Revision sessions used to work very differently in my classroom than they do now. Instead of the careful quizzing, note retrieval and pair work that I have come to favour, students were placed in groups of as many as six (usually because nobody wanted an argument), armed with huge sheets of sugar paper and given 30 minutes to write down as much as possible about a theme or character.
I stood back proudly watching it all unfold, reassured that not only was I ticking the visual/kinaesthetic box, but that I was fulfilling other elements of learning that I had been told were essential: learners will learn better from their peers, discussing the topic would mean knowledge gaps would be quickly filled; teaching someone else will ensure learning is fully embedded.
This would add a big tick for the “higher prior attainers” box on my lesson plan, too.
Only, that wasn’t what was actually happening. At the end of the session some groups, predominantly the groups with the keen girls, handed in paper beautifully adorned with...hearts and flowers and different coloured headings and one or more quotes relevant to the topic.
At the same time, other groups, made up often of less eager-to-please students, would hand in a page on which were scrawled a few quotes - which may or may not be related to said topic - in impossible-to-read biro, their having forgone the allure of the felts and board markers.
The majority of the time in these groups had been spent either arguing about who was going to write, what the heading should be, if it mattered if they used a ruler and if they had any plans for after school.
Despite my insistence on these kinds of lessons about twice a year, my students somehow still managed to succeed. But I would reiterate that it was despite my well-intentioned but misguided plan. They might remember some of those lessons quite fondly, but they will remember arguing over the felt pens, not how blood becomes a manifestation of guilt in Macbeth.
These days those type of review lessons in my class are much more sharply focused, more likely to involve some tough questions. The students answer for themselves, writing responses down to check they actually can articulate their ideas. And then I do some follow up whole-class questioning to ensure success and stretch their understanding.
Creativity comes from their understanding and analysis of these texts, not whether there is a felt pen in their hands and who has the best bubble writing.
Zoe Enser is an English teacher and director of improvement at Seahaven Academy in East Sussex. She tweets
This article originally appeared in the 28 February 2020 issue under the headline “Why I ditched group revision sessions”
