CPD Flip the classroom


One trend in modern education has been the shift


in focus from the quality of teaching to the quality of student learning. Ben Solly discusses his use of the flipped classroom


Periodically, i will hear sceptics utter pessimistic indifference towards new educational developments or initiatives, whether these are filtered down from Whitehall or are more regional proposals implemented by a local authority. “We’ve seen this before” or “we did this 20 years


i


ago” are common gripes. The last decade has seen so many developments that the educational system in this country appears in a constant state of flux. indeed, it probably always has been. As a teacher of young people, however, one of the


most significant changes for me has been the emphasis shifting away from the quality of teaching towards the quality of student learning.


Those who can’t, teach?


As a young and inexperienced teacher, i was very proud that the lessons i delivered were deemed as outstanding when i was observed during my NQT year. But i was often the centre of attention in these


lessons and as i developed my understanding of how and why students were making progress i became acutely aware that actually, i did not need to do a great amount of teaching. i found myself demonstrating less, devolving


more and more responsibility to my students across all lessons, and becoming more of a facilitator. i would plan and provide opportunities for learning, and students would take responsibility for their own progress with me acting more like a learning coach. in fact, when i was observed during my Advanced


skills Teacher (AsT) assessment day, i purposely chose an activity area (shot put, indoors) that has a reasonably traditional approach of delivery to showcase how i could develop high quality, exciting and engaging learning opportunities for students to be able to make outstanding progress. Via a range of Assessment for Learning activities,


use of iCT replay software and structured reflective opportunities, i managed to do this very effectively. however, i came out of the lesson feeling i had


done very little. And it was the truth, i had done very little during those 60 minutes. The students had done everything and i had just nudged them in the right directions when they needed it. The AsT assessor told my headteacher that if


he could have awarded the lesson an “outstanding plus” judgement he would have done so, purely because of the progress students made and the level of personalisation i was able to deliver. This was because i was not concentrating on being the “all-singing, all- dancing teacher”. subsequently, as an AsT, i observed many lessons,


in subject areas outside my expertise, which was a great experience. i saw many teachers who would raise their game for a one-off observation, and expect to be judged as “good”, because sadly back then the focus was more on the teaching than the learning of the students. in recent years, however, more focus has been


placed on the progress learners make in lessons, rather than the quality of the teacher delivery and this is a very welcome change. Consequently, it is extremely difficult for teachers to “pull one out of the bag” for their performance management observation, or when ofsted visit. More recently, the introduction of the “flipped


classroom” concept has completely reversed the traditional approach to delivering lessons so that even more responsibility is devolved to students for making progress and developing their own learning.


SecEd • February 9 2012


TWAsAlbert Einstein who said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. i qualified as a teacher in 2004 and in this


relatively short space of time i have witnessed a significant degree of change throughout the educational landscape we work in.


What is the “flipped classroom”?


The flipped classroom turns traditional education on its head. it inverts teaching methods so the instructional content-driven delivery, traditionally performed by a teacher in front of a class of students occurs via video that the learners watch at home (or in school, or wherever) at a time convenient to them. Teachers will record themselves explaining a certain


concept or idea, often using screen capture software if a computer-based task is the focus. students will watch this as their homework on PCs, laptops, tablets, phones or iPods. The learners can also engage in online debate or Q&A via discussion forums set up by their teacher on the school learning platform or elsewhere on the internet. This enables students to ask questions in an


environment where they are comfortable and eradicates the problem of students not wishing to ask questions in front of the whole class. Teachers might also provide learning materials other


than video to support students with this independent learning. Armed with the knowledge imparted on them via this video, discussion and other learning materials, they arrive at class to work on independent or collaborative projects with little or no content delivery from the teacher. The teacher is then freed up to offer mini in-class workshops for students who need to revisit certain concepts or information they do not understand. This approach to learning has been gathering


momentum in the UsA since its conception in 2007 by chemistry teachers Bergmann and sams, and a few innovative practitioners have been developing the flipped classroom in the UK. The potential for high quality student learning and


progress is substantial. The content is delivered in a format that young people understand, appreciate and connect with. The emphasis is then for learners to be responsible


for effectively applying this knowledge to the tasks or challenges the teacher sets in the lesson. There may even be a choice of tasks students could select, differentiated by the teacher to ensure all students are challenged. students could also generate their own tasks or projects that will demonstrate their understanding of the concept. Understandably, many practitioners who have


always employed a didactic, teacher-centred method of delivery may feel unease at transferring control of the classroom to the learners. Additionally, teachers need to be comfortable with producing short videos, using screen capture software, and be organised enough to prepare these online tutorials and learning materials for students well in advance of lessons. obviously there are certain subjects that the flipped


