This document provides a suggested outline for facilitating a group session where teachers can use the explicit instruction in English video to reflect on their own practice. It could also provide guidance for activities for self-directed professional reflection.
This resource was created by Ochre Education in partnership with AERO.
The activities in the resource aim to:
- build knowledge of explicit instruction (particularly using worked examples) and of AERO’s guidance in this area
- assist in developing teaching strategies involving explicit instruction
- encourage teachers to embed explicit instruction in their practice.
Australian Professional Standards
This resource is related to ‘Focus Area 6.2 Engage in professional learning and improve practice’.
This resource is related to ‘Professional Practice 2 Developing self and others’ in the Australian Professional Standards for Principals.
Facilitator preparation
The following is an example checklist to help you prepare for the session.
Review the materials
- Read AERO’s explicit instruction practice guide.
- Watch the Explicit instruction in English video, noting down key points that would be valuable for your team and any aspects you think might need clarification.
Plan the session
- Make sure to give your team sufficient notice about the session so they have time to do the pre-work.
- Consider how the session can specifically assist your school and your students.
- Think about what you want participants to be able to do as a result of this session. For instance: create sets of worked examples, or implement a new group approach.
Consider how change will be promoted in your school
- Consider also how change will happen: how the worked examples will be made available to students, how will examples be visible beyond classroom activities.
Prepare to facilitate
- Read through this resource and highlight key elements and the questions you plan to ask.
- ‘Road-test’ the session with one of your colleagues to clarify any aspects of explicit instruction that you are unsure about and to make sure you are confident with each step.
'Explicit instruction in English' video
In this video, Melissa Garstang-Leary explains how she uses explicit instruction in her English lessons.
Attendee preparation
The following is an example checklist of pre-session work to set participants before they attend.
- Read AERO’s Tried and Tested Explicit instruction practice guide.
- Identify a worked example you have recently used in your own practice.
View annotation
Explicit instruction session agenda
The following outlines a possible agenda for a 45 minute group session.
Information about how to do an Acknowledgement of Country can be found on the Reconciliation Australia website.
Review key aspects of AERO’s Explicit instruction Tried and Tested guide with a focus on worked examples
- Instruction that is explicit involves fully explaining and effectively demonstrating what students need to learn
- Use worked examples to demonstrate what your students need to learn
- As students become more proficient, gradually remove scaffolding to allow for more independent problem solving.
Think about your own teaching practice
- How do you use explicit instruction in your practice now?
Focus on strengths
- What do we think we do well?
- What aspects of explicit instruction are you not so sure about?
- Are there parts of it that you use less in your current instruction?
Think, pair, share
In this video, Melissa Garstang-Leary explains how she uses explicit instruction in her English lessons.
- What is something that you learnt from watching this teacher discuss worked examples?
- Was there anything in the video that you found surprising?
- How important do you think planning and preparing the worked example is in advance?
- Do we need to have a worked example for everything? How do we decide what aspects of a lesson might require a worked example?
What additional support would help you to break down and sequence instructional tasks?
Post-session review
This could be in the form of another meeting, online session, peer coaching session or some other format agreed by the group.
- Share and review the practice activities each team member shared with the team, if they are happy for this to happen.
- Reconvene the team after several weeks to review key aspects of explicit instruction (with a focus on worked examples) and to share experiences Questions to ask could include:
- What changes to practice have been relatively simple?
- What parts have been challenging for you?
- How can the school assist you to implement explicit instruction in your classroom?
Meeting reflection
It is important for you to reflect on the session and the progress of your team. The following questions can help you think about the outcomes and next steps for improving the quality and consistency of explicit instruction practice.
- Were there differences in expertise between members of the group?
- Are there members of the team who you felt left the meeting still a little unsure of what effective practice looks like? What could you do to follow up and provide support?
- What are the aspects of using worked examples that require further learning?
- What parts of the session worked well for the group?
- What aspects were less successful?
Asking participants to identify one aspect they would like to learn more about will help you to focus the efforts of the session. Is the session going to primarily discuss explicit instruction as a concept? Or how to most effectively use worked examples?
The purpose of this section is to revise elements of the Tried and Tested guides and to emphasise the key points of learning for the team before watching the video.
If you have identified aspects of the video that are particularly important for your team, you may wish to pause at certain points to reiterate a point or idea.
This is an opportunity to discuss some key questions from the video. Encourage your team to be specific about teaching strategies rather than talking generally about explicit instruction.
This final question is key for the team. One common misconception is that you would have a worked example for everything. Instead, we should be focused on the elements of the learning that require thinking to be made visible. This is a chance to consider developing a common understanding of when worked examples might be useful, and how their development might be shared across the team.