The summer term is a tense but rewarding time for a Year 11 or Year 13 teacher.
Exam preparation builds to a crescendo, and you ride the waves of anxiety as students leave your classroom for the last time, and file into the exam hall, silent and eager to do their best.
There are snatched moments here and there as they come into school for other exams, leavers’ ceremonies and final goodbyes. But before you know it, they have gone forever, moving on to great things.
It’s at this point that I always wonder: what did they actually think of the course? Were they confident going into the exam? What did they think of my teaching and the teaching of others across the department?
This year, I resolved to find out. I turned to the world of HR and created two exit interviews: one for all of the A-level history students across the school and another for all of the GCSE history students.
I created the interview on Google Forms, and asked students to provide written answers and ratings on a scale of 0 to 5, where necessary.
For the A-level questions, I split them up into questions about the course generally, and then specific ones around the modules and students’ future plans:
- Why did you choose A-level history?
- How confident are you in your knowledge of the Tudor course?
- How confident are you in your exam technique for the Tudor exam?
- How would you rate the quality of teaching?
- What did you enjoy about your lessons?
- How could teaching be improved?
- How confident are you in your knowledge of the USA course?
- How confident are you in your exam technique for the USA exam?
- How would you rate the quality of teaching?
- What did you enjoy about your lessons?
- How could teaching be improved?
- How confident were you in your knowledge of your topic?
- How confident were you in your exam technique for the non-examined assessment (NEA).
- What did you enjoy about the NEA?
- How could completing the NEA be improved?
- What and where are you studying next year?
- What advice would you give to future sixth-formers about A-level history?
For the GCSE students, I ask the following questions.
- Why did you choose GCSE history?
- How confident are you in your knowledge of the conflict and tension course?
- How confident are you in your knowledge of the Germany course?
- How confident are you in your knowledge of the power and the people course?
- How confident are you in your exam technique?
- How would you rate the quality of teaching?
- What did you enjoy about your lessons?
- How could teaching be improved?
- Are you studying A-level history next year?
- Why?
- What advice would you give to Year 9 starting GCSE history?
I sent the form out to students via Google Classroom before their first exams, to gauge how well their perception matched their results, but you could send it later, right at the end of the year.
To ensure there was full participation, I also booked our department set of laptops for one lesson per class - if students had already completed the interview, they were free to get on with their own revision.
More teaching and learning:
I was really interested - and a little nervous - to look at the results. But what I found was actually encouraging and helpful.
Based on the two surveys, I can say that I am confident that the history department is operating well. Students enjoy the subject and the uptake of it from GCSE to A level is improving. Students appreciate the work we have done behind the scenes to improve the range of lesson activities.
However, both groups of students suggested changes: my A-level students would have liked each lesson to be directly linked to the specification and more specific feedback.
My GCSE students suggested incorporating more low-stakes tests.
The advice they gave to future students was really great but no one in this particular cohort envisioned a career in history or planned to study history at university.
As a result, there are some points raised that will become part of our department improvement plan.
1. Greater use of whole-class feedback.
2. Add in metacognitive exam technique sessions.
3. Tie schemes of work closer to the specification and share with students.
4. Use student advice for displays at open evening.
5. Set a target of at least two students going on to study history at university.
There are questions I wish I’d asked. I would have liked to know what topics both cohorts would have chosen if they knew the options, and which specific topics in the course that students found challenging - but those questions will be included next year.
At first, it was a bit daunting being evaluated by the students. But the whole department has found the feedback really helpful and, actually, the changes requested were relatively easy to enact.
We’ve learnt that when we are looking to improve our teaching and learning, it’s important to ask those who are direct beneficiaries: the students themselves.
Simon Beale is an associate assistant headteacher with responsibility for teaching and learning in London, is the author of history revision guides and has led continuing professional development events for Hodder Education. He is also co-founder of the History Teacher Book Club
