Haileybury Journal of Educational Research - November 2023 Volume 1 Number 2

HJER November 2023 Volume 1 Number 2

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November 2023 Volume 1 Number 2

Haileybury Journal of Educational Research

Haileybury Oracy Research 2022–2023

Haileybury Journal of Educational Research

Institute of Educational Research

Haileybury Journal of Educational Research November 2023 Volume 1 Number 2 Contents PASTORAL CARE

SCHOOL CULTURE

Page 2 Pastoral care in boarding schools – perceptions, perspectives, knowledge and experience Charlotte Brigden

Page 81 Breaking the silence: Empowering teenagers to report sexual harassment Hugo Wilson

Page 13 Moving from reactive to proactive pastoral care in UK Independent boarding schools Emma Millo

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Page 28 Increasing resilience through school-based mindfulness and gratitude training to improve the wellbeing of adolescents Emma Millo

PEDAGOGY AND CURRICULUM Page 39 The race to raise standards: What is the impact of a secondary English curriculum that prioritises knowledge and content over talk?

Alex Campbell Page 51 Introducing ‘Where Are Your Keys’ into the Latin classroom. A study of using Total Physical Response and Spoken Latin in a mixed-experience KS3 Latin class.

Elizabeth Caffrey

Page 84 Design, justification and evaluation of a professional learning session delivered to mid-career teachers Stephen Campbell Page 103 A literature review: What makes effective professional development?

Alex Campbell

Title

Welcome to the Winter 2023 edition of the Haileybury Journal of Educational Research.

At Haileybury, we recognise that the single biggest indicator of improving pupil outcomes is a teaching staff engaged in professional development and improvement: this journal is a manifestation of our commitment to this, and our commitment to thinking deeply about education.

When supporting our teachers with their development in particular areas of their professional practice, either in the classroom or in the context of pastoral care, we first encourage them to engage with educational research.

This is so that they are able to make well-informed choices about ‘what works’, and in the long-run, be more likely to positively impact our pupils’ experiences and outcomes. It is important to acknowledge that this ‘deep-dive’ into the evidence-base is just one tool within a wider ‘developmental toolbox’, which also includes deliberate practice, collaboration, observation and reflection.

Within this edition of the journal, you will read the work of a number of committed teachers who have recently pursued postgraduate study to support their development at school.

Recognising the depth of thinking that they have undertaken, we have used their work to help steer whole school change and development, for example, our understanding of what outstanding pastoral care looks like; the development of our curriculum and its delivery, and also our approach to staff training.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank these individuals for their time, effort and hard work, which has undoubtedly had a positive impact on our school community.

Alexandra Campbell Assistant Head (Professional Development and EDI)

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The Haileybury Institute of Educational Research Journal Vol. 1, No.2, November 2023, pp. 2–12

PASTORAL CARE Pastoral care in boarding schools — perceptions, perspectives, knowledge and experience Charlotte Brigden Haileybury, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Abstract This paper reviews a range of differing forms of literature in the field of pastoral care in a boarding school context. Its ultimate aim is to highlight where and how contributions to this knowledge base with further research could inform professional practice. To frame this paper, three key questions relating to pastoral care are considered. What is pastoral care in a boarding school context? Who delivers pastoral care in a boarding school context? Then, finally, how can professional experiences alongside scholarly knowledge frame pastoral strategy in British boarding schools moving forward? The differing forms of literature present an array of views of British boarding schools and the key staff that work within them, Housemistresses or Housemasters, Tutors and Matrons. The forms of literature compared are diverse, from magazine articles to an informal rap. These literatures are discussed against the backdrop of the writers’ professional experiences and complex positionalities. Through the framework of the above three key questions this paper identifies where further research will contribute to academic debate and scholarly conversations with the aim of understanding how boarding school contexts can support students’ development.

Introduction As a boarding housemistress at a co-educational school for students aged 11–18 in semi-rural England, I have spent the last five years at the centre of a brilliantly bonkers way of living and working (Hardman, 2022). My role was to reside in the boarding house alongside circa 60 teenage girls and to effectively be on duty 24/7 during the school term. I was responsible for the girls’ pastoral care and academic performance. My role was to offer a holistic education through monitoring their academic progress, physical and mental health, alongside their contribution to their co-curricular commitments (Britannia, 2022). Saying goodnight to 60 teenagers one by one was a true privilege. Every day was different and every day I learnt something new from the girls in my care. They made me laugh and cry and were the reason I would get up in the morning. I cared for them as if they were my own family. For many of the girls, I was their ‘person’: the person they turned to when they were battling with their mental health, the person they sat with and talked to about their real families, exam pressures and their plans for the future. Living in such an immersive role had its good days and its tough days, but the good days

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outweighed any of the challenges. The last five years of my life living and working with these girls, getting to know their families, and helping them to navigate their way through the teenage years is what has led me to my academic research. Living and working in a boarding house is a unique experience entwined with a range of emotions alongside professional experiences that I would like to unpick further. The role I undertook, and in turn, the definition of pastoral care is very fluid and therefore the autobiography of my question is a complex one (Miller, 1995). In order to help with the explanation of the autobiography of my question, I considered a research artefact and its connections to my personal and professional sphere (Pillay, Pithouse-Morgan et al., 2017). Taking meaning from and understanding everyday objects is one way to frame professional practice and I hope that my vignette below will give you an insight into my interpretation of pastoral care (ibid, 2017).

A tin of homemade mince pies sits on the worktop in my kitchen, lovingly made by my mother with my grandmother’s pastry recipe. My three-year-old twin daughters have helped with the baking and there is flour everywhere! These mince pies aren’t just mince pies: they are a representation of my family history: my German roots and the cultural traditions I have grown up with. They are still warm and have a very sweet smell. To me this is the smell of Christmas. They bring back memories of baking each year as a child, something that I am pleased to be able to pass on to my own children.

To me these mince pies are a way of theorising the abstract concept of pastoral care in a tangible and grounded way (Mitchell, 2011). They highlight what I see as good pastoral care. Each child who lived in my boarding house had their own family traditions, their own memories as a child. From celebrating Diwali in Mumbai, to leaving out shoes in Austria for St Nicholas to fill with Chocolates on December 6th, we celebrated every family and every tradition. Every child in my care had their own version of a homemade mince pie and it was my job to get to know each of them as an individual. To know the dates in the calendar that were important to them and why. I was privileged to learn which sari you would wear for a wide range of Hindu celebrations. I learnt every child’s favourite sweet treat, from a traditional British Victoria sponge cake, to Chinese Haw Flakes, to chocolate-coated dates which are popular in the Middle East. I learnt greetings from across the globe and got to know each family on an individual level. My mother’s mince pies are just a snippet of my story, and it is the story that deconstructs the concept of pastoral care. The symbol of these mince pies helps to explain my phenomenology, my lived experience as a human being and, in this context, my identity as an educational professional (Van Manen, 2019).

I am conducting this research to unpack and to gain a deeper understanding of my experiences, and those of my peers doing similar roles in other boarding schools with the aim of contributing to the scholarly conversations about pastoral care: what that is and how it is delivered. I want to consider boarding school life through a critical lens to understand better the discourses of pastoral care in a boarding school context. I want to research in greater depth who delivers pastoral care and how these individuals and the care they are providing subsequently supports a student’s development, although some aspects of this may be beyond the scope of this paper. In particular, I want to reflect on how I can use my experiences alongside scholarly knowledge to frame pastoral strategy in British boarding schools moving forward. I will need to develop an understanding of the importance of my background, culture, family history, personal educational experiences, and professional educational experiences in my research and how this will frame the lens through which my research is conducted.

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What is pastoral care in a boarding school context?

Context Boarding schools have been at the heart of global education systems for centuries (Martin, 2014).

In different countries and social settings, they serve different purposes. The context in which I am writing this study is that of an independent British boarding school. I will use the phrasing ‘British’ in this research as the words ‘British’ and ‘English’ appear to be interchangeable in the current literature. The aim of boarding schools is to educate the whole child. They endeavour to consider each child’s passion, needs and aptitudes in a holistic and rounded educational context (Steinbeis, 2018). They are seen by some as only for the elite, out of touch with society and disconnected from reality. Views on British boarding schools can be and often are polarised due to an individual’s political background or personal experiences. Alex Renton is a high-profile example of someone who has spoken out about the abuse he suffered at boarding school through the medium of his BBC Radio 4 series, ‘In Dark Corners’ (Renton, 2022). From this platform, he has helped survivors of abuse to share their stories, each giving examples of how boarding schools are for the elite and removed from reality. However, for those who choose to send their children to these educational settings today, they are seen as awe-inspiring organisations with strengths in identifying and nurturing their child’s potential. Boarding schools can be tolerant, inclusive, and international, and they can provide some of the best caring, stimulating and supportive atmospheres to allow a child to develop (Mehrotra, 2022). On reading the websites of some of the country’s highest performing independent boarding schools, their Registry teams will portray a story of exceptional pastoral care, a breadth of co-curricular activities and some of the best teaching practices (Wycliffe, 2022).

Boarding schools have long been the fascination of authors who have written books telling tales of adventure, and others telling tales of oppression and powerlessness (Scudamore, 2020). From Mallory Towers to Hogwarts and the famous autobiographical essay ‘Such, Such were the Joys” (Orwell, 1953), the literary background representing boarding school life in the United Kingdom is vast. Boarding schools are often seen as a mystery portraying the adventures that you can have whilst sleeping at school and spending time with your friends twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In the imagination of those who have not attended boarding school, they can be spaces of grandeur, of cloisters outside The Master’s office, perfectly manicured rugby pitches, white picket fences around the cricket square, tuck boxes full of sweets and dining rooms that echo with laughter. All these things capture the imagination of fiction readers and draw them into a world that they can relate to on one level, as we all went to school, yet on another seems magical and entirely removed from reality (Scudamore, 2020). To help to frame the staffing in a boarding school pastoral context later in this essay, I have taken extracts from Mallory Towers, Enid Blyton’s bestselling series written about an English boarding school in Cornwall set in a post-World War two era.

These vignettes have been selected to give context and to inspire the reader’s imagination when considering the roles of pastoral care givers in the framework of this academic writing.

Much of the current academic research and scholarly research surrounding boarding schools is coming out of Australia and the United States of America, such as Macdonald (2018) and Papworth et al. (2014).

These contexts are very different to the British boarding school perspective from which I am writing.

Many Australian boarding schools, for example, are designed to support rural ranching communities where geographical distance is the key factor in the choice for children to board rather than attend a day school. This is something that I will consider carefully as my research progresses beyond this paper, and is potentially a key area in which my research may contribute to the scholarly discussion.

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The context from which I am writing is not the mainstream traditional educational experience, with less than 1% of the UK population boarding at school, be that private or state funded boarding (Partridge, 2021). However, this does not explain why there is so little formal research in the area.

In contrast to scholarly literary fields, during late 2022 the hashtag #BoardingSchool had over 1.4 billion views on TikTok (Lloyd, 2022). The literature on boarding schools is polarised both in terms of the knowledge content and the formality of the presentation. Therefore, in this essay I will be comparing differing perspectives on knowledge in the field of pastoral care in a boarding school context through a variety of forms of literature. I will also consider how these different forms present views on pastoral care in a British boarding school to address my key questions of interest.

What is pastoral care in a boarding school context? Who delivers pastoral care in a boarding school context? In discussing and researching these questions, the aim is to consider how I can use my experiences alongside scholarly knowledge to frame pastoral strategy in British boarding schools moving forward. A further question, linked to these two questions, is how pastoral care in a boarding school context supports student development. This would be an interesting point for further reflection, but is beyond the scope of this paper. However, from the umbrella of my initial two questions I hope to expand my research further to inform my daily practice as well as that of my peers in other school settings.

Pastoral origin and definition The word pastoral as an adjective comes from Old French and directly from the Latin pastoralis “of herdsmen, of shepherds” (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2020). This definition is incredibly apt when looking at the day-to-day role of pastoral professionals in educational settings throughout history.

They have held roles that look to guide, support and care for their charges in line with the traditional job of a shepherd. Today in education, pastoral care is used to describe the promotion of physical and mental health and wellbeing, resilience, academic development and social capital (Hearn, 2006).

Within the Department for Education’s Ofsted School Inspection Handbook for England pastoral care is defined alongside personal development discussing that a “Good” or an “Outstanding” school provides an education beyond the academic forum of formal exams in order to enhance a student’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (Ofsted, 2022). Beside this strand is a clear explanation of the school’s requirement for Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) that is updated annually (Department for Education, 2022). Each school must have a Designated Safeguarding Lead and policies in place to protect the children in their care. Schools must also deliver personal development education including compulsory Relationships and Sex Education and Personal Social Health and Economic lessons on topics such as consent and illegal substances.

However, beyond this and the requirements for KCSIE, very little is set out explicitly in a pastoral sphere. From an academic perspective, the National Curriculum is prescriptive (Department for Education, 2014). Topics that must be covered by certain age stages are outlined and for key exam year groups such as GCSE and A level pupils in the 6th form exam specifications are targeted.

In contrast, in the pastoral sphere, each school in the UK will interpret pastoral care slightly differently and subsequently will have different colleagues in a range of posts each following slightly different job descriptions with the aim of delivering an education that will build a student’s strength of character. It is from this position and through the lens of these job roles that I am going to consider the contesting knowledge and literature on pastoral care in boarding schools.

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Who delivers pastoral care in a boarding school context?

In the twenty-first century within a boarding school there are several layers to pastoral care. Each school will give their staff a slightly different job title and description. Essentially there is a hierarchical structure as with many day schools in the UK. Below is the outline of the pastoral care system that I have worked in. This is very similar to our competitor schools in the independent sector.

Headmaster Deputy Master Deputy Head Pastoral + Designated Safeguarding Lead Assistant Head Pastoral HMs (Housemasters + Mistresses) Assistant HMs Tutors Matrons Ultimately, all staff report to The Master, but on a day-to-day basis colleagues will work closely in this hierarchy. The main difference in the independent sector is that staff will all have more than their pastoral and teaching roles to focus on. These range from Head of Department responsibilities, Heads of Year, sports coaches, activities coordinators, common room representatives and so on. In a busy and thriving boarding school, the job is as holistic as the education that the schools promise to parents. The three main positions that I am going to consider through time and through different forms of literature are the Housemaster or Housemistress, the Tutor, and the Matron. These are the three main individuals in a pupil’s school experience. These are the people that the students will engage with daily and who students tend to remember when their school days are long behind them. Although I am going to consider these pastoral roles from an independent boarding school perspective, they can all be directly translated to the roles of day school staff therefore supporting the scholarly conversation about pastoral care in schools beyond this research forum. Housemasters and Mistresses are seen as middle managers such as Heads of Year or Heads of House, Tutors are commonly called Tutors or Mentors and Matrons can be compared to members of the support staff such as a Student Welfare Officer.

With five years as a Housemistress and five years as a Tutor in my career to date, as well as my current role as Deputy Safeguarding Lead, my positionality is something I must consider carefully when reviewing the contesting views on pastoral staff in the literature. I am coming from a position of professional understanding as well as having also been to a school with this structure as a student myself. I have worked for three different HMs in the last eight years, I have been an HM for five years, I have had three different tutor groups, line managed over eighteen different Tutors and have worked directly with four different Matrons in a range of contexts. Alongside these experiences, my mother was a boarding house Matron for 17 years. My lived experiences are intrinsically linked to this research and the autobiography of my question is much more complex than at first glance.

HMs – Housemasters and Housemistresses “Miss Potts is the First Form mistress and Housemistress of North Tower. She is strict and always has an eye on mischief-makers such as Alicia and June” (Blyton, 1946).

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In 1987 Watkins described the role of the Housemaster as one that is multifaceted. He talked about those doing the job having to hold multiple positions from disciplinarian, father figure and teacher to more personal roles such as husband and gardener (Watkins, 1987). The notion of the Housemaster or Housemistress job being a complex one in which the individual needs to juggle a range of roles and positions within the day is apt. The emphasis and focus of the role can shift on an hour-byhour basis from listening to a student with mental health concerns, to checking notices up on the board ready for a potential inspection, and always ensuring that the National Minimum Standards for boarding are adhered to. This, alongside teaching, attending meetings, coaching sport, report writing, communicating with parents, managing a tutor team, and occasionally spending time with one’s own family means this is an all-encompassing position. Many say that it is a lifestyle choice rather than a job. So, how is this pastoral position represented in literature? I have looked at two contrasting formats, one a magazine article published in 2018 and the other a tongue-in-cheek rap written by a practising Housemistress in 2014.

Houseman’s magazine article’s representation of the role of a Housemaster in the twenty-first century is very different to that of the positive and caring pastoral role that I have discussed in the autobiography of my question and the position of the authoritarian often shown in fiction.

Houseman looks at the role of the Housemaster in the context of an upcoming inspection by the Independent Schools Inspectorate considering issues of compliance and regulations (Houseman, 2018). He discusses the nuances of inspections, the two years prior to the inspection that the Senior Management Team have spent preparing, and how carefully a Housemaster must answer the inspectors’ questions in order to pass. This element of the role and this portrayal of what essentially is pastoral care is one touched upon infrequently and more so in an informal sphere rather than in a scholarly one. Houseman talks about the students as though they are simply passengers on the ‘inspection train’. The Housemaster role in this context is to pass the inspection. To say the right thing at the right time to the right person and to ensure that their paperwork is up to date.

“One needs to know exactly how inspectors would like paperwork to be organised. A boarding house could be populated by blissfully happy children who are thriving in everything they do, and whose parents are delighted with their education, but if the housemaster keeps his records in a written diary, as opposed to the officially approved electronic version currently favoured by the school’s leading IT enthusiasts, the inspection will be failed. A house could be full of bullies, thieves and miserable boys, but as long as all complaints about life in this house have been logged in a satisfactory manner, the inspectors will be happy” (Houseman, 2018).

This portrayal of the role is not inaccurate, but it is potentially politically and socially contentious as this is the side of a school that is often kept from view. Naturally parents want to know that their child and their school are thriving, they are the customer after all. However, showing behind the scenes is not something that appears to be published in a public forum. Perhaps this is down to pride or simply that boarding schools are seen in most literature as magical spaces for learning, building friendships and developing students. Perhaps the more mundane side to pastoral care and a Housemaster’s job is just not glamorous enough to be written about.

In contrast, the Housemistresses Rap by Sue Dippleman (2014) represents the role as one of a diplomat keeping the peace between parental expectations, school functions and students’ perceptions. This is often referred to colloquially in the profession as the ‘triangle of doom’, as the Housemistress or Housemaster must balance the needs and expectations of all parties very carefully.

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Beyond formal publications and scholarly discussion, emails and conversations such as those described in the Rap are commonplace in boarding school culture. Following conversations with peers in a range of similar settings, this representation of the role struck a chord. Each colleague I shared this form of literature with went on to have their own story of ‘the time when this parent said X or emailed Y’. The final line of the rap suggests that the Housemistress should apply to be the Head of the United Nations with her diplomacy skills. This entirely sums up the experiences I have had as a practitioner and that I know peers have also experienced in the setting that I am writing from, as well as elsewhere. Less perhaps a contest between this form of literature and my own professional context and experience, and more of an affirmation.

Beyond these forums the role of the Housemaster and Housemistress in policy and in the wider media is very limited. This appears as a gap in the literature but may in fact be due to the power relations in the knowledge contest, rather than simply an area that has limited consideration. There are several parties who potentially have high stake concerns due to the divergent perspectives on boarding schools. These stakes have the potential to skew professional relationships in a sector that is often seen as comparatively elite with key advantageous factors in contrast to their state school peers (Hillman, 2023).

Tutors “Mam’zelle Dupont is one of the two French mistresses. She is the victim of many of the girls’ tricks and pranks, although she has a very hot temper. Because of her general jolliness and good humour though, she is popular with the girls” (Blyton, 1946).

The role of a tutor in an educational setting is broad. In a traditional sense they are tasked with overseeing their tutees’ academic performance but that assumes that academic performance is in no way connected to a student’s well being or happiness. Research shows that there is a direct correlation between a student’s health, wellbeing, and academic performance (Sanci, Williams et al., 2022). Therefore, in the context in which I am writing, a tutor’s role is much more than monitoring academic performance. The tutor is there to champion their tutee in all they do, support with health and wellbeing concerns, provide sage advice, support with university applications, communicate with parents, celebrate success, and give guidance when things go wrong.

This change over time in the tutor’s role is visible when comparing the work of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (from here written as HMI) in 1988 and that of Marland and Roger’s 2004 book, ‘How to be a Successful Form Tutor’ (HMI, 1988, & Marland, 2004). HMI noted in their 1988 report that fewer than two in ten new colleagues felt prepared and confident to work with parents and other key stakeholders in the community. New teaching staff at the time felt that their role should be purely classroom focused. They had trained to deliver a specific subject rather than to engage with their tutees beyond the required compliance. Compare this to Enid Blyton’s description above of Mam’zelle Dupont and the notion of pastoral care delivered by all colleagues is a new phenomenon.

Indeed Hillman (2023) uses his article discussing the book “The State of Independence” to note how pastoral care has changed enormously since his time at boarding school over 40 years ago. His recollection was that pastoral care was ‘hard’ and that students were expected to stand on their own two feet leading to a culture of poor behaviour.

Throughout my reading on the role of the tutor my position has changed. In part, this is due to the broadening of my understanding of pastoral care and tutoring prior to my time in the profession, but I have also acknowledged that each school context has a different job description for the tutor.

Even within my own setting, I have spoken at length to colleagues about their role as a tutor whilst

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researching for this essay and have established that expectations and delivery of the role varies dramatically even within one institution. This tells me that the knowledge contests, as with the description of the Housemaster and Housemistress role are broad. My positionality will be a key consideration when reviewing this role further in later research as this will enormously impact the lens in which I am considering the concept of pastoral care.

Matrons “Each tower acts as a boarding house and provides accommodation for about 60 girls, ten in each year group. There is a Matron in each tower and a House Mistress in overall charge. Matron looks after the girls’ health and wellbeing in North Tower” (Blyton, 1946).

Matron is a traditional job title that stems from the medical profession and the word initially came from the notion of ‘mother’ (Online Etymology Dictionary, 2018). In a modern boarding school context, the Matron is the member of staff in charge of the boarding house when the Housemistress or Housemaster is out on other duties such as teaching, coaching sport or attending meetings. The Matron’s main duties are to oversee the domestic running of the house, like that of a large-scale family home, and to support with all forms of pastoral care for the students in that boarding house (Kings Ely, 2019). From experience, the role tends to be female-dominated. At the time of writing, neither myself nor any of my close colleagues have come across a male doing the job of a Matron and there is no literature on males performing the Matron role. This opens a wider scholarly conversation about place, space and gendered positions within a boarding school context. Why is the Matron role a female dominated one and why are there such power relations within this notion of the female caregiver in a boarding school context? This is something that I will consider further when discussing how my experiences and scholarly research may help to frame pastoral strategy moving forward.

Aside from the notion of gender, the literature that is widely available presents Matrons, as the word itself would suggest, as a motherly figure. Their place in a modern boarding school is one that waned during the 1980s and 90s, but has more recently been reinstated due to the increasing demands of parents in a world where pastoral care must be at the centre of their child’s education.

Matrons are often mental health first aiders and have qualifications alongside the experience to deal with self-harm, eating disorders and health conditions such as anaphylaxis shock (Times Educational Supplement, 2014). From my experience in a range of boarding schools it is apparent that the role of the Matron is one that is being transformed. More emphasis is being placed on the role of the Matron and the job is seen as an integral position within the boarding school. One Matron writes for the School House Magazine about her time as a Matron at Cranleigh in Surrey with great fondness (Goldsmith, 2018). She talks about how communication with parents has changed during the 24 years she has been in post, how the house has grown but that each generation is special to her. She writes almost as a mother would talk about her own children and from experience Matrons tend to call the students their boys or their girls. The literature available on Matrons in a boarding school context is limited but those that do exist are similar in their perspectives. A Matron is a caring role and therefore they are at the centre of the delivery of pastoral care in a boarding school.

Pastoral Staff Reflections As noted above, who delivers pastoral care varies considerably between schools with each organisation using their own terms for the job description and asking their staff to undertake a range of roles. However, we can see from the literature that the core principles of pastoral care are the same. The aim is to ensure that students can flourish academically and socially so that they are ready for the next stage in their lives. It is beyond the scope of this paper to consider what

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pastoral care in a boarding school context looks like; however, this is a key area I would like to research further and an area that I feel I may be able to contribute to the scholarly conversation. An understanding of the key staff and stakeholders reviewed through the range of literature above is at the heart of my understanding into what pastoral care in a boarding school context looks like and subsequently how this supports student development.

Conclusions Student development in a boarding school context is portrayed through a range of different literatures. However, all return to or reference the importance of the key pastoral care figures above.

Boarding school marketing departments as discussed sell the holistic education that is designed to build resilience and independence but the specifics as to how these support students’ development are vague. In 2019 the Department for Education published the Character Education Framework (DFE, 2019). The aim of this guidance was to support school staff when considering the rationale for social, moral, cultural, and spiritual development of pupils alongside the delivery of fundamental British values and the teaching of relationships, health and sex education. This document is one example of several frameworks for education that have been published in recent years, another example was published in 2021 by the Education Policy Institute following the global pandemic.

Boarding school settings all have their own framework for delivering pastoral care. Anecdotally, some of these appear to be based on instinct, while others say that they base their policies and practices in academic theory. Either way, the literature on how the policies and frameworks in boarding schools help to support the development of students’ personal and social wellbeing appears to be based on experience rather than more robust academic research.

This leads to the final question that I have used to frame this assignment and that will guide my research moving forward.

How can I use my experiences alongside scholarly knowledge to frame pastoral strategy in British boarding schools moving forward?

As discussed above, much of the reading is broad and colloquial. There appears to be very few scholarly articles to read and compare in this specific context, but there is a wealth of industrybased knowledge and a growing trend for colleagues to want to work collaboratively in the boarding school context. Using my professional experiences to date as well as the opportunities I have in my current and the new position that I am taking on in September as Deputy Head Pastoral, I am hoping to combine my working knowledge of the industry with my scholarly research to frame pastoral strategy in the sector.

The exercise of producing this paper has been informative and has supported my development of an in-depth grasp of the current narrative in pastoral care in the boarding sector. From this paper, my position in the debate on pastoral care staffing in a boarding school context has evolved in response to the literature. My understanding of who provides pastoral care has deepened on a scholarly level and I have started to form critical questions that will ground my research moving forward.

The innate conflicts within these conversations and scholarly debates will be one that I need to navigate with care due to my complex lived experiences. Little is written about pastoral care in a boarding school context which has left me with a sense of responsibility not to misrepresent the boarding school community. My context and autobiography as a researcher will be an integral part of producing research that can contribute to the scholarly conversations and academic debates in this sphere effectively and appropriately.

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As my research develops, I would like to unpack further the notion of the seemingly gendered role of the Matron within a boarding school context, as my personal and professional experiences tell me that this is a complex paradigm intrinsically connected to the development of students in a boarding school context. I would also like to start to consider how pastoral care supports student development in this field. Anecdotally, I can see that boarding schools help to develop resilience and independence in the students I work with, but understanding how the key staff, the structures, routines, and policies in boarding schools help to develop this is still unclear from the literature I have engaged with.

Moving forward, my aim will be to explicitly connect the work I am doing with my academic research. Using my positionality and professional experiences as the framework for future papers will mean that I am able to connect academic debates and scholarly conversations with the practicalities of working in a busy boarding school environment.

References Blyton, E. (1946). First Term at Malory Towers. Methuen.

Britannia. (2022). UK Boarding School Guide: Pastoral Care. https://britannia-study.com.my/ukboarding-school/guide-pastoral-care Department for Education. (2014). National curriculum in England: framework for key stage 1 to 4. England.

Department for Education. (2019) Character Education Framework. England.

Department for Education. (2022). Keeping Children Safe in Education. England.

Dippleman, S. (2014). The Housemisstress Rap. London.

Education Policy Institute. (2021). Education recovery and resilience in England. Phase One Report. https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Education-Recovery_EPI.pdf Goldsmith, J. (2018). Confessions of a Boarding School Matron. School House Magazine.

Hardman, R. (2022). How do I become a Housemaster or Housemisstress? The Times Educational Supplement.

Hearn, L. (2006). Pastoral Care in Education. Child Health Promotion Research Unit. Perth Edith Cowan University.

Her Majestys Inspectors. (1988). The New Teacher in School: a survey by HM Inspectors in England and Wales. London, HMSO. Hillman, N. (2023) Just what is the state of private education in 2023? Higher Education Policy Institute.

Houseman, O. (2018). Nothing to worry about. Conference & Common Room. London, William Clarence Education. 55: 24-25. Kings Ely. (2019). Matron Job Description. https://www.kingsely.org/ wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Job-Description-Boarding-House-Matron-May-2019.pdf Lloyd, A. (2022). TikTokers who went to elite boarding schools are gaining millions of views dispelling misconceptions about their lavish student lives. https://www.yahoo.com/ news/tiktokers-went-elite-boarding-schools-080000577.html?guccounter=1&guce_ referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAFxXW8uPtJK5Osn KEtJcUQXATHa2nVcbnfWepv4-Glz6QgaLyMiaimvXOJ5Ac9rEsuLWB7actZlkml6grb-cY09vO6J_ r3wQ6SxSE1FmVuyJE88fNd3qiqnTXMi8wh0XBCtENTbCJt_hZJT8F3fi9-MmaYw_nv635iyO9TigQe4_

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Martin, A. J., Papworth, B., Ginns, P., & Liem, G. A. D. (2014). Boarding School, Academic Motivation and Engagement, and Psychological Well-Being: A Large-Scale Investigation. American Educational Research Journal. 51(5): 1007–1049 Miller, J. (1995). Trick or treat? The autobiography of the question. English Quarterly. 27(3): 22-26 Mitchell, C. (2011). Doing visual research. Los Angeles. Sage Publications.

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Online Etymology Dictionary (2020). Pastoral (adj.). https://www.etymonline.com/word/pastoral Online Etymology Dictionary (2023). Matron. https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=matron Orwell, G. (1953). Such, such were the joys. Penguin.

Partridge, S. (2021). The 0.7 per cent problem is much worse than the 7 per cent problem. https://www. pepf.co.uk/opinion/the-0-7-per-cent-problem-is-much-worse-than-the-7-per-cent-problem/ Pillay, D., et al. (2017). Object Medleys : Interpretive Possibilities for Educational Research. Rotterdam.

Renton, A. (2022) In Dark Corners. BBC Radio 4. London Sanci, L., et al. (2022). Towards a health promoting university: descriptive findings on health, wellbeing and academic performance amongst university students in Australia. BMC public health. 22(1): 2430 Scudamore, J. (2020). Top 10 books about boarding school. https://www.theguardian.com/ books/2020/mar/18/top-10-books-about-boarding-school Steinbeis, F. (2018). Why an English boarding school? https://www.englischeinternate.com/blog/whyenglish-boarding-schools Times Educational Suplement (2014). The Modern Matron. https://www.proquest.com/docview/2312 102120?accountid=8018&parentSessionId=3yZsPb23l7JD5%2FFb1ZfTEml%2BqI22OZFwzrRsI4pYO7k% 3D&pq-origsite=primo.

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29(6): 908-925 Watkins, C. (1987). An Investigation of the Role of the Housemaster in a Residential School. Pastoral Care in Education. 5(3): 218-227 Wycliffe (2022). 10 Benefits of Attending a UK Boarding School. https://www.wycliffe.co.uk/boardingschool/10-benefits-of-attending-a-uk-boarding-school/.

The Haileybury Institute of Educational Research Journal Vol. 1, No. 2, November 2023, pp. 13–27

Moving from reactive to proactive pastoral care in UK Independent boarding schools Emma Millo Haileybury, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Abstract Historically, pastoral care in schools has been reactive when issues arise. There have been many positive steps forwards in the provision of this reactive care over the last 10 years with an increased focus on mental health and wellbeing. However, there is now a move towards proactive pastoral care in an attempt to prevent issues arising in the first place and providing pupils with the tools needed to flourish both in school and in the world beyond. This study aimed to look at the provision of proactive pastoral care in UK independent boarding schools.

