Creating a culture of Critique

A while ago I wrote a post reflecting on how I probably don't structure sequences in my practice to allow students the opportunity to properly act upon feedback.  I then put a plan into action and wrote a post about how I would therefore create dedicated times in my lessons for students to do something with the comments that I or their peers had given them.  As a PE teacher I'm not the best at remembering to do these sorts of things so I came up with a few ideas to ensure I did.  The one idea that shone through was using a process called 'Critique'.  This method of getting work analysed and unpicked sounds very similar to traditional peer or self assessment.  And there are similarities.  What critique does differently though is develop the process by getting the feedback and feedforward more specific and refined.  It forces the feedback that is given to be more focused on specific features or elements.  All of the comments are designed to allow the writer/author/artist to take away that particular draft and know exactly what elements need focusing on.  The feedback becomes similar to that of a set of instructions, all with the purpose of driving forward the quality of a piece of work.

Critique also goes beyond an end of lesson activity and with simple protocols, makes the giving and receiving of feedback the culture of the classroom.  It pushes you to deliver a dedicated lesson which involves only the process of critiquing work, rather than "Right, swap books with your partner and give them two stars and a wish.  You have 5 minutes to do this".  It requires the teacher to model the method of critique using actual student drafts or exemplars, and can be done in a number of ways including an 'In depth class critique' or 'Gallery critique'.  The end result of doing this process over time is students critique each others work naturally and seek feedback independently of teacher instruction.  Here is where the culture is developed.

So why do I love the idea of critique?  Well, based on the various sources of research, evidence, blog posts, discussions of Twitter and so on, feedback is a big deal.  In my eyes, quality written/verbal feedback ranks higher than the giving of grades and levels although it is often the other way around with students.  Effective feedback that specifically highlights exactly what is good about a piece of work (so can be repeated and become habitual) and what exactly needs to be improved (to drive this piece of work towards excellence) is such an important component of the learning process (much more so than knowing a grade or level).  But so often in my own practice, there have been times when the feedback I have written is never followed up.  There are also still those fixed mindset students who are grade focused (as excellently explained here by @joe__kirby) .  This is where the process of critique is different.

As a number of teachers are increasingly engaging students to peer or self assess pieces of work, we need to first teach them how to do this.  The research from G. Nuthall talks roughly about how 80% of feedback students receive is from their peers.  But 80% of this student-student feedback is wrong  ties into this.  The rules, protocols, modelling, dedicated time and culture surrounding critique is therefore a great method for avoiding this low return rate.  So what is it that makes critique different?  Well, if you haven't already, I would highly recommend that you buy and read Ron Berger's 'An Ethic of Excellence'.  In this book, Berger exemplifies the process and breaks down the structure for forming effective critique sessions.  He is driven towards getting students to value their work and create pieces of excellence.  The mantra of 'If it's not perfect it isn't finished' echoes some of his values.  There are a number of additional factors (such as publicly displaying work, having an authentic element to the work and so on that add to this) but the core foundation of critique is key to producing excellent work and ensures that feedback is given and acted upon.  And as I said before, make critique part of your classroom culture rather than an activity or task.

So how do you do this?  There are a number of methods but the core principles stay the same.  I would recommend reading Berger's book or read this guide from the Innovation Unit.  The following tips are how I adapted and implemented the critique process during my PBL project.

Before you even start the critique process, it's important to establish the following steps:

1 - Examples of excellence: Introduce a piece of exemplary work similar to what students will need to complete (an example of excellence).  Critique it with the class.  Draw out what it is that makes this piece such a high standard including key terminology.  Create a success criteria for the piece of work which students use to complete it.  You will use this in your first critique session.

2 - Drafts: Call the work students create 'drafts'.  This may seem irrelevant but it actually gets students into the mindset that the work they are completing will be critiqued and it will be redrafted.  By calling it a draft it explains that work is not finished and that improvements can always be made until you do get to a finished product (providing your success criteria is strong enough).

Then

Infographic by @saidthemac

1 - Give critique time!  Usually a whole lesson should be set aside for a critique session.  Time is needed to model the process, allow for detailed analysis, the giving of feedback and acting upon it.  Don't rush it!  What about the time element though?  If I have only 6 weeks to cover the content of a unit/module/scheme, I don't have time to review work.  Well actually, critique improves the quality of the work and reinforces the content if you ask students to focus on this.  By actively seeking out errors in content, it develops the level of their understanding.  Once again, set aside time!  It really will benefit the process.

2 - Establish the rules:  Berger uses three very simple rules when using critique.  These rules ensure that the quality of the feedback is improved.  They are:

Be kind:  All comments should focus entirely on the work.  No personal comments at all. No sarcasm or put downs.  The comments can be challenging but the creator of the work should feel that the feedback is work orientated and happy to receive it.  Hard on content, soft on people.  

Be specific: Refined and precise dialogue with detailed explanations on positives and steps to improve.  Comments should explain exactly what needs to be worked on (like a set of instructions) which the writer can simply take away and use.

