Eggen and Kauchak’s in ‘Educational Psychology’ define modeling as “changes in people that result from observing the actions of others.” In short, it is a game of imitation whereby we, the expert, explain the process of the action we wish students to undertake and perform the action live.
It may seem grand and unusual when applied to ones own subject, but is likely the most ancient skill of the teacher. We model all the time whether we realise it or not, in passing pens to students not throwing them, and in explaining how we unpick a question. From Bandura to Bjork, it has been found to be one of the most effective ways in which skills and behaviours are transferred.
I think that humans know that this is one of the best ways to learn intuitively, yet when we model live often 3 or 4 students will not be paying full attention and need reminders. It seems odd to me that they can’t see the value in watching the thing they’re about to struggle with – which leaves one simple question ‘why?’ Why would you choose to ignore a useful working of the problem, when you know it helps.
I asked one such student recently if he thought my talking through things like this was useful to him, he replied that it was one of the few ways he learns at the same speed as others. Yet, he frequently doesn’t listen fully to it. As exasperating as this is, something he said triggered a possible explanation. Almost throwaway, he said “I didn’t listen today because it didn’t seem that hard, until I had to start it myself.”
The student hadn’t realised how far away excellence was, perhaps because he hadn’t bought into my explanation, or because he was satisfied with his current ability. In his book, ‘An Ethic of Excellence,’ Rom Berger describes, how excellence is ‘transformative.’
“I believe that work of excellence is transformational. Once a student sees that he or she is capable of excellence, that student is never quite the same. There is a new self-image, a new notion of possibility. There is an appetite for excellence. After students have had a taste of excellence, they’re never quite satisfied with less; they’re always hungry.” (‘An Ethic of Excellence’ by Ron Berger)
I believe that this is the case, but I think perception of the task at hand might feed into that. For some students a sense of things being easy might be incredibly appealing. Whereas for another, they may need to feel that they are drowning before asking for a rubber ring, or even seeing the value in one. This could happen across the ability range because it is a character trait not an academic one.
This does leave us with an issue, one of judgement. Do we throw all students in the deep end before we model, while simultaneously telling others it will be a doddle for them? That seems unsustainable. Inevitably, demotivation would occur in significant number of students and maintaining positive relationships in the classroom would become extremely difficult when some students seem ‘special.’
Perhaps the solution is just to make it clear that a task is difficult, yet point to skills involved students already have and show how they support this new text. One solution to this, according to Agodini et al. (2009), is a ‘well-sequenced curriculum to ensure that students have the prior knowledge they need to master new ideas.’ This enables challenge to be clear and real, without cognitive load impacting on progress.
It is also important to know the students who may ignore, and hook them in. The student in question will be reminded of our previous conversation. The whole class will be complimented on the fact that I know they can deal with this extremely difficult work, but I will also prove they are ready by pointing to the pre requisites they’ve mastered. That will also operate as a useful check point as to whether any misconceptions exist.
Additionally, I may also start with a high quality example and then unpick how this was achieved. It may involve too much switching of attention to do this simultaneously with live modelling and so I may need to spread this over two parts of the lesson, or even interleave over two or three lessons.
One thing is for certain I will not be launching into another well planned, clearly thought out piece of modelling without first laying some clearer foundations and ‘sussing’ out the room.
Rob Plevin said:
I hope you don’t mind me bothering you but I am looking for well-connected teaching blog owners to share in a promotional campaign.
My latest book, Take Control of the Noisy Class is being published on February 29th through Crown House Publishing and I am putting together a ‘BONUS resource page on my website to coincide with the launch.
Basically this would involve contributing a short resource of some sort with your blog details prominently displayed on it. I’ll offer it along with some of the other contributors’ materials as a bonus download for anyone who buys the book.
If enough blog owners like you contribute something (I currently have 12 well-connected site owners), and then notify their visitors/newsletter subscribers about the bonus offer, it should give all contributors good exposure as most teachers who buy the book will also want to download all the bonuses.
If you’re interested in doing this please let me know as soon as possible. The resource need only be a short report, article or similar practical digital resource. Even something simple like a 1-page mind-map of the perfect lesson plan etc. would be great. And it doesn’t need to be anything new, created exclusively for this offer, anything useful you’ve created in the past will suffice. You know what teachers need – anything of practical use which can show them how to help their students and make their lives easier. Preferably it should be something unique to you – an idea or technique you’ve written about –which will encourage book buyers to visit your website for more of the same.
Once I’ve got all the bonuses in place on a secret page on my new website, all contributors will notify their respective subscribers about the book and the additional bonuses. The book is going to be available on Kindle for £1 for a few days so it will be nice to give your subscribers the chance to get this cheap deal – as well as the extra bonuses. I will provide template emails and tweets for you so that your work/time commitment will be kept to the absolute minimum.
Additionally, if you would like to offer the resource via an amazon affiliate link from your site, let me know and I’ll arrange for graphics to be sent to you.
Finally, if you would like a review copy of the book in return for writing a short review on your blog, that can be arranged too. Just let me know and I’ll have the publishers send you everything.
You can contact me on robplevin@behaviourneeds.com
Thank you for your time.
Best wishes,
Rob Plevin
http://www.needsfocusedteaching.com
NB// My business used to be called Behaviour Needs Ltd (www.behaviourneeds.com) which you may have heard of but I am re-launching with a new website to coincide with the book’s launch.
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teachingbattleground said:
Reblogged this on The Echo Chamber.
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The Quirky Teacher said:
Many would say, “Oh, you didn’t make it interesting/kinaesthetic/relevant enough.” Or that perhaps you didn’t break it down enough to make it easy for you SEN cohort. I find that if a small proportion couldn’t be bothered to do their bit (listen), then they should receive a minor bollocking for potentially holding back the whole class. For every repeated instruction you give, that’s less time you can spend extending your highers or helping your SEN cohort.
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bettersongstosing said:
I think a lot of that type of feedback comes from the difficulty of pinning down what actually supports learning. Lesson observations are a very odd thing. Not sure reprimanding is the way on this one- I think most of the students who don’t listen see a bollocking as white noise….maybe I’m wrong, but a consequence (or threat of) seems more appropriate.
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