Effective teachers teach all their students effectively. The New Zealand Curriculum (page 34) explains that although no formula guarantees learning for every student in every context, there is strong evidence of the kinds of teaching approaches that consistently improve student learning. The evidence shows that students learn best when teachers establish strong relationships with students and their whānau and when they:
- create a supportive learning environment
- encourage reflective thought and action
- enhance the relevance of new learning
- facilitate shared learning
- make connections to prior learning and experience
- provide sufficient opportunities to learn
- inquire into the teaching–learning relationship.
As a group, reflect on what effective pedagogy looks like in practice in your school, either in the school-wide environment or in the classroom. The questions in the table below are to support the discussion.
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Teacher actions
(NZC, pages 34–35)
| Questions to consider
| What does this look like in your school or classroom?
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| Creating a supportive environment
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- How do you foster and demonstrate positive relationships within the learning environment that are caring, inclusive, non-discriminatory, and cohesive?
- How do you value and attend to the cultural and linguistic diversity of all your students?
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| Encouraging reflective thought and action
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- What tasks and opportunities have you designed that encourage all students to reflect on their learning individually and with their peers?
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| Enhancing the relevance of new learning
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- How do you stimulate the curiosity of your students?
- How do you challenge them to use and apply what they discover in new contexts and new innovative ways?
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| Facilitating shared learning
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- How does your learning community foster and demonstrate learning conversations and partnerships where all contributions are valued?
- How are all members of the classroom encouraged to give constructive feedback on learning?
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| Making connections to prior learning and experience
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- What are some deliberate strategies you use to build on what students know and have experienced?
- How do you support students to make connections across learning areas, home experiences, and the wider world?
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| Providing sufficient opportunities to learn
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- How do you plan for multiple opportunities for all students to engage with, practise, and transfer new learning?
- How do you encourage students to take ownership of and manage their own learning?
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| Teaching as inquiry
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- How do you use what you observe in daily teaching and learning to ensure that all students’ learning needs are planned for and met?
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Next – Planning for all
Published on: 02 Jun 2015
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