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Interview with Teachers 1 and 2 – 06.06.16
Each drew a picture
that represented how sixth form students currently learn at Sidmouth College.
Interviewer:
Can you tell me about your drawing?
Teacher 1:
I’ve drawn an ear which represents them [the students]. And then me, which
actually I should have just drawn a big mouth with me talking endlessly about
how fabulous Jane Austen is and Daphne de Morier etc. etc. I’ve drawn essays
because they do a lot of essays, a stage because they act out and I think we
were just saying that I’m always performing when I’m in sixth form lessons, a
circle of people discussing because we do a huge amount of discussion and then
that is supposed to be a character poster. And there was something else I was
going to say that we do… oh I actually read aloud to them and I haven’t drawn
that so we have story time.
The students are represented by ears because I think
particularly with the Austen text they really would have struggled with that;
working independently and reading it independently and it just would have
turned them off it. So a huge part of the Jane Austen section I read to them
and explained and then we discussed. And I’ve asked them about that and they
really enjoyed it and they’ve been able to access and enjoy the novel, but also
I suppose I do a get a little bit enthusiastic about the texts I’m teaching
which they’d probably say so that’s me getting very excited and talking to them. But I do try not to talk at
them and to them too much; we do have a lot of discussion and they do a lot of
things like present certain aspects. We did some critical theory and they have
really enjoyed excited talking about the texts and they get very excited.
Collaboration is really important because I think
particularly as we start to explore different interpretations of the texts,
that’s almost impossible to do by yourself, no matter how experienced you are
as a reader and how knowledgeable you are; you need to bat those ideas off of
other people and argue and there were a lot of quite animated arguments. So
those are very important. My big thing with literature is that I want them to
love the texts or, if they can’t love them (because not everyone is going to
love everything), I want them to feel deeply about them. So whether they don’t
feel what I feel but still have a lot to say about them. That’s the important
thing so that when they come to the exam, my hope is that they will be able to
communicate that. The essays I try to do as many of those as possible because
that’s the bit they struggle with; they’re very good at articulating what they
feel but when I comes down to writing it down, they panic.
I think now they
would probably learn quite successfully in an independent way if I gave them
opportunities to do so. This wouldn’t have been true when they started in Year
12. No, not all. They needed a lot of
input. The hope is that when they come back to recommence Year 13 they will be
able to do a lot more of this themselves. If you asked them, they would
probably say that [Teacher A] basically ruins all the books for us; they read a
book, really enjoy it and then I say, “yeah, but what about that?” and they
say, “Aaarghh you’ve ruined it!”
Interviewer: Can
you [Teacher B] tell me about your drawing?
Teacher 2: Right,
I started with this first drawing of a head which is very simple: there is a
hole where the brain is supposed to be saying ‘gap’ and a little mouth saying,
“feed me,” because when they come to us in lower sixth they are very much ‘you
have all the answers: you must feed us.’ So they behave like little birds
waiting for worms and everything you say they scribble down. They don’t seem
able to independently leave the nest to go and get anything themselves; they
very much expect you to bring everything to them. But as you were talking I was
thinking that by the time they get to upper sixth what we’re trying to teach them is to be more
outward-looking so I’ve drawn a little series of people holding hands and their
eyes are looking away from me. I might have a direction in mind but they often
work collaboratively. You’re moving from a position of immaturity and
dependence (this little bird thing) towards independence. It’s something we
have to work quite hard to foster so we do quite a lot of ‘feeding’ at first
but then gradually give them little jobs so we can get them to the point that
they are more outward looking and can work independently of us.
As for how you move between the first picture and the
second, I’d have to think about it. I think you just set up certain tasks that
require... So a little simple one for lower sixth: we are doing a poem next
lesson so I want you to research that writer before the lesson, and then in the
lesson, how might that research inform your understanding of the poem? I
suppose it’s gradually moving them away from you as an ‘all-provider’ and its
little steps at first. It’s developing all those different skills.
