Proctor et al (1995, p 51 detail the purpose of short term lesson plans.
‘…to ensure that, during each day or week the class will receive:
- A balance of activities based on the medium term planning
- Work differentiated to meet their needs
- A pace of delivery which is appropriate for their needs and as far as possible matches the medium term plans
- Constructive feedback’
It is important to remember that long and medium term plans are idealistic, they take the key objectives and break them down into manageable chunks, the short term plans are detailed planning of these chunks and need to be realistic; these plans are the point at which the activities and the approach outlined in the medium term planning are adapted to meet the needs of the group to be taught.
Mathematics is one of the subject areas that pervade many others, there has been a drive to improve the quality of the teaching within mathematics and this has culminated in a wealth of guidelines on the subject content and progression of modern numeracy lessons. There is a dilemma within mathematics teaching that is discussed by Haylock (2001 p1) he concludes that:
‘Using and applying mathematics must always be at the heart of learning the subject. But children need ‘explanation’ and teachers must organize their lessons and the pupils’ activities in ways that give opportunities for them to provide careful, systematic and appropriate explanation of mathematical concepts, procedures and principles to groups of children.’
There is need to consider the different learning styles that children prefer and to include (as far as is practical) these different styles within each teaching episode. Haylock goes on to express concern that teachers will use the multitude of commercially available schemes to arrange their teaching and forget that children need explanation.
In conclusion planning is a complex area, not all teaching methods are appropriate to the subject matter; we as teachers need to remember that an eclectic approach is necessary if we are to provide an adequate learning experience for all of the pupils within our classrooms.
Planning for and teaching the more able child.
The modern primary school approach is to group children by age and to expect the teacher to provide sufficient differentiation to suit the needs of all children within the class. In larger schools it is easy for children to be ability streamed and for the teaching to be more ability focused, this obviously has benefit for all children. When planning activities and considering the individual needs of children teachers will aim their activity at the age appropriate achievement; much has been written and massive efforts made to ensure that children who are of low ability receive particular attention, and that work is provided at an appropriate level to ensure they achieve as close to their potential as possible. At the other end of the scale children who regularly exceed the learning objectives need to have similar consideration.
There are a number of factors that need to be considered in relation to teaching children with above average ability:
- Identifying children that have above average ability/intelligence.
- Identifying the special needs of these children.
- Addressing these special needs.
- Progression through and across schools.
It follows that if we are to provide appropriate learning opportunities for children then we need to be skilled at identifying children with ability and intelligence that is outside of the average.
Identification
To the naive observer, identifying the very able child would seem to be the easy part of this particular jigsaw puzzle; above average children will always finish their work and get it correct. This is too simplistic a view, the very able child will often have specific areas of ability that need to be appreciated; the child who is untidy and uninterested in their work may well be functioning well above the tasks being set and see no reason to even try to do the work, the child who is often daydreaming and appears to be detached from their peers may have understood the work already and be thinking on a higher plane altogether. The challenge is for educators to recognise these children and be able to provide a stimulating environment.
Wallace (1981 p15) discusses that:
‘…the teachers of very able children must realise that these children need as much teaching, inspiring, guidance, reassurance and praise as other children do. They do not automatically succeed because potentially they are very able; they cannot always get on by themselves.’
This is a point that crops up again and again within theories of how to teach the very able child; the answers lie in the creation of a safe and stimulating environment and a teaching style that is open and flexible, it is apparent that all children can benefit from this approach. I shall return to this area later when considering lesson planning.
Social context
No child can be seen in isolation; each of us operates within the social bounds of our environment. Children need and want to have friendships and to feel valuable both by the significant adults within their life and their peers. Both peers and adults can see children with above average ability as different, it is a significant factor within our society that different is often seen negatively; within the classroom children who are different need to be nurtured; teachers need to respect the views and ideas and to create an ethos where their views and thoughts are validated.
There is much research that suggests that very able children will often deliberately underperform in order to ‘fit in’ with the expectations that are placed upon them. If teachers expectations are limited then these children may appear to be of average ability; the challenge for professional educators is to provide stimulating activities that allow children to progress as far as they can within any given subject area.
Curriculum
Very able children present a challenge for teachers across the curriculum; I shall specifically look at numeracy skills and the approaches that can be used to allow children to achieve their potential.
The National Curriculum and the National Numeracy Strategy have developed a framework for teaching mathematics that is prescriptive on subject content. It is easy for teachers to accept the outline planning and to have very focused expectations of what children need to be taught both the depth and breadth of knowledge within each term. For very able children this is potentially a problem, if there are limited expectations on their progression they will (and do) achieve these easily yet they do not progress further.