Be helpful: If the comments don't benefit the work, the learning, the learners or the class, don't share it.  Everything you provide feedback on is there to help make the work better.

3 - Model the process: Using a piece of work or exemplar, model the process of critique to your students.  Show them exactly the how to critique work.  This is normally done by the teacher and in the form of an 'In depth critique' to the whole class.  Share terminology that you are using.  Refer to the success criteria from when you first set the work.  Demonstrate exactly how you are focusing on key details.  Scaffold what good feedback/feedforward comments actually are.  Get students involved in this and see if you can refine the comments further.

4 - Banned words:  Promote the use of specific terminology that you drew out of the initial exemplar piece of work.  Promote the use of these words and the success criteria whilst critiquing the work.  We are trying to develop students vocabulary and make the feedback they give specific and helpful.  Also encourage any topic specific terminology.  For instance, if you are creating a piece of music, use actual words that the industry and composers use.  Create a list of banned words.  Get rid of 'It's good' and 'I like it'.  They are not specific and definitely not helpful.

5 - Allow students to critique:  Using what you have just modelled, allow students to critique each others work.  Use the success criteria to structure what it is students focus on.  Focus on one element at a time.  This may be asking students to look at the opening paragraph in an article they have written and see if it answers the Kipling's questions (who, where, what, when, how, why - basic guidance from local journalists that all articles should start with).  You may simply ask students to critique the spelling, punctuation and grammar.  Maybe ask them to focus on the shape of the wings (as shown in Berger's video above).  The important thing is to make the elements you want critiqued to be clear.  Ask students to critique too much and the specific nature of their feedback/feedforward gets confused.  Critique sessions can also take on two forms:

Formal in depth critique:  This is similar to the process that you have just modelled.  Students look at each other work and focus on an element at a time.  They identify good points that match the success criteria, and pick out specific parts that need improving (or if tweaked, could make the work better).  A copy of the critique sheet I use (which is differentiated) can be found here.

In depth critique - from my Year 11 GCSE lesson

Gallery critique:  This is where work is displayed in a gallery style (on a wall, laid out on tables, on presentation boards).  Ask students to individually walk around and look at one or two pieces of work.  Ask them to focus on one specific element.  Students write feedback on a post it note or feedback slip and place it below the work.  Snowball this and ask them to discuss their comments with a peer.  Move on and repeat the process on another piece of work, either with the same or different focus.

Gallery Critique: Picture courtesy of Jamie Portman.

6 - Critique the critique:  Particularly in the early days of introducing critique, get students to review the comments that have been given to them.  Are they refined enough?  Are they specific enough?  Do they pinpoint exactly what needs improving?  If anything is unclear, model how to develop it with the class.  Use examples of good and bad critique comments with the class.  This is taking peer assessment to the next level so knowing how to give effective critique comments needs support.

For the more able students in your class, get them to use questions in the feedback they give to the recipient.  Comments such as 'Could you eliminate the number of redundant words in your final paragraph to conclude your argument....' make those individuals who are able to, really think about amending their work.


6 - Redraft:  This is the vital element!  Dedicate actual time, in that session, for students to begin redrafting their work.  They need the guidance, the support, the ability to question those who gave them the feedback, the teachers careful eye.....all to help structure the redraft process.  Don't simply let this be done for homework.  It can be but initiate the redrafting section in your class.  Students need to get into the mindset that work needs reworking if it is to become something of beauty.  As Berger states, you wouldn't put on a school production without practising it over and over again, making improvements after improvements, until it was perfect.  Unfortunately some students will not initially see the benefit of redrafting.  To combat this, get students to keep every copy of their drafts.  Get them to number them and point out the improvements and developments they have made as the go through their multiple drafts.  This is where keeping portfolio's for students makes sense.

7 - Culture:  It takes time but creating a culture with your students is so important.  We need to make students value feedback.  We need to get students to want to seek it out.  We need to make students want to make the work they are producing better and better.  We need to help them develop their content knowledge and actually look at the feedback given to them.  We need to help them actively read the feedback they are given and make the improvements identified.  We need them to see the benefit of this effort and hard work improves work vastly (providing the feedback is good).  It does take time, and there will be some reluctant students, but creating beautiful work and developing content knowledge is important.  And it is from structured feedback, not necessarily grades, that ensures this happens.  Incorporate this regularly into your practice and maybe the quality of feedback in your classroom will increase.

Resources
The following links may help you develop your understanding further about the process of critique.  They may also help you understand the difference between critique and traditional peer assessment.  Please look through them and see the benefits that dedicated critique time can have.  The first presentation are quotes from teachers using critique.  The video is from a session where I delivered a critique introduction to all staff. The final presentation is what I referred to during that presentation.

Critique - Quotes, perspectives and useful links from davidfawcett27

Video of the T&L briefing I gave to all staff on critique.

