I was about 10 years into my teaching career when I wandered into my own personal echo chamber. I had discovered edu-Twitter, read education blogs and was involved in a programme of peer observations at my school. But the things I was reading and the discussions I was having always tended to support my preferred style of teaching: direct instruction.

So, when our assistant headteacher approached me to design a new scheme based on project-based learning (PBL), I was sceptical, to say the least.

The scant facts I knew about this method revolved around ideas that colleagues and I had consigned to the past, while rolling our eyes. Ideas such as “students should decide on the direction of learning” and “students learn best from each other”.

It was only once I started to research and plan the projects that I began to see the value that these ideas might have.

Two years later, with two full cycles of our projects almost completed and exciting plans for further development, I know that experimenting with PBL was the right thing for my school, and for me professionally.

So, how did we implement the approach? Students in key stages 2 and 3 now have one project lesson per week and are expected to work on their projects at home, too.

Each project lasts for 12-13 weeks and follows a similar structure, leading to students showcasing their final product or presentation.

A key principle is that the project should not be designed to introduce new learning. Instead, the aim is for students to build on prior learning, deepening their understanding and applying what they know in a different context.

For instance, in English, our students learn about rhetorical devices and write their own persuasive speeches. Then, later in the year, they’re able to use those techniques during the Model UN project to deliver speeches for the General Assembly.

The advantages are becoming more obvious after each project. Our students are now more independent, better at research and group discussion, and more confident in reflecting on their learning. Spending time working towards a final piece of work to share with others has boosted their motivation.

It isn’t only the students who benefit. Outside of my project lessons, my own planning has improved. I now think much more carefully about the end goal for any unit of work and how I will break this down, lesson by lesson. I’m more adept at using a question or a statement of enquiry to spark students’ curiosity. I’ve discovered that a little student choice goes a long way.

None of this means that I have abandoned direct instruction and entirely crossed over to the other side. However, it does mean that I have come to reject the idea that we must choose a side at all.

It’s not always easy to keep an open mind and close the door to that echo chamber - but I’ve learned that there can be unexpected benefits to embracing new ideas about education rather than only seeking out confirmation of what we already know.

Cassandra Millington is a secondary English teacher based in Powys, Wales

This article originally appeared in the 2 July 2021 issue