Two questions for teaching

I blog the most about teaching, which isn’t a surprise as that is what I do for a living. That is where my expertise and experience lies. I enjoy writing about lots of different topics, but probably have the most to say about teaching. My educational interests have long been dominated by curriculum, which is also reflected in my blog posts, but that doesn’t mean I have no interest in pedagogy and other aspects of education. Another of my educational passions, albeit one which I haven’t been able to spend time on in a number of years, is mentoring trainee teachers.

When I worked with trainees, I would always try to find ways to summarise key ideas clearly and concisely (just like you would with pupils in your class). These summaries would emerge and evolve over time. One summary which I think I used a lot was the two key questions I would make sure trainees were thinking about for every lesson:

1. What do you want students to learn in this lesson?
2. How will you know whether they have learnt it?

I’m not suggesting these questions cover everything, but I do believe they cover a lot of what is important for teachers to think about. While I suggest the timescale of a lesson, I think it works over any timescale, such as the scheme of work or the school year. It speaks to curriculum, it speaks to educational purpose; it considers assessment, learning activity, and more. I think the power of the questions though comes not in trying to be all-encompassing, but rather in inviting focus on fundamentals and the suggestion that you can only think about so much at a time, so make sure you’re thinking about what is important.

Whether a novice or a master teacher, you need to know what you want your students to learn. The level of thinking that goes into this will vary, but at its most basic you need to have an idea of what you want your students to know, understand or be able to do by the end of the learning episode. You will hone your appreciation of what is possible, practical and purposeful over time, but you should never go into a lesson without an answer to the question.

As important as knowing what your intent is, you’ll want to know how you are going to know whether your lesson has been successful. Exactly how you make this judgement will also vary vastly by content. Your ability to make the judgement will improve over time. But again, you should always be trying to make this judgement about whether you have implemented your teaching. Of course, this then becomes part of a reflective cycle involving teacher and student, refining teaching to improve learning. You discover the reality that the two questions are part of the whole, linked in a feedback loop.

I know many trainees found this two-question aide memoir useful. It was also heartening that many experienced colleagues I shared the two questions with also saw value in it. So whether for your own practice, or in supporting other’s development, feel free to try the simplicity of the two questions. I’d love to know what you think.

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I’m really pleased that I have now completed my thirty-one posts over the thirty-one days of January. Frustratingly I missed one day, down to being busy and forgetful. I made up for it the next day. Across a whole month though, just the one missed day doesn’t seem so bad. Reaching a month in, I’m probably more motivated to write daily than when I started. So much so, I’m looking at options for trying to get published. I’ve found some interesting leads online, but it is a minefield. Hopefully it is a minefield I can navigate.