Teaching To a Script/Slides...Is this everywhere in primary now?

[BartlebyTheScrivener]

Dabbling in KS1 for a bit of part time work alongside teaching in an Early Years setting (we do not use interactive whiteboards at all). Must admit I'm dismayed to find that every lesson nowadays consists of a powerpoint/notebook presentation, basically a series of slides like a script. Where has the craft and creativity of teaching gone? Is this all Primary schools now? Anyone else feel it's a crying shame and that children basically watch screens for a large part of their day? Do you feel constrained and rather bored? Or am I terribly old fashioned?

No, absolutely not.

There are some academy trusts that are highly prescriptive in the presentation and content of learning. Equally, that are some schemes that are similar. However, it's also common to find primaries that don't follow set schemes, have created a bespoke curriculum for their school and who deliver that in a variety of ways.

There are times when visual prompts are incredibly useful but there are also times where they aren't. It's also worth noting that putting up a block of text (even bullet points) and reading it out has been shown to negatively impact the audience's rate of retention.

Iamnotthe1! that's really good to hear. If I'm bored of Notebook, so must the children be!

No, not where I am at all.

We have a mixture of lessons

My school is definitely in the 'death by powerpoint' category! The children are so bored by it, don't take it in and switch off the minute the teacher says "look at the whiteboard." I'm bored by it too!

Yes, 'death by powerpoint' is exactly it! Surely this can't be evidence based practice? I think that the interactive whiteboard can be be a great tool, but I still believe that the teacher is the one to facilitate the learning and that involves capturing imagination responding to the children in front of you. For me, the joy of human connection is being stripped out of teaching. Can't help but wonder if the pandemic had an influence on this, with online presentations being a good way to reach children at home.

You're right, it's not evidence based practice at all. Can you just ignore and work with a whiteboard and pen? The only ref I know that explains how this is not best practice is Adam Boxer's Teaching Secondary Science, which won't help your argument much as you're not Secondary and you don't only teach Science, but all the same principles of good explanations apply.

If I print a White Rose worksheet and read the White Rose PowerPoint, I honestly start questioning why I'm even there. Anyone could do it. I find it really hard to follow the WR ppts as I always go off script to add further or different explanations. Are some schools having to follow things like that for all lessons?

It can be a bit like that if you let it.
I just use the slides etc as a starting point then make it more exciting!