Critique presentation from davidfawcett27


David Didau blog on critique: http://learningspy.co.uk/2013/02/08/improving-peer-feedback-with-public-critique/

Darren Mead numerous posts on critique: http://pedagogicalpurposes.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/critique

Darren Mead additional posts on critique: http://pedagogicalpurposes.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/critiques

Tait Coles on critique: http://taitcoles.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/public-critique/

Tait Coles post and videos from #TMClevedon on critique: http://taitcoles.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/critique-its-a-culture-thing/

Ron Berger on critique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1znB1ox0_EI

Ron Berger (part 2) on critique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2K75WO7a70

Alex Quigley post on gallery critique: http://huntingenglish.wordpress.com/2013/03/01/motivating-students-using-gallery-critique-blogsync/

Russell Hall numerous posts on critique and work of Berger: http://rug62.edublogs.org/

Martin Said blog link to the amazing Infographic from above: http://teachingandlearningmusic.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/critique-infographic-bookmark-non.html

David Price OBE blog post on creating multiple drafts and using critique: http://engagedlearning.co.uk/the-learning-power-of-multiple-drafts-and-critique/

The Big Read - Developing reading, literacy and responsibility

This year we are launching our biggest Learning to Learn programme of all time called 'Learning at Brookfield' or L@B for short.  It is a whole school initiative that focuses purely on Year 7's.  We are using Dweck's Growth Mindset and the 5R's as the basis of our programme.  Each half term we focus on one of the R's.  In that half term period, two departments champion this attribute explicitly, whilst the remaining teaching staff promote it informally.

This first half term we have been focusing on 'I am a Responsible Learner'.  The English department are one of the two championing departments and have been running an exciting project to promote responsibility, literacy and reading.  It is called the 'Brookfield Big Read'.  Sarah Page, an English teacher at Brookfield summarises the project as follows:

The ‘Brookfield Big Read’ is a challenge that runs for six weeks at the start of Year Seven. There are several aims. Primarily, it is to foster a love of reading for pleasure. For some readers, this means encouraging them to continue with the good reading habits that many of them have developed at our feeder primary schools. For these readers, the objective is to expose them to a wider variety of texts and authors and to inspire them to read more challenging books. For other readers, the ‘Brookfield Big Read’ aims to support them in developing good reading habits by challenging them to read more regularly and to discuss their reading with parents and peers. In addition to developing a culture of reading with the pupils, another of the challenge’s goals is to promote responsibility and independence in the students’ attitude to learning.  Overall, the aim is to motivate Year seven pupils to develop an enthusiasm for reading whilst taking responsibility for setting themselves targets and achieving their goals.

Big read intro from davidfawcett27

At the start of the challenge, all pupils are issued with their ‘Brookfield Big Read’ card. On this card they set themselves as many as three overall challenges, which they aim to achieve over the six weeks. Then they have to set themselves weekly targets in order to achieve their goals. Examples of targets might be to read a trilogy of books by a particular author or to read as regularly as half an hour each day.

Each week pupils are expected to discuss their reading with their parents and ask their parents to sign off their target. The class teacher will discuss each pupil’s challenge with them throughout the six weeks and also set aside time for pupils to read during class. The pupils love to share what they have read and this often supports and inspires others in the class, so often the class teacher will ask pupils to read out from their novels or to recommend their novels to the rest of the class.

Pupils can gain L@B merit points if they demonstrate responsibility during their challenge. Therefore not only do they need to complete their targets and ask parents to sign their cards, but they also need to ensure that they renew their library books on time and bring a reading book when asked to by the class teacher.

 

At the end of the challenge there is a class celebration of all of their achievements. Pupils are asked to present what they have enjoyed about the challenge and to share the texts they have relished. It is an opportunity for pupils to reflect on what they have read and how they have become responsible for their learning.

After introducing the challenge and linking it explicitly to our L@B focus, students began to set themselves their own targets.  As Sarah explained, these targets varied from students to students dependant on their initial level of reading.  Teachers helped students where necessary but ultimately these targets were self set by students which allowed them to take ownership of them.  It also provides that extra piece of motivation to achieve them when it is one that they set themselves.  When responsibility and self regulation are what we are trying to promote, giving them full control is key.  So what were some of these targets?  Well here are a few examples from our students:  

• To ready 20 pages every evening.  (The Hobbit - JRR Tolkein)
• To read aloud to my mum 3 times a week.  (Flash Flood - Chris Ryan)
• To read an entire book from a different genre.  (I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett)
• To read 4 chapters a day
• Read three books
• To read for an hour a day
• 20 pages a night
• To read a book recommended by my Mum
• To read a different author/genre
• Read a book recommended on Frog
• To read a book a week
• 50 mins a day
• Longer and more challenging texts
• To read half a book a week

At the beginning of every lesson, students would spend 10 minutes reading silently whilst the teacher went round and discussed targets with the students.  Over the weeks students filled out their Big Read Challenge card with new targets and comments, concluding the challenge with a final evaluative comment.  Parents signed these cards at home when their child had met their daily/weekly target.  This helped both support the child and provide motivation where needed.  When it got to the end of the six week challenge, students assessed whether they had met the target.  In fact many of the students had not only met their personal challenge, but even exceeded it.  Students were then asked to write a review of the six weeks, discussing the book or books they had read and also reflect on how responsible they had been.  A few examples of the book reviews can be found here and here.  This was an excellent chance review their progress and highlight any L@B examples.  To add a further element to this challenge, a selection of students work would be publicly exhibited at our local Waterstones store.  The reason for this ties into Ron Berger's 'An Ethic of Excellence' book (which I highly recommend that you read) and gave students a real audience, which in turn instilled a sense of pride when completing their work.  Many students asked when the display would be up which only increased the profile of the challenge further.    

