Whether we are aware of it or not all our lessons function on two levels, they have twin intentions. On the one hand there is content to be acquired, and on the other there are learning behaviours being exercised in pursuit of this content. What differentiates a standard lesson that effectively ‘delivers the content’ from a learning powered lesson is that you, as a teacher, have to think, in advance, about:
- the learning behaviours that are necessary for successful content acquisition;
- the design of activities or tasks that will stimulate these learning behaviours;
- how learners could reflect on and evaluate their use of these behaviours.
The culture shift here is about understanding how students are learning as well as what they are learning. i.e. a learning powered lesson has a dual focus.
In this unit we start to zoom in on what you need to do: how to design lessons and activities, and how to orchestrate the classroom environment, so that your students stretch their learning muscles and gradually build their learning power.
In this unit you will find:
- explanations of the three fundamentals of dual focused lessons
- linking content and process
- rich and challenging activities
- building in reflection
- a format to assist planning dual-focused lessons
- activities to help start this journey
- encouragement to try things out with your learners
- examples from teachers in classrooms
The key features of dual-focused teaching
- Lessons exercise both the what and the how of learning
- The how of learning, rather than performance, is made the object of learning
- Reflecting on learning and reviewing learning become part and parcel of how we learn
- Learning activities are designed to stretch and challenge content acquisition and learning behaviours
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