Teacher 1:
I think it’s about moving them away from an idea that there is one truth and one answer and one
interpretation.
Teacher 2:
In literature that’s definitely true. It’s about providing them with models and
tools; here is the equipment you need, now go and use it. Then they develop
their own way of doing things. That’s our job: here is a skill, now go and try
it out, try it out and try it out until you can do it on your own. I think
dialogic discussion is quite a good way of encouraging independence - they sit
in a circle and you give them a statement about a text that they need to argue
for or against. That starts it off, making them engage with different
interpretations. I do use a huge amount of discussion in my lessons.
Interviewer: So if
you had to distil all of that down to one fundamental area for development for
Sidmouth College sixth form learners, what would it be?
Teacher 1:
Taking responsibility sooner. Being more prepared to take risks actually;
that’s what it is!
Teacher 2:
Yeah and the risk taking comes into the practising of skills alone. Practise,
practise, practise. Our students don’t want to let go of the scaffolding; they
just want us to hold their hand. Let go, and try it yourself!
Interviewer: In an
ideal, perfect world, if you were to think about the perfect learner, what
skills does that person demonstrate?
Teacher 1:
Curiosity, a willingness to think for themselves and take risks; try things.
Teacher 2:
Yeah it’s about trying things. So, a model Year 11 student wouldn’t just go
‘feed me, feed me’ when they transitioned to Year 12, they’d say ‘give me a
paper so I can try it out myself’ or ‘where would be a good place to find the
answers myself.’ They would ask questions, be curious and try things out.
Teachers 1:
Having their own opinion. Coming into the lesson with their own opinion. Being
prepared to disagree. Students are never going to move beyond basic GCSE level
if they can’t have that basic independence of thought. If they don’t have that
and an innate curiosity in what they are studying, they are never going to move
away from that ‘what’s the right answer’ and write it down mentality. It’s
moving towards degree level where they can tackle a subject and take ownership;
where they consider what do I think,
why do I think that and how can I extend my knowledge?
Teacher 2:
Or, they won’t go off, rummage around themselves, and discover their own
passion. I think you can achieve a mediocre grade at A Level if you just do
what you’re told but if you want that flair and originality you’ve got to be
willing to do those investigations and questioning to increase your own
appreciation and understanding.
Teacher 1:
Underpinning all of that has to be a genuine interest in the subject. Ultimately,
having confidence, curiosity, being prepared to take risks and able to think
and work independently will mean that you’ll get more out of life. Rather than
being someone who is passive, it marks you out as being special and you’ll get
more out of what you’re doing.
Teacher 2:
It’s about pushing your own boundaries and always wanting to be the best that
you can be, in whatever realm of life. They are skills for an interesting life.
 
Interview with Teachers 3 and 4 – 07.06.16
Each drew a picture
that represented how sixth form students currently learn at Sidmouth College.
Interviewer:
Can you tell me about your drawing?
Teacher 3:
I would say that in the sixth form, students like to be spoon-fed and even when
you try to push them, they still want to revert back to that. This year I had
them say to me (when I tried to push them at the start of the year), “we’re
only year elevens out of uniform – you’re forgetting that.” I also feel that as
teacher we push them (and we are able to get them through Bloom’s taxonomy of
skills), and instead of being like gladiators, they give up quite easily. This
has been the first year of a new specification so I’ve had to do quite a lot of
preparation to teach it so it feels like I’ve had to do lots of work and when
I’ve asked the students to work, some of them will do it and some won’t. It
disappoints me.
Interviewer: Can
you [Teacher D] tell me about your drawing?