Three schools were visited which had very different pupil bodies and geographic locations.

Data was collected using questionnaires and interviews. A staff questionnaire was sent to the whole staff body in all three schools and a pupil questionnaire was sent to all pupils. During the visits, semi-structured interviews were conducted with small groups of staff and pupils.

Data was analsyed by looking for themes and calculating the average responses for questions in the questionnaire. The study showed that there are a number of more proactive methods of pastoral care being used; these depend on the school and the context. Different strategies worked for different schools and pupils. However, the main themes were that pupils liked staff taking time to get to know them holistically and they felt that this allowed them to talk and be more open. Staff valued the use of tracking tools and coaching in order to encourage pupils to open up. Both staff and pupils enjoyed taking the focus off mental health and instead focusing on positive aspects of wellbeing. From this data proposals were made about how we can continue to enhance proactive pastoral care whilst keeping in mind that reactive care will always be needed at some times.

Keywords Pastoral care, proactive, reactive, wellbeing, mental health

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Introduction The aim of pastoral care within the boarding environment is to provide support and guidance to pupils who are away from their families. The role of the pastoral team is to act as a parent, a mentor, a guide, a coach and a teacher in order to ensure that pupils have the opportunity to thrive and flourish. Within some definitions, pastoral care focuses on both academic and social development in terms of facilitating the journey from dependence to independence (Chittenden, 2002). However, the method of how this is accomplished is not necessarily clear; whether a reactive (acting after an event) or proactive (preventative) approach is to be taken.

Within the medical world there has been a shift in focus towards ‘prehabilitation’ rather than ‘rehabilitation’. The idea is that medical staff prepare the individual to be ready to, for example, take on an operation, overcome complications, or be in the fittest state to compete in their sport. In order to be effective, prehabilitation must be person centered and focus on what that individual needs to withstand or what they want/need to be able to achieve. It is important that the approach to prehabilitation is a multidisciplinary one; taking into account all aspects of the individual (Durrand et al., 2016). The purpose of this research is to see whether the concept of prehabilitation can be incorporated into pastoral care by focusing on a proactive approach. This could involve identifying the risks and turmoil that our pupils face and then proactively work on building the strength to combat these hurdles so that when they do arise pupils are well equipped to face the challenges and to get through them stronger and more resilient.

One of the earliest and most comprehensive definitions of pastoral care in education came from the British Department of Education and Science which included the expectation that teachers should respond to individual cases e.g. when a pupil is experiencing personal anxiety, domestic tension, social pressure, and emotional crisis (Grove, 2004, Nadge, 2005, WA Health, Government of Western Australia, n.d.). This implies that teachers should react when a problem arises rather than take a proactive approach to try to prevent the issue in the first place.

A lot of the research into pastoral care has been carried out in Australia, where frameworks have been devised to implement best practice models for emotional and social wellbeing and pastoral care. These frameworks take a holistic approach to pastoral care; looking at pupils in terms of the economic and social factors of the time, focusing on inclusiveness and a pupil centered approach, developing positive relationships and using a multidisciplinary approach to provide care and support (De Jong, 2005; Hearn et al., 2006). This approach implies a more proactive approach as the pupil is looked at within the systems around them and the impact that these may potentially have are taken into account. This could potentially allow for issues to be dealt with in advance of them becoming more serious. This research looks to identify features of current pastoral provision within UK independent boarding schools that could fit under this category of being proactive and to look at the impact this shift in approach is having on pupil wellbeing.

Literature review Best (1999) aimed to review the provision of pastoral care in education and carried out an extensive literature review that included research from Australia, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, Netherlands, and several other countries, thus enhancing generalisability across different contexts.

From this research, Best proposed the main approaches to pastoral care that were being used by schools. Out of the five approaches detailed two are ‘reactive pastoral casework’ and ‘proactive, preventative pastoral care’. In summary, Best describes the reactive approach to be focused on one-to-one support in response to a problem arising, using a guidance or counseling approach (Best

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1999; Lang, 1999). By contrast, the proactive approach is more focused on the anticipation of critical events and providing activities and education in order to prevent them. This decreases the need for reactive responses. One example of this is drug education as a preventative measure. These programmes will often have secondary positive effects of increasing overall self-esteem, resilience and ability to make appropriate decisions (Hearn et al., 2006). Best’s review found that in order for pastoral care to be effective there needs to be an overall strategy in order to understand and meet the needs of the pupils; this strategy could have a focus on proactive approaches in order to make it more effective as a preventative measure (Chittenden, 2002a).

Hearn et al (2006) carried out another literature review to assess the factors that contribute to excellent pastoral care. They found that the key components involve the promotion of health and wellbeing, resilience, academic care and social capital. Promoting health and wellbeing is a much more proactive approach and focuses more on the positive aspects of wellbeing rather than the negative ones associated with mental health. The Australian schools in this study were following the ‘National Action Plan for the Promotion, prevention and Early Intervention of Mental Health’. This approach looks at how to maximize mental health and promote wellbeing so that pupils can cope with the stresses of everyday life without catastrophising and are able to flourish in all aspects of life (Moon, 1999).

Building resilience is also another method of promoting mental health and wellbeing and providing pupils with the tools to reach their potential. It is now accepted that teenagers will engage in risk taking behaviors, either due to biological forces or peer influences. However, this focus on resilience allows for this and looks at developing ‘protective’ or ‘preventative’ factors that can help pupils to develop in a positive way and manage risk (Burns & Gall, 2002; Denny et al., 2004). This focus on resilience does not just sit within the realms of pastoral care and can be carried over into the classroom. This means that teaching staff must understand their pastoral care role and how this can be enacted in the classroom environment through developing caring relationships, setting high expectations and giving opportunities for meaningful participation and contribution (Benard, 1996).

The final factor of social capital looks at the pupil in terms of them being part of a community and all the processes and systems that exist within this. Therefore it is important to take into account the child as a whole in order to understand how the support system within society can influence the social, emotional and academic health and wellbeing of pupils (Hearn et al., 2006).

Much of the research into pastoral care has been carried out internationally (Australia being one of the leading countries). However in 2017 a study was carried out by the Department for Education (DofE) into how schools and colleges support mental health. The sample of this study was larger than the focus of this paper (UK independent boarding schools) but gives a good overview of the general trend of moving towards more proactive care. 64% of the schools included in the survey felt that their school integrated the promotion of positive mental health and wellbeing into the school day. One way in which schools seemed to have taken a proactive approach was through the inclusion of skills development sessions, which 73% of schools had included, or taught sessions about particular mental health issues (53%). However, when it came to identifying needs, schools were being less proactive. Less than half (48%) collected data on their pupils to inform their mental health provision but on a more positive note only 1% of the schools did not try to identify pupils who might have particular mental health needs. However, the main approach to doing this was as hoc identification by staff rather than a precise and targeted approach (Marshall et al., 2017).

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This in -depth review provides interesting data about the general trend in schools in terms of dealing with mental health and wellbeing. However, there is hardly any literature that focuses on pastoral care in UK independent boarding schools, and none that has looked at this potential switch from reactive to proactive care using the analogy of prehabilitation. The aim of this research was to look into what different schools are implementing in their quest for proactive support and to see how this is affecting pupil wellbeing and how staff view their role.

Methodology Participants This study involved visiting three secondary independent boarding schools in the UK. One was an all girls school (school 1), one was in central London (school 2) and one was co-educational (co-ed) (school 3). School 1 had 650 pupils and a large proportion of boarders. School 2 was co-ed and had just over 400 pupils, a large proportion of whom were international. School 3 had a smaller number of boarding pupils versus day pupils, and had a diamond structure where pupils were taught co-ed in the prep school, separated for the middle school and then returned to co-ed for sixth form. This meant that the school had much larger numbers of pupils overall (around 2000 across the different sites). All schools were visited during the academic year 2022-23.

Approach Each school was approached to arrange a visit during which small groups of pupils and teachers were to be interviewed. A questionnaire was also sent via Google Forms to the whole staff (Appendix A) and pupil (Appendix B) body at each school.

The interviews were carried out using a semi-structured method (Appendix C) in order to get rich and detailed qualitative data. The initial starting point revolved around understanding pastoral care and what was being done proactively (Bearman, 2019) The questionnaire was emailed to staff and pupils after the initial visit and involved both open and closed questions to obtain qualitative and quantitative data (Vannette & Krosnick, 2017).

Measures and Analysis The data from the closed questions in the questionnaire was averaged across the three schools in order to collate the responses for each school. This was then converted into percentages and displayed in graphs.

The semi-structured interviews were initially recorded and then transcribed using an app. The transcriptions were then analysed in order to draw out common themes and direct quotations which addressed the research topic.

PROACTIVE PASTORAL CARE Figure 1

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Pupil survey - Do you feel that school encourages you to talk openly about wellbeing and mental health?

This chart shows that on the whole pupils will talk about their mental health and Figure 1 that they mightencourages feel more open you to talkto about issuesabout or in certain Pupil survey - Dowellbeing, you feelbutthat school talkcertain openly wellbeing and mental health? situations more than others.

This chart shows that on the whole pupils will talk about their mental health and wellbeing, but that they might feelPROACTIVE more open to talk CARE about certain PASTORAL 11 issues or in certain situations more than others. ]

Figure 2 Pupil survey - Do you feel that wellbeing programmes at school help staff to get to know you as an individual?

Figure 2 Pupil survey - Do youThis feelchart that wellbeing programmes at school help staff to get to know you as shows that pupils feel that there is an individualised approach to pastoral an individual? care and support but that once again this can depend on the context. For example, within the

interviews some pupils about having members of staff that they could open up This chart shows that pupils feeltalked that there iscertain an individualised approach to pastoral care and support but that once again this can depend on the context.

For example, within the interviews to more and so these staff consequently got to know them better. Pupils also said that they some pupils talked about having certain members of staff that they could open up to more and so would open up more about academic issues initially. these staff consequently got to know them better. Pupils also said that they would open up more about academic issues initially.

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Figure 3 Pupil survey - How has talking about wellbeing changed your experiences at school?

This chart shows that there are a range of positive outcomes that have come from Figure 3 Pupil survey - How has talking about wellbeing experiences atpupils school? pupils being proactively encouraged changed to talk aboutyour wellbeing.

On the whole, feel that they are more supported and able to deal with difficult situations more effectively and with a

PROACTIVE CARE This chart shows that there PASTORAL are a range of positive13outcomes that have come from pupils being more to positive proactively encouraged talkoutlook. about wellbeing. On the whole, pupils feel that they are more Figure 4 supported and able to deal with difficult situations more effectively and with a more positive outlook.

Staff survey - What do you think the biggest impact of a focused and tailored wellbeing programme has been on pupils?

Figure 4 Staff survey - What do you thinkshows the that biggest impact of being a focused and tailored wellbeing programme has This graph staff believe that by more proactive about pastoral care been on pupils? there are positive outcomes for pupils in terms of enhanced resilience, better understanding of their emotions e.g. understanding what stress is and that it is a normal emotion, and enabling

This graph shows that staff believe that by being more proactive about pastoral care there are open upin more.

Theseof outcomes would all be assets to pupils in terms of a positive outcomespupils for topupils terms enhanced resilience, better understanding of their emotions e.g. understandingprehabilitative what stress is and that it is a normal emotion, and enabling pupils to open up programme because these are the abilities that pupils need to strengthen in more. These outcomes would all be assets to pupils in terms of a prehabilitative programme because order to overcome adversity. these are the abilities that pupils need to strengthen in order to overcome adversity.

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Pastoral care: Reactive to proactive

Figure 5

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Staff survey - What do you think the biggest impact of a focused and tailored wellbeing programme has been on your own practice?

Figure 5 This chart shows that a proactive approach also has a positive impact on staff and their Staff survey - What do you think the biggest impact of a focused and tailored wellbeing programme has confidence been on your own practice? levels when talking to pupils. This could possibly be due to higher levels of confidence so they felt more able to initiate conversations, or perhaps because they learnt

This chart shows that a proactive approach also has a positive impact on staff and their confidence more about their pupils through the proactive measures in place. There was also more levels when talking to pupils. This could possibly be due to higher levels of confidence so they felt amongst staff address conversations health and wellbeing which pupils through the more able to initiateconfidence conversations, ortoperhaps becauseabout theymental learnt more about their proactive measuresshows in place.

There was toalso more confidence amongst staff to address conversations the stigma in regards this is being overcome. about mental health and wellbeing which shows the stigma in regards to this is being overcome.

Figure 6 Qualitative data - pupils: quotations showing how proactive pastoral care has influenced pupils “My housemistress knows us very well and gives us tailored care when we’re upset” “Wellbeing is your emotions and feelings in your body and mind. Positive thinking can lead to good wellbeing, but never keep in your negative ones!”

“They always offer to listen to us” “I think people who communicate are so helpful to your wellbeing” “When I called my Mum crying, instead of getting angry at me for staying up late she chatted with me for 1 hr 30 mins” “Adapting their tone and treatment of situations for different pupils” “It is important to have teachers who are very aware of the challenges that students face so that it is easier for them to open up and feel they are in a secure environment” “They always listen and are interested in lots of things I do (including out of school)” These quotations show that pupils value the holistic care they receive from staff. They like to be known and understood as an individual and appreciate direct conversation with staff. There is also a focus on the need to be adaptable to individual needs. This fits with the idea of a proactive approach because we need to be able to understand what each pupil needs before we can build the care around them. There is still a need to react in the moment, as the staff member did by staying up with the pupil in need. However, this could still have been borne out of a proactive approach where this member of staff knew this pupil really well and so knew the best way of providing care for them.

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Figure 7 Qualitative data - staff: quotations showing how proactive pastoral care has influenced staff “Pastoral care should be as proactive as possible without removing student autonomy” “There could be a danger of over focus on mental health explicitly. I feel that it needs to be considered and built into teaching strategies and pedagogy more now” “I ask better coaching questions and I challenge students to take responsibility for their own wellbeing - it is so important it should not be outsourced.”

“It is important to address issues but we also need to be careful that pupils don’t become cynical about our motives in discussing wellbeing. We need targeted and meaningful consideration, so that issues don’t appear trivialised.”

These quotations show that staff understand the need to discuss mental health and wellbeing, but are beginning to critique the way that this is being done. Mental health can be combined with other curriculum subjects in order to give it more context and meaning and avoid it being taught in too much of a ‘clinical’ manner. There was also the realization that pastoral care needs to be focused and targeted to the individual and their needs; so breaking down what pupils need/want to achieve in order to proactively support them would be a good approach. It was also interesting that some staff are keen to put the emphasis back on the pupil to find solutions to their problems. A number of schools are using coaching techniques to help pupils to do this. This would allow pupils to have greater ownership of their problems and would give them the power to find solutions. This would be positive and proactive because when we feel that we have control then we are much more likely to have positive experiences (Devine et al., 2013).

Figure 8 Strategies being used to enhance proactive pastoral care • Focusing on building aspects of wellbeing e.g. resilience, flourishing • PHSE topics running throughout the curriculum • Utilising outside speakers to inspire and engage pupils and then taking this forwards in PHSE lessons • Wellbeing centres • Coaching • Communication between pastoral staff and academic staff • Tracking systems • Wellbeing toolkits This table shows a summary of the current strategies being used in the schools studied. There were a range of initiatives that have been put in place and some of these worked well in conjunction with others e.g. tracking, coaching and toolkits.

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Conclusion This research study has looked at how UK independent boarding schools are making the transition from a reactive model of pastoral care to one that is more proactive. Each school used was implementing its own initiatives making it difficult to directly compare but some overall approaches have been drawn out from the findings.

Figure 8 above shows what schools are currently doing and Figure 9 below proposes some suggestions based on the conversations and data from this study for how pastoral care could be more proactive.

Figure 9 How can we enhance proactive pastoral care even further • Using tracking tools, but not in isolation • Joined up thinking between academic and pastoral spheres • Teaching wellbeing traits in the curriculum • Switch from viewing the ‘dangers’ to embracing the positives e.g. of social media • Spiral curriculum in PHSE with wellbeing traits relating to topics • Safeguarding training for pupils • Focusing on tutor role and spreading workload to ensure personalised care Throughout the research process it became clear that schools are implementing many different proactive methods to pastoral care. Some of these were more effective than others according to both staff and pupils. The way in which the methods were put into place also influenced their effectiveness. For example, some schools were using tracking methods such as AS Tracking from a company called STEER (STEER Education: Safeguarding Young People’s Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing, 2020). This was most effective when both staff and pupils were on board with the process; this occurred due to education about the purpose of the intervention. It was also more effective when pupils understood how their data was being used and when tracking was used in conjunction with other methods such as coaching and mental health toolkits such as ‘TooledUp’ (TooledUp, 2023).

It is clear from both the quantitative and qualitative data that staff appreciate the need to be more proactive in their pastoral care and that pupils are responding to this proactive care positively. One additional interesting finding was that pupils were getting tired of talking about mental health and thus appreciated the change in focus to positive aspects of wellbeing. Staff could also see the positives of this as it meant that pupils were less likely to catastrophise when they experienced difficulties.

It is important that both the pastoral and the academic spheres see pastoral care as their focus; it is not simply something that only boarding/pastoral staff are involved with. This is in line with the ‘academic care’ identified by Hearn et al (2006) where academic staff are equally responsible for developing key wellbeing traits such as resilience (Hearn et al., 2006). We are now much more aware of how states of wellbeing can affect academic performance and so there is a need for the pupil to be looked at holistically. It has been shown in a number of studies that pastoral care can influence how a pupil feels about school and learning by developing positive values and attitudes and this then has an impact on achievement (Battistich et al., 1995; Goodenow, 1993; Osterman, 2000). In this research pupils emphasised the importance of relationships with staff and having a ‘trusted

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adult’. Research has shown that when there is a focus on building relationships with staff and pupils then this positively influences academic engagement (Goodenow, 1993; Rodríguez, 2007). One way that this was developed within the schools studied was through the use of coaching. This is a way of talking to pupils where the emphasis is on the pupil finding their own solutions and direction and therefore leads to much more commitment and success (Bachkirova et al., 2016; Graydin Coaching, n.d.). The focus on coaching also helped develop the role of the tutor within the boarding environment, which had the knock on effect of reducing the workload for the Housemaster/ Housemistress and tutors were more effective in their 1:1 support of the pupils. Coaching conversations also allowed tutors to get to know the pupil more holistically (Wisker et al., 2013).

Other proactive improvements centered around the PHSE curriculum and discussion about contemporary issues. As stated by Hearn et al (2006) in order to be proactive we must see the pupil within their social environment and take into account all the social factors that might affect them. One of the biggest impacts on adolescents is social media and technological advancements.

Therefore schools were trying to embrace positive aspects of technology e.g. using ChatGPT to make tasks like essay planning more efficient, and social media e.g. the Black Lives Matter movement. They were also trying to stay up to date with more negative areas such as toxic masculinity. Pupils seemed to appreciate it when the school was encouraging them to embrace changes as they felt it created a much more positive environment and they were getting bored of being told about the negatives of technology by adults. They also appreciated frank and honest discussions about current issues and this was enhanced when teachers opened up two way conversations with pupils where pupil voice was clearly heard (Anderson & Graham, 2015; Hall, 2010; Weare, 2017).

This study has identified multiple ways in which schools can be more proactive in their pastoral care; it is important that schools choose methods that will suit their setting and pupils and therefore will differ from context to context. There may also be a process of trial and error which can be embraced as a learning experience. There will also still be the need to be reactive in our approach because issues will occur without warning. This is where excellent pastoral care finely balances both the proactive and reactive methods (Barnes, 2015; Collins & McNiff, 2012) Discussion One of the main weaknesses with this study is the relatively small sample size and therefore low generalisability of the results. The three schools were very different in their location and pupil body so this may have improved the generalisability to a greater number of pupils and teachers, but the study would have been improved by visiting a greater number of UK boarding schools. This could also include both independent and state boarding.

However, the research does give insight into a number of methods that are currently being used within UK independent boarding schools to help to enhance pastoral care. Schools are seeing the benefit of focusing on wellbeing traits such as resilience in order to help pupils to flourish. In order to do this it is important to understand the pupil as a whole and this is being successfully achieved through a number of methods (Malhi et al., 2019).

Further research could look into the long-term effectiveness of specific strategies e.g. coaching, tracking etc. to see which has the biggest impact on pupil outcomes.

With the adolescent mental health system seemingly reaching crisis point it will be hugely valuable for us to be able to see what can potentially be done to prevent pupils from reaching the point

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where they need targeted medical interventions. In boarding schools staff are very well placed to provide the proactive care that could help this to happen (Benton et al., 2021; Spratt et al., 2006)

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acting upon children’s views. Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties, 15(4), 323–339. https://doi.org/1 0.1080/13632752.2010.523234 Hearn, L., Campbell-Price, R., House, J., & Cross, D. (2006). Pastoral care in education. Child Health Promotion Research Unity. Edith Cowan University, Perth.

Lang, P. (1999). Counselling, counselling skills and encouraging pupils to talk: Clarifying and addressing confusion. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 27(1), 23–33. https://doi. org/10.1080/03069889908259713 Malhi, G. S., Das, P., Bell, E., Mattingly, G., & Mannie, Z. (2019). Modelling resilience in adolescence and adversity: A novel framework to inform research and practice. Translational Psychiatry, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-019-0651-y Marshall, L., Wishart, R., Dunatchik, A., & Smith, N. (2017, August). Supporting Mental Health in Schools and Colleges. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/ uploads/attachment_data/file/634726/Supporting_Mental-Health_survey_report.pdf Moon, A. M. (1999). Helping schools to become health-promoting environments--an evaluation of the Wessex Healthy Schools Award. Health Promotion International, 14(2), 111–122. https://doi. org/10.1093/heapro/14.2.111 Nadge, A. J. (2005). Academic care: Building resilience, building futures. Pastoral Care in Education, 23(1), 28–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0264-3944.2005.00319.x Osterman, K. F. (2000). Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 323–367. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070003323 Rodríguez, L. F. (2007). “Teachers know you can do more.” Educational Policy, 22(5), 758–780. https:// doi.org/10.1177/0895904807307070 STEER education: Safeguarding young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing. (2020, March 31). STEER Education. https://steer.education/ TooledUp. (2023, April 18). Tooled Up Education. https://www.tooledupeducation.com/ Vannette, D. L., & Krosnick, J. A. (2017). The Palgrave Handbook of Survey Research. Springer.

WA Health, Government of Western Australia. (n.d.). WA Department of Health. Retrieved June 21, 2023, from http://www.health.wa.gov.au Weare, K. (2017). Promoting social and emotional wellbeing and responding to mental health problems in schools. In Global Mental Health (pp. 113–125). Springer International Publishing. http:// dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-59123-0_11 Wisker, G., Exley, K., Antoniou, M., & Ridley, P. (2013). Working one-to-one with students: Supervising, coaching, mentoring, and personal tutoring. Routledge.

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Appendix A Staff Questionnaire 1. What do you understand by the term pastoral care?

2. What do you understand wellbeing to be?

3. What are the connections between wellbeing and pastoral care?

4. What are the main features of your wellbeing programme?

5. What do you think the biggest impact of a focused and tailored wellbeing programme has been on pupils (tick all that apply) • Greater resilience • Better understanding of emotions e.g. not catastrophising during times of stress • More peer support • Feeling able to talk more • Other 6. What do you think the biggest impact of a focused and tailored wellbeing programme has been on your own practice? (tick all that apply) • Confidence in talking about mental health and wellbeing with pupils • Greater knowledge of individual pupils • Initiating conversations is easier • More effective target/goal setting • Other 7. Can you give any examples of how wellbeing strategy has impacted your practice?

8. If you have used wellbeing tracking data (STEER AS tracking) how has it influenced your conversations with pupils 9. Has STEER tacking given you an insight into a pupil’s mental health that you may not have gained through other methods?

• Yes • No • Sometimes 10. If you answered ‘yes’ to the question above, can you provide an example?

11. In your opinion do you think there is a need to be more proactive about mental health and wellbeing, and if so why?

12. Is there anything that you feel would help you to support pupils further?

NB: Q 8, 9 & 10 were not used in school 1 because they did not use STEER tracking

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Appendix B Pupil questionnaire 1. What is included in the wellbeing programme at your school?

2. Do you feel that school encourages you to talk openly about wellbeing and mental health?

• Yes • No • In some contexts 3. In what ways has talking about wellbeing changed your experiences at school (tick all that apply) • Enabled more positive thinking • Helped me to deal with stressful situations more effectively • Helped me to talk about my own emotions more • Stopped issues escalating and getting more serious • Made me feel more supported • Improved my overall health and wellbeing • Other 4. Can you describe what wellbeing is?

5. Can you describe what pastoral care is?

6. Do you feel that wellbeing programmes at school help staff to get to know you as an individual?

• Yes • No • Sometimes 7. Can you give me an example of when having a member of staff who knows you well has helped you?

8. What is the role of your tutor?

9. How do conversations with your tutor help your wellbeing?

10. What do you think is the most important thing your school does to support your wellbeing?

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Appendix C Semi-structured interview questions

Staff: • What are the most important features of good pastoral care?

• what would you say are the features of your pastoral care which are proactive?

• Have you found that being more proactive with pastoral care makes more of a difference to pupils, if so how?

• Do you feel it is essential to have wellbeing at the heart of pastoral care?

• What are the features of your wellbeing programme that you feel have really enhanced pupil wellbeing? Why? • Do you feel that there is anything further to do in order to continue to improve wellbeing provision?

• Can you think of any specific successes (confidentially) that have come out of the programme?

Tutoring: • How do you feel your role as a tutor is influenced by the focus of proactive pastoral care?

• As a new tutor do you think this is a good thing?

• As an experienced tutor how do you feel that this is different from what you have done before?

House staff: • Do you feel that the emphasis on proactive pastoral care allows the girls to take ownership of their wellbeing more? Do they help each other?

Pupils: • How has pastoral care at school influenced your experience?

• Is it important to you that staff know you well?

• What do you think best helps staff to get to know you?

• Has your wellbeing programme given you the skills to offer support to your peers? If so can you give any examples (confidentially) • Is there anything more you would like from the pastoral support here?

• How has the wellbeing programme helped you to develop as an individual?

• Do you feel it has given you the skills to be successful in the future? If so, which skills do you think are the most important?

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The Haileybury Institute of Educational Research Journal Vol. 1, No.2, November 2023, pp. 28–38

Increasing resilience through school-based mindfulness and gratitude training to improve the wellbeing of adolescents Emma Millo Haileybury, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Abstract

This proposal suggests a mindfulness and gratitude based programme to enhance resilience in adolescence. As resilience is a key part of enabling adolescents to manage the intense changes that typify this period of life it should also enhance overall wellbeing. Events that happen during adolescence can affect the way that the brain responds later in life, so adding a positive intervention to enhance wellbeing at this age should be beneficial to the individual and society. Previous interventions have looked at mindfulness and gratitude interventions separately, but these have not been combined in the school-based population suggested in this research. Therefore it is important to look at whether a combination of these interventions can make the most improvements to resilience and overall wellbeing. Life span models have suggested that school-based interventions can be a very effective tool to use during adolescence, so this study will seek to confirm the positive impact of mindfulness and gratitude on overall wellbeing, giving a basis for future research in this area with different types of educational settings and populations.

Keywords Wellbeing, resilience, mindfulness, gratitude, adolescence

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines adolescence as ‘the period between childhood and adulthood from the ages of 10-19’ and it is a time when the individual undergoes rapid physical, cognitive and psychosocial growth (www.who.int n.d.). It is also a significant time in brain development due to the neuroplasticity occurring. The main areas of the brain affected are the prefrontal cortex (PFC) as it gradually matures and the neurocircuitry between the PFC and the amygdala. These changes are associated, respectively, with higher-order thinking and decisionmaking and threat detection, vigilance, and emotional processing. Because of these changes adolescence can be a time to capitalise on and enhance behavioural and emotional regulation, but it can also be a time of increased vulnerability to stress because of the intense changes that are occurring. If stress were to occur during this period then it can negatively influence the rewiring of the brain. The results of this can be reduced cognitive functioning and poor psychological outcomes (Razza, Bergen-Cico, Reid, & Uveges, 2021). Therefore adolescence is a period during which wellbeing can be affected and a time when future mental health issues can set up their roots.

Wellbeing as a concept has gained more attention in recent years and has been defined by many with a slightly different focus. In terms of interventions to improve wellbeing for adolescents, it is important to think about the subjective approach of personal experiences and individual achievement and fulfilment, and also an objective approach looking at quality of life indicators such as material resources and social attributes e.g. education, health, positive voice, and social networks. From these two strands, it is clear to see that wellbeing can develop through the individual’s relationships and emerges through an interplay of personal, societal and environmental factors. Therefore intervention strategies to improve wellbeing should try to focus on some or all of these elements for the best outcome. It is important that wellbeing in adolescence is addressed as it is such a critical period when the groundwork for lifelong wellbeing can be made and cemented (Ross et al., 2020).

Young people entering adolescence bring with them both resources and vulnerabilities from biological sources e.g. genetics, and from the environment e.g. community, school, peers, family etc. This means that an ecological or life-course framework is important to understand adolescent development.

Blum’s model (Fig. 1) shows the range of factors that can contribute to a healthy adolescent period (physically and emotionally). The focus is not on addressing maladaptive behaviours, but rather enhancing the protective factors which promote resilience. From Figure 1 it can be seen that there is a wide range of events and groups who can influence the goal of healthy adolescence. However, the large number of variables can present some issues when trying to optimise wellbeing as it is difficult to work out which factors have the most influence. This research proposal is focusing on the influence of school in providing support and opportunities to enhance wellbeing. The is to provide life skills to protect wellbeing and enhance emotional wellbeing (Taliaferro and Barkley, 2019) Resilience is a concept that is frequently linked with wellbeing outcomes. In 2011, Windle carried out a conceptual analysis of the term and settled on this multifaceted definition for resilience: “​​Resilience is the process of effectively negotiating, adapting to, or managing significant sources of stress or trauma. Assets and resources within the individual, their life and environment facilitate this capacity for adaptation and ‘bouncing back’ in the face of adversity. Across the life course, the experience of resilience will vary” (Windle, 2011, p. 1).

So resilience develops as a response to a stressful or traumatic life experience, and if individuals possess skills or have access to resources that will help them to adapt their behaviour and learn from

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Fig. 1 (Blum, Bastos, Kabiru, and Le, 2012) their experience, they will come back stronger (Windle, 2011). As adolescence is such a crucial period for laying the foundations for healthy development and mental wellbeing, it has been proposed that the focus should be on promotion of mental wellbeing and prevention interventions in schools (Las Hayas et al., 2019).

Rutter (2007) takes a lifespan approach to resilience as children can be resilient in relation to some risks and not others and at different points in time. For example, a child may show resilience during their parents’ divorce, but not when they fail academically. Rutter also argues that resilience can be best understood using a life-span approach as resilience can be more present at certain times of life than at others (Rutter 2007) So, it is the situation and the time it occurs that will determine the outcome and it is unlikely that anyone is resilient in all situations across their lifespan. This suggests that interventions based within the situations where stressors are likely to occur will be most effective. During adolescence a lot of stress is felt within school, so providing school basedinterventions could help ensure positive outcomes. Table 1 shows that school-based interventions have been successful in enhancing resilience during the adolescent period (Feder, Fred-Torres, Southwick, and Charney 2019)

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Table 1 (Feder et al. 2019) Resilience is a key feature in keeping our wellbeing in a balanced state. As shown in Fig 2, if our resilience is enough to meet our challenges, then wellbeing will be kept stable. However, if the challenges outweigh our resilience levels then wellbeing will be affected negatively (Schultze-Lutter, Schimmelmann, and Schmidt 2016)

Fig 2.

(Schultze-Lutter et al. 2016) Literature review Mindfulness is defined as “the awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally to the unfolding experience” (Mindfulness, n.d.). There has been a steady increase in the number of resilience interventions which use mindfulness as a way to boost resilience. The cognitive, emotional, and behavioural benefits of mindfulness for young people have been supported across multiple meta-analytic studies (Las Hayas et al., 2019; Razza et al., 2021). As previously established, adolescence is a period of neurobiological development and there is evidence that mindfulness practice can influence the wiring of the brain and the autonomic nervous system processes associated with attention, executive function, and emotional regulation.

