Instruction Week 8 | Explicit Teaching

Duration: 40 minutes

Ms Sims understands that several strategies contribute to effective instruction. But sometimes, when considering how to use these strategies in combination, she notices that she is unsure how they fit together. When does pupil misunderstanding mean she should use more teacher talk? When do pupils need more practice? Is there an overall model of instruction which can help her review her lessons to decide if her instruction is supporting pupils to learn as effectively as they can?

2. Key Idea

Teachers should deploy instructional strategies that provide most teacher support early in the instructional sequence and gradually withdraw this support to ensure pupils successfully gain knowledge and skills.

3. Explicit teaching of knowledge and skills is teacher-led

Explicit teaching means teachers provide fully guided instruction to pupils when introducing new knowledge and skills (Sweller, 2016). Ms Sims chooses to pursue explicit teaching because it is the most efficient way to develop her pupils’ mental models – the collection of concepts, knowledge, skills and principles which comprise their understanding of a topic or a subject. To build these mental models, Ms Sims can combine a variety of techniques.

One model which can be helpful when thinking about how to sequence these techniques is the ‘I-We-You’ approach (Lemov, 2015). When pupils begin learning a topic or skill, they benefit from first receiving guided instruction from the teacher, as opposed to discovering key ideas for themselves (Coe et al., 2014).

One reason this approach is effective is because working memory is limited. If pupils have to discover the key ideas themselves, or complete a complicated process with limited guidance, they will find it difficult to do and to remember. However, teachers can make this process easier through an effective ‘I do’, for example linking to pupil prior knowledge, addressing common misconceptions and introducing material in steps through explanations and models. As pupils acquire knowledge and skills, their expertise increases, and Ms Sims can encourage them to work increasingly independently, first with teacher support (‘We do’) and then practising alone (‘You do’) to gain mastery. Such a sequence makes it more likely pupils will be successful (Rosenshine, 2012).

4. ‘I do’ - effective teacher exposition

Explaining, modelling and questioning pupils – developing their mental models – before individual practice tends to be most effective (Rosenshine, 2012). However, if Ms Sims wants her pupils to learn efficiently, she must balance the risks of falling into two opposite traps: spending too long explaining ideas to pupils (‘I do’) or moving too quickly to practice (‘We do’ or ‘You do’) without first assessing whether pupils need further guidance.

This can be tricky because we cannot see mental models developing. Just because a pupil looks busy or writes lots, it does not necessarily mean that they have learnt something (Coe, 2013). Learning something can also take time, with pupils typically benefiting more from experiencing multiple exposures to information, ideally spaced out over time (Pashler et al., 2007).

Ms Sims can use diagnostic assessments to inform her decisions about teaching. She can do this by thinking carefully about the specific knowledge and skills she wants her pupils to acquire and using questions to which all or most pupils have to respond. This will enable her to get an impression of whether pupils have acquired the intended knowledge and skills (Christodoulou, 2017), and what to do next with them.

6. ‘We do, You do’ - guided practice, independent practice

When Ms Sims transitions to the ‘We do’ section, she should avoid removing all support immediately. Her key consideration should be that pupils obtain a high success rate, ideally of around 80%: initially, she can provide scaffolds to achieve this and check for understanding (Rosenshine, 2012). For example, Ms Sims could invite students to rehearse new material by rephrasing, elaborating or summarising (Rosenshine, 2012). She can also provide guides and scaffolds for trickier tasks to ensure pupils do not become overwhelmed by trying to practise too much complex material too soon (Rosenshine, 2012).

But the ‘You do’ stage of independent practice is also important for pupil learning. Ms Sims should continue to check for understanding and, when appropriate, remove scaffolds and guidance so that pupils can practise independently (Pashler et al., 2007). A key goal of independent practice is for pupils to gain automaticity so they can effortlessly use their knowledge and skills (Rosenshine, 2012). Ms Sims may tell pupils that they need to ‘practise beyond the point when they get it right, to the point where they can’t get it wrong’.

7. Nuances and Caveats