And the last element for the students would be explained in our Year 7 L@B assembly.   As they were working through the challenge, the English teachers had been monitoring how Responsible these students had been.  They had been particularly looking at the way the students were learning, not just what they learnt.  They had forwarded these names to me as 'nominations' with examples of how they had become a more responsible learner.  Here is an example of 10 students:

1. A.M: A student who has really focused on a being a responsible learner. He works well in groups, on his own and has, without fail, met the 'Big Read' requirements (remembered his book every lesson, 'Big Read' card signed every week and he has increased his reading from nothing at all to 15 minutes a day).
2. A.H: Arranging to hand in early as she knew she would be absent; excellent attitude throughout.
3. T.H: Using initiative to support others (one of the Responsible Learner criteria)
4. A.K: Seeking ways to extend her work always (taking on responsibility for her own learning)
5. E.N: Responding enthusiastically to a challenge and striving to meet it.
6. H.N: He has worked very hard on his reading and has independently written two reviews about books he has read.
7. C.M: For her continued enthusiasm with the Big Read project, completion of an excellent book review and for setting great targets every week.
8. 
   

   L.T: She has read 7 books in total, challenging herself all the way. She has produced some excellent work as a result and handed in a superb review.

   
   
9. J.M: he has taken the challenge very seriously, set herself thoughtful targets and taken great responsibility over the management of her time.  She has clearly enjoyed it, as has mum who has left some very detailed comments!
10. Z.P: Amazing effort towards work in class, her book is exemplary and she responded to extending her BIG READ challenge and produced several book review.

These students were highlighted in assembly as individuals demonstrating excellent learning qualities.  In particular, we used them as examples of being responsible learners and as role models for other students.  They represented a shift towards being 'Growth Learners' and made becoming a better learner achievable for other students.  They were rewarded with certificates and one of our Responsible learner wristbands.


So what are the English departments overall thoughts after this exciting challenge? Neil Chance, our English AST, summarises it here:

During the course of the Big Read Challenge, students were openly discussing learner attributes, and, more specifically, the skills required to become responsible learners. Students really enjoyed the challenge of setting their own targets and managing them, and were fairly consistent at bringing in their own private reading material. The focus on 'responsibility' allowed teachers to highlight successes and difficulties in lessons, as well as providing opportunities for discussing methods to tackle those difficulties.


Targets were sometimes met and exceeded; other times they were not achieved - often because the target itself was too challenging (but this was encouraged at the beginning of Year 7 as teachers were still becoming acquainted with the strengths and weaknesses of their students). Whether the 'responsible' focus helped students achieve their targets is difficult to ascertain without a more in depth investigation - but it certainly didn't hinder them!


As a department, next year the focus would be on promoting the L@B skills more explicitly and asking students to become more self-aware and reflective regarding their own strengths and weaknesses as 'responsible' students.

As our first flagship challenge for our L@B programme, the Big Read has had a huge impact within our school.  The challenge itself, the learning conversations, the public exhibition and the reinforcing of such as vital quality (being responsible) and the push towards becoming a Growth Learner has been amazing.  We may not have turned every single student into a responsible learner or avid reader, but we have taken steps to highlight these areas with our students.  We have also begun to embed the culture of learning and exceptional learners at our school and look forward to the remainder of the year and the rest of the L@B programme.

Developing Olympic Learners

 A few months ago I talked about the exciting journey our school would be undertaking this year.  From September, we have implemented a whole school Learning to Learn programme that is specifically focused for our new Year 7's.  As we are mid way through this half term, I thought you might be interested in seeing what we have done to develop our 'Olympic Learners' (all will become clear).

If you are a first time reader and are not sure what I am talking about, we have run Learning to Learn for a number of years now as both an integrated part of PHSE and as a discrete course for our Year 9's in preparation for GCSE.  Both were not ideal and both had variations on success.  Our dream though was, and always has been, to implement this with our Year 7 learners as they entered Brookfield for the first time.  We wanted to work with them as soon as possible because this is a time when they are most malleable and receptive to our efforts in creating effective learners.

