What teachers need to know about ADHD
Dr Mark Kennedy is a Senior Teaching Fellow at The Institute of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience, King’s College London. He is also Lead Educator on the Understanding ADHD: Current Research and Practice course on the FutureLearn Platform. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is regarded as a “neurodevelopmental disorderâ€; which puts it in the same category as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It’s the most common neurodevelopmental disorder, affecting around 4-5% of children. Despite this, teachers frequently say that they lack specific knowledge about ADHD and what strategies can be used to help children affected by ADHD. When you ask people what ADHD is, they describe a child with too much energy. In reality, there’s a lot more to it than hyperactivity. In fact, there are three “presentationsâ€; Hyperactive-Impulsive, Inattentive and Combined Type. The most common form in the general population is actually inattentive, not hyperactive-impulsive, which comes as a surprise to some people. Teachers need to be aware of ADHD for a number of reasons. Children with ADHD often struggle academically. As well as being a concern for parents and teachers in itself, ADHD and associated difficulties in school can also begin to impact the child’s self esteem. Beyond this, it has been linked to poorer outcomes in adulthood, such as unemployment and difficulties in relationships. Importantly, research has shown that teachers simply being aware of what the disorder is, can actually be beneficial. I think that’s a really positive message, especially given the immense pressure teachers are under to accommodate the broad range of issues children in their class may be facing. Free-to-join online ADHD course Motivated by a desire to increase awareness, King’s College London have partnered with FutureLearn to create the free-to-join, online course: Understanding ADHD: Current Research and Practice, which launched in May. The course is an accessible and time-efficient resource for anyone looking to learn a bit more about the disorder. Being ADHD aware also matters because there’s reason to believe that girls with ADHD are being missed. When you look at population-based studies, for every one girl with ADHD, there are two boys. But when you look at clinical referrals, the ratio is double that (1 girl: 4 boys). In our course, we speak with a mother of a daughter with ADHD. She describes her daughter’s report card, which contained descriptions of ADHD behaviours, but no-one had considered that she may have ADHD. Much like Autism Spectrum Disorder, there’s a huge amount of evidence to suggest that the brains of children with ADHD are hardwired differently, compared to those without it. That matters because it means that children with ADHD are less able to regulate their behaviour, again like those with ASD. Understanding that – and the increased empathy that this understanding brings – along with helping children to understand this, has again been shown to help. As well as being aware of the disorder, there are low-cost, practical things teachers can do to help. For instance, sitting a child with ADHD close to the teacher has been shown to help; it’s harder to get distracted and makes it easier to pick up on the teacher’s cues. More practical tips, strategies and evidence based advice is discussed in the Understanding Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder course on the FutureLearn platform.
Keeping the love for history alive
Benedict Freeburn, history teacher at St Mary Magdalene CE School, explains the positive impact great CPD can have on teachers’ passion for their subject. After giving explanations of how William the Conqueror won the Battle of Hastings to a multitude of classes, does your passion for teaching shine as brightly as it did the day you first walked into the classroom? The best teachers are highly skilled at ensuring true love for their subject endures, regardless of how many years they have been teaching it. But schools have an important part to play in nurturing this. History beyond the classroom School trips are a great way to spark students’ imaginations and immerse them in the subjects they are learning. Our school is ideally located for this and as a history teacher, I’ve seen the positive impact of taking students on half-termly trips to exciting locations such as the Tower of London and Hampton Court Palace. Giving students the chance to chat about the famous characters from history inside the rooms they inhabited, or see the actual graffiti created by those imprisoned in the Tower for themselves, really helps to bring history to life. But spending time outside of the classroom in these places can be hugely beneficial for teachers too, as I discovered recently when my colleagues and I attended a CPD event at the Tower of London. Always learning Having visited the Tower with our students at least eight times a year as part of the history curriculum, we were amazed at how much a CPD-focussed event enabled us to learn about the subject we love and the different ways of teaching it. One highlight of the event, which was run by Historic Royal Palaces, was being able to chat to a current GCSE examiner about the new numerical grading system. As a relatively new school, St Mary Magdalene is about to start teaching GCSEs for the very first time, so it was great to be able to ask questions and get a clearer understanding of what examiners look for in a grade 9 answer, and how this differs from the previous A* grade. Taking a tour from a teacher’s perspective, rather than that of a student, helped to underline how our trips to the Tower can support teaching at Key Stage 3, as well as our GCSE units. We returned to school invigorated with new lesson ideas and a deeper understanding of the site’s history – it is quite amazing how many questions you have when you’re not monitoring thirty students. The experience has changed our approach to teaching Key Stage 3 history. The Tower now plays a central role in developing students’ enquiry skills, featuring heavily in our Normans and Tudor schemes of work. The CPD event has also provided a strong introduction to the Elizabethans for Key Stage 4 too. Inspiring students School trips are designed to an experience that motivates students to make good progress back in school. CPD days away from the classroom are equally important for allowing teachers to delve deeper into their subjects and explore the most effective ways of teaching them. With over 70% of students at St Mary Magdalene studying history GCSE, we believe that the passion our teachers have for history is shared by our students. For more information, visit CPD for schools.
