So, my blog has opened many doors, connected me with many invaluable people and resources for my 'flipped' learning journey so far. The power of Twitter for #CPD is something that I am a huge advocate for, having utilised this resource to the max to help plan, shape and implement my own action-research project @DohaCollege focused around this innovative approach. However, perhaps one of the most useful connections I have made so far - in terms of gaining advice and insight on how to overcome the barriers to delivering learning via this approach here in state-funded, UK schools, was with Pembroke Dock Community School.
I first became aware of this inclusive, innovative and socially-aware school by reading an article, documenting their #flippedlearning journey, on the Twitter feed of @nzflippedlearning - a group of committed educators promoting and supporting the #flippedclassroom in New Zealand. "Why on Earth are you in touch with a team in New Zealand?" I hear you say :) Well, the power of Twitter for CPD, that's why! The group contacted me, interested in following my project, after seeing my introductory blog post on the topic back in January, and it was the start of a super productive and supportive connection - crucial when researching an area in which I had limited knowledge, but I could see the potential value.
So...I read the article on Pembroke Dock Community School and their adoption of #flipped pedagogy, initially in Year 5 of their school, which sparked my curiosity into how and why they have taken on this strategy, in light of the many barriers experts highlight in terms of state-funded UK schools. These are generally, the as lack of high-quality tech (in school and at home), potential negativity from parents and staff and the ever-present time issue for teachers.
So, I bit the bullet and tweeted the Head of the school, asking if I could pick their brains, so to speak. The generous response I received, offering to put me in touch with the year 5 teacher involved, I now know is typical of the welcoming attitude and nature of this delightful community school.
A few days later, I received an email from Year 5 teacher and #flippedlearning enthusiast Sasha Butler. It quickly became apparent that it would be most beneficial for me to meet with her and the children to get a good measure of both how/why they have gone down this route and also to get a learner-voice perspective on the approach. After all, it is the children we are trying to impact right?! After being afforded such an 'ideal' and conducive setting for this strategy @DohaCollege, I began thinking of the potential barriers state-funded, community schools may face and constructed my list of questions - to make sure that I got the most out of my time @PDCS and took away some key advice and recommendations, both for my peers at uni and also to inform my own future practice, when I hopefully get my own class as an NQT in September - I am open to offers guys haha!
After a 2-hour car journey from Newport, upon arrival at PDCS, I was chaperoned to Miss Butler's classroom by two charming pupils, whose confidence and maturity I was immediately aware of. I entered the classroom and was greeted by Miss Butler, who was busy facilitating the independent learning of her pupils. With sooooo many questions to ask and little time, due to me having to drive back later than afternoon, we got down to it.
Firstly, Miss Butler explained that PDCS are a Visible Learning school. But what is VL? Well, it is not dissimilar to the #HighPerformanceLearning approach I have blogged about extensively at Doha College. Children are encouraged to self-assess at the beginning of lessons, (following the 'input'), and to establish where they think they are in their understanding, to inform the difficulty level of the activity they would choose. I immediately realised that, just as #flipped went hand-in-hand with #HPL at Doha College, the approach (I'm sure) would have the same impact when used in conjunction with the Visible Learning concept. Of course, as with HPL, this in itself throws up some questions as to whether the learners will automatically choose the easy option - but in fact, Sasha explained that the sense of achievement the learners experience when they have extended themselves beyond their assumed level of difficulty, ensures that more often than not, they do push themselves. As this concept, in addition to the attitudes of learners, contributes to the success of #flippedlearning at PDCS, it makes sense for me to share with you what the pupils think of VL
- 1 year on.
Back to #Flipping...
Here is a synopsis of the chronology and current demographic of #flipped lesssons:
#Flippedlearning arrived at the school, following the ever-inquisitive Head sending 6 staff to an English school (which utilised #flipped) for training - 2 years ago.
At present, all of year 5 uses #flipped for maths and to stimulate learners' independent research into new topics. Year 4 currently use it to deliver Art tutorials, meaning that children can get stuck into their work as soon as they enter the classroom.
Videos are uploaded to the school website and children are able to, and do, access them independently- being mindful of the due date for each.
As the children are mature and older than those in my class at DC (mine were a year 1 class), the importance of and need for parental involvement in the activities was minimal.
There is an active display of #flippedlearning work in the year 5/6 corridor, to celebrate their #VisibleLearning achievements of extending themselves and to inspire others to become involved. It is super impressive!
Has their journey been smooth?