Teacher 4: I’ve
drawn something with a lot of emphasis on the teacher because I’m not sure if
we expect too much of our sixth form students here or if it’s more the fact
that they are a bit lax with their independent learning but they are always
coming to us for answers to everything, however big or small. And I don’t know
if this is just my personal experience but the students I teach lack any
ability to put themselves out there and risk anything; they like having the right
answers and being safe and comfortable. This means that quite often you have
lessons without discussion because they are expecting the teacher to talk. None
of them are happy to put their head above the parapet and say anything that
could be wrong or controversial. I don’t think that means they lack
intelligence or an ability to get higher grades, they just prefer to learn from
a teacher rather than independently or from each other. When you have that lack
of group discussion, it’s a shame because you can’t address any misconceptions.
So I think it does hinder them in terms of how quickly they develop.
Interviewer: So if
you had to distil all of that down to one fundamental area for development for
Sidmouth College sixth form learners, what would it be?
Teacher 4:
Over-dependence on the teacher.
Teacher 3:
Yeah and I think they are so focused on getting things factually correct that
they aren’t able to learn and apply skills.
Teacher 4:
They aren’t very active learners; they like having the answers and they think
that’s enough. There’s not that curiosity or willingness to adventure around a
topic or go into more detail than they need to.
Teacher 3:
It’s almost like they need a recipe to structure everything they do and they
expect to use that same recipe for every activity. They like repetition and
safe, secure patterns.
Interviewer: In an
ideal, perfect world, if you were to think about the perfect learner, what
skills does that person demonstrate?
Teacher 3:
I think both the ability to be a collaborative learner and an independent
learner. That they’re able to do both and switch been the two as appropriate.
Teacher 4:
Being comfortable to challenge each other and express their own opinion. That’s
what a sixth form student should have; the emphasis on it being their learning. Teachers are here just
to facilitate that. They need to take responsibility for learning and start
thinking of it as something that they
do.
Teacher 3:
I think the problem that we have is that they come from GCSE where we are all
about getting them results so sometimes we do spoon feed them a bit. Whereas,
we need to get them to university level (if they choose to go down that route)
where they are entirely independent learners. And that break and change, where
do you put it? Is it at the start of Year 12? I don’t know. That’s the problem
though – with A Level students we’re trying to bridge the gap between key stage
4 and higher education.
Teacher 4:
Yeah. We’ve found supporting students between year 11 and 12 a real challenge.
They often don’t do any work in the summer between the two years but they would
in an ideal world. Either way, that transition to a more independent learning
style is never going to be instantaneous.
Teacher 3:
But also, they like it when we just tell them the information. I think they see
that as a more grown up way of learning because they have a picture of a
university lecture where a teacher lectures to
them. They don’t understand all of the independent learning that goes on to
support that lecture style of teaching. They aren’t prepared to do that.
Teacher 4:
I agree.
Teacher 3:
I would quite like to adopt the flipped learning approach so that they learn
all of the content outside of the lesson and then they come in and we
synthesise, change, embed and develop it in the classroom. It’s that bit they
need our help with.
Teacher 4:
They need to lead their education more than they are currently doing so that we
end up with sixth form students who are happy to do the work outside of the
classroom and use us to help them apply and develop that. They need to
confidence to do that first though. They need less fear of getting things wrong
and to be able to work through problems on their own.
Teacher 3:
If we were to use flipped learning, it would need to be consistent across the
school though.
Teacher 4:
Yes. And at present there aren’t any consequences if students don’t do the
work; it’s just a case of saying, “well that’s not good,” and moving on. Ideally,
if they were task focused and independent, they would do the work and we could
build up to the stretching extension tasks and really extend their knowledge.
Interview with Teacher 5 – 09.06.16
They drew a picture
that represented how sixth form students currently learn at Sidmouth College.
Interviewer:
Can you tell me about your drawing?
