Hattie's - Six Signposts towards excellence in Education

1. Teachers are among the most powerful influences in learning.

2. Teachers need to be directive, influential, caring, actively and passionately engaged in the process of teaching and learning.

3. Teachers need to be aware of what each and every student in their class is thinking and what they know, be able to construct meaning and meaningful experiences in light of this knowledge of the students, and have proficient knowledge and understanding of their subject content so that they can provide meaningful and appropriate feedback such that each student moves progressively through the curriculum levels.

4. Teachers and students need to know the learning intentions and the criteria for the student success for their lessons, know how well they are attaining these criteria for all students, and know where to go next in light of the gap between students’ current knowledge and understanding and the success criteria of ‘Where are you going?’, ‘How are you going?’, and ‘Where to next?’.

5. Teachers need to move from the single idea to multiple ideas, and to relate and then extend these ideas such that learners construct, and reconstruct, knowledge and ideas. It is not the knowledge or ideas, but the learner’s construction of this knowledge and ideas that is critical.

6. School leaders and teachers need to create schools, staff-rooms and classroom enviornments in which error is welcomed as a learning opportunity in which discarding incorrect knowledge and understandings is welcomed, and in which teachers can feel safe to learn, re-learn, and explore knowledge and understanding.