Do you know Barak Rosenshine (1930-2017)? I’ve been wanting to talk to you about it for a long time. A psychologist by training, this American first became a secondary school teacher before completing a doctorate in education and becoming a university professor in this field. His famous and influential work will focus on teaching methods. He wanted to determine what works best and understand why.
To achieve this, Rosenshine takes seriously three major sources of information.
To begin with, what cognitive science says about learning; then, what we know about the practices adopted by the best teachers, those with whom students obtain the best results; and finally, research on strategies that have been shown to be effective in helping students learn.
One might think that these three sources arrive, at least sometimes, at different, even contradictory, conclusions and suggestions. Not at all, says Rosenshine, who writes: “Although these are three very different bodies of research, it does not have no conflict between the educational suggestions from each of these three sources. In other words, they complement each other. The fact that the educational ideas from three different sources complement each other gives us confidence in the validity of these results. »
Having spent his entire career carrying out this ambitious program, Rosenshine, towards the end of his life, in 2012, summarized for teachers what he had discovered and identified, presenting it in an accessible and concrete way. He does this in a famous text published in a popular magazine intended for teachers and in which he presents ten teaching principles based on research and the strategies they inspire. He assures that all teachers should know them.
To give you a taste, I remind you of these ten principles. If you are a teacher, it may be interesting to ask yourself if you have been told about Rosenshine, the research and theories that justify the strategies he advocates, and whether you know and apply these (or some of these) principles and strategies.
Ten principles
So here they are.
A lesson begins with a brief review of what has previously been learned. Cognitive science (cognitive load and working memory) strongly suggests this and effective teachers do it, spending some eight to ten minutes on it.
We present the new material in small steps with practical application by the student after each. Once again, cognitive sciences and effective teachers converge to recommend it, the latter knowing well that it is necessary to remain focused on what students need to know and eliminate irrelevant elements from the course of the course.
We ask a large number of varied questions and we check the answers of all the students. The best teachers do this and it strengthens long-term memory.
We give models, examples, of what to do, which strengthens memory. For example, we can “think out loud, show how to solve a problem and give concrete examples”.
We guide the student’s practice. “It is not enough,” writes Rosenshine, “to introduce students to new concepts, because they will be forgotten unless they are practiced, unless there are sufficient exercises. An important finding from information processing research is that students need additional time spent reformulating, developing, and summarizing these new concepts in order to store them in their long-term memory. »
We check the students’ understanding, to detect any false ideas they might have and what has been misunderstood. “Teachers ensure this by asking them questions, asking them to summarize what has just been said or repeating instructions or a methodological approach, or even by asking them whether or not they agree with the response of a comrade. »
We aim for and obtain a high success rate. According to him, the optimal success rate to promote student success is around 80%.
Support is given for difficult tasks and gradually withdrawn as learners become more competent.
Once this is done, students must achieve independent practice. You become an expert through practice and, as a bonus, you stay motivated. “By repeating complex tasks at their own pace, students automatically gain greater mastery of the concept they are trying to understand. Overlearning a concept helps learners automatically remember details. »
We involve students in weekly and monthly reviews. It’s back to the first principle, but to the week and the month. “One way to achieve this goal is to review the previous week’s work every Monday and the previous month’s work every fourth Monday. »
Good reading !