GOING FROM GOOD TO

OUTSTANDING IN 2022
The role of edtech

fireflylearning.com
The role of edtech
Whatever your views on Ofsted, it is encouraging to see that whilst
the curriculum and teaching practice is a key part of the inspection
framework, there is a clear focus on the experience of the learner.
This should allow schools to better represent their impact on helping
each student achieve their personal best.

Whilst an inspection will look at four key areas - quality of education,

behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and
management, the list of criteria for assessment is still a long one.
Rather than treating this as a ‘tickbox’ exercise let’s look at the
statements as a whole, and try and interpret what they mean for the
classroom teacher. Taken together, they fall into three broad
categories:

• Pedagogy

• Motivation and behaviour

• Communication

If we look at these strands, they should help to shape what

makes outstanding teaching and learning.
Pedagogy
The technology itself is not transformative. It’s the school, the
pedagogy, that is transformative.

Tanya Byron

Pedagogy is defined as “The art, occupation, or practice of teaching.”1

The characteristics of an outstanding teacher are far harder to
quantify than subject knowledge and yet, paradoxically they are
much more obvious in the classroom; ask any student who the great
teachers in their school are and they’ll be able to reel them off for
you.

This ‘art’ of teaching is what leads to a modern learning experience,

so how does Ofsted describe it? According to the Education
inspection framework “teachers create an environment that allows
the learner to focus on learning. The resources and materials that
teachers select – in a way that does not create unnecessary
workload for staff – reflect the provider’s ambitious intentions for
the course of study and clearly support the intent of a coherently
planned curriculum...”.2

Furthermore, teachers “check learners’ understanding

systematically, identify misconceptions accurately” and “adapt their
teaching as necessary, without unnecessarily elaborate or
differentiated approaches”3

Taken together, these might be summarised as teachers having:

• the freedom to innovate for greater impact in the classroom

• the visibility and understanding they need to continually adapt the

learning journey of their students

1
Oxford English Dictionary, 2017
2
Ofsted, The Education inspection framework, 2021
3
Ofsted, The Education inspection framework, 2021
Pedagogy

These are the foundations of the modern learning experience, one

that is based on ongoing, effective formative assessment, i.e
“assessment that is specifically intended to generate feedback on
performance to improve and accelerate learning”.4 This collaborative
approach to assessment allows us to see how technology has a
significant role to play.

Firstly the ability to have a window into a student’s understanding of a

subject, to know how they are doing, can be greatly enhanced by the
speed with which technology can allow teachers to operate. The
quicker teachers can respond to the way in which their students are
learning, the better placed they are to “help learners embed and use
knowledge fluently or to check understanding and inform teaching”.5
Pedagogy

Flipped Learning is a good example of this approach in action and technology greatly
enhances the ability of a teacher to implement this sort of model. “The ability to post tutorials
and lectures…… as well as supplementary videos and materials from various professional
video Websites, Youtube, Vimeo, and other Universities, opened up an avenue to maintain or
increase her interaction with students, while at the same time cutting back the hours she was
used to working”.6

Of course the student’s performance is only half of the conversation; technology also provides
the teacher with a channel to feed back to the student in a far more detailed manner than
simply comments in a book, and crucially, in a way that provides a detailed record of all of the
interactions that have taken place. This allows both teacher and learner to see what support is
required and how effective it is in helping the individual to make progress. It is not just the
student who is learning from this process, the teacher is also able to monitor the effectiveness
of their interventions and adjust as necessary. John Hattie describes a process whereby, “those
teachers who are students of their own impact are the teachers who are the most influential in
raising students’ achievement.”7

If this feedback is to have the greatest impact, then it must be appropriate to the needs of the
student. In this way, “learners develop detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum and,
as a result, achieve well”8 Once again the sheer number of ways that we can provide resources
and support to our students through technology is a key point here. Remember, what we are
looking for is appropriate support so this might encompass video, audio feedback, interactive
activities, or further discussion with the teacher. Crucially though, technology allows us to store
that feedback in an easily accessible format so that students can make use of it over and over
again. It also makes it simple to share this with other teachers and the student’s parents,
involving everyone in that learning conversation. The more we are all pulling in the same
direction, the more effective that support is going to be.

4Sadler D.R., Formative assessment and the design of instructional systems,1989

5Ofsted, The Education inspection framework, 2021
6Houston, M., Humanizing the Classroom by Flipping the Homework versus Lecture Equation, 2012
7Hattie, John, A.C., Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning, 2012
8Ofsted, The Education inspection framework, 2021
Motivation and behaviour

Ask any teacher - good student motivation sits at the heart of

successful learning. Without motivated students teaching becomes
increasingly difficult, with too much time spent on ‘crowd control’
rather than engaging with learners. Ofsted call this out in their
Behaviour and Attitudes judgement:

“The behaviour and attitudes judgement considers how leaders and

staff create a safe, calm, orderly and positive environment in the
school and the impact this has on the behaviour and attitudes of
pupils.”9

In reality though, for many schools and teachers, students are not always
motivated, and as a result behaviour can be a problem. This
eats up teaching time, with behaviour management dominating the
classroom process. As a result there is often a focus on the negative
aspects of behaviour management and a lack of recognition for
student success.