So what is the thinking behind our L2L programme?  Well, its pretty simple really.  The whole course is built upon Dweck's mindset theories.  At Brookfield, we want learners who recognise things like effort has a big influence on learning, who understand mistakes are good to learn from, who know that easy tasks are pointless if you don't learn anything and like a muscle, your brain can grow stronger through learning.  To do this we have adopted the 5R's and renamed them as:

• I am a responsible learner
• I am a determined learner
• I am a resourceful learner
• I am an effective thinker
• I am a reflective learner

We believe that if students can adapt their mindset and develop their 5R's, they can become more effective learners.  We've worked hard to extract the snake oil and design a programme full of ideas, strategies and protocols that we know learners need and have worked for us over the last 7 years.  So, here's what we've done this half term:


Launched it with staff

Our official launch with staff was in the summer term of last year.  A copy of the presentation for middle leaders and SLT is here.  The staff launch can be found here.  At the start of this year I simply used morning briefing and e-mail to remind staff of the programme.  It is essential that all staff are involved in the process and collectively promote this programme.  The students need the key principles to be reinforced by all teachers in order for the programme to have its full potential.  Response from departments so far seems great and I have had a number of excellent learning conversations as a results with colleagues about how it is really helping.


Developed displays around school (and our staff room)

Thanks to Marvel, we have assigned each of our learner attributes to a comic book character.  This has been an excellent hook for the students (and some of the staff too).  At the end of last year I asked departments to put in an order for our large posters.  Core subjects and large learning spaces could choose two posters which our budget paid for.  We did this because students go to these subjects, or use these spaces the most.  More exposure to the attributes will in return help us embed the programme.  Every other department received one free poster.  Electronic originals are available on our network and can be printed from department budgets for individual classrooms. 

L@B Display in the English corridor

Some other areas, including our library, have created their own unique displays (which are fantastic) and once again helped promote the five qualities.  In fact, in a general walk around part of the school last week, I found four personalised displays with a L@B focus which is such a positive sign!

L@B display in our school library

Talked about responsibility, responsibility, responsibility (our half term focus)

Every half term we focus on a different attribute.  This first half term has been focused on 'I am a responsible learner'.  Two departments at a time have championed this attribute with specially designed activities, but the rest of the school have been mentioning responsibility whenever they can.  We ran with this first because it is a simple focus to begin with and links in really well to a lot of the work done previously in our feeder schools.  In PE, we've used the word 'responsibility' a lot and tried to help raise its awareness as much as possible.  Students are really responding and are actually showing that they are responsible (no really they are!).  It has also been an excellent way to structure a learning conversation with a student who isn't demonstrating this quality.  Simply referring to the many posters around school with the student quickly help them see where they need to improve.  I've had a lot of good reports back from colleagues across the school where this focus has been embedded.


Organisers

Our Year 7 organisers (student planners) arrived and have designated L@B pages in them.  The aim of this is again to raise the profile of our L2L programme with students.  If needed, teachers, students and parents can refer to this page if needed when structuring learning conversations.  Hopefully these can be used in classrooms and at home with learners in an effort to reinforce them.

The page which is found in our student organisers

L@B Champions:  English and Maths

These two departments are our first champions.  English have chosen to run a project called 'The Big Read'.  The challenge involves students setting their own reading target for the half term and being responsible in their self-regulation to achieve this.  Our students will visit this project throughout the half term and reflect on progress.  Students will keep a record of their progress within this challenge and reflect on how responsible they were in meeting their target.  As part of this project, both Waterstones stores in Southampton will publicly display the students reviews.

A slide from 'The Big Read' launch in English

In Maths, students have been working through a data analysis task which really promotes team work which is one of our responsibility strands.  They have really embraced split screen teaching as a way to deliver this and made the process of learning really explicit.  Comments from staff (including a Deputy Head who is teaching this scheme) are very positive and show promising signs for helping shape our students learning behaviour (especially 'working with others' which for some students normally means having a chat!).

A slide from the 'team work' lessons in Maths

L@B merits (over 700 so far)

Our SIMS system now has L@B merits, including Responsible learner, added to the list.  This means that staff can quickly and easily give our specific attribute merits.  So far, 4 weeks in, over 700 responsible merit points have been given out.  This is excellent and really helps reinforce our focus with learners.


Wristbands

Designed as both a reward and as a way to raise profile of L2L, we will be handing wristbands to the top 20 Responsible learners in Year 7.  These individuals are selected by a mixture of L@B responsible merit points and recommendations from teachers in both English and Maths.  Each focus has a different colour.  This half term it's green bands! 

L@B champions

Our students voice of L2L.  These are a group of 12 Year 10 students who went through the last L2L discrete subject programme.  Each student is linked to one of the 5 attributes and acts as an ambassador.  So far these students have helped me plan and run the Year 7 launch assembly.  They are a credit to the school!  Their next project is to survey and interview randomly selected Year 7 students and ascertain how well the L@B programme is being embedded.


Launching with students (assembly)

Now if you watched the Olympics over the summer, you were probably as inspired by the immense achievements of our athletes as I was.  In fact, for the first time, I got a real attachment to the Olympics which I have never had before.  I am in awe of the athletes and feel that we can learn a lot from their character, their focus, their training, motivation, commitment......  I also thought that our Year 7's could learn from them as well.  So, with the help of my Year 10 champions, we designed an assembly to launch L@B whilst harnessing the power of the Olympics.

Can't see this, click here.

