Achievement doesn’t just happen – you have to make it happen. This article
looks at the factors which affect it, and which need to be managed.
General considerations
Process and accountability
Raising achievement in any subject does not come about as a result of just
one or two factors in isolation. Rather, there needs to be an approach which
centres on both process and accountability.
By “process” we mean the setting up of procedures to help ensure that pupil
achievement is likely to be raised. The term “accountability” refers to the fact
that, as Roger Luxton, then Principal Inspector of Barking and Dagenham LEA has
put it:
"Good processes are of little use if they do not lead to good outcomes."
Consequently, subject co-ordinators and Heads of Department are responsible
for knowing what teaching and learning is going on, and what progress (if any)
is being made. These days, the bottom line consideration can be thought of in
terms of: are pupils getting good value for money in return for their parents’
taxes?
Factors which contribute to the raising of achievement
The ICT manager should:
· have a clear idea of the place of ICT in the curriculum, and be able to
communicate this to others;
· have a clear approach to the raising of achievement, such as the adoption
of a suitable scheme of work (see “ICT lessons” below); but…
· …be prepared to be flexible enough to allow others to contribute their
ideas, because even non-experts and trainee teachers often come up with
interesting ideas on how to approach a particular topic, or how to address the
problem of “failing” pupils;
· have high expectations of both pupils and staff;
· be an expert in the subject, in the sense of having a clear understanding
of what IT is all about, and a good general knowledge of the research that has
been undertaken, current topics of debate, likely future developments and so on.
ICT lessons
Constructing schemes of work
When you construct a scheme of work you need to keep in mind three main
ideas:
· what skills and understanding the pupils have acquired already;
· what the pupils will know by the end of their current Year;
· what they will know by the end of the Key Stage (in England and Wales).
The first one is very important. If you do not get this right, members of the
class will be out of their depth, or under-stretched. You can address the
problem by adopting one or more of the following approaches, depending on your
particular circumstances:
· Use the official scheme of work (which may be voluntary); in England and
Wales, for example, the QCA has produced a scheme of work for ICT, and in
addition there is a Key Stage 3 strategy for secondary school students. See http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes3/subjects/?view=get
and then click on the appropriate link. In my opinion you can never use such
schemes off the shelf: you have to adapt them to some extent, though they can
give you an excellent starting point.
· If you are in a secondary school, liaise with ICT Co-ordinators from feeder
schools, either directly or through the Local Authority, time and other
resources permitting.
· As a variation on the above, work with all of the ICT Co-ordinators in your
area to produce a joint scheme of work that spans all four Key Stages; it relies
for its success on every institution in the area releasing its ICT manager for a
day when necessary.
· Adopt, or adapt, the Local Authority scheme of work, if there is one; if
all schools did so, then every school or college would, in theory, have a good
idea of what the pupils coming to them have covered.
· There are also commercial schemes of work sold by publishers. Personally I
haven’t felt that any of the ones I’ve seen are challenging enough.
Ultimately, however, it is unwise to rely on schemes of work as evidence of
skills acquired. Unless lessons have been observed and appropriate action taken
where necessary, there is no guarantee that what is laid down in the scheme of
work is what is actually being covered in the classroom.
A well-planned scheme of work starts with the big picture and becomes more
and more detailed.. In fact, there are several stages involved, which can be
summarised by the following questions:
1. What should the pupils know at the end of this Key Stage (or at the end of
their course)?
2. What should the pupils know by the end of this academic year?
3. What should the pupils know by the end of each term (or the end of each
Unit)?
4. What should the pupils know by the end of each lesson?
5. What scenarios can be used as a vehicle for teaching these skills?
6. What links to other areas of the curriculum can be forged?
7. Are pupils given increasing opportunities to choose the software to solve
a problem?
8. Are pupils given increasing opportunities to integrate several kinds of
program? (An effective way of achieving this is to set projects which become
more and more open-ended as the course progresses. Some element of choice can be
built in to the scheme of work at the primary school level also.)
9. Where ICT is delivered in a wholly cross-curricular way, is the ICT to be
taught independent of the subject matter? (For example, presentation skills
using word processing software can be taught whatever the subject or topic. The
scheme of work in these circumstances can still be set out in Units, but these
Units will not be time-based. Also, the lessons which comprise the Units will
either be content-free or contain suggestions for activities and subject matter.
The QCA Scheme of Work is an example of this approach.)
10.What resources are required for the delivery of each Unit?
11.What staff training is required?
12.What evidence of pupil attainment will be required?
13.What homework will be set throughout the Unit?
14.How does each Unit link with previous and following Units to ensure
progression and consistency?
15.How does each Unit address the IT Programme of Study?
It is tempting to suggest a scheme of work in these pages, but it would be my
scheme of work, not yours. By working out the answers to these questions, you
are far more likely to come up with the right scheme of work for your particular
circumstances.
This article was adapted from my book, Managing ICT, which you can
purchase as an electronic download. Click here for further information:
http://www.terry-freedman.org.uk/ebooks/doc_page10.html.
Next: Managing the process of devising a scheme of work.
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