learning intentions with students, finding out what they already know about that topic, and making regular checks on learning by eliciting evidence about what they have learned through good quality questioning and other techniques. This information is then used to give feedback, which helps students progress. Crucially, all of them need to participate. Wiliam is probably most famous for his ‘no hands


up’ policy, insisting that responses must be elicited through teacher nomination. “Every student needs to know there is a chance they will be asked to respond,” he says.


This approach often seems counter-intuitive to students and teachers alike. Wiliam is not surprised at this response but insists it’s essential to quality learning. “Students generally don’t learn [exactly] what we teach them, so we need find out what they have [actually] learned in order to help them to succeed,” he says. Despite this robust evidence base and the publication of Embedded Formative Assessment – his 2011 book of practical examples of how to apply this research in the classroom – Wiliam is frustrated that these principles haven’t been rolled out as fully as they could have been. In 2001, when he and co-author Professor Paul Black


were called into the then Department for Education and Skills to give their expert opinion, they were given a lukewarm response to what were seen as ‘gimmicky’ classroom tricks. “They said, ‘But what would the Daily Mail say?’ So the principles were never fully rolled out,” says Wiliam with a degree of exasperation. “Instead what they called ‘assessment for learning’ became an exercise in more frequent testing and keeping complicated spreadsheets updated. I would say a small minority of teachers use the principles of formative assessment in the classroom in the way they were intended.” Wiliam also now advocates using statements as well as questions to elicit examples of student learning. “For example, ‘I am interested in knowing what you think about that,’ is a very powerful statement as there is no chance a student can get it wrong,” he says. And while there are current moves towards ‘no more marking’ methods, such as comparative judgement, which advocates comparing two pieces of student work and creating an algorithm to create a score sheet, Wiliam insists there is no substitute for good quality, individual assessment. “Obviously there needs to be a generic element in all


good feedback. [But] there is no point in just following instructions about how to improve the current piece of work. You need to take that information forward to improve the next piece.”


Wiliam acknowledges that good quality feedback is time-consuming, as is his other passion of improving teacher quality. He is currently promoting the idea of teacher learning communities in which the onus is on teachers identifying their own areas for development, rather than being told by management what they are


doing wrong. “The idea is that each teacher commits to getting better. They identify which aspects of their teaching they would like to improve and promise their peers to try out something better,” he explains. “Only then do they invite an observer in to give


feedback on the aspect they are trying to improve.” Wiliam acknowledges that changing working patterns in the further education and training workforce makes this challenging. “Teachers should meet together as part of their contracted time, but when teachers work part-time and are paid on an hourly basis, this makes it difficult.” He also blames cuts to administration staff as an obstruction to good teaching. “Teachers are spending their time doing admin and photocopying. This is not something they are very good at. Teachers need to teach.” Similarly, while acknowledging that teachers do need


to keep up to date with current research, he says that there is no real need for them to read long and often contradictory research papers. “One or two good research summaries each year should be enough,” he says.


We need to find out what students have learned in order to help them succeed.


Wiliam is also alarmed by the idea of skills over content, which he believes is gaining currency in the FE sector. “I think this idea of teaching skills in the abstract is a dangerous one and is based on a misunderstanding of what skills are. “That’s not how our brains work. The expertise of


experts is actually very specific and built on massive amounts of experience and knowledge. “What are referred to as generic, transferable skills, such as communication skills and critical thinking, are actually very subject specific. They are not transferable, they are not generic and they are not really skills.”


Wiliam, who started his career as an aspiring jazz musician, only teaching to buy enough money for an amp, has worked his way from the coalface of maths teaching up to various senior positions in prestigious organisations, such as becoming Emeritus Professor of Educational Assessment at University College London. But he admits that the administrative constraints of academic life never really suited him. He has now achieved his ambition of working


freelance, and divides his time between travelling the world to disseminate his ideas and living in an impressive lakeside house in the sunny environs of Bradford County, Florida – a long way from Cardiff, where he spent much of his early childhood. “Why did I choose to live here?” he ponders. “Well, why wouldn’t you?”


inTUITION ISSUE 34 • WINTER 2018 11


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