These processes help appropriate decision making and the moderation of emotional responses, which in turn help to build resilience (Razza et al., 2021; Strawn et al., 2016; Tang, Yang, Level, and Harold, 2012). Mindfulness aims to target the teen’s ability for self-regulation and self-compassion.

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An adolescent who has these abilities is better able to manage themselves and be self-aware. These skills help to deal with the stresses of the adolescent period, helping them to make responsible decisions and have a positive identity which can then decrease risk-taking behaviour. These goals fit well with the need to negotiate and react to potential threats in order to enable the individual to be resilient. Self-regulation in particular seems to be associated with the ability to adapt to any potential negative environments (Razza et al., 2021).

Looking at wellbeing as part of development, rather than taking a disorder-based approach, the benefits seem to be wide ranging. Mindfulness promotes the qualities of attentional and emotional self-regulation, alongside prosocial dispositions and problem solving skills. These are all characteristics of a holistic approach to wellbeing (Zenner, Herrnleben-Kurz, and Walach, 2014).

Mindfulness has been studied to see whether it can increase resilience, and thus affect overall wellbeing. Studies such as Keye and Pidgeon (2013) studied university students and found that there was a significant positive relationship between mindfulness and resilience and this had a large positive effect on overall psychological wellbeing scores (Keye and Pidgeon 2013).

Huppert and Johnson (2010) studied a school based intervention on 155 boys participating in four 40 minute classes once a week in the principles and practice of mindfulness. There was a significant improvement on measures of mindfulness and psychological wellbeing, which was related to the amount of individual practice taken outside the classroom. Overall, there was no significant difference between the group that took part in the intervention and the control group, but this study only used a very short intervention which may have caused the lack of significance. The amount of practice that participants are given seems to have more of a positive impact on wellbeing (Huppert and Johnson, 2010) Razza et al (2021) used a 12-week mindfulness curriculum to see the impact that it had on selfcompassion and self-regulation (both skills associated with resilience). They studied 217 pupils with a mean age of 17.46 years and compared the results with a control group. The programme consisted of 12 taught lessons of 45-60 minutes in length which were led by a trained instructor. Their results showed that there were significant improvements in long-term regulation and self-compassion in the intervention group compared to the control group. This study was especially interesting as some of the participants were given two doses of the intervention. However, the results showed that the effect of the programme was greater for those in the one-dose group compared to the two-dose group.

This suggests that these programmes are most effective the first time that students are introduced to them. This is promising as exposing students to a mindfulness-based programme may be enough to enhance their long term resilience and wellbeing without subsequent interventions (Razza et al., 2021) ‘Gratitude is an acknowledgement that we have received something of value from others’ (Emmons & Mishra, 2011, p. 1). Gratitude has been experimentally examined through the use of journals and it has been found that those who developed higher levels of gratitude had overall improved wellbeing, fewer health complaints and a more positive outlook. One of the mechanisms for this effect could be that gratitude aids the ability to cope with stress, and therefore resilience. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, gratitude emerged as one of the main themes which contributed to resilience and coping (Emmons & Mishra, 2011).

Wilson (2016) used college students to see if practising regular gratitude sessions could improve their focus in learning and help them remain resilient when learning becomes challenging. Students were reminded to complete their gratitude reflection by text message, whilst the control group received no reminders. The students who received the reminders, who then went on to intentionally practise

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gratitude, reported an increase in gratitude levels, more focus in class and an increased ability to remain resilient when faced with challenging learning (Wilson, 2016).

Duthely, Nunne and Avella (2017) added to the use of just gratitude as an intervention by combining gratitude and meditation over a 4 week period. They found significant increases in happiness, emotional engagement with school and measured gratitude. This study was unique as no other similar studies involve general adolescent populations. However, this study was carried out in the US and there has been no up-to-date research of UK populations (Duthely, Nunne and Avella 2017). Leary and Dockray (2015) also looked at the effectiveness of both gratitude and mindfulness interventions on depression, stress and happiness scores. Participants were all female, ranging from 18-46 years and were allocated to a control group (no intervention), mindfulness intervention or gratitude intervention. Overall participants who took part in an intervention had reductions in stress and depression scores and increases in happiness. The gratitude intervention was most effective for reducing stress and the mindfulness intervention was most effective in reducing depression and increasing happiness (Leary & Dockray, 2015).

The literature has been limited by using small sample sizes and some of the trials have only been carried out on single sexes. This means that there is a need to carry out research with a larger school based age group and both males and females. Different measures of wellbeing and resilience have been used throughout the literature, including self-reports which can be subject to social desirability.

However, the results of these studies support the idea that these interventions can be effective in boosting resilience and overall wellbeing. This proposal looks at combining an intervention of mindfulness and gratitude to see if a combination of the two can be a successful way of improving overall wellbeing. Success will be measured using valid measures of resilience and wellbeing.

Previous research hasn’t solely focused on a UK school based intervention so this study will look at targeting UK school aged pupils in the school environment. This may mean that it will be easier to track participation in the programme and ensure that all participants complete the intervention.

Methodology Participants As this is preliminary research, the intervention will initially be aimed at pupils from 13-16. The school trialling the study is a senior independent school where pupils start at 13. These age groups have weekly PSHE lessons which will be used for delivery of the mindfulness sessions. Average class sizes for the age groups will vary but the school being used to trial the intervention has around 20 pupils (mixed sex) per group. Consent to take part in the programme will be established through communication with parents and the Housemaster/mistress acting in loco parentis.

In order to gauge the effectiveness of the intervention only certain classes (chosen at random) will be taking part in the intervention. Three classes per year group (so nine in total) will be participating in the intervention. This will give a total of 180 participants. The half will continue with their usual PSHE sessions. One of the topics in PSHE is mental health so both groups will still be receiving some mental health education.

Approach The mindfulness aspect of the programme will follow the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) .b programme. This programme is specifically for 11-18 year olds and each lesson (between 40 mins - 1 hour) teaches a distinct mindfulness skill. The programme starts with an introduction to mindfulness

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which will explain the purpose of mindfulness and why it is worth learning about. After this lesson has been delivered the participants will be taught one lesson per week following the .b programme.

This consists of the following lesson titles: Lesson One - Paying Attention Lesson Two - Taming the Animal Mind Lesson Three - Recognising Worry Lesson Four - Being Here Now Lesson Five - Moving Mindfully Lesson Six - Stepping Back Lesson Seven - Befriending the Difficult Lesson Eight - Taking in the Good Lesson Nine - Pulling it all Together (Convertica, 2017) The mindfulness sessions will be delivered as part of the PSHE lessons for Year 9-11. For Sixth Form, the delivery will be within year group assemblies. This will require the training of 8 members of staff in the delivery of the .b programme. The lessons tend to start with a brief presentation by the teacher, practical exercises and demonstrations, teacher led practice and the invitation to carry out some short practices at home before the next session ([No Title], n.d.-a) n.d.([No Title], n.d.-b) The gratitude aspect of the intervention will use the ‘Gratitude’ app which can be downloaded from the App Store or Play store https://apps.apple.com/us/app/gratitude-journal-app/id1372575227 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.northstar.gratitude&hl=en_GB&gl=US Using an app rather than a physical journal may help to reduce the chance of pupils losing the hard copy and they may be more inclined to use an app more frequently as it is what they are used to doing. Pupils will be encouraged to set a daily reminder on the app to complete the journal and their commitment to keeping the journal will be monitored weekly as part of their tutor sessions. This practice of keeping a gratitude journal tends to be more effective when the focus is on gratitude for people, rather than for material objects, and is a process that is done over an extended period of time (P. Wilson, 2014) This app provides this possibility and will enable students to use it as frequently as they want, with regular check in sessions with the staff involved in the intervention Measures and Analysis Wellbeing will be measured during tutor periods; these are small group sessions where the tutor can closely monitor that the pupils are completing the questionnaire properly. All pupils will complete the questionnaire in order to compare overall wellbeing scores between the intervention and control group. As an additional level of analysis, there will also be comparison of the participants’ scores on a resilience scale. The purpose of the study is to measure overall wellbeing but it is important to measure resilience as a key facet of wellbeing to see any overall patterns in improvement (if any) in order to tailor any future interventions.

To assess the impact of the intervention, the changes in the scores on the wellbeing and resilience measures will be compared pre and post intervention. As this is a repeated measures group, with interval data, a Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test with an alpha level of 0.05 will be used. This test should be used because we cannot assume that the parametric criteria for the paired sample t-test have been met as the sample is relatively small and homogeneity of variance cannot be assumed. In order

Pastoral care: Increasing resilience

Phase

Duration

Tasks

Preparation for interventions

5 day course

Training staff - 8 members of staff to attend .b training online.

Gaining consent from parents or Houseparents as needed

Pre-intervention

1 week

Administering pre-intervention measures of wellbeing (in tutor time)

Intervention

9 weeks (there will be a half term break after week 6)

.b sessions and daily gratitude journals to be completed

Post-intervention

1 week

Administering wellbeing, resilience, gratitude and mindfulness measures (in tutor time)

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Table 1 Intervention Timeline to compare the average scores of the experimental group versus the control group (independent groups) pre and post intervention scores a Mann-Whitney test will be used with an alpha level of 0.05. This will determine whether the differences between the control group and the experimental group on all measures was significant.

The measure used will be The Warwick-Edinburgh Well-being Scale (WEMWEBS) (The WarwickEdinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS), n.d.) to measure wellbeing scores and The Connor Davidson-Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) (CD-RISC: Home, n.d.) will be used to measure resilience.

These will also be administered pre and post intervention to both the intervention and control group in order to assess the effectiveness of the intervention. The WEMWEBS scale is designed to capture the concept of wellbeing which included affective-emotional aspects, cognitive-evaluative dimensions and psychological functioning. This scale was used to measure wellbeing into other similar studies such as Keye and Pidgeon (2013) and Huppert and Johnson (2010). This measure is suitable for age 13+ so it is appropriate for the sample in this study. These measures were used in the study by Pidgeon et al (2013). They had an older age sample group so it will be useful to research these measures with a younger age group (Keye and Pidgeon 2013; Huppert & Johnson, 2010).

Programme Management The costs are done based on using current staff from the school, therefore the only cost will be their .b training as the intervention will be delivered during lessons that they would already be teaching.

There will be additional hours for data analysis which can be done by a member of the psychology department but this would be in addition to their salary so costing has been based on an average teaching salary per hour of £12 per hour (www.tes.com) and 24 hours of data analysis has been allocated. The costs for subscribing to the gratitude app are included, as is an ipad for each teacher.

As is the school’s policy all pupils should have their own but there is an added column for

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Staff

Training

Materials

Incidentals

£12 per hour x 9 = £108 £108 x 9 classes = £972

.b course £760 x 9 = £6840

Gratitude app £26 x 180 = £4680

£3000 (technology issues, extra staffing needs, unforeseen problems)

£288 for 24 hours of data analysis = £1260

Total

iPads to access app - all pupils have their own school iPad. One per class to be purchased for teacher at £319 x 9 = £2,871 Measures - license for WEMWBS and Connor Davidson Resilience Scale £1000 Admin supplies £500

Table 2 Budgetary Evaluations

£21,123

unexpected expenses which could cover the cost if any pupil didn’t. Costs for the licensing fees for the measures are also included in line with the number of participants being used.

Discussion One of the main weaknesses with this study is the relatively small sample size and therefore low generalisability of the results. However, if the intervention shows promise then it could be simply and effectively rolled out across a number of schools with pupils from varying backgrounds. As the school in the trial is an independent school, then this may affect the results as pupils are from quite a unique and potentially homogenous background. This may influence their levels of resilience and wellbeing as well as their commitment to the intervention. As the staff will be newly trained in the .b programme, there could be variation in the quality of delivery. This could be addressed in future research by ensuring that all practitioners had equal levels of experience and had been assessed for the quality and consistency of their delivery. Some pupils may experience technical difficulties with the app but these should be rectified relatively quickly by the school computer support department, unless the issue is with the app development itself. There will also be the inevitability that some students will miss sessions due to illness or other activities. If this study were to be done in the future, there could perhaps be courses running simultaneously but a week or 2 behind so that students who are ill could fall back into these groups, otherwise their data may have to be discounted.

If a wider study could be carried out, then it would be useful to use all classes in the school so that everyone gets the benefits of the intervention. This wouldn’t allow for a control group but each participant would act as their own control. It would also be interesting to give the pupils a mindfulness and gratitude questionnaire to assess changes on these dimensions. This wasn’t done in

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this study because of time constraints but it would be useful to see if it is one particular element of the intervention that causes improvements or the intervention as a whole.

It is expected that this intervention will have a positive impact and so the findings would show great promise in helping to promote wellbeing in adolescence. It is important to focus on wellbeing during the adolescence period because of all the changes occurring, both physiological and psychological and the additional stresses from school and other stakeholders. There is the added pressure that what happens during adolescence has a big impact on brain development, therefore building resilience and wellbeing during this time should have a large effect on wellbeing into adult life.

Young people who do not develop resilience will be more likely to respond to stressful life events with anxiety and depression, so it is important that action is taken during this critical period to ensure healthy development (Young People’s Health, n.d.-c)

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Duthely, L. M., Nunn, S. G., & Avella, J. T. (2017). A Novel Heart-Centered, Gratitude-Meditation Intervention to Increase Well-Being among Adolescents. In Education Research International (Vol. 2017, pp. 1–12). https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4891892 Emmons, R. A., & Mishra, A. (2011). Why Gratitude Enhances Well-Being. In Designing Positive Psychology (pp. 248–262). https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195373585.003.0016 Feder, A., Fred-Torres, S., Southwick, S. M., & Charney, D. S. (2019). The Biology of Human Resilience: Opportunities for Enhancing Resilience Across the Life Span. Biological Psychiatry, 86(6), 443–453.

Felver, J. C., & Jennings, P. A. (2016). Applications of Mindfulness-Based Interventions in School Settings: an Introduction. In Mindfulness (Vol. 7, Issue 1, pp. 1–4). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0478-4 Huppert, F. A., & Johnson, D. M. (2010). A controlled trial of mindfulness training in schools: The importance of practice for an impact on well-being. In The Journal of Positive Psychology (Vol. 5, Issue 4, pp. 264–274). https://doi.org/10.1080/17439761003794148 Keye, M. D., & Pidgeon, A. M. (2013). Investigation of the Relationship between Resilience, Mindfulness, and Academic Self-Efficacy. In Open Journal of Social Sciences (Vol. 01, Issue 06, pp.

1–4). https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2013.16001 Las Hayas, C., Izco-Basurko, I., Fullaondo, A., Gabrielli, S., Zwiefka, A., Hjemdal, O., Gudmundsdottir, D. G., Knoop, H. H., Olafsdottir, A. S., Donisi, V., Carbone, S., Rizzi, S., Mazur, I., KrolickaDeregowska, A., Morote, R., Anyan, F., Ledertoug, M. M., Tange, N., Kaldalons, I., … UPRIGHT consortium. (2019). UPRIGHT, a resilience-based intervention to promote mental well-being in schools: study rationale and methodology for a European randomized controlled trial. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1413.

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Leary, K. O., & Dockray, S. (2015). The Effects of Two Novel Gratitude and Mindfulness Interventions on Well-Being. In The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine (Vol. 21, Issue 4, pp.

243–245). https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2014.0119 Mindfulness. (n.d.). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-35868-2.00010-4 [No title]. (n.d.-a). Retrieved November 25, 2021, from https://dsj.co.za/wp-content/ uploads/2018/01/What-is-dotb.pdf [No title]. (n.d.-b). Retrieved November 25, 2021, from https://dsj.co.za/wp-content/ uploads/2018/01/What-is-dotb.pdf [No title]. (n.d.-c). Retrieved November 25, 2021, from http://www.youngpeopleshealth.org.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2016/03/resilience-resource-15-march-version.pdf [No title]. (n.d.-d). Retrieved November 26, 2021, from http://www.tes.com Razza, R., Bergen-Cico, D., Reid, S., & Uveges, R. L. (2021). The Benefits of Mindfulness for Promoting Resilience Among At-Risk Adolescents: Results From the Inner Strength Teen Program. In ECNU Review of Education (p. 209653112098225). https://doi.org/10.1177/2096531120982254 Ross, D. A., Hinton, R., Melles-Brewer, M., Engel, D., Zeck, W., Fagan, L., Herat, J., Phaladi, G., Imbago-Jácome, D., Anyona, P., Sanchez, A., Damji, N., Terki, F., Baltag, V., Patton, G., Silverman, A., Fogstad, H., Banerjee, A., & Mohan, A. (2020). Adolescent Well-Being: A Definition and Conceptual Framework. The Journal of Adolescent Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 67(4), 472–476.

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PEDAGOGY AND CURRICULUM The race to raise standards: What is the impact of a Secondary English curriculum that prioritizes knowledge and content over talk?

Alex Campbell Haileybury, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

One of the most important roles of education is to equip students for a life beyond school, so that they can thrive in higher education or in the world of work. One way of helping students to fulfill their potential is by helping them become proficient in the knowledge of the dominant culture, and with regards to English teaching, this includes but is not limited to literary knowledge and the lexical and grammatical knowledge that enables each individual to successfully decode texts and to write effectively. However, recent statistics suggest that academic standards here are woefully low. In the most recent OECD1 PISA study, the United Kingdom ranked 21st in Reading (Guerney-Read, 2016).

However, in addition to knowledge, rapid technological development, and a fast-paced, competitive global market mean that employers also want the millennial generation to be equipped with soft skills, the most sought-after being problem-solving and collaboration (Greenberg, Nilssen, 2015).

In the world of business, technology and politics, great importance is now placed on collective intelligence in order to generate innovative ideas and solutions to complex problems.

Given this context, it is incumbent upon pedagogues to explore how, in addition to knowledge, opportunities to develop these skills can also be embedded into our curricula, so that young people can succeed in the workplace. A common element that underpins these two skills is Oracy: the power of effective speaking and listening and the use of this to promote thinking. There are a broad range of opinions and beliefs about what constitutes Oracy, which vary between teachers,subjects, and even institutions. However, it is helpful to distinguish between two different modes of Oracy, as defined by Maxwell, using the work of Barnes and Todd (1977): Exploratory Talk, and Final Draft language. Whilst the latter presents a “finished article” in terms of spoken language, (e.g. a formal debate, or speech), the former can be described as ‘talk for learning’ or ‘speech for cognition’, and is characterized by “marked by frequent hesitations, rephrasing, false starts, and changes in direction” (Maxwell et al, 2015, page 7, cited Millard, W and L, Menzies, 2016, p.16). This is the type of dialogue which engenders effective thinking in the classroom, and subsequently many work contexts, and 1

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which can be seen as representing “a joint, coordinated form of co-reasoning in language, with speakers sharing knowledge, challenging ideas, evaluating evidence and considering options in a reasoned and equitable way… Possible explanations are compared and joint decisions reached” (Dawes, Littleton et al., 2011, p.3-4). The synergistic power of this type of talk is reflected in Neil Mercer’s term: “interthinking” (Mercer 2000). The image of a double helix is useful to unpick this notion – the way that through dialogue, two strands of individual thought come together, influencing each other and creating new ideas. Whilst it is clearly essential to instruct students in how to use Final Draft Language, for Dawes, Littleton et al, and for Mercer, it is of equal importance to teach them to use Exploratory Talk, as this can be a source of human intellectual and creative activity, which can lead to innovation and new knowledge. However significantly, Dawes, Littleton et al. also underscore how having some existing knowledge is a prerequisite for students to successfully use dialogue in this way. Thus, this paper explores the tension between knowledge and talk in the English Curriculum, and the potential impact on the learning and educational experience of students, of a model of English education that diminishes the significance of the latter. It then explores the benefits of giving Exploratory Talk a place in the English classroom, and how, through careful Curriculum design and planning, talk and knowledge need not be mutually exclusive but mutually beneficial.

The New National Curriculum: Knowledge Versus Talk In 2011, ‘The Framework for the National Curriculum - A Report by the Expert Panel for the National Curriculum Review’ argued that Oracy 2, including Exploratory Talk, should sit at the heart of the Coalition Government’s new National Curriculum, justifying this by underscoring the inextricable relationship between cognitive maturation, oral development and educational achievement (Oates, Pollard et al., 2011). It is important to note that the new curriculum did not totally disregard the importance of these skills for developing intellectual and cognitive skills and therefore for enhancing learning. Indeed, the ‘Overarching Aims of the National Curriculum Key Stage 3 and 4 Framework’ (Department for Education, 2014a) underscore how it should be the priority of all teachers to encourage students to use discussion to learn – speculating, probing and evaluating the ideas of others - as this dialogue helps to clarify their thinking. In addition, the document acknowledges that, at Key Stage 3 and 4, ‘Spoken Language’ continues to underpin the development of pupils’ reading and writing, therefore it is essential that teachers develop their confidence and competence in this area. However, there are other parts of the document, particularly the section concerning the English curriculum, which undermine this mission statement, and diminish the importance of speaking and listening. Firstly, these skills do not actually constitute part of the final grade that students are awarded for their English GCSE. Rather, the overall grade is followed by a Pass, Merit or Distinction to indicate a candidate’s skill level in ‘Spoken Language’. To non-experts, it might seem that these skills are being valued. However, to others, this new system may seem to endorse the idea that they are ‘bolt-on’ skills, and not proficiencies that are inextricably entwined with English education and the way that pupils learn in this domain. Indeed, for many Secondary English teachers, Exploratory Talk is an essential part of their subject, particularly with regards to the study of literary texts. It is through a collective dialogue – a process of reasoning, agreement, disagreement, and evaluation – that students build new interpretations of texts, and this is part of what motivates many pupils to engage with the subject. In addition, if speaking and listening skills do not count towards the students’ final results, then teachers may feel compelled to focus their 2

The explicit teaching of speaking and listening skills for communication purposes

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curriculum time on performance in assessment areas that do ‘count’, namely the subject content required for English and English Literature.

A further criticism that can be leveled at the National Curriculum is that, as the child progresses through their secondary education, there is a narrowing of the skills and the type of talk that are valued. Firstly, throughout the document, and across all Key Stages, the phrase ‘Spoken Language’ is used as an umbrella term to refer to both speaking and listening skills, which suggests that listening is not a skill in its own right, but merely a by-product of its sister skill. Significantly, research suggests that, when these students leave school and enter the workplace the most time-consuming activity which they will engage in in terms of direct communication will be listening, with speaking coming second (Weinrauch & Swanda Jr., 1975, cited Sullivan, 2011); it is therefore concerning that the Government seemed to have devalued this skill. In addition, closer inspection of the assessment objectives for English GCSE suggests that the Government values some forms of Oracy over others.

The emphasis in the 3 GCSE assessment objectives for speaking and listening 3 is clearly on the use of Standard English in formal contexts – in speeches and presentations. This is clearly an important skill, particularly for life beyond school; however, because this external examination is the end point of secondary education, there is a danger that this priority will permeate the classroom lower down the school, leading to narrow Oracy provision at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4, with not enough attention given to teaching the explicit ‘talk’ skills required for joint reasoning and knowledge construction. This is particularly concerning when one considers how, according to a recent UKCES 4 Employer Skills Survey, employers felt that the Oracy skill most deficient in employees is not their ability to deliver speeches and presentations, but their ability to use language to persuade and influence others about ideas, and to manage the emotions of others (UK Commission for Employment and Skills, 2015, page. 44, cited Millard, W and L, Menzies, 2016, p. 37). Thus, when crafting policy, it seems like the Government needs to be more attuned to the needs of employers, and actually more weight needs to be placed on assessing students’ aptitude in the cognitive, social and emotional aspects of Talk.

At the same time as diminishing the importance of ‘Exploratory Talk’, the National Curriculum places more emphasis on intellectual rigor, and on the acquisition of core knowledge, as opposed to skills, in order to raise educational standards and also the status of the English education system on a global scale (Gibb M, 2014). This philosophy has its roots in the work of American Educationalist E. D Hirsch Jnr. (2016) who, drawing on what he asserts is a rigorous body of research, argues that the skill-centered educational systems of the USA between the 1960s and 1980s, and France from the late 1980s onwards, have had a detrimental effect on pupil academic attainment in these countries, with those from lower economic groups being harmed the most. Indeed, in the 2010 Conservative Party White Paper, Michael Gove (2010) recapitulated Hirsch’s view that the role of education should be to narrow the extensive gap that is emerging between those who are born privileged and therefore ‘knowledge-rich’, and those who are born into more socially disadvantaged circumstances and who are therefore more likely to be and to stay ‘knowledge poor’. According to Hirsch, what is needed to combat such inequality is not generic skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, but a community-centric model where everyone is armed with “the same enabling knowledge that is possessed by the most successful adults in the wider society” (2016, p. 17).

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Students are assessed on whether they can: “Demonstrate presentation skills in formal settings (AO7); Listen and respond appropriately to spoken language, including to questions and feedback to presentations (AO8); Use Standard English in speeches and presentations (AO9)” (Holmes, 1911, cited in Department for Education 2013, p. 7)

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With regards to the Key Stage 3 and 4 English curricula, this has resulted in students being required to apply an extensive knowledge of grammar acquired at Key Stage 2, and to read more rigorous and challenging texts from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries (Department for Education, 2014b).

On the surface, this seems a commendable aim and not too dissimilar from the views of Schools Inspector Matthew Arnold, who, writing in 1869, extolled the civilizing qualities of English which could improve children by helping them to learn about the “best which has been thought and said in the world”(1869). However, there is potentially a danger that the import placed on a knowledge acquisition and on raising standards could lead to didactic teaching and uninspiring rote learning in the classroom. Significantly, this echoes concerns voiced by Arnold in 1867, and of another Schools Inspector, Edmond Holmes, in the early 20th century, about Western education. Though writing 50 years apart, both men felt that an over-emphasis on raising standards in tests meant that the Industrial Age of the Victorian era had begun to permeate the classroom. There was a narrowing of what was taught and the teaching was dull and mechanized. Holmes argued that the system depended upon ‘Blind, passive, literal, unintelligent obedience… [and that the child] must become a tabula rasa before his teacher can begin to write on it. The vital part of him - call it what you will - must become clay before his teacher can begin to mold him...’ (Holmes, 1911, cited in Marshall, 2011, p. 7). Whilst the verb ‘molded’ has connotations of artistry, in this context it smacks of control, particularly as the child is objectified as the teachers ‘clay’ upon which to be worked. In addition, the adjectives used to describe the child – ‘blind’, ‘unintelligent’, ‘passive’ and ‘blank’ (as suggested by the phrase ‘tabula rasa’) suggest a lack, or absence in the child. In this model of education, children are empty vessels that need filling by the teacher. They seem to have no agency in their own personal growth and development, and they are not taught to think for themselves or to be involved in constructing their own learning. Having read these criticisms of education in Victorian England, it may seem surprising that there are currently schools in England, such as the Michaela Community School, which are striving to replicate aspects of this educational model in order to raise standards.

This school is particularly significant because the Head teacher, Katharine Birbalsingh, speaking at the Conservative Party 2010 conference, publically aligned herself with this party (2010). In this school in particular, there is very little opportunity for Exploratory Talk in the classroom, and so it is worth considering whether this negatively impacts learning, and also whether we can learn anything from the educational model.

Case Study: The Michaela Academy Opened in September 2014, the Michaela Community School is a Free School in Wembley Park, which takes pupils from some of the poorest boroughs of London. When children arrive in year 7, the school is faced with a number of challenges – for example, just under half will have English as an additional language and approximately one third will have a reading age lower than their chronological age (Ashford, 2016, p. 234). Nevertheless, this school takes a traditional approach to education, proudly rejecting student-centered learning, arguing that teacher-centric classrooms are a way to overcome these challenges. With tables laid out in rows in front of the teachers’ desks (Dyer, 2016), the classrooms reflect the hierarchical, pedagogical view that the teacher is the dispenser of knowledge, with students as their reverential congregation, worshiping at the altar of their wisdom. In terms of curriculum content, in every subject, teachers use Knowledge Organizers to present students with the most vital information that they need to know (Kirby, 4 This includes a minimum of three Shakespeare plays across the two key stages, and at Key Stage 4, Romantic poetry

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2016, p. 58), and all lessons are ‘monologic’, an educational environment in which “classroom talk is closely controlled by the teacher, with the aim of transmitting knowledge which students are required to remember”(Skidmore, 2006, p. 504, cited in Brindley, Marshall, 2015, p. 123). Most lessons involve whole classes engaged in the synchronized reading of a text and, when this occurs, it is customary for the teacher to interrupt with the phrase ‘I say… you say…’. Here, the classroom resounds with the choral recitation of new facts encountered. This type of activity, and the recitational patterns of talk, are then commonly followed by comprehension activities to further aid memorisation, until key subject content is automatized (Dyer, 2016). It is difficult not to feel that the criticisms leveled at the Victorian educational model by Arnold and Holmes should not also be applied here - surely the effect of having every lesson structured in this way would feel dull and repetitive for students?

However, the school is adamant that their students are flourishing in this structured environment and that this is because they are being empowered by knowledge. One Michaela Science teacher at the school claims that this type of rote learning and drilling creates students who are passionate about their learning. This is because they understand the value of the cultural capital that they are gaining, recognizing that it closes the gap between them and other more privileged young people, who because of the education and success of their parents, are more likely to attend Independent schools, or public state schools in leafy middle-class suburbs (Dyer, 2017).

A criticism of the educational model outlined above is that, whilst it may well equip students with knowledge to talk about, the actual opportunities for students to use talk in the classroom are limited. This is potentially problematic because, if one has the former without the latter, then one potentially risks perpetuating the myth that students from these types of backgrounds either cannot, or cannot be trusted to think for themselves, as well as preventing them from thriving in life beyond school. Thus, surely talk must have its place in the classroom too? A further argument in support of this is that talk helps to develop understanding. Many teachers will have noted how, as practitioners, they become more confident about their own subject knowledge once they have either rehearsed its delivery or delivered it for the first time to a class, and the same is true for children. Indeed, psychological research backs this up. Vygotsky highlights the importance of social interaction for learning in his assertion that “Every function in the child’s cultural development appears twice: first on the social plane and later on the individual level; first between two people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological)” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 57). Thus, having been exposed to new knowledge, children need opportunities to talk about it with their peers on the ‘social plane’ – to explain it in their own unique way, to articulate an opinion about it, and in response to other people’s ideas or questions, be encouraged to evaluate their own stance. This will aid comprehension and will help students push this information into their long-term memory, storing it as part of a complex schema, so that they can retrieve it in the future with a minimum of conscious effort (Centre for Education and Statistics and Evaluation, 2017).

Whilst in the short essays written by Michaela teachers and compiled in their book ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers’, there seems to be little evidence of students moving beyond the retention of facts in the classroom, the school argue that they provide adequate opportunities for this to take place elsewhere, for example, the daily ‘family lunch’ during which pupils are engage in “polite intellectual discourse” (Taylor, 2016, p. 11) about designated talking topics. However, a shortcoming of this model is that this dialogue is divorced from the classroom environment in which the knowledge was acquired, and whilst a member of staff is present at the lunch, the actual subject teacher is absent and therefore there is no domain specialist monitoring the content of students’ talk. As a result, there is a danger that any misconceptions may go unnoticed. Furthermore, if a child lacks confidence when talking about a topic, then they may benefit from their subject teacher intervening

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so that they are supported through their Zone of Proximal Development, defined by Vygotsky as the distance between their “actual developmental level”, and their “level of potential development… under adult guidance or collaboration with more capable others” (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). When a teacher observes that their student is struggling to articulate an idea, they can engage in formative assessment, offering feedback (for example by reminding them of other relevant knowledge or by asking questions), which in turn helps the student to “reconfigure and so improve their initial response” (Brindley, Marshall, 2015, p. 122) and therefore further their understanding. Thus, it seems that before attempting to talk about this newly acquired foundational knowledge in the context of a lunch, it would be more beneficial for students if they were afforded the opportunity to do this with their peers and subject teacher, in the classroom in which it was first acquired.

