WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.539 Here in Australia, our government, and I suspect it's no different 00:00:03.570 --> 00:00:07.199 anywhere else has once again, come up with a strategy that they feel 00:00:07.230 --> 00:00:09.390 is much better for student outcomes. 00:00:10.020 --> 00:00:13.590 Since our student performance is going down the drain, and that 00:00:13.620 --> 00:00:19.200 is that all teachers need to be teaching using explicit instruction. 00:00:19.830 --> 00:00:22.710 Now, I don't know where these government officials have been. 00:00:23.100 --> 00:00:27.119 But explicit instruction has been around for quite some time now. 00:00:27.720 --> 00:00:31.439 And in the show notes, I'm going to put links up to two publications, 00:00:31.439 --> 00:00:37.697 one from the late 1980s and another from 2018, that clearly demonstrated 00:00:37.697 --> 00:00:41.927 the effectiveness of explicit instruction for literacy and numeracy. 00:00:42.437 --> 00:00:44.027 And I want to add here. 00:00:44.507 --> 00:00:49.847 That there have been several studies done way before this, in the U S for example, 00:00:50.207 --> 00:00:54.527 because I remember doing an assignment at uni on this, which is many moons ago now. 00:00:55.097 --> 00:00:56.957 And for the life of me, I can't find it 00:00:56.957 --> 00:01:01.607 so I can't link it, but in the study, they demonstrated that explicit 00:01:01.607 --> 00:01:05.777 instruction was particularly brilliant at improving literacy, especially 00:01:05.777 --> 00:01:07.727 reading in low performing schools. 00:01:08.087 --> 00:01:10.637 So we know it's an effective teaching strategy. 00:01:11.337 --> 00:01:16.707 Now in 2018, there was a paper written by one of my very own university lecturers, 00:01:16.737 --> 00:01:22.287 Lorraine Hammond, and she joined together with Wendy Moore and I quote, "In 00:01:22.287 --> 00:01:28.347 Australia there is a growing interest in teacher directed approaches that present 00:01:28.377 --> 00:01:33.537 new learning material to students in an explicit, direct, and highly scaffolded 00:01:33.537 --> 00:01:37.137 manner. Despite evidence of efficacy," 00:01:37.227 --> 00:01:41.997 and then she goes on to cite a whole bunch of people, "these teacher directed 00:01:41.997 --> 00:01:46.557 instructional approaches remain either politically or romantically correct," 00:01:46.917 --> 00:01:50.037 another sighting "among some educators. 00:01:50.457 --> 00:01:54.957 In contrast enthusiasm for teacher directed approaches has come from 00:01:54.957 --> 00:01:59.487 Australian politicians, policymakers, and researchers and it has been 00:01:59.487 --> 00:02:03.477 widely reported in the media," and she quotes all a bunch of people 00:02:03.477 --> 00:02:08.697 from 2014, "as a tool to address the declining performance of Australian 00:02:08.697 --> 00:02:10.677 students in international testing. 00:02:11.297 --> 00:02:17.107 Buckingham 2016 attributed Australia's performance in PISA to the privileging 00:02:17.497 --> 00:02:21.817 of inquiry based approaches and argued this needs to be revised in the light 00:02:21.817 --> 00:02:25.747 of evidence, showing the greater effectiveness of teacher directed 00:02:25.777 --> 00:02:30.757 explicit instruction." The authors go on to explain the difference between 00:02:30.757 --> 00:02:32.797 direct and explicit instruction. 00:02:33.127 --> 00:02:35.347 And I think this is really important. 00:02:36.607 --> 00:02:42.577 And I quote, "Unlike direct instruction, which consists of a suite of commercially 00:02:42.577 --> 00:02:46.237 available teaching resources and developed from the pioneering work 00:02:46.267 --> 00:02:53.467 of Siegfried Engleman in the 1960s, explicit instruction is not scripted 00:02:53.827 --> 00:02:59.197 instead teachers must determine what new knowledge, strategy or rule 00:02:59.257 --> 00:03:04.087 they will teach and how this will be communicated to students in a fast 00:03:04.087 --> 00:03:09.367 paced manner that provides guided practice and regular formative feedback. 