Explicit instruction - Is it challenging enough?
The other day I was chatting with a friend who is a retired teacher. She told me that more than one of her teacher friends have told her that students are bored during explicit instruction lessons and the teachers are saddened by this shift in education as they fear it is a step backwards in terms of teaching effectiveness and engagement. Being a passionate advocate for explicit instruction, I replied that this has never been my experience and in fact I have found completely the opposite to be true. I suggested that if lessons aren’t working it may be due to a lack of understanding on the teachers’ part, rather than a reflection on the quality of the lessons themselves….
The conversation got me thinking. What are the blockers for these teachers and their students? Why are students bored and teachers disheartened by lessons incorporating best practice instruction? The answers, I believe, lie in understanding where the power of explicit instruction lives…
We teach using explicit instruction when students are learning something new. The purpose is to support students to transfer new information from short to long term memory so that it can be easily retrieved when needed. This transfer is achieved when information is broken down into bite-sized chunks and support is given to students to engage in repeated modelled, guided and retrieval practice in order for the new learning to be cemented and retained.
Explicit instruction lessons are highly interactive and fast paced. Students actively participate throughout each lesson and are required to practice or demonstrate their learning every couple of minutes on average. Teachers actively monitor students’ progress and understanding of the new learning as the lesson progresses. They conduct on the spot checks to ensure students are following the learning and can demonstrate their understanding. They respond by adapting their teaching to provide scaffolded support as needed. They differentiate the level of task difficulty to support students working at different skills levels and ensure students have understood and can apply the learning before sending them off for independent practice.
The power of explicit instruction lies in its cumulative effect over time. Knowledge and skills in a particular area of study grow sequentially and incrementally across a series of lessons or a unit of study. Consistent routines and procedures in lessons support this growth. Regular review of previously learnt content, repeated guided practice for new learning and consistent monitoring of student understanding throughout lessons enables students to build on existing knowledge, make connections to previous learning and sequentially embed new learning without any gaps in knowledge or skill level being allowed to develop.
When delivered effectively, explicit instruction supports all students to progress to the next stage in their learning and to feel confident in being able to apply new learning. This is where motivation and engagement stems from for students. A really important by-product of explicit instruction is that students can see themselves, their knowledge and their skills, improving in real time over subsequent lessons. Time and time again, I have witnessed students become so excited when they realise they can now do something they couldn’t do just a couple of lessons ago. Likewise, teachers experience that same excitement on seeing their students improve and grow in knowledge or skill level but also in self-confidence across subsequent lessons.
The disconnect for teachers, and as a flow on for their students I believe, comes when the success of a lesson is judged on important elements such as lesson design and delivery - the content, how it runs and how it is received by students – but fails to have a focus on the actual learning that is taking place for all during a lesson. Having equal focus on the learning and putting in place the conditions to ensure it happens effectively is where the magic lies within explicit instruction lessons. Over time, this focus leads to improved student achievement, increased student confidence, enhanced motivation and consistent engagement.
It is amazing how often a lesson can appear well-crafted, engaging, purposeful, stimulating but at the end of it no real learning has taken place or learning has only happened for a small proportion of students! Once a focus is placed on ensuring and monitoring learning of new content for all, and teachers learn to deliver lessons with maximum effectiveness, there is no doubt that explicit instruction lessons are effective, engaging and challenging enough for all students and what is more, leave very little opportunity for boredom!
