Pupil talk

The story so far

Research proves that the use of exploratory talk raises achievement; it is motivating and inclusive and pupils are more engaged.

Whole school inset has raised the profile of the link between talking and thinking. Teachers have a greater awareness of what is meant by exploratory talk

Workshops have taken place outlining strategies to develop exploratory talk in lessons

Teachers are encouraged to set pupil talk targets Teachers have been experimenting with exploratory talk. Excellent practice is emerging

Excellent Practice

Thinking phrases displayed in classrooms/distributed to pupils

Ground rules for talk discussed with pupils Teachers planning for group work - use of envoys,

talk tallies, ‘thinktalk’ workshops Teachers modelling exploratory talk Peer assessment - sustained talk opportunities

leading to significant improvement in written work Pupils understanding how talk influences thinking and

reflecting on how their thinking has changed

Some reminders!Key questions to ask

What is the level of challenge of the task? Is it open-ended? What is the objective - what thinking do you hope will happen? Are there any key questions that will structure the talk? Are the questions open/ higher order? Are there pupils you want to specifically focus on whilst the activity is

happening eg pupils you perceive to be underachieving? What is the culture of talk that has been established in the classroom? Have the ground rules for exploratory talk been discussed and

established? How does the task relate to prior/future work? Will pupils be assigned ‘roles’ in the group talk? What ‘thinking words’ will the pupils need to use?

Key questions

Are there any key phrases that the pupils might find useful?

Does the kind of talk involved need to be modelled by you?

How will the pupils reflect on the talking and thinking they have done?

Ground rules for talk

Everyone should: be actively encouraged to contribute offer opinions and ideas share all relevant information feel free to disagree if they have a good reason ask other people for information and reasons treat other people’s ideas with respect change their minds if they are persuaded by good reasoning

What next?

Embed exploratory talk in our practice/build into schemes of work

Catch pupils early! Share good practice within and between

departmentsTrain pupils to be evaluators of talkGuidance/resources made available on

the VLE

A word of warning!

Don’t expect exploratory talk to happen in every lesson

Talk can be purely functional/facilitatoryDon’t do it for the sake of it - there has

to be a purpose to the talk