Musings from the Mill

An introduction to different types of knowledge

183:821202021 (Steven Horsley) — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 22:19:26 GMT

The pedagogy we use needs to align with the knowledge we are aiming to teach...

This statement seems to be obvious, but is it one that you have considered intentionally recently? Would it make a difference if you considered the type of knowledge you need the pupils to understand?

This post is an introduction to one of two distinct categories of knowledge – Base Knowledge. I will discuss Conceptual Knowledge in my next post. By reflecting on the distinctiveness of each, it is possible to consider how you arrange and organise learning in your classroom or school.

What is Base Knowledge?

The easiest way to identify if a piece of knowledge is Base Knowledge is to ask yourself the following question:

“Is this piece of knowledge either right or wrong?”

If the answer to this is yes – then it is a piece of Base Knowledge. The key characteristics of Base Knowledge are:

Recall needs to be accurate
Recall needs to be quick
The piece of knowledge might be used to support the development of concepts
The piece of knowledge might be used to carry out procedures

A little bit of science...

All knowledge develops when neural connections are formed. Every new piece of knowledge develops a new neural pathway. Going forward, each time we recall and use that piece of knowledge we make use of the neural pathway that was initially developed. (This paragraph contains three pieces of Base Knowledge, that work together to form a piece of Conceptual Knowledge.)

A neural pathway is a connection between neurons in the brain, and a piece of knowledge relies on an electrical signal ‘firing’ across the synapses (gaps) between neurons. When a neural pathway is used, the connection is strengthened by something called ‘myelin’. Each time the pathway is used, the connection is strengthened by the addition of more myelin. Myelin works like an insulator for the neurons, and increases the ease with which the electrical signal is transported.

Therefore, every rehearsal, every time we recall the piece of knowledge, we reinforce the neural pathway with more myelin. And so on…

How is Base Knowledge developed and learnt?

The single most important thing in developing Base Knowledge is ACCURACY at the earliest possible stage in the learning process.

Imagine the scenario in the graphic above. My first attempt was incorrect, but I didn’t know it was incorrect because I’m learning something new. I’ve created a neural pathway.

I know that practising my times tables is important to help me learn them, and I’m a really conscientious student, so I practice them lots. Unfortunately each time I practice 6 x7 I am reinforcing an incorrect memory, adding lots of lovely myelin to my neural pathway.

Then, one day my teacher gives me a quiz, and I get the question 6 x7 wrong, and my teacher shows me that the answer is in fact 42. So, all I have to do is practice 6 x 7 = 42.

Easy. Right?

...wrong...

The neural pathway for six multiplied by seven is well established for the incorrect answer 44. The electrical signals ‘fire’ much more quickly for this established route than they do for a new route.

At my next rehearsal, I need to recall 42 and not the answer 44. I know that this is what I want to practice. However, the neural pathway to the answer 44 is far more efficient than the newly formed pathway for the answer 42. In an attempt to be efficient and swift, my memory wants to give the answer 44.

Even when I have rehearsed this a few times, and forced the new neural pathway into action, my memory will still try to use ‘44’ as the response, which leads to confusion. In turn this is likely to lead to mistakes when I am under pressure to give an answer quickly. This confusion will continue until I have been able to rehearse giving the correct answer enough times. To do this, I need to rehearse the question and answer correctly until the new pathway is has gathered more myelin than the incorrect answer. Of course, this is much more difficult now, as each time I get confused and reach for the answer 44 I am strengthening that piece of knowledge.

The result is that I have to over-learn the correct knowledge exponentially more times than I did the incorrect knowledge that I initially developed.

The moral of the story...

If you recognise that the knowledge you want to develop is Base Knowledge rather than Conceptual Knowledge, please make sure that you allow for frequent rehearsal / practice. Check the accuracy as early as possible.

Want to know more?

If you would like to know more about Base Knowledge, Conceptual Knowledge and how to develop appropriate pedagogy, then please get in touch with me and we can discuss ways forward to meet your school’s needs. Contact details are in the CONTACT INFORMATION section.

