CPD leader resource: Understanding common patterns

last updated:September 2006

Objective
This activity will help you to:

• deepen your understanding of the way you use talk in the classroom
• explore common patterns in the use of talk by teachers.

Timing
This activity will take approximately 30 minutes to complete:

• Introducing the session (3 minutes)
• Completing the matching activity (15 minutes)
• Debriefing the activity (10 minutes)

Resources
Each group will need

• a set of the cards provided listing statements about teacher/pupil interactions
• access to the RfT website or printed copy of the RfT.

Each individual will need:

• a copy of the grid for recording their reflections.

What to do
Before the session:

• Download and print enough sets of the statement cards and reflections grid for the group you are working with.
• Cut the statement cards up and use an elastic band or paper clip to keep them in sets.
• Ensure you have either sufficient computers connected to the Internet with the webpage for the RfT ‘Effective talk in the primary classroom' bookmarked, or download and print enough copies of the RfT to give to the groups.
• Decide on the composition of the groups.  Groups of two or three five seem to work best for this activity.

Introducing the session (3 minutes):

• Explain to participants that they are going to work together to reflect on the way they use talk in the classroom by identifying whether a series of statements are true or false for the different groups they teach.
• Then look at the evidence presented in the RfT to find out if each of the statements is true or false in common patterns of teacher talk.

Completing the true/false activity (15 minutes):

• Give each group cards with the statements about teacher talk. Ask them to pick one of the statements and discuss the circumstances for which the statement is true. For example is the statement true for a particular group of pupils, or a particular subject?  Ask participants to make use the table to record their discussions by making a note of the statement number in the first column and the groups for which it is true in the second column.
• Now ask participants to make a note of the circumstances when the statement is false and record this in the third column in the table. As participants are doing this encourage them to think about the differences between the circumstances where they have identified the statement as true and those where they have identified it as false.
• Ask participants to repeat this activity with another 3 or 4 statements.
• When they have finished encourage participants to work with their group to discuss why particular statements are true or false dependent on the circumstances.  Ask them to work together to reflect on the possible reasons for these differences.
• Finally ask participants to visit the RFT 'Effective talk in the primary classroom'. Ask participants to use the RoM to find out whether the researchers found these statements to be true or false in the common patterns of use of talk by teachers.  

Debriefing the activity (10 minutes):

• Ask two or three of the groups to share one of the statements they choose, the circumstances for which they thought it was true and those in which it was false.   
• Ask them to share their reflections on what they thought were the differences between the circumstances in which it was true and false.

Activities to take learning further
You might like to encourage participants to extend their learning further between sessions by completing one of the following activities.

• Encourage them to choose one of the case studies and then work with a colleague to reflect on how it reflects their own practice and whether it offers any strategies that they could make use of to support classroom talk.
• Encourage participants to visit the pupil talk research tasters found in the Behaviour for Learning section and explore the practical suggestions for making use of the evidence in their own classrooms.