In theory very able children should be able to progress within the framework with little difficulty – the framework of the National Numeracy Strategy is a pattern of revisiting areas of mathematical knowledge to develop a deep understanding of the knowledge skills and understanding that are detailed in the National Curriculum. Lesson planning needs to have an open-ended structure; children need to understand the concepts being taught and the practical application of these ideas.
Planning
As discussed above the curriculum for mathematics teaching has been developed to a point where teachers are told what to teach in any given term, and ideas proposed on how this can be achieved. I find myself asking where does the very able child fit into this framework, should we as teachers be satisfied with children who meet the age appropriate objectives? Is there any point in attempting to lead children further? The answer is simple, of course we should provide opportunities for those children who can achieve a greater understanding of the subject matter in any curriculum area, but I believe that this is particularly important in mathematics.
If a child has a natural ability to mathematics then this should be nurtured and developed; planning has to be completed in such a way as to provide activities that will allow high ability children to develop in the same way as we need to consider children of lower ability.
Recently I overheard a number of my peers discussing planning within mathematics, one of the students stated ‘its easy to plan for the high achievers, just use the next year objectives!’ this would seem to be an easy answer, but really does not tackle the real issue. Haylock & Cockburn (1997 p 170) discusses this issue and states:
‘Mathematics is more than just a collection of skills, concepts and principles. It is also a collection of ways of thinking and reasoning : ways of organising and internalising the information that we receive from the external world; and ways of using and applying that information both back in the real world and also on the concepts of mathematics itself.’
I have read much on the teaching of mathematics and on the teaching of high ability children; I have come to the conclusion that this use and application provides the key to teaching high ability children mathematics. There is little need for them to be advanced through the curriculum (unless they specifically ask to be shown a technique) as the true high ability child will be able to create their own progression based on their own level of understanding. As an example when ordering numbers the high ability child will be able to take their knowledge of place value and order numbers far beyond the key objectives within the NNS, this to them will seem to be a simple task once they have mastered the principles of place value. In this example planning open ended activities is simple if a final activity of write your own numbers and put them in order is asked then children can write numbers of whatever value they feel they can order.
I would like to now be able to refer to my own planning from school experience that I have already undertaken, unfortunately I feel that I have been guilty of using the NNS key objectives to plan lessons and have not provided this kind of activity in lessons that I have delivered. After the research that I have entered into for this assignment I now feel that I can retrospectively identify 1 or 2 children who would have benefited from a much more open ended style; I will of course be ensuring that my teaching of mathematics gives such opportunities in the future.
Outside help
There will of course be times when teachers feel that they are not providing the stimulus and learning opportunities that very able children deserve. Many of these children will have developed an interest in a particular subject such as astronomy, and their knowledge will be in excess of that of the teacher. In these instances it may be prudent to involve a specialist who can either act as an advisor to the teacher or be involved on a one to one basis with the child; if we accept the skills and knowledge that children have then encouragement will give them a sense of pride and value that is vital if they are to develop into well adjusted adults. As teachers we need to feel comfortable to accept the limits of our own ability and to search for appropriate assistance whenever we deem it necessary.
There are of course specialist schools that cater for the very able child and the private educational sector would no doubt offer some benefits. I would like to be able to say that mainstream educational provision is always the most appropriate setting, but reality is that smaller classes and higher resourcing levels can make massive differences to individual children. There are obvious funding issues but I do not feel it appropriate to elaborate further here.
Conclusion
The teacher that creates an ethos of value to all students, their skills, knowledge and understanding, and provides a stimulating learning experience at the appropriate level for all pupils will enable all children (including those of above average ability) with a quality learning experience. It is easy to overlook the high achieving children whilst trying to get those children who struggle to acceptable attainment levels, but at what cost? We need adults who are prepared to question the social constructs in which we live; we need adults that can develop new ideas, technologies and bring them to fruition. If we insist that all children to conform to the age appropriate targets and expect little else of them perhaps as adults they will also conform to what they think is expected of them even if they are capable of so much more. Have I already taught the Richard Branson, James Dyson or Nelson Mandela of the future? If I have I hope that I have inspired and encouraged their capabilities rather than undervaluing them. I know that in the future I will be more aware of the needs of the brightest children and will try my hardest to provide learning opportunities to meet their needs.
Bibliography
DfEE, 1999, The National Curriculum, London, HMSO.
DfEE, 1999, The National Numeracy Strategy, London, HMSO.
Haylock D, 2001, Mathematics Explained For Primary Teachers. London, Paul Chapman Publishing.
Proctor A, Entwistle M, Judge B & Mckenzie-Murdoch S, 1995, Learning to Teach in the Primary Classroom. London and New York, RoutledgeFalmer.
Haylock D & Cockburn A, 1997, Understanding Mathematics in the Lower Primary Years. London, Paul Chapman Publishing.
Wallace B 1981, Teaching the very able child. East Grindstead, Ward Lock Educational Co Ltd.
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