Bridging the Skills Gap

Towards an identification of skills for the new teacher in Science

Simon Elliott, 1st July 1997

Introduction

One view concerning the training of new teachers is that

“Teacher-training deals with producing people who can teach effectively in real settings through substantial provision for the acquisition of actual teaching skills through practice in the real settings of school and classroom”

But what are the skills of effective science teaching?

In this essay I will seek to identify the core skills required by the teacher in the science curriculum area, through an exploration of a wide range of sources and through reflection on the material covered, better understand the importance of, and issues concerned with, skill acquisition within the context of a mentor-mentee relationship in the future.  This is made more important by the presence of a proposal document for revision of criteria for the student-teacher to meet before attaining qualified teacher status.

Skills and skills acquisition

Tomlinson and Smith 1 postulate that the skilled practitioner {teacher} has arrived at their present state from one of acquiring individual skills {student-teacher} through a long process of building, linking and assimilating to such a state as to make them automatic.  In the early stages of skill acquisition, according to cognitive psychology, the learner needs some idea of what skills they are trying to acquire, what to do and what to expect.  They then need information on the outcome of their work in order to compare the actual result with the intended one.

It is clear from this that the student-teacher requires a clear understanding of what skills they are trying to acquire and some previous knowledge based on observation of what they are aiming to achieve and how they will know when they have achieved a satisfactory level of competence.  In other words they need to have well defined success criteria.  It is also necessary for their mentor to be sufficiently equipped to facilitate the acquisition of these skills.

The skills themselves cannot, however, simply be taught by the observation of skilled teachers in practice.  Brown says that the skills are not just practical in nature but also theoretical with experience playing a large part.  She also commented that the very early stages of teacher training benefited from the observation of a variety of skilled (and perhaps not so skilled) practitioners by the student-teacher combined with thorough discussion of the work observed with an experienced mentor.

Thus we have a model for skill acquisition as:-

·Identification of skill through observation of skilled practitioner;

·Theoretical analysis of skill by learner;

·Observation, by skilled practitioner, of skill in practice by learner;

·Analysis of observation and re-evaluation of skill through discussion between learner and skilled practitioner.

In 1989 the DES {DfEE} laid down criteria for the skills student-teachers should acquire during  PGCE year.  At the time, the structure of the course gave more provision for time at the school of education where students felt confident in their acquisition of the basic skills of teaching.  However, they felt unsure as to the practicalities of life in school;  assessment criteria, multicultural issues, mixed ability classes etc., and it was these that they felt they gained during their time in school.

In 1992 Kenneth Clarke, then the Minister of State for Education, stated:-

“I want to ensure that schools and experienced teachers involved in training students know what they are supposed to be doing and have the training, time and the resources to do it well”

But are we any clearer to identifying these divisions of responsibility for training? 

More recently, Ratcliffe stated that we might hope that the attributes of a newly qualified teacher might include:-

·a firm understanding of the concepts of the science taught;

·an equally firm understanding of the nature of science and the generation and use of evidence;

·the ability to place primary and secondary science education within the context of developing students as scientifically literate individuals;

·an effective role-model in science - including safe practical skills and methods of investigation;

·an understanding of how children learn in science;

·a recognition of individual differences in learning;

·the ability to present science in interesting, challenging and relevant contexts;

·an understanding of the role of industry and scientists in everyday life, and in science education;

·a high level of pedagogical skills relating to all of the above to include clear lesson planning and implementation as well as the use of a wide range of assessment techniques to evaluate learning;

·the ability to work as an effective member of a team;

·a continuing reflection on professional practice and knowledge.

Shaw4 re-stated that the key to effective skills acquisition by student-teachers was the knowledge by the partnership school and the school of education of what those skills were, and who was going to teach them.  In order to progress to an understanding of who plays which role in the acquisition of  teaching skills, it is thus necessary to identify the skills themselves.

Wragg sees some of the key skills when dealing with any class as:-

·Planning and preparing effectively for a wide ability range;

·Using whole-class teaching judiciously and where appropriate;

·Being able to manage small group work;

·Being able to design or administer individual assignments;

·Finding ways of extending and enriching the work of more able students;

·understanding the difficulties of slow learners and plan accordingly;

·recognising children’s individual differences;

·assessing and recording students’ progress effectively.

