Teaching and Learning - Gareth Snow
Making 'The invisible visible' - Teacher professional learning
Over the past few weeks, our teaching staff have been engaged in professional learning focused on the “Model” phase of our Instructional Model. This phase is where teachers, as the experts in the room, explicitly demonstrate the learning process for students before they practise independently.
A key focus of our learning has been the use of think alouds, a powerful teaching strategy where teachers verbalise their thinking while reading, solving problems, writing, or analysing information. Think alouds help make the often “invisible” thinking processes of an expert visible to learners.
For example, rather than simply showing students the correct answer, teachers model how they arrive at the answer by explaining the decisions, questions, strategies and problem-solving processes happening in their minds. This supports students to better understand not only what to do, but why and how to do it.
Research strongly supports this approach. Studies have shown that explicit modelling and think alouds improve student comprehension, metacognition and problem-solving skills because they provide students with a clear cognitive pathway to follow. Researchers describe expert thinking as often being “hidden” or automatic, making it difficult for novices to learn unless the process is intentionally unpacked and explained.
Educational research also highlights that effective think alouds help students:
- develop stronger comprehension and reasoning skills
- understand strategies expert learners use
- improve their ability to monitor their own thinking
build confidence when approaching new or challenging tasks.
Throughout these sessions, staff have been refining how they:
- explicitly model new learning
- verbalise their thinking processes
- scaffold complex tasks into manageable steps
gradually release responsibility to students.
This work reflects our ongoing commitment to evidence-informed teaching practices that maximise learning growth for every student. By making expert thinking visible, we are helping students become more confident, capable and independent learners.
A Little Bit of Homework for Parents
We encourage families to try using “think alouds” at home during everyday activities and see the difference it can make for your child’s learning. This could be while reading together, cooking, building something, shopping, solving a problem, or even planning the day. Try verbalising your thinking by saying things like, “I’m checking this again because it doesn’t quite make sense,” or “I know this will work because I’ve seen a similar pattern before.”
When children hear adults explain their thinking processes, they gain valuable insight into how successful learners approach tasks, solve problems and make decisions. These small conversations can have a big impact, helping children build confidence, independence and stronger problem-solving skills in both learning and everyday life.
Have a great weekend!
Mr Snow