Teacher 5: This
first drawing shows the teacher demonstrating how to do things on the
projector. A lot of learning is done using ICT or visuals so they have to look
and think. In the second drawing you can see them having a go themselves at
trying to work out how to do things, problem solving and persevering. And then
you see them in the third drawing working that out, and establishing how they
can do things themselves and then evidencing that in their sketchbook. I teach
through leading by example and set high expectations on workload. So I do
demonstrate a lot but the biggest element of learning is how they explore what
they have learned by themselves and exploring it further. That’s where their
thinking comes in but it is a
challenge as some of them haven’t studied my subject before. You can see groups
of students who find the independent thinking more challenging and some stand
out as being needier. So for example, one student who finds a task difficult or
has got lost whilst following it, instead of thinking it through for themselves
or asking peers, they have an empty thought which they shout out loud. We see
this a lot at key stage three and there are a lot of A Level students who
prefer to shout, “Miss, I’m stuck!” and I’ll have to go over. It usually turns
out to be something simple but then they’ll repeat that behaviour within the
lesson.
Perseverance is something I feel I have to teach and
encourage. In my subject perseverance and a sense of adventure and exploring
has to come naturally to them for them to enjoy that element and if it doesn’t,
it might be that they don’t continue with the course. They’ll work that out
pretty early on because of the expectation I put on them. Perseverance is
something I have to remind them to do.
The good thing about moving from KS4 to KS5 is that students
select fewer subjects and take them more seriously and generally choose
subjects because they enjoy them. Some students who didn’t work hard at KS4
have gone on to get higher grades at A Level because their work ethic improves.
Unfortunately, some have other issues such as mental health problems or
personal issues that mean they struggle to focus.
Interviewer: So if
you had to distil all of that down to one fundamental area for development for
Sidmouth College sixth form learners, what would it be?
Teacher 5: Not
completing work when it should be done and not keeping up with deadlines. Not
understanding the workload either.
Interviewer: In an
ideal, perfect world, if you were to think about the perfect learner, what
skills does that person demonstrate?
Teacher 5:
Someone who has a burning passion for the subject. Someone who can think
laterally and make links that aren’t obvious to other people. Someone who has
sensitivity towards the work and subject. Someone who has ideas. Someone who
works really hard because they love the subject, not because they have to or
see it as a chore. It can be really positive in the classroom and influence
other students. I think the best students are more independent; you can say,
“why don’t you look at X, Y or Z?” and they’ll go off and come back with a
wealth of information around that topic and apply that in their learning within
the classroom.
 
Interview with Teachers 6 and 7 – 10.06.16
Each drew a picture
that represented how sixth form students currently learn at Sidmouth College.
Interviewer:
Can you tell me about your drawing?
Teacher 6: For
me, from my experience in my subject, we never have large numbers so I haven’t
drawn too many students. I’ve drawn a big whiteboard or interactive whiteboard
and a teacher at the front and pupils sitting there listening, taking it in and
writing notes, a little bit more like a lecture at university. It’s more
teacher-led and less student-led and very much didactic: this is what you know,
this is what you need to know. It’s teacher led because from my experience it
can be difficult to get the content in and make sure that the content is the
right thing. I suppose it’s habit. But it’s also difficult to do group work
with one or two students! It was easier when we had more. There are some
occasions where they complete work without me; we do some independent homework
and competitions between them. Sometimes that works but it depends if they’ve
done the work! At the moment I have very introverted students who are very much
‘I know what I’m doing, I’m doing it my way and that’s the right way.’ But we
also have a student who is very amenable who would be also to do anything you
asked; he’d turn his hand to it and wouldn’t ask why we were doing it because
he assumes that the teacher knows best. He seems to make more progress but he’s
also more motivated.
Interviewer:
Can you tell me about your drawing?
Teacher 7: I
have more students (although less at Year 13) and it works differently
depending on the size of the class. But I would say that half of my class is
entirely student led and half is more teacher led. For the coursework they are
given a scaffold with subheadings and things they need to include, and they
have to go away, research and write. I support this with one to one tutorials.