However these are very general descriptions and only serve to give an overview.  A more detailed breakdown is required.

The DfEE criteria for any PGCE course outline the competencies which are considered vital for any student-teacher to acquire by the end of the course on their attainment of qualified teacher status.  These same criteria can be found in the course handbook for the PGCE course at the University of Southampton School of Education and are listed in Appendix A of this essay.  These competencies or skills are only a subset of those listed in the DfEE guidelines and yet represent an almost overwhelming list of areas for the student-teacher to address.

The DfEE guidelines also considers that the process of initial training should also lay down the foundations for additional competencies in the area of continuing professional development:-

·An understanding of the role of the school as an institution and its place in the community;

·A working knowledge of the pastoral, contractual, legal and administrative responsibilities as teacher;

·An ability to develop working relationships with professional colleagues and parents, and to develop their communication skills;

·An ability to recognise the diversity of talent including that of gifted children;

·An awareness of individual differences, including social, psychological, developmental and cultural dimensions;

·An ability to recognise special educational needs or learning difficulties;

·A self-critical approach to diagnosing and evaluating students’ learning, including the effect on that learning of teachers’ expectations;

·A readiness to promote the moral and spiritual well-being of students.

Again, the question must be asked, where does the responsibility for these competencies to be passed onto the student-teacher lie and to what level of competence must the student-teacher attain during the period of initial training to be described as “successful”?  Cohen et al. point out that this considerable list of competencies (as the DfEE refers to them) is not differentiated or even criterion-referenced for a success level.  The descriptions themselves are also vague.  For example, there is no exposition of the skills required for “coherent lesson planning” to take place.  This can, and has, led to some student-teachers passing the period of initial teacher training from some institutions without gaining the sufficient level of competence to carry out their duties well on entry to their first teaching position

The Ofsted framework for inspections goes some way to analysing what is needed to define a quality teacher:-

·The teacher should have a secure knowledge and understanding of the subjects or areas in which they teach;

·The teacher should set high expectations so as to challenge students and deepen their knowledge and understanding;

·The teacher should plan effectively;

·The teacher should employ methods and organisational strategies which match curricular objectives and the needs of all students;

·The teacher should manage students well and achieve high standards of discipline;

·The teacher should use time and resources effectively;

·The teacher should assess students’ work thoroughly and constructively, and use assessments to inform teaching;

·The teacher should use homework effectively to reinforce and/or extend what is learnt in school.

However the document itself does not go into much detail regarding how the teacher should demonstrate these skill-areas or indeed what is entailed in, for example, “using time and resources effectively”.

One way to develop the new teacher in such a way as to give him the opportunity to acquire skills when they are needed is to sequence the skills categories into an order reflecting the hierarchical position in a teacher’s development;

Discipline

↓

Teaching Techniques

↓

Teaching and Learning Styles

↓

Curriculum Planning

↓

Assessment

Cohen argues that “very little teaching, attention to teaching and learning styles, and curriculum planning can be considered until discipline has been established”.  However one cannot use such a list as a series of hurdles to cross but rather issues to be aware of.  To this end I will investigate some of the wide range of opinions as to the skills within all of the above areas.

Discipline

Certainly the theories of how good discipline is to be attained can be learned in the environment of the training institution, but can the skill manifest itself until the student-teacher has observed a class?  The Scottish Council for Research in Education lay down 16 key features for a well disciplined class:

·Classwork marked regularly and thoroughly;

·Materials and equipment readily available;

·Teachers anticipate difficulties and react positively to them;

·Teachers are seen to be “fair” by students;

·Teachers show an interest in students and their work;

·Teachers arrive at a class punctually;

·Students come into a class in an orderly fashion;

·The objectives of the lesson are clearly stated in the early part;

·Lessons get of to a brisk and interesting start;

·Teachers speak clearly and are audible at all times;

·The language is simple, clear and unambiguous;

·Brief, snappy questions are used to check children’s comprehension;

·Teachers avoid slowing down the pace of the lesson;

·A constant overview of the class is kept;

·Teachers are aware of what individuals are doing;

·Interventions are prompt when passions rise.

and again through the Department for Education and Science:-

·Nurturing of genuine involvement based on understanding of the concepts which underlie those tasks and examples particular to a given lesson.