A Place for both Knowledge and Talk for Better Outcomes Rather than regarding the transmission of knowledge and Exploratory Talk as mutually exclusive, some educationalists argue that good disciplinary knowledge can, in fact, lead to a higher quality of Exploratory Talk and therefore more sophisticated thinking. According to research, although there may be minor variances in working memory capacity between individuals, the average person can actually only hold about four pieces of information at a time (Cowan, 2011, cited Centre for Education and Statistics and Evaluation, 2017, p. 2). Consequently, activities that push knowledge into pupils’ long-term memory and encourage automatisation, relieve the burden placed on working memory and, in turn, enable students to engage in higher order thinking processes (Christodoulou, 2014). Taking this into consideration, perhaps teachers need to carefully consider how they structure learning sequences – whether at a micro level in a single lesson, or across a series of lessons, or even a whole unit of work – so that “cognitive overload” does not occur, where “the total amount of load induced in the learning environment does not exceed the maximum cognitive capacity of the learner” (Moreno, 2010, p.137) With this in mind, it seems valid to suggest that arcs of learning should corkscrew around three things. Firstly, students should engage in activities designed for the acquisition of foundational knowledge, for example, learning of complex vocabulary encountered in the taught text, along with the plot sequence, character names and qualities, key quotations and genre tropes. Secondly, teachers should provide opportunities for dialogue or Exploratory Talk (as a whole class or in small groups), in which pupils probe and question others; test evidence to help build their arguments; explore abstract ideas; look for division and conflict in ideas, and offer counter arguments that disrupt the arguments of others. And finally, students should have an opportunity to refine their learning and communicate it in Final Draft Language, in writing or by some other means, for example in formal debate, or in a presentation. It makes sense that, before students are able to confidently and fluently discuss with their peers how far and in what ways Othello conforms to classical notions of a tragic hero, they need to have committed the appropriate tragedy terminology to memory, along with their definitions. And clearly, the same students would be better equipped to engage in an exploratory discussion about the role of the female characters in the tragedy, if they had alreadymemorized a range of key quotations about Desdemona, Bianca and Emilia from across the text. And all of this must occur before students can be expected to write a well-structured essay, or to engage confidently in a debate in which they consider and reject counter arguments, and are able to offer a sustained and well-supported counterclaim. Significantly, the ‘Talk’ component of this sequence can actually improve the quality of this Final Draft Language outcome. Indeed Goswami (2015) argues that engaging in complex, detailed conversation in which ideas are verbalized can actually support the construction of memory and of learning in children, thus classroom dialogue should improve the retention of information about the texts studied, supporting students in building detailed and well evidenced arguments in essays. Furthermore, drawing on the work of Barnes, and subsequently, Mercer, Sampson

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(2011) propounds that talk is an important part of the drafting process and not only allows you to experiment with the substance of your ideas and the manner with which you articulate and arrange them (therefore leading to greater risk-taking and creativity), but also reduces anxiety and cases of ‘writer’s block’.

Exploratory Talk, as explained above, seems to have much in common with Bruner’s notion of ‘Discovery Learning’. Bruner argues that this model of scholarship involves pupils “rearranging or transforming evidence” in order to advance “beyond the evidence so reassembled to additional new insights” (1961, p. 23). Birbalsingh (2015) is vociferous in her criticism of this progressive model of education, arguing that it not only confuses children (in turn leading to poor behavior and disengagement from the subject matter), but that it also benefits middle-class children who have an advantage in terms of their access to cultural capital.However, if one considers the sequence of learning mentioned above then, prior to tasks that involve Exploratory Talk and discovery, all students will be equipped with a solid foundation of relevant subject knowledge which levels the intellectual playing field within the class, and in turn safeguards each child’s self-esteem. With regards to the criticisms regarding behavior and engagement, then it is possible that in these cases, students have not been properly equipped with the cognitive and intellectual skills required for this type of task. As teachers, we therefore have a responsibility to model effective purposeful dialogue, firstly between adult and child, providing scaffolding so that students are then able to achieve this with each other. Bruner, building on the work of Vygotsky, explains this process by suggesting that “The tutor aiding the peer serves the learner as a vicarious form of consciousness until the learner is able to master his [sic] own action through his own consciousness and control” (Bruner, 1985, p. 24-25, cited Corden 2000, p. 8). As teachers, we are not therefore facilitating a something that will occur naturally in the child, but rather we need to “intervene[e]” and “accelerat[e]” development in this area (Vygotsky 1978a, cited in Bogojavlensky, Simon, 1963, p. 31).

Promoting and Improving the Quality Exploratory Talk in the classroom Having suggested that there should be a place for Exploratory Talk in units of work, then it is worth considering how teachers can promote this kind of discourse in the classroom to ‘accelerate’ the mastery of these skills and to deepen thinking. Robin Alexander argues that productive classroom talk is “collective, reciprocal, supportive, cumulative and purposeful”(2017, p. 27-28), and that teachers can encourage this by using whole-class dialogue and questioning. Models of questioning that gradually increase the intellectual demand placed on students abound, from Bloom’s Taxonomy (Recall, comprehend, apply, analyze, synthesize and evaluate) (Dalton, Smith, 1986), to the ‘Clarify, Probe and Recommend’ archetype (Didau, 2015). If employed when discussing a text, these types of questions would clearly produce a classroom discourse that is strikingly different from the recitational and IRF (Initiate, Response, Feedback) patterns which are used in the Michaela classrooms, and according to Coles (2005) in the majority of other English classrooms because of increased accountability and the pressure to raise standards.

In this model, expectations of individual students are high, both in terms of content and talk; students are held accountable to “knowledge” to “reasoning” and to their “community” (Lauren B. Resnik., Michaels et al. 2010, p.180). Firstly, the questions encourage students to consolidate their understanding of subject content. They are required to recall existing knowledge and the expectation is that they get the facts right. They are held accountable to their peers for the quality and accuracy of their answers, and may well be asked to modify their response by framing it in more academic language.The questions then invite students to expand on their understanding by seeking out further evidence to support opinions; this ensures that they are drawing reasonable conclusions.

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Finally, students are encouraged to evaluate the validity of ideas that have been generated in order to develop their own opinions. Students are required to perceive, understand, analyze, evaluate what is heard in relation to their own views, and then they are required to reciprocate. Here, the power dynamic is starkly different to that of didactic, monologic classrooms. Rather than reinforcing the superiority of teacher knowledge and pupil subservience, this is a more democratic and supportive model with all participants being co-constructors of knowledge. The teacher is promoting the idea that, by hearing and responding to the views of others, their ideas will mature and multiply. If teachers then begin to remove this scaffolding, students can then employ these types of questions on their own in the future, in small group contexts, to structure their own Exploratory Talk.

Clearly, for some teachers, particularly those that have subscribed to the traditional notion of teacher as transmitting knowledge to students, adapting their teaching methods to model Exploratory Talk may be a daunting experience. According to Skidmore, the dialogic approach involves “authentic questions (where what counts as an acceptable answer is not prespecified), uptake, where the teacher incorporates student responses into subsequent questions” and students being allowed to “modify the topic of discourse” (Skidmore, 2006, p.504, cited Brindley, Marshall, 2015).

This makes classroom discourse sound potentially messy. It becomes more likely that classroom talk will take unexpected diversions, and develop in unpredicted directions. For some teachers, there could be an anxiety that this might expose poor subject knowledge. Thus, for these teachers who are in a period of transition with regards to their teaching practice, question taxonomies such as those mentioned above can provide a useful scaffold to help them change their classroom habits.

Teachers may well use them to pre-plan their questioning in advance of their lesson, and in turn students could then use the questions as prompts in small group discussion. That being said, the mechanical pre-planning of questions does not fully capture the spirit of dialogic interaction. To create cumulative dialogue, to properly respond to an individual’s ideas, one’s response needs to be spontaneous and context-specific, not a scripted rejoinder that aims to increase the intellectual challenge by a level, pushing pupils towards a prespecified end point (Sidorkin, 1999, cited Brindley, Marshall, 2015). This is clearly going to require skill, practice and training, which at the moment, seems incredibly lacking. Indeed, in a recent study carried out by LKMco, 53% of teachers who were polled claimed that they have not received any training in Oracy, and were unaware of how to locate more information on this topic (Voice 21, 2016).

Moving Forward It is clear that standards do need to be raised in the United Kingdom. However, the Government must recognize that it is not knowledge alone that will raise these standards. In the coming years, businesses foresee that there will be a reduction in the number of low-skill jobs available, and an increase in demand for candidates who have management and leadership skills. It is therefore essential that, in addition to Final Draft Language, they are also equipped with effective Oracy skills, such as Exploratory Talk, which in turn can develop skills such collaboration and problem solving, and as a further a byproduct other behaviors and attributes such as: resilience, curiosity and openness to new ideas, and creativity (CBI, 2017) We have explored in detail the approach taken by Michaela Community School to raise standards – namely a dialogic, monologic model where there is no place for Talk or Skills development – and how the current National Curriculum may encourage schools to adopt a similar pedagogical philosophy. Thus, in order for teachers to deliver programmes of study which focus on both knowledge and importantly speech for cognition, the government needs to review the position of Oracy skills in the English National Curriculum, taking measures to afford it the same status as Reading and Writing. This could be achieved by ensuring that the former is reinstated as contributing to the final English GCSE grade. In addition to this, to reflect the

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impact of talk on thinking and learning, and the value placed on this by employers, the Assessment Objectives at Key Stage 4 should be reviewed so that Exploratory Talk (or whatever appellation is considered most agreeable, e.g. Speech for Cognition or Talk for Learning) is afforded the same status as Final Draft language, namely the use of Standard English in formal presentations.

In the absence of this, the impetus for exacting change needs to come from Secondary Heads of English, with the wider support of their School leaders, who feel passionate about the benefits of delivering a curriculum that recognizes the value of both core knowledge acquisition and the skills required for talk for Learning. Heads of Department would first need to build consensus within their team as to the value of this model of education. Any shift in pedagogical practice, requires teachers to understand the potential benefits on student learning and achievement, and to be equipped with strategies, such as those discussed above, which they can exploit in the classroom. This could come from external training, though for some schools this could obviously be problematic in terms of funding. However, if this is not available, Heads of English could identify ambassadors within their team, who are not only highly proficient in, but also motivated and enthusiastic about this educational philosophy, to then coach less confident teachers. Indeed, Hattie (2015) argues that the most significant factor that negatively impacts student learning is variability within schools, and that the most effective way of overcoming this is for skilled teachers to share their practice with others – their challenges and their successes – so that all those involved can reflect on how to make these strategies work in their own classrooms. However, as well as developing teacher expertise and confidence, time and thought should also be invested in curriculum planning. For surely, neither teacher or student will develop the skills of unplanned, reasoned discourse if they are only implemented in the occasional English lesson, or if they are only covered in a single unit of work. Rather, these habits need to become a “way of life” (Lauren B. Resnik., Michaels et al. 2010, p.172) carefully embedded into all English lessons, so that students are more likely to change their behavioral patterns.

At this point, one might also ask whether it is sufficient for English teachers to model these skills, or whether in actual fact, it is actually the responsibility of all teachers to employ Talk for Learning in their own classrooms. This then opens up debates about Whole School Oracy cultures. At School 21, a non-selective State school in Stratford, East London, year 7 students are exposed to a discrete Oracy curriculum that not only helps them differentiate between Exploratory Talk and Final Draft Language, but that also helps them to make progress in these areas. As well as introducing students to a common talk vocabulary and series of talk structures and activities 5 that can be used to support talk and listening across all subject domains (Voice 21, 2016), this programme of study encourages students to develop a “guild knowledge” of what effective talk lookslike in different contexts, which is developed through an “inductive process… involv[ing] prolonged engagement in evaluative activity under the tutelage of someone who is somewhat of a connoisseur” (Sadler, 1989, p. 135). The benefit of this model is that, in conjunction with the University of Cambridge, School 21 have developed an Oracy Skills framework that enables teachers to track pupil progress in four strands of Oracy: The physical, the cognitive, the linguistic and the social and emotional (Voice 21: Speaking Curriculum, date unknown). This is particularly helpful as the naissance of the new Coalition Government in 2010, resulted in the death of any standardized model of progression 5 6

Examples include: Zone of Relevance, De Bono’s Thinking Hats, Summary Bullseye, and Yes and…

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in Speaking and Listening, namely the DfES’ APP 5 grids for Key Stage 3. It is true that the explicit teaching of skills has been met with some criticism recently. Indeed, E. D. Hirsch (2015) has claimed that there is a comprehensive body of psychological research which proves that skills cannot be taught independently and then transferred from subject to subject, but that rather they are in fact domain specific. On the surface, it may seem like the discrete, 12-month Oracy curriculum at School 21 ignores the fact that skills are intrinsically tied to content domains; however, the programme is purely meant to enculturate students into this learning philosophy, boosting their confidence, and beginning to build their competence in skills such as talk and collaboration. There is then an expectation that Oracy sits at the heart of each subject specialism, and that opportunities for high quality talk are planned into all units of work in order to aid the analysis and deepen their understanding of subject-specific knowledge. With regards to whether this model could be rolled out in other schools, Sheffield Hallam University (Maxwell, Burnett et al. 2015) conducted an evaluation regarding its efficacy which suggested that further research still needs to be conducted regarding how this type of Oracy intervention would be interpreted by other schools, and about the opportunities and barriers that would arise when implementing these approaches on other sites.

Nevertheless, it is certainly worth schools reviewing the material produced by School 21 as a starting point for when crafting their own Oracy ethos and practice.

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ARNOLD, M., 1869-last update, Culture and Anarchy. Available: http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4212/pg4212-images.html [November, 2017].

ASHFORD, K., 2016. ‘Two Years In’. In: K. BIRBALSINGH, ed, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers: The Michaela Way. First edn. Woodbridge: John Catt Publishing, pp. 230-233.

BARNES, D. and TODD, F., 1977. Communication and learning in small groups. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

BIRBALSINGH, K., 2015. ‘How Knowledge Leads to Self Esteem’. In: J. SIMONS and N. PORTER, eds, Knowledge and the Curriculum. London: Heron, Dawson and Sawyer.

BIRBALSINGH, K., 2010-last update, Katharine Birbalsingh Criticizes Failed Education System.

Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XekkQ3HG2lg [December, 2017].

BOGOJAVLENSKIJ, D.N. and SIMON, B., 1963. Educational Psychology in the USSR. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

BRINDLEY, S. and MARSHALL, B., 2015. “Resisting the Rage for Certainty”: Dialogic Assessment - A Case Study of one Secondary English Subject Classroom in the UK. English Teaching Practice and Critique, 14(2), pp. 121-139.

BRUNER, J.S., 1961. The Act of Discovery. Harvard Educational Review, 31, pp. 21-32.

CENTER FOR EDUCATION, STATISTICS AND EVALUATION, , 2017. Cognitive Load Theory: Research that Teachers Really Need to Understand. Sydney, Australia.

CHRISTODOULOU, D., 2014. Minding the Knowledge Gap: The Importance of Content in Student Learning. American Educator, pp. 27.

COLES, J., 2005. Strategic voices? Problems in Developing Oracy through ‘Interactive Whole-Class Teaching’. Changing English, 12:1, pp. 113-123.

CORDEN, R., 2000. Literacy and Learning Through Talk. 1. publ. edn. Buckingham [u.a.]: Open Univ. Press.

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DALTON, J. and SMITH, D., 1986. Extending children’s special abilities. 1. publ. edn. Victoria: Ministry of Education.

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION, December, 2014a-last update, The National Curriculum in England - Key Stages 3 and 4 Framework Document [Homepage of Department for Education], [Online]. Available:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/381754/ SECON DARY_national_curriculum.pdf [November 11, 2017].

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION, 2014b-last update, Statutory Guidance - The National Curriculum in England: English Programmes of Study [Homepage of Department for Education], [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-englandenglish programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-english-programmes-of-study#spoken language--years-1-to-6 [23, 2017].

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION, 2013-last update, English Language - GCSE Subject Content and Assessment Objectives [Homepage of Department for Education], [Online]. Available: https:// www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/254497/GCSE_E nglish_ language.pdf [November 10th, 2017].

DIDAU, D., 2015. The Secret of Literacy: Making the Implicit Explicit. 2nd edn. Carmarthen, Wales: Independent Printing Press.

DYER, O., 2016. Drill and Didactic Teaching Works Best. In: K. BIRBALSINGH, ed, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teacher: The Michaela Way. First edn. Woodbridge: John Catt Educational Ltd, pp. 28-39.

GIBB M, N., September 4, 2014-last update, New Curriculum will make education system ‘envy of the world’ [Homepage of Department for Education], [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/ government/news/new-curriculum-will-make-education-system-envy-of-the world [November 8, 2017].

GIBB, N., 2015. How E.D. Hirsch Came to Shape UK Government Policy. In: J. SIMONS and N. PORTER, eds, Knowledge and Curriculum: A Collection of Essays to accompany E.D. Hirsch’s Lecture at Policy Exchange. London: Heron, Dawson and Sawyer.

GOSWAMI, U., 2015. Children’s Cognitive Learning and Development. York: Cambridge Primary Review Trust.

GOVE, M., 2010. The Importance of Teaching: The Schools White Paper 2010. London: The Department for Education, The Stationary Office Limited.

GREENBERG, A.D. and NILSSEN, A.H., 2015. The Role of Education in Building Soft Skills. London: Wainhouse Research.

GUERNEY-READ, J., 2016, 6th December. OECD PISA report: Where does the UK rank in the international school league tables? The Telegraph.

HATTIE, J., 2015. What Works Best in Education: The Politics of Collaborative Expertise. London: Pearson.

HIRSCH, E. D. (ERIC DONALD), 1928-, AUTHOR, 2016. Why Knowledge Matters: Rescuing our Children from Failed Educational Theories / E. D. Hirsch, Jr. LAUREN B. RESNIK., MICHAELS, S. and O’CONNOR, M.C., 2010. How Well-Structured Talk Builds the Mind. In: ROBERT J. STERNBERG, PHD, DAVID D., ed, Innovations in Educational Psychology: pg. 17 Notions of English December 2017 Perspectives on Learning, Teaching, and Human Development. New York: Springer Publishing Company, pp. 163-194.

MARSHALL, B., 2011. Testing English: Formative and Summative Approaches to English Assessment.

London: Continuum.

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MAXWELL, D.B., BURNETT, P.C., REIDY, D.J., WILLIS, B. and DEMACK, S., 2015. Oracy, Curriculum, Culture and Assessment Toolkit. June 2015.

MERCER, N., 2000. Words and Minds: How We Use Language to Think Together. London: Taylor and Francis.

MILLARD, W AND L, MENZIES, 2016. Oracy: The State of Speaking in our Schools. London: LKMco. MORENO, R., 2010. Cognitive Load Theory: More Food for Thought. Instructional Science, 38(2), pp. 135-141.

OATES, T., POLLARD, A., JAMES, M. and WILLIAM, D., 2011. ‘The Framework for the National Curriculum’ - A Report by the Expert Panel for the National Curriculum Review. London: Department for Education.

SADLER, R., 1989. Formative Assessment and the Design of Instructional Systems. Instructional Science, 18, pp. 119-144.

SAMPSON, M., 2011. Let us Talk: Oral Communication to Enrich Student Writing and Instruction; Wisconsin English Journal, 53(2), pp. 74-80.

SULLIVAN, A.O., 2011. The Importance of Effective Listening Skills: Implications for the Workplace and Dealing with Difficult People. All Theses & Dissertations, 11, pp. 1-71.

TAYLOR, M., 2016. Family Lunch. In: K. BIRBALSINGH, ed, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers: The Michaela Way. 2016 edn. Woodbridge: John Catt Publishing LtD, pp. 117-121.

VYGOTSKY, L.S., 1978. Mind in Society: Developing Higher Psychological Processes. London: Harvard University Press. Helping the UK Thrive: CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey 2017; 2017. London: Pearson. Voice 21 Resources: Shared Language; 2016 - last update. Available: https://www.voice21resources.org/shared-language [December, 2017]. Voice 21: Speaking Curriculum, Date Unknown, Available: http://www.school21.org.uk/voice21 [December, 2017].

The Haileybury Institute of Educational Research Journal Vol. 1, No.2, November 2023, pp. 51–80

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Introducing ‘Where Are Your Keys’ into the Latin classroom. A study of using Total Physical Response and Spoken Latin in a mixed-experience KS3 Latin Class Elizabeth Caffrey Haileybury, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Abstract This small-scale study investigates the impact of communicative teaching approaches on the self-efficacy and confidence of KS3 Latin students in translation. The research was inspired by low engagement and self-efficacy in target language tasks that I observed among a mixed-experience, mixed-motivation Year 9 Latin class. The project posits whether teaching language through Where Are Your Keys, a language learning tool developed through active and communicative pedagogy, increases student confidence with language and particularly in translation tasks. The literature review explores current trends in Classical language pedagogy, particularly calls for a move towards a more humanistic approach through communicative approaches for language teaching. It contextualises claims that these can enhance student ownership over the language, alongside the current DfE and Ofqual guidance for Classical languages. Given the ‘universality’ of the model Speed Curriculum published by the WAYK initiative, my artefact is a model lesson sequence with resources, demonstrating how this technique could be adapted for intermediate Latin teaching with a focus on developing student confidence in reading. Analysis of rich data collected from student work and reflections and practitioner observations indicated increased student engagement and greater ownership over the language. Most impressively, data suggest the approach improves access to new material across a significant mix of prior experiences and motivations, and improving student comprehension of specific linguistic features and vocabulary introduced through the model.

Finally, the data raised interesting questions over the role of metacognition and reflection for developing self-efficacy in linguistic tasks.

1. Introduction This study originates from my interest in how Classical languages are taught to beginner and intermediate students and is prompted by trends around recruitment and engagement for GCSE in my school following a recent curriculum change.

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I teach in an independent, co-educational boarding school in South England for students aged 11-18.

Students principally come from economically-privileged backgrounds. The school offers Latin and Greek at every key stage, including IB and A-level at KS5, and Classical Civilisation from KS4. Despite the impressive and expansive provision for Classical subjects, numbers for GCSE and A-level in Classical languages in the past 10 years have been low.

The school accepts students at 11+, 14+ and 16+. The biggest intake is 14+ and new joiners constitute the majority of Year 9. Previously Latin was compulsory in the first two years but optional in Year 9, so external joiners with little or no experience of the language did not opt for Latin.

Equally internal and external candidates who felt discouraged by their prior experience did not choose Latin in Year 9. Classical Civilisation is not offered until KS4, so students choosing to drop Latin also impacted numbers for non-linguistic Classical subjects at GCSE. Last year, Latin became compulsory across KS3, including Year 9. Because of measures prompted by the pandemic, teaching groups were pastoral rather than streamed according to attainment or experience. The department wrote a source-based course to give all students a foundation in cultural background for Ancient Rome, through Roman material and literary sources. The additional year of Latin and course was successful in engaging the cohort and inspiring students to continue at KS4. Students said they enjoyed the lessons and content. Numbers choosing Classical subjects at GCSE doubled and some beginners who had enjoyed the cultural aspects of the course opted for Classical Civilisation. Numbers choosing Classics for GCSE increased again this year. However, students with little or no prior experience of Latin did not choose a Classical language.

This led me to consider how I was teaching language within this context. Latin sources were primarily chosen for their content-value, not as language teaching resources. Original literary sources and inscriptions provided an additional challenge for students as the register and vocabulary were unfamiliar to more experienced Latinists. Expert Latinists might also find these challenging.

Equally, ensuring that all students could access the cultural content given the variety of experience resulted in heavily-scaffolded lessons or target language (TL) tasks and lessons primarily based in English with linguistic content as an addendum. Finally, teaching a mixed-experience group, motivating students to engage with studying a language they perceived as difficult, alien, and had no expectation of continuing, prompted me to reflect how I could modify tasks to engage as many as possible in the TL, so that language provision was valuable for all students. My project is framed by best practice for language teaching within this model, but also raises parallels for other contexts where time constraints, experience and motivation are themselves important factors in student progress and enjoyment.

After reviewing recent publications on pedagogic innovation in the US and the potential benefits of communicative approaches, I decided introducing the Where Are Your Keys (WAYK) model could aid my students. Designed to create language-learning community in mixed-experience groups, WAYK seemed particularly pertinent for my students. Given the wide variety of previous experience and attitudes to the subject within the same group, it was striking that selective (dis)engagement and low self-efficacy with tasks based in TL were common across the class, evident both in behaviour I observed and from student self evaluations and surveys. The theories underpinning communicative approaches and WAYK offered a solution. Research suggested self-efficacy with TL could be increased at pace and across the group, in a ‘collaborative [effort] with students themselves active participants and contributors’ (Hunt 2021, 64). This was particularly appealing as I perceived peer influence was significant but detrimental to student progress and confidence in Latin. I have

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already observed the benefits of SLA techniques and teaching using Comprehensible Input, such as extensive and tiered reading at all key stages, but have not explored communicative techniques to the same extent. I did not intend to cultivate ‘productive’ TL skills through the intervention but to examine whether these approaches facilitated greater confidence with reading and translating TL texts.

Translation remains central to Classics pedagogy and on the basis of assessment of language competency in the DfE objectives and UK public examinations. Common themes from from a KS3 student-voice survey also prompted me to make this skill the focus of my intervention. Students rating their enjoyment of the subject and perceived progress highly described independent translation as ‘most difficult/least enjoyable’. I set minimal translation tasks or unassisted ‘reading’ tasks, and no independent reading of ‘unseen’ text. TL tasks were primarily individual or paired ‘re-reading’ and comprehension-based, as well as extensive voluntary reading. As highly-motivated students expressed a lack of confidence, I thought about the contrasting perceptions of translation and ‘reading’ of Latin as the same students expressed their enjoyment of tasks rooted in the TL, and how this might also be replicated among students with lower self-efficacy or limited prior experience. I decided to make this my project’s focus to examine how I can increase student confidence in reading TL to promote engagement across a wide range of students regardless of ability, prior experience, or ambitions for future study.

In this thesis, I argue best practice for Latin language teaching requires a variety of approaches to allow students to engage with TL. I conclude that communicative and active approaches, such as WAYK and spoken Latin, contribute to a more inclusive Latin classroom, enhancing student engagement and deepening comprehension beyond productive TL skills. Evidence collected suggested WAYK significantly aided student retention of TL but did not by itself develop appreciation of skills required for translation. Instead, the gap between student and expert perception of success in TL tasks and translation suggests that metacognitive tasks may enhance the development of self-efficacy in beginner and intermediate Latinists.

2. Literature Review In this chapter I contextualise the recent expansion of communicative approaches from the US to the UK, particularly examining the theories that contribute to the WAYK format, and their suitability to UK policy and guidance for beginner and intermediate Latin teaching. I also outline theory on how translation fits within communicative models.

2.1 Communicative approaches and the UK classroom ‘Communicative’ teaching approaches for Classical languages have gained publicity over the past decade, with a spate of publications including teacher testimonies in schools and higher education institutions in the UK and the US (Lloyd and Hunt, 2021; Hunt, 2019; Stringer, 2016; Coffee, 2012).

Most recently, Hunt characterised this as one of three ‘main’ teaching approaches for Latin in his updated survey of pedagogic styles, alongside grammar centred and reading-comprehension (2022, 6). This caused controversy in the UK press, as although increasingly educators have been trialling communicative techniques, these are still deemed unusual. Communicative styles aim to boost exposure to and interaction with the TL itself including aural and oral means, but most crucially through student production of meaningful output. The distinct techniques and objectives within this bracket are not new but labels such as ‘active’, ‘Direct Method’ or ‘living’ Latin reflect the multifaceted nature of the group and the impact of pedagogical innovation in the past century and earlier, most specifically Comprehensible Input theory (Krashen, 1988).

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Publications about communicative and active language pedagogy have principally examined its impact in American high schools and universities, partly reflecting the promotion of ‘communication’ as a central aim for language teaching through the National Standards (1996) and then subsequently World Readiness Standards (ACTFL, 2012). Common to these publications and practitioner blog posts is the argument that the approach offers practical solutions to perceived challenges for the survival and promotion of Classics in schools, by expanding the recruitment and retainment of students, and in debunking long-held, pejorative characterisations of Classics, and particularly of Classical languages (Toda, 2020; Stringer, 2016). This reflects two key ideas about common pedagogical practices from the 19th century and their impact (Hunt, 2019). Firstly, that as grammar-directed approaches are dominant in modern classrooms, numbers choosing to study Latin remain small, because these approaches appeal to a minority of students. Toda posits that grammar-directed approaches are suitable for 4% of the population (2020). Secondly, that rejecting these approaches will serve a wider body of students, both in regards to ‘learning style’ (Deagon, 2006) and motivation. Students experience TL meaningfully and purposefully to negotiate and convey meaning, thereby increasing student ownership over TL. Although these concerns mirror common challenges for the promotion of Classics in UK schools, publications have primarily examined research contexts specific to the US, for example where older students have opted to learn Latin, or where researchers are teaching in high schools or universities (Gruber-Miller, 2006). These are substantially different from typical classroom context in the UK, not least because of educational policy and guidance for assessment. UK schools are dominated by national examinations and league tables. Teachers must prioritise student success by preparing classes for public assessments, ensuring that students can demonstrate knowledge and competence as required by Ofqual. Unseen translation is central to all linguistic Classical qualifications at KS4 and KS5 (Hunt, 2020), unlike Modern Languages where guidance advises ‘short’ excerpts for translation from TL into English (DfE, 2013). Further, the introduction of a grammarspecific section at GCSE in 2015 drew criticism from Hunt for promoting a ‘particular pedagogical approach’ at best and at worst ‘creat[ing] a new set of stumbling blocks to widening access to Languages’ as a point of policy (2018, 18). Although interaction with TL through translation is an established aspect of Classical pedagogy, assessing grammatical knowledge of text prioritises knowledge about the language rather than use of the language. This is antithetical to objectives for communicative approaches (Gruber Miller, 2006, 12; Cook, 2010, 55). DfE guidance for KS3 and KS4 Classical languages permits flexibility to pedagogical approaches for Classics; teachers can choose the resources and approaches which they deem best suited for their students in context, allowing for experimentation with other approaches. Yet, to what extent pedagogical approaches can effectively be integrated into UK classrooms, even in beginner contexts and for non-examined year groups, depends on how conducive these approaches are to public examination objectives.

I chose to introduce communicative approaches with the target class because of enthusiastic testimonies of educators like Stringer (2016) who argue that a variety of communicative approaches facilitate student success in TL by increased engagement. I judged that increasingly passive attitudes to TL tasks affected progress in the group. I did not expect or hope the brief intervention would facilitate automatic use of TL, creating fluent or confident Latin speakers, but that an approach grounded in communicative techniques might create meaningful opportunities for students to engage with and in TL. Further, I wanted to examine if this generated greater selfefficacy in TL tasks, particularly translation.

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2.2 Where Are Your Keys?

Gardner developed WAYK in the US following his own experience of learning an endangered language through Total Physical Response (TPR) in an intensive immersion (Gardner and Ciotti, 2018, 137). Described as a language learning tool, WAYK is not specialised to one language but rather an adaptable set of techniques developed to enliven languages where a paucity of fluent speakers or wider cultural issues places the language at risk of extinction. The model is highly adaptable to the needs of any target group and language. The initiative is designed to counter language extinction, meaning the language is no longer spoken, by increasing numbers of competent speakers.

The model comprises communicative language techniques following Second Language Acquisition (SLA) principles to generate rich input.

The model is designed for contexts very different from the typical secondary school language lesson. Firstly, the intervention is intensive, taking place over a short time and with immersion as primary aim, for example in an immersive Summer course or convention. Secondly, participation is often community-driven as a collaborative conservation of the language from the perceived threat of language extinction. This in itself could increase motivations for a student beyond the common motivations for the average UK teenager learning French. For example, in such circumstances WAYK participant’s valuing of the TL and its ‘usefulness’ might be informed by personal value or wider social aspects, such as family or community influence, and potential risks of non-participation, such as language extinction.

Teachers interested in active approaches are trialling this intervention in classrooms with resources and experiences shared through an online forum. I struggled to find any education research written about the approach in the UK classroom but a few testimonies of Classics teachers in the US teaching with WAYK as standalone lessons were encouraging (Ash, 2012; Llewellyn, 2016). Research about the individual components which inform the initiative and their potential benefits for Classics is more extensive as part of the increased interest in communicative practices such as spoken Latin, TPR and principals of SLA into the classroom.

