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Module 4: Pedagogy and Knowledge

Week 1: Curriculum Design and Principles

This week focussed on curriculum.  The ECT explored what curriculum means and then consider the process of bringing the curriculum framework to life and designing a curriculum for their pupils using a clear process and introducing some key principles.  The ECT was introduced the idea of a 'knowledge-rich' curriculum and considered what this means and critically considered its relevance for their pupils.

Evidence and Research:

Explore with your ECT the evidence and research they have engaged with this week.  You may want to frame your discussion using the following questions:

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  • What have you learnt about curriculum design?

  • What do you understand by intent, implementation and impact?  

  • What do you understand a 'knowledge-rich' curriculum to be? and why is this deemed to be important?

Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

The ECT will have chosen a subject they are teaching this term and used the following process to design their curriculum.  They will have also considered the 7 principles of curriculum design.

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Invite the ECT to discuss their curriculum design with you.  

This may not be fully planned but it is important that they are able to articulate what they are doing, how they plan to do it and the assessment methods they intend to apply as well as identifying some of the principles that they have considered.
 

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(Adapted from State of Rhode Island Department for Education, n.d).

Reflection and Discussion

Invite the ECT to reflect upon their learning and application of this scaffolding the discussion to support them to reflect upon how they may adapt their approach to curriculum design and the role of a knowledge rich curriculum within the specific setting of Newingate School.

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The following questions will support your conversation:

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  • How will you adapt or change your practice as a result of your learning and your engagement with designing a subject curriculum for this term?

  • Did the process for curriculum design as well as the key principles of curriculum design support you in designing the curriculum for your pupils, and how?  Do you plan to use this to support your curriculum design moving forwards?

  • What is the role of a knowledge rich curriculum in our specific setting?

Week 2: The Newingate School Curriculum

This week explored curriculum in the context of this setting by exploring the vision, policy and approach to the Newingate School Curriculum.

Evidence and Research:

Explore with your ECT their understanding of the Newingate School Curriculum Policy.  You may find the following questions are useful to frame this discussion:

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  • What do you understand to be the role of the curriculum policy for a school?

  • How might you engage with this as a teacher?

  • Are there any areas within the curriculum policy that you feel you need to further develop or embed into your practice?

Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

This week the ECT met with the Headteacher to discuss their vision for the school curriculum.  Invite the ECT to share key points from this discussion.  The following questions may support this discussion:

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  • What do you understand to be the Headteacher's vision for the Newingate School curriculum?

  • Does this align with your vision and how?

  • What do you see as your role in realising this vision?

  • How can you support and contribute to the evolving school curriculum?

  • What did you gain from your discussion with the Headteacher?

Reflection and Discussion

Encourage the ECT to reflect upon their learning this week and how this will impact their practice.  You may wish to ask:

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  • From what you have explored this week, how might you look to adapt or develop your practice?

  • What have you been critically thinking about as a result of your learning?

  • Are there any questions that you have as a result of your learning?  If so, how might you seek to gain answers to these?

Week 3: Developing Knowledge

This week we considered how pupils develop knowledge and highlighted the importance of developing foundational knowledge before moving on to more complex knowledge through identifying prior knowledge, addressing misconceptions and allowing time for deliberate practice.

Evidence and Research:

Discuss with your ECT their understanding of how pupils' knowledge is developed and the importance of prior knowledge, misconceptions, teaching new knowledge and addressing misconceptions, deliberate practice and assessment in this process.

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You may wish to invite the ECT to talk you through the following cycle:

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Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

The ECT observed a colleague teach and focused on activities relating to the above cycle.  Discuss this observation with the ECT.

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The following questions will help frame this discussion:

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  • How did the teacher articulate the intended learning to the pupils?  Was this clear?

  • How did the teacher establish prior knowledge and misconceptions?

  • What approaches did the teacher take to teach new knowledge, which addressed any misconceptions?  Were the misconceptions addressed?

  • Did the teacher allow the pupils time to for deliberate practice?  What do you think was the impact of this on their knowledge development?

  • How did the teacher assess the pupils knowledge?  Had they achieved the intended learning?

Reflection and Discussion

The ECT reflected upon a recent lesson in relation to the above cycle whilst also reflecting for action in relation to a forthcoming lesson.

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Invite the ECT to share what they have learnt as well as what they have reflected upon and how this will influence their practice.  

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The following questions may help:

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  • Reflecting on a previous lesson, what did you identify, in terms of supporting effective knowledge development, as strengths with regards to your practice?  What elements do you need to consider moving forwards?

  • What do you plan to implement in a forthcoming lesson/s?

Week 4: Developing Literacy

This week the ECT explored the importance of literacy development and looked at how this can be supported across the curriculum using some key strategies and approaches.