·Materials and preparation to ensure differentiation within tasks for students of different abilities.

·Sustained hard work on the part of the students as well as the teacher.

·Specific help for individuals without losing sight of the reactions of the whole group.

·The encouragement of students to contribute ideas.

·Careful attention to their contributions, with encouragement to refine their ideas in discussion.

·Flexibility in adapting a lesson to take account of students’ contributions and the mood of the group.

·Variation of the pace of a lesson to keep interest and momentum.

·Wit and humour without recourse to sarcasm.

·Infectious enthusiasm for the subject, and for students and their response to it.

The teacher can be placed in a number of roles according to the disciplinary atmosphere within the institution that they work9;

·Authoritarian - the teacher is in charge and holds the responsibility to establish and maintain order

·Permissive - the students are in charge and make their own decisions about behaviour and learning

·Behaviour modification - the school uses rewards and punishments to control behaviour with the teacher controlling and administering the system

·Interpersonal relationships - the school focuses on negotiation between all members of the school community thus developing a learning atmosphere

·Scientific - teaching is an activity that can be analysed and, as such, can be mastered through the development of a body of knowledge through the use of empirical research within the establishment

What is clear is that, whatever the style of institution, the classroom teacher needs to match their disciplinary approach to that of the school if they are to succeed.  An Authoritarian style would not suit a school that focused on the Interpersonal Relationships model of discipline and would soon lead to conflict in the classroom.  At some point, however, conflict may arise in the classroom and the teacher must have strategies ready to deal with it.

A good knowledge of the rewards and sanctions  used in the school and, just as importantly the hierarchy of their use and key staff to involve must be present before stepping into the classroom.  Wherever possible the conflict should be resolved in the classroom within the lesson where it develops through discussion with the students involved.  When this does not work and it is clear that the learning environment is being disturbed then the resolution of the conflict has to be moved out of the classroom and, if necessary, the involvement of more senior staff should be sought.

Overall the discipline system used by the teacher must be consistent, consequences for actions by students should be as close in time to those actions as possible and should be of a form to make the student connect the consequence to the action and not to the learning event that the action took place in.

Finally, it is clear that most situations arise though boredom on the part of the students and thus it becomes clear that discipline (lit. a learning atmosphere) comes most successfully from the actions of the teacher rather than those of the students.  The efficient learning environment depends fundamentally on the careful matching of the tasks to the students, achieved though diagnostic and evaluative assessment of their needs and abilities.  When the tasks do not match the capabilities of the students, their natural desire to learn becomes dulled and behavioural problems arise.

Teaching techniques and styles

Teaching techniques are more difficult to break down into core skills.  Ofsted itself describes possible teaching methods as including “exposition, explanation, discussion, demonstration, practical activities, investigation, testing and problem-solving”9.  It leaves the use of these to the individual teacher and school provided that “it takes into account the objectives of the lesson and factors such as the number of students, their age, attainment and behaviour, and the nature of the resources and accommodation” and that they “extend or deepen students’ knowledge and understanding and develop their skills.

Cohen et al.8 describe teaching techniques as including, “introducing, explaining, questioning, summarising, use of voice, dividing attention, listening, eliciting, demonstration, giving feedback, class, group and individual teaching, timing, beginning, continuing, finishing and transitions”

Tolstoy criticised teachers because

“The poor teacher wishes to teach just as they know how, as they think best and, in the case of failure they want to change, not the nature of their teaching but the nature of the child itself”

Over 100 years later, Driver et al.  commented that teaching techniques needed to be adapted to the student group in focus at the time to include:-

·the presence of the basic concepts used in some form;

·activity choices to challenge preconceptions;

·awareness by the teacher of the possible student reinterpretations of the work;

Cooper and McIntyre commented that

“Effective teaching, it would seem, is more likely to depend on the teacher’s mastery of a wide range of strategies (e.g. from transmission to self-direction) and, importantly, the ability to evaluate circumstances that render the application of a particular strategy appropriate to student requirements.  Sometimes a global strategy for whole groups will be appropriate, and may require the teacher to engage in transmission style; at other times more student-directed approaches will be appropriate.”

So it is clear that a range of carefully selected approaches is required but the teacher needs to look at some of the main directions of thought on teaching and learning in science classes in order for them to understand why their lessons should follow a particular path .