Three tips to enhance maths in your school
Alexandra Riley is author of the Power of Maths report and Senior Publisher in the Primary Maths team at Pearson. She leads the team behind Power Maths, a whole-class mastery programme developed in partnership with White Rose Maths. Here, she highlights how schools can not only boost results but improve perceptions about how maths is used in everyday life… Maths can unlock doors by giving children and young people the tools needed to access new learning or pursue a career that increases their future earning power. And yet, only 36% of males and 23% of females at Key Stage Four feel that mathematics is most likely to lead to a job in the future [1]. Meanwhile, myths about mathematics continue to perpetuate, from the belief that some people just can’t do maths to the perception that this isn’t a creative subject. Following the release of Pearson’s Power of Maths report, shaped by leading thinkers across education and business, here are some ways you can improve both the perceptions and teaching of mathematics in your school: 1. Bust myths Maths is relevant and important in our lives beyond the school gates. In your school, talk openly about the utility and creativity of maths. Maths is not about getting “the right answerâ€. Instead, show pupils that debate, discovery and creativity are an integral part of maths, rather than characteristics confined to humanities, and this makes maths fascinating and exciting. You can do this in practice, by regularly integrating problems with more than one solution into maths lessons, and debating the strategies used and solutions. Pupils will become engaged in their learning by thinking creatively and participating in rich mathematical discussion. 2. Build resilience If an adult is under-confident in maths, they can unknowingly pass on their anxieties to children and young people, leading to many arriving in their lessons ready to hate it. Building mathematical confidence among parents can be key to tackling maths anxiety in your school. At a primary level, teachers can give parents simple suggestions for engaging their child in learning at home, whether it is working on a puzzle book at bedtime, creating a maths picture storybook or talking about shape while they play together. You can run workshops to communicate this or draw on Pearson’s Handy Parent Factsheet, which explains the importance of a growth mindset and how parents can encourage their children to be confident mathematicians. 3. Never underestimate the power of professional development Teachers are one of the biggest influencers on our young people yet many maths teachers are not subject specialists (particularly at primary) and feel under-confident in teaching the subject. High-quality resources, such as textbooks and teacher guides, can help teachers to consistently implement what they have learnt in the classroom. You can also encourage teachers to observe, or even film, lessons and reflect on them with a colleague or as a team. This gives an opportunity to reflect on best practice, build subject knowledge and share new ideas. The future of mathematics is ultimately one where people from diverse backgrounds and interests come together to collaborate and drive change. By harnessing a passion for mathematics in schools and classrooms, we can all inspire young people with its power one step at a time. To read the Power of Maths report and its recommendations, please visit: pearsonprimary.co.uk
How edtech innovation is improving education
Pauric Surlis, Frameworks Relationship Manager KYOCERA Document Solutions UK, on the Government’s recent £10million investment in edtech. Anyone working in the education sector will be acutely aware of the pressure on teachers to provide high-quality learning, support and care to all students, with an ever-increasing administrative burden making it harder to deliver an engaging learning experience. Whether supporting GCSE pupils with exam preparation or guiding older students through the university application process, education staff need access to the best tools and technologies to minimise the amount of time they spend on administrative tasks. It was encouraging to see recently