Look out for...

Next time up - An introduction to conceptual knowledge.

Want to know when the next post is published? Then email stevenhorsley@stainsbymilleducation.co.uk and I will add your email address to my mailing list which I use to send out 'thought pieces' like this one and information about any upcoming events.

Being well balanced

183:821202021 (Steven Horsley) — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 20:34:59 GMT

Being a voice of reason in a polarised world

This morning I read a post in the Primary School Leaders Facebook group. The original post by Emily Morris highlighted a complaint that a parent had made about the school's use of BBC newsround by teachers as a resource to stimulate discussion with their pupils. The complaint came about because this parent had seen a YouTube video which described how Newsround was biased and untrustworthy. Most responses were incredulous. Some offered advice. And there was one that really made me fume:

"BBC is bias and leftist teachers are too"

I wasn't just annoyed that a primary school leader used such awful grammar. I took umbridge with the "leftist teachers" comment. This was my response:

"I take issue with this. Whilst many teachers are certainly liberal in their views, I have never worked with a teacher that promotes their political views in a primary classroom. My sample size is now over a thousand. I have heard teachers asked difficult questions about their own opinions, and they handle them brilliantly, to ensure that they talk about a range of opinions that represent tolerance and help to develop a sense of what democratic debate means."

I stand by this. To do so would be a breach of the Teachers' Standards , particularly Part 2 which states:

"Teachers uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour, within and outside school, by:

treating pupils with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position
having regard for the need to safeguard pupils’ well-being, in accordance with statutory provisions
showing tolerance of and respect for the rights of others
not undermining fundamental British values , including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs
ensuring that personal beliefs are not expressed in ways which exploit pupils’ vulnerability or might lead them to break the law."

I have a confession to make. I have never voted for the winning side in any national election. I voted Lib Dem in the first election I was entitled to vote in from 1991 onwards. I changed my vote to Labour in 2010. I voted Remain. I haven't even managed to be in the majority when voting for my MP. I am a perpetual electoral loser.

My voting history reflects my beliefs in a tolerant, progressive and fair society. So yes, I'm probably a little to the left of the political spectrum. However, I respect other people's political views. I accept my electoral defeats, and I accept that there are political decisions taken that I would really rather weren't. However, those decisions are (generally) enacted by a democratically mandated process, and they are what they are. Some of the decisions I don't like actually benefit me personally - so I'm sometimes conflicted.

I have a right to my views (as long as they are lawful). I rarely take an evangelical stance.

When working in school, and especially when working with children, I keep my opinions to myself. I always have done, and so has every colleague I've ever worked with. To reiterate - to do otherwise would put me in breach of the Teachers's Standards. And whilst I'm now self-employed and not actually contractually bound by them, I will always uphold the standards whilst ever I work with schools.

The staffroom is a different matter. This is a place where adults meet, decompress and discuss their lived experiences. Due to the very nature of the teaching profession this is one of the few places where we interact with other adults for significant parts of the year. Therefore, within an environment of tolerance I do sometime discuss my frustration with political decisions (and did so between 1997 and 2010 as well). It is a safe space. I am not attempting to convert anyone, and I am more than happy to debate with others who hold different views. I seek to understand their views, and always respect their opinion even if I disagree. I should not have to be silent in a staff room. I don't think I'm alone. Of course, what's said in the staffroom stays in the staffroom.

The FB debate continued, with the opinion holder going on to say:

"Then why is my school full of REMOANERS and Trump Bashers. Now it's anti-Isreal stuff. Full of teachers and pupils learning History from Instagram."

Post has since been removed...

Maybe this colleague's staffroom is like this. If it stays in the staffroom, then that's fine. I think the views expressed are a worrying example of how it is becoming ever more challenging to hold different views. There is a sense that only one view can be correct, and it is not the view of the majority in this staffroom. I worry that the polarised views expressed with such conviction by a loud minority are creating a climate for radicalisation, and are endangering British Values. It is a concern when this is happening in society. It is terrifying when it is happening within our profession.