The Knowledge Reinforcement Model {Constructivist} is based upon the teacher analysing  preconceptions of the students and seeking to change these where they do not fit the “correct” models agreed by the wider scientific communities.  The approach can be split into,  Orientation (scene-setting activity), Elicitation (the learners’ current ideas), Challenges and changes (moving current ideas to accepted scientific theory),  Application (transfer of ideas to new situations) and Review (of the topic or concept learnt).  The disadvantage of this approach is that it is led by concepts.

The Process Model has said that the education of science must place emphasis on  methods rather than the body of knowledge as it is these that are transferable to real life.  The process approach gives foci to  lessons through tasks such as Observing, Classifying, Describing, Communicating, Concluding, Hypothesising, Interpreting, Experimenting, Controlling variables and Making operational definitions

However, this approach has been severely criticised by constructivists who have argued that “science is characterised by its concepts and purposes and not its methods”.

The Procedural Understanding Model has sought to combine these two approaches and suggests that the purpose of teaching science in school is to allow students to understand and solve problems in scientific and everyday situations and therefore there are a number of processes that must be acquired by students in order for them to use their concept knowledge to solve these problems.  These could include:-

·Variable identification

·Variable classification

·Variable control

·Quantity scaling

·Range selection and control

·Results manipulation and display

The Behaviourist Model states that the education of science should focus on training and what can be observed rather that “private conciousnesses” through acknowledgement of certain “truths” such as:-

·“Teaching is concerned with the observable”

·“Almost all classroom behaviour is learned”

·“Learning involves a change in behaviour”

·“Behaviour changes as a result of its consequences”

·“Behaviours are influenced by classroom consequences”

As stated before, what is important for effective teaching is the use of a variety of methods and styles with any particular class.  Perrott talks of five key presentation skills:-

·set induction (the framework for the lesson)

·closure (efficient ending of lessons and tasks)

·stimulus variation (use of a variety of tones, gestures and foci)

·clarity of explanation (continuity, simplicity and explicitness)

·use of examples

Waterhouse comments that “One important characteristic of good teaching is its variety of task structures”.  Activities can be placed two main categories; teacher-led and independent:-

·Independent

·Individual Work

·Paired Work

·Small Group Work

·Library work

·Investigations

·Surveys

·Coursework

·Project Work

·Homework

·Private study

·Discussions

·Collaborative Projects

·Community work

·Private reading

·Use of technology outside the classroom

·Teacher-led

·Whole Class

·Class dialogue

·Teacher presentation

·Student activities

·Small Group

·Briefing

·Review

·Discussion

·Coaching

·Long-term planning

·Managerial

The skills required to put these styles into practice can be summarised thus:-

·Flexibility and ability to respond creatively;

·Clear, brief and effective instruction;

·Description and exposition;

·Effective exposition through the use of introductions to concepts, exposition of concepts and review of concepts;

·Effective questioning;

·Active learning through the use of techniques such as snowballing, pre-prepared handouts, library copies, review, key points, rough paper, peer coaching, team teaching, student questioning, silence and thinking space, testing and breaks,

·Variety of vocal tones and appropriateness of language complexity (use of the concrete noun and not the abstract, use of the active voice and not the passive, use of short and not long sentences, use of simple and not compound sentences, use of direct statements and not circumlocution and use of people as the subjects).

Marland uses the simple idea of breaking down the structure of the lesson into more digestible chunks and considers that the most effective lessons fall into the pattern of;

Initial Activity→Exposition and Explanation→Main Activity→Summary and Review

Powell separates activities and assignments to allow the teacher to “provide firmer objectives, vary activities and assignments, integrate cross-curricular work and provide effective differentiation” through approaches such as;

·Whole-class introductions

·Independent assignments

·Core

·Enrichment

·Reinforcement

·Problem-solving group activities

·Investigative group activities

·Group presentations

·Class / group visits

·Whole class discussions

·Independent work

·Assessments

These different styles can be categorised using such descriptors as those given by Galton et al:-

·Class enquirers  :Whole class with high level of teacher questioning;

·Individual monitors  :Individualised teaching;

·Group instructors  :Small-group work and small-group teaching.

or further with Barnes using a different three:

