What is learning? Well, let’s take Professor John Hattie’s definition,
"Learning is the process of developing sufficient surface knowledge to then move to conceptual understanding.”
Recent research proves that teacher quality has the biggest impact on student learning and Australia is investing heavily in teacher training. The introduction of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers is one such action that shows acknowledgement to this. This means that teachers, as professionals, must keep their professional knowledge up to date and move with current research and practice. How else is one to remain an effective teacher?
"Learning is the process of developing sufficient surface knowledge to then move to conceptual understanding.”
Recent research proves that teacher quality has the biggest impact on student learning and Australia is investing heavily in teacher training. The introduction of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers is one such action that shows acknowledgement to this. This means that teachers, as professionals, must keep their professional knowledge up to date and move with current research and practice. How else is one to remain an effective teacher?
"... student in a highly effective teacher’s classroom can have almost year’s advantage over his or her peers..."
If we look back to the 1960s and 1970s, there was a strong belief that a child’s ethnicity and socio-economic background had a huge impact on student academic achievement. Today, we know this is definitely not the case. Hattie’s research has proved that highly effective teachers can have a significant impact on any student’s learning, regardless of their background. In fact, a student in a highly effective teacher’s classroom can have almost year’s advantage over his or her peers who are operating in a low impact teacher’s classroom. If that’s not a case for ongoing professional development, I don’t know what is!
But I digress. Schools are places of learning. As teachers, all children in your care are expected to learn, grow and develop under your guidance. The Melbourne Declaration for Young Australians set into motion a rapid change of events in the Education sector. Since the signing of this declaration by all education ministers in 2008, various commitments to action came to fruition. These include, the AITSL standards, the introduction of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the introduction of the National Quality Standards and Early Learning Years Framework etc. etc. Education itself is no longer just about Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Today, education also incorporates personal and social capabilities, 21st century skills and ethical understandings, just to highlight a few. Yes, it seems you as teachers, are responsible for the development of the whole child. Big job? You betchya!
But I digress. Schools are places of learning. As teachers, all children in your care are expected to learn, grow and develop under your guidance. The Melbourne Declaration for Young Australians set into motion a rapid change of events in the Education sector. Since the signing of this declaration by all education ministers in 2008, various commitments to action came to fruition. These include, the AITSL standards, the introduction of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), the introduction of the National Quality Standards and Early Learning Years Framework etc. etc. Education itself is no longer just about Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. Today, education also incorporates personal and social capabilities, 21st century skills and ethical understandings, just to highlight a few. Yes, it seems you as teachers, are responsible for the development of the whole child. Big job? You betchya!
Professionals, that is, those who are quality teachers, actively keep up to date with current research and practice. These professionals employ what they learnt in their university days, to what educational research is telling us now. Quality teachers don’t employ one strategy for every child and every learning context. They are flexible, they adapt, and they check for understanding and then try something new if a child has not committed the learning to memory. This is what being a professional is about. I tell young teachers to listen to their “Professional Conscience” – this means, don’t block out anything new. Listen, learn, apply, and give it a chance. Now, what is the evidence saying? What is your Professional Conscience saying now?
I am early childhood trained but at present, I’m not proud to say that. I’m embarrassed by the few ECE trained teachers who do not conduct themselves professionally. In particular, I’m referring to their constant shutting down of new research and practice. We know play is an important part of a child’s development (mainly in the social-emotional side but also in consolidating learning) but in order to consolidate something you have to have explicitly been taught it first! I don’t think any teacher would deny that play is important but play is not the only strategy that should be applied! Just as “chalk and talk” methods should be balanced with inquiry based or project based, learning. There are some ECE trained teachers that insist on raising the pitchforks when Explicit Teaching is mentioned. You hear a cry of how outrageous it is and how the push down effect is ruining education, there are even threats to walk out of the profession. Calm down. Why the drama?
Firstly, happy, successfully engaged students are great measures of teacher success. I’ve seen first hand, Kindergarten and Pre-Primary children undertaking Explicit Teaching methods, smiling, engaging and laughing throughout the learning process. Play based learning still occurs in other parts of the day, in fact, play is sometimes embedded in the Explicit Instruction methods (shock-horror!). Indoor & outdoor learning areas are planned for as well, like any true professional, ECE teacher would. These teachers use what they know about Early Childhood education and couple it with all the latest research on quality teaching and learning. They are pretty much super teachers. You know what? The PIPs data indicated those classes went from below the state average to above the state average between the months of February and October. Remember, schools are places of learning and that data indicates those teachers have done their job! These students still have play-based learning. Explicit teaching is only part of their day. But no, no, some ECE Teachers can’t have that. It goes against all their training and philosophy. Can I just say, if your philosophy is grounded in only one method of instruction – it is not going to be effective. FACT. I once had an ECE trained professional ask me what side I was on. The children’s. I’m on the children’s side. I want them to learn, be super successful, happy individuals. That’s the gist of it. I will not force my own opinions and teaching preferences onto my class when there is clear data and evidence to suggest best ways of learning.
My only request is that ECE teachers open their minds and actually see what other effective instructional methods are out there. Before they raise their pitchforks, threaten to leave the profession and start linking teen suicide to the use the flashcards in kindergarten, go and visit a balanced ECE classroom and chat to the teachers. Make an informed judgment yourself. Are the students happy? Are they experiencing success? Do they have a high sense of self worth and self esteem? Does it look like everyone, including the teachers are having fun while learning? If you do make a visit and answer yes to any of those questions, then please, stop the drama. Be professional and learn a bit more. No one, anywhere, has ever claimed play is unimportant. WE KNOW THAT IT IS! Put simply, you owe it to the students in your class to be the best teacher you can be. Putting all your teaching eggs in one basket labeled "play", is not going to do that. Move with the times, keep up with research and best practice methods and you can be a super teacher too!
My only request is that ECE teachers open their minds and actually see what other effective instructional methods are out there. Before they raise their pitchforks, threaten to leave the profession and start linking teen suicide to the use the flashcards in kindergarten, go and visit a balanced ECE classroom and chat to the teachers. Make an informed judgment yourself. Are the students happy? Are they experiencing success? Do they have a high sense of self worth and self esteem? Does it look like everyone, including the teachers are having fun while learning? If you do make a visit and answer yes to any of those questions, then please, stop the drama. Be professional and learn a bit more. No one, anywhere, has ever claimed play is unimportant. WE KNOW THAT IT IS! Put simply, you owe it to the students in your class to be the best teacher you can be. Putting all your teaching eggs in one basket labeled "play", is not going to do that. Move with the times, keep up with research and best practice methods and you can be a super teacher too!