00:03:09.787 --> 00:03:13.567 Although many of the instructional principles are similar to direct 00:03:13.567 --> 00:03:19.297 instruction in explicit instruction the emphasis is on teaching behaviors 00:03:19.567 --> 00:03:24.277 that maximize student achievement rather than curriculum design. 00:03:25.207 --> 00:03:26.827 Hattie draws the distinction. 00:03:27.307 --> 00:03:33.307 The teacher decides the learning intentions and success criteria, makes 00:03:33.307 --> 00:03:38.677 them transparent to the students, demonstrates them by modeling, evaluates 00:03:38.677 --> 00:03:42.757 if they understand what they have been told by checking for understanding and 00:03:42.757 --> 00:03:47.917 retelling them what the have been told by tying it together with closure. 00:03:49.657 --> 00:03:51.277 That was all a very big mouthful. 00:03:51.277 --> 00:03:53.647 I know, but where am I going with this? 00:03:54.817 --> 00:03:58.087 Well, firstly, I'm not going to argue the benefits or the 00:03:58.087 --> 00:04:00.337 pitfalls of explicit instruction. 00:04:01.087 --> 00:04:06.367 But the paper mentioned, they looked at how coaching teachers in this 00:04:06.367 --> 00:04:10.477 strategy helped their practice and improved student outcomes. 00:04:10.957 --> 00:04:14.407 And I think many teachers believe that they are teaching explicitly. 00:04:14.827 --> 00:04:21.187 But actually the explicit model is very specific and requires a specific set 00:04:21.187 --> 00:04:26.437 of procedures, which are fast paced and check for understanding using an I do 00:04:26.437 --> 00:04:31.627 we do, you do model, and it's like the gradual release of responsibility model. 00:04:32.167 --> 00:04:36.637 And in this paper, Hammond and Moore point out that in their one year experiment 00:04:36.637 --> 00:04:42.757 using their specific model, brought about measurable and significant change. 00:04:43.007 --> 00:04:46.937 So, if you indeed are a curious educator with a growth mindset, you 00:04:46.937 --> 00:04:51.107 will be checking and you'll be looking at your own practice to see where 00:04:51.107 --> 00:04:55.217 you can improve and whether or not your explicit teaching is in fact 00:04:55.217 --> 00:04:58.097 just that and not direct instruction. 00:04:58.847 --> 00:05:02.777 This is significant, because one is just following a script 00:05:03.077 --> 00:05:07.847 and practicing, while the other includes modeling, evaluating for 00:05:07.877 --> 00:05:10.487 understanding and independent practice. 00:05:11.477 --> 00:05:16.277 And so now that we've got explicit out of the way, I want to address part of the 00:05:16.277 --> 00:05:22.247 quote from earlier where Buckingham in 2016 attributed Australia's performance 00:05:22.277 --> 00:05:30.437 in PISA P I S A to the privileging of inquiry based approaches and argued 00:05:30.647 --> 00:05:34.157 this needs to be revised in the light of evidence, showing the 00:05:34.157 --> 00:05:38.417 greater effectiveness of teacher directed explicit instruction. 00:05:39.347 --> 00:05:42.977 Uh, firstly can we just address the elephant in the room. 00:05:43.637 --> 00:05:47.777 We're talking here about results of students' performance. 00:05:48.257 --> 00:05:52.547 Okay so that's obvious if you want students to test well, you teach 00:05:52.547 --> 00:05:57.707 them explicitly in this model I've talked about so that they are 100% 00:05:57.707 --> 00:06:00.047 clear in what they have to do. 00:06:00.677 --> 00:06:02.957 So that's one part of the equation. 00:06:03.587 --> 00:06:08.717 By extrapolation, that would mean that, despite everything we know about 00:06:08.717 --> 00:06:14.927 the efficacy of explicit instruction, obviously, either, we're not teaching 00:06:14.927 --> 00:06:18.947 using this strategy or we're not applying the strategy correctly. 