·Closed :Formal and didactic

·Framed :Structured but student focused

·Negotiated : Student centred and unstructured

However Bernard comments that, whatever the style used by the teacher, all styles will fall into two categories with only one of these, the motivating, leading to success in the classroom:-

De-motivating Teaching Styles

Motivating Teaching Styles

·Not providing for individual successes

·Negative expectations through stereotyping

·Low expectations

·Over-controlling teaching styles

·Over-competitive teaching styles

·Over supportive teaching styles

·Authoritarian discipline

·Lack of challenge in work

·Over-challenging work

·Poorly assigned homework

·Dull teacher / dull work

·Lack of relevance in work

·Supportive relationship

·Relevant and meaningful work

·Appropriate level of challenge

·Co-operative learning

·Student participation

·Clear goals

·Encouragement

·Method variety

·Auditory

·Visual

·Tactile

·Matching student interests

·Praise for student self-reliance

Whichever styles are used, they must fit the capabilities of the students as well as those of the teacher.  The effective use of many styles come through experience and it would be unreasonable to expect the new teacher to have this whole range at their fingertips.

Curriculum Planning

Planning the learning path of the students that one is teaching must achieve at least three goals:-

·Coverage - ensuring that the learning path offers coverage of the curriculum or syllabus

·Continuity- the co-ordination of approach within year-groups and across key-stages to ensure gaps are not left in children’s learning through their movements within and between schools

·Progression - moving a class through a defined series of learning objectives

The teacher must first lay down their aims for the area of study for a particular class and topic.  These are then translated into more detailed and specific learning objectives describing how these aims will be achieved.  This then gives a skeleton on which the scheme of work can be developed.  From the overall scheme the individual lesson plans can then be constructed.

Each topic scheme must be constructed and selected in such a way as to allow the overall pattern of learning to progress in such a way as to allow proper progression of ideas and continuity in the approach from year to year.

Individual lessons should follow a general pattern in terms of their planning taking into account a number of key areas common to all lessons:-

·Location, Time, Class and Topic

·Lesson aims and learning objectives

·Resources required

·Safety considerations

·Lesson structure and activity styles

·Activity details with approximate timings

·Differentiation and enrichment opportunities

·Success criteria and formative assessment opportunities within lesson

·Homework tasks to enrich learning

·Space for evaluation and notes

This would co-ordinate through the topic scheme to produce a learning path:-

·Year group and topic name

·Topic aims

·Learning objectives with curriculum references and levels of difficulty

·Numbers of lessons with summary of content

·Resources required

·Differentiated routes through topic

·Methods of summative and evaluative assessment

and finally a path through the topics for the year or key stage in focus.

The constructivist approach would ensure that there were opportunities within each lesson for elicitation of students’ ideas and then the use of activities, as already seen, to guide students towards “accepted” scientific thought.

As mentioned above, differentiation is seen more and more to be an essential part of any lesson planning with the realisation that students learn better if the teaching is focused to their needs and abilities.  It must be remembered that this includes not only differentiation for students with specific learning difficulties but also those who are described as “gifted”  Awareness of how to meet these needs can only come through experience and discussion with teachers and curriculum support staff but depend fundamentally on good planning and thought before the lesson as often special materials or resources might be required. 

Once the lessons have been planned, they must be delivered effectively.  Wellington 30 breaks down the following areas into a checklist of ways to succeed in the classroom:-

·Planning

·Preparation

·Presentation

·Relationships

·Gaining attention

·Keeping control

·Starting and ending a lesson

·If things go wrong......

·Your worst class!

Whatever else, thorough knowledge of the subject and a good background of reading texts designed for the age group being taught are indispensable if efficient and effective planning is to be achieved.

Testing and Assessment

Teaching and learning are all part of a cycle that must, at some point, include some method of producing feedback for both teacher and learner as to the effectiveness of the process.

Knutton displays this graphically as:-

Teaching--------->Learning--------->Assessment

      ^                                                         ⎢

        <---------------Feedback <--------------------

However there are those who disagree with some of the approaches used.  Holt describes testing as “at best doing more harm than good” yet the National Curriculum Report (TGAT) recognises that assessment is a natural part of teaching since teachers are constantly assessing students to determine their own progress and to plan the next stage of  learning.  Assessing allows the teacher to judge student progress for the purpose of setting or grouping, to advise parents on student progress, to motivate students and give incentives for learning, to give feedback on their own teaching effectiveness as well as other reasons.