Being the best version of ourselves

183:821202021 (Steven Horsley) — Tue, 26 Jan 2021 14:35:24 GMT

Accepting where we are right now. This is the fastest period of change that the education system has experienced. And you're right in the middle of it. And you've been brilliant. Utterly brilliant .

I've had numerous dialogues with colleagues over the last couple of weeks about the current lockdown. No surprise there - it's the hottest topic of conversation in the profession at the moment. Whilst the leadership from the top (the Cabinet, the DfE, etc.) has quite rightly beed derided, there has been a quiet and determined revolution happening in schools - sustained as ever by dedicated and talented teachers and school leaders.

In the space of 24 hours, schools went from planning for a relatively normal Spring Term curriculum to having to design and implement a robust curriculum that has met the needs of those pupils working from home, whilst simultaneously implementing a face to face curriculum for the children of key workers and those deemed vulnerable. This has been a gargantuan effort, and reflects an unprecedented level of change management by colleagues in our schools. I know that many colleagues were preparing for this scenario during the Autumn Term, anticipating the almost inevitable second wave. Even so, this preparation was tested on small levels, by individuals, and most importantly whilst teaching children in a Covid-secure manner. Therefore it was largely untested at 8.15pm on Monday 4th January 2021 as Boris made his announcement to the nation, and the time available to train staff and enable them to prepare for effective deployment was minimal by normal standards.

Still, in three weeks colleagues have mobilised a new system of educating pupils, with no national training programme, no national consultation, and no national clarity. They have done this in a febrile atmosphere of national expectations, not least from our political masters, and relentless critique from non-expert assessors. My experiences in speaking with colleagues in schools all across England shows the following sequence:

expectations for engagement were agreed swiflty and communicated to staff and parents quickly and effectively.
teachers very quickly adapted lessons and resources to be placed onto the chosen platforms to allow remote access (almost exclusively within 24 hours), so that there was continuity of learning in the first week, and minimal disruption.
leaders evaluated the provision collaboratively with staff during the first week and sought to identify how to strengthen their offer.
leaders evaluated the engagement of pupils with teachers and enabled conversations to happen focussed on strategies to improve engagement.
during the second week, actions from the evaluations in week 1 were implemented, trialled and further refined.
in that week, teachers communicated regularly to plan for rolling out live learning, and rehearsed sessions - both to consider the pedagogy and to check that the hardware / software worked appropriately, and still actively planned and delivered remote and face to face learning.
staff reflected on the balance between live lesson input, remote learning expectations and began to understand the pressures being faced by parents at home trying to engage their children in the learning, and adapted provision for the third week.
during the third week leaders continued to evaluate the effectiveness of systems, the platforms, and the expectations on pupils, whilst increasing the balance of live learning and remote learning for those at home, and continuing to provide the face to face learning for those in school.

We tend to think of change cycles lasting anything from a half term upwards, depending on the complexity of the change. We are in the middle of the most complex change imagineable, and the change cycle is measured in days and weeks. Therefore, whatever you have been doing is brilliant. Is it exactly as you would want it to be if it was running perfectly? I doubt it. However, you have been refining it on a daily basis. You have approached the change with the most open of mindsets, despite some challenging protagonists. You have made your decisions based on principles, and your very best imagining of how to implement them. You have been prepared to accept that it isn't always going to go as you wanted it to, and have picked yourself up, dusted yourself off and gone at it again the next day with gusto. You have supported dozens of anxious pupils and their parents with care and compassion, whilst remaining focussed on the need for limiting the impact of this lock down on the learning of those in your care both academically and emotionally.

There may have been some doubters out there - and many of them have loud voices in the media. However, I salute you. I would want you to recognise that in the last three weeks you have been the very best version of yourselves, and that whatever you have done you have done it to the very best of your abilities. I want you to stand tall and confident and to be able to at least ignore those who have questioned your commitment. You will never have to go through a change cycle like this again in your career, and you will be stronger for it - if you can find the resolve to see your way through it.

#thankyouschools

#thankyouteachers