that the UK government is investing up to £10 million in edtech, as it clearly reflects a recognition of the important role that innovation can play in improving the learning experience for both teachers and students. However, this investment needs to focus on improving the underlying processes to reduce paperwork and enable teachers to devote more of their attention to their students. Easing teacher workload through edtech There is a clear need for the intelligent implementation of technology to reduce the amount of time spent on tedious, time-consuming processes which are adding such a significant workload to teachers, on top of their teaching hours. A 2018 survey from the National Education Union found that increases in teacher workloads are “harming the profession and therefore the education of our childrenâ€. In addition, 61% of teachers reported spending over 3 hours a day on tasks that do not involve teaching, including marking coursework, homework or tests, copying and scanning research documents and filling out documentation. Although these processes are necessary, they significantly reduce the time that teachers can spend preparing their lessons and supporting students. A prime example of a time-consuming process overdue for transformation through new technology is the copyright process. Currently, many teachers are required to manually fill out forms whenever they copy or scan copyrighted material that is then sent to the Copyright Licensing Agency, in what is a lengthy and tedious process. However, there are now apps which can digitally transform this process, ensuring that the necessary data goes straight to CLA. This is the kind of innovative technology that needs to be applied to a whole range of administrative processes to free up teachers’ time and help them focus on teaching. The key to the success of these initiatives is to remember that the technologies should not be overly complicated, they need to be intuitive, easy to use and support teachers to do what they do best: give a great learning experience to students. This approach could fundamentally raise standards across the sector and help to equip the UK education system for a brighter digital future. For more information on edtech and document solutions, see KYOCERA Document Solutions UK.
Google for Education partners up with itslearning
A partnership between itslearning, Europe’s most widely used learning platform, and Google for Education was announced recently, enabling teachers to plan, deliver, communicate and engage. The partnership will also allow educators to formatively assess student learning against academic goals, all within one platform, in any location and from any device. The ability to collaborate at any time, anywhere will help to maximise the benefits of both itslearning and Google’s G Suite products. The integration between G Suite and itslearning will combine users’ favourite Google tools alongside those of itslearning. Benefits include Google Drive integration and file uploading, Google file collaboration, giving feedback in real-time on Google Docs, creating Google document templates, Google Hangouts within Instant Messaging amongst others, all seamlessly within itslearning. Additional integration features will be released throughout 2019. Liz Sproat, at Google for Education, said: “We are looking forward to working with itsLearning who share a similar approach to us in the solutions they provide to schools. Both Google and itsLearning work closely with teachers to create tools to help enrich and streamline the teaching & learning experience in the classroom.†Matthew Jordan at itslearning UK said: “The best features of Google Classroom will be a prominent place in itslearning’s LMS and vice versa. The learning environment is easy to use for both students and teachers, and it makes the learning platform an even stronger educational tool.†The interaction between the itslearning platform and Google’s “G Suite” is intended to benefit teachers and students worldwide. These benefits will also be extended to Fronter customers (which itslearning acquired in 2015) via a free upgrade path to itslearning. For more information on Google for Education, see the website.