But the exam content which is worth 50% for both year groups is, particularly
in year 13, quite complex and they have to know quite a lot. So some of that is
driven by ‘know this, now know this and then I’ll test you on this.’ This is
partly because of the nature of the exam. Towards the exam, it gets more
teacher-led because it’s me saying “can you answer this question? Let’s find
out what you said and this is what you could have said.” But I would say that
this represent the fact that I’m quite often working with individual students
whilst they’re working because of the mixed ability range of my students. So I
have to pick up and support students who lack understanding and then try to
stretch and move on those students who are heading for As. This is me. I spend
quite a lot of time away from them in the corner once a task is going to let
them get on with it. And then I spend some time circulating. They ask a lot of
questions I have to say. Even my year 13s ask me quite difficult questions that
I sometimes can’t answer which is brilliant.
In year 12 they do the coursework first which is probably the
better way of doing it because they have to be more independent. They’re not
great at this and they find it quite painful at first and they almost want you
to validate every sentence they write. I think this is because they are so
spoon fed at GCSE and we intervene with them left, right and centre to get
their grades up (which we have to do). A Level is very different and there are
bigger gaps between assessments but I think their lack of independence in year
12 comes from a lack of confidence. The interventions at GCSE are good in that
they improve progress but I think they damage confidence because they tell the
students that they aren’t doing things right or well. So I think the lack of
independence is a hangover from GCSE. At A Level this causes issues with
meeting deadlines, the quality of the work and the students’ inability to take
ownership; they won’t put their hands up and admit that they haven’t done
things to the best of their ability. My year 13s do now and I think they get
better as they move through GCSE because they become more aware of the issue
and are sometimes disappointed with their results. As they become aware of how
their grade is shaping, they start to suddenly want to do more but it comes too
late in the day.
Interviewer: So if
you had to distil all of that down to one fundamental area for development for
Sidmouth College sixth form learners, what would it be?
Teacher 7:
I would say lack of independence.
Teacher 6:
Yes, that’s the first thing that sprang to my mind.
Teacher 7: I
think that stems from confidence.
Teacher 6:
We make a rod for own backs at GCSE when intervention starts in Year 10. At A
Level if they don’t do the work, the students ask for intervention but there
isn’t enough time in year 12.
Teacher 7:
But also at A Level their work and the topics they choose are more personal so
we can’t intervene with everyone individually – there isn’t time!
Teacher 6:
You can tell that independence is a problem because we don’ t have as much
communication with A Level students. So a year 11 student I might see around the
school a lot and I can keep reminding them of work. With sixth form students I
will set a piece of work and if it’s not completed, they don’t come and find me
and it’s difficult to find them as they aren’t always in school or they hide in
the sixth form area.
Teacher 7:
But if they were properly independent students, they would come and find you.
That’s the problem isn’t it? An independent student would come to you.
Teacher 6:
For my year 13s I have said that if you need any help with the exam, come and
see me. I haven’t seen any of them since last lesson. I haven’t had an email. I
haven’t had any work to mark. Nothing.
Teacher 7:
It’s about ownership isn’t it? I don’t know where it comes from. Is it a lack
of motivation? Is it common to all sixth form providers or is it just our
students? How do we make them more independent? How do we make them more
confident?
Teacher 6:
It needs to happen lower down the school.
Teacher 7:
I think it is starting to happen. I think learning habits are working; the idea
that they are authors of their own learning, are choosing how they learn and
are aware of how they learn. I think we’ll see the impact of that as they move
up through the school.
Teacher 6:
My A Level students will quite often say, when we’re doing a ‘think for
yourself activity’, they’ll be like, “why can’t you just tell us?”
Interviewer: In an
ideal, perfect world, if you were to think about the perfect learner, what
skills does that person demonstrate?
Teacher 7:
Independence.
Teacher 6:
Yes, independence.
Teacher 7:
They are engaged and interact with you.
Teacher 6:
Students who aren’t passive in their learning. They need to be active in their
learning and make their own decisions about what they are able to do and not
able to do and then figure out what they can do about it. A good student in the
sixth form should make your life quite difficult by asking what they can do and
what is next.