Evidence and Research:

Discuss with the ECT their learning from this week, focusing on their understanding of the role and importance of literacy development and how this can be supported within their teaching.

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You may find these questions helpful to frame your discussion:

  • Why is it important to focus on literacy development through all stages of the curriculum as well as across the curriculum?

  • How might phonics support the literacy development of our pupils?

  • Tell me about some of the strategies that you can utilise to scaffold and support literacy development in reading and comprehension, writing, oral language skills and development of vocabulary.

Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

The ECT was asked to choose (at least) one literacy strategy (ideally one they have not used before) from their learning this week and trial this within a lesson.

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The strategies are:

  • Reciprocal reading

  • Story maps

  • Paired writing

  • Shared writing

  • Sentence stems

  • Think-Pair-Share

  • Explicit teaching

  • Graphic/knowledge organisers

  • Writing frames

  • Lexical sets

  • Rally Robin/Give-one-Get-one

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You may find the following questions useful:

  • What strategy/ies did you choose, any why?

  • What subject was this in?

  • How did you find planning for supporting literacy?

  • What did you hope to achieve by using this strategy with the pupils?

  • Did you pre-empt any barriers/challenges with this strategy/ies?

Reflection and Discussion

The ECT taught the lesson using the chosen strategies and were asked to use a chosen reflective framework to evaluate this.  They may have asked for this lesson to be observed by you as this term's formal observation. 

 

Invite the ECT to reflect upon this lesson using their chosen framework.

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Focus the discussion around the literacy strategies used, how they were effective, how these could be improved and the impact they had on literacy development.

Week 5: Cross-Curricular Learning

This week the ECT explored the idea of cross-curricular learning and how this can enhance learning for pupils.  They focused on the work of Jonathan Barnes and then considered how his ideas may translate into effective curriculum intent, implementation and impact in their own classroom.

Evidence and Research:

Discuss with the ECT the idea of cross-curricular learning and what they have learnt from engaging with the materials this week.  You may find it useful to use the following question to support this discussion:

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  • What do you understand cross-curricular learning to be?

  • How might this benefit pupils' learning?

  • What might be the drawbacks or limitations of cross-curricular learning?

Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

Ask the ECT if they have any plans, based upon their learning, to develop more cross-curricular learning within their lessons.

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The ECT also either observed a colleague teach a cross-curricular lesson or experimented with some of the activities/strategies outlined by Jonathan Barnes in the chapter they read (below):

Discuss with the ECT what ideas they gathered from either the observation or the chapter.

Reflection and Discussion

The ECT will be prepared to discuss what they have learnt about cross-curricular learning with you and its benefits and may open a discussion around some collaborative planning with you.

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Invite the ECT to share their thinking and ideas.

Week 6: Embedding 21st Century Skills in the Curriculum

This week the ECT was asked to explore what 21st Century Skills are and why it is important to develop these skills with their pupils.  They considered differing perspectives on the role of 21st Century Skills and then considered how they might apply those outlined and used by Newingate School to their practice.

Evidence and Research:

Invite the ECT to share their understanding of 21st Century Skills with you and explore the importance of developing these skills with the pupils.

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You may wish to draw upon the questions below to inform your discussion:

  • What do you understand 21st Century Skills to be?

  • Why do you think these are important to develop in our pupils?

  • Do you see the relevance of developing these skills within oyur teaching at Newingate School?

Application and Exploration of Practice and Setting:

The ECT will have been asked to consider how to embed 21st Century Skills within their practice, building upon the school's long-term planning, which asks for 21st Century Skills to be identified.   

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The poster below sets out these skills and these can be explored in more detail here.

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The ECT will have chosen a lesson this week whereby they would explicitly embed the teaching of a 21st Century Skill.  Not only including opportunities to practice this e.g. practising collaboration through a group activity, but taking the time to teach the pupils about this skill and how to effectively develop it.

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You may want to frame a discussion with your ECT based on the following:

  • How do you currently embed 21st Century Skills within your planning and teaching?

  • Do you explicitly teach these skills as well as offering pupils the opportunity to practice them?

  • What 21st Century Skill did you focus on embedding in a lesson this week?  Why did you choose this?

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Reflection and Discussion

The ECT will have reflected upon the teaching of a chosen 21st Century Skill using a reflective framework.

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Invite them to share this reflection with you.

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You may find the following questions useful to prompt a depper reflective discussion:

  • What 21st Century Skill did you embed in the lesson?

  • Why did you specifically choose this skill?

  • What explicit teaching of the skill did you undertake?

  • What opportunity did you offer your pupils to practice this skill?

  • How did you assess the skill and offer feedback to the pupils?

  • How do you plan to embed 21st Century Skills within your teaching moving forwards?

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