Teachers need more support to tackle self-harm in schools
84% of secondary school teachers have taught a student who they believe is self-harming in the last year, according to a survey by mental health charity YoungMinds. YoungMinds is highlighting the need to ensure that teachers have support in identifying and responding to self-harm. The charity has found that often teachers are the first point of call for students who need mental health support, but have limited training on how to respond or what action to take. The charity carried out a survey of more than 3,000 secondary school teachers, which showed that: – 84% of secondary school teachers had taught a child they believe is self-harming in the last year – 77% of secondary school teachers do not believe they have had sufficient training on children and young people’s mental health – While 36% feel confident knowing how to support young people with mental health issues, 35% do not feel confident. – While 39% feel confident knowing how and when to refer young people to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, 37% do not feel confident. [1] Research by NHS Digital in 2018 suggested that 48% of young people had sought help from their teachers when struggling with their mental health – a higher figure than any for other professional. [2] Emma Thomas, CEO of YoungMinds, said: “The vast majority of secondary school teachers have first-hand experience of teaching a child who is self-harming, but too often they haven’t had enough training or support to know how best to respond to their needs. “The reasons why a young person may self-harm are multiple and complex, but it’s vital that when they reach out to someone about it, they are met with the best possible help and advice. “We know that teachers do a great job of supporting young people in many instances, but it can also be hard to know what to say, when to take action or how to support someone. “That’s why we’ve created a range of resources for teachers, to help them feel more confident in supporting a young person who may seek their help. And we also need to make sure that schools have the skills and support they need to ensure that they can make wellbeing and mental health a priority.†The YoungMinds resources include: – A video about self-harm – Advice for having a conversation about self-harm – Information from young people who have experience of self-harm – A guide for how to help a young person self-harming Chris Martin, Chief Executive of The Mix, said: “In our last survey of users at The Mix we found that there are a large number of professionals, such as teachers and GPs, looking for information on behalf of young people. “With an increase in self-harm being reported and teachers sometimes being the first port of call, it’s important that they have the knowledge and confidence to offer support and signpost young people to services that can help, such as The Mix. We know that YoungMinds’s new resource pack will be an important tool to ensure that young people can get access to the support they need.” YoungMinds also offers training courses for teachers on self-harm. And its 360° Schools’ Community offers advice and support to teachers about wellbeing and mental health. More than 6,000 teachers and school staff have signed up to the community. YoungMinds is also currently campaigning for wellbeing to be made a priority in schools, and encouraging supporters to #TellOfsted why they think this is important. For Self-Harm Awareness Day, The Mix created a video campaign to raise awareness around different types of self-harm, and the feelings that can lead to self-harm. Three individual videos tell the stories of three young people, with voiceovers in the form of poems to tell their stories. It is hoped that this will also assist teachers, family and friends to spot signs of self-harm that might not be obvious and offer support. The videos also remind users that, if they are struggling with any of these issues, The Mix is there to help.
Schools could win share of £17,500 in Cool Initiatives edtech challenge
Are you a bright spark with a brilliant educational technology idea that could change the way we teach and learn in schools and drive up educational outcomes? If so Cool Initiatives wants to hear from you! Cool Initiatives, premier early stage investor in education and edtech, has just launched The Cool Initiatives Education Challenge 2019 . It’s giving away a total of £17,500 – no financial strings attached – to students, teachers or early-stage startups that offer an innovative edtech solution to change the face of education as we know it today. The top prize of £10,000 will be awarded to the winner, £5,000 to the runner up, £500 to each of the four finalists and £500 to the winner of The People’s Choice category. Entry is super simple – all you need to do is provide online your responses to a series of questions and submit a short two-minute video pitch. The deadline for entries is Friday 8th March. The judges are looking for an edtech solution aimed at servicing early years to secondary education that addresses one or more of the following three challenges for technology identified by Damian Hinds, Secretary of State Education, in August 2018: · Teaching practices to support access, inclusion, and improved learning outcomes for all; · Assessment processes to become more effective and efficient; · Administration processes to reduce the burden of ‘non-teaching’ tasks. Rolled out nationwide, the competition is open to entrants who just have an idea, those who may be in full/part-time work, those who have already started their own business, and early-stage startups that are sole traders, a limited company or a partnership with no external equity-based finance. The shortlist will be announced on Friday 22nd March, finalists on Friday 26th April and The People’s Choice Award on Friday 10th May when voting on this category closes. The winners will be announced on Friday 17th May. Commenting on the competition, philanthropist and Founder of Cool Initiatives Jon Thornes MBE said: “Many schools have told us that they’re crying out for better edtech solutions to help them spend less time preparing, monitoring, assessing and accounting, and more time teaching. “We’re seeking to support, develop and invest in ideas or edtech startups that will help schools and teachers to operate more efficiently and effectively.†To enter the edtech challenge please click on the link here.
