At the BETT show this year, Rising Stars and Classroom Monitor joined forces to assemble a panel of experts to discuss the New Curriculum, Mastery and its implications on Assessment.
The debate was chaired by Chris Scarth, Commercial Director of Classroom Monitor and the panel was made up of:
Ed Walsh: Lead consultant for science at Cornwall Learning
Shareen Mayers: Primary English Adviser for Sutton Improvement and Support services
Ben Fuller: Joint Lead Assessment adviser at Herts for Learning Ltd,. Former primary school teacher and local authority adviser for assessment.
Tanya Parker: who has worked as a consultant at a number of different education technology companies including Classroom Monitor and was a primary teacher with responsibility for assessment and maths.
Some sizeable issues were dissected during the debate and our panel offered some really interesting and practical perspectives on how teachers can approach mastery and assessment in a world free from levels.
The first point of discussion was around the depth vs breadth debate. Chris Scarth questioned whether focusing on fewer things in greater depth was intrinsically linked to mastery.
Ben suggested that finding a balance between the two could be a more useful way of approaching mastery, commenting: “I would say that in really good schools teachers always go for depth and breadth, helping students take knowledge and applying it in a range of different contexts.”
The conversation then moved on to question whether mastery could lead to repetitive teaching. However, Shareen offered a positive and practical approach that would avoid this pitfall, suggesting that teachers could approach one concept in a variety of ways. Continue reading →