Shared clarity about
learning
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“For students truly to be able to take responsibility for their
learning, both teacher and students need to be very clear
about what is being learnt, and how they should go about it.
When learning and the path towards it are clear, research
shows that there a number of important shifts for students.
Their motivation improves, they stay on-task, their
behaviour improves and they are able to take more
responsibility for their learning.”
Absolum, M. (2006), p76.
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You can use this presentation to:
• update, review and/or reflect on the learning clarity in
your classrooms and school
• use as a resource for exploring professional
development in creating clarity about learning.
In the presentation you can:
• examine the purpose and value of making learning clear
for students
• identify strategies that teachers can use to clarify learning
for students.
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Can your students answer the following
questions?
• What am I learning?
• Why am I learning it?
• How will I learn it? (Process)
• How will I know I’ve learnt it? (Product)
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Essential components of clarity
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•
•
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Learning Intentions
Relevance
Examples and modelling
Success Criteria
Checking for understanding
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Learning Intentions
Both teacher and
student need to
be clear about
what is being
learnt.
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Where do you start?
Learning Intentions can come from:
• National Curriculum
• Diagnostic information
• Other assessment that has identified a
learning need
• Reflective discussions between teachers and
students that indicate the next learning step
• NCEA prescriptions
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Levels of learning intentions
Learning Intentions can be:
global
e.g. to write persuasively
or specific
e.g. to structure a persuasive essay
or more specific
e.g. to write the introduction to a persuasive essay
which hooks the reader in
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Levels of learning covered within each classroom are very
much dependent on student need. The learning should be
in manageable ‘chunks’ that the students can handle.
The better you know your curriculum, the better able you are
to define exactly, for yourself and for your students, what it
is students need to learn.
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A maths example
global
e.g. statistics
specific
e.g. to draw a line graph
more specific
e.g. to mark axes on a line graph
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A science example
global
e.g. light and sound waves
specific
e.g. how to measure light and sound waves
more specific
e.g. to use an oscilloscope
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Examples from other curriculum areas
Can you describe the levels of learning in other
curriculum areas?
Art?
Technology?
PE and Health?
Discuss with colleagues how you go about planning for
levels of learning for your students and identify how this
could be improved.
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Transparency of
Learning Intentions
In order for a Learning Intention to be shared
effectively, it needs to be clear and unambiguous,
explained by the teacher in a way that makes
sense to the students, in student-friendly
language.
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Don’t confuse the learning with the task. So
what’s the difference?
• The Learning Intention is what you want the
students to learn or understand.
• The tasks are the activities the students will
carry out in order to learn.
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Revise this learning intention
• To estimate the length of a horse.
Rewrite this as a learning intention that is
‘context-free’.
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Improved Learning Intention:
We are learning how to estimate.
The horse is the context for learning. Separate
the context from the learning intention so the
students can begin work knowing clearly what
you want them to learn.
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Revise this learning intention
• To make a list of verbs which could replace
‘said’.
Write a learning intention that captures the
learning behind this activity.
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Improved Learning Intention
We are learning how to use verbs to express
a character’s emotion
or
We are investigating alternative words for the
verb ‘said’, and considering the impact this
has.
The same learning can be undertaken
using a range of verbs, not just in the
context of the word ‘said’.
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Revise this learning intention
• To compare and contrast the ways in which
ideas and art-making processes are used to
communicate meaning in selected objects
and images.
Can this be reworded as a learning intention
that students could more easily understand?
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Improved Learning Intention
We are investigating how meaning is
communicated through objects and images.
This global learning intention is better understood
when it is written in student-friendly language.
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Revise this learning intention
• We are learning to make a jewellery box.
What are the ‘deeper’ ideas inherent in the
learning?
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Improved Learning Intention
We are learning the skills required to make a
3-dimensional shape from wood.
The teacher would know and discuss with
students the skills required for this global
learning intention.
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Establish relevance
Put the learning in context
• Discuss with the students why
they are learning this at all.
• Is the learning relevant in their lives? When
might they use or need this learning?
• Share with them how it fits into the bigger
picture of their learning.
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Model the process or look at an exemplar
• This provides an opportunity to see what the
learning might look like.
• Students have the opportunity to discuss and
discern what ‘quality’ is, or is not.
• It is used to co-construct success criteria.
• Students appreciate the guidance exemplars and
modelling provide.
