What theories of learning and teaching influenced, and were developed by, your planning, teaching, assessment and evaluation of a unit of work? Critically evaluate and analyse the contribution of these theories and their application in the unit of work to student attainment.
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- I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think -
Socrates
Introduction
This essay will discuss the influence of pedagogical theories of learning and teaching on the planning, teaching, assessment and evaluation of a scheme of work for a middle set year 7 English class. The intention is to evaluate and analyse pedagogical theories’ contribution to practise in the classroom. The scheme of work (see Appendix A) was created for a larger than average Academy in north-east Birmingham with an under-staffed English Department. It has 2 full-time English staff, 4 trainee teachers and 4 teachers who teach other subjects or have other responsibilities. A new head of department has resulted in a new long term plan for Key Stage 3, shortening the time available to teach year 7 Charles Dickens’, “A Christmas Carol” from 6 weeks to 2. Although two Assessing Pupils’ Progress (APP) assessments must be completed per half term to provide frequent summative reviews of pupil attainment, an APP had been completed the lesson prior to this scheme of work (SOW) and therefore assessment was formative throughout, using Assessment for Learning (AfL) day-to-day (Nuffield Foundation, 2009): plenaries; mini-plenaries; pupil feedback; marking; hot-seating; and questioning (DCSF, 2004). According to William and Black (2006) this raises standards in education through student-teacher dialogue and flexible learning activities.
No scheme of work was provided for teaching “A Christmas Carol” and no guidance for required national curriculum or assessment foci. As a result, the teacher decided that the 6 lesson SOW
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