There is a lot of chatter in the professional literature regarding the grammar of schooling. John Hattie recently delivered a keynote presentation during a visible learning conference comparing the traditional grammar of schooling to the new grammar of schooling. His key points are summarized below. As you read through the lists, plot where you or your school are in regards to the two views. What needs to change?
· We talk a lot
· We ask the questions (about facts)
· Students ask questions about procedure
· 70% teacher-student exchanges < 3 words
· We see students as recipients
· We exam and make students DO things
· We sort, group, differentiate
· We standardized & slice the curricula
· We age group, we track, we segregate
· We sit them in groups
· We use bells
· We emphasize facts, facts, facts
· Students talk about thinking, not just report someone else’s thinking
· Balance of open & closed questions
· Much building on, elaborations, evaluates
· Rephrasing, reasoning, and challenges
· When teachers recapitulate, exhort, elicit, repeat student’s answers, reformulate
· We exam to inform teachers of their impact
· We allow X ways and times to get to success
· We have breadth & depth in curricula
· We teach students to be teachers