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Marshall & Drummond
(2006)
It is simply about making the learning explicit
by focusing students’ attention on
understanding quality. Learning is improved
when notions of quality are combined with
modelling.
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Duffy (2003)
Modelling the Thinking – Making Inferences
“Let me show you how I figure out meaning that is not directly
stated in the text by using an example like the following:”
The sky was dark and the fog blocked out everything. I couldn’t
see three feet in front of me. I didn’t know which way to turn. I
was frozen to the spot.
“ If it were me who was out on a dark and foggy night and
didn’t know which way to turn, how would that make me feel?
I would probably decide that in such a situation I would feel
scared. If I would be scared in that situation, then that is
probably how the character in the story feels, too.” p. 105
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Success Criteria
Success Criteria are the way that students can
judge whether they are successful with the
learning.
They should be:
concrete
measurable
observable
….. and open to negotiation.
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Success Criteria – why bother?
• They show the students what they are aiming for and
how to get there.
• Students can self and peer assess, independently from
the teacher. They are not always reliant on teacher
judgement.
• Students are clear about what it is they are going to be
judged or evaluated on.
• Students have something to refer to when they want
to check if they are on track or not.
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Students should help define Success Criteria
where possible
• It involves them in the learning and in the definition
of process and quality.
• They are being asked to link the Learning Intention
with the criteria – they are making the connections.
• It is a much more challenging learning
experience to think about what the
learning might entail than being told.
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Writing example
Learning Intention:
To write the introductory paragraph for
a piece of persuasive writing.
Success Criteria:
Opening statement defines the topic.
Could contain a ‘hook’ for the reader e.g. rhetorical
question, controversial statement, quotation
Writer’s opinion is stated.
General statement about the content of the essay.
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Maths example
Specific Learning Intention:
To represent data on a line graph
Success Criteria:
Axes on the graph are marked and labelled
Appropriate and even scale
Accurate plotting
Label and title
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Process and Product Criteria
• How will students go about achieving the
Learning Intention? (Process)
• How will they know they have achieved it?
(Product)
Whether students require process or product
criteria (or both) depends on the learning being
covered.
Further reading: Clarity in the Classroom, p. 78
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Rust, Price & O’Donovan
(2003)
Criteria are best revealed through an
experience-socialization process involving
such processes as: observation, imitation,
dialogue and practice, further explanation,
exemplars and quality discussion of the
more complex or ‘invisible’ criteria.
Think about learning to ride a bike or play golf or dance!
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Check that students understand
• Give frequent opportunities for students to
check their understanding (or correct their
misunderstandings!) with you or one another.
• Give students time to think before responding
to a question.
• Model the use of ‘thinking time’ and sharing
understanding if necessary.
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Strategies to check students’
understanding
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Display Learning Intentions and Success
Criteria
These need to be visually displayed for every
lesson so you and the students can refer to
them during the lesson.
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Recapping...
• Clarify Learning Intentions at the planning stage
• Create a climate where students expect a Learning
Intention
• Explain the LI in student-speak and display it
• Discuss the relevance of the learning
• Model the process or look at an exemplar
• Invite students to share in writing the Success
Criteria
• Keep checking that the students understand
• Ensure students refer to the LIs and SC when
working on the task
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Suggestions for syndicate or department
discussions
• How might planning and classroom practices change
to incorporate principles of clarity?
• How can we plan units of work to include global and
specific learning intentions?
• Are we teaching according to student needs?
• How can we teach to be flexible to student needs?
• Have we broken the learning down into manageable
‘chunks’ for students, each one of them a separate
learning intention?
• Are our plan books ‘live documents’?
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References and readings
Absolum, M. (2006). Clarity in the classroom. Auckland: Hodder Education. pp
76-95.
Clarke, S. (2001). Unlocking formative assessment: Practical strategies for
enhancing pupils’ learning in the primary classroom. London: Hodder and
Stoughton.
Duffy, G. (2003). Explaining reading: a resource for teaching concepts, skills and
strategies. The Guilford Press, New York. pp 102 -108.
Marshall, B & Drummond, M.J. (2006). How teachers engage with Assessment
for Learning: lessons from the classroom. In Research Papers in Education, Vol
21, no 2, pp 133 – 149.
Rust, C., Price, M. and O'Donovan, B. (2003) 'Improving students' learning by
developing their understanding of assessment criteria and processes‘.
Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, vol. 28, no. 2, pp 147-164.
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