘go first’, modelling how they might approach the new strategy. This allows both the teacher and coach to embrace the awkward.
Secondly, a clear framework for the practice section of a coaching session can help it to feel more natural to stand up and give it a go. This could include a simple written grid with the chance to jot down the specific development point, some co-constructed success criteria, and perhaps even a short script for what the teacher will say and do.
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Ultimately, though, for lots of people deliberate practice is hard. It does get easier with time, and schools can get to a place where every coaching session includes ample time for practice, meaning the action step is far more likely to translate into a change of approach in the classroom, and better habits that drive improved pupil outcomes.
You can find out more about using deliberate practice, both in theory and practice, By watching the tasters and click through to view the full module descriptions below:
Author: Jon Hutchinson
Jon Hutchinson is currently Director of Training at the Reach Foundation and an LSX fellow with New America.
