Learning Teams

Action Research Learning Team

Presented and led by Shirley Clarke M.Ed, Hon.Doc.
Associate of the Institute of Education, UCL

Aims of the Learning Team

• To form a learning team of a maximum of 28 teachers as action researchers, with an expectation that they will experiment with formative assessment in-between the project days and feedback their findings
• To update teachers on recent, significant research findings which underpin effective formative assessment
• To support teachers in reviewing and modifying existing practices and developing their professional confidence and expertise in the field so that they can eventually lead others as a result of their learning
• To share and celebrate achievement
• Through their feedback details being published on Shirley’s website, to enable a wider range of teachers and children to benefit from the learning and impact of the work of the team

Details of the Project

Day 1

• input and discussion: a learning culture; pupil self-efficacy; talk partners and trios; subject to retrieval ongoing assessment across the curriculum; learning intentions and success criteria

Day 2

• am: feedback from teachers
• pm: input and discussion – easing the cognitive load, feedback and marking, whole school development

Day 3

• am: feedback from teachers
• pm: showcase for 70 guests – input by Shirley then teacher group presentations of findings

Participant commitment

• 2/3 participants per school: class teachers who have a keen interest in formative assessment, have a high enough status in the school to be able to lead development, and are willing to embark on research in their classrooms
• Participants should be prepared to commit to every day of the course and to arrive promptly and stay for the entire day. This project is not suitable for different people to attend the different days, nor for job share or other part time teachers. They should have full time responsibility for a class or classes (secondary)
• Participants will be expected to do some reading in-between the days and to make notes in their ‘learning journals’ about their findings in the classroom.
• Participants will be expected to participate in the final “showcase”
• Teachers should expect to lead future staff development

Coordinator’s commitment

• Teachers meet with Shirley Clarke on 3 days over a calendar year from 9am till 3.30pm.
• Coordinators will provide each participant with a ‘learning journal’ (any large hardback book) and a visualiser/document camera if possible should be available in the classrooms in which they teach.
• The success of the project is enhanced by the absolute support of the Head, who needs to share the same vision for pupil learning and allow teachers to experiment freely, even if this goes against existing school policy.
• Teachers must attend all 3 meeting days, unless there are dire circumstances. If there are clashes with school events, please try to rearrange these rather than have the teacher miss out on a day. Each day is highly significant, as it is through teachers’ feedback on Days 2 and 3 that much appears to be learnt. Day 1 is equally important, as it consists of the initial input and discussion which sets the teachers off.
• Teachers are deliberately chosen in pairs to provide support for one another throughout the project. If funding allows, any extra time for these teachers to watch each other teach, meet or work together in a classroom will be invaluable.
• Teachers will be asked not to begin in-service training with teachers during the project, but instead to simply report back, at staff meetings, a brief summary of what they have experimented with and the impact this has had on pupil learning so far. In this way, interest and readiness is built up while the teachers are developing their expertise. By the end of the project they will be confident to lead others, often by demonstration, and school staff will be motivated by what they have heard in the report back sessions.