How the next generation of edtech empowers teachers
The edtech industry has rapidly grown in recent years, with tech giants, start-ups, and everything in between embracing educational initiatives. A simple analysis of the market’s growth reflects an emphasis on education reform Craig Scott, VP of technology at ViewSonic, explains how the most effective edtech resource is one which empowers teachers… Teachers shouldn’t have to learn tech to teach, and the next generation of EdTech is on a mission to provide holistic solutions to educators through interoperability, streamlined communication, and improved user experience (UX). However, greater consideration reveals that the EdTech market is at a crossroads that straddles commercially-driven oversaturation, and altruistic educational goals. When it comes to EdTech, I say without hesitation, the most effective resource you can have is an empowered teacher. However, through little fault of their own, teachers often lack the confidence to teach using tech. Many have either been insufficiently trained on specific resources, limiting them experiencing the full benefits of its functionality and capabilities, or simply don’t have the confidence to use the technology that appears in their classrooms overnight, much less how to teach it to students. As a result, the decisions they make about using it in their classroom often fail to make any real impact on teaching or learning. Empowering teachers For technology to be embraced and adopted by teachers, it needs to be holistic, reliable, streamlined, easy-to-use and simple to implement; from experience, this is exactly what the next generation of edtech providers is determined to provide to educators. When fully understood and used correctly, audio-visual (AV) systems such as digital whiteboards, interactive screens with multi-touch functionality and tablets for example, have the potential to create a wholly immersive and engaging learning environment. Through the use of digital whiteboards alone, teachers are able to display rich content and dynamic example, making their lessons more effective, engaging and creative. And as teachers become more confident with these types of technology, they can encourage students to interact with activities and tasks relating to the lesson – be that through full-colour images, detailed diagrams, or even video content, helping to encourage active learning, all the while promoting a more inclusive environment. We have to remember that today’s students are digital natives; they gravitate towards technology and use it with ease. Being able to use technology to bring concepts to life in a visual way, either through images or video, can really improve their classroom experience, and in turn, significantly increase their level of engagement. Benefitting students Active learning is also a good way to bring students together, regardless of their abilities or skills. Traditionally, students are put in pairs or small groups and asked to work around one computer or several books. However, the challenge here is that one student tends to take the lead, leaving the others to sit either side, meaning they often lose interest or switch off. Introducing effective edtech resources means teachers are able to simply and easily set tasks and get groups working on the same board at the same time, giving each member more of an active role, and equal responsibility. The quality of the work carried out by students is also improved as teachers become more confident introducing new technologies to set homework and incorporating it into projects. When edtech empowers teachers, it empowers each and every student sitting in front of those teachers – the edtech leaders of tomorrow. Surely, this should be the ultimate aim of all edtech providers? It certainly is for ViewSonic. Visit ViewSonic at Bett 2019 at Stand D180 or go to viewsonic.com for more information.
CLA and Kyocera introduce new app to simplify copyright
The Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) has partnered with KYOCERA Document Solutions UK to create a new app that collects information about school copying, thereby reducing the burden of administration for schools. ‘CopyScanPublications’ is a free app that can be installed on the school copiers and scanners to collect the copying data that is required by CLA to make royalty payments to authors, visual artists and publishers. The app captures copying done by staff of any articles, chapters or other extracts from publications that they use for teaching. Currently, although the process works it is largely manual and can be time-consuming for school staff who are asked to fill forms and provide separate copies for CLA. This takes time and often leads to incomplete returns or important details missed through human error or time pressures. The KYOCERA app will reduce the inconvenience and administration time taken in providing this information. CLA will be able to capture accurate real-time data on the copying made in schools and school staff will be able to make copies and scans as normal. Kevin Gohil, Chief Operating Officer and Group Chief Transformation Officer at the Copyright Licensing Agency said: “Our mission is to simplify copyright for content users such as schools and colleges and to make sure that copyright owners receive fair payment when their work is copied or re-used. A big part of this is making it easier for our customers to tell us what they are copying so we can make more accurate payments to the copyright owners – the authors, visual artists and publishers. We asked KYOCERA to use their expertise to help develop the technology to digitise the capturing of the copying information we need. The end result is an innovation that streamlines the process for us, school staff and the copyright owners.†Rod Tonna-Barthet, Chief Executive Officer at KYOCERA Document Solutions UK commented: “With nothing else like this app on the market today, our devices now offer a more complete solution to schools. While KYOCERA is best known for print, everything we do focuses on improving document workflow. This project combined our talent for innovation with our company ethos of doing the right thing. “According to the National Education Union one of the main reasons teachers leave the profession is because of the burden of paperwork they have to do. Our app is genuinely making a difference in cutting that burden down, helping teachers to spend more time doing what they do best: teach.†More information on CopyScanPublications be found here: kyoceradocumentsolutions.co.uk