Spoken Latin has deep roots for Classical pedagogy. Colloquia produced as resources for educating Latin and Greek students survive from 1st Century AD (Dickey, 2012). This collection of sententiae, conversations, parallel Rouse’s publication of recorded interactions in the early 20th Century and his experimentation with spoken Latin was a seminal example of how immersion could be embedded into the Classics classroom following a move away from spoken language after the popularity of grammars in the late 19th century (Stray, 2011; McLelland, 2017). Rasmussen (2015) hailed the reintroduction of spoken Latin in the modern classroom as instrumental for improving the enjoyment and linguistic awareness of beginner and intermediate students studying Latin, describing that teaching TL in this way improves comprehension and appeals to a more diverse group of students, thereby supporting reading fluency and enjoyment in the classroom. Sinclair’s (2018) eponymous ‘learning to speak or speaking to learn?’ is a relevant and important question, as WAYK was designed to facilitate conversation in TL. Although this aim is consistent with language conservation, developing automatic speech in TL does not offer a complete solution for Classics teachers in the UK system, as practical support for teaching language in the current system or in responding to the perception that Latin is difficult or exclusive. Both Urbanski (2021) and Sinclair (2018) acknowledge that not all students enjoy speaking themselves, and that this can generate significant student ‘discomfort’ (2021, 20). Following Krashen’s theory that high stress diminishes student receptivity to rich input (1988), this would suggest that spoken language alone might negatively affect student understanding of TL.

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Carlon also argues teaching Latin so that students focus only on how to use the language is risky as grammar becomes ‘invisible’ (2013, 107). If language is implicitly acquired rather than explicitly taught, then only students predisposed to notice its workings can gain confidence through this input, meaning it is equally ‘inaccessible’ to students who are not already conscientious or interested in the mechanics of language as in a grammar-directed lesson. As I want to examine student selfefficacy in translation rather than speaking, students are ‘speaking to learn’ through the study, using a limited script rather than articulating their own thoughts. Instead, I hope that expanding sensory input to include sound may enhance student awareness of the shape and structure of the language, thereby engaging a more varied profile of learner.

Asher developed TPR (1977) to enhance student speed, retention and experience of language acquisition. Students show understanding of target vocabulary and phrases through action and spoken response. WAYK uses TPR to render messages in the TL more comprehensible, reinforced

by American Sign Language (ASL) which acts as a ‘visual and physical support for learners when overlaid with spoken language’ (Gardner and Ciotti, 2018, 137), enhancing recall and comprehension of TL. As Cook argues, TPR is itself communicativeand a form of translation to the extent that students transfer words into signs (2010, 24). However, critics have raised issues like the technique’s success in contracted time frames, with beginner students, and in limited vocabulary rather than syntax – the original TPR relied primarily on imperatives to demonstrate verbs. There is more research on Ray’s later innovation of this technique (Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling, TPRS, 2015) in Classics teaching. Ray used TPR as a first step to establish meaning before next phases like collaborative story through questioning and spoken TL, before students move to reading tasks practising the introduced structures. Clark concluded that the approach was particularly valuable for middle and low-ability students who performed above expectations in Latin vocabulary tests following meaningful input and the repetition of the comprehensible material (2013, 42). Both TPRS and WAYK increase the complexity of the syntax and language that can be meaningfully conveyed, in that more than concrete nouns or imperatives can be used, thereby making the model feasible for teaching language in the UK classroom.

Gardner also privileges relationships in creating a successful context for language learning. Success in WAYK is conditional on the interaction of a wider group, as ‘when members of a community feel included, provided for, and listened to, the language movement gains participants and allies’ (2018, 144). Support is not only offered in a managerial direction from the subject expert but also by peers or ‘angels’ engaging in the same activity, thereby rendering the messages and input ‘compelling’, as participants find the quick success and wider social interaction engaging within itself. Further this reduces anxiety which negatively impacts the amount of language which learners can acquire through the ‘affective filter disorder’. This seemed particularly pertinent for my research group as I perceived diminishing motivation in the group significantly impacted individual motivation and engagement.

2.3 Translation and Reading The telos of Latin teaching is student engagement with texts. The prevalence of translation in current assessment standards for Classical languages acts as a summative assessment of this aim, as ‘unseen’ translation is compulsory of neo-Latin at GCSE, and of Roman and Greek authors at A-level.

However, critics have emphasised the contrast between reading and translation, and translation’s compatibility with a communicative framework. Within SLA, extensive reading is proposed for its value as rich input to facilitate acquisition. Ramahlo judges reading as part of automatic language use, remarking that if the percentage of target words in a passage falls below 90%, student

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comprehension comes from ‘slowly decoding, and then translating [the passage] into English in order to understand it’ (2019, 49). This characterisation of translation delaying comprehension until TL phrases have been rendered in English has been viewed as antithetical to the aims of automatic language use or acquisition in Modern Languages (Cook, 2010, 149).

However, automatic language use alone does not meet current UK standards for Classical languages. Moreover, like Cook (2010), I would argue that translation has particular benefits for improving students’ understanding of TL. For Ancient languages, where words often do not have a direct equivalent ‘language-neutral mental representation’ in English (2010, 56) because of cultural and historical differences, and different register in the case of literature, this seems particularly pertinent. Translation can promote deeper understanding of Latin because of a greater awareness of meaning within the language’s native context. This knowledge about Latin is important. Equally Cook and Gruber-Miller have argued that translation can be ‘truly communicative’ if the aim is to communicate meaning rather than ‘formal accuracy for its own sake’ (2010, 149; 2006, 11). As an educator, I feel this is possible within the classroom provided students are asked to translate meaningful text, in which recognising and accurately rendering form is part of the negotiation and communication of meaning, rather than nonsensical or banal snippets designed to demonstrate form.

3. Research Design 3.1. Research Questions After reflecting on the trends which had emerged in the Literature Review, I refined my focus into two key areas shown through the questions below: RQ2

To what extent does teaching language through WAYK affect the confidence of students in translation-based tasks?

RQ2

To what extent does teaching language through WAYK affect students’ understanding of Latin?

Figure 1: Research questions

3.2. Methodology Bassey’s characterisation that case study research ‘begins in a world of action and contributes to it’ (1999, 24), directly paralleled my objective for the study as ‘instrumental’ (Taber, 2013, 99). I investigated strategies for improving students’ self-efficacy in translation to make ‘beneficial change within my own workplace’ (Bassey, 1999, 41). The project therefore engaged with principles of action research, partly represented through my research questions, as I sought a practical solution for student confidence and self-efficacy in one linguistic skill. This therefore matched Elliot’s description of action research as ‘the study of a social situation with a view to improving the quality of action within it’ (1991, 69). However, limitations on my time as a sole researcher meant the extent of data and consequent evaluation I could conduct would only represent the first round of an action research project, leading me to categorise my study as more closely aligned to case study with elements of action research.

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Despite the many nuances of case study presented in my literature review, the central aspects as an intensive review of one ‘unit’ or ‘entity’ within its wider and ‘natural context’ (Swanborn, 2010, 13) corresponded most with my research plan. The ‘subtlety and complexity of the case’ were themselves important in my research (Bassey, 1999, 24), and I reflected on defining these aspects as part of the ‘bound[ing]’ of the project (Merriam, 1998, 27). I introduced the intervention with one Year 9 class to explore how WAYK affected student confidence in KS3 level translation. While conscious of the particular ‘idiosyncrasies’ of my focus group, including mixed-experience, mixedmotivation and distinct learner profiles and learning needs, I felt that the project’s core motivation represented a ‘typical example’ for other teachers of non-core subjects and particularly languages at KS3 (Taber, 2013, 99). The multi-faceted aspects informing student experience in my class would mirror nuanced educational contexts which other teachers experienced and many similar issues resulting from these factors.

I reflected that ‘empirical’ evidence within my enquiry was key (Swanborn, 2010, 14). As another researcher might achieve very different results from the same research structure, I try to construct ‘petites généralisations” from the data generated (Stake, 1995, 7). By linking my observations to data from student work and reflection, my observations and reflective practice journal, I aimed to hone in on insights which might then be interpreted and employed in other contexts.

3.3. Theoretical perspective My project, which depends on contextualised data and analysis, seemed to resonate most with Taber’s second Educational Research Paradigm (ERP2, 2013, 68). Taber delineated educational research into two paradigms reflecting Positivist or Constructivist knowledge claims. Unlike Taber’s characterisation of research following ERP1 as ‘general decontextualised findings’ (2013, 68), my research is rooted in student experience and reflection, rendering the project ‘idiographic’ as I ‘recognise the value in exploring the idiosyncrasies of the unique individual case’ presented by my focus group (Taber, 2013, 45). Firstly, I examined student self-efficacy, whereby students articulate their understanding of their capacities and attainment. Secondly, I examined student self-efficacy in translation requiring students to use skills of inference to interpret Latin texts into English through their own words, thereby drawing out and constructing the significance of a text. I cannot avoid discussing the ‘perceptions, understandings, feelings and indeed valuings of the learner’ (Pring, 2010, 32). Constructivism is integral to the knowledge claims the examined aspect and skill because of my research focus and design.

Furthermore, reflecting on my role as a teacher-researcher and WAYK’s conception of language teaching as community-based, I must recognise my positionality and how wider context may impact my understanding of student responses and experience. This is already evident from my decision to introduce intervention with the class, reflecting my own interpretation of students’ needs relative to factors I have observed like learning styles, competencies and motivations. As Kemmis described, the researcher’s definition of the case itself is constructivist as it relies on expert opinion or ‘why the researcher can be a knowledgeable observer-participant who tells what (s)he sees’ (1980, 120). Accordingly, I do not anticipate that objective distance is possible or productive within this study as I interact within the specific social context as an active part drawing out knowledge. Counsell asserts that for interpretivist social-science research, ‘subjectivity is our object of study’ (2017, 347). The scope of my research must address participants’ subjective views and my own positionality. By this examination I construct an understanding of whether students perceive their abilities differently following the intervention.

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3.4. Ethics I followed BERA’s guidance on best practice for research (2018), prioritising the ‘best interests of the child’ in my project’s aims and motivation, aiming to minimise potential anxiety for participants.

Moreover, student experience was central to my enquiry, emphasising the importance of the child to my research (BERA, 2018, 5). I discussed my research proposal with my Head of Department who agreed to act as gatekeeper, and sought advice within seminars and supervisions so I understood how to apply high ethical standards over the course of my project and dissertation. I submitted ethics form and risk assessments to the Faculty of Education. Both were approved before I began collecting data.

Furthermore, given the importance of ‘fully informed consent’ in my research with students, I reflected on issues that could arise from studies conducted with children (BERA, 2018, 5). As Einarsdottir claimed children can only give informed consent if they are ‘given enough information in a language understandable to them to allow them to make an informed choice about consent’ (2007, 205), I dedicated lesson time to explain students’ role within the study, their rights on choosing to engage with the study, and how and where I would use their participation and work subsequently. I explained I would anonymise and treat data confidentially, asking students to define and explain the difference between the two ideas and what ‘voluntary participation’ meant. I gave time for questions and shared where students could find more information about the initiative and how to submit questions to me. I wrote letters of informed consent to parents which I sent with the gatekeeper’s approval.

3.5. Methods To evaluate the impact of WAYK on student confidence in translation, I relied on a mixed methods approach primarily focusing on qualitative phenomena. For this study, which focused on improving student confidence rather than attainment, I defined qualitative phenomena as participant reflections, thoughts and behaviours throughout the study and how they perceived translation tasks.

Following a discussion with my supervisor, I realised that to fully explore my research questions, it was most productive to rely on qualitative data. Analysing how students responded to translation tasks and what their responses were would be more useful in drawing out shared commonalities then whether students had got something ‘right’. Accordingly, I tried to enhance the validity of my interpretations through data ‘triangulation’ (Taber, 2013, 113). I used secondary quantitative data to contextualise student experience nd general attitudes to the subject through prior experience and GCSE options choices. I also generated rich data through my own observations and reflective practice journal alongside student reflection and work. This allowed me to identify trends across the data gathered to increase the validity of my findings.

I collected student work through Google Forms to analyse potential correlations across the research group. This entailed short excerpts for translation taken from a longer story which students had read first. In each I added a short reflection question, seeking to create a snapshot of what students perceived difficult and why. In line with my methodology, I later chose to embed another short reflection asking students to explain how they had approached and rendered translations thereby capturing student perceptions of what they were doing, not just how they found the task.

I then coded recurring ideas and themes and compared how student perceptions matched and how ‘accurately’ they translated the structures I taught through WAYK. Although I had general expectations of what sort of themes and errors might present in this data, I considered it important to follow student experience and to be receptive to possible themes which I had not anticipated.

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Similarly, knowing wide variety of experiences in the group, it was important to know whether there was a large deviation in how students experienced and responded to the task to mark the impact of this on how they approached the tasks and what they struggled with.

To construct a deeper understanding of the rich data collected through student written work and reflection, I chose to include observation. I wanted to know whether WAYK affected students’ understanding of Latin and their confidence. Therefore, including student reactions in the lesson, including what I heard and saw was important context to evaluate WAYK’s impact more fully. As this model of language teaching was new to me and the students, I was curious to see what patterns of behaviour would emerge, particularly how students responded to the format and approached independent translation tasks. I therefore chose to follow an unstructured observation format so that I could be guided by student response and behaviours.

3.6. Lesson sequence The lesson sequence took place over four weeks. In line with the methodology and my role as teacher-researcher, I decided to alter the structure and delivery of tasks following my analysis of first findings. I taught three lessons in which I introduced new syntactical structures through a WAYK game. My WAYK script, lesson structure and resources all form my artefact. Data-gathering lessons focused on how well students had retained the features I taught through translation of longer stories I wrote containing the target syntax. This allowed students more time to complete TL tasks.

It also allowed me to observe student responses to extended passages of Latin and what students did or did not recognise.

WAYK’s ‘universal speed curriculum’, an accelerated ‘fluency map’ demonstrating the progression from beginner through different units of syntax to limited and then increasingly complicated conversational structures, follows the ‘natural order’ hypothesis. Because of the variety of experiences, I was cautious to use this resource in lessons. Firstly, it is designed to take students through structures at an accelerated rate to build student self efficacy in conversation. As my aim was not to develop students’ conversational Latin, I reflected on what standard of difficulty would characterise intermediate or early intermediate passages for Latin. As students in the class had opted for Latin GCSE, I chose to tailor my plans to introduce vocabulary from the GCSE DVL and structures defined on the OCR specification. Secondly, I was wary about how to design an appropriate series of structures for the variety of students within the class. I reasoned that if students with more Latin experience found the level of difficulty too low, the exercise would not be engaging for all students, impeding my study of how effective the model was. I also reflected that if students had already met the linguistic aspects, and particularly if they were taught these through a grammar-directed style of teaching, this would not be a consistent gage as to how well students translated target structures taught through WAYK in isolated sentences and in extended passages.

This year, after reflecting on teaching the course and mixed-experience groups last year, I consciously chose not to teach language explicitly through grammar lessons or to separate lessons into language or culture specific lessons. Instead students read and re-read Latin texts every lesson, using resources like tiered readers and re-reading activities to ensure students comprehended as much TL as possible. This means that students who started Latin this year have never encountered TL teaching directed by grammatical form. Instead the class has met TL through original and adapted Latin sources, tiered readers and novellas. I reflected that students with less experience might be adversely disadvantaged by the combination of meeting new vocabulary and structures, skewing any data collected on how their confidence was impacted by approaching new structures through WAYK.

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Accordingly, I designed language lessons in the style of WAYK, introducing new linguistic features from a first lesson teaching the double verb structure. I considered what sorts of syntactical or grammatical features could be taught through TPR and spoken Latin. For example, comparative adjectives and adverbs lent themselves to the oral nature of the first input, as students might then pay greater attention to the construction of adjectives moving from positive, comparative and superlative. Equally, as most of the vocabulary and structures I introduced fell outside students’ prior experience, I reflected on what would be most comprehensible drawing from prior learning and physical action for visual representation. Following ‘natural order’ principles which influence WAYK’s ‘universal speed curriculum’, I considered what new concepts could be introduced through the initial target structure, aiming to reduce the potentially overwhelming effect that this might have on less experienced students, and allowing me to assess how effectively students had comprehended the new linguistic aspect in my analysis of student work.

Latin sentence

English translation

First target structures

Volo habere baculum

I want to have a ruler

Second target structures

Volo habere longissimum baculum

I want to have the longest ruler

Third target structures

Longissimum baculum est optimum

The longest ruler is the best

Figure 2: target structures for intervention 3.7 Class context I conducted this investigation with a Year 9 class of 18 students, 12 boys and 6 girls, with an average age of 13.5 years old. Two students have SEND profiles with ADD and Dyslexia. Half of these students joined at the beginning of the academic year with varied prior experience of Latin. From an early survey which contextualised their experience and attitude towards the subject, four had not previously studied Latin. Other experience ranged from one taster session to three years of Latin.

Of those with prior experience, three students indicated they felt positively about Latin prior to joining, describing the usefulness of the language for other language study or ‘good achievement’ in school assessments. Only one student stated that they liked the subject itself and found it interesting. The majority of respondents felt either ambivalent (‘it was fine’) or negatively about their previous experience of Latin. Common themes in the responses matched findings in other research into motivation in Modern and Classical languages (Katz et al., 2011; Carr and Pauwels, 2009). Students described lessons as dull or difficult, and said they did not see the relevance or felt ‘unconfident’ about their performance or ability in the subject.

Students completed GCSE options choices in January this year, before the intervention. Across the cohort, 26 students chose to take Latin for GCSE, 36 opted for Classical Civilisation. Within the research group, three students chose Classical subjects: one chose Latin, one chose Classical Civilisation, one chose to take both. These students all had a minimum of two years’ experience of Latin when they made this choice.

4. Artefact Noting Hargreaves’ comment that the ‘fatal flaw of educational research’ (1996, 3) was distance between research and its practical application within the classroom, my artefact is a model of

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lessons with resources created around the mini WAYK script which I wrote. I hope this resource pack might be used as a model by other teachers interesting in experimenting with the approach.

The WAYK initiative is appealing because it is adaptable; the model proposes one technique for enhancing the fluency and engagement of all students with TL rather than a language specific and directed approach.

The script reflects my classroom’s physical context. I used board pens and rulers which could be quickly sourced and used as visual prompts. As this was my first experience of ASL, I was careful to choose and demonstrate terms consistent and logical with this ‘real life’ context, but also which I could remember and quickly recall. In my artefact I have tried to demonstrate how the model could be integrated within lessons, and particularly could be scaled to introduce GCSE-standard texts for reading and translation. For example, I planned two model lessons to accompany WAYK2, including starters, model readings and an extension task. The accompanying resources are emblematic of my subject and project focus showing how post-WAYK TL tasks might be structured to develop student confidence in reading. Equally, I have reflected that the post-WAYK material could be structured as a listening, speaking or writing task depending on the requirements of the subject and lesson aims.

For both starters, I encouraged students to work in pairs, allowing all students to discuss TL features and possible themes of the story before modelling translation through whole class discussion of the slide. As students primarily worked independently, recall of prior knowledge was crucial to give both less and more confident linguists a greater chance of successfully recognising and translating the target structures, thereby maximising engagement with the text. Each starter slide has a simplified Latin sentence containing both the target structure and vocabulary from the extended story. This sentence was made more comprehensible through the vocabulary and images I chose.

I wrote stories and starters either based on what students had recently met through pre-learning homework or because of the words’ similarity to English cognates. Images allowed students to create meaningful links to the theme or events of the post-reading even if initially unconfident with the Latin excerpt. For example, the simple post-reading follows a race represented by a scene from a foot race on a Greek vase with simple Latin describing what is happening in the image. ‘cursus’, ‘currit’, ‘rapidus’, ‘rapidior’, ‘rapidissimus’, ‘tres, primus, secundus, tertius’ are all key terms which feature heavily in the extended reading.

The second post-reading was about the Battle of Actium which students previously learnt about through literary and material sources. The images of the most important characters reminded students of key terms like ‘homines, femina, imperatores, regina’. However, as not all students had been explicitly taught about forms for different tenses, I chose to remind students how to translate ‘erant’ (they were). I reasoned that by discussing this different form, students would be more likely to notice tense within their independent translation.

I also included three simple English-Latin questions as extension work, providing differentiation for interested and more confident students. This allowed the whole class to work effectively and independently without putting slower or less confident students under pressure. I used this not only to gage how swiftly they were completing tasks but also to give insight into student grasp of the target structures, across a range of abilities. This extension model is appropriate for fostering communicative habits as students use the language to create meaning. This also parallels simple English-Latin sentences which feature in the GCSE language paper as an alternative to the grammar questions.

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I have already shared my model script, scheme of work and resources through my department’s shared drive. The school has introduced an explicit focus on oracy within teaching and learning this year and I would like to explore how this technique could be used to facilitate speaking and listening tasks for languages with other colleagues in the faculty. My Head of Department has also suggested I present my findings in an inter-school CPD on communicative approaches for Classics teaching in the coming term for which the artefact will act as a central point of discussion.

5. Data and Analysis 5.1 Findings In this section I present key findings from the data collected during the project. To contextualise this data, I have included my own comments and analysis as part of a narrative review. Summative discussion for each research question then follows at the end of this chapter.

I analysed student attitudes through reflective responses to translation tasks. Students were asked to identify which sentences they had found easy or difficult and to explain why at the end of each task, capturing students’ perceptions of how successful they had been and inviting students to identify the aspects they found difficult.

In my reflection on the first intervention lesson I noted there was insufficient time for individual translation. Lessons last 40 minutes and prior to teaching the first lesson I wondered if the length of the post-WAYK story (249 words) was overambitious. Given the length of the starter task and WAYK game (25 minutes), students had under ten minutes to translate sentences individually.

Many students could translate the five target sentences and explain what they found difficult or easy about translating within the final six minutes of the lesson although not all students attempted every sentence. While it was possible that students deemed these ‘too hard’ and therefore deliberately missed them, it was also possible that they ran out of time. As it was important for me to know which of the two reasons had meant students only translated some of the sentences, I decided I would allocate more time to student translation by adding a second lesson. I therefore expanded my initial research plan to five lessons. I delivered new content in a first lesson with a short story consolidating the target structures. I then wrote a follow up story for a second lesson to give students more time and opportunity to practise independent translation. With partial data, it was possible for me to misinterpret students’ motivations, for example, whether they felt sufficiently confident to attempt sentences. This would skew my understanding of how challenging students had found the exercise.

I noted in my reflective journal that the energy in the room had been encouraging. Even students who were typically reticent to offer answers or participate in TL exercises, copied and repeated the script alongside more confident peers and could retain the target vocabulary by recalling words alongside actions. As the WAYK script I wrote largely relied upon vocabulary that students had not met before (e.g. columnum pen, venetum blue, rubrum red), it was interesting that novice Latinists and more experienced Latinists seemed to pick up the terms at the same pace. It was also striking that students were able to recall the target vocabulary and actions a week (and then 2 weeks) later although I had only briefly reviewed three key verbs with them. However, the level of experience seemed to be more evident where students recalled the word type endings, for example infinitive verbs ending in ‘-re’ or the difference between ‘volo columnum habere’ (I want to have a pen) and ‘volo columno scribere’ (I want to write with a pen). This fitted with my general expectation that

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those who had learnt grammar through explicit methods might be more aware of grammatical form in TL. All students then attempted an English-Latin task using the vocabulary. Many students recalled the vocabulary as they had first met it (‘veneto’ blue as from ‘veneto columno’ with the blue pen) and most experienced students could mirror the target structure by constructing the infinitive form of a new verb.

1

Gladiatores spectare vult

He wants to watch the gladiators

2

Puer mavult spectare equos quam nihil.

Ergo puer in Circum Maximum it.

The boy prefers to watch the horses than nothing. Therefore the boy goes into the Circus Maximus

3

Puer factionem albam vincere vult.

The boy wants the white team to win

4

Factionem venetam vincere malebat quam rubram.

He preferred the blue team to win rather than the red team

5

Puer factionem rubram vincere non vult.

The boy does not want the red team to win.

Figure 3: Target sentences for first post-reading Students principally cited Q2 and 4 as the most difficult, with only one student stating they found 1 difficult. After coding the answers, students mainly cited one of two aspects: the length of the sentence, and more commonly, difficulty with vocabulary or ‘not knowing’ what words meant. Given that students had received a word list for any words which were not covered in the input script (e.g. puer, spectare, equos, nihil, it, vincere), I wondered to what extent this suggested less experienced students did not recognise the words in a new context. Some students who considered Q4 most difficult did not attempt to translate it but completed 5, suggesting they opted to miss out this sentence. By contrast, students principally felt that Q1 and 5 were easiest, claiming this was because the sentences were ‘shortest’ and most ‘simple’.

Students’ first reflections were simplistic and their perception of how successful they were in the task seemed to depend on their perceived outcome. The most common explanation in the first reflection collected was that sentences were more difficult or easy to translate depending on whether students ‘knew’ the ‘words’ or the ‘sentence’ or the ‘Latin’, or did not. On the one hand this a succinct summary: students struggle to render the meaning of Latin which they do not recognise, and particularly if they do not know the meaning of words. However, to ‘know’ a piece of vocabulary does not necessarily include understanding the nuances of that word’s form, recognising what the word means in its context within the sentence, or then rendering that knowledge into English which accurately reflects the meaning. Similarly, there is a big difference between understanding an individual word, the specific phrase, the format of the phrase or more sweepingly what ‘Latin’ means. This characterisation of success in translation as demonstrating or lack of prior knowledge remained the most common answer over the course of the intervention and seemed to be mirrored in student descriptions of sentences as ‘difficult’ or ‘easy’.

Students also identified length of a sentence as an important factor. The longer sentences within the first story were in fact more complex due to the number of different clauses within the same sentence, some of which were conceptually more challenging and further from the English expression. For example, ‘malo quam’ (to prefer… rather than), was not so successfully rendered as ‘volo’ or ‘nolo’ (I want or I do not want).

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As above, I decided to extend the planned content across two lessons for following intervention lessons, allowing me to embed more independent reading with a first shorter passage written exclusively in the present tense, and then an extended, more challenging passage based on the cultural content which students were studying. I included different tenses and a wider variety of vocabulary taken from the OCR GCSE DVL in the latter. Although I structured tasks to student analysis of what they had found challenging through reflections, the lack of specificity in first reflections prompted me to restructure where these reflective snapshots were included and to embed opportunities for reflection throughout the task to gain more of an insight into how students approached specific sentences for later data collection points. I also introduced short EnglishLatin sentences as extension which allowed me both a different insight into how well students had understood the syntax and how quickly students were completing the task. I asked students to explain ‘how’ they got to the English translation of the Latin. This allowed me to examine how students reasoned or arrived at a final answer, and which aspects of the language students understood how to translate as well as their perception of the task itself.

I noted in my reflective journal that students appeared more confident with the format of WAYK. I asked for volunteers to be demonstrators and then ‘angels’, the WAYK name for peer assistants.

In the second research lesson, two low-motivation but socially-confident students immediately volunteered to demonstrate and a number of high-engagement and ability students volunteered to be ‘angels’ and less confident students, such as a novice Latinist. I was struck that the ‘angels’ recalled a great deal from the previous WAYK lesson and felt confident correcting the demonstrator and me when I mis-signed. This was particularly helpful because not all demonstrators took the task seriously. I noted this would be an important consideration in future and for others considering using the technique because the effective learning of the class depended on demonstrator participation. In a more disruptive class, this might mean that the method would not be appropriate.

However, it was also useful to observe that the influence of ‘angels’ ensured a good level of productivity in the group as a whole, suggesting that peer influence could generate a higher level of engagement as I had hoped.

Students comprehended the contrast between ‘longus’, ‘longior’ and ‘longissimus’ quickly. This example and script were simpler to comprehend than the first script which required students to infer preference. I had rulers of varying lengths and the sign for ‘long’, ‘longer’ and ‘longest’ were themselves easy to comprehend from ASL signs and props.

Reflections on what had been challenging in the post-reading task were more nuanced and specific than before. Students identified individual words they had not recognised ‘I don’t know what magistri and vincere mean’ and rather than sentence ‘length’, described that Q8 had ‘many elements’ or that there was ‘a lot to translate’. One student also (incorrectly) cited that multiple ‘tenses’ in Q1 had made the translation more difficult. The sentence did contain multiple verbs in different forms, ‘malunt’ (they prefer), ‘ambulare’ (to walk) and ‘currere’ (to run). The student used inaccurate technical vocabulary but correctly conveyed they had struggled most with translating the verbs.

In contrast to the most common answers from the first reflection, many students also described that the process of constructing English meaning in the correct ‘order’ was challenging, particularly where sentences included multiple nouns. Students appeared also to be more aware of how they were approaching the Latin text as they remarked on using other aspects in the language such as other examples they had read, or the similarity of Latin to English in their analysis.

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It was also interesting that students described ‘translating by sense’ or achieving meaning through using wider cues to establish if they had accurately translated: ‘I figured it out’, ‘it didn’t make much sense which tells me that I have got it wrong’. One of the students with least experience described using other examples within the text to help them translate the target sentence. Within its context, this was really exciting: a student with very limited experience of Latin referenced other examples in the TL and what they did know to (accurately!) construct the meaning of unfamiliar Latin. This suggested that the format of the lesson and the materials reinforced the student’s learning as they were able to use familiar examples to derive meaning from ‘unseen’ text. The same student alluded to using scaffolding materials such as a vocabulary list in their description of translating.

By contrast, reflections about why students found sentences ‘easy’ were more simplistic. Five students described ‘short’ length made a sentence easier, and a number of students appeared to rely on their perceived outcome describing that they found the translation easiest because the sentence itself was ‘easy’, ‘simple’ or ‘straightforward’. As before, the ‘shortest’ phrases did contain the simplest syntax, revolving around the main verb ‘est’.

Some students also directly alluded to the intervention, describing how they were able to translate pieces of vocabulary because they had recalled ‘hand signals’ or ‘acting it out’, suggesting that students had made meaningful links to the TL through the intervention. Although ‘quam’ (than) was a key piece of vocabulary in the first and second target lesson, the target adjectives ‘lentus’ and ‘rapidus’ (slow and fast) were glossed in the vocabulary list and the variations of ‘faster’ or ‘slowest’ were new to students. The intervention appears to have improved student confidence and comprehension of the target structure in that they accurately inferred meaning of the new Latin and described their knowledge of vocabulary as a primary reason for their success.

1

Multi magistri ambulare malunt quam currere

Many teachers prefer to walk rather than run

2

Omnes cursum vincere volunt

Everyone wants to win the race

3

Ego nolo ambulare

I do not want to walk

4

S est rapida. Bene et rapide currit!

S is fast. She runs well and quickly!

5

M est rapidor!

M is faster!

6

A est rapidor quam M.

A is faster than M.

7

A non est rapidissimuss!

A is not the fastest!

8

S et M et A sunt rapidi sed MS rapidior est!

S and M and A are quick but MS is quicker!

Figure 4:Target sentences for second post-reading

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Students primarily chose Q1 and 2 as most difficult. Both sentences recalled prior learning from the first research lesson and included ‘malunt’ and ‘volunt’ (they prefer to, they want to). Q3 also included ‘nolo’ (I do not want), the majority of students did not translate this correctly and did not seem aware that they had misunderstood this term. Only one student described this as most difficult and correctly identified that they did not recognise or know how to translate ‘nolo’.

Six students cited Q5 as ‘most easy’, with five choosing Q7. Both sentences were least conceptually difficult as they followed a simple syntactical structure ‘subject is (not) adjective’ and it was evident from data that students were confident with identifying, understanding and rendering ‘rapidor’ and ‘rapidissimus’ (faster, fastest). Although students did not identify it as the ‘easiest sentence’, Q6 was accurately translated by all students. As above, the syntax was simple and has the same word order as the English strucutre. Students appeared to have retained the meaning of ‘quam’ (than) and to have recognised ‘rapidior’ as a comparative. A large majority of students also successfully translated Q5 and 7 which had a parallel structure, however not all students had fully comprehended the format and translation of the target structure, missing that ‘rapidior’ and ‘rapidissimus’ were not simply ‘fast’. This was also apparent in Q8, where students logically inferred that the character would be more ‘fast’ than other ‘fast’ characters in the sentence, but did not accurately convey that he was ‘faster’ rather than the ‘fastest’.

