Daily Blog – Leading Teachers International Study Visits Eger, Hungary Day 5 Friday 29th May

Daily Blog – Leading Teachers International Study Visits Eger, Hungary
Day 5 Friday 29th May
A huge tribute is due to hosts Ibolya Rull and Tibor Bodnar for their outstanding efforts in organising our weekly programme and the friendly, professional and efficient manner in which they took us from one visit to another. There was a perfect balance between visits to carefully selected schools and afternoons of cultural experience and social activities. There was time for reflection and expert input. Their experience of education, outstanding technical translation abilities and their careful attention to maximising the quality of our experience has made this week exceed all our expectations. We thank them most sincerely.
Reflection and Review Meeting
KEY POINTS SUMMARY
Discussion of Hungarian education raised the work of Guy Claxton’s concept of Building Learning Power and the 4 Rs
Resilience: Staying with difficulty and coping with feelings of frustration.
Resourcefulness: Learning in a variety ways using varied strategies
Reflection: Thinking about our own strengths and weaknesses.
Relationships: Learning alone and with others.

As well as Georgi Lozanov – The Bulgarian founder of the ‘Suggestopedia’ approach (which has led to subsequent and more familiar ideas about accelerated learning now popular in UK). We have frequently seen a sophisticated combination of all of these approaches in the lessons observed in Hungary.
The practice of suggestopedia includes the idea that students are led to feel that the learning is going to be easy and fun at the beginning of every lesson. Teachers use a range of techniques including variation of voice, relaxation, physical movement, games, puzzles and perhaps most importantly careful management of positive relationships with learners to maximise and consolidate the learning.
Positive, caring and supportive attitudes to all learners have characterised the work of all Hungarian teachers we have met.
Other key ideas
• Learning to learn is the fundamental priority or early schooling
• In UK pupils know their attainment levels in comparison to others and there is therefore a suggestion of failure – Assessment and Tracking data is used in different ways in Hungary to diagnose learning needs without negative comparisons between learners or schools
• In Hungary no or little evidence of negative peer pressure or sniping at other learners either for mistakes or for obvious excellent performance (we suspect the abusive term of ‘boffin’ doesn’t exist!)
• Much use of sugar paper for cooperative group work. One version had a shared sheet for four people with group activity at the centre while individual tasks were written at each corner ( team of 4)
• Awarding of achievement to the group with cups on the table to fill with points/merits/flowers for getting it right (suggests healthy competitive atmosphere)
• Team of 4 with badges A, B, C or D – used with responsibilities for each letter i.e. feedback, behaviour etc
• Emphasis on explanations to justify and articulate reasons for choices made
• Pyramid activity – each group had a sum and had to position each other into a pyramid pattern with the highest answer at the top – bottom was the lowest number (physical movement)
• Auditory emphasis in maths – reciting as a group and individuals coming to the front to explain answer (always insisting on the correct words)
• Each had a card, some were correct – group had to sort true, false, possibly true etc. into plastic baskets around the room. Team collected points if they chose the correct basket
• In maths lessons logic skills were repeatedly taught in enjoyable games and puzzles
• Use of peers to correct each other’s work and verbal contributions
• Use of 5/6 different skills in one lesson – looking at a concept from many different angles.
• Guessing games – decoding tasks etc
• Pupils reviewing lesson with in depth explanations
• Very much teacher-led throughout lesson except plenary
• Lack of formal writing in earlier years
• Teacher records the feedback from pupils at the end of the lesson (2-3 pupils per lesson) in a log book – this forms a continuous log of skill development
• Plenary book- what have I learned in this lesson
• Dominoes are used to develop ideas of equivalence for example fractions and decimals game
• First 4 years of primary school isn’t graded; just oral report about achievement
• Schools not inspected since 1990 (end of soviet regime)
• Big writing games (kung fu punctuation)

Szilagyi Erzsebet Secondary Grammar School

On our visit to this school we enjoyed a challenging lesson with Hungarian secondary students on our knowledge of the European union. This contributed to a feeling of camaraderie between our hosts and ourselves. There were also mention of EU programmes ERASMUS, SOCRATES, LEONARDO and COMENIUS which were all foster pan-European cooperation between schools and universities. We noted the fact that Jan Amos Comenius was an early Hungarian education pioneer. The country can be proud that it has lived up to his high ideals of high quality learning!
Our day finished with a visit to the Thummerer wine cellar in the mountains north of Eger where we learned a considerable amount about wine through the best practice of experiential learning – tasting it with most excellent food in good company! We all leave Hungary with determination to try to implement some of the practical ideas for improving the enjoyment of successful learning and sense of achievement in our schools – firstly in our own classrooms and, we hope through working with colleagues. We thank our wonderful hosts and LECT for making this significant professional development possible.