Observation of a KS3 English class; predominantly focusing on how the criterias are met from within the Programme of Study

In order to develop and assess a class's speaking and listening skills, the obvious exercise of speaking and listening between individuals is an obvious exertion. However, the challenge as the teacher figure is how to motivate the students whilst the lesson is at the preliminary stage of the school day. As this could potentially be a challenging and problematic factor; especially with a lower level group. In order to motivate the class and to extinguish this hurdle, the teaching approach of the facilitator was applied, thus meaning the students are in control of their own learning. This is echoed within Piaget's (1952) constructivism theory; that the students are at the centre of the learning. It is this approach which assessed whether the criterias were met from the programme of study (POS), at key stages three, levels three to seven.
The concept of the students fulfilling the role of the teacher is an idea which has been used within the classroom for a significant amount of time. However, the concept proved to be a successful venture, as the students worked in pairs to perform pre-prepared speeches, or "rants", on their chosen subject. The students were provided with a breakdown of the different levels, so they could assess each other in regards to their presented speech. This would then develop into a whole group activity and entailed a full class participation, commenting on both the positives and improvements required to their speeches. Both pair and whole class feedback is crucial to the development of their speaking and listening skills at key stage three, as it is the higher level achieving students whom would provide the feedback constructively.
Also evident of the higher level achieving students was good utilisation of: eye contact, tone and emphasis, complex sentences, pitch and pace. In comparison the lower level students merely hid behind their paper with little pitch or emphasis to their voice, and sentence lengths tended to be shorter using simple or compound sentences. The majority of the pupil tend to sit within the middle levels, as they lack the vocabulary required to reach the higher levels. However, observing the class from across which encompasses students across all levels has revealed how the foundations of speech centers around a true understanding of the English language. In order for any student to progress to a higher level, the pupil must have a greater grasp upon their vocabulary, and factors which can be improved by the other elements from the POS; reading and writing. Moreover, for a pupil to be successful within one aspect of the POS, the other components must be a 'building block' to this success.