00:06:19.427 --> 00:06:22.427 Now, I don't know what we're doing, but I think that schools and 00:06:22.457 --> 00:06:26.847 individual teachers will have to reevaluate the effectiveness of their 00:06:26.867 --> 00:06:28.877 explicit practices for themselves. 00:06:30.077 --> 00:06:35.297 And secondly, in that piece cited by Buckingham, where he says the 00:06:35.297 --> 00:06:39.527 privilege of inquiry based approaches are responsible for the lack of 00:06:39.527 --> 00:06:43.937 performance results in this PISA test, which is an international test. 00:06:44.537 --> 00:06:45.227 Really? 00:06:45.707 --> 00:06:47.937 Now, I don't know what this PISA 00:06:48.137 --> 00:06:52.517 international test actually tests, but inquiry based teaching 00:06:52.547 --> 00:06:55.217 is much broader and deeper. 00:06:56.087 --> 00:06:59.417 It's not there to do well in a test. 00:06:59.987 --> 00:07:05.147 Inquiry is about getting kids to think, to wonder and explore and 00:07:05.147 --> 00:07:09.617 eventually getting them to take responsibility for their own learning. 00:07:10.067 --> 00:07:13.517 It's how people cope and deal with real life situations. 00:07:14.627 --> 00:07:19.547 Any great teacher knows that teaching is about having a suite of strategies. 00:07:19.727 --> 00:07:24.887 A tool belt, so to speak with a bunch of different strategies or tools that 00:07:24.917 --> 00:07:26.867 each come out for a specific task. 00:07:27.467 --> 00:07:30.077 If you want to teach a kid to read and make sure they have 00:07:30.077 --> 00:07:33.887 well-established phonemic awareness you use explicit instruction. 00:07:34.427 --> 00:07:38.027 You want to teach a kid how to write a report, following some basic steps, 00:07:38.567 --> 00:07:40.217 you do it through explicit instruction. 00:07:40.757 --> 00:07:44.717 But when you want a kid to analyze a sentence to improve it, you 00:07:44.717 --> 00:07:46.127 don't just tell them the answer. 00:07:46.707 --> 00:07:50.747 You encourage them to use their God-given gray matter to think 00:07:50.747 --> 00:07:52.217 about how they can improve it. 00:07:52.577 --> 00:07:56.987 You scaffold, but you encourage them to look critically at their sentence 00:07:57.017 --> 00:08:01.097 or their writing and see it for themselves, how they can improve it. 00:08:01.667 --> 00:08:05.747 You're not going to be an enabler, and encourage them to just sit 00:08:05.747 --> 00:08:09.427 there like a potato and expected to be filled up with your words. 00:08:09.847 --> 00:08:11.827 You want them to come up with their own words! 00:08:12.307 --> 00:08:13.987 This is our inquiry works. 00:08:14.257 --> 00:08:15.337 It's a mindset. 00:08:15.427 --> 00:08:20.857 A stance, or as Kath Murdoch says it's a lens through which you teach. 00:08:21.497 --> 00:08:23.777 Inquiry isn't a separate subject. 00:08:24.197 --> 00:08:26.567 Or something you teach on a Wednesday afternoon. 00:08:26.897 --> 00:08:29.867 It's embedded in a culture of learning. 00:08:30.407 --> 00:08:33.527 It dovetails with explicit instruction. 00:08:33.617 --> 00:08:35.807 It's not an and or approach. 00:08:36.317 --> 00:08:39.797 It really makes me crazy when I see comments like that. 00:08:40.697 --> 00:08:42.887 That you don't get results with inquiry. 00:08:43.467 --> 00:08:47.027 Well my question is what do you want to achieve? 00:08:47.717 --> 00:08:52.067 If you want citizens or people who simply follow the rules, don't think 00:08:52.067 --> 00:08:55.607 for themselves and wait for someone else like possibly governments or 00:08:55.637 --> 00:08:59.387 teachers or whoever to tell them what to do and open up their brains 00:08:59.387 --> 00:09:00.977 and then put the stuff inside. 00:09:01.507 --> 00:09:05.867 then go with direct explicit instruction and create an army of robots who 00:09:05.867 --> 00:09:07.727 are programmed to do and not think. 