In
my work as a Head Teacher I often encounter parents who are nonplussed that
their child's teacher does not see the standard of work at school they can see
at home or with a private tutor. Sometimes they are concerned that assessment
or test results or term grades are much lower than they had come to expect
given the standard of classwork, and the fact that their child has seemed to be
getting on well during the weeks leading up to a test. This week I encountered
this with some old friends, rather than parents at my school, who were
absolutely panic-stricken by their child's below average results in maths,
reported to them at both parents evenings this year and now expected on the
reports after a bad test result.
Teachers
are expected to communicate factual information to parents, in order to clarify
what children can do in the classroom unaided. They do use value judgements to
choose what to teach, and to differentiate work according what they have seen,
and they will always use formative assessment (assessment of what the child is
doing and learning as they go, all the time, in every lesson) to make those
decisions and choices. However, when they report results to parents they are expected
to be more summative, to give concrete examples of what the child can do by
herself or in team activities, but without the teacher's constant intervention.
What a child can do independently is rarely the same as what she can achieve
with a willing hand beside her, pointing out errors, managing the speed and
accuracy of work, and encouraging focus.
In
a class lesson teachers will be on hand to challenge, support and cajole. In a
test situation this constant supervision is withdrawn and naturally the child
will increasingly have to show that she can cope alone. Often therefore the
grades can seem lower than expected, particularly for younger children, and the
challenge for all teachers to create a match between children’s natural ability
and their independent test results. This is not an easy feat as it means
developing independence, resilience and concentration, all of which can be
damaged or delayed by the knee jerk solutions generally applied in a crisis,
such as providing a tutor or helping more with homework and classwork. I do
like to remind parents that the moment their child needs to peak, to show her
best test results, is usually GCSE, and although other tests can be important
they are generally signposts on the way showing a snapshot of progress (on the
day) rather than final, and often not just indicative of things such as quality
of teaching or proper expectations.
So,
this week I was talking to my lovely friends, seeking my advice regarding their
daughter Sara (not her real name), and wondering, with palpable anxiety,
whether they should make a complaint to their school (thankfully not my school
and so not to me). They explained that their daughter could not to do at school
the maths she could easily do at home during homework. Mum explained that she
really knows what her daughter can do because she sits with her every day
without fail whilst homework is being completed; even doing extra at weekends
and in the holidays, and Sara’s maths is excellent. Much to their consternation
the teacher apparently disagrees.
I
asked Mum to talk me through what happens at home, and then to outline what the
school says. Firstly, she told me, she and Sara sit together quietly at the
dining room table for homework, usually after a snack and a drink and catch up
on the day. Mum always checks the homework diary so that she can see that Sara
is doing the correct page, and turns to it for her if she has not found it
easily. From the maths book, Mum points to the question her daughter has to do,
and makes her read it aloud. If Sara reads it correctly she is praised. If she
reads it incorrectly Mum fills in the missing words. Sara will then tell Mum
what type of sum she thinks it is. If she is wrong, Mum assured me she doesn't ever
tell her what to do, she says no, have another go. Then, mum tells me, her
daughter works out what to do again and then if she has chosen the right
method, she does the number work effectively by herself. If she gets it wrong,
mum assures me she doesn't help or give the answers, she just tells her
daughter to have another go. Her daughter always gets full marks for homework,
and Mum was adamant that she had not helped her to get them right.
According
to the school however, Sara is below average in maths, has difficulty in class
even finding the right page in lessons and waits to be invited to start work
rather than getting on by herself. She tends to check with the teacher whether
she is on the right page even after instructions, because she isn't confident
and she needs constant praise and reassurance. She rarely scores more than half
marks by herself and constantly asks the teacher for help, often before she has
made an attempt of her own. She does not see her own mistakes and is not good
at self-checking. She is easily distracted by her classmates and spends a lot
of time pointing to errors in their work, or commenting on their behaviour. She
cries when she does badly and says she hates maths. Her teacher thinks that
Sara is not reaching her potential and has said so. Mum and Dad cannot
understand how things have gone wrong, and are convinced that the problem must
therefore be the teacher, who cannot see how talented their daughter is. They
are just about to go to see the Head to ask for a better teacher next year.
Sara
is very like many of the children I have taught over the years. She is a
wonderful, chatty, and bright girl. She is extremely eager to please. She has
natural ability, but spends a lot of time trying to gauge her success by
checking with the teacher. In my opinion she doesn’t have a problem with maths
at all, she has issues and growing fears about learning independently. I
believe she is being held back by the mixed messages she has receives between
home and school, and unfortunately her difficulties are now being reinforced at
school because she has come to rely on the sort of individual support she is
used to from home. She has come to believe the teacher should give her constant
help. In class she cannot get on without adult intervention, she looks for
constant praise or reassurance and she fears failure. This is unsurprising
given the level of panic her parents are showing about her results, and the
extra attention being lavished to support her. Attending to what everyone else is doing is
class rather than getting on often happens more if the child is distractible
(even under normal classroom conditions, which is about concentration and needs
specific support) or because failing to find approval from the teacher will mean
seeking it from her peers, or by pointing the weaknesses in her classmates and
thereby highlighting her own good behaviour to the teacher. Neither are much
help to learning. Fortunately these habits are easy to break if everyone
understands that learning behaviour and steady improvement through managing the
learning styles and environments are more important than the test results and
the strictness of the teacher.
I
have suggested that before they go into school these friends of mine try a new
approach to maths homework (to all homework) and focus on independence.
Settling down quietly is great. I suggested telling Sara to go and start, and
then pop in to check she is working and has found the right page. That can have
a reward. To master that would be a fantastic first step. The key to reward is
to praise what you have seen that warrants it, not add empty or hopeful praise,
that is a really mixed message. Next step is to withdraw the constant
reassurance, say that they will be pleased to look when she has completed half,
or three quarters. Praise or reward at that stage. Mistakes made can of course
be discussed, but do it immediately after the work is all completed, not as she
goes - homework isn't generally about teaching a new skill it is about rehearsing
one that has been taught before, and a little more practice can iron out the
problems. If not, and if Sara has got it wrong consistently and doesn't
understand it is important that her teacher knows. Covering up by asking to
guess again or giving the answer will simply mask a gap in her learning. That
gap wont be filled before it is encountered again and will reappear as a
mistake. Sorry to also add that former methods are not always what we teach in
maths now, so also best to refer back to school.
Sara's
parents were, I think, rather disappointed in my response and went away
muttering about finding a tutor. What do you think?
K
and C, I'm dedicating this blog to you and Sara.
