Maybe you have already met your students for the new school year or semester. Maybe you already know them, not only as students but also their siblings, wider family and experiences outside of school. You may have engaged in hand-over processes with the goal of supporting both educators and students to have a smoother transition from class to class. For some students you might have access to their previous reports and assessment information. And then, there will be some students who are new to you and possibly new to the school.
Regardless of what you know or do not know about your new students - what do you believe about their ability to learn?
Because what you believe is going to significantly impact what you expect. And what you expect is going to influence your learning strategies and teaching practices. And your teaching practice loudly and boldly tells your students whether you think they can or they can’t (as well as your words, tone and non-verbals).
We like to think that communicating expectations occurs through every pore of our being…. but you might find that a bit extreme!
Do you have high or low expectations that students can learn? How do you know?
Let’s do a quick quiz. Are these teaching practices loudly and boldly communicating high or low expectations (and research tells us that you are least likely to be a bit of both but instead more one than the other)?
Teacher practice | Low expectations | High expectations |
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2. Communicating learning goals and criteria for success |
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3. Group students by ability |
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4. Ask mostly open-questions | ||
5. Students setting goals for the year |
If you said that the odd numbered teacher practices are those of low expectation teachers and the even numbered teacher practices are those of high expectation teachers then your thinking aligns with research.
Why are we sharing this with you?
As classroom teachers we know the thought that goes into those first few interactions and lessons with students as you set up for learning. So, why not start with teaching practices that communicate you believe your students can and will learn?
Let’s go back to the table above.
WHAT IF...
INSTEAD OF constantly reminding students about procedures and routines …. | ...YOU TEACH about self-management and then practice in the context of learning. Want a routine for students to seek feedback? Teach it and practice it - over and over until it is truly ‘routine’. Want a routine for rich partner dialogue? Teach it and practise it. You could even develop a checklist or end-point rubric for students to use. (See our Micro Move #1 for more ideas) | What’s the message? Teachers with high expectations are more likely to teach and hand-over routines and procedures to students, so they can choose and use them as required, because they believe they are capable. Will they do this right away? Maybe, but not likely. Can they be taught and reminded? Absolutely. BONUS: Does this save us learning time? You bet! |
INSTEAD OF grouping by ability, which often includes different tasks for each group…. | … YOU GROUP students randomly, flexibly and strategically depending on the type and purpose of the task and you teach students how to learn with and from others. (See our Micro Move #2 for more ideas) | What’s the message? Teachers with high expectations are more likely to group students to learn from and with others because they believe that all students can learn from each other. Does this sometimes require teachers using information from formative assessment? Sure does.
Does this provide more opportunities for students to talk? U-huh! (See our Micro Move #3 for more ideas) |
INSTEAD OF students setting goals for the year or a long period of time (sometimes displayed but never looked at again) | … YOU WORK with students to set short term goals based on analysis of evidence which you provide time for students to monitor by revisiting and revising. | What’s the message? Teachers with high expectations are more likely to implement individual goal setting and teach students how to work towards goals because they believe that each student has the ability to make progress. Does goal setting need to be taught? Yup! Could you start by setting goals against class success criteria? Great idea (See our Micro Move #4 for ideas about using heat maps) |
What might you KEEP doing or DO differently that reflects a belief that all students can make progress in your lessons?
We believe you can!
Want to know more about the practices of high expectation teachers? Try some of our favourite places to read about research.
The Education Hub New Zealand https://theeducationhub.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/How-to-develop-high-expectations-teaching.pdf
AITSL
ASCD
The Conversation
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