00:09:08.567 --> 00:09:12.947 On the other hand, if you want to create people and citizens of the 00:09:12.947 --> 00:09:17.387 future, who question think for themselves, are creative problem 00:09:17.387 --> 00:09:20.927 solvers and critical thinkers, then. 00:09:21.647 --> 00:09:22.787 It's a no brainer. 00:09:23.027 --> 00:09:27.557 We've got to integrate inquiry based learning into our toolkit, so that 00:09:27.557 --> 00:09:32.747 we can create a future, where there's innovation where there's accountability. 00:09:34.007 --> 00:09:37.847 Where one person's word isn't just accepted, but scrutinized 00:09:37.847 --> 00:09:39.407 and tested and verified. 00:09:39.437 --> 00:09:40.997 Just like scientists do. 00:09:41.717 --> 00:09:45.977 And surely if we say that we educate the whole child. 00:09:46.397 --> 00:09:50.237 Then inquiry based strategies must be included in our culture of learning. 00:09:50.897 --> 00:09:55.697 We cannot claim to be child centered, or that educating the whole child 00:09:55.697 --> 00:10:00.527 is important to us if we're not including inquiry and play into 00:10:00.527 --> 00:10:07.127 a repertoire, that of course also includes explicit instruction when 00:10:07.127 --> 00:10:12.767 we're teaching new content or skills, which incidentally also includes 00:10:13.067 --> 00:10:15.617 the teaching of the inquiry process. 00:10:15.767 --> 00:10:17.687 You're going to do that explicitly to. 00:10:19.127 --> 00:10:24.107 And to show you just how easy it is to take on an inquiry mindset, I 00:10:24.107 --> 00:10:25.907 have a free resource just for you. 00:10:26.507 --> 00:10:28.397 You go to resources. 00:10:28.427 --> 00:10:32.987 dot Ed lessons.com forward slash how to encourage natural curiosity. 00:10:33.047 --> 00:10:34.247 I know that's a mouthful. 00:10:34.577 --> 00:10:37.037 But I'll put the link in the show notes for you. 00:10:37.477 --> 00:10:43.037 Download it and see how you can get tuned into simple everyday 00:10:43.037 --> 00:10:46.607 activities of children, like going for a walk or playing in the yard 00:10:46.967 --> 00:10:48.707 and get them wondering and thinking. 00:10:49.227 --> 00:10:52.527 And if you're curious, And you want to find the strategies that'll 00:10:52.557 --> 00:10:55.527 help your learners become more curious and become independent 00:10:55.557 --> 00:10:57.857 thinkers, then get blooming curious. 00:10:58.127 --> 00:11:01.937 My weekly newsletter, where I share strategies, tips and 00:11:01.937 --> 00:11:03.527 interesting finds with you. 00:11:03.977 --> 00:11:11.507 And to sign up, just go to www dot Ed's lessons.com and sign up with a form there. 00:11:11.807 --> 00:11:13.457 The link will be in the show notes too. 00:11:14.177 --> 00:11:14.567 And listen. 00:11:14.567 --> 00:11:18.227 I just want to thank you for listening to this podcast and me and my soap box. 00:11:18.617 --> 00:11:21.647 I know that you could have chosen any one of a gazillion out 00:11:21.647 --> 00:11:23.057 there, but you chose this one. 00:11:23.057 --> 00:11:25.187 And for that, I am really grateful. 00:11:25.637 --> 00:11:29.087 And if you liked today's episode, please share it with your friends and 00:11:29.087 --> 00:11:32.777 subscribe or follow so you will be notified each time I publish a new 00:11:32.777 --> 00:11:35.777 episode, and that way you won't have FOMO. 00:11:36.317 --> 00:11:40.127 And if you really liked this podcast, please leave a review because 00:11:40.127 --> 00:11:42.377 that will be super wonderful. 00:11:42.887 --> 00:11:44.207 So until next week. 00:11:44.657 --> 00:11:46.187 Stay blooming curious. 00:11:46.877 --> 00:11:52.217 And I'd love to know on social media, you can send me a DM on Instagram. 00:11:52.697 --> 00:11:54.377 What do you think of today's episode? 00:11:55.307 --> 00:11:56.827 I hope it got you thinking. 00:11:57.427 --> 00:11:58.597 See you around cheers.