Haha good point! This is a good example of something that makes a lot of sense in my head but that I have trouble communicating. To me, the arrows probably mean "can (positively or negatively) influence. Attention influences instruction, instruction influences thinking. Thinking influences learning. Etc. But it's a bit fuzzy now that I try and think more precisely about it.
Excellent post (as usual) Dylan! And you didn't miss much...
I'd add in a little loop on the left side between Pedagogy, Content, and add "Tools" since those 3 things are the crux of how teachers build their lessons. What content do I want to cover, what tools do I have to do it (including technology but not limited to it) and what pedagogical methods will help me do it.
I'm thinking about the "Pedagogical Content Knowledge" used by Deborah Ball & others.
I recall reading a study that claimed that teachers have control of about 30% of the factors that determine student success. I agree that we need to focus on what we can control, but there are a lot more arrow coming in from outside the circle. It informs and impacts our practice.
I think that's fair. Especially when evaluating teachers, we need to recognize that context will have a big influence on outcomes.
I don't think you're saying this, but I've known some teachers who constantly focus on those outside factors in unproductive ways. This student's mom is addicted to drugs. This student's parents let them stay up all night playing video games. Yes, those things matter, but it's also possible to get so tied up in the outside factors that we give up on the things we can control.
Would you agree that returning some amount of responsibility to students and separately to their parents is included in the teacher's 30% responsibility? Or how do you see this?
I don't remember that level of detail from the research, other than in a list of 100 factors that contribute to student success, teachers have control over 30 of them.
I also think we don't have a great understanding of what all the most important factors are. The variability that can be explained by schools and teachers is pretty small. When students move between teachers or schools their achievement doesn't change very much. We understand some things but many others we don't, and I think we need to accept that. We do our best with the resources we're given, we don't beat ourselves up when we come up short, we try and do a little better the next time.
Love it! What a great idea you had here. I especially like how the arrows around motivation and habits go in so many different ways ...
I think the most interesting part is how you have attention --> instruction --> learning. I wonder if a few extra arrows from "discussion" and "peers" might also lead directly into learning. Maybe you were thinking of all of that as included in "instruction" already?
Yea I went back and forth on this one. It felt hard to name every single thing that could fall under "instruction" without making the diagram really messy, so I would definitely lump those in that category. One thing this diagram doesn't quite capture is that we ask students to pay attention to lots of different things, discussions and peers among them. But there's a lot that goes into whether students will pay attention to instruction, and that instruction needs to cause students to think in order for learning to happen. So instruction absolutely matters, but there's a lot of other stuff that matters too on both ends.
This is the first post of yours that I’ve seen Dylan, and it’s such a clever diagram. Would you say this is how it looks in every class you’ve taught? I know context matters in so many classroom dynamics (as you say), but I can see how these relationships between factors in learning and teaching interconnect in any environment.
Thanks! I think the core sequence of attention -> instruction -> thinking -> learning is important in every classroom. Same with the role of practice and habits/routines. Beyond there, I think there are lots of factors that play a bigger or smaller role depending on the context, the students, the school, the content, etc.
I think there is a lot more on the teacher side, both outside and inside the circle. The teacher's personality, education, experience, biases, mood, energy level....all impact teaching and learning.
What do the arrows mean? Normally an arrow means ‘leads to’ or ‘is necessary for’. In your diagram I have no idea how to read it!
Haha good point! This is a good example of something that makes a lot of sense in my head but that I have trouble communicating. To me, the arrows probably mean "can (positively or negatively) influence. Attention influences instruction, instruction influences thinking. Thinking influences learning. Etc. But it's a bit fuzzy now that I try and think more precisely about it.
Thanks. The semiotics of diagrams is really important.
Excellent post (as usual) Dylan! And you didn't miss much...
I'd add in a little loop on the left side between Pedagogy, Content, and add "Tools" since those 3 things are the crux of how teachers build their lessons. What content do I want to cover, what tools do I have to do it (including technology but not limited to it) and what pedagogical methods will help me do it.
I'm thinking about the "Pedagogical Content Knowledge" used by Deborah Ball & others.
Yea that makes sense. All sorts of knowledge, resources, tools, etc that interact with each other and with learning in complicated ways.
I recall reading a study that claimed that teachers have control of about 30% of the factors that determine student success. I agree that we need to focus on what we can control, but there are a lot more arrow coming in from outside the circle. It informs and impacts our practice.
I think that's fair. Especially when evaluating teachers, we need to recognize that context will have a big influence on outcomes.
I don't think you're saying this, but I've known some teachers who constantly focus on those outside factors in unproductive ways. This student's mom is addicted to drugs. This student's parents let them stay up all night playing video games. Yes, those things matter, but it's also possible to get so tied up in the outside factors that we give up on the things we can control.
I fully agree. There is a difference between explanation and excuses. And a difference between explanation and toxic grace.
Would you agree that returning some amount of responsibility to students and separately to their parents is included in the teacher's 30% responsibility? Or how do you see this?
I don't remember that level of detail from the research, other than in a list of 100 factors that contribute to student success, teachers have control over 30 of them.
I also think we don't have a great understanding of what all the most important factors are. The variability that can be explained by schools and teachers is pretty small. When students move between teachers or schools their achievement doesn't change very much. We understand some things but many others we don't, and I think we need to accept that. We do our best with the resources we're given, we don't beat ourselves up when we come up short, we try and do a little better the next time.
Love it! What a great idea you had here. I especially like how the arrows around motivation and habits go in so many different ways ...
I think the most interesting part is how you have attention --> instruction --> learning. I wonder if a few extra arrows from "discussion" and "peers" might also lead directly into learning. Maybe you were thinking of all of that as included in "instruction" already?
Yea I went back and forth on this one. It felt hard to name every single thing that could fall under "instruction" without making the diagram really messy, so I would definitely lump those in that category. One thing this diagram doesn't quite capture is that we ask students to pay attention to lots of different things, discussions and peers among them. But there's a lot that goes into whether students will pay attention to instruction, and that instruction needs to cause students to think in order for learning to happen. So instruction absolutely matters, but there's a lot of other stuff that matters too on both ends.
This is the first post of yours that I’ve seen Dylan, and it’s such a clever diagram. Would you say this is how it looks in every class you’ve taught? I know context matters in so many classroom dynamics (as you say), but I can see how these relationships between factors in learning and teaching interconnect in any environment.
Thanks! I think the core sequence of attention -> instruction -> thinking -> learning is important in every classroom. Same with the role of practice and habits/routines. Beyond there, I think there are lots of factors that play a bigger or smaller role depending on the context, the students, the school, the content, etc.
I think there is a lot more on the teacher side, both outside and inside the circle. The teacher's personality, education, experience, biases, mood, energy level....all impact teaching and learning.
Fair! I experienced the mood piece today, had trouble staying positive with my second period class..