The assembly message was simple.  Imagine yourselves as 'Olympian learners'.  Olympians train hard for four years with the goal of gaining a medal at the event.  They put in hours of training, hard work, effort, commitment and dedication.  They have regular competitions in between to measure their progress and make amendments if needed.  They learn from setbacks and strengthen weaknesses.  They have amazing support and dedicated coaches who aim to make them better and experts in their field.  Now, remove the sports analogies and replace them with school and learning, and you all are Olympians.  In four years you will be in Year 11, preparing for you Olympic competition (exams), with the aim of gaining a medal (A*-C), with the support of your expert coaches (teachers) and have constantly been monitoring your progress and strengths (assessments, feedback....).  This 'Olympian Learner' concept is something I will use a lot and hopefully will help students see the qualities they need and the journey they must take.


Languages day link

Every half term we have a focus day.  This half term was our schools European Day of Languages on 26th September which we ran with Year 7's.  Every focus day has one of our five attributes attached to it, so this half term we had 'I am a Responsible Learner'.  The day began with an assembly in which I bridged the link between languages and being a responsible learner.  I have to say a huge thank you to Ian Gilbert who helped me put together the speech with some inspirational ideas to share.  The day was successful and challenged the students a lot.  The principle of being responsible to reinforced throughout and is something we will continue to build upon.


Reward cards

I have talked about these in a previous post (click here) but they are simple colour co-ordinated feedback cards.  Each card is linked in colour to one of the 5 attributes.  Each card also has a short learner comment, statement, habit or skill which links to that attribute.  If a teacher sees a learner demonstrating that particular habit in a lesson, they simply give that student the card which in turn is rewarded with a merit.  The card quickly identifies the particular habit that the student has used so the individual knows what the reward is for.  By encouraging and reinforcing learners to work in a particular way, it should help them develop positive habits which will make them successful learners (links to Skinners and Thorndike's Reinforcement and Operant conditioning).  If you would like a copy of the cards, they can be found here and here.  These were e-mailed out to staff to use if they wish and already a number have been passed through our reporgraphics department.  I look forward to hearing how well they get used.


Now that's quite a lot of things going on in the first half term but the combination of them all should ensure that our L2L programme has a huge impact.  It's the small but manageable details that come together to help create a programme purely designed to benefit our learners.  For the rest of the year, we will move onto a new attribute each half term and work through the same structure with individuals.  Our aim is to build up students learner qualities and support them in doing so.  We believe that if we can help our students become effective learners, then this, mixed with the teaching and learning that goes on in our school, should help set our students up for a successful (Olympian) few years at Brookfield.  It's early days and something that we are constantly evaluating, but it's an initiative that we believe could have a huge impact and are excited to see develop.

As always, any comments or thoughts are most welcome.  @davidfawcett27

Designing gardens, getting influenced and developing a strategy for creativity.

I have been thinking a lot lately about the creation of new ideas.  I will explain why I have been thinking about this in a moment.  How often is it that we actually see a purely inspirational and unique product that has had no influence from other sources.  That is so unique that it resembles nothing we have ever seen before.  It is a product unlike anything ever before.  Unfortunately, I was struggling to think of one.  Not recently anyway.  A lot of products nowadays seem to be a version or adaptation of a previous idea.  They seem to have ‘borrowed’ elements or components from other products but personalised them to their brands style.  Whenever I see a new product being launched I always think ‘Oh it’s got an x which is similar to y’.  Apart from years ago when new inventions where actually new, I struggled to list many.

So why was I thinking this?  Aside from being a teacher, in my spare time I run my very own successful Garden Design business (don't believe me, click here).  I normally do this during the summer holidays, end of terms or half terms.  I do this because of a previous job as a ‘Garden Design Technician’ whilst I was training to be a teacher.  My job is to meet a client and create an idea for their garden.  They are employing me to make their garden meet their needs, style, lifestyle and interests.  They pay me to create something unique and inspirational.  But, if you are an experienced garden designer, you would probably be able to look at my designs and see elements of John Brookes, Diarmuid Gavin, Cleeve West, Andy Sturgeon and others rubbing off on me.  You would be right.  I would be the first to admit that what I put forward isn’t always unique and ‘never seen before’.  They all have been influenced.

So how do I become creative?  What is my method?  Well, when I get a client asking me to design for them, I normally follow the following procedure or structure:

1.      Go to the client’s garden.  I ask the client as many questions as I can to clarify what it is they want.  I produce a list of criteria called a ‘brief’ which lists all the things my design should do when it’s finished to be successful.

2.      I then go away and visit my books, websites, photos and Google images to get ideas.  I paste all of these inspirational ideas and options together to create my own ‘mood board’.  I always double check they link to the clients brief.

3.      I then create pages and pages of rough sketches and designs.  I create images of the shape, the planting, features, materials….

4.      I then evaluate the sketches and ideas and chuck out the rubbish.  This leaves me with a few rough ideas I am happy with and which meet the brief.

5.      I then start combining these ideas to create a final idea.

6.      I then draw up this idea in numerous forms and check it matches the brief.

7.      I then meet with the client again, show the design, talk it through and invite feedback.  If it needs it, I will go back to any of the above steps and make necessary amendments.

