Learning walks, language learning, and trainee teachers

Hey there, Teacher Tappers!

Last week saw the announcement of the long-awaited Education White Paper. The good news is, only 14% believe it will make things worse…the bad news is only 1% feel very positive. The majority of teachers describe themselves as “unsure” (39%), and 18% feel slightly positive, and 28% slightly negative.

Compared to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, feelings seem far more cautious (there were 37% describing themselves as slightly positive, compared to 18% now).

Winner of the prize draw

This month our prize draw had a little twist. One Tapper has won a prize – but so has every other Tapper in her school who also had a ticket in the prize draw!

How exciting! Ms W (head of department) was our main winner of the prize draw, and will be sent a £100 gift card…and so will Ms D (ECT), Ms B (maths teacher) and Ms S (classroom teacher). All of the Tappers are winners, and will get £100 gift cards too!

Learning walks

Learning walks are used in the majority of schools (about 95% say they’re used in their school) but how frequently are teachers visited, do they like them, and who benefits the most from them?

Most classroom teachers have already been seen more than once this year, with primary and secondary teachers reporting similar levels of frequency (69% primary vs 67% secondary). And classroom teachers in schools where learning walks are in place but haven’t had a visit are in the minority: 10% primary and 12% secondary. This suggests in schools where they’re used, all teachers are getting a fairly even experience of them.

The reports of classroom teachers matched up to the leaders who were doing the walks: 85% of primary leaders and 89% of secondary leaders told us they had done more than one learning walk already this year, and just 6% of primary leaders and 5% of secondary leaders are in schools with learning walks, but hadn’t done one yet.

Most schools have them, but do you want them? The popularity of learning walks doesn’t quite match their use. Although leaders would prefer to work in schools where they were used, classroom teachers are less enthusiastic: 46% of primary classroom teachers are in favour, vs 80% of primary leaders. 58% of secondary classroom teachers want learning walks vs 86% of secondary leaders.

Benefits of learning walks

One benefit to teachers of learning walks is the chance to have feedback from the leader who has dropped into your lesson. But how often are teachers getting feedback? In primary, it’s more common for classroom teachers to say they had general feedback compared to secondary teachers (43% vs 32%), and secondary teachers were more likely to report specific feedback (35% vs 30%). Slightly more secondary teachers didn’t have feedback at all (33% vs 27%).

However, our secondary leaders on Teacher Tapp were much more likely to report that they had given feedback, with just 8% of primary leaders and 13% of secondary leaders saying they hadn’t given feedback. They were also more likely to say that their feedback was specific (57% primary leaders and 59% of secondary leaders).

What might be happening here? All of the leaders who give feedback may hang out on Teacher Tapp – or, it might be that when leaders give feedback, it isn’t always clear that what is being said is considered feedback. Leaders might want to reflect on this, and if they think it’s important for teachers to be clear what is being said to them is feedback, they could consider small tweaks to their language to make it clearer what they’re saying is feedback.

Why might it matter? Well, one reason is that if it’s clearer to classroom teachers they are getting feedback to support them in their teaching, then perhaps their perception of who benefits from learning walks might change. At the moment, in both secondary and primary, classroom teachers think learning walks are more beneficial to school leaders (62% and 51%).

Leaders in primary and secondary are more likely to think learning walks are equally beneficial to teachers and leaders (65% and 63%).

A small number think they benefit no one: 8% of primary classroom teachers, and 10% of secondary classroom teachers; 2% of senior leaders and 1% of secondary leaders.

Have we missed out any key questions about learning walks? Have the findings surprised you? Do you think they’re an underused resource and should be implemented in a different way? Perhaps you would like to use this data in a future staff meeting – whatever your question, let us know by emailing england@teachertapp.co.uk.

Teacher Tapper wanted to know…

A Teacher Tapper got in touch to ask about learning languages in primary school. They were a secondary school languages specialist doing outreach, and wanted to find out where the friction was to primary teachers.

Of course, we were happy to oblige! We discovered 7% did not teach languages at all, but among those who do, just one in ten (11%) didn’t experience any barriers, and for the rest, the top barrier was subject knowledge (44%).

After that, time was the biggest blocker (28%) and then student engagement (10%) followed by resourcing and equipment (7%).

Zoom in on…trainee teachers

⬇️ Fewer primary teachers say they have a PGCE trainee in their school compared to previous years (34% DOWN from 39% in 2022). But more secondary teachers are reporting PGCE trainees in their schools over the same period (68% UP from 65% in 2022).

⬇️ Both primary and secondary teachers report fewer year-long trainees (like Teach First). Primary down to 21% vs 26% in 2022; secondary down to 38% vs 41% in 2022.

📊 12% reported trainees were of a HIGHER standard, 58% feel they are of a similar standard, and 30% feel the standard is lower.