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In my previous professional reading, I had often encountered references to the early CASE and CAME projects and their evidenced acceleration of cognitive progress at secondary.
Just a few emails later, Laurie Smith had invited me to a KS3 LTE taster day at King’s College. In the early part of the day, my own internal dialogue felt that there was much in the lessons that resonated with the practice of some of the best departments and particularly Advanced Skills Teachers with whom I worked. By the end of the day, I had a clearer sense of the intensity of the LT construct and the potential energy contained in the lesson plans and resources.
So – 6 years later – Laurie and Michael have supported me to become an Associate LTE tutor for schools in Hampshire. Becoming a tutor has crystallised some of my previously held values and beliefs. We need a safe and structured dialogic space to construct new forms of understanding – whether we are students, teachers, or anyone else! In English, the deliberate and structured probing of thinking through rich and problematic texts also tends to bring in social, moral and ethical dimensions. A Let’s Think lesson respects students’ thinking and gives it space. It also needs to steer that thinking through conflict to stimulate progress. That’s the tough, generative conflict that teachers wrestle with as they begin to teach through the lessons.
How do I know Let’s Think makes a difference to the teachers I teach? That’s the question I have been researching through my Masters dissertation. My latest group are connected to the Winchester Teaching School Alliance: a year in to the programme, what do this group feel has been the biggest impact on their practice so far? In their own words…
- Creating the equitable classroom, enabling all children to contribute and take risks
- Having the confidence to steer thinking towards purposeful lines of enquiry and think on my feet
- Valuing talk, valuing silence and valuing struggle
- Seeing that children can guide their own thinking – there is not always a need for teacher intervention
- Pupils thinking more carefully about their answers and their evidence base
In the future, I plan to continue to challenge myself to be a better tutor and evaluate the impact of my moves and interventions on teachers, just as teachers do with their pupils. I need to develop a deeper understanding of what to emphasise, what to value and what an oasis of possibility a Let’s Think course can provide for busy practitioners.
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