No More Dull Teaching: How a More Personalized Approach Can Achieve Better Results in A-levels

Citation

(2005), "No More Dull Teaching: How a More Personalized Approach Can Achieve Better Results in A-levels", Education + Training, Vol. 47 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2005.00447bae.002

No More Dull Teaching: How a More Personalized Approach Can Achieve Better Results in A-levels

Books

No More Dull Teaching: How a More Personalized Approach Can Achieve Better Results in A-levels

Cheryl A. JonesLearning and Skills Development Agency2004

Improving A-level grades by using more creative approaches to teaching that address the individual needs of students is the theme of No More Dull Teaching: How a More Personalized Approach Can Achieve Better Results in A-level, published by the Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA).

Focusing specifically on A-levels in vocational subjects such as art and design, business and information technology, it addresses criticisms made in recent inspection reports about teaching that is “dull and uninspiring”, with no attempt to motivate students or take account of their individual learning styles. A key message is that teachers must “take account of the differing needs of learners”.

The book offers guidance on how to improve lessons by making them more stimulating and varied. It stresses the different ways in which students learn – through seeing (visual learning), hearing (auditory learning) and doing (kinaesthetic learning). It shows how teachers can plan lessons that take account of a wide range of students and ability levels. “Meeting the varying needs of learners is not something that happens incidentally; it has to be planned for”, says the Author, Dr Cheryl Jones.

The messages echo the British Government's new focus on personalization and choice, set out in its five-year strategy for children and learners. The publication includes practical advice, based on the experience of teachers and inspectors, on how teachers can adopt a more personalized approach to teaching and learning and how to include activities that involve seeing, hearing and practical activities in lessons. Using learning materials that take into account these different learning styles can engage weaker students and challenge more able ones. The book also includes a checklist of common barriers to learning, with suggestions on ways to overcome them.

The book lists the main issues that prevent high-quality learning as:

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  ineffective planning – learning aims and objectives that are not clear and are not communicated to students;

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  lessons that lack structure and fail to build in sufficient opportunities to test learning;

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  dull teaching with a lack of variety and minimal or no use of information and learning technologies (ILT);

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  methods of assessment that are inappropriate or not rigorous enough; and

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  an approach to tasks, activities and assignments that does not take account of individual needs and learning styles, whether visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic.

The publication includes three case studies. The first illustrates how Exeter College worked with a local school to develop a differentiated approach to teaching and learning. The second shows how Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College used ILT to improve retention and achievement rates for students studying A-levels in health and social care. The third explains how Bury College, in Lancashire, helped students to improve their analytical, lateral and creative-thinking skills so they could answer “how” and “why” questions in A-level business examinations and assignments.