Religious Studies and the Key Stage 3 Strategy

1
Religious Studies and theKey Stage 3 Strategy

• Sarah Barnett

2
What is the KS3 Strategy?

• The strategy was introduced with the aim of
  raising standards
• It aims to strengthen teaching and learning
  across Key Stage 3
• It aims for teachers to become more effective so
  that pupils improve in what they know and learn

3
Principles

• Focus on teaching
• Provide challenge
• Make concepts and conventions explicit
• Structure the learning
• Make learning active
• Make learning engaging and motivating
• Develop well paces lessons with high levels of
  interaction
• Support pupils application and independent
  learning
• Build reflection

4
The strategy included fourteen modules-

• Planning and Assessment
• Teacher repertoire- Questioning, explaining,
  modelling
• Structuring learning- starters, plenaries,
  challenge, engagement
• Knowing and learning- teaching thinking, thinking
  together, reflection and big concepts and skills

5
How does this impact onReligious Studies?

• The three elements of questioning, explaining and
  modelling are key to any good lessons and are
  often paramount to a good Religious Studies
  lesson
• So many of the concepts taught in Religious
  Studies are imbedded in theology, philosophy and
  ethics and so require the full teachers
  repertoire to ensure pupils fully appreciate them

6
Explaining

• What are you trying to explain?
• What key things should pupils understand/know if
  the explanation is to understand?
• What examples, analogies, stories, visual aids or
  other devices will you use in the explanation to
  help pupils understand?

7
Over to you!

• How would you go about explaining the following
  to a class?
• Trinity
• Sacrifice
• Pilgrimage
• Prophet
• Sacred/holy

8
Questioning

• Questioning is important as it is the most common
  form of interaction between a teacher and their
  class
• Questioning is a the key method of altering
  challenge
• Questioning is an immediate way for a teacher to
  check the effectiveness of teaching

9
What is effective questioning?

• Make use of open and closed questions-
• Closed questions-
• check knowledge and understanding
• Open questions-
• Have more than one possible answer, if used
  successfully it takes pupils
• Allows pupils to ask their own questions
• Effective questioning can only occur in an
  environment where pupils feel secure to take
  risks or be tentative

10
Top Tips

• Treat questions seriously
• Give pupils time to think
• Allow pupils time to research answers
• Provide structure to help pupils answer
• Encourage pupils to question and help them find
  answers to these questions
• Treat answers with respect

11
Invite pupils to elaborate Would you say a little more about that
Speculate about a subject I wonder what might happen if
Make a suggestion You could try
Reflect on the topic Lets bring all this together
Offer extra information It might be useful to know that
Reinforce useful suggestions I especially likedbecause
Clarify ideas We can tell this is the case by
Correct me if Im wrong So now perhaps we all believe
Echo comments/ summarise So you think
Non-verbal interventions Eye contact, a nod, raised eyebrow, even an expression of surprise
12
Over to you!

• In pairs I would like you to take it in turns to
  ask each other questions about your half terms
• Remember to use open and closed questions
• Try to use some of the examples in the previous
  slide!

13
Modelling

• Is a powerful teaching strategy
• The teacher is expert demonstrating how to do
  something whilst thinking through the process
  aloud
• Examples of modelling include-
• writing an account
• constructing a mind map
• evaluating a concept

14
Effective modelling

• Specific
• Explains underlying principles
• Shares thinking
• Involved pupils
• Provides pupils with a chance to practice new
  skills whilst they are fresh
• Supports first attempts with scaffolds
• It is a bridge to independent work

15
Over to you!

• Modelling is a way of helping pupils develop
  written skills-
• EG explanation, analysis and evaluation
• Think and note down-
• How you would model pupils writing a written
  response explaining the idea of pilgrimage
• How you could model an evaluation on the issues
  of abortion

16
Conclusion

• The strategy is huge with many strands
• Improve teaching and learning
• Effective planning
• Effective questioning, explaining and modelling
• Effective teaching and learning