classroom naturally lends itself to, particularly where students are producing coursework, collaborative project work, or as a preparatory step towards controlled assessments. on Twitter i have read excellent examples of practice


in A level PE from Paul Mcintosh (@pauldavidmac) from Rossett school in harrogate, and in iCT from Nick Jackson (@largerama) at Fulford school in York. indeed, in my own school, Long Field high, the


iCT curriculum director has employed this method of delivery effectively in iCT by creating online tutorials for using Adobe Dreamweaver that students watch in their own time before then building websites during lessons. Realistically it is unfeasible to be able to deliver an entire curriculum via the flipped classroom but


with greater significance attributed to student learning in lessons, it is critical that teachers entering the profession are equipped with an array of varied delivery techniques, and this is most certainly an innovative and exciting approach. so why not have a go, experiment with flipping


your classroom, and let the kids do the hard work for you!


SecEd Talking CPD


The ABC of Generation Z Who is


Generation Z and are schools


preparing them for life in the 21st century? Phil Parker explains


Recently 1 experienced a defining moment – a speech by Caroline Waters, director of policy at BT, during the Whole Education annual conference. Many points below were touched upon in her speech and I believe schools must consider their implications.


Who is Generation Z? Well, you’re teaching them now. Born in the late 1990s, anthropologists, futurists and economists all agree they are a unique bunch, a product of the digital revolution and a society that has seen greater, faster change than even in the industrial Revolution. sometimes called the Facebook generation,


their mindset is one of multi-tasking in a range of environments, information is permanently accessible, communication is frequently conducted via a range of media. And one fifth of them will be unemployed when they leave school. What does the future have in store for Generation


Z? The answers may disturb you because business leaders are saying (as Caroline Waters did) that schools and colleges must prepare these young people for the challenges i’ve listed here. My question to you – are you doing that? Business leaders are asking for entirely different things to our current political master, who is staring admiringly into the halcyon days of the 1950s. so let’s use that style of learning to examine the future.


‘A’ stands for Accreditation


The Labour government copied Canada who, in the early 90s, took the decision to aim for 50 per cent of their young people to graduate from university. south Korea followed suit. Finland now has 80 per cent of its 25 to 34-year-olds gaining tertiary accreditation. iceland 78 per cent. Britain is in 15th position with 35 per cent. increased tuition fees, the removal of the Educational Maintenance Allowance, is only going to see that position plummet. That’s not the bad news. This is. China is producing more high-flying graduates each year


‘B’ is for Brain


We need to reconsider how we ask our students to use their brains. Generation Z will need to think very differently to us. Why? The top 10 “in-demand” jobs of 2010 did not


even exist in 2004. one week’s worth of The Times contains more information than one person in the 18th century encountered in their lifetime. information is doubling at exponential rates – 40 “exabytes” were generated worldwide this year – more than in the last 2,000 years in total. Ten trillion bits per second of information is carried along each single strand of fibre optics in a second. This is tripling every six months. What will this mean for future thinking processes? how do we equip young people to meet this


rapid change? Are we even trying to do this? or are we just filling their heads with knowledge to get a qualification? shouldn’t we be equipping them with the skills to deal with this information?


‘C’ is for Competition


Globalisation has generated a standardised, homogenised world where “employability skills” are the same wherever you go. We need to ensure our young people don’t just understand these skills; they must apply them and do so before they leave school. The challenge for school leaders is to be bold,


ready to look beyond league tables and inspections and political table tennis. We need to develop teaching and learning which equips young people for a challenging future. But if ofsted is an issue, consider bullet point 8 in the new Framework’s teaching quality criteria – how teachers “develop the skills (for pupils) to learn for themselves”. These are the same skills needed to survive the challenges life has for Generation Z. if you want to be part of this revolution and join with schools engaging in this challenge please get in touch.


• Phil Parker, an ex-senior leader of a successful school, is a director of Student Coaching Ltd which works with schools eager to develop rounded and successful young people by transforming the way people learn. Visit www.studentcoaching.co.uk


equivalent to Britain’s entire population. india also – a country where one-third of the population are under the age of 15. it isn’t surprising that business leaders are out-sourcing employment to these nations. According to Confederation of British industry,


56 per cent of all careers will require tertiary-level accreditation. Currently, 54 per cent of employers are recruiting this workforce from nations outside the EU. Why? Because those people have the skills and education. our young people frequently don’t.


• Ben Solly is assistant principal at Long Field School in Melton Mowbray.


Useful weblinks


• YouTube video from the creator of Flipped Classrooms: http://bit.ly/f4nt45


• Further advice on flipped classrooms: http://mindshift.kqed.org/tag/flipped-classroom/


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