Now, you might be thinking that this is a teaching blog and what has this got to do with schools?  Well as part of my additional responsibility as an innovator in charge of L2L, my job is to find the best methods/strategies/systems that we can teach are students to make them more effective learners.  In our Year 9 L2L course, the final module which lasts over a number of weeks is a creativity project.  In the past we let them loose and asked them to ‘harness their creativity’ and waffled on about ‘tips to be creative’.  It has to be said that some of the ideas that students came up with were pretty poor, already in existence or not original at all.  A lot of students really struggled.  It seems children are very imaginative and curious, but find it difficult to think of an original concept.  Some on the other hand were good, but again relied heavily on existing influences.  So, for the last two years we have taught students, if you have to create something, a good starting method would be Geoff Petty’s ICEDIP method of creativity.

The ICEDIP process is very simple in its nature and links very clearly with my garden design.  It is a six staged strategy which helps students put a creative piece of work together.  It is non-linear in fashion and learners can go back and forth, swapping between the stages as they need.  The process is also extremely reflective and requires an individual to constantly evaluate or analyse their work at every stage.  For a detailed explanation of the ICEDIP process there is a link at the bottom of the post.  In summary, the six stages are as follows:

Clarification: This is the stage where the individual makes sense of what their task is.  It is here that they create their brief, success criteria or objectives.  It is where they work out what exactly they have to do to complete the task successfully.  As Geoff Petty says, ‘It is where you focus your goals’.  This is vitally important to do at the onset.  As you get engrossed in being creative, it is possible you can lose direction and go off in a tangent if you are not careful.  Use this brief or success criteria constantly to ensure you are working your way towards your goal and what you are creating meets the requirements of the task.

This is the time where I meet the client and clarify what they want their garden to look like or do.  I find out what it should be if it was to be successful.

Inspiration:  This is where you get inspired.  A lot of new ‘things’ in the world take their influences from existing or old ‘things’.  Some books use similar stories, themes or styles of writing.  Some artwork, paintings or sculptures may have influences from other artists or replicate styles.  Some music may have similar sounds, harmonies, melodies or lyrics.  It is this stage where you do something similar and get inspiration for yourself.  This is a research phase so spend time to go looking for existing ideas which might help form your creative piece.

The second part of this stage is the the ideas phase.  This is the best and most important part.  Here is where you let yourself go and create numerous versions of your piece.  You might wish to focus on the whole piece or specific components like plot lines in English, various lyric combinations in Music or different types of hinges in Technology.  The two most important factors though here are:
1) Don’t be critical at all.  Let your ideas flow.  Even if you change your mind halfway through an idea, it doesn’t matter.  An idea is an idea and will be helpful.
2) 99% of all your ideas will be rubbish.  But doing this 99% may help you find the 1% of brilliance.

This is where I create various sketches of the garden, its shape, style, theme, features….

Evaluation: This is the time when you sit down and evaluate what you have just created.  It is the time to think objectively and without bias.  It is also the time when you reference against your brief or success criteria from the clarification phase.  Look through your ideas and drafts and seek out their strengths and weaknesses.  What bits work and what needs changing.  This is an excellent time for critique or peer/self assessment.  If it doesn’t work, is a weak idea or won’t meet the target of your project, throw it away.

This is where I throw out the weak ideas and leave myself with a few strong ones that all meet the brief.

Distillation:  This is where you determine which of your ideas to work on in order to meet your objective.  It is also a time where you may merge your best ideas before working on your final piece.  Picking out the best bits and combining them will help ensure your final outcome will be a successful one.

This is where I combine the best bits from my best ideas.  I look at everything from the shape, plants, features, materials etc.  All of this to ensure I create the best final product I possibly can.

Perspiration:  This is the stage where you put the most effort in to get your final piece finished.  This should be the hardest section and involve the most effort as you strive for excellence.  You may need to go back and forth between other stages such as the clarification stage to check you are on course.

This is where I create my final piece using all of the work from the previous stage.  Here I strive to produce the best design I can.

Incubation:  I leave this explanation until the end.  There are times when a writer gets writers block, a musician can’t think of how to finish a song, a student gets stuck or a garden designer has a meltdown!  This is the stage where you take a few minutes out.  A time when you walk away.  Don’t worry, your brain will still be thinking about your work and you may have a eureka moment.  When you are ready and refreshed, return to your task.

This is where I usually bang my head on the table and go and watch some TV.  I may even return to the inspiration phase in a less stressful way.