It's a very simple equation: Better motivated students leads to more

focus and less poor behaviour, meaning that teachers can teach, and
learners can learn.
Motivation and behaviour

Clearly, motivation needs to be the primary focus. “Pupils’

motivation and positive attitudes to learning are important
predictors of attainment. The development of positive attitudes can
also have a longer-term impact on how pupils approach learning
tasks in later stages of education.”10 This being the case, we need to
make it easy for teachers to recognise, reward and track the achievements
of their students.

This can be managed in a variety of ways, but technology can

provide the necessary means to do so. Setting goals for students
and then recording their progress is a key way to help students
remain motivated in their learning. Providing tangible rewards that
are meaningful to students means that the reward process is a
collaborative one so that they will be more engaged, whilst sharing
successes with the wider school community allows everyone to celebrate
the successes of their peers.

However, good motivation is not just about rewards. Students are

often motivated by the sheer character of their teacher, but this
needs the teacher to have time in lessons to really engage with their
students. This can be achieved by giving teachers the tools they
need to manage their students and classroom activities in one accessible
space. With less time spent on ‘classroom admin’
teachers can focus on the art of teaching allowing them to really support
and encourage their students.

Supporting students on their learning journey is also another strong

motivator and visibility of each student's learning journey is crucial
in this regard. For the student to receive the ‘wrap-around’ support
they need, this information needs to be available for everyone
involved - teachers, students, parents and school leaders. When this
is in place, then everyone is in a better position to support and
manage the student, but most importantly to celebrate their
successes.

When we get this right, students are excited to learn new things and
the standard of work improves. Teachers have more time to help students
make better progress, and behaviour is no longer a
problem at the school; everybody feels safe and supported.

9Ofsted, The Education inspection framework, 2021

10Ofsted, The Education inspection framework, 2021
Communication

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it

has taken place.”

George Bernard Shaw

Effective communication should underpin every aspect of the modern

learning experience. “Learning is a continual conversation: with the
external world and its artefacts, with oneself, and also with other
learners and teachers.”11 The behaviour and attitude of students in a
school is a reflection of how well the school communicates its culture
and values and as such good use of communication is a key element
of leadership and management in a school. In order to achieve this,
school leaders must “ engage effectively with learners and others in
their community, including – where relevant – parents, carers,
employers and local services.”12

Technology provides channels for communications that allow schools

to really ‘open their doors’ to the wider community. Whether, bringing
parents into the learning conversation about their child, or sharing the
latest news and updates from school activities, technology allows
schools to engage the entire school community with information that
is relevant to the individual. Crucially, this information is shared in such
a way as to fit in with the digital habits of teachers, parents and
students, making it easy for them to stay connected and feel part of a
greater community. This deeper engagement with school means that
teachers and parents can work together to help each student achieve
their personal best, while school leaders can share their “vision for
providing high-quality, inclusive education and training to all.” 13

11Sharples, M. Learning As Conversation: Transforming Education in the Mobile Age, 2005

12Ofsted, The Education inspection framework, 2021
13Ofsted, The Education inspection framework, 2021
Evidence

Finally, a significant consideration for schools, is not just making sure

that outstanding teaching is taking place, but also in ensuring that there
is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that this is the case.

“Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.”

Carl Sagan

Whilst Carl Sagan may well be correct from a philosophical perspective,

any upcoming inspection will result in an increased workload for the
school as they work to collate the evidence that the inspection team
requires. There will be disruption for students and teachers as books and
documentation are scrutinised; anything that can be done to minimise
this will help to ensure that the process is less stressful and has a
smaller impact on the ongoing teaching and learning.
Evidence

We have already seen how technology can collate resources, planning

and feedback effectively and make it easily accessible to all those
involved in the learning process, ie teachers, students and parents; it is a
relatively small step technologically to add inspectors to this list, (indeed,
not just inspectors, but Senior Management and Heads of Department
where appropriate).

Whilst they may not be participating in the learning conversation per se,
the way in which it can be made visible to them will facilitate the
inspection process as well as reducing the impact on the work patterns
of teachers and students. It also allows schools to open up a much
broader view of the quality of teaching and learning taking place, far
beyond what is available through exercise books and planners alone.
Conclusion

We know that the vast majority of teaching that goes on in schools is of a

high quality; at the end of 2018, 85% of schools were judged to be good or
outstanding. 14However, the inspection process remains a stressful one
for schools, not least because of the workload associated with it. Whilst
technology may never entirely lift this burden, it does provide an
opportunity not only to support teachers, students and parents, but also to
help schools demonstrate the quality of teaching and learning taking place.
The best technological solutions allow the teachers to focus on teaching
and let the evidence take care of itself.

14Ofsted, State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 December 2018, March 2019

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