I am writing.
I am writing a sentence.
That is simple enough, but, once written, the sentence can be reviewed and upgraded, so although I might sit back and feel it is a job well done, the revision might take a little longer, as I reflect on the different parts of the sentence and add elements, alter some and remove others. Hopefully the new sentence will then have greater impact.
I am in the process of writing a sentence and, when I have finished, I will have a product, which I can share with others for interest and comment.
I am sitting in front of my laptop, amusing myself by writing alternative forms of a sentence, to consider the process of writing, but also to demonstrate that process is developmental and the outcome is merely the end product of the crafting.
The process of writing, specifically, is discussed in another post, where a two page approach to exercise book use is encouraged to focus on the process and the potential for improvement at all stages. NB This is a free resource- just needs a tweak in exercise book use, valuing every stage of the writing process.
Process is closely linked with project management, whether the formalised use, as in building a house, or in the informal day to day application of order and organisation in making something happen, eg doing the shopping, where a list is made, the best shop chosen, the act of selecting the goods, before returning home to sort and put away the shopping in the appropriate place for later retrieval. The shopping being accomplished is the end product. Of course, projects used to be the bread and butter of the Primary classroom, with English, maths and other cross-curricular opportunities created. They can still be seen in high quality design and technology and art classes, where outcomes are reviewed before recreation. It also happens within English lessons where sessions are devoted to DIRT, dedicated improvement and response time.
Every aspect of the process of learning, whether project, theme or single subject, is controlled by the teacher. The subject matter, the task, the place, the time available and the resource choice are more often decided beforehand.
Where the product is the main focus, the process can be short-circuited, with a recipe style approach to the process.
This approach can limit children in their learning, by removing from them the ability to think through the process, so by default, the teacher and the task become barriers to learning. I encounter examples of this during observation of students on school experience, where their personal or professional insecurities mean that they seek to control every aspect of the lesson process for every child. Recipes ‘r us and photocopied sheets have a field day.
The first example was a science lesson, seeking to allow year five children to explore fair testing in science with a light theme. Because the student had specified step by step the process to be followed, the children could not demonstrate abilities beyond National Curriculum level 4, as they were not enabled to be independent in selecting materials and developing their own approach to the testing.
The second example was an investigation in maths, where the step by step approach limited how the children could seek to explore and experiment with an idea, decide their working method and forecast the possible outcomes.
Of course, process and product cannot exist without purpose, which may be the embedded within the product. However, there is a difference between a factory production line, where a quality defined product has to be the end point and the process of learning how to do something.
Schools are learning places, not factory lines.
The show-how in mathematics will need to encompass physical manipulation of concrete apparatus or some other visual clues, such as modelled drawings to develop the internal visualisation and memory from which the learner can repeat the activity.
Memorisation may well be the point of the learning, leading to facts to be remembered. Children need to develop the skills of memorisation and visualisation, such as mnemonics, again an aspect of show-how.
We talk in terms of a thought process, not a thought product, but there can be a product of thought. So the act of thinking is a process, not an end in itself. The challenge to think around a problem, to analyse and make a judgement about how to proceed, to order and organise a coherent plan of action, to carry out the action with record keeping embedded, then to review and evaluate the process and the outcome, suggesting areas for re-assessment, are higher order thinking skills leading to potentially different outcomes . To give a group of children a “recipe” to be followed is a lower order set of skills, following instructions, leading to thirty exact copies. The former approach leads to questions such as “How do I….?” rather than “I can’t…..” These two responses suggest, in the first example, the need for a skill as identified by the independent learner, while the second can suggest a block and dependence.
Within these areas, are teachers and supporting adults the barriers to learning? It is very arguable that they may become so, often inadvertently, by designing inappropriate tasks, that cover all the children, in so doing potentially limiting a number of learners and over-challenging others. The implications for classroom practice can be great, particularly in resource terms, cost, access and use. The first can be limited by the use of recycled materials, or no cost collections, such as newspapers, boxes and so on. Storage and access need to be overcome. Thirty children all needing the same materials at the same time will cause chaos, unless there is clear organisation for use and return. Resources across the curriculum need to be in the classroom, easily accessible and available to be selected by children in their need to solve a problem.
Support staff, often concerned that the children for whom they are responsible have to fulfil the task as set by the teacher can become actively involved, in the more extreme cases actually taking over from the child to finish the activity. This can be the case in an art activity, especially activities such as cards for a special occasion. Why can’t Teaching Assistants be deployed with groups to allow independent tasks to be undertaken with an overseer as observer?
Children’s self-assessment can include the identification of skills that need to be further refined, some physical, some organisational, some technical. Mental reordering is a natural aspect of learning. We come across new facts all the time and simply reorder to accommodate the new, sometimes after thought and reflection and some heartache as long held views are challenged. By comparison with other outcomes, they can build their own conceptualisation of the qualities needed, so that these embedded understandings support their next efforts.
In all aspects of learning, the teacher holds the key to success. Reducing learning to the mechanics and simplicities of memorisation will not, in itself create learners. The application of what is learned in practical, problem solving situations allows the learner to hone skills, to identify areas for further practice and to be proud of the end product, after review and evaluation and a willingness to engage again with the problem if needed.
Homework can enable this approach to become more of a reality, if the teacher uses home time as the place for ideas development, early drafting and collecting ideas together, so that more informed discussion about the process details can take place in the classroom, such as consideration of materials collected, review of drafts and discussion of improvements. Put the quality discussion into the classroom.
Becoming a great teacher is a process. Taking taught elements, putting them into place through your own understanding, engaging with the process and evaluating the outcomes is the means by which teachers get progressively better. There is a growing number of virtuosi teachers, having been successful in their careers though a process often of trial and error, which they may not evidence, who wish to capitalise on their success by capturing their wisdom in a book and sharing the recipe of success. It is often the case that the acolyte cannot match the master because they have not gone through the thought processes leading up to the mastery, so they short circuit the process in the search for the ultimate product, reducing the impact in their own classrooms. Where teaching is poor, it is often the result of a poor copyist, reliant on the efforts of others, so becoming a stereotype, incapable of responding to the lesson that is not going where intended, but unable to change through lack of insight.
Do we want the product of education to be thinking beings or programmed automata?