When I have delivered it over the last two years, I always use my garden design background as my personal method of explaining the ICEDIP method of developing creativity.  I also stress the importance of thinking outside of the box and looking at ideas from different angles.  I have a set style but my gardens aren’t all the same.  A Samsung Galaxy or HTC isn’t exactly the same as an iPhone.  Things are similar, but different at the same time.  In fact it seems that the culture of 'borrowing ideas' is very apparent in the world today.  And what about using this process with students?  Well in my experience it really works.  The work over the past two years was much better than the previous.  It was more structured, more reflective and more coherent.  Students weren't sitting looking at a blank page, producing identical designs of existing products or only creating one idea.  They were understanding the process and the importance of working in this way (if only as a basis).  And to stop this becoming a copying or plagiarising exercise, focus heavily on reflecting between each stage and harness humans natural curiosity with the use of some excellent questioning.  Use Kipling's Who, Where, What, Why, When and How.

So how could it filter in other classrooms?  Well in many ways.  We plan so many activities in our lessons where we ask students to go away and be creative.  And this process doesn't have to be solely used in naturally creative subjects like Art or Technology.  This process could be used in any.  In a creative writing task in English for example, students create the brief, research what other writing in a specific genre looks like, create numerous ideas on plots, characters and settings, evaluate the quality of the ideas, wean out the bad, merge the best parts of the story together, work hard to get the final piece together and be reflective throughout the whole process.  In that single task students could be guided through using the ICEDIP method.  The same can be done for a GCSE Photography portfolio, an Art project, a scheme of work for Music, coursework in Graphics…..  The list goes on.  My main advice though is it’s the actual process of making the stages explicit to learners that is important.  Sometimes we do this in our lessons naturally.  But actually scaffolding our youngsters through the process, talking about the six stages and getting them to constantly review and reflect on it is how working in this way becomes habit.  Getting them to understand the stages ensures that this method of working is replicated again and again.  This is basic Learning to Learn.

As always, this is only a way, not the way.  But in my experiences over the past few years, it has been a beneficial strategy to use, share and teach students.

Click to link to Geoff Petty's website and ICEDIP information available to download.

Developing Curiosity - The 'Curiosity Campaign'

I have been reading a lot over the last few years.  Most of it has been about developing my teaching or more specifically Learning to Learn.  When I first got my job as the developer of L2L at my school, I was directed towards the Campaign for Learning by various people.  It was here that I first heard about a number of the key components of L2L and how it works.  Whilst reading through their website in 2007 I came across a really interesting idea that they had begun back in 2000.  For those of you that know me or have read previous posts, if a strategy or initiative doesn't catch my attention or I don't see that it will make much of an impact, I don't use it.  But this idea intrigued me and developed my curiosity.  It really got me thinking and I could see its practical use immediately.  Even if it doesn't work, it's simple enough to give it a go.  The idea was beautifully named the 'Curiosity Campaign' with the tag line:

'You can switch anyone onto learning by...............making them curious'.

Campaign for Learning described the idea as follows:

'The campaign is based on the premise that a desire and motivation to learn can be stimulated by curiosity. Award winning advertising agency, St Luke's, worked with us to develop the creative format for the Campaign: a series of posters incorporating a single, striking image and a teasing 'curiosity', or half sentence.  The ideas behind the 'Curiosity' campaign have been influenced by our marketing learning experience and research to date. Our research has told us that people with negative learning experiences behind them, in particular, resist a learning propaganda or 'learning is good for you' approach. They have heard it too many times. Rather, the posters work by stimulating people to think about the answers and engage in a mental, or actual, dialogue about the topics the posters are based on'

 

So how does it work?  Well, I think it's very self explanatory from the above statement but a brief summary would be as follows.  As the C4L state, 'Curiosity works like an itch. It irritates us so that we want to do something about it' and the posters do just that.  Simply identify a topic in your subject area that you could use as a hook.  Find yourself a striking image that links to the topic but doesn't give the game away.  Next, come up with half a sentence (or an 'annoying' half sentence) that starts to talk about an amazing fact, but then doesn't finish it.  Put it all together as a poster or display and the innate curiosity of learners (not all) will make them want to know or find out the answer. 

So, what have I done with this.  Well, as you may know I don't have my own classroom so I have been playing with this idea for a few years.  I have though been thinking about displays a lot this year (click here).  As the summer holidays approach, I know I will be in school for a day at some point to get things ready for September.  During this time I plan to create a few posters to display around the department.  I already trialled one as a starter with my Year 11's and I have to say, honestly, it got a great discussion going and got learners asking a lot of questions.  I could see the curiosity flowing.  My idea though is to use it outside of lessons and display them around our facilities so students from all years can see them.  I want to get individuals talking about our subject and see that there is a great depth to what we teach (specifically at GCSE level).  Now it clearly has links to PBL and Inquiry Based Learning where we do something similar with stimulis images.  But this is different.  This gets them before they come into the classroom and may even make them find out the answer independently.  Then again it may not?  But who knows unless I give it a go.  Finally, as I was reading up on curiosity, I found a quote from Jeff Arnold from Discovery.com that answered the question 'Does curiosity inspire learning?' quite nicely:

"Yes, definitely -- curiosity is at the very heart of learning. It's what drives people to want to learn more about something. Once that initial spark of curiosity happens, the next step is to investigate the topic, event or thing more thoroughly. That investigation then leads to wanting to wholly understand it -- to unravel the mystery of it. And of course, that's where learning comes into action."