When you give pupils activities that are limited in scope and your interactions with pupils are mainly about clarifying the task, you could be missing opportunities to help your pupils become independent learners. One study gave the example of a teacher who first asked her pupils to simply correct a piece of writing which was full of spelling and punctuation errors, then asked them to correct the technical errors in each other’s work. The classroom dialogue simply involved pupils volunteering mistakes they had found and the corrections they had made, whilst the teacher commented whether their corrections were right or wrong.  This tight level of teacher control left pupils with little opportunity for independent learning.

Evidence and reflection

You might find it helpful to complete the grid below about the activities you organise for three or four of your classes. You could use it to help you reflect about how much scope they offer for independent learning and pupil interaction.

Moving forward

Having completed the table, do you think you’ve got the balance right between closely controlled activities and tasks which encourage pupil interaction, thinking and understanding? Would it be helpful to share this information with your colleagues and to discuss how and why they promote independent learning?

Find out more

You can find out more about promoting learner independence in the TLRP Learning how to learn project at: http://www.tlrp.org/proj/phase11/phase2f.html

You can find out more about putting AfLin to practice on the GTC’s Research of the Month website at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/policyandresearch/research/ROMtopics/afl/

You can find out more about how working collaboratively with colleagues can help you to change your practice on the GTC’s Research of the Month website at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/policyandresearch/research/ROMtopics/cpdrom/