Teacher Talk Two

In my previous post I defended teachers delivering content rather than using content from the Internet. Today I'd like to extend on the last point I made about some teachers overdoing the teacher talk.

Recently professor John Hattie told a group of teachers at a professional development seminar to "Shut up and listen". This message comes from his research into expert teachers. In his 2003 paper, Teachers Make a Difference, he identifies teacher talk as one of the factors that differentiates expert and experienced teachers.

Making time for thinking within the class environment is essential across all subjects. Teachers need time to plan not to talk in their classes so that thinking can take place.

There are a number of ways to reduce teacher talk but it may be diffiuclt to accomplish if the teacher is unaware of how much time they spend verbalising in the classroom.

A Year 10 student I know well (who attends a different school to the one at which I teach), was telling me the other day about her difficulties in improving her writing for English. She related how her teacher spends almost all lesson "talking" and the students complete written responses at home. When she submits the work, she receives a brief written comment. I think what she was trying to say is that she would like the opportunity to write in class time and receive immediate feedback as the process was occuring. To do that her teacher has to talk less.

In talking less we give students time to think, reflect and respond. The teacher in the above scenario could give students a block of time for editing and rewriting when work is returned. Perhaps the students could form editing groups and offer each other suggestions on their work prior to rewriting. Many theorists agree on the value of resubmitting work and the value of tinkering (see earlier post).

Some years ago I stumbled across a dept of Ed document for primary school teachers with a formula for helping students improve their writing. It is called the POWER method: Plan - Organise - Write - Edit - Rewrite. I have found this incredibly helpful in getting students to consider their own writing and how it can be improved.

The key, however, has been to allocate class time to the process. This gives students an opportunity to think, perhaps talk to each other about their work, and quiet time for rewriting. The teacher talk is reduced and all conversations become much more individualised.

Teacher Talk

Recently I read a blog post on another teacher's website which suggested that, in this age of ubiquitous online content, teachers should refrain from content delivery via teacher talk.

Whilst I understand that some appropriate content can be accessed via the net, for a number of reasons I believe face to face teacher talk is an essential part of lessons. This is because good teachers know their students' academic, pastoral and social needs and tailor lessons accordingly.

Generally, teachers have a sense of their students' prior learning and current knowledge so that they adjust the content to begin where the students are at. No student likes to sit through material that he/she is already familiar or which is beyond their current knowledge. With prepackaged Internet content this could not be guaranteed.

Knowledge of the students' vocabulary means that many teachers choose their words so that the content is better understood. This can even occur within a lesson as a teacher may alter the linguistic complexity from student to student.

Teachers are frequently aware of the pastoral needs of their students. Depending on what is happening in the lives of students, this means that there would be times when certain material might be delivered in a sensitive way or not at all. Lectures and other Internet resources would not be tailored to students' pastoral needs.

In terms of students' social worlds, it seems increasingly important that teachers are aware of the interactions students are having in person and online. There are times, such as the day before a dance or big event, when the social world is a part of what happens in the classroom. After the release of the final Harry Potter novel I found that my students wanted to discuss our personal reactions to this text. It was essential teacher talk.

Although the occasional individual overdoes the teacher talk, and we all need to be aware of that, well-structured talk can go a long way.

Reading The Shallows

Nicholas Carr's book The Shallows  - How the internet is changing how we think, read and remember invites us to consider way we use technology and how that usage may be changing our brains. For anyone interested in education it is well worth the read. I'd like to offer a précis of a few of his most relevant points about reading, memory and thinking. 

• Carr argues, quite persuasively, that online reading is significantly different to the experience of books. "The shift from paper to screen doesn't just change the way we navigate a piece of writing. It also influences the degree of attention we devote to it and the depth of our immersion in it." (P. 90) This book discusses a study that net research is leading to a new kind of reading known as "power browsing" where individuals just scan for 'quick wins' rather than reading whole articles (p. 137). His conclusion is that the internet is affecting the widespread practice of deep reading and the literary tradition given to us through the invention of the printing press. Carr refers to some academic studies that suggest that reading may become a an "arcane hobby" practised by the "reading class". (P. 108) As an English teacher and lifelong reader, this thought is very disturbing. 
• This text discusses how the information available on the internet may be causing cognitive overload, thus affecting our memory.  Carr writes that "information overload has become a permanent affliction" (p. 170) and when the amount of information flowing into our mind is excessive, we're unable to retain the information or to make connections with our already existing knowledge (p. 125). As he sees the net as a medium of disruption and distraction, he argues that our ability to process that information is affected. "When our brain is overtaxed, we find 'distractions more distracting'." (P. 125) He concludes with the statement that the "web is a technology of forgetfulness" (p. 193).
• In terms of thinking, The Shallows advances and defends the argument that time for concentration and contemplation is necessary for deep thinking to occur. "There needs to be time for efficient data collection and inefficient contemplation" (p. 168). In the earlier section on reading and writing, he discusses how the great thinkers, Darwin, Descartes, Einstein, Keynes, etc, presented their thoughts in in prose, and those who read the texts, learned to grasp complex arguments. Essentially Carr tells us that reading books is inextricably linked to the development of the human brain. If we stop reading complex texts, then those parts of our brain devoted to complex thoughts may not work as they once did. 

Ultimately, what does Carr ask of his readers? Not that we abandon modernity (or post-modernity) but that we recognise the possibility that the internet could change the way the think, read and remember. And if it can, we need to ensure we don't lose the practices which gave us the brains we have today. 


More thinking about thinking to come...