hattie

John Hattie

Distinguishing Expert Teachers from Novice and Experienced Teachers. Teachers Make a Difference What is the research evidence? 17pp https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/proflearn/docs/pdf/qt_hattie.pdf

focus on teacher excellence

in contrast to ... ... “idiot-proof” solutions where the proofing has been to restrain the idiots to tight scripts – tighter curricula specification, prescribed textbooks, bounded structures of classrooms, scripts of the teaching act, and all this underpinned by a structure of accountability.

where (does) the major source of variance in student’s achievement lie?

? Hierarchical Linear Modelling ... decomposes the variance of many influences


 * Students** 50% It is what students brings to the table that predicts achievement more than any other variable


 * Home** 5-10% ...the major effects of the home are already accounted for by the attributes of the student. The home effects are more related to the levels of expectation and encouragement


 * Schools** 5-10%


 * Principals** (accounted for in Schools) Principals who create a school with high student responsiveness rather than bureaucratic control, who create a climate of psychological safety to learn, who create a focus of discussion on student learning have the influence. The effect on learning is trickled through these attributes rather than directly on learning


 * Peer effects** 5-10% ??? not really argued


 * Teachers** 30% It is what teachers know, do, and care about which is very powerful in this learning equation

We need to direct funding to improving teacher quality because that is what makes a difference - rather than less productive areas (school structures, reduced class sizes, new curricula, involving parents in school management, controlling teachers with standards / accountability frameworks)

Chart showing which things influence achievement the most (and the source of that influence: teacher, student, home, peers, school etc.)

BUT WHERE DO THESE FIGURES MEASURING ACHIEVEMENT AND CORRELATIONS COME FROM, IS THE FOUNDATION OF THIS ANALYSIS SOLID?

Feedback 1.13 Teacher Students' prior cognitive ability 1.04 Student Instructional Quality 1.00 Teacher etc. Computer assisted instruction 0.31 Teacher

The Difference between Expert and Experienced Teachers

Experts A. Can identify essential representations of their subject(s)

A1. Expert teachers have deeper representations about teaching and learning

A2. Expert teachers adopt a problem-solving stance to their work

A3. Expert teachers can anticipate, plan, and improvise as required by the situation

A4. Expert teachers are better decision-makers and can identify what decisions are important and which are less important decisions

B. Guiding Learning through Classroom Interactions B5 Expert teachers are proficient at creating an optimal classroom climate for learning

B6 Expert teachers have a multidimensionally complex perception of classroom situations

B7 Expert teachers are more context-dependent and have high situation cognition

C. Monitoring Learning and Provide Feedback C8 Expert teachers are more adept at monitoring student problems and assessing their level of understanding and progress, and they provide much more relevant, useful feedback

C9 Expert teachers are more adept at developing and testing hypotheses about learning difficulties or instructional strategies

C10 Expert teachers are more automatic

D. Attending to Affective Attributes D11 Expert teachers have high respect for students

D12 Expert teachers are passionate about teaching and learning

E. Influencing Student Outcomes E13 Expert teachers engage students in learning and develop in their students’ self-regulation, involvement in mastery learning, enhanced self-efficacy, and self-esteem as learners

E14 Expert teachers provide appropriate challenging tasks and goals for students

E15 Expert teachers have positive influences on students’ achievement

E16 Expert teachers enhance surface and deep learning

NB page 10 "Before concluding this section, let me comment on one attribute not present – and that is content knowledge. Our argument is that content knowledge is necessary for both experienced and expert teachers, and is thus not a key distinguishing feature. We are not underestimating the importance of content knowledge – it must be present -- but it is more pedagogical content knowledge that is important: that is, the way knowledge is used in teaching situations."

cf. alan kay's claim that teachers don't understand basic maths, etc.

Some discussion at arti's blog:

http://artichoke.typepad.com/artichoke/2009/01/collision-theory-class-size-and-those-deliberate-acts-of-teaching.html#comments good comment there by stephen downes (first comment)