Many students struggled with the first three sentences recalling prior learning of the three modal verbs (volo, nolo and malo). As before, students generally understood ‘malo’ indicated preference, but rendered this in a series of ways which would be penalised within the OCR GCSE format for translation: ‘chose/wanted/decided to… rather than/instead of’. Students comprehended the sense or had logically inferred it from the word ‘quam’ but had not retained ‘malo’ as ‘prefer’. Only a third of students recognised and translated ‘nolo’ as ‘I do not want’. I wondered whether this reflected the second modelled ‘set up’ in which I had only ‘wanted’ or ‘preferred’ different objects, so that ‘nolo’ had not been recently reinforced unlike the other two target words.

As before, students inferred tense in the story, although the story was exclusively told in the present tense. This reinforced my prior observations that students would logically use what they knew to contextualise what they did not. Because of this, I included adverbs derived from the target vocabulary list to see whether students could logically infer that ‘currit rapide’ meant ‘she runs quickly’. A number of students comprehended the meaning but replicated this through ‘fast at running’, rendering the sense but not the form.

The third post-reading was deliberately more challenging. I included multiple elements in each sentence and the target syntax of double verbs, superlatives and comparatives, such as parentheses, prepositions, relative clauses and passive infinitives. Students reviewed the story content and target vocabulary prior to the lesson. I also encouraged to use this vocabulary list to help them in translating.

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1

Pater Octavianii, nomine lulius Caesar, erat Octavian’s father, called Julius Caesar, was Romanus potentissimus the most powerful Roman

2

Sed et Octavianus et Antonius potentissimi But both Octavian and Antony wanted to esse volebant be the most powerful

3

Alexandria est urbs Graeca et longissima Roma

Alexandria is a Greek city and very far from Rome

4

Romani malebant habere ducem Romanum quam ducem barbarum

The Romans preferred to have a Roman leader rather than a barbarian leader

5

Octavianus et Antonius vincere volebant

Octavian and Antony wanted to win

6

Antonius rapidissime a preolio fugit!

Ignavior erat quam Cleopatra

Antony fled very quickly from the battle.

He was more cowardly than Cleopatra

7

Antonius quoque mortuus esse malebat quam victus esse

Antony also preferred to be dead than to be conquered

8

Ergo Octavianus victor et fortissimus erat.

Fortior quam Antonius erat.

Therefore Octavian was the winner and bravest. He was braver than Antony

Figure 5: target sentences for third post-reading Student reflections showed more awareness of the process of translating, with many claiming they had approached the unknown sentence by identifying familiar vocabulary first, or identifying the verb, before then resolving what they did not know through educated guesses. Students struggling with rendering Latin sentences into a ‘correct’ order reflected a common experience, as they tried to read Latin in the same order they would English, expecting position of nouns and verbs indicated subject and object.

Most students identified Q6 and 7 as most difficult. Both contained elements which had caused confusion earlier in the intervention, the superlative adverb ‘rapidissime’ (most quickly) and the use of the verb ‘malo’ (I prefer). These were also duplicated as common errors in attempted translations, as students successfully conveyed the sense of the phrase but did not render all words with an awareness of form.

The majority of students described Q1 as easiest to translate, which accurately encapsulated the simplicity of the main structure which focused on ‘erat’. As before, students appeared to rely on sense to guide them in the translation of aspects like tense. However, almost all students correctly rendered Q3 which had a present tense verb in contrast to the rest of the passage (‘est’ is). This suggested that students were not translating on autopilot as they deliberately used the present tense.

In my reflective practice journal, I noted that the third and final WAYK lesson was conspicuously lacking in energy. Although students recalled all 11 signs and target words from the earlier script, I felt that the lesson script became unhelpfully clunky while demonstrating and I found myself getting lost in signs. Students also struggled to recall the longer sentences. I reflected that the setup and new syntax was less compelling than prior lessons, perhaps because the meanings of ‘bonus’, ‘melior’ and ‘optimus’ were not themselves self-evident within the context or using the signs. I also noted that significant absences (5 of 18 students) may have contributed to diminished pace. As

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before, socially confident students volunteered to be leaders, high-motivation students primarily volunteered as ‘angels’. I reflected that although peer interaction within the intervention improved engagement, this could also cause difficulties for less confident students if not managed carefully by the teacher.

1

Omnes domus sunt bonae et omnes domini et dominae sunt boni.

All houses are good and all house masters and mistresses are good

2

Ergo T est optima quia proxima ad cibum est.

Therefore T is the best because it is closest to food

3

T quoque antiquissima domus in H est.

T also is the oldest house in H

4

Lacus est pulcher sed campi sunt pulchriores.

The lake is beautiful but the fields are more beautiful

5

Tamen dominus domus est rapidissimus dominus.

However the HM is the quickest HM

6

O est maior quam B.

O is bigger than B

Figure 6: target sentences for fourth post-reading Strikingly, only one student cited length in their reflection on how difficult the task had been.

The overwhelming majority of students said the most pertinent factor in how difficult they had found the task was the ‘words’. More students identified specific terms and phrases than in previous reflections, with a number of students identifying and translating key terms (correctly) when rationalising how they had translated. Three students explained that they had used the crib vocabulary list on the board. Four students alluded to using prior knowledge in helping them translate, both material from the intervention (‘I know what longissimus means so I knew the answer’, ‘we have done a similar question before’) and their own knowledge (‘proximus sounds like proximity’, ‘it is similar to other languages I use’).

Students primarily had good success in translating the sentences, with most rendering all sentences accurately. Because the target structure was comparative and superlative adjectives, examples of this within the reading often focused on the verb ‘est’, which students had consistently identified as the easiest syntax to translate in earlier reflections. I judged that the similarity to English word order and how common the phrase was probably contributed to students’ confidence and success in translating.

Five students said Q6 was most difficult. However, most students correctly rendered ‘maior’, with only four incorrectly translating this adjective. In these incorrect answers three students logically concluded that this word was a comparative adjective and had suggested ‘better’, only one student omitted this word completely. By contrast, only one student identified Q4 as most difficult, but ‘pulchriores’ was erroneously translated most, often as the positive or superlative version of ‘pulcher’.

This suggests that despite the intervention, students did not notice the comparative, supporting general research that students learn meaning first, form second.

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1

Zeuxis et Parrhasius volunt esse optimus pictor

Zeuxis and Parrhasius want to be the best painter

2

Volunt cognoscere quis esset pictor optimus

They want to find out who is the best painter

3

Omnes spectatatores maximum applausum All spectators gave very great applause to Parrhasio dederunt Parrhasius

4

Zeuxis primus erat. Cives elegantissimos ad Zeuxis was first. He invited the most villam suam invitavit. elegant citizens to his house.

5

Parrhasius qui sic in certamine victor erat. pictor optimus erat!

Parrhasius who thus was victor in the contest, was the best painter.

Figure 7: target sentences for fifth post-reading The final post reading was significantly more challenging than earlier examples. I was struck that students struggled most with phrases where words were not in the same order as the English. Students primarily identified Q3 and 4 as most difficult. Both followed typical Latin word order, object promoted before main verb, which is unlike English syntax. Q3 was mostly translated accurately, with a few students omitting the adjective ‘maximum’. Students struggled most to resolve the second half of Q4, in identifying who was doing the verb but also who was ‘elegantissimos’. As word order is often one of the earliest aspects ‘taught’ in Latin courses, I was struck that this had caused the most difficulties. While in Taylor’s GCSE course, which delays indirect statements to late in the course as a ‘complex’ structure, most students could translate most of the sentence by sense, following the word order. All students spotted and accurately rendered the superlative adjectives as ‘most’ or ‘very’, but most errors were to do with agreement, a feature largely dependent on form or ‘case’.

Strikingly, student reflections were limited and seemed to have reverted to the level of detail offered in the first data collection, where reasoning about what was difficult seemed circular – they ‘had trouble with that bit of text’, ‘the words were difficult’ or they ‘didn’t know the words’. Only one student referred to using ‘translations on the side and common sense’ to help them make educated guesses if unsure. Some low-motivation students offered translations which paraphrased the Latin, for example ‘they want to see who paints the best painting’ or did not attempt sentences. Although the paraphrased English conveyed a lot of the Latin meaning, I felt this came from students’ reasoning about the story rather than the extract itself. Despite the positive progress that students had made over the course of the intervention, this challenging story appeared to discourage a number of students, with least confident students not attempting parts of the task and many concluding that they had insufficient knowledge to successfully translate the sentences.

5.2 To what extent does teaching language through ‘WAYK’ affect the confidence of students in translation-based tasks?

Analysis of findings suggests student confidence improved to a limited extent following the introduction of WAYK. Initially student responses were simplistic and seemed dependent on perceived success. As the intervention continued, student answers and responses showed a greater variety of considerations and aspects identified when translating. Student analysis of what they found difficult also became more detailed. Rather than considering the task ‘confusing’ as a whole, students identified aspects or terms they struggled to translate specifically, describing

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that they did not ‘know’ vocabulary rather than the language or task as a whole. This suggested increased confidence with translation and increased linguistic awareness, as students distinguished between what was beyond their knowledge, rather than that their confusion or perceived difficulty resulted from lack of ability. While this could be due to increased familiarity with reflective responses over the intervention, the similarity of themes in first and last reflections suggests that reflections were facilitated most where students felt challenged but able to access the material.

It also became apparent over the course of the intervention that student perception of translation differed significantly from my own. Rather than viewing translation as ‘skill based’ students seemed to view each individual task as assessing their knowledge of specific content. Accordingly, many students appeared to view success as dependent on whether they ‘knew’ the specific material and could therefore translate each sentence. With this realisation, student self-efficacy in translation as a whole was not significantly changed by the project, although student confidence with certain target structures and ‘knowing’ lots of the target vocabulary suggests that teaching through WAYK did improve confidence with translating certain structures.

5.3 To what extent does teaching language through WAYK affect students’ understanding of Latin?

During and following the intervention I perceived that student comprehension of the target vocabulary and concepts had been enhanced by WAYK. In my observation notes and reflective journal, I was frequently impressed by the alacrity with which students recalled target words and signs, even developing sufficient confidence to correct peers and me if I mis-signed. This supported theories that the approach can inspire greater ownership over TL. Students were confident in their knowledge of the signs and meaning of words, and were not afraid to offer this knowledge in collaboration with others.

Data suggest that WAYK enriched TL input. For example, in a lesson following the intervention a student was unsure about the meaning of ‘iratissimus’ (most angry). Another student responded that it was a ‘superlative adjective’. Student A did not understand Student B’s explanation. I repeated words and the signing for the ‘longus, longior, longissimus’ (long, longer, longest) which students had practised. Student A remarked that ‘a superlative is the most extreme version of the thing’ so it must mean ‘most angry’. Student A was able to link their prior exposure to the modelled superlative ‘longissimus’ to derive meaning from the unfamiliar word. This was also apparent when students reflected they had used input from WAYK, signs or excerpts from the script, to translate TL. Yet although WAYK significantly improved student comprehension of Latin when successful, certain linguistic features and concepts seemed to be comprehensible because of how students perceived the ASL accompanying signs, rather than the format itself. This is evident from student attempts to articulate their interpretation of signs such as ‘malo’ (I prefer) in English, and not recognising comparative adjectives out of context. This meant that the success of the approach was variable.

Equally, although spoken language appeared to increase retention of target vocabulary, many students struggled to mirror or then recall the exact pronunciation of words, primarily garbling the endings of words. Prior experience seemed to have the biggest impact on whether a student noticed form or could recall it themselves rather than the intervention. I reflected that students needed more support to make the most of the oral nature of the script.

Beyond enhancing student linguistic knowledge, I concluded that the project facilitated metacognitive reflection. As I examined, student reflections showed greater evidence of linguistic analysis and reflection as the project progressed. Student reflections and behaviours prompted me

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to reconsider student perception about their learning. A high achieving student asked me ‘how does that help?’ when I asked students to review prior learning by recalling the signs for target vocabulary, prompting a discussion on whether signing had been a successful tool in understanding and learning the language. A demotivated student reticent to sign during the WAYK game, asked her peers ‘what is this?’. Given students’ initial struggles with articulating how they were successful, it would be useful to explore how a greater focus on the metacognitive aspects of language learning might impact student self-efficacy more generally, particularly as I perceived that the accuracy of translation and level of detail in student reflection were linked.

6. Conclusions 6.1. Research outcomes The integration of WAYK into the classroom enhanced student understanding of Latin. When successful, it facilitated the group’s access to and comprehension of new material at pace by rendering the input highly comprehensible. Student responses and retention of specific target structures were impressive and the intervention was sufficiently memorable that students recalled the target signs and words weeks later. Students have also formed strong links to target phrases which have allowed them to construct meaning in new examples several weeks later, such as superlatives and comparatives.

It is also striking that the types of ‘errors’ and ‘challenges’ that students identified across the intervention were similar across the sample, despite the variety in experience and other factors such as absences from earlier lessons in the sequence. In context this seems extraordinary: the least experienced were not at a disadvantage. All students worked productively and successfully using the same material, without significant scaffolding or deviation from the time constraints of weekly lessons. It is notable that many of these errors were of form, rather than meaning, and principally where word order deviated significantly from typical English word order. Following Cook’s argument that meaning-driven translation is compatible within a communicative framework, it seems that WAYK facilitated student comprehension of Latin and that they were largely able to convey this accurately in English.

However, from my analysis of data I have judged that the intervention did not improve student confidence or competence with translation. Common themes even in the most positive student evaluations showed that students believed they were competent with the specific material and target structures practised through the intervention, identifying that they ‘knew’ the words, rather than with TL tasks more widely or in knowing how to approach translations. Reflections showing most metacognitive awareness were produced by students with least experience, identifying how they had attempted to work through their perceived lack of knowledge such as by using prompts and educated guesses.

Data gathered from observations and student work also suggested that the format’s success was unpredictable, relative to variables beyond what I could anticipate as teacher, for example whether the students enjoyed the sign or sound of Latin words. Student recall of these words and signs were strong but the sporadic enthusiasm could ultimately render the success of the method variable, particularly in instances where the language was conceptually more difficult and where the ASL signs seemed more abstract or were not visually self-evident. As the format was dependent on numbers of participants (a minimum of three student demonstrators, six ‘angels’ and then

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participants mirroring the demonstrators), the model worked best with a minimum of around 16 students which meant student absence or illness impacted the success of the intervention lessons.

6.2. Limitations This study is limited by the sample size and time-frame typical of small-scale research. To enhance the validity of my findings and in line with my chosen methodology I would need to repeat the study. The context of the study group which I chose means that I would not be able to complete cycles of research with the same group as many of the students have chosen not to continue with Latin. Introducing this intervention earlier in the year or with a younger group might affect the success of the model, as well as with a group who have the same level of experience. Prolonging the study might produce different results as the intervention might lose its novelty. Equally, conducting the same research with a bigger group might diminish individual perceived responsibility or importance within the task, thereby making the model less effective.

6.3. Future directions of research This model yielded encouraging results for a group of primarily disengaged students, significantly increasing students’ confidence with target Latin vocabulary and engagement with TL tasks.

Although the intervention was not successful in enhancing student self efficacy in translation, I perceived that the model produced valuable results in increasing engagement in TL tasks even as students entered the final months of their study of Latin. I have concluded that WAYK can be successfully integrated into the Classics classroom as part of an ‘eclectic’ offering for teaching and learning (Hunt 2021, 57) alongside other targeted approaches to enhance student understanding and ownership over the language.

Further research might consider how the number and experience level of participants affected WAYK’s success, how WAYK could be adapted and integrated into teaching language at a more advanced level, such as for GCSE classes, and how the model’s impact might change over a longer time period. Moreover, as my project was centred around increasing student efficacy in reading and translation, student output was through translation and comprehension questions rather than a less structured response. Valuable research might be conducted in altering the post-WAYK task. For example, by including speaking, listening or free-writing tasks.

6.4. Implications for practice The findings from this research have prompted interesting discussion with department colleagues interested in active approaches. Given the success of the model in enhancing the comprehensibility of vocabulary and some syntax, I intend to continue experimenting with TPRS and spoken Latin with all classes, and particularly have begun thinking about how this might benefit my older students. I will share my findings with the Languages faculty as they face similar issues with motivation and progress in KS3. My Head of Department has also suggested that I deliver a CPD session at an upcoming conference with colleagues from other local schools in September.

Reflecting on the vast amount of work and thought that creating the relevant script and resources required, and the variable aspects in the success of the initiative, I intend to experiment with the technique from the beginning of KS3, to compile appropriate resources and standalone lessons that could be used to introduce or consolidate new language elements. The data has led me to reflect that although the initiative can greatly enhance student comprehension in syntactical elements and vocabulary, the challenge of taking on new words, new signs and new structures, is mitigated by how self-evident the meaning is from the matching visual representation. For more complex

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concepts this initiative might therefore prove ineffective as the initiative is simply adding a new level of representation to the challenge of rendering meaning. By trialling these throughout, the resources which I compile might be more useful for colleagues. As the research focused on a small group of children, I would need the collaboration of other colleagues to test and refine these resources with a variety of students and class ages and thereby the validity of my findings.

Reflecting that students struggled to articulate how they had struggled, I have resolved to provide more modelling and opportunities for metacognitive reflection during and after linguistic tasks.

It is understandable that TL tasks should cause anxiety and disengagement for students whose impression of their competence is still outcome-dependent on individual task. I want to explore whether incorporating more opportunities for reflection in linguistic tasks might enhance student awareness of the language and their experience as language learners.

7. Works Cited ACTFL (2012), American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages. Summary of WorldReadiness Standards for Learning Languages. Retrieved from https://www.actfl.org/resources/world-readiness-standards-learning languages/standards-summary Ash, R. (2012). Creating Language Seekers: My Recent Journey Through Where Are Your Keys.

Retrieved from http://pomegranatebeginnings.blogspot.com/2012/04/creating language-seekersmy-recent.html Asher, J. (1977), Learning Another Language Through Actions, Los Gatos, CA: Sky Oaks Productions.

Bassey, M. (1999). Case study research in educational settings. Milton Keynes: OUP. BERA. (2018). Ethical guidelines for educational research. Retrieved from https://www.bera.ac.uk/ publication/ethical-guidelines-for-educational-research-2018 Carlon, J. (2013). The Implications of SLA Research for Latin Pedagogy: Modernizing Latin Instruction and Securing its Place in Curricula. Teaching Classical Languages 5.1, 106- 122.

Carr, J. and Pauwels, A. (2006). Boys and foreign language learning: real boys don’t do languages.

Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Clark, E. (2013). An Assessment of the effectiveness of ‘TPRS’ (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) as a means of teaching Latin vocabulary and grammar. JCT, 28, 34-42.

Coffee, N. (2012). Active Latin: Quo tendimus? Classical World, 105, 2, 255-269.

Cook, G. (2018). Translation in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Counsell, C. (2009). ‘Interpretivism: Meeting Ourselves in Research’. In: Wilson, E. (2009) SchoolBased Research: A guide for education students (1st ed.). (251-276) London: SAGE. Deagon, A. (2006) Cognitive style and learning strategies in Latin instruction, in Gruber Miller, J. (ed.). When Dead Tongues Speak. New York, Oxford University Press.

Department for Education. (2013), National curriculum in England: languages programmes of Study.

Retrieved from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england languagesprogammes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-languages-progammes of-study#key-stage-3modern-foreign-language

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Dickey, E. (2012). The Colloquia of the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana: Colloquium Harleianum, Colloquium Montepessulanum, Colloquium Celtis, and Fragments from the Hermeneumata Pseudodositheana. Cambridge: CUP. Gardner, E. and Ciotti, S. (2018) An overview of Where Are Your Keys?, in Gass, S. and Mackey, E., The Routledge Handbook of Language Revitalization. New York, Routledge.

Gruber-Miller, J. (2006). When Dead Tongues Speak. New York, OUP. Hunt, S. (2018). Latin is not Dead. The rise of communicative approaches to the teaching of Latin in the United States, in Holmes-Henderson, A., Hunt, S. and Musie, M. (eds.), Forward with Classics: Classical Languages in Schools and Communities. Bloomsbury, 89- 107.

Hunt, S. (2020). School Qualifications in Classical Subjects in the UK. CUCD Bulletin 49, 1- 14.

Hunt, S. (2022). Teaching Latin. Bloomsbury.

Katz, J.W., Noels, K. and Fitzner, A.R. (2020). Why Learn Latin? Motivation for Learning a Classical Language. Teaching Classical Languages 11.1, 89-129.

Krashen, S.D. & Terrell, T.D. (1988). The Natural Approach Language Acquisition in the Classroom.

Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd. Llewellyn, N. [ (2017, November 28). Where Are Your Keys [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=qQpyT0cLxJM Lloyd, M. and Hunt, S. (2021) Communicative Approaches for Ancient Languages. Bloomsbury, London.

McLelland, N. (2017). Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages: A History of Language Education, Assessment and Policy in Britain. London: Routledge.

Merriam, S.B. (1998). Qualitative Research and Case Study Applications in Education. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Ramahlo, M. (2019). On starting to teach using CI. JCT 20 (39), 45-50.

Rasmussen, S.T. (2015). Why Oral Latin? Teaching Classical Languages, 6.1, 37-45.

Ray, B. & Seely, C. (2015). Fluency through TPR storytelling. Command Performance Language Institute & Braine Ray Workshops.

Stake, R.E. (1995). The Art of Case Study Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. Swanborn, P.G. (2010). Case study research: what, why and how?. Los Angeles: SAGE. Sinclair, J. (2018). ‘Not so Much Learning to Speak Latin, but Speaking to Learn it’. Action Research on the Use of Conversational, Spoken Latin in the UK Secondary School Classroom. JCT, 38, 63-64.

Stray, C. (2019). Success and Failure: W.H.D Rouse and direct-method Classics teaching in Edwardian England. JCT 22, 5-7.

Stringer, G. (2016). What Can Active Latin Accomplish? Well Let Me Just Show You: Some Facts and Figures Illustrating the Benefits of Active Latin Instruction. The Classical Outlook, 94(2), 81-93.

Taber, K. (2013). Classroom-based research and evidence-based practice: a guide for teachers. Los Angeles: London: SAGE. Toda, K. (2020, June 5). Is Latin Exclusive and Elitist? Toda-lly Comprehensible Latin. Retrieved from http://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com/2020/06/is-latin exclusive-and-elitist.html Urbanski, D. (2021) Active Latin promotes Open-mindedness in Language-learning in M.E. Lloyd and S. Hunt (Eds.), Communicative Approaches for Ancient Languages, 17-24.

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8. Appendices 8.1. Appendix A: Lesson sequence Lesson

Lesson Content

Types of data collected

1

WAYK1: ‘volo, nolo, malo’ + infinitive

• Student work and reflection on translation through Google forms • Observations (my own) • Reflective journal

Post reading: chariot race 2

WAYK2: ‘volo, nolo, malo’ + infinitive + ‘longum, longiorem, longissimum’

• Student work and reflection on translation through Google forms • Observations (my own) • Reflective journal

Post reading: charity race

Post reading: Octavian and the battle of Actium

• Student work and reflection on translation through Google forms • Observations (my own) • Reflective journal

WAYK3: ‘volo, nolo, malo’ + infinitive + ‘longum, longiorem, longissimum’- ‘est bonum, melior, optimum’

• Student work and reflection on translation through Google forms • Observations (my own) • Reflective journal

3

4

Post reading: houses 5 Post reading: Greek artists 6

Sentences taken from postreading activities

• Student work and reflection on translation through Google forms • Observations (my own) • Reflective journal • Student work and reflection on translation through Google forms • Observations (my own) • Reflective journal

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8.2. Appendix B: Model Script for WAYK: Expansion of ‘double verb’ structure Latin Script WAYK 1 Habeo tres columna. Primum columnum est venetum. Secundum est rubrum.

Ultimum est nigrum.

English translation I have three pens. The first pen is blue.

The second pen is red. The final pen is black.

Ego volo scribere columno veneto.

I want to write with the blue pen.

Nolo scribere columno rubro.

I do not want to write with the red pen.

Malo scribere columno nigro quam columno rubro.

I would prefer to write with the black pen rather than the red pen.

Malo scribere columno nigro quam columno rubro ergo sumo columnum nigro et scribo.

I would prefer to write with the black pen rather than the red pen therefore I pick up the black pen and I write.

WAYK 2 Ecce! Tres baculi sunt. Sunt longi.

Look there are three rulers. They are long.

Ego habeo baculum longum. Sed malo habere baculum longius. Ergo sumo baculum secundum. Baculum secundum est longius quam primum baculum.

I have a long ruler. But I prefer to have a longer ruler. Therefore I pick up the second ruler. The second ruler is longer than the first ruler.

Ego habeo baculum longius. Sed ego volo habere baculum longius. Ego malo habere baculum longissimum.

I have a longer ruler. But I want to have a longer ruler. Therefore I pick up the third ruler. The third ruler is longest.

Ergo, sumo baculum longissimum!

Therefore I have the longest ruler!

WAYK 3 Ecce! Habeo baculum longum. Est bonum.

Look! I have a long ruler. It’s good.

Sed volo habere baculum longius. Baculum longius est melius. Baculum longius est melius quam baculum longum. Ergo depono baculum breve et sumo baculum longius.

But I prefer to have a longer ruler. A longer ruler is better than a long ruler.

Therefore I put down the long ruler and pick up the longer ruler.

Sumo baculum secundum. Secundum baculum est longius et melius quam primum.

Therefore I pick up the second ruler.

The second ruler is longer and better than the first.

Ego malo habere baculum longissimum.

Baculum longissimum est optimum! Ergo sumo baculum tertium. Baculum tertium est longissimum. Baculum tertium est optimum.

I want to have the longest ruler. The longest ruler is best. Therefore I pick up the third ruler. The third ruler is longest. The third ruler is best.

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8.3. Appendix C: Artefact: Model sequence with resources Lesson 2

5 minutes: Starter slide with short, comprehensible Latin modelling target syntax: ‘Look at the image! It is a race. Three Greeks are running. The first is fast, but the second is faster than the first. The third is fastest!’

Starter slide, WAYK2 script, story, support slide.

English-Latin extension: 1. x doesn’t want to walk 2. y is quicker than z 3. b is the fastest

Next 5 minutes: Set up & recall of previous vocabulary for WAYK asking students to sign.

Next 15 minutes: WAYK 2 script with students demonstrating Final 15 minutes: post-reading ‘Cursus’ in pairs with vocabulary crib, students elect to move on to completing Google form individually when they are confident.

Extension: English-Latin modelling target structure.

Lesson 3

5 minutes: Starter slide with short, comprehensible Latin modelling target syntax: ‘Look Roman men and an Egyptian woman. They were very important generals and a very powerful queen’.

5 minutes: recall of previous vocabulary for WAYK. Next 20 minutes: Students read ‘Actium’ in pairs. Reading contains a variety of tenses and new GCSE standard vocabulary.

Final 10 minutes: Students complete the Google form individually.

Extension: English-Latin modelling target structure.

Starter slide, story, support slide.

English-Latin extension: 1. Cleopatra wanted to have power 2. x is braver than y 3. z is the most powerful

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Lesson Lesson22

52 Lesson 3:

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The Haileybury Institute of Educational Research Journal Vol. 1, No.2, November 2023, pp. 81–83

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SCHOOL CULTURE Breaking the silence: Empowering teenagers to report sexual harassment Hugo Wilson Haileybury, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

We live in a world where daily revelations of sexual harassment and abuse dominate the news, from Jenni Hermoso being kissed against her will, to serious allegations regarding Russell Brand’s sexual behaviour. Despite this regular wave of publicity and public outcry, experiences of sexual harassment are rarely reported by young people (NEU, 2017). This is concerning, as we know that sexual harassment is an endemic issue that young people face in the United Kingdom. A recent government report revealed that 79% of surveyed girls, aged between 13 and 18, had experienced some form of sexual harassment and a staggering 90% had been sent unwanted explicit images (Ofsted, 2022). Even more disturbing, we know that schools are one of the main places that sexual harassment occurs (Sakelleri et al, 2022) and yet, one recent survey found that as few as 3% of sexual harassment incidents are reported to schools (Ringrose & Regeher, 2023).

But just how do we break the silence that exists around young people reporting incidents of sexual harassment? How do we end the culture of omertà that seems to permeate our schools?

The problem of underreporting requires urgent action, especially considering the harmful longterm effects linked with experiences of sexual harassment. These include, but are not limited to; depression, self-harm and PTSD (Hackett et al, 2019).

Empowering teenagers: tackling the issue Studies show that one of the main barriers stopping young people from reporting experiences of sexual harassment is the fear of exacerbating the issue by doing so (Allnock & Atkinson, 2019). Schools need to take a proactive and robust approach from the outset in educating students to understand that their experiences are taken seriously and that those who do come forward will not be judged or blamed for what happened. We know that institutions who embrace non-judgemental victim-centred policies can be effective at creating cultures of openness that prevent the emergence of environments where saying nothing is preferable to saying something (Pina, Gannon & Saunders, 2009).

Equally, schools must recognise their societal role in educating every student (not just potential victims) about what constitutes as sexual harassment and they need to be fearless on this issue.

Paying lip-service via the odd assembly or talk from an external speaker simply will not cut it. They must be proactive in pursuing whole-school policies and curriculums which challenge and get pupils to understand the nuances, expectations and difficulties in navigating sexual consent and what is and is not appropriate. Which, by no means, is an easy proposition! Many adults struggle to decide what exactly ‘counts’ as sexual harassment (Burr & Dick, 2017), and yet the alternative is that young men and women, boys and girls are left to navigate this space without aid or support.

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Where do young people turn if their school remains silent? They turn to the internet, they turn to sources of information unchecked and unregulated, they turn to echo chambers that have long since abandoned the middle ground. Therefore, in light of the alternative, schools must step up in tackling this sensitive and shifting issue.

However, It will not be perfect! Schools, much like their students, will make mistakes along the way, but what would you prefer? An informed young person with a strong sense of how to navigate these difficult waters or, an individual with little guidance, left to their own devices to decide what is and is not acceptable in our society? (Sweeting et al, 2022).

Building bridges: suspending judgement All too often, embarrassment and shame prevent young people from reporting incidents to their parents and teachers (Jorgenson et al, 2019). Parents and teachers can and should be educated on adopting non-judgemental approaches when discussing sensitive experiences, such as sexual harassment, with children. Trust, not shame. Listening, not judgement. These are messages that educators and parents need to hear if cultures of silence are to be broken.

Sadly, young women seem to experience further barriers that prevent reporting. They live in a world of double standards and inequality. ‘Slut shamed’ on the one hand for sexualised behaviour, and yet labelled ‘frigid ‘if they do not engage in activities, such as the sharing of explicit images (Ofsted, 2022). Therefore, it is imperative that adults, both teachers and parents, do not exacerbate or express shock when an adolescent does eventually come forward to disclose an experience of harassment. The very act of coming forward to talk may have taken all their strength! Barriers of embarrassment which prevent young people from reporting experiences of sexual harassment can be broken down through open dialogue and honest conversations, however difficult they may be.

Watch out for Snapchat!

Many parents and teachers are rightly worried about their children and students experiencing sexual harassment. However, often it is not the walk home from school where young people are most likely to face harassment. Far more likely, it will be in the comfort of their home or within the school premises, right under the supervision of staff. Snapchat is, according to various surveys, where the majority of young people first experience sexual harassment (Ringrose & Regehr, 2023). Loose privacy settings, the gamification of sending images and deletion of images after ten seconds allows for a perfect storm where explicit images can be sent with little fear of being caught or prosecuted.

One recent study (Ringrose, Megher & Milne, 2021) highlighted that children as young as 10 years old are being exposed to these online sexualised images and this is thanks to Snapchat’s lack of oversight or reinforcement of age restrictions. More undoubtedly what needs to be done, both by politicians and online regulators, is to ensure that online messaging apps such as Snapchat are properly regulated. Parents and teachers can only do so much to stand up against the flood coming from these online companies that prioritise profit over the protection of young people.

