Education Article

The Age, Melbourne, April 24, 2006 A 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.