The TGAT report also identifies four clear areas of assessment and these are repeated by Deforges:-

·Formative:to allow the recognition of achievements and action plan for the future;

·Summative:to record overall achievements of a student and allow their communication to others;

·Diagnostic:to identify learning difficulties and enable the targeting of remedial action;

    ·   Evaluative:to assess and report on aspects of the educational process.

However, Murphy suggests that the TGAT report, and indeed the whole National Curriculum, guides the teacher towards a summative model for assessment and reporting.  She also comments that the TGAT recommendations for assessment are based upon the linear and hierarchical model for learning found in the National Curriculum and that this model contradicts much of the recent research into children’s learning.

The first of the above areas of assessment, the formative approach, is the only one that allows for immediate action to be taken with the student or class in question.  It can have direct effects on the educational processes and, in particular, on teaching and learning.  The summative approach is much cruder as it only allows comment on what is past and thus does not lend itself to the correcting of misconceptions at the point of delivery - the lesson - but rather tells us what the students did not learn in the topic!  It is useful for assessing an overall level of performance at the end of a particular learning stage - topic, year, key-stage, etc. but not so much in affecting student understanding.

Both formative and summative methods of assessment can take the forms of tests and questions.  However the former will more usually be less structured than the latter - question and answer, quizzes, short tests etc.

Within these four approaches to assessment, there are two ways of judging levels of students’ knowledge -  norm and criterion-referencing.  The method most commonly used in education has been norm-referencing.  In this, the student’s overall progress is judged against her peer group and fitted to a normal distribution curve giving pre-defined proportions of students within each assessment band.  This has the disadvantage of producing a set number of failures, no matter how good the individual‘s progress.

Criterion referencing judges students against pre-defined criteria and thus measures absolute performance.  One disadvantage is the common use of levels to group together sets of knowledge criteria or statements that are judged to be of equal difficulty or complexity.  It then becomes difficult to know when sufficient criteria have been passed to award that level.

Christofi introduces another way of categorising assessment by means of the use of two identifiers; the pragmatic and pre-determined approaches.  The former is concerned with the use of assessment during the learning experience and can be further divided into the following features:

·assessment of what is actually going on in the classroom

·analysis of the results of the assessment to discriminate between students and to ensure that the assessment is well balanced

·the adaptation of techniques of assessment to meet opportunities presented by unexpected outcomes

·the postponement of final grading until all outcomes of assessment can be properly balanced and adjusted

The pre-determined approach can be identified by the following features:

·the establishment of satisfactory aims

·the setting of objectives by which these aims can be achieved

·the determination of criteria by which the progress or level of mastery of the students can be measured

·re-testing and post-testing off assessment material to ensure suitability

·the determination of ultimate levels for mastery - pass grades, etc.

Whatever assessment method is used it must do at least five things:-

·influence and inform future teaching;

·show what students know, can understand and do;

·measure student progress;

·provide feedback for students, teachers and parents;

·give students a positive sense of achievement and therefore empower them.

Teachers must then decide what forms their assessments are going to take in order to fit within the success criteria.  Oral questioning in class gives immediate feedback about student understanding.  However,  the teacher must not assume that a correct answer from one group member is indicative of whole class understanding.  Objective test questions, such as multiple choice, can assess a wide range of the curriculum in a short space of time and can be marked quickly and objectively.  They also open up the possibility, with the advent of new technologies in classrooms, of the use of computer-aided-learning CAL.  A disadvantage of this type of assessment is the natural encouragement of guessing and the evidence that girls perform less-well in these type of questions.  Short answer questions quite often test the students interpretative skills and offer much of the answer in the question-text.  Structured questions test a smaller area of the curriculum or syllabus than either of the last two.  However, they excel in their use of a variety of approaches to questioning  student understanding of the same knowledge-item and thus give a more reliable picture.  Essay or long answer questions are less common now perhaps due to  difficulties in the standardisation of  marking and increases in marking time.  They do allow students who are more skilled at extended writing to achieve better results and are shown to favour girls over boys.28

