Three of the simplest, yet most effective, strategies you can use to get learners thinking about the process of learning

Modelling, Suggesting, Prompting and Clueing

We can help learners to think about and refine the processes they use during any lesson.

Four good ways to do this are modelling, suggesting, prompting and clueing.

Here are some examples of how each one works.

Modelling

We can model processes for learners in many ways.

For example, we might show them how to think about a particular type of mathematical problem and then encourage them to copy this and see how it works.

Or we might show them how to edit a sentence using a three-step method, such as:

Does it make sense?
Could I say the same thing in fewer words?
Does it fit with the rest of the paragraph?

Another option is to continuously model a growth mindset approach to thinking and learning.

Doing this gives learners a model of how to engage with the lesson content premised on the idea that intelligence, talent, and ability are open to change.

This is like a meta-process.

A way of looking at learning that underpins and influences everything else.

Suggesting

We can suggest to learners how they might tweak or change a process they are using to achieve something.

For example, a PE teacher might observe a learner shooting for the basket in netball while not keeping their head still.

They might step in and say:

‘Mary, as you go to shoot, focus your attention on your head. Hold it still, line up the shot, and then shoot.’

Another option is to suggest alternative processes that learners might try.

For example, a science teacher observing a group of learners trying to solve a problem might step in and suggest a different problem-solving strategy.

Prompting

A prompt is a little less invasive than a suggestion.

It places slightly more onus on the learner.

We can prompt learners by asking questions or by reminding them of things they might have forgotten or overlooked.

Here are some examples:

‘Steve, how do we keep our balance when running with the ball?’
‘Tiana, are there any different approaches you know of that might be worth trying?
‘Ahmed, what happened when you tried to do it that way last time? What could you do instead?

In each of these cases we are prompting learners to think about the processes in which they are engaged.

It is akin to reminding learners of the benefits of analysing their own thinking.

Which, as we know, is often a feature of growth mindset thinking.

Clueing

This sees us giving learners clues that can help them to change, adapt or reflect on the processes in which they are engaged.

It is not too dissimilar to prompting, if slightly more opaque, and once again puts the onus on learners.

Here are some examples:

‘Trial and error might be something to think about here, Paul.’
‘I wonder if the success criteria could help you to develop what you’re doing, Rebecca?’
‘If it’s not working, what could you change?’
‘Rima, is there something in the instructions that could help?’
‘Kyran, is there a strategy from last lesson that might work?’

Process Feedback: Lists and Implementation

Here, I want to show you two techniques you can use to focus your feedback on processes and to maximise the impact of that feedback.

First, process lists.

Here is a (non-exhaustive) process list from GCSE Sociology:

Break questions down into separate parts.
Look at issues from more than one point of view.
Compare different pieces of evidence to see if they agree.
Weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of sociological ideas.
Use sociological terminology when writing about sociology.
Think critically – question the ideas you hear and read.
Use evidence and examples to support any points you make.
Compare what you experience in society to what sociologists have said and discovered.
Avoid ‘common sense’ explanations and focus on sociological ones.
Make connections between current events and what we study.

And here is a (non-exhaustive) general processes list:

Use trial and error to improve your work.
Try different strategies to solve problems.
Focus your attention on the task in hand.
Ask for feedback when you feel you need it.
Remind yourself to stay on task.
Improve and refine your work as you go.
Examine how effective your thinking is.
Check your work before handing it in.
Compare your work with the success criteria.
Break down difficult tasks into smaller, simpler tasks.

Imagine you were now about to sit down to mark a pile of books.

These lists provide you with a fantastic reference point.

You can use them as the basis of your feedback.

Instead of having to think from scratch every time you need to write a comment, you can refer to the lists, select a process relevant to the learner in question, and frame your feedback around it.

Delineating subject-specific and general processes in this way makes formative feedback quicker and easier.

It also helps you to keep your focus on processes and allows you to identify in advance what you would like learners in your class to be working towards.

Finally, there is the added benefit that you can share these process lists with your learners.

They can then use them as a basis for regulating their own learning, developing their thinking, and reflecting on the progress they are currently making.

