So primary schools and secondary history departments are happy to vaunt their teaching and learning policies. I applaud the fact that they have investaed time and deep thought into creating one. But what matters of course is that the principles espoused are the right ones. Here is one such list on 10 principles that form the core of most lessons. Normally these lists look like loving your mother and apple pie, but here there is at least one principle that i would vehemently oppose and feel very uncomfortable following through. Do you have a bete noire here too? or more( lot more) than one?
- Pupils work in a calm and quiet environment.
- All lessons should be based on academically-challenging objectives that stretch pupils to encounter the best that has been thought and said.
- Pupils should be attentive
- Pupils should be reading aloud in lessons.
- Pupils should be producing extended writing in lessons.
- Teachers should provide worked examples to the whole class, who then practise those examples individually.
- On a regular basis (every 2-4 lessons) pupils should receive feedback from teachers on a task, and then repeat the task.
- All subjects involving writing should correct the spelling, grammar and written style of pupils.
- Frequent low-stakes quizzes should be used that interleave prior knowledge learnt with new material.
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- Pupils should be retrieving knowledge from memory and not relying on supports, proxies or scaffolds
