Book Club: Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. Routledge.

6 signposts towards education excellence:

1. Teachers are one of the most powerful learning influencers,
2. Teachers need to be passionately engaged,
3. Teachers need to provide effective individualistic feedback,
4. Both student and teacher need to know and understand the learning intentions,
5. The learners construction of knowledge and ideas is critical,
6. Safe learning environments where mistakes are encouraged and exploration of knowledge occurs.

Education Holy Grail improving education and interactions between student and teacher.

What are the core attributes to schooling that make the difference? The focus is not the buildings or programs but on the practice of teaching. Students learn to become their own teacher, to exhibit attributes of self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-assessment and self-teaching.

Visible teaching and learning occurs when there is feedback given and sought, and when there are active, passionate, and engaging people (teacher, students, peers) participating in the act of learning” (pg 18).

“The act of teaching requires deliberate interventions to ensure that there is a cognitive change in the student” (pg 19).

Safe Environment

Idea rich environment where experimenting can occur and sharing ideas.

“A safe environment for the learner (and for the teacher) is an environment in which error is welcomed and fostered” (pg 19).

The Challenge

“When students become their own teachers, they exhibit the self-regulatory attributes that seem desirable for learners (self-monitoring, self-evaluation, self-assessment, self-teaching)” (pg 19).

Deliberate practice needs to occur and the student to be challenged in this safe environment, to aid the construction of knowledge.

“It is challenge that keeps us investing in pursuing goals and committed to achieving goals” (pg 57).

Preparing Lessons

4 critical parts in planning:

1. “Students starting levels of performance (prior),
2. The desired level of performance (target),
3. Rate of progress (progression),
4. Teacher collaboration and critique in planning” (pg. 41).

Best Practice Lesson Plans

1. Know the learning intentions (the teacher),
2. Understand expected standards of performance (the student),
3. Build commitment and engagement in the learning task.
4. Guide for the teacher on best delivery of the lesson (guided delivery),
5. Guided practice for students to complete a task and receive constructive feedback,
6. Closure provides clear cues when students are at important points in learning,
7. Independent practice follows mastery of a topic.

Structured of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO)

SOLO taxonomy: Levels of understanding can be grouped as surface, deep and conceptual and the use of SOLO taxonomy can integrate them into learning intentions and achievement criteria.

Starting The Lesson

The climate of the classroom is a critical factor in promoting learning. A high level of relational trust and respect for each person’s role in learning. The classroom is a place for the student to dominate, not the teacher where there is a “need to talk, listen and do”.

Learning

Start with the desired results and then work backwards, the focus is then on the gap. This knowledge gap is where the teachers focus on the student and how they learn. The importance of motivation on goal setting and strategies to close the gap, and to recognise motivation varies at any given time.  Deliberate practice allows learning to meaningful and a meta-cognitive approach to instruction allows multiple opportunities for practice.

• About Invisible Learning 
• Visual Learning

Resources

Hattie, J. (2012). Visible learning for teachers: Maximizing impact on learning. Routledge. [GoodReads review]

Hattie, J. (2008). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge [sample].

Nursing Education Network. (2017). John Hattie and Visible learning for Teachers.