Making the abstract, concrete
Well hello there and welcome to update #043!
How do we unpack complex concepts? It’s something I’ve been thinking about recently, particularly in relation to the curriculum for pupils with additional needs.
In SEND Huh, Gary Aubin gave us this helpful analogy
‘It’s worth touching on the evidence for what works for pupils with SEND. It can best be described as an ‘automatic doors’ approach. There are things teachers can do that are useful for all pupils, while being particularly useful for some, like automatic doors in a shop.’
Automatic doors are helpful for someone approaching them with their hands in their pockets, for example. They are even more helpful for someone carrying bags and they are essential for someone in a wheelchair. In the same way, we might think about looking at the curriculum, particularly some of the big ideas and concepts through the metaphor of ‘automatic doors’.
The concepts are important because they are the building blocks of the curriculum. They are the gateways into the subjects. There are plenty of them, but there aren’t too many and pupils will be encountering them over time. They are like holding baskets for a lot of information: if a pupil understands a concept, it means new knowledge relating to that concept will be much stickier. The depth of understanding will be deepening and expanding over time.
I’ve been experimenting with the concept of ‘geomorphology’ in geography. This was driven by David Preece’s observation:
The big idea behind the discipline of physical geography is the concept of a physical or a ‘geomorphological’ process.
There is something that starts in this place like this, and it ends somewhere else in that place like that, and there’s a sequence by which the shape of the land is altered…
I am thinking it is possible to offer pupils insights into this big idea through stories. We know that stories are psychologically privileged and we’ve created The Teachers’ Collection to develop curriculum plans. I believe we can use the power of story to support pupils into a developing appreciation of geomorphology.
This is what it might look like:
In EYFS, even though pupils are not being taught the national curriculum, nevertheless what they learn in the foundation stage is built on in later key stages, we might use ‘Pebbles and Puddles’, a lovely poem from Shirley Hughes ‘Out and About’. In Key Stage 1 we might use the exquisite ‘Street Beneath My Feet’ by Charlotte Guillame and Yoval Zommer and in Key Stage 2 ‘The Pebble in My Pocket’ by Chris Coady and Meredith Cooper.
I’m arguing that using beautiful books in this way means that the big idea of geomorphology becomes accessible to all our pupils, regardless of their starting points or additional needs.
These ideas are still developing, so feedback welcome!
Until next time
Mary
PS With oracy in the news, you might find these helpful: Yamina Bibi on Socratic Debate, Arlene Holmes-Henderson on Oracy and Rhetoric and Ed Booth on Oracy in his primary school. (£/free trial)