The barriers that prevent young people reporting incidents of sexual harassment are complex and numerous. Regardless, to do nothing is tantamount to throwing in the towel for future generations and allowing the cycle of harassment to continue. Empowerment through education - with teachers, parents and whole communities embracing an active role, are the vital first steps in breaking the cycle of silence and giving young people a voice to be heard, in the face of sexual harassment.

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References Allnock, D., & Atkinson, R. (2019). ‘Snitches get stitches’: School-specific barriers to victim disclosure and peer reporting of sexual harm committed by young people in school contexts. Child abuse & neglect, 89, 7–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2018.12.025 Burr, V. and Dick, P. (1970) Social constructionism, SpringerLink. Available at: https://link.springer. com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-51018-1_4 (Accessed: 27 Augst 2023).

Hackett, R. A., Steptoe, A., & Jackson, S. E. (2019). Sex discrimination and mental health in women: A prospective analysis. Health Psychology, 38(11), 1014–1024. https://doi.org/10.1037/hea0000796 Jørgensen, C. R., Weckesser, A., Turner, J. & Wade, A. (2019) Young people’s views on sexting education and support needs: findings and recommendations from a UK-based study. Sex Education, 19(1), 25–40. https://doi.org/10. 1080/14681811.2018.1475283 National Education Union (NEU) and UK Feminista (2017) It’s Just Everywhere. Available: https:// www.teachers.org.uk/sites/default/files2014/ije-booklet_one-page-version_07.12.17.pdf (accessed 11 August 2023).

Ofsted (2022); Review of sexual abuse in schools and Colleges GOV.UK. Available at: https://www. gov.uk/government/publications/review-of-sexual-abuse-in-schools-and-colleges/review-of-sexualabuse-in-schools-and-colleges (Accessed: 17 August 2023).

Pina, A., Gannon, T. and Saunders, B. (2009) ‘An overview of the literature on sexual harassment: perpetrator, theory, and treatment issues’, Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 126–38.

Ringrose, J., Regehr, K. & Milne, B. (2021) Understanding and Combatting youth experiences of image based sexual harassment & abuse, School of Sexuality Education & Association of School and College Leaders, https://www. ascl.org.uk/ibsha (Accessed: 7 August 2023) Ringrose, J. & Regehr, K. (2023) Recognizing and addressing how gender shapes young people’s experiences of image-based sexual harassment and abuse in educational settings. Journal of Social Issues, 1–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12575 Sakellari, E., Berglund, M., Santala, E., Bacatum, C.M.J., Sousa, J.E.X.F., Aarnio, H., Kubiliutė, L., Prapas, C. and Lagiou, A. (2022). The Perceptions of Sexual Harassment among Adolescents of Four European Countries. Children, 9(10), p.1551. doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/children9101551.

Sweeting, H. et al. (2022) ‘Sexual harassment in secondary school: Prevalence and ambiguities. A mixed methods study in Scottish schools’, PLOS ONE, 17(2). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0262248.

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The Haileybury Institute of Educational Research Journal Vol. 1, No.2, November 2023, pp. 84–102

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Design, justification and evaluation of a professional learning session delivered to mid-career teachers Stephen Campbell 1. Introduction Schools and educational contexts are searching for effective and reliable ways in which to impact pupil progress. The remarkable impact of the EEF’s Teacher Toolkit, now used by almost two thirds of schools (EEF, 2017) could be attributed to the way in which it has codified interventions by cost and measurable impact. This drive towards measurability of impact, though, has led to a lack of coherent, meaningful consideration of individual teacher development, as the literature review will delineate.

As is variously pointed out, improving teachers will make the biggest difference to pupil progress, but it is the most difficult element of improvement to measure (Allen, 2018). The impact of improving teachers and teaching is nebulous as it is filtered through the prism of pupils and their own progress.

This research paper will attempt to delineate an approach to designing and delivering a series of professional learning sessions intended to continue teacher education beyond the scope of that laid down in the new DfE early career framework (Department for Education, 2019). The approach suggested through the literature review, for individual sessions to be seen as part of a structured and standardized sequence of professional learning sessions, echoes this framework. The purpose of this inquiry is to consider the impact of a mid-career teacher curriculum on teacher effectiveness in the classroom. The methodology used to analyze the professional learning session is necessarily small in scale and scope, as teachers at a specific stage of their career were taken as the sample. Equally, much of the data used is qualitative as it is focused on the improvement of individual teachers, itself very difficult to measure.

However, the proposals that come as a result of this enquiry are encouraging and offer a clear set of suggestions for considering the continued improvement, over time, of teachers of secondary age pupils in order to best facilitate pupil progress.

2. Literature review When considering professional development and the evidence base for supporting the continued development of teachers as practitioners, there are several major barriers that present. Firstly, much of the current, longitudinal research into teacher quality and teacher development exists in systems beyond our own (Jensen, Sonneman, Roberts-Hull, & Hunter, 2016). As Crehan (2016), amongst others, has maintained, comparisons of international educational systems are necessarily problematic and, as a consequence, it is difficult to understand quite how far to extrapolate such research. Fletcher-Wood (2018) further complicates the difficulties associated with asserting the impact of teacher professional development by considering the consensus view of teacher performance and all of the associated issues with this: it appears, therefore, that while the research

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broadly agrees with regard to the improvement of teachers over time, empirical research into the resulting recommended changes made to professional development is relatively young and unsubstantiated (Fletcher-Wood, 2018). This literature review will look to consider the evidence base around the issues with professional development in its current form and will consider further some suggested changes that might be made in light of this, before considering how the evidence supports research-informed professional learning. Finally, it will consider the implications of stage theory and teacher beliefs on the design and delivery of professional learning sessions.

2.1 Issues with professional development in its current form Firstly, then, I will consider the evidence base that exists with regard to teacher development over time. Notwithstanding the aforementioned issues associated with making use of international comparisons, I will first consider the two of the most robust longitudinal studies conducted with regard to teacher professional development. The Mirage employs a rigorous research methodology, looking at the progress of almost 400,000 pupils over time, and the impact of the teaching that they receive (The New Teacher Project, 2015). Interestingly, 69% of the pupils considered were described as being from low income families; this is significant as it has been suggested by The Ambition Institute, amongst other sources, that the impact of quality teaching can be seen more clearly in the progress of children from low-income families. That is to say, if a teacher is effective in their practice, we are more likely to see this amplified through the progress of such children. This is a disputed notion, perhaps presenting a flaw in the research methodology’s over-reliance of such pupils. However, when considered alongside the methodology employed by other studies, notable trends emerge. In particular, we might consider the use of meta-analysis, employed by Kraft & Papay (2014). Whilst this means that Kraft & Papay potentially have access to many more studies and can combine these, the issues surrounding meta-analyses are well documented (Eysenck, 1994).

Thus, the studies of Kraft & Papay here might suggest trends and patterns, but the data used cancel out any nuance or noise, meaning that it is difficult to understand the causal factors behind the issues that Kraft & Papay identify, or, for that matter, be certain of the positive conclusions that they draw.

Both Kraft & Papay and the TNTP state that the desire to improve teaching, and, therefore, pupil outcomes is a shared goal across all educational contexts: ‘we cannot blame a lack of time, money or good intentions’ (The New Teacher Project, 2015, p. 3) for a lack of clear teaching improvement.

Similarly, Kraft & Papay assert that much of the way that teachers are trained initially has an overwhelmingly positive impact on teachers and their progress (Kraft & Papay, 2014). The TNTP compares the cost of training offered in one teaching district in the US, stating that a similarly sized military or government body consisting of 10,000 employees would typically spend $2 million per year; an average school district of a similar size would spend $90 million in the same time period (The New Teacher Project, 2015, p. 8). This investment, though, does not seem to be having the desired impact on teachers and their progress and development: both papers assert, as a part of their main findings, that teachers typically plateau in terms of effectiveness around their fifth or sixth year of teaching, with the average teacher performing at a worse level after fifteen years of work than they were after five (The New Teacher Project, 2015, p. 16). Perhaps the more interesting finding comes from Kraft & Papay, who isolate the fact that ‘transforming schools into organizations that support the learning of both students and teachers will be central to any successful effort to increase’ the learning outcomes of all pupils (2014, p. 31). Whilst it is therefore possible to ascertain that the historic models of professional learning are not as effective as we might want them to be for mid-career teachers, the issue remains for that it is difficult to understand exactly which models of support work: the scale and empirical, analytical nature of the meta-analyses do not allow for such nuanced readings.

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2.2. Positive trends in effective professional development for mid-career teachers One of the main issues identified regarding the isolation of specific characteristics of establishments that promote continued teacher learning is addressed by Fletcher-Wood as he argues about the issues with the consensus view (Fletcher-Wood, 2018). He asserts that, whilst there might be some evidence for wider trends or patterns in professional development, the specifics of such training are not arrived at: the example he gives to illustrate this point is that it is not even clear whether training is more effective face-to-face than online (2018, p. 5). Further exploration suggests wider complications: whilst it is clear that the consensus view is that small group collaboration has a strong positive impact on professional learning, the definition of small group ranges from partners to groups of five, and also incorporates mentor-mentee relationships (Darling-Hammond, Hyler, & Gardner, 2017). Indeed, in order to consider how we might design effective, specific systems for teacher education, we might look to Jenson et al (2016) who consider specific examples of three high-performing educational contexts: British Columbia, Singapore and Shanghai. Much of this research is context specific, and descriptive of educational systems that run very differently to ours: for example, in Singapore, all schools are run under one district and follow a common curriculum; curriculum change takes place over a period of five years (Crehan, 2016). Thus, it is difficult to see exactly which systems in operation can be borrowed or learnt from when applying them to the UK context and, even more specifically, to the context of an individual school or group of schools.

However, read in the context of Kraft and TNTP, there are some interesting points to note.

Whilst each of the above studies is incomplete in its conclusions in terms of impact on the design and delivery of professional development, significant themes are established and identified. Firstly, it becomes clear that lesson observation is generally thought of as a good thing to support the development and learning of mid-career teachers, although it is significant to note that, in all three contexts cited by Jensen et al (2016), observations are low stakes, peer led and not in any way linked to pay or performance management.

Equally, lesson observations tend to be focused in specific subject areas, with mid-career teachers working collaboratively to explore the best way to teach a specific concept or idea. Finally, there is much made of the culture setting in these contexts: professional development has to be at the very core of educational establishments in order for it to have sustained impact. Perhaps this is why in the UK, Lesson Study, which holds lesson observation and the development of mid-career teachers at its core, has a relatively low impact on pupil progress (Murphy, Weinhardt, Wyness, & Rolfe, 2017). Whilst much of the behaviour and systems described in this report look like those described by Jensen et al (2016), perhaps their limited impact can be attributed to the culture in which they were being deployed: the tuning cycles described by Murphy et al (2017, p. 40) seem very much bolted on to the usual practice of the schools, rather than re-engaged at the core of those establishments; this is very different to the context described by Jensen et al (2016) as taking place in British Columbia, Shanghai and Singapore.

Thus far, I have established that there are few studies that meaningfully show us teacher progress and impact on pupil outcomes over time; those that do exist seem to suggest that there are some organizations that support better teacher learning, and pupil outcomes, than others. Significantly, Allen asserts that the improvement of teachers over a period of time is the single biggest influencing factor on large-scale gains in pupil outcomes (Allen, 2018, p. 5). However, the research available indicates that much money and time is being invested into professional learning that has little or no impact; where we do see professional learning having a high impact, this is context specific and hard to replicate in other settings.

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However, a series of propositions will come out of this literature review. Until this point, there appears to be very little by way of formal teacher development for mid-career teachers. At ITT level, a curriculum of sorts exists to support teachers in the first few years of their practice; the literature supports the argument that teachers make good progress in these early years. This review proposes that a sequence of professional learning sessions is written to describe a pathway for mid-career teachers to follow in order to delineate and articulate how they will improve over time. The reason for this is that such a sequence will present a core around which the other aspects of key research findings can be hung: observations, coaching and supportive feedback are all possible when constructed around a sequence. Thus, the best of the professional development on offer around the world can be tweaked and altered to suit the contexts, provided the curriculum for the teachers is aligned with the organization.

2.3 The implications of teacher beliefs on the design and delivery of professional learning Teacher beliefs in the purpose of education, the role of the teacher and methods of instruction are complicated as they are tied to ‘personal, episodic and emotional experiences,’ (Nespor, 1987).

Therefore, an understanding of and appreciation for the beliefs held by the teachers attending any given training session is necessary in order to leverage change. Altering and influencing the beliefs of a teacher is complex and requires careful consideration. Teacher education at the mid-career phase should be attuned to the ‘problem of enactment, a phenomenon in which teachers can learn and espouse one idea, yet continue enacting a different idea, out of habit, without noticing the contradiction,’ (Kennedy, 2016). That is to say, whilst it is possible to influence or affect the beliefs of a mid-career teacher in the abstract, actually bringing about change in the context of a classroom is far more complex.

In addition, appreciation of the career stage of teachers, and the respective beliefs that these encourage, is essential when considering the design and delivery of teacher education sessions. For example, it is more likely that a novice or inexperienced teacher will hold ‘beliefs [that] influence practice,’ (Buehl & Beck, 2015, p. 68) whilst those who have taught for a longer period of time would be more likely to hold ‘reciprocal but complex relationships between beliefs and practice,’ (Buehl & Beck, 2015, p. 70). Therefore, the design and delivery of a professional learning session must be pitched according to these beliefs, and show an appreciation for the relationship between beliefs, understanding and classroom practice.

2.4 The implications of stage theory on the design and delivery of professional learning In addition to the impact that teacher beliefs hold over the design and delivery of professional learning sessions, an appreciation for the interplay between these beliefs and stage theory is essential.

The literature indicates that there is a clear difference in approach to lesson planning and delivery, and even in the way that a classroom is viewed, between a beginning teacher and a more experienced teacher For example, beginning teachers might be characterized as ‘relatively inflexible,’ (Berliner, 2004, p. 206) especially regarding the approach to questioning and to making alterations to their mode or method of delivery. In particular, a beginning teacher might, for example, be able to describe the fact that they knew that they had to ask a series of questions before beginning the tasks in the lesson, but did not know how to respond when these prescribed questions did not yield the answers they were supposed to. Thus, beginning teachers are often ‘conforming to the rules and procedures [they are] told to follow,’ (Berliner, 2004, p. 206). In comparison with this, an expert teacher would be able to make deliberate decisions that allow them to respond, in real time, to the challenges and issues faced through the questioning in the lesson. Of course, this can be explained, in part, through a more evolved notion of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). We know, for example, that It can be further argued that different forms of PCK can be held concurrently and that

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these evolve at different stages in a career (Lee & Luft, 2008, p. 1360), which indicates that expert teachers are able to ‘make conscious choices,’ (Berliner, 2004, p. 207) about what they are doing.

Typically, expert teachers are able to reflect more broadly on their lessons and take more deliberate steps when considering improvements and developments. Of course, one might expect mid-career teachers to fall somewhere between these two poles, but there is a limited amount of literature to support this theory and understanding at which point between the two poles a mid-career teacher is at is highly subjective and complex.

Stage theory might be characterized as the realization that ‘those designated as experts in pedagogy affect student achievement in positive ways,’ (Berliner, 2004, p. 201). The realization that domain specific expertise and knowledge can be developed, over time, in a structured, hierarchical way, provides an approach to delineate and think through balancing theory and practical steps. A typical early career, or novice teacher education might feature a notable tension between university based, theoretical input and practical, school-based input. Equally, stage theory seems to indicate that novice or beginning teachers perhaps rely a little more on the practical input but there are potential issues in relying too much on this approach which manifest at a later stage. In the context of designing and delivering professional learning sessions, the hierarchies of expertise outlined by stage theory would help to differentiate content within a training session, or series of training sessions, allowing for all to access an idea, concept or innovation in a way that makes sense to them, and is actionable. This is particularly pertinent to mid-career teachers, who offer, as noted, a wider spread of expertise and whose development is less predictably linear than a novice teacher.

However, a potential issue, or negative association, with stage theory might be in its supposed simplicity. For example, both Berliner (2004) and Furlong & Maynard (1995) reference the idea that expertise, as defined through stage theory, can be very specific: indeed, if considered in the context of pedagogical content knowledge, it might be said that teachers are at different stages with different year groups, topics or subjects. For example, might it be more logical for English teachers delivering both literature and language instruction, despite over 80% of them being literature graduates, to be characterized as expert in the teaching of literature, and novice in the teaching of language? The limitations, perhaps, of stage theory might be in making too wide an assumption as regards a teacher’s competency and therefore not designing a training session to meet the needs of the teacher at the right level of complexity. As has been noted already, this notion is exacerbated when considered in the context of a mid-career teacher.

2.5 Research-informed professional learning sessions Stage theory, as delineated above, has many theoretical strengths that are perhaps more problematic in practice. However, the central concept, that of breaking the stages of teaching and, therefore, the process of teaching itself, into distinct sections is one of undoubted merit. Indeed, an approach that seeks to imbue teacher education with research-informed practice is one that is, in many ways, a natural evolution of stage theory.

A research-informed approach could be characterized as having the following intentions: • ‘to facilitate and deepen the interplay between the different kinds of knowledge generated and validated within the different contexts of schools and university; and • To provide scope for beginning teachers to interrogate each in light of the other, bringing both to bear on interpreting and responding to their classroom experiences,’ (Burn & Mutton, 2015, p. 219).

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• Burn and Mutton (2015) go on to explore various models of Initial Teacher Training (ITT) that bring together the research-based, pedagogy of what it is to be a teacher, alongside the practical experience of teaching in a classroom, including, amongst others, the highly successful Oxford Internship Scheme. Indeed, models of ITT all hold a balance of these two strands to some degree or other, including PGCE courses, GTP schemes and Schools’ Direct, for example.

However, limited approaches to this integration for mid-career or expert teachers exist within our own education system: Burn and Mutton cite studies of approaches from Finland (p.224) and Melbourne (p. 222), for example, that explore how a research-informed approach to teacher education could be applied to expert teachers; however, as we have seen in the earlier literature, comparisons across educational systems do not necessarily yield much of use. However, the notion of finding a link between research and classroom practice is one that is gathering momentum in the British education system, as evidenced through the growing number of grassroots organizations, for example ResearchED, that are seeking to bridge the gap between academic research and classroom practice. Therefore, adopting a similar approach to teacher education across the system seems a logical step to take, one that builds on the successes of research-informed ITT and links with concepts of stage theory to articulate professional learning for more experienced teachers.

2.6 What do effective professional learning sessions look like?

The literature cited thus far indicates that, when approaching the design and delivery of professional learning sessions, teacher educators should be mindful of the level of expertise of the participants, and should tailor the instruction so as to provide an appropriate level of research-informed practice.

Equally, deliberate practice of specific elements of teaching appears to generate high levels of teacher improvement over time (Deans for Impact, 2016). This approach to deliberate practice draws on the research-informed approach, as it requires that teachers are ‘engaged in practice activities which are established and effective.’ (Deans for Impact, 2016). Equally, it is further noted that effective professional learning sessions should focus on the following: • ‘Strategies – showing a range of approaches and helping teachers choose how to use them • Insight – sharing ideas which help teachers reinterpret teaching, and their own work,’ (Kennedy, 2016).

Therefore, an approach to professional learning sessions that acknowledges the context of the participants, their career and experience to date, as well as one that offers an appropriate blend of theory and practice would seem desirable.

Whilst the selection of, and instruction around, research to underpin development, the process of translating this research into meaningful practice is more complicated. Grossman (2009), amongst others, focuses on the need to break the process of teaching down into small, distinct phases that can be practiced, deliberately, over time. Additionally, effective professional learning sessions need to include an understanding of, and make reference to, approaches to deliberate practice, as examined by Lampert et al (2013) and Ball & Forzani (2009) amongst others.

2.7 Conclusions drawn from the literature To conclude the literature review, the following implications stand when regarding the design and delivery of a professional learning session: • Teachers become very effective, very quickly, at the beginning of their careers.

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• Over time, some teachers become highly effective and are classed as expert teachers.

• A significant number of teachers do not improve in quality after the first 4-5 years of their career.

• There is currently a lack of systemic clarity in UK schools around a consensual approach to the development of teachers in the mid-career phase – that is, teachers who have been teaching for more than 5 years, but would not yet be classed as expert.

• Professional learning sessions for such mid-career teachers should be highly specific, both to context and to individuals within that context.

• These sessions should be sequenced intentionally and should not be ‘one-off’ or isolated instances.

• These sessions should include research-based input, practical implications and opportunities for deliberate practice over time.

• Ideally, such sessions should be accompanied by lesson observation and coaching sessions.

For the purposes of this exploration, I am going to focus on point 8 when designing, delivering and analyzing my professional learning session. However, the other points will have influenced the decisions that I have made and are, therefore, worth considering also.

3. Analysis of professional learning session Following the outcomes of the literature review, I designed and delivered a professional learning session accordingly. The process of design and delivery was undertaken alongside an awareness of the fact that I would be evaluating the efficacy of the professional learning session, which should be considered alongside any implications.

3.1 Professional learning session design As stated through the literature review, I am interested in exploring the role of stage theory and, in particular, research informed practice, as defined by Burn and Mutton (2015) on the design and delivery of professional learning sessions aimed at mid-career teachers. As has been noted, the development of mid-career teachers is not linear and their passage to expertise is not guaranteed, so I am keen to examine the ways in which professional learning sessions can be designed in such a way as to aid development over time.

Equally, as has been asserted by Kennedy (2016) and Fletcher-Wood (2018) amongst others, there is an emerging need to consider professional learning sessions as part of a sequence of sessions. In order to explore the impact of mid-career teacher development, I have looked into the impact of the implementation of a specific sequence of sessions, designed for mid-career teachers, on teacher confidence and effectiveness. My main line of inquiry is as follows: What is the impact of a sequence of professional learning sessions, designed for mid-career teachers, on teacher confidence and effectiveness in the classroom?

The major issue with such a line of inquiry is that measuring impact is a challenge, and thus developing and deploying an evaluation framework, is complex. As the literature review has shown, the lack of longitudinal research into teacher development is partly a consequence of the inherent difficulties of measuring the impact of teacher improvement, therefore the scope of this question will necessarily be limited. A key assumption made with regard to the design and delivery of this session will be built on assumptions as indicated below:

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(Department for Education, 2016, p. 5)

(Department for Education, 2016, p. 5)

It is necessary for me to take as a given that improved practice will lead to improved pupil

It is necessary for me to take as a given that improved practice will lead to improved pupil outcomes. outcomes. Therefore, the evaluation of the effectiveness of the professional learning Therefore, the evaluation of the effectiveness of the professional learning sessions will not seek to measure pupilsessions outcomes will instead focus on outcomes measuring which teacher practice is will but not seek to measure pupil butthe willextent insteadto focus on measuring the improved; the assumption will be that pupil outcomes will improve accordingly. The reason for this is that extent to which teacher practice is improved; the assumption will be that pupil outcomes will the further away the data used for analysis is from the point of intervention, the more unreliable it will be. improve accordingly. The reason for this is that the further away the data used for analysis is

3.1.1 Rationale for the design of the professional learning session from the point of intervention, the more unreliable it will be.

When considering the process of teacher improvement over time, much of the literature indicates the need to break the process of teaching down into granular levels of detail (Lee, 2008) (Berliner, 2004) (Kennedy, 2016). Thus, the process of improving the quality of teaching could be to see teaching as a series of powerful action steps that can be tweaked and developed in order to improve 3.1.1 Rational for of the professional learning the efficiency and effectiveness of the thedesign learning processes (Lemov, 2017).session When considering the process of teacher improvement over time, much of the literature

As a consequence of this, and of the literature that indicates that a research-informed approach may be indicates the need to break thedesign process of deliver teaching down into granular levels of detail (Lee, that beneficial to the mid-career teacher, I will and a series of professional learning sessions are deliberately sequenced to 2004) enable(Kennedy, deliberate2016). practice.

Furthermore, research will bethe explicitly 2008) (Berliner, Thus, the process of improving quality discussed of with the participants who will consider the impact of this research on their teaching. Interestingly, teaching could be to see teaching as a series of powerful action steps that can be tweaked similar approaches to the design and delivery of a teaching curriculum for mid-career teachers are being designed and trialed, indicating a wider need for such an approach (see, for example, Fletcher-Wood 14 (2019)). I have chosen this approach because teachers at this stage of their career are vulnerable to stasis, and I am seeking to replicate their improvement trajectory during the first five years of their career. As the literature has shown, teachers in this demographic are often poorly catered for (The New Teacher Project, 2015); it is assumed that many will have progressed to middle or senior management by this stage, therefore much CPD or training received is irrelevant or pitched at too low a level to have any significant impact on mid-career teachers who are still classroom-based.

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• The participants involved in this study will be 6 teachers who fulfil the following criteria: • They must be between 5 and 10 years into their teaching career, thus defined as ‘mid-career’ teachers.

• They must be in the classroom for more than 90% of a full teaching timetable, therefore defined as primarily a classroom teacher, irrespective of any other roles they may hold.

• They must be positive and willing to learn about improvements in teaching.

Therefore, the sample is drawn from a very small pool as, in my context, the number of professionals who meet these criteria is relatively small itself. The final point is interesting: the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of a specific curriculum and approach, and I want to understand whether the approach itself is effective first before exploring whether it can be scaled to include teachers who are more resistant to reflection and improvement.

The professional learning sessions, and their sequencing, will be decided upon before the intervention sessions begin; it will remain relatively static throughout the cycle. As noted, this will make use of the research and principles that underpin this paper.

3.1.2 A description of the professional learning session In accordance with the findings of the literature review, the professional learning sessions will be sequenced as follows: • Each session will be preceded with a set piece of academic research for all participants to read. This research will be presented in a way that is clear and accessible: a key principal will be introduced, a summary of the research and the full article. This is to control for the fact that not all participants will be equally research literate, and I am keen for all to be able to access the material, irrespective of their differing levels of PCK, as outlined by Berliner (2004), amongst others.

• Each session will feature direct instruction and modeling by the facilitator, who in all cases will be me. This is to ensure that the fundamentals of teaching are understood through the modeling of desired behaviors, as outlined by Kennedy (2016) amongst others.

• During the sessions, participants will take part in group discussion led by the facilitator or peerto-peer discussions in small sub-groups. This is to ensure that there are clear access points for all, irrespective of the differing levels of PCK. • Outside of the professional learning sessions, participants will be able to discuss their learning with a subject specific mentor or coach. The purpose of this is that there is a need to root learning back into subject domains (Kennedy, 2016), and this will not be possible in the confines of the professional learning sessions. Therefore, the opportunity to rehearse learning and its impact on teaching with a subject specific mentor is an important design step, as further evidenced in the literature review (Lampert, 2013).

• Finally, each participant will be required to share their learning with their wider department in order that they take pride in their learning and consolidate their understanding through wider sharing, as outlined in some of the models explored in international systems (Burn & Mutton, 2015), (Kraft & Papay, 2014).

The intention is that the sessions follow a predictable sequence in order to facilitate the understanding of the participants over time.

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3.1.3 Data collected from the professional learning session Data will be collected using quantitative surveys, as will be described in section 3.2. This data will be collected through online forms and this quantitative information will be followed up through unstructured interviews. These unstructured interviews will be informal and will pick up on specific points or issues raised through the quantitative data collection.

There are limited ethical implications for this approach as there are no control groups involved.

Equally, as mentioned above, because the impact on the pupils themselves is one step removed from this inquiry and the focus is on the teachers themselves, levels of permission and withdrawal are straightforward.

3.2 Professional learning session evaluation framework The evaluation framework that I will employ will focus on the participants’ responses to the material provided, their assessment of how much of an impact it has had on their teaching, and focus on their changing levels of confidence. I am going to gather evidence before and after the intervention in order to map the progress or change that takes place. My rationale for designing an evaluation framework in such a way is perhaps best understood in the context of what I believe will constitute ineffective evaluation.

There are, as noted previously, limitations to any approach to gathering qualitative data: I will not be measuring the direct impact on pupil progress here, but will be assuming that improvements in teaching will lead to improvements in pupil outcomes. Equally, as has been discussed at great length, whilst lesson observation is positive in terms of supporting development, subjective judgements of lessons are statistically invalid (Coe, Aloisi, Higgins, & Major, 2014) However, the sequencing of professional learning sessions used for improving the quality of teaching will use a strong evidence base to suggest a series of powerful actions that should take place during lessons and, for the purposes of this investigation, the assumption taken will be that the inclusion of such steps will be sufficiently effective in improving the quality of the teaching cycle. That is to say, deliberate practice, if employed properly, and the exposure to appropriate action steps, will have an impact on teacher effectiveness, according to the literature. Furthermore, I am interested to understand how the participants’ sense of self, and sense of confidence evolves during this process, as this is a high indicator of teacher efficacy (Timperley, Wilson, Barrar, & Fung, 2007).

Specifically, I will ask participants the following questions: • How confident did you feel as a teacher before the professional learning sessions? (1-5) • How confident did you feel as a teacher after the professional learning sessions? (1-5) • How effective do you think your teaching was on pupil progress before the professional learning sessions? (1-5) • How effective do you think your teaching was on pupil progress after the professional learning sessions? (1-5) • Which elements of the professional learning sessions had a positive impact on your teaching?

• Which elements of the professional learning sessions have had no impact on your teaching?

These questions will enable me to evaluate the professional learning sessions within the context of the actions suggested through the literature, and will support my inquiry (What is the impact of a sequence of professional learning sessions, designed for mid-career teachers, on teacher confidence and effectiveness in the classroom?)

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In reference to the inquiry, the area I am most interested in exploring is around teacher confidence.

The literature suggests that mid-career teachers are overconfident in their practice and in judging their levels of competence (The New Teacher Project, 2015), (Fletcher-Wood, 2018); a fall in confidence might, on one level, be a positive outcome of this project, though I need to be mindful that this doesn’t undermine the teachers involved, their beliefs and their evaluation feedback accordingly.

3.3 Evaluation of professional learning session, using the evaluation framework The evaluation of the professional learning session was conducted in line with the proposals set out in section 3.2, specifically, the evaluation of the professional learning session can be considered in the following subsections.

3.3.1 Evaluation of teacher confidence As indicated in section 3.2, a key area for consideration when looking at the outcomes of this inquiry is around teacher confidence. This notion is backed up in the literature around teacher beliefs (Nespor, 1987).

As noted in section participants completed a learning short question before to andindicate after the their changing question before and3.2,after the professional sessions professional learning sessions to indicate their changing confidence levels. confidence levels.

