Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Improving learning through enhancing participation.
The General Teaching Council for England have published an anthology of research projects looking at how best to enhance participation by learners.
The anthology, part of the Research for Teachers series, provides substantial and varied evidence that active participation in all aspects of their learning process is fundamentally beneficial to learners. From the outset the report establishes that participation and active learning need to be defined as being more than consulting pupils and taking part. The report aligns itself to the latest research from Fielding and Rudduck who distinguish four dimensions of participation. These are:
• the organisational dimension , through which young people feel more positive about school,
• the personal dimension, leading to pupils feeling more positive about themselves,
• the pedagogic dimension, which helps pupils to better manage their own progress in learning, and
• the political dimension, which helps young people understand how they can make a difference to things that matter to them in school, and indeed beyond school.
In each area of the report, there are links to the research carried out in classrooms and schools, as well as the findings so that a reader can explore any quoted study in depth. The emphasis is on practical decisions and changes made in the classroom and the observed differences they made.
Across the research the importance of peer assessment is highlighted as improving the learner's own outcomes as well as that of those the peers they assess. “Assessment of pupils’ own work is a powerful form of participation in learning. “
The pieces of research are divided into three sections. Highlighting successful practice in each area
• facilitating a pupil‐centred approach in which pupils are encouraged to participate and become engaged with learning through activities such as collaborative tasks, peer teaching and pupil consultation.
“research shows that people learn best when they teach others. Teaching (or supporting others’ learning) transfers responsibility for learning and contributes to pupils’ personal and social skills and self‐confidence."
• interactive whole class teaching in which pupils are engaged in higher order thinking by means of a conversational style of discussion with their teachers, and each other.
" peers use the same language and can provide models of achievement "
• promoting the engagement of specific groups of learners.
" peer assessment improves the pupils' motivation to work more carefully"
" pupils can accept criticisms more readily from their peers than from their teachers"
The report concludes:
“peer and self‐assessment can be a means of helping pupils understand what their learning goals are and the approach they need to take to meet them. In particular, peer assessment is a means of helping pupils to develop the detachment they need for self‐assessment."
To read the report and explore the anthology of research.