What is clear is that testing must follow some Quality Assessments if it is to be successful.  SCAA suggested that, in order to improve reliability in assessment within key stages 1, 2 and 3, teachers should:-

·plan jointly within departments and across years or key stages;

·use the programme of study to agree objectives for teaching, learning and assessment;

·develop common activities focused on agreed objectives;

·discuss and mark work to agree shared expectations of student performance;

·compare the performance of students across classes on common activities;

·refer to SCAA’s Exemplification of Standards booklets;

·refer to national tests and tasks;

·agree standards to samples of work from a range of contexts relating to a particular criterion;

·develop a common understanding of judgements about the work of individual students;

·identify inconsistencies in student performance;

·refer to examples of work within the departmental portfolio of standards;

·attend meetings within and outside of school concerning the judgement of standards.

Through these approaches, teachers should better understand their own use of assessment and the standards of student performance relative to others.  As Cohen et al. describe, the teacher must, however, pay as much attention to the contextual factors affecting student performance in assessments which can outweigh, in some cases, their actual understanding.  The teacher must also realise that assessment is never a perfect art but a continually evolving process.

Assessment is, in the end, down to the judgement of the Quality of teaching and learning experienced by the student and should take place as close to, and preferably within, the experience itself.  Pirsig stated that;

“Quality is not a thing, it is an event....Quality is not something that you can lay on top of subjects and objects like tinsel on a Christmas tree, real Quality must be the source of the subjects and objects, the cone from which the tree must start.”

Even over 2000 years ago, Plato would have said that the judgement of the quality of the learner could only occur at the time when they were actively involved in the learning process itself.

Conclusions

1)From the sources quoted, it becomes clear that there is a need for the identification of skill acquisition opportunities in the three areas of the student-teacher’s training year:- 

¨Private study and research

¨Taught topics at the training institution

¨Experience and support in the school

More importantly, the student and classroom teachers involved need to be aware of which of the skills that are to be gained in the training year should be acquired in each of the three situations above and, especially from the point of view of the classroom teacher, what expectations are being placed upon them.

2)The skills required to maintain effective discipline in the classroom are ones which can only be learnt through observation of a range of skilled practitioners in the classroom situation.  There is also a need for the training institution to be aware of the disciplinary structures in its partnership schools and where significant differences exist, student-teachers making transitions between such schools should be made aware.  It is clear that one of the keys to good discipline is using skills and strategies that are in harmony with those used in the institution.

There are many lists of suggested skills and strategies for the maintenance of a successful learning atmosphere (for that is what discipline is) however a thread that is common to all of them is the focus on the word learning.  Where learning is occurring through appropriate and well thought-out tasks, students will, in general, behave in the desired manner.  It is when learning stops through inappropriate tasks or poor time-planning that boredom sets in and discipline falls down.

3)The techniques for the act of teaching itself are again wide but again there is a common key to their use - carefully planned variety.  It also becomes clear that, as with disciplinary methods, observation of skilled practitioners is essential for the student-teacher if they are to understand how their acquired theoretical skills of presentation and lesson elements are put into practice in the real classroom.  When interviewed as background for this essay, one student-teacher stated that:-

“observation of the small lesson elements that we are assumed to understand how to perform, even items such as effective register taking, would have been really useful.”

From looking at some of the different theoretical models for science teaching from the last twenty-five years, there are significant differences between them, as one would expect.  This becomes important when considering the science course used in the teaching practice school.  For example, if the Nuffield approach was used, this would point to an institution focused, to some extent, on the process model.  Many other modern courses are more heavily biased to the constructivist approach.  Again the student-teacher needs to be armed with these facts before starting a teaching practice element of their course.

4)The key to preparation of lessons and the wider curriculum path for a particular class is continuity of approach.  Students can sometimes find a dramatic change of style, from that of their classroom teacher to that of the student-teacher, unsettling and so some thought is required here.  The student-teacher also needs to be aware of the progression of the curriculum before and after their teaching practice in order for their teaching to fit into the overall plan.

5)Assessment of students’ progress is clearly best measured during the learning process and not after the event.  Summative assessment leaves the quality judgement until after the learning event.  The student-teacher needs to be aware of formative assessment strategies in order for them to identify learning weaknesses before the observation debrief or worse the end of topic test!

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