Figure 1.1

Figure 1.1 The data set presented above quite clearly draws from a very small sample size, but indicates, perhaps pleasingly, that teachers felt their confidence largely grew as a consequence of the professional learning sessions. However, this quantitative data was followed up with unstructured, informal questioning which revealed a much more interesting trend. Sitting behind this data set, which seems to indicate an overall upward trajectory, is the narrative that all three of the teachers who ranked their confidence level as 3 initially then ranked their confidence level as 4; conversely, two teachers who had ranked their confidence level at 4 pulled this down to 3 after the professional learning sessions had concluded It is interesting to note that the confidence levels in some teachers were negatively affected: the more they were exposed to information and theory, the less sure they felt about their teaching. Of course, this is not an inherently bad thing, but it is certainly worth noting; there is certainly an element of what Fletcher-Wood (2018), amongst others, would term ‘the curse of the expert;’ that is to say that, the more that mid-career teachers were exposed to the

Figure 1.2

Figure 1.1

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concluded It is interesting to note that the confidence levels in some teachers were negatively affected: the more they were exposed to information and theory, the less sure they felt about their teaching. Of course, this is not an inherently bad thing, but it is certainly

worth noting; there is certainly an element of what Fletcher-Wood (2018), amongst others, would term ‘the curse of the expert;’ that is to say that, the more that mid-career teachers were exposed to the limitations of their current practice, the more aware they became of their own effectiveness, or lack thereof. Whilst this is in keeping with the literature available around teacher over-confidence (see, for example Kennedy (2016) and TNTP (2015)),

Figure 1.2

Timperley et al (2007) would argue that this fall in confidence could negatively impact a teacher’s beliefs in their own efficacy which could, in turn, lead to a loss of motivation and

Figure 1.2 limitations of their current practice, the more aware they became of their own effectiveness, or lack decline in standards. thereof. Whilst this is in keeping with the literature available around teacher over-confidence (see, for example Kennedy (2016) and TNTP (2015)), Timperley et al (2007) would argue that this fall in set presented abovebeliefs quiteinclearly draws from a could, very in small size, but confidenceThe coulddata negatively impact a teacher’s their own efficacy which turn, sample lead 3.3.2 Evaluation of teacher effectiveness to a loss of motivation and decline in standards. indicates, perhaps pleasingly, that teachers felt their confidence largely grew as a 3.3.3 Evaluation of teacher effectiveness with the teachers’ I was, equally, interested to see learning how the sessions. above evaluation connected this quantitative data was consequence of the professional However, I was, equally, interested to see how the above evaluation connected with the teachers’ belief in their own effectiveness. we effectiveness. see the raw data here: we see the raw data here: belief in Again, their own Again, followed up with unstructured, informal questioning which revealed a much more interesting

trend. Sitting behind this data set, which seems to indicate an overall upward trajectory, is the narrative that all three of the teachers who ranked their confidence level as 3 initially then ranked their confidence level as 4; conversely, two teachers who had ranked their confidence level at 4 pulled this down to 3 after the professional learning sessions had

20

Figure 2.1

Figure 2.1

As with the data evaluated from Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2, at a straightforward level, the data in figure 2.1 and figure 2.2 appears to show that there is a general upward trend here in terms of teachers’ belief in their own effectiveness. Notwithstanding the issues surrounding a teacher’s ability to predict their own effectiveness, especially the overconfidence that would typically characterize a mid-career teacher (Jensen, Sonneman, Roberts-Hull, & Hunter, 2016). However, the follow up, informal interviews with the participants indicated a similar trend to that noted in section 3.3.1: both of the participants who had indicated that their confidence levels had fallen had also indicated that they felt there had been a fall in their effectiveness. It is interesting to note, therefore, that there appears to be a correlation between confidence and perceived effectiveness

21

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Figure 2.2

Figure 2.2

3.3.3 Evaluation of the structuring of the professional learning sessions Next, if I turn to the construction of the course itself, the group of participants were asked to As with the data evaluated from Figure 1.1 and Figure 1.2, at a straightforwar consider the impact and effectiveness of individual components of the course. They were asked to indicate which they thought had had a positive impact on their teaching, and which had made little data in figure 2.1 and figure 2.2 appears to show that there is a general upward tr difference to their teaching.

terms of teachers’ belief in their own effectiveness. Notwithstanding the issues su

teacher’s ability to predict their own effectiveness, especially the overconfidence

typically characterize a mid-career teacher (Jensen, Sonneman, Roberts-Hull

2016). However, the follow up, informal interviews with the participants indicate

trend to that noted in section 3.3.1: both of the participants who had indicate

confidence levels had fallen had also indicated that they felt there had been a

effectiveness. It is interesting to note, therefore, that there appears to be a between confidence and perceived effectiveness.

Figure 3.1

3.3.3 Figure 3.1 Evaluation of the structuring of the professional learning session

Next, if I turn to the construction of the course itself, the group of participants we

consider the impact and effectiveness of individual components of the course.

asked to indicate which they thought had had a positive impact on their teaching had made little difference to their teaching.

Figure 3.1

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Figure 3.2

Figure 3.2

It is interesting to note the high impact of the intersessional reading on the teachers’ perception of their own It teaching, as well as the of group-discussion.

It isintersessional perhaps even more is interesting to high noteimpact the high impact of the reading on the teache illuminating to seek out correlations between the evaluation offered above, and the evaluations offered in section 3.3.1 and of 3.3.2.their Indeed, theteaching, two teachers thesehigh previous sections perception own asdiscussed well asin the impact of who group-discussion. It felt that their confidence and effectiveness had diminished over time both selected only these two items as having impact; even interestingly, also both indicated peer-to-peer between support andthe the evaluation offer perhaps more they illuminating to seekthat outthe correlations sharing of ideas outside of the sessions had had no impact on their teaching. At this stage, perhaps, a pattern might be emerging which is worth exploring further as part of3.3.1 this evaluation. above, and the evaluations offered in section and 3.3.2. Indeed, the two teache

3.3.4 Patternsdiscussed in the evaluation of theprevious professional learning who sessions in these sections felt that their confidence and effectiveness h Broadly speaking, then, teachers A, B, C and D grew in confidence and felt their teaching became more effective throughoutover the professional sessions.

They indicated that readingimpact; and diminished time bothlearning selected only these two items asthe having interestingly, th discussion during the sessions had made a difference to their teaching, and that this had been further reinforced opportunities, suchpeer-to-peer as peer-to-peersupport support, or thethe opportunity also with bothother indicated that the and sharingtoof ideas outside of t share ideas with the session leader. This is, largely, as anticipated, although the significance of the inter-sessional reading ishad perhaps exploringon a little sessions hadworth no impact theirfurther. teaching. At this stage, perhaps, a pattern might Whilst the decision to include this research base was driven by the intent to design a professional learning experience that was evidence-informed, the inclusion of this detail may have been doubly effective in my context. Within my educational setting, the teachers have a highly developed sense of PCK, especially within their own subject domains. They generally take academic learning and development very seriously: indeed, the very fact that the six participants who received the training had elected to do so perhaps suggests their wider commitment to learning. Therefore, the role that research and evidence has played in changed the beliefs of the participants, as well as their skills, could be seen to be highly significant.

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In contrast to this, teachers Y and Z felt their confidence diminish along with their effectiveness as teachers. Whilst they enjoyed and felt the benefit of the reading material and the sessional discourse along with A, B, C and D, they did not have this supplemented with further opportunities to engage in wider application. Indeed, during the informal, unstructured interviews, teacher Y commented that they would like to have had the opportunity to ‘share the planning tools with other staff’ whilst teacher Z indicated that she would like to understand ‘how to apply these concepts within my own subject.’ That the professional learning sessions were designed to be reinforced through opportunities for teachers to connect their learning with their own subject areas is significant here.

Notwithstanding the necessarily small data-set, we can see that there is a correlation, then, between the perceived impact of the professional learning sessions, which appear to be well designed, in the main, and opportunities to reinforce the learning contained covered through these professional learning sessions away from the confines of the course itself. Where the research and practice remained abstract, or a participant was only able to practise their approach within the professional learning session itself, the impact was significantly diminished. It may be that Teachers Y and Z, who did not reinforce the learning of the professional learning sessions with deliberate practice within their own domains, failed to make the connection between the abstract and the practical, between the research base and the classroom. Therefore, the long term impact of the professional learning sessions on those participants might be said to be minimal: they enjoyed the sessions, found them interesting, but they have no material impact on their teaching.

However, the converse of this may then be true. It is apparent that these professional learning sessions need to be connected, with a greater coherency, to the experiences and practices of the teachers involved on a day-to day basis, most significantly into the subject domains in which teachers are teaching. It is not enough to ask ‘what does this look like in the classroom;’ participants must imagine, rehearse and deliberate over ‘what does this look like in my classroom.’ Accordingly, then, we would expect to see confidence and perceived effectiveness raise and, therefore, the impact on pupil progress become even stronger.

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4. Conclusion and implications The key findings from this inquiry are, of course, subject to further research and development: it has been noted that there are flaws in the methodology, not least in the sample sizes used and the nature of the data compiled through the study. However, there are clearly implications and recommendations that come as a consequence of this inquiry.

4.1 Implications for future professional learning sessions Firstly, it is evident that a structured, intentional sequencing of professional learning sessions is necessary in order to meet the needs of a mid-career teacher. According to the DFE, one fifth of the teaching workforce leave after the end of their fifth year (Department for Education, 2018) and, whilst the reasons for this are likely to be ranging and diverse, it is possible that this is connected to a lack of professional learning and development offered at this stage of a career. Whilst the literature review suggests that the reasons for the apparent stalling of teacher progress at the midcareer stage are multifarious, there is an opportunity to continue the professional development of educators at this crucial stage of their career. As the literature review has further demonstrated, teacher competency rises sharply in the first five years of teaching, largely due to competencies developed on the job. The plateauing of this development indicates that a different type of training must then come in to being at this crucial stage of a teacher’s professional journey.

The concept of a taught sequencing of professional learning sessions, informed by research, reading and deliberate practice is one that has been tested as a part of this inquiry. The reading material proved extremely popular and effective, not least because of the tiered approach to presenting the material. Subsequently, the opportunities to discuss the implications of this material were embraced. Therefore, having this research form the core of a sequence if learning is imperative moving forwards. Whilst this is perhaps unsurprising on one level, given the work of Burn and Mutton (2015) in particular, being able to structure sessions deliberately to meet these needs, and have them prove so popular, was satisfying. Equally, the participants valued the opportunity to discuss the implications of their research during the professional learning sessions, so the presence of an expert facilitator is essential too.

The key area for development as far as the sequencing of professional learning sessions is concerned is the consideration of the opportunities to put the theory and research into practice. Offering a simple framework to enable this would be an obvious recommendation: indeed, this is what I plan to do over the coming weeks when the second cohort of mid-career teachers begin the second iteration of this sequence of professional learning sessions. In particular, I am going to consider the trialing of what might be termed instructional, or pedagogical, coaches in order to provide domain specific scaffolding on a one-to-one basis, ensuring that the participants have someone impartial to guide them through the implementation of the research within their subject areas, using the model articulated by the Teacher Development Trust (2020). I think that the key finding noted above, that of the correlation between teacher confidence and the opportunities to implement the research, could be addressed by the presence of such a coach, who could also play a crucial role in understanding the likelihood of a loss of confidence from the participants.

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Equally, a further recommendation will be to consider the validity of this approach amongst a wider cohort of teachers. Given the participants involved in this trial were largely self-selecting, I will need to consider whether an approach that enables such autonomy amongst the participants is suitable for all. Equally, I will consider opportunities to test this approach with those mid-career teachers who have other responsibilities around the school, including those in Senior Management. I will be interested to test the effectiveness of this sequencing of professional learning amongst staff with priorities that lie away from the classroom.

4.2 Implications for me as a teacher educator The quality of teaching has been demonstrated throughout this inquiry as being the single biggest way of developing and improving pupil outcomes. Also discussed in this inquiry is the speed of improvement of early-career teachers, and the way that the approach to teacher education in those first few years has such an impact on teacher quality. However, as discussed, this approach then fails to move teachers on in terms of their quality as they pass from early-career to what we might call mid-career.

This inquiry has attempted to test the efficacy of the sequencing, planning and delivery of a series of professional learning sessions, testing their construction and delivery amongst a small group of midcareer teachers. The inquiry has found that the impact of such a sequence of professional learning sessions on teacher effectiveness has been difficult to measure, but has assumed that effective professional learning will make a difference to pupil outcomes. Therefore, the inquiry and evaluation has sought to prove not that a sequence of professional learning sessions delivered to mid-career teachers impacts pupil outcomes but that a sequence of professional learning sessions delivered to mid-career teachers is high quality CPD which, in turn, will improve pupil outcomes.

It is clear that mid-career teachers respond well to the delivery of a sequence of professional learning sessions, which suggests that the concept of professional development for such teachers at this stage of their careers should take this form. This inquiry and evaluation also indicate that such a sequence of sessions should consist of research and reading, discussion and opportunities to implement this research on a practical level.

In terms of the wider implications for me as a teacher educator, I am struck by the complexity of beliefs and confidence, and the interplay between these two areas. As has been noted elsewhere, teachers enter the profession for largely intrinsic reasons and these reasons are inherently tied to identity and moral purpose (Younger, 2004). Therefore, the process of challenging the beliefs and confidence of a teacher, especially a mid-career teacher, should not be under-estimated. I am considering ways in which this might be dealt with in a more considered, deliberate fashion: even alerting future participants to the likely emotions that they will feel through this challenge will be a positive. This would potentially be a further role for an instructional or pedagogical coach. However, it is clear that the combination of research and practice, so favored in ITT contexts and overseas teacher training, is equally powerful when applied to the education of mid-career teachers.

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Bibliography Allen, R. (2018). The Teacher Gap. London: Routledge.

Ball, D. F. (2009). The Work of Teaching and the Challenge for Teacher Education . Journal of Teacher Education, 60(5), 497-511.

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Berliner, D. C. (2004). Describing the Behaviour and Documenting the Accomplishments of Expert Teachers. Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society, 24(3), 200-212.

Buehl, M. &. (2015). The relationship between teachers’ beliefs and teachers’ practices. In &. G. H. Fives, International handbook of research on teachers beliefs. London: Routledge.

Burn, K., & Mutton, T. (2015). A review of ‘research-informed clinical practice’ in Initial Teacher Education. Oxford Review of Education, 41(2), 217-233.

Coe, R., Aloisi, C., Higgins, S., & Major, L. (2014). What makes great teaching? CEM and Durham University.

Crehan, L. (2016). Cleverlands . London: Unbound.

Darling-Hammond, L., Hyler, M., & Gardner, M. (2017). Efective Teacher Professional Development.

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Deans for Impact. (2016). Practice with Purpose: The Emerging Science of Teacher Expertise. Austin, TX. Department for Education. (2016). Standard for teachers’ professional development Implementation guidance for school leaders, teachers, and organisations that offer professional development for teachers. London: DfE. Department for Education. (2018). School Workforce in England: November 2017. London: DfE. Department for Education. (2019, January). gov.uk. Retrieved from Early Career Framework: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/ file/978358/Early-Career_Framework_April_2021.pdf EEF. (2017). Education Endowment Foundation. Retrieved from EEF Blog: Our Teaching and Learning Toolkit - what are the risks and how do we address them?: https://educationendowmentfoundation. org.uk/news/the-teaching-and-learning-toolkit-what-are-the-risks-and-how-do-we-address/ Eysenck, H. (1994). Systematic Reviews: Meta-analysis and its problems. BMJ, 309 - 789.

Fletcher-Wood, H. (2018). Designing Professional Development for Teacher Change. London: Institute for Teaching.

Grossman, P. C. (2009). Teaching Practice: A Cross-Professional Perspective . Teachers College Record , 111(9), 2055-2100.

Jensen, B., Sonneman, J., Roberts-Hull, K., & Hunter, A. (2016). Beyond PD: Teacher Professional Learning in High-Performing Systems. Washington DC: National Center on Education and the Economy.

Kennedy, M. M. (2016). How does professional development improve teaching? Review of Educational Research, 20(10), 1-36.

Kraft, M., & Papay, J. (2014). Can Professional Environments in Schools Promote Teacher Development? Explaining Heterogeneity in Returns to Teaching Experience. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 36(4), 476-500.

Lampert, M. F. (2013). Keeping It Complex: Using Rehearsals to Support Novice Teacher Learning of Ambitious Teaching . Journal of Teacher Education, 64(3), 226–243.

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Lemov, D. (2017). WHAT HAPPENS AFTER IS WHAT MATTERS MOST: JOSH GOODRICH AND THE ART OF THE ACTION STEP. Retrieved from Teach Like a Champion: https:// teachlikeachampion.com/blog/happens-matters-josh-goodrich-art-action-step/ Murphy, R., Weinhardt, F., Wyness, G., & Rolfe, H. (2017). Lesson Study Evaluation report and executive summary. London: Education Endowment Foundation.

Nespor, J. (1987). The role of beliefs in the practice of teaching. Journal of curriculum studies, 317-328.

Teacher Development Trust. (2020). Possible prompts for instructional coaching. London : TDT. The New Teacher Project. (2015). The Mirage. TNTP. Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H., & Fung, I. (2007). Teacher Professional Learning and Development - Best Evidence Sythesis Iteration. Ministry of Education, New Zealand.

Wood, H. F. (2019). The Learning Curriculum v2.0. London: Ambition Institute.

Younger, M. B. (2004). Starting points: student teachers’ reasons for becoming teachers and their preconceptions of what this will mean. . European Journal of Teacher Education, 27(3), 245-264.

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A literature review: What makes effective Professional Development?

Alex Campbell Haileybury, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Introduction Timperley et al (2007) is one of many systematic meta-analysis of research studies that has sought to explore the evidence surrounding the aspects of teacher learning which positively influence student outcomes. In terms of evidence, whilst a strength of this study was that it drew on evidence from across global contexts, much of the literature reviewed focused on ways to support ECT teachers to remain in the profession, rather than ways to promote student learning and associated outcomes, therefore its evidence base to reliably report on a positive impact on student outcomes remains questionable. Nevertheless, the findings of this and other reviews were summarised in a recent meta-review (Cordingley, 2015), a review of reviews which sought to offer an aerial view of the status quo regarding CPDL at that time in a specifically UK context. The outcome of such literature is that ‘a consensus view’ has emerged, a phrase coined by several authors (Wei et al., 2009; Desimone, 2009; Walter, 2012, cited in Sims and Fletcher-Wood, 2018), which proposes that PD is most effective when it is: sustained, collaborative, has teacher buy-in, is subject-specific, draws on external expertise and is practice-based. This has in turn been used to some extent by policy makers to produce official guidance for teachers and school leaders, for example the Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development in the UK (see DfE, 2016).

A benefit of the aforementioned meta-analyses is that they offer researchers, teachers and leaders a systematic overview of all the evidence from the given field, which can, in turn, help them to frame future research questions. However, they do have limitations; indeed, the methodological process can be open to criticism. Sims and Fletcher-Wood for example, question the validity of the Cordingley review, arguing that aspects of methodological process, specifically the inclusion criteria 1 and inference process 2 are flawed (2018), which in turn undermines the validity of their conclusions.

Secondly, a further limitation is how the findings are interpreted by others and for what purpose.

The consensus view, for example, can be regarded as somewhat reductive, ‘assembled by selectively including or excluding features from a number of sources and claiming they are all the same’ (Higgins, Coe, Cordingley and Greany, 2018). It should therefore be treated with caution. The individual studies themselves, therefore, still have an important role to play in ‘fleshing out the abstractions and filling in the gaps in detail that are an inevitable outcome of the process of creating an overview’ (Cordingley, 2019).

1 For example, according to Sims and Fletcher-Wood, the most highly-rated review in Cordingley et al.

(2015), which forms the “cornerstone” of that meta-review, relies on a set of eleven studies, of which at least nine do not meet the ‘What Works Clearing House’ Standards at all, and score no more than one out of five padlocks when judged against the Education Endowment Foundation standards.

2 For example, Sams and Fletcher-Wood argue that ‘the inference process used to identify characteristics of effective professional development is logically flawed, because it provides no way of distinguishing the ‘active ingredients’ of such programmes from the causally redundant features which have no effect on teachers’ practice and/or pupil learning’.

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Duration Though there are some exceptions to the rule 3, much of the research surrounding effective Professional Development indicates that, in order to bring about a cultural shift within an organisation, learning opportunities that occur over an extended period of time are most effective (Cordingley et al 2015; Timperley et al 2007; Coe 2013). Whilst the former suggests that input needs to last at least two terms, the findings from the latter review indicate that input in some institutions where CPDL positively impacts students outcomes is extended further to between 6 months and 2 years, possibly even to 5 years. Additionally, within these extended blocks of learning, the Cordingley review asserts that new concepts and learning should be ‘iterative’, meaning that new concepts should be revisited, and practised again and again, observing a fortnightly or monthly rhythm, a point that is reinforced by Sims and Fletcher-Wood who claim that repeated practice to change ingrained habits, is more effective than the period over which the PD takes place (2018, p. 20). It is helpful to understand the justification for this by considering how students learn within classrooms.

Just as students need time to grapple with misconceptions, and to revisit ideas again and again so that they become fully embedded in their long-term memory, so too it takes time for teachers to process new ideas which challenge their existing orthodoxies, and for them to embed these ideas, so they become as a habitual part of their classroom practice.

Nevertheless, there are obvious limitations to this recommendation, specifically that it poses financial and temporal challenges for schools. Firstly, sustained training programmes which draw on external expertise are far more costly than one day conferences/courses. For leaders then, this highlights the importance of also drawing on the knowledge of internal experts from within their institutions. Additionally, teachers, whatever their sector, have numerous pressures on their time often making it difficult to prioritise CPDL. Whilst Cordingley et al recommend that schools find ‘creative ways to disaggregate INSET days’ it must be noted that, particularly in boarding schools, it can prove challenging to identify a mutually convenient time for all staff to be able to access learning opportunities due to the requirements of full-time pastoral care. Moreover, Timperley et al acknowledge that time alone as a variable ‘can also be associated with no or low impact on student outcomes’ (pg. xxviii) and that one cannot assume that, if given time on their timetables for PD, teachers are equipped with the self-discipline to be able to construct their own learning experiences which will, in turn, positively impact the reality of their students. It is in fact what is done with this time, along with the structures that are put in place to support staff, that are important, and this shall be discussed later in this paper.

Expert Input When considering Professional Development, a potential challenge is that any given school can become an ‘echo chamber’ in which individuals only encounter pedagogical beliefs and ideas that coincide with their own. Correspondingly, recent Literature (Timperley, 2007; Cordingley et al, 2015; and Wei et al., 2009; Walter, 2012, cited in Sims and Fletcher-Wood, 2018) claims that Professional Development can be more effective when teachers are able to engage and interact with external

3

For example, limited time can be adequate for relatively narrow curriculum goals, for example, teaching spelling

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experts – people from outside of their institution who introduce and make accessible the theory and evidence on pedagogy, subject knowledge and strategies that are relevant to participants.

Timperley acknowledges that, although insufficient on its own, external expertise can support staff in reevaluating their existing assumptions and knowledge base, making them more open to trying new skills. Cordingley elaborates more on the significance of this external input, suggesting that outside professionals can be impactful when they take into account that individual teachers have different starting points, and when they help teachers believe that better outcomes are possible for their students 4. The review also argues that experts are effective when they are used as coaches or mentors for staff. Correspondingly, a recent meta-analysis, limited to causal studies, demonstrated that PD interventions based on instructional coaching – sustained, one-to-one, deliberate practice with an expert mentor – show impressive effects on both teacher practice and performance on standardized tests by an average of 0.15 standard deviations (Kraft et al., 2016, cited in Sims and Fletcher-Wood, 2018) 5. This compliments the findings above about CPD needing to be sustained and iterative, but interestingly pretermits some of the other consensus view characteristics, e.g. collaboration.

Cordingley articulates that external specialists can be effective when used in conjunction with internal expertise. However, very little information is given regarding how such a symbiotic relationship would work, and so leaders would need to think carefully about how to facilitate this.

In contrast to Cordingley who states that external expertise is ‘crucial’ in bringing about ‘substantial improvements to pupil outcomes’ (p. 6), Timperley has noted that using external expertise does not always guarantee success; indeed, in some cases, expert input was used as an intervention but no impact was seen on student outcomes. It is also important to note that the Timperley metaanalysis lacks much further detail about the nature of this expert input, and therefore this should be interpreted with a note of circumspection. Indeed, within the research studies that were included, the skill, proficiency and responsiveness of the professional development provider was not the subject of any investigation. This is something picked up on the Cordingley review which highlights how in the studies included, there was insufficient evidence about the skills of providers and what they did to promote teacher learning. Therefore, if leaders still wish to prioritise expert input to augment their CPD provision, they must consider how they are going to evaluate its quality, and the manner with which it is delivered.

4

For example, the review states that many of the core studies highlighted that experts can challenge the way that some teachers perceived particular learners in their classroom, encouraged them to realise that changes to their practice could in fact accelerate their learning.

5

One notable example is My Teaching Partner (MTP) which provides teachers with fortnightly feedback from external observers, allowing them to repeatedly practice specific techniques. The first randomisedcontrolled trial of MTP in secondary schools found a positive, statistically significant effect on pupil attainment after two years (Allen et al., 2011, cied in Sims and Fletcher-Wood).

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Collaboration Collaboration, whether occurring on or off-site, is now generally accepted as a fundamental part of professional development. Indeed, peer support, used in conjunction with an expert leader, is a common feature across core studies and reviews, with participants having an opportunity to work together to try out and refine new approaches (Timperley et al, 2007; Cordingley et al, 2015), a view that is also reinforced by Hargreaves and Fullan argue that making professional learning a ‘collective enterprise’ is far more powerful than individuals who work alone (2012, p. 3). However, this should be approached with a note of circumspection. Indeed, according to Timperley, it is important to recognise that, as with time and external input, this variable on its own does not lead to changes in student outcomes. Additionally, when the Cordingley review lists forms of collaboration that are linked to positive effects, such as peer or co-coaching, shared planning, peer observation and collaborative action research, one must note that these were cited in studies that were ‘lessstrong’ when measured against the inclusion criteria for the review. The review also offers little detail regarding, not only the distinctive individual characteristics of this peer support, but also the relationship between such collaboration and in-depth specialist support. Therefore, perhaps this? is worthy of more detailed exploration, and this is where other research proves useful such as the Kraft research on Instructional Coaching listed above. Interestingly, Sims and Fletcher-Wood propose that there may well be a reasonable explanation for collaboration ‘co-occuring’ with effective PD, namely financial constraints which might make them more likely to commission or provide collective, group PD (2018, p. 15).

Leadership, Systems and Engagement The Cordingley meta-review (2015) is problematic in terms of highlighting the relationship between professional development and leadership, as studies regarding the leadership of CPDL were excluded from their searches as a result of time and resource constraints, and because of the shortage of leadership studies that provide pupil impact data. Nevertheless, a handful of studies used within the umbrella review did include some evidence, with the strongest one in the umbrella review - Timperley et al (2007) - highlighting four fundamental responsibilities for school leaders, one of which is that they take a managing and organising role. This point is noteworthy because it not only involves securing appropriate time so that people have the opportunity to learn, but it also involves engaging reluctant staff, and creating the systemic architecture which will help to support a culture of professional development. Indeed, systems must be in place so that teachers understand and believe that ‘serious engagement in their own learning is key constituent of what it means to be a professional’ and they must ‘expect to be held accountable for continuously improving [their] instructional practice’ (Stein and Nelson, 2003, p. 425, cited in Timperley at al, 2007, p. 192). Though not discussed explicitly in the aforementioned meta-analyses, appraisal may well be one such system that can hold individuals to account, motivating them to remain committed to their own learning and development, but it is necessary to look elsewhere for evidence on this topic.

Gifford’s recent report for the CIPD organisation (2016) uses ‘rapid evidence assessments’ (REAs) to explore goal setting and performance appraisals. Admittedly, the report has its limitations. Indeed, REAs are a truncated form of systematic review and can therefore be less comprehensive and can suffer from biases. Additionally, the studies used explore performance appraisal in a range of workplace contexts, not just education. Nevertheless, the paper offers some interesting findings.

In terms of structure, it posits that appraisal should be seen as an ongoing ‘continuous chain of connected activities not as a discrete process that is occasionally revisited’ (p. 3), something also currently promoted by the educationalist Chris Moyse (2020). Of course, it makes sense that if professional learning activities are to be sustained (as suggested by the aforementioned ‘consensus’

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view), then any supporting systems should follow a similar rhythm so that individuals are encouraged to regularly reflect on their progress. A further point explored by Gifford and also Pilcher (2012) is that leaders should consider other steps that they can take to encourage individual teachers to respond positively to the appraisal process. Indeed, in line with Procedural Justice Theory, the quality of the relationship between the line manager and the individual being appraised is essential to the effectiveness of the process (Mayer Davis, 1999; Lind, Kanfer, Earley, 2006, cited in Pilcher).

An appraisee must feel that the norms of reciprocity are being observed, namely that, if the line manager is to benefit from their improved performance in the future, then they should benefit from a positive, supportive interaction. (Wayne, Shore, Bommer and Tetrick, 2002, cited in Pilcher).

Gifford’s report proves useful again when considering the nature of these interactions, as it discusses evidence regarding Appreciative Inquiry, a theory which proposes that understanding strengths and success stories forms a better basis for improvement than a deficit model with negative feedback (Kluger and Nir, 2010). This feedforward approach is akin to coaching, with the manager primarily ‘actively listening’ and asking questions and the employee controlling what incidents are discussed.

This in turn positively impacts people’s perceived fairness of appraisal. Thus it becomes clear that a system designed to underpin professional learning, if designed correctly, can also help to foster the kind of supportive culture that is needed for professional learning communities to thrive.

Bibliography Coe, R. (2013) Improving Education. A triumph of hope over experience. Inaugural lecture of Professor Coe. Durham University.

Cordingley, P., Higgins, S., Greany, T., Buckler, N., Coles-Jordan, D., Crisp, B., Saunders, L., Coe, R., (2015). Developing Great Teaching: Lessons from the international reviews into effective professional development. Teacher Development Trust.

Cordingley, Philippa. (2019). ‘Meta-analysis: Don’t do it or do it more carefully? https://www.cem. org/blog/meta-analysis-dont-do-it-or-do-it-more-carefully/, accessed: 27th November 2019 Danielson, C. (2013). The framework for teaching: Evaluation instrument. Retrieved from www. danielsongroup.org Deci, E. and Ryan, R. (2008). ‘Self-determination theory: A macrotheory of human motivation, development, and health’. Canadian Psychology, 49, 182–185 [online]. DOI: 10.1037/a0012801 DfE, (2016), Standard for Teachers’ Professional Development, https://www.gov.uk/government/ publications/standard-for-teachers-professional-development, Accessed November 2019 Gifford, Jonny. (2016) ‘Could do better? Assessing what works in Performance Management’, https://www.cipd.co.uk/Images/could-do-better_2016-assessing-what-works-in-performancemanagement_tcm18-16874.pdf Hargreaves and Fullen, 2012. Hargreaves, A., and M. Fullan. 2012. Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School. New York: Teachers College Press. (Found in https://www.tandfonline. com/doi/full/10.1080/13632434.2017.1343705#) Higgins, Coe, Cordingley and Greany, 2018, ‘What makes for Good CPD?’. https://www.tes.com/ news/what-makes-good-cpd.

Moyse, Chris (2020), ‘Growing Great Teachers #ImproveNotProve’, https://www.loom.com/share/ d2839a8b2b9044afabd178edacffb6e8, accessed on 27.03.2020

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Pichler, S. (2012). The social context of performance appraisal and appraisal reactions: A metaanalysis. Human Resource Management, 51(5), 709–732. doi:10.1002/hrm.21499 Sims and Fletcher-wood, 2018. ‘Characteristics of effective teacher professional development: what we know, what we don’t, how we can find out’, https://improvingteaching.co.uk/wp-content/ uploads/2018/09/Characteristics-of-Effective-Teacher-Professional-Development.pdf Stein, M. & Nelson, B. (2003). Leadership Content Knowledge. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 25 (4), 423- 448.

Stouten, Rousseau, De Cremer (2018), Successful Organisational Change: Integrating the Management Practice and Scholarly Literatures, Academy of Management Annals 2018, Vol. 12, No. 2, 752–788. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0095 Timperley, H., A. Wilson, H. Barrar, and I. Fung. 2007. Teacher Professional Learning and Development: Best Evidence Synthesis Iteration, Wellington. New Zealand: Ministry of Education. http://educationcounts.edcentre.govt.nz/goto/BES Worth, J. (2020), NFER: Teacher Autonomy: how does it Relate to Job Satisfaction and Retention?

Haileybury Journal of Educational Research November 2023 Volume 1 Number 2 Contents PASTORAL CARE

SCHOOL CULTURE

Page 2 Pastoral care in boarding schools – perceptions, perspectives, knowledge and experience Charlotte Brigden

Page 81 Breaking the silence: Empowering teenagers to report sexual harassment Hugo Wilson

Page 13 Moving from reactive to proactive pastoral care in UK Independent boarding schools Emma Millo

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Page 28 Increasing resilience through school-based mindfulness and gratitude training to improve the wellbeing of adolescents Emma Millo

PEDAGOGY AND CURRICULUM Page 39 The race to raise standards: What is the impact of a secondary English curriculum that prioritises knowledge and content over talk?

Alex Campbell Page 51 Introducing ‘Where Are Your Keys’ into the Latin classroom. A study of using Total Physical Response and Spoken Latin in a mixed-experience KS3 Latin class.

Elizabeth Caffrey

Page 84 Design, justification and evaluation of a professional learning session delivered to mid-career teachers Stephen Campbell Page 103 A literature review: What makes effective professional development?

Alex Campbell

HJER November 2023 Volume 1 Number 2

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November 2023 Volume 1 Number 2

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