fbpx How Teacher Learning Directly Impacts Upon Student Learning | Hills Grammar

How Teacher Learning Directly Impacts Upon Student Learning

We continue our focus this week on teacher learning and the way this impacts upon teaching practice and ultimately, student learning. Our journey takes us into Year 4 and Year 11 classrooms.

Year 4 Student Learning

Hannah Gandhi (Year 4 teacher and Stage 2 Co-ordinator) reflects on the learning and practice of Year 4 teachers – Fiona Khoo, Nadine Newth & Liz Gosper and how this impacted student learning.

Hannah recalls:

“As a part of our recent Unit of Inquiry with the central idea: People and events of the past influence today’s beliefs and values, Year 4 teachers collaboratively planned a thought provoking introduction in the Centre of Creativity and Innovation.

We had the idea of exposing the students to various artefacts and having them think about where they might be from, who might have used them and what they might be for. From our continued professional development we knew that an effective way to get the students thinking was to engage them in a Visible Thinking Routine.

We researched the best thinking routine for our learning outcome using professional learning materials and books provided by the School related to further enriching the Culture of Thinking at Hills Grammar. As a result, we collectively decided to use the Chalk Talk thinking routine. In this routine all students were given an opportunity to share their ideas about the artefact and build on other students’ insights and perspectives. As a result of this teacher learning, and the use of the Chalk Talk thinking routine, student engagement was increased and knowledge was deepened.”

Year 11 Student Learning

Walking through the School last week my attention was drawn to paper aeroplanes being piled high in Andrew Watts’ classroom, and I drew closer to see how this may exemplify ‘outstanding teaching.’

Andrew Watts, HSIE teacher, explains…

“The lesson taught was a Year 11 Economics class in which we were learning about the law of diminishing returns and productivity’.

The particular lesson saw students divided into two groups, one group with only three students while the remaining ten were in the other. Both groups started with one person folding paper planes as quickly as they could with a new student being asked to go and help every 2 minutes until all students were folding paper planes. The group with only three students folded 42 paper planes and the group with ten students folded 53. This served as a powerful moment for the students as they realised that in spite of having greater numbers of students, the group of ten was not as productive as the smaller group, on a per student basis. This then led into a discussion which highlighted the ‘law of diminishing returns,’ suggesting that as we add more labour to a production process, it does not always yield greater outcomes.

The lesson was motivated by previously undertaken professional learning into the work of Howard Gardner which suggested that students learn across multiple modes of intellect. His theory suggests that students will experience varying degrees of engagement across a range of differing learning styles: 

The theory suggests that students will have strengths in a number of these areas and utilising a range of activities to cater for all the different “intelligences” can result in greater engagement, retention and understanding.

Integration of the multiple intelligences theory into my teaching practice has enabled the formulation of differentiated teaching programs which have established memorable and engaging lessons for students who will often recall lessons which were targeting areas of their “intelligences sphere”. This has resulted in greater student learning outcomes with respect to understanding highly theoretical concepts.”

Two of many examples across the School each day of outstanding teaching practice – teachers learn, and then do; and student learning is enhanced as a result. 

Chris Furner | Director of Staff Development