Teaching From the Front: Strategies

 

Consultant Research Group, December 2020

Overview:

In response to the additional challenges posed by restrictions due to Covid-19, The Consultant Research Group have created a series of succinct ‘teaching from the front’ strategies.  Depending on the teacher who is using our strategies, some of these may be new ideas, whilst others may have been done before and ‘forgotten’ due to the additional challenges of teaching this year.  These strategies will be of benefit more widely, for teaching in more ‘normal’ conditions too.

You will also find a brief summary of what educational research tells us about this area, as well as why it is particularly important to focus on this area of teaching practice during the current Covid situation.  There are also suggested practical steps that teachers could use in their classroom, together with some suggested additional reading/research.

How to use this resource:

• These strategies could be used with departments or individual teachers
• The techniques could be used by a teacher as a refresher
• Departments could identify key strategies to focus on collectively
• Trouble-shooter – use individual pages with staff
• Print off and use as a tool; stick it on the wall in the department base as a reminder

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Strategy 3: Questioning

1. Why is it needed? 

Questioning serves many purposes: it engages students in the learning process and provides opportunities for students to ask questions themselves. It challenges levels of thinking and informs whether students are ready to progress with their learning (Impact: Chartered College of Teaching).  During the pandemic, teachers’ ability to stretch, challenge and assess pupils has, in many cases, been restricted due to social distancing.  Furthermore, teaching from the front has reduced teachers’ ability to monitor pupils in the far corners of the classroom, raising the risk of passive learning.  Now, more than ever before, it is vital that questioning is used to enforce high expectations, promote pupil progress, adapt learning for pupils, and confidently assess their work: in lessons - on the go.

 

2. How can I approach this?

1.         Cold Calling – almost always using ‘no-hands-up’ when questioning​

2.         Bounce Questioning – pupils successively build upon each other’s answers

3.         No Opt-Out – not accepting ‘I don’t know’​ from a pupil

4.         Probing – using open questioning to stretch and challenge​

5.         “Tell Me More” – a simple way to probe & delve deeper

6.         “Say it Again, Better” – asking pupils to rephrase their answers – high expectations​

7.         Checking for Understanding – frequently checking in to ensure pupils are with you​

8.         “If this is the answer, what is the question?” – to encourage metacognitive thinking

9.         Think, Pair, Share – allowing collaborative voice before feeding back​

10.     Whole Class Response – asking pupils to shout out an answer at the same time​

3. Further reading/research

 

Duckworth, E. 2001. Tell Me More. Teachers College Press.

Impact Chartered College of Teaching. 2017. Skilful questioning: The beating heart of good pedagogy

Lemov, D. 2015. Teach Like a Champion.  Jossey-Bass: New Jersey.

Quigley, A. 2017. https://www.theconfidentteacher.com/2017/03/the-questioning-collection/

Sherrington, T. 2018. https://teacherhead.com/2018/08/24/great-teaching-the-power-of-questioning/

Wiliam, D. 2010. Content, Then Process. Solution Tree.

 

 

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This resource was compiled by members of the Consultant Research Group, led by Karen Haward

With thanks to:

Lucy Baker, Science consultant

Oliver Blagden, English consultant

Seb Greenwood, History consultant

Lin Liu, MFL consultant

Adam O’Connor, Geography consultant

Aaron Skepple, History consultant