We now move onto our second point: implementation.

While focussing feedback on processes is to be welcomed, the efficacy of this feedback will diminish considerably if learners are not given dedicated time in which to implement it.

Without this time, there is a strong likelihood that the feedback will disappear into the ether – even if teacher and learner both start out with the best of intentions.

There are many ways you can help learners to implement your feedback.

But they all share a common theme: specific time is set aside in which everyone’s focus is on feedback implementation.

One example will serve to illustrate the point.

A learner driver reaches the end of their lesson.

The driving instructor talks them through what they did well and what they could improve.

The feedback focuses on processes.

It concludes with a target:

‘Next week,’ says the instructor, ‘I would like you to pay attention to finding the bite when you lift the clutch. Try to feel in your legs the change in pressure – and listen for the noises that come alongside it as well.’

In scenario one, next week’s lesson begins with thirty minutes clutch control practice, first in a car park, the on a housing estate, and finally on a set of quiet ‘A’ roads.

In scenario two, next week’s lesson makes no mention of the feedback, and no time is given to practising clutch control.

Clearly, the first scenario is preferable.

The learner needs time to practise applying their target.

This speeds up progress.

If the instructor gives a target and then forgets about it or ignores it, the target is partially (or largely) lost.

And that is why dedicated target implementation time matters.

Learners need to be able to focus their attention on one thing, to practice this, and, if necessary, to receive further feedback as they do.

That is how change happens.

Discussing Learning Mid-Flow

We now turn our attention to a different approach.

One that sees processes examined while activities are happening.

Discussing learning mid-flow means either engaging learners in a conversation about what they are doing, while they are doing it, or facilitating a similar conversation between peers.

The aim is to help learners attend to the processes they are using.

Those things that make up the thinking and learning they are doing.

(Here you can see the link to metacognition.)

Let us look at both techniques in turn.

While learners are taking part in an activity, circulate through the room.

Observe what is happening, examine the work learners are producing, and listen to any conversations that are going on.

Identify which learners you would like to intervene with.

Step in and begin a conversation with one of these learners.

Ask them about what they are doing.

Depending on their response, either move the discussion onto processes straight away, or take it there gradually.

Here is an example:

Teacher: How are you getting on with the problems?
Learner: Yeah, not too bad, sir. I’ve done the first few.
Teacher: How did you try to solve them?
Learner: Well, I used that technique you showed us last lesson. It was pretty easy to apply.
Teacher: What made it easy?
Learner: There wasn’t much different between the questions and the example you showed us, so I didn’t have to change a lot.
Teacher: What about this question? Do you think you might have to change the technique?
Learner: Hmmm, maybe, yeah. It looks a bit different.
Teacher: What makes it different from the other questions?

Here we see the teacher encouraging the learner to think about the problem-solving technique they’ve used, both in relation to the past, and as regards the future.

The conversation helps the learner attend to the problem-solving process in a way they might otherwise have missed.

The teacher could go on to make more explicit links to growth mindset thinking or simply leave this implicit.

You can also facilitate learner discussion of learning mid-flow.

The easiest way to do this is to stop the class mid-way through an activity, draw learners’ attention to some key processes they are using, and then pose one or two questions for them to discuss in pairs.

For example:

Teacher: ‘OK, everyone, eyes on me for a minute. Now, we’ve been using Freud’s theory to try to explain aggression. But how effectively have you been comparing his theory with the different examples of aggressive behaviour? Talk to your partner and ask them to assess how accurate and precise they’ve been in applying Freud’s theory. Then ask them to tell you how they’ve been identifying the areas where it doesn’t seem to fit.

These instructions ask learners to look critically at the thinking they are doing.

Specifically, they ask them to focus on the process of application and the process of identifying discrepancies.

These are general thinking skills important in the study of psychology. In the example they are contextualised in light of specific knowledge (Freud’s theory).

You can call on this technique in almost any activity you ask learners to complete.

However, it becomes more effective with repetition, if you train learners in how to do it, and if you explain the purpose behind it (which gives it greater meaning in learners’ eyes).