As with the implementation of any new and unfamiliar approach, there were uncertainties and concerns about potential barriers. Here is how Sasha mentioned the have dealt with these:
The time is takes to create content.
Teachers here at PDCS, simply upload a video to the website, rather than building in Afl tools as I did at DC, and the children are instead encouraged to take notes and follow any given links to further consolidate their learning independently. As the children are in Year 5 and Sasha had previously spent time modelling note-taking with them, this approach works well and their learning feeds into their own self-assessment following a Kahoot! quiz at the beginning of #flipped lessons in class. Their performance in which, informs their decision about how tricky an activity they would like to try during the lesson. I did discuss @Edpuzzle with her and how it benefited me to use the n-built Afl tools to facilitate Just in Time Teaching to plug any gaps in children's learning prior to the lesson, and Sasha seemed keen to look into this as a way forward. However, for now, #flipped is still relatively new and the key aim is to keep it simple and get more teachers on-board.
Getting learners to engage - especially when parents were not so involved
Sasha said that, at first, only around 30% of her pupils watched the videos in advance - despite letters being sent home to inform parents of the requirement and her asking the children to do so. Getting children to engage with home-learning is, I guess, always tricky at first!
However, as the #VL concept encourages learners to 'get stuck in', use the #LearningPit to challenge themselves to push through 'struggles' and progress through the given tasks in class, once those who did not watch the video at first had seen the extended outcomes and immediate involvement in activities that their peers were enjoying, this soon turned around. Miss Butler went on to to say that now 95% of her class engage in advance and those who don't, do so during break or lunch time to ensure they are able to get started straight away, just like the others.
Moreover, Sasha explained how the less-confident in her class, (you know the children who need help, but are a little hesitant to put their hands up), have thrived by having the #flipped videos available to them on their table during the lesson, to refer back to quietly whenever they need.
Availability of high-quality tech in school and at home.
Well... this is perhaps the biggest barrier that many schools may face in this approach. Funding cuts are rife and, even when well-funded, not all schools are on-board with prioritising tech-purchases. Nonetheless, the biggest challenge, especially in more deprived areas, is children having access to sufficient tech at home, to engage in the videos. Now, this was something I had not encountered at DC, due to the children mostly having affluent backgrounds and the luxury of possessing a high-quality device at home, such as an iPad. This was not the case at PDCS, as it is not at most state-funded schools in the UK, so rather than using an ICT program which required an 'app', (such as popular app Edmodo), to facilitate access at home, the decision to simply upload videos to the school website - as the vast majority has internet access at home. Those who do not, are able to access the content in school, prior to lessons and this appears to work well, to mitigate the potential impact of reduced at-home facilities. There are many such workarounds for this challenge and, as well as Sasha's recommendation to provide in-school access, a Twitter friend of mine @JonBergmann (creator of FLGlobal.org) provides other alternatives to deal with low-tech availability in his video below!
What do the children think?
It is all very well and good explaining the benefits of and how to overcome barriers to #flippedlearning in a state-funded, Welsh context from a teacher's POV, but as with any strategy, the main voice we need to listen to is that of the learner themselves. So... here they are! I think you will agree that the excitement, motivation and maturity levels of these Year 5 pupils is quite astounding - when it comes to taking ownership of their own learning. Here are the amazingly confident Sophie and Aaron to tell you all about it!
They honestly are a credit to their parents and teachers, and moreover, prime examples of why #VisibleLearning / #flippedlearning are the perfect combination to promote self-evaluation, independent learning and giving learners the freedom and trust to direct and facilitate their own learning path. They are absolutely #ambitiouscapablelearners and their voice, along with the unquestionable outcomes derived from #flippedlessons at this school illustrates why I, Sasha and the children all think that schools should consider at least trialling #flippedlearning to drive them forward and support the vital skills of #growthmindset, #criticalthinking, #enquiry and #selfevaluation that both the new curriculum and learners' future job-roles undoubtedly require. Yes it may be a step outside of our comfort zones, but that is exactly where the magic happens!
If you would like any more information on #flippedlearning and are interested in me presenting my results, on-going research (soon to take place at a Newport primary school), and recommendations at your school, please do not hesitate to contact me @MissManley_USW and I will happy to help, if I can! :)
Huge thanks to Sasha, Mrs Thomas and all at Pembroke Dock Community School for their generosity and warm welcome and to @nzflippedlearning for hooking us up!
Thanks for reading, as always.