One of my students a few years ago got an A* and basically
my role was very unimportant to what she was doing. My role was to make sure
she was going in the right direction every now and then; a little tweak here
and a tweak there. She was very much on a track and it’s just our job to
demonstrate the little things that could get them a better grade. You’re very
much the facilitator. We need to ensure they have the tools and resources and
understanding the mark schemes but they need to do the work.
Teacher 7:
I think we find it difficult to teach in a hands-off way because of the
pressure on results though.
Teacher 6:
There’s also a legacy of what a teacher is like and what a teacher does. The
idea that a teacher is a font of knowledge who stands at the front and says
stuff that students write down. As teachers, we really need to let go of this
and say that this is down to the students to do. I will provide the support but
you need to get the results. We need to stop feeling like they are our results
– they belong to the students.
Teacher 7:
Yeah. Everyone says, “my results this year will be rubbish,” but they aren’t
ours!
Teacher 6:
That’s where we start from: the idea that it’s all our responsibility. And we
control that. That’s the starting point of not letting our A Level students be
independent because we feel like we need to control it.
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Interview with Teacher 8 – 10.06.16
They drew a picture
that represented how sixth form students currently learn at Sidmouth College.
Interviewer:
Can you tell me about your drawing?
Teacher 8: Sixth
form learning generally is not straightforward; they loop around quite a lot. You
think they’re making progress and then they get to a difficult topic and go
backwards in their understanding. I find the sixth formers that I teach quite
needy in terms of independent study – they’re not particularly good at being self-motivated
to go and look up things if they don’t understand or read around a subject. They
can often lose focus if they get stuck and aren’t keen to move forward or work
out why they are stuck. They are
expecting to be spoon-fed. They’d prefer me to say, “here’s something you need
to know so go away and learn it.” I don’t feel that they get why that is a problem.
They need lots of teacher input. They definitely aren’t as independent as our Year
7s and 8s have shown they can be. I think that’s because of how our Year 12s
have been taught lower down the school. Recently as a College we’ve become more
aware of the need for them to be independent and the focus on learning habits
has made everything more focussed on the student being in charge and taking ownership
of their learning.
Moving forwards I think their lack of independence will mean
that they will find the next steps hard. They will be challenged when they are
put in a position where they are expected to work in that way. I know from
friends who work in universities that they often struggle with students who
come in as undergraduates lacking independence. They will get there because
they will be put in positions where they have
to do work independently because there won’t be anyone there to spoon-feed
them. So I think they will get there but at the moment they are resisting that change.
In my classroom, I know I sometimes spoon-feed because there
are occasions where you need to get things into their heads quickly. At other
times, I try to get them to be more independent.
Interviewer: So if
you had to distil all of that down to one fundamental area for development for
Sidmouth College sixth form learners, what would it be?
Teacher 8:
Motivation. Their motivation to succeed is lacking. The phrase ‘valley
mentality’ comes up quite a lot; living in a rural area they don’t always have
high ambitions or aspirations for themselves which makes it hard to challenge
them towards achieving their target grade or above.
I think sometimes they don’t want to work. It’s not often
you come across a student who is entirely self-motivated and engaged. Those are
the students who would do really well and make the most progress. Students who
are self-motivated are engaged in class and ask questions: “I was reading about
this and can you tell me more about…”, “I know it’s not on the syllabus but could
you explain…” There aren’t many of those students in Year 12.
Year 13 can be better and more motivated – sometimes it
makes lessons hard because they ask challenging or unexpected questions.
Interviewer: In an
ideal, perfect world, if you were to think about the perfect learner, what
skills does that person demonstrate?
Teacher 8: Self-motivation,
reading around the topic and engaging in it. Not wanting to be spoon fed but
wanting to find out for themselves. Completes work. Completes work on time. Doesn’t need to be asked twice
to get started. Someone who uses resources to work things out for themselves
and drives their learning. You’re there guiding them and nudging them in the
right direction but you don’t have to support them in every step.
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