Learners learning to use the support available to them

One of the key strategies I used throughout the research project, during the interventions and normal timetabled lessons, was the idea of using split-screen lesson objectives. These were discussed in section 2.7 as part of Claxton’s Building Learning Power model (2004). The main idea behind split-screen lessons was to have two lesson objectives for each lesson; the first objective related to the mathematical content or techniques and the second related to a learning capacity. The main significance in this case was that the lesson objective related to the learning capacity dealt with knowing what to do when a learner finds that they are stuck. Both the mathematical and the learning capacity objectives were shared at the start of lessons and revisited at the end of lessons.

The strategy of using split-screen lesson objectives was first used in intervention one. The learning capacity objective for intervention one and intervention two was related to being resourceful with the emphasis on reading carefully the information given and thinking about different resource mechanisms you could use when stuck to avoid relying on the teacher telling you what to do. To give the learners the opportunity to make use of these strategies, for the intervention I selected tasks which I expected would take the learners out of their Comfort Zone.

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Despite putting a lot of emphasis on being resourceful during the introduction to these intervention lesson, I saw very little evidence of this having an impact. In the third intervention, Kylie struggled to change the way she worked despite knowing the aim of the lesson. While in the early stages of explaining the task, she said ‘I don’t get it’. When reminded that I was not going to be helping them she said ‘How am I meant to do it if I don’t get what you have done?’ Similar negativity towards changing ways of dealing with ‘being stuck’ was seen during the first two interventions from Martin and other learners as discussed in section 6.2.1.

To help support this change, I introduced the creation and use of a ‘Stuck Poster’, a technique suggested by John Mason (2010). This Stuck Poster was created using suggestions given by the learners. Its aim was to provide visual reminders to learners about ways of coping with being stuck. When relevant, this was referred to when the learning capacity objective was shared with the class. I also made sure that the learning support assistant and I referred learners to the poster when they became stuck and asked for help. Mason (2010) suggests that this strategy can be effective provided that the poster is removed after a period of time to avoid learners becoming over-reliant on it.

When I first introduced it in intervention three, I gave time at the end of the intervention and the following class lesson for learners to add to it. Over time the poster grew in size. The final Stuck Poster contained:

· Ask the teacher for help · Ask a friend for help

177 · Look back at your class notes · Read a textbook

· Think about similar investigations we have done · Read the question carefully

· Highlight key information

· Think about what maths is needed · Can we use algebra to help? · Don’t give up- keep on going!

Evidence collected from my observations of the class indicated that the ‘Stuck Poster’ was the turning point in changing the learners’ expectations of the role of the teacher in supporting learners when stuck. Prior to using the poster, learners had to think on their own about what other strategies they could use when the teacher would not tell them the answer. With the poster, they could be reminded to review it, which would give them ideas. Evidence of this was seen in intervention six, when Monica and Piers had forgotten to how to calculate the median. When I reminded them to look at the Stuck Poster, they looked at it and managed to select a strategy that allowed them to progress. In the same intervention Kylie, who reacted negatively in intervention three when I would not tell her the answer, was seen referring to the Stuck Poster, which reminded her that she could look at her class notes to help her out. I observed a similar change to Martin, who was also negative about the changing role of the teacher in lessons. In the interview I had with him and in his journal, he made reference to the ‘Stuck Poster’. When asked what strategies he used when stuck, his response of ‘ask the teacher for help’ in the first interview had changed by the second interview to him

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being able to discuss the different strategies on the ‘Stuck Poster’ and how useful he found them. In the interview, both James and Polly also mentioned how they had used the ‘Stuck Poster’ to help them out. Interestingly, all three of the learners who were interviewed referred to this ‘Stuck Poster’ without prompting during the second interview, with all of them saying that support from a peer was the most effective way of dealing with being stuck during mathematical tasks.

Although the poster remained on the wall for the majority of the research period, against the advice of Mason (2010), learners demonstrated that they had become familiar with the ideas on the poster and could refer to them in more formal examination, which took place away from the poster and also in discussions I had with them. The intention of the ‘Stuck Poster’ was to continually add to it, which was an adaption of the way Mason originally intended the Stuck Poster to be used.

6.2.3 The use of scaffolding the help build learner confidence in dealing with