Did ‘Richard of York give battle in vain’? Or do ‘Really old Yorkshiremen go broke in Vegas’?

There are certain cultural references and frameworks that are inscribed in us through life that are there to help us learn facts and formulae. Just as there are different idioms, phrases and colloquialisms that permeate our frames of reference from our social upbringing – every classroom you have been in and every teacher that you have had in-still their own little language and meanings that mould your own. And the same goes for the students in front of you.

In some ways this is not dissimilar to the world of work. There are generalised phrases we ‘understand’ regardless of sector (the abhorrent ‘touch base’ comes to mind), then terminology specific to a sector, but then within each individual institution there is different shorthand, terminology and acronyms (always the acronyms!) that will make very little sense to anyone else on the outside.

In education there are what I coin the ‘laws of the land’ – things that permeate your teaching from the need of the qualification or from the expectations of the discipline and/or intended industry. Then there are the ‘laws of your classroom’ – these are the mutations, the adaptations, the scaffolding that you have in place to support students access and apply the ‘laws of the land’.. Now, these may not be entirely unique to just you (are there any new ideas, really?) – but they are the ‘catchphrases’, the methods, the formulae, the mnemonics, the feedback that won’t make sense to those outside of your classroom walls. 

They are the shared meaning, experience and mutual understanding crafted with your students – the things that make your ‘world’ make sense to them.

In the ‘Formula of a Formula’ series I will exploring some practical examples of “Laws of the Land” and ‘Laws of your Classroom’ from my own teaching. There will be some good practice, but also some abandoned ideas and reflection on where there was less success.

The C.I.R.F model – coming soon – will explore intersubjectivity and shared meaning in the classroom and how that should and does influence good practice.