Effective teachers

The Age, Melbourne, April 24, 2006A new study reveals what makes a great teacher, reports Caroline Milburn.
THE difference between the best teachers of young children and ineffective teachers is not what they do, but how they do it. A landmark study of Australia's primary schools has revealed that all prep and grade 1 teachers tend to teach the same literacy activities, such as shared book reading, modelled writing and phonics. But their success depends on how they present the activities.
The study, commissioned by the Federal Government, sought to identify effective teaching practices that lead to improved literacy of students in the first two years of school. The literacy skills of 2000 children in every state and territory were assessed at the start and the end of the year. A team of researchers then visited schools in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and Tasmania to observe children and their teachers in the classroom.
The study found all of the teachers were able to get their students to take part in classroom activities and have some fun. However, the most effective teachers - those whose students made the biggest literacy gains over the year - drew on a much wider repertoire of teaching practices. They explained activities more clearly, had deeper subject knowledge, maintained a high level of intellectual challenge for their students and had more fun than did less-effective teachers. "Good teachers are able to figure out where every child is at and set them a task that's hard for them," said Professor William Louden, dean of education at the University of Western Australia, who led the team of researchers, together with Associate Professor Mary Rohl, of Edith Cowan University.
"Good teachers had the most fun in their classrooms: the lessons were lively, fast-paced, and full of jokes and little classroom games. Good teachers put on a fabulous show and clearly they're the best thing to look at in their classroom. "Some of the other teachers could get their kids' attention but they did not secure that deep engagement that the most effective teachers did."
The study, In Teachers' Hands, revealed all teachers paid attention to the teaching of letter-sound relationships or phonics. But the less effective teachers were more likely to teach phonics as an isolated activity without linking it to books and themes the children were studying. Their understanding of phonics was weak and their explanations often confused their students. Overall, the less effective teachers had a limited view of early literacy teaching and tended to rely on "busy-work" activities that were not tailored to their students' different abilities and needs.
"Sometimes you will look at what kids are doing - colouring in or filling in a worksheet - and you have to ask, what else is to be learned here, where's the challenge?" said Professor Louden. He said extra state government money for early-years literacy in recent years had led to a core of literacy activities being extensively used in schools nationwide. The need to improve teaching practices was the next challenge facing state governments.
"The most important finding of our study was that it is the teaching practices employed in the implementation of an activity, rather than the activity itself, that distinguishes between the more effective and less effective teacher," he said.
SHARED READING
Case studies of teachers reading a big book to a class, using it for discussion and later writing activity.
EFFECTIVE TEACHER
· Asks children to find key features of text, not only author and illustrator, but more sophisticated features such as copyright, references to publisher's website. Ensures all children contribute to the introductory discussion and get individual feedback.
· As the teacher turns each page, there is discussion of plot development and character. The teacher encourages children to reflect on their own experiences.
· After the teacher reads each page, children are invited to join in a re-reading. The teacher points to compound words they have been studying and words that will be important in the children's story writing.
· Once book is read, the teacher discusses story's main themes; allows children to reflect on their past experiences. Makes link to the writing activity by explicitly reintroducing children to the type of writing that authors use: the recount genre. The teacher recounts a personal experience similar to themes raised by book, then writes a recollection, with help from the children, explaining it needs the first-person voice and past tense.
· Then children begin writing their experiences. The teacher works individually with children, challenging each child at their own level of literacy skill.
LESS-EFFECTIVE TEACHER
· Has a cursory, brief discussion with the children about the book's cover, author and illustrator.
· Reads the text, asking children occasionally to predict "what might happen next".
· When book is read, there is a brief discussion about the text that involves a few children. Children are attentive but not particularly engaged.
· Instructs class to write about their experiences of the book's topic in their diaries, and then provides limited feedback to groups and individual students.
Source: In Teachers' Hands, DEST
WEBSITE
· inteachershands.education.ecu.edu.au/