Trust 'Noon' - Using language to support learning.

Whilst training teachers in China, I noticed that it seemed very fashionable amongst Chinese teenagers to wear T shirts emblazoned with English slogans; most of which were badly mistranslated or just made no sense.

Some of the best included:

Trust Noon

Unicorn smile happy

I’m was idiot!

Crap your hands!

Start to stop the keeping warm jar?

Fart o sexy

And, perhaps the most unintelligible was photographed in a local store

“Australian hat she was thc wa

He wore a tooth from

And we will get you out of here in”

Some have been just totally inappropriate for the age of the wearer. Miss translator’s daughter came into our session wearing a T shirt stating, ‘your boyfriend mine’! – She’s seven years old. And I saw a small boy (no more than aged 6 in a local shopping mall wearing a slogan ‘Too drunk to Fxxx’. Call me old fashioned but ….

Now, I have no grounds to mock the attempts of someone to engage with a foreign language. Some of you know my total ineptitude for languages.

Whilst training in China, I was determined to learn a little Chinese; but with only limited success.

For those that are unaware, Chinese is a tonal language which means that the pitch of the word influences its meaning. Get the wrong tone and you convey something either non-sensible (like some of those T shirts) or a completely different meaning altogether. A colleague of mine had been learning Chinese for about 3 years and felt quite confident in her abilities. On a plane, she thought she asked the gentleman sat next to her to put her bag in the overhead locker. She actually asked the poor bloke to ‘wipe her bottom’. All thanks to the incorrect use of tones.

My attempts at Chinese have been limited to ‘Welcome’, Thank you’ and ‘Do you understand?’. I’ve managed to get the tones right for ‘Thank you’ and I’m now getting a sort of smiling nod back in return; but who knows what I am saying when I think I am welcoming a group or checking on understanding, since it certainly isn’t greeted with any understanding what-so-ever. I’ll keep trying and, hopefully, I can perfect my skills at the local take-a-way once back in the UK

It’s not just what we say, it’s the way we say it

How often do we give real thought to the words we use when teaching or training? Working internationally has taught me that we language is a powerful tool to convey misunderstanding.

Whilst working in Kazakhstan, I had a number of days of confusion training to get them to understand the difference between ‘knowing something’ and ‘learning somethings’ until my translator and I came to realise that the verb ‘To Know’ and the verb ‘To Learn’ are actually the same in Kazakh!

In China, many of the common words we use in Education training just do not exist – a ‘starter activity’ becomes ‘an activity that introduces learning to students’. It might be true but it isn’t as snappy and easy to remember. Similarly, an ‘exit strategy’ becomes ‘something for students to show learning as they leave the classroom’.

As teachers, it is also easy to convey negative expectations of students without really intending too. Think about the difference in meaning between:

‘If you complete this activity successfully, you can probably attempt the project by yourself’

And

‘When you have completed the activity successfully, I know you will be able to tackle the project by yourself’

So, language is important, requires thought and planning; and, if not used carefully, can bring about self-fulfilling prophecies of under achievement.

The Language of Learning

Here’s some ideas on how we can all use language to reinforce good learning:

Be Direct

When we say what we mean and use a kind, straightforward tone, students learn that they can trust us. They feel respected and safe, a necessary condition for developing self-discipline and taking the risks required for learning. It's easy to slip into using indirect language as a way to win compliance. For example, as a new teacher, I tried to get students to do what I wanted by pointing out what I liked about other students' behaviour. "I like the way May and Justine are paying attention," I would cheerfully announce while impatiently eyeing Dave and Marta fooling around in the corner. When this strategy worked, it was because students mimicked the desired behaviour so that they, too, would win praise from me, not because I had helped them develop self-control or internal motivation. And often, when I pointed out how I liked certain learners' behaviour, the rest of the class ignored me. If I liked the way May and Justine were paying attention, that was nice for the three of us, but it had nothing to do with the rest of the class, who had more compelling things to do at the moment. Moreover, comparative language can damage students' relationships. By holding May and Justine up as exemplars, I implied that the other class members were less commendable. This can drive a wedge between students. Later in my career, I learned to speak directly. To call the students to a meeting, for example, I rang a chime to gain their attention (a signal we practiced regularly), then said firmly, "Come to the meeting rug and take a seat now." To Dave and Marta in the previous example, I'd say, "It's time to listen now." The difference in students' response was remarkable.

Convey Faith in Students' Abilities and Intentions

When our words and tone convey faith in students' desire and ability to do well, students are more likely to live up to our expectations of them. "When everyone is ready, I'll show you how to plant the seeds." "You can look at the chart to remind yourself of our ideas for good story writing." "Show me how you will follow the rules in the hall." These teacher words, spoken in a calm voice, communicate a belief that students want to—and know how to—listen, cooperate, and do good work. This increases the chance that students will see themselves as respectful listeners, cooperative people, and competent workers, and behave accordingly. Take the time to notice and comment on positive behaviour, being quite specific: "You're trying lots of different ideas for solving that problem. That takes persistence." Such observations give students hard evidence for why they should believe in themselves.

Focus on Actions, Not Abstractions

Because young children tend to be concrete thinkers, teachers can communicate most successfully with them by detailing specific actions that will lead to a positive environment. For example, rather than saying, "Be respectful," it's more helpful to state, "When someone is speaking during a discussion, the rest of us will listen carefully and wait until the speaker is finished before raising our hands to add a comment." Sometimes it's effective to prompt students to name concrete positive behaviours themselves. To a student who has trouble focusing during writing time, a teacher might say matter-of-factly, "What will help you think of good ideas for your story and concentrate on writing them down?" The student might then respond, "I can find a quiet place to write, away from my friends."

Point to the desired behaviour

Focusing on action also means pointing to the desired behaviour rather than labelling the learner's character or attitude. I had a student who chronically did poor work when he could do better. In a moment of frustration, I said to him, "I don't think you even care!" This allowed me to vent, but it did nothing to help the student change. His energy went toward defending himself against my negative judgment, not toward examining and changing his behaviour. Worse, such language can lead students to accept our judgment and believe that they indeed don't care. It's more helpful in such situations to issue a positive challenge that names the behaviour we want: "Your job today is to record five observations of our crickets. Think about what you'll need to do before you start." This moves the focus to what the student can do.

Keep It Brief

It's hard for many learners to follow long strings of words like this:

When you go out to break today, be sure to remember what we said about including everyone in games, because yesterday some of you had an issue with not being included in games, and we've talked about this. You were doing really well for a while there, but lately it seems like you're getting careless, and that's got to change or …

By the end of this spiel, many students would be thinking about other things. Few could follow the entire explanation. Students understand more when we speak less. Simply asking, "Who can tell us one way to include everyone at break time?" gives them an opportunity to remind themselves of positive behaviours. If you have taught and led students in practicing the class's expectations for break time, students will make good use of such a reminder.

Know When to Be Silent

The skilful use of silence can be just as powerful as the skilful use of words. When teachers use silence, we open a space for students to think, rehearse what to say, and sometimes gather the courage to speak at all.

We can see the benefit of silence if, after asking a question, we pause before taking responses from students. Researchers have found that when teachers wait three to five seconds, more students respond, and those responses show higher-level thinking. Three to five seconds can feel uncomfortably long at first. But if we stick to it—and model thoughtful pausing by waiting a few seconds ourselves to respond to students' comments—we'll set a pace for the entire classroom that will soon feel natural. Our reward will be classroom conversations of higher quality.

Remaining silent allows us to listen to students and requires us to resist the impulse to jump in and correct students' words or finish their thoughts. A true listener tries to understand a speaker's message before formulating a response. When we allow students to speak uninterrupted and unhurried, we help them learn because speaking is an important means of consolidating knowledge.

ABOUT MISTER STEVE TRAINING AND CONSULTANCY

Steve Burnage offers consultancy, training and coaching to schools and school leaders internationally through Mister Steve Training and Consultancy. In addition, he provides consultancy services through many UK and International training providers, he works extensively with education reform projects in India, Egypt Pakistan, and Bangladesh, he is a leadership coach to new and aspiring headteachers in Europe, The Middle East, China, and the Indian Subcontinent, he is a GCSE and A’ level examiner; and regularly contributes keynote speeches, articles and ‘think pieces’ to education conferences and publications worldwide. To find out more, please call +44 7767858360 or Email mister.steve@gmx.com