I am not talking about Marzano’s The Art and Science of Teaching… This is conveniently packaged ‘science’. This is not a criticism of his work – there are some well-tested, reliable strategies housed within his book (though I caution against the ‘effect sizes’ claims made from meta-analyses – but that’s another post!) – but it leaves us with a dry ‘step-by-step’ guide. Further, it is near impossible to communicate the ‘art’ of teaching – it is something caught, not taught. It is interleaved and influenced by personality, character, passion, intuition… To be fair, Marzano does make this case.

The Art and Science of Teaching reminds me of the ragged-edged, food-splattered and stained Family Circle recipe book series that adorned the shelves of the Women’s Weekly-reading mums of the late-1980s. It was hoisted to the position of being the only cookbook that need be necessary on your bench top. Celebrated, unquestioned, dutifully followed by many… prepackaged ‘science’ went in, and the savoury-glazed meatloaf came out… (at least it was Australian!). I do appreciate that it is really the ‘art’ that brings the savoury-glazed meatloaf to the table (as many a culinarily-inept partner found out when the ‘cook of the house’ was working late)… and perhaps I have taken a little too much liberty with the analogy? Basically, I am trying to advance the view that even the most well-intentioned ‘formulas’ do not often work in teaching without adding a little bit of ones ‘art’. Apologies to the die-hard Women’s Weekly fans, these meals sustained me as a growing boy… perhaps I should have taken aim at the Thermomix? Where’s the ‘art’ in that…?

In the fourth year of my undergraduate degree I had a lecturer named Denis Alexander. He was better than a ‘good enough’ teacher – he was a great teacher. We remember the good ones (and unfortunately the bad ones), I mean, really remember them – not only what they taught, but how they made us feel, and how they valued us as learners. Denis (he demanded ‘DA’, not Dr Alexander, and definitely not Denis – “one letter away from a part of the male anatomy”, I recall him saying) was a character. Nearly 16 years after parting ways, I vividly remember DA’s unfaltering commitment, depth of knowledge, passion for his craft; his humour, support, encouragement… He’d always have novel ways of introducing new concepts: we watched a ballroom dancing final to frame the concept of evaluation, and we even fired arrows at targets when discussing the validity and reliability of the assessment tasks we were constructing. He sure knew his ‘science’, and was a brilliant ‘artist’.

Denis, (*ahem)… DA, knew that teaching was a balance between ‘art’ and ‘science’. In fact, he was the first person I’d heard call teaching both “an art and a science”. In my eyes (ears) he coined the phrase, and it resonated with me the more he spoke of, shared, and demonstrated his craft. Teaching is something that cannot be scientifically administered, and if left to artistic practice alone, we might be left with only clowns aimlessly wandering around the ring! Teaching practice cannot be packaged in a step-by-step guide without some ‘art’ to bring it to life and personalise it – some of our ‘self’ is needed in the mix. However, don’t be the Thermomix… science masquerading as art!

Teaching and learning is an untameable ‘beast’; we might secure the reins, but soon after we are thrown to the ground. Our ‘science’ can be based on flawed assumptions, our ‘art’ might still be sketched in pencil, unresolved. I think a great deal about what I do and how I do it; in my relatively short time as a teacher I’ve seen ‘edu-fads’ come and go, and watched bandwagons go by at breakneck speed (oft-times losing a wheel; some plunging into a ravine). I have watched and listened to all those around me to glean from them their ‘art and science’. My replicated experiments – the ‘science’ – on others’ practice have often not crystallised, and I do not have the self-confidence (nor ability) to shape the charismatic and energetic offerings of some of my colleagues into my own performance – the ‘art’. I ask a lot of questions – I am significantly more discerning and critical that I used to. I am trying to tame ‘the beast’.

In the spirit of asking questions and attempting to ‘tame the best’, I was drawn to some of the questions asked by Pete Jones (@Pekabelo), and have piggy-backed on his list and added my own. They are based on the main components of lessons that I am currently focusing on: misconceptions, explanation, modelling, scaffolding, practising, questioning, excellence and mastery, provision of support, measurement and evaluation, memorisation, and extension. I appreciate the list is a little ‘clunky’, but remember, my ‘art’ is not yet compete.

What are the common misconceptions associated with your subject and how will you resolve them?

• What do students get confused with?
• What key questions can you ask to unearth misconceptions?
• What are the best ways to assist students resolve misconceptions?
• How will you know when they have been resolved?

What are the best ways to explain the concept?

• Can stories/analogies be used?
• What role can physical and digital resources and examples play?
• What connections can be made to to prior learning?
• Can a ‘whole-part-whole’ approach assist to contextualise?
• Would explaining what it is not help?
• How will you know if students have understood the explanation?

If you are going to model a concept, process or skill, what is the best way to achieve this?

• What resources are needed?
• How will you model the thinking (cognitions) and practices required?
• What examples best show the model in action?
• What support is needed for all students to follow the modelling?

What scaffolded tasks will help move students’ understanding further?

• Simple to complex?
• Where is the ‘known’, and how can you move students to the ‘unknown’?
• How will you gradually release responsibility to students?
• What resources and exemplars are required?

What is the best independent practice students can do to help secure their understanding?

• When will this occur?
• What conditions will be set?
• Can you author checklists/step-throughs for self-checking?
• What reference materials are needed to supoprt?
• What novel, ‘unexpected’ exercises can you author to test mastery?

What questions should be asked?

• What questioning techniques will be best suited to develop understanding?
• What types of questions would be best used to check for understanding for different groups of students?
• When should questions be asked?
• How should students respond to questions?

What is excellence/mastery for this lesson, task, project or homework?

• How will you explain/model what excellence or mastery looks/sounds/feels like?
• What conditions will you use for students to become with familiar with the concept, process or skill?
• How often will a concept, process or skill be practised?
• How will students have to think to achieve excellence and mastery (and how does this align with our ‘new’ cognitions)?
• How will students know when they achieve excellence?

What support is available for specific groups of students?

• What support and resources will be made available to cater for all learners?
• How will you facilitate learning for specific students to ensure that they grasp fundamental concepts, processes and skills?

What markers can be set against student progress to measure and evaluate understanding?

• How will you effectively assess progress within this lesson?
• What are the most robust/reliable methods to do this?
• What are the ‘milestones’ attached to the concept?
• How can feedback be delivered ‘in-action’ to support learning?

What techniques are used to commit knowledge, processes and skills to familiarity and memory?

• What strategies will you use to ensure students are retaining knowledge from this lesson?
• What role will rote learning/repetition play?
• How often will you get students to practise the content?
• How might you encourage intuitive understandings?

What techniques are used to extend learning beyond the classroom?

• How effective are tasks that are set beyond the classroom at embedding or testing the understanding of the concepts/lesson content?
• How might you connect learning from class to the ‘real world’?
• How can knowledge and skill be applied outside of subject boundaries?
• How will you follow-up this effectiveness (or otherwise)

I am very thankful to Pete for the scaffold to these questions – it is great that they pose questions and not provide ‘concrete’ steps on how to get there. Context matters. These questions attempt to get us to ponder our own ‘art’ and ‘science’ – how we efficaciously deliver the ‘steps’ in our teaching, and how we ‘paint’ them with our own brush. The questions are fundamental ones in that they should be able to be asked of any pedagogy or educational approach. I realise that this might read as a ‘scientific checklist’ – the very reason I challenged Marzano earlier – but the intention is to not offer the steps, rather provoke the questioning of one’s ‘art’. Perhaps ditch the Women’s Weekly Family Circle cookbook and experiment a little? Shelve the ‘educational Thermomix’, and really consider how you use and combine your ‘ingredients’. I am confident that these are likely questions you’ve asked before, but don’t forget that any one of them could become your own research question!

At the end of the day, the ‘science’ is useful, needed… ‘art’ gets us pushing boundaries. We might consider what Pablo Picasso once said:

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

Will we ever become true artists or masters of our domain? Probably not, but that’s what makes teaching enjoyably challenging. What questions will allow you to become more ‘artist’?