How a shared Pedagogy improves our pupils’ prospects.
Pedagogy may not be a familiar word to many, but it is simply a technical term which refers to the method and practice of teaching. Having a well-thought-out pedagogy improves the quality of our teaching and the way students learn, helping them gain a deeper grasp of fundamental material. Being mindful of the way we teach also helps us better understand how to help children achieve deeper learning.
At Murrayfield Primary Academy, and every other school in Paradigm Trust, our pedagogy is about teaching the right things effectively. It’s about how we know what to teach, how we teach it, how we know what has been learnt and perhaps most importantly, what we do if learning hasn’t happened. The time we have with children to educate them is limited so if we have an ineffective pedagogy that time isn’t used as efficiently as it should be.
We teach with an ‘I do, we do, you do’ approach: pupils get quality instruction and modelling, followed by a chance to practice with their classmates and talk through their learning (both new and reviewed), and then finally apply that learning. This structure prevents mental overload, and ensures Murrayfield pupils master key knowledge and skills in order to independently learn outside the classroom in new situations. Throughout every lesson staff circulate, check and react to any errors and misconceptions; helping where needed in the most appropriate way.
As children grow we build upon their prior knowledge and skills to help them master new learning. As they get more confident with the pedagogy we use, children are able to become more independent, resilient learners. This allows teachers to focus on removing misconceptions and errors rather than teaching things pupils already know.
Having the same pedagogy across every Murrayfield class ensures there is consistency in the way we teach, in the way we behave and in the way we apply our rules, from Early Years right through to Year Six, which hugely benefits both pupils and staff. And when children move to Ipswich Academy, another Paradigm Trust school which uses the same pedagogy, they will already be familiar with the way things work, allowing them to settle more quickly and resume effective learning sooner.
However, we understand every class and every child is different, so our pedagogy is designed to be flexible, giving our teachers the tools for each individual situation and the ability to adapt the strategies to fit their circumstances, while still adhering to the underlying rationale of the Paradigm pedagogy.
A consistent pedagogical approach also leads to continuous improvement. When one teacher makes an adaptation which proves to be successful it is easy to put it into practice not just across Murrayfield but at the other Paradigm Trust schools. In the same way we benefit from improvements made elsewhere in the Trust so we can be sure we are doing the best for every child at Murrayfield Primary Academy.