How scary is student teachers’
subject knowledge?
Ian Selmes
Lecturer in Geography Education
University of Leicester
ips5@le.ac.uk
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
What makes great teaching?
Review of the underpinning research
Robert Coe, Cesare Aloisi, Steve Higgins and Lee Elliot Major
October 2014
• Defined effective teaching as that which leads to improved
student achievement / progress.
• Listed approaches, skills and knowledge in order of how
strong the evidence is in showing that focusing on them can
improve student outcomes.
• Suggested this should be seen as offering a ‘starter kit’ for
thinking about effective pedagogy.
• Good quality teaching will involve a combination of these
attributes seen at different times; the very best teachers are
those that demonstrate all of these features.
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
What makes great teaching?
6. Professional behaviours
(Some evidence of impact on student outcomes)
Behaviours exhibited by teachers such as reflecting on
and developing professional practice, participation in
professional development, supporting colleagues, and
liaising and communicating with parents.
5. Teacher beliefs
(Some evidence of impact on student outcomes)
Why teachers adopt particular practices, the purposes
they aim to achieve, their theories about what learning
is and how it happens and their conceptual models of
the nature and role of teaching in the learning process
all seem to be important.
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
What makes great teaching?
4. Classroom management
(Moderate evidence of impact on student outcomes)
A teacher’s abilities to make efficient use of lesson time,
to coordinate classroom resources and space, and to
manage students’ behaviour with clear rules that are
consistently enforced, are all relevant to maximising the
learning that can take place. These environmental
factors are necessary for good learning rather than its
direct components.
3. Classroom climate
(Moderate evidence of impact on student outcomes)
Covers quality of interactions between teachers and
students, and teacher expectations: the need to create a
classroom that is constantly demanding more, but still
recognising students’ self-worth. It also involves attributing
student success to effort rather than ability and valuing
resilience to failure (grit).
What makes great teaching?
2. Quality of instruction
(Strong evidence of impact on student outcomes)
Includes elements such as effective questioning and
use of assessment by teachers. Specific practices, like
reviewing previous learning, providing model
responses for students, giving adequate time for
practice to embed skills securely and progressively
introducing new learning (scaffolding) are also
elements of high quality instruction.
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
What makes great teaching?
1. (Pedagogical) content knowledge
(Strong evidence of impact on student outcomes)
The most effective teachers have deep knowledge of
the subjects they teach, and when teachers’
knowledge falls below a certain level it is a significant
impediment to students’ learning. As well as a strong
understanding of the material being taught, teachers
must also understand the ways students think about
the content, be able to evaluate the thinking behind
students’ own methods, and identify students’
common misconceptions.
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
So how good is subject knowledge
of PGCE geographers?
Locational knowledge e.g.
a.
spatial awareness of the world’s countries,
b.
environmental regions,
c.
key physical and human characteristics of countries and major
cities.
Place knowledge e.g.
a.
geographical similarities & differences through a study of
human and physical geography
b.
a study of a region of Asia and a region within Africa
Physical geography e.g.
a.
geological timescales,
b.
plate tectonics,
c.
rocks,
d.
weathering and soils,
e.
weather and climate,
f.
the changing
from
Ice January
Age to2015
the present,
GTEclimate
Conference,
Oxford,
g.
glaciation,
So how good is subject knowledge
of PGCE geographers?
Geomorphic processes & landscape in parts of UK
Weather & Climate and change in ~
Global ecosystems & biodiversity
Resources & their management
Globalisation
Tourism
Cold Environments
Hot Desert Environments
Food Supply Issues
Health Issues
Natural Hazards
Ecosystems
Contemporary Conflicts & Challenges
Settlement
Energy Issues
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
Use of GIS to obtain,
illustrate, analyse and evaluation geographical
Where are the gaps?
Identified as limited or no knowledge in subject audit:
25%
40%
50%
90%
geological timescales
weather & climate
hydrology
food supply issues
contemporary conflicts
weathering & soils
GIS
ecosystems
glaciation
cold environments
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
What to do about
subject knowledge?
Acknowledge that …
having a geography degree doesn't mean that your subject
knowledge is secure. You might know all about a small area
within a topic because you are doing your dissertation on it
but does this really prepare you well for teaching it to a Year
7 class?
Subject knowledge is just the starting point for planning
teaching. You will need to consider how to engage and
motivate your students so that they not only make progress
but that they become passionate about learning your
subject (pedagogy).
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
What to do about
subject knowledge?
Reflect on your own learning and study KS3,
GCSE
and
A-level
textbooks
and
specifications. Identify topics to develop and
build them into your own subject website.
See example in subjectaudit2@weebly.com
http://geographyclassroom2014.weebly.com/
http://geographyleicester.weebly.com/
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
•
When people are asked what they remember
about geography in school their major positive
memory is of fieldwork.
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
But then …
Four out of five UK children 'not connected to
nature‘
RSPB, Connecting with Nature, 2013
"Nature is in trouble, and children's connection to
nature is closely linked to this,"
Dr Mike Clarke, the RSPB's chief executive.
"I've had children who hated to get their hands
dirty, who are frightened by wood lice”
teacher, Forest School, Lewisham
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
and then …
This report presents compelling evidence that we as a nation, and
especially our children, are exhibiting the symptoms of a modern
phenomenon known as ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’.
‘For a new generation, nature is more abstraction than reality.
Increasingly, nature is something to watch, to consume,
to wear – to ignore.’
Even nature itself has become a commodity. Many believe they
cannot experience it unless they are in a nature reserve, have the
right pair of binoculars, or are wearing the correctly endorsed
clothes… So often nature is seen as something to travel to – not
something we are immersed in all the time and dependent upon for
our physical, emotional and spiritual health.
Natural Childhood, National Trust, 2014
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
and more ..
” half of all children have been stopped from climbing
trees, one in five banned from playing conkers, and
almost the same number told they cannot play games
of tag … activities that earlier generations of children
enjoyed as part of growing up are now being relabelled
as ‘troubling’ or ‘dangerous’.” Play England, 2004
The great outdoors is just too stressful, say families.
The Times 14.11.14
“Almost one in five parents said that they found family trips
outside were ‘stressful’ while almost a third did not agree
that taking their children out was fun”
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015
So what does this have to do
with subject knowledge
of PGCE geographers?
•
•
•
•
•
Fieldwork and GIS are growing in school geography
at KS3, GCSE and post-16.
50% experienced no GIS at school, 17% none in first
degree
85% were not confident about applying stats tests to
data
85% were not confident about undertaking fieldwork
in rural or remote areas
17% did not enjoy the natural world
That scares me!
GTE Conference, Oxford, January 2015