Precision and laser sharp thinking

I’ve discussed at length how English cannot be reduced to a simple checklist of things. There seems to be an endless desire to homogenise subjects. Something that works in one subject must always work for another subject. That isn’t the case. 

One area that English struggles with is identifying the top elements of our subject. We have these phrases like ‘flair’, ‘confidence’ and ‘creativity’ which are aspects of the subject that are blooming hard to pinpoint, describe and teach. They are the fruition of large bodies of knowledge, skill and experience. You cannot cover them in one lesson. You cannot teach them explicitly. They are the product of time. 

The one area that separates students from one another is precision. The best students are able to capture an idea precisely. The weaker of students tend to over generalise or simplify an idea to the point of beyond obviousness. In English, we can teach knowledge to imitate this precision but unless students are able to be precise with the rest of their thinking, then it amounts to very little. For most of what we do in English amounts to moving from the general to the specific. That applies to writing too. Weak writing will be very general in content and construction.. The strongest describes things specifically. On most pieces of work we can write the target - be more precise and specific. 

God, or the Devil, depending on your version of the line, is in the detail. That’s why an English teacher’s job is about making students care about the details! They are fastidious with it. The problem we have is helping students to be more precise in their thinking. How do you teach students to care about the finer details? 

One thing I have used which is working is helping students to declutter texts. Any text we use is overwhelming. Every text is crammed full of ideas, points or techniques. The large majority of students struggle to pinpoint key or salient ideas. Why? Because they cannot channel the less important from the more important things. It is such a hard skill. And, something that comes with experience and maturity. This inability to filter is a hidden problem in lessons. It is the reason why students default to retelling the plot or point out basic things. It is because they have been so overwhelmed that they default to simplifying. 

Question 4 on Paper 1 is one example of this problem. That fact that there isn’t enough time on exam papers to do the question justice compounds the problem further. Dear AQA, when you decide to make some amendments to the exams again, please consider the timings as well. Anyway, Question 4 is generally a straightforward question. Students supporting an interpretation of the text. It is the bread and butter of a lot of lessons, yet when it comes to the exam, it is usually a sea of bland statements, speculative comments and very little meat. 

 

This part of the story, where Alice is sent back along the road to find what has fallen from the roof and returns with the chrysanthemums, shows how hard and cruel Hartop is, so that all of our sympathy is with Alice.’

• Hartop leaned across his wife and shouted: ‘Go back a bit and see what it was.’ 

• ‘Something dropped. We’ll stop at Drake’s Turn. You’ll catch up. I know something dropped.’

•  He let in the clutch as he was speaking and the van began to move away.

• The wind was behind her; but repeatedly it seemed to veer and smash her, with the rain, full in the face.

• She could see nothing.

• ‘Only?’ he said. ‘Only? What d’ye mean by only? Eh?’

• Alice stood mute. Then Hartop raised his voice.

• ‘Well, don’t stand there! Do something. Go on. Go on! Go and see who wants a bunch o’ chrysanthemums.

• Alice obeyed at once. 

• She picked up the flowers, walked away and vanished, all without a word.

When there is so much text, it is important to filter and sift things for students. We find that in preparing for Paper 1 it helps to give students a filtered version of the section. This way they can spot precise aspects. You don’t just get precise. You have to teach it. Show them how to approach a text and look at sifting things out for themselves. 

What elements show that Hartop is cruel here? Where do we feel sympathy? Once students can see it clearly and specifically they can attach methods and terminology. The stumbling block is the precision around finding things.  Remove the nonessential things and it is easier to spot. You could even get students to highlight the cruel and sympathy elements. Then, get them to explore each example. 

The same applies to literature texts. We expect students to be precise and remember specific and precise moments in the text yet sometimes they’ve only had one or two interactions with that moment. Once reading or watching it and the second might be the teacher teaching an aspect with it. We seem to see lots of exam style questions given to students in Year 10 and Year 11, but really the only time, in theory, students should be working fully from memory is in the mocks and finally exams. Otherwise, how else are we going to help students be precise? We are treating everything as a memory test and cognitive load too much. Why not have the following alongside an exam question extract? 

1: "O, brawling love, O, loving hate,

O, anything of nothing first create!"

2:"Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighs..."

3: "I fear too early, for my mind misgives

Some consequence yet hanging in the stars."

4: "O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!"

5: "If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

6: "Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;

Henceforth I never will be Romeo."

7: "With love's light wings did I o'erperch these walls;

For stony limits cannot hold love out."

8: "O, I am fortune's fool!"

9: "I defy you, stars!"

10: "Thus with a kiss I die."

If we are truly expecting students to think, then we need them to build up that thinking. Making precise connections needs time and space in the curriculum. In fact, we need to explore how to do it. The knowledge of text isn’t the answer alone. Students can have a great knowledge of the text, but unless they have been taught or shown to connect precise or subtle aspects together, then they’ll never progress, regardless of the knowledge they know. 

To be precise is something we need to actively teach students. You cannot rely on chance for it to happen. We need to be precise in our teaching to allow it to happen. Model it.  Show it. Enable views of the text for it to happen. 

Thanks for reading 

Xris