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Planning and Teaching well structured lessons

Free  2hrs webinar • Sector lead

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Professor Rob Coe explores why pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and deep and fluent knowledge and understanding of content are so important, alongside questioning and the challenges in using assessment.

About this module

This module is a recording of live webinars by Professor Rob Coe which ran between May and July, during our 2020 Free Summer Festival programme.

Session One: Understanding the content you are teaching and how it is learnt

This session looks at teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge: the need for teachers to have deep and fluent knowledge and flexible understanding of the content they are teaching and how it is learnt, including its inherent dependencies, and to have an explicit repertoire of well-crafted explanations, examples and tasks for each topic they teach. We will consider the evidence that supports this requirement, what it means in practice and how it can be learnt.

Session Two: Using questioning and dialogue to promote deep learning

This session looks at a staple of classroom practice: questioning. What makes a good question? How many questions should you ask? Why do teachers ask questions? How should you respond to the answers you get?

Session Three: Using High-Quality Assessment

All teachers use assessment, but not all assessment is great. This session will explore the characteristics of high-quality classroom assessment and how it can be used to make teaching responsive to what has been learnt (which is often not the same as what has been taught)

What you will learn:
  • Introduce the idea of pedagogical content knowledge and what it means in practice.
  • Outline some of the components of PCK, including (1) curriculum sequencing and dependencies (2) knowledge of relevant curriculum tasks, assessments and activities, their diagnostic & didactic potential (3) having a varied repertoire of explanations and multiple representations/analogies/examples (4) knowledge of common student strategies, misconceptions and sticking points.
  • Clarify the different purposes of classroom questioning.
  • Outline the evidence about what kinds of questioning and dialogue are effective in promoting learning.
  • Explore the distinction between students’ deep and surface thinking.
  • Outline the different purposes for which assessment is used.
  • Explore what makes assessment of high quality and fit for purpose.
  • Summarise the research evidence about how assessment supports learning.