Quality first teaching: A teacher's guide

What is Quality First Teaching?

Quality First Teaching (QFT) is a dynamic and multifaceted style of teaching that emphasizes the importance of delivering high-quality instruction to all students within an educational setting. It's a teaching approach that goes beyond traditional methods, focusing on whole-class teaching while also incorporating elements of personalized teaching to meet the unique demands of pupil involvement.

1. Whole-Class Teaching: QFT promotes an inclusive environment where effective teachers engage the entire class, ensuring that every student has access to the key skills and knowledge being taught.
2. Personalized Teaching: While maintaining a whole-class approach, QFT also recognizes the individual needs and abilities of students. It tailors instruction to meet these specific needs, fostering a more personalized connection with each student.
3. A Framework for Teachers: QFT provides a structured framework for teachers, guiding them in implementing best practices and strategies that cater to diverse learning styles and abilities.
4. Emphasis on Key Skills: This approach prioritizes the development of key skills that are essential for lifelong learning, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration.
5. Adaptation to Educational Setting: QFT is not confined to a specific subject or grade level. It can be adapted and implemented across various educational settings, making it a versatile and effective teaching approach.

According to an expert in educational pedagogy, "Quality First Teaching is not just a method; it's a philosophy that empowers teachers to reach every student, recognizing their individuality while fostering a cohesive learning community."

For example, in a mathematics class, a teacher employing QFT might introduce a concept to the whole class, then provide differentiated tasks or support to individual students based on their understanding and needs.

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Key