For the UK team, after The ACTS materials had been developed by a group of expert tutors and teachers they were trialled with a cohort of experienced teachers. These teachers had a range of experience coming from primary and secondary education. The majority of teachers had experience of teaching English. Many of these teachers went on to share the ACTS professional development experience with their colleagues, often leading school-based training or using the materials in a coaching role with less experienced teachers. Many used the materials, in an adapted form, with their pupils.
In the beginning…
Experienced teachers typically said this after they were first introduced to the ACTS materials in a half-day training session:
What I like about ACTS so far:
- It gives me different ways to assess students thinking and allows me to get other staff to also reflect on their classroom practice and students’ thinking.
- The assessment tools are very transferable and provide a wide range of models to work with a variety of year groups, subjects and teachers.
- Encouraged me to consider how I facilitate quality discussions within the class.
Eventually…..
Experienced teachers said this after a period of 4 months of trying the ACTS materials:
ACTS in general made a difference as follows:
- This is a resource for teachers of thinking who want to go deeper.
- These are generalisable tools, not tied to a subject or age group.
- The tools have multiple uses, for example: use within CPD and personal reflection; use as a whole school for collaborative development, whole school evaluation, a focus for development.
- I feel that the NQT who I work with has had a big shift in her thinking and approach to facilitating effective problem solving in maths.
More information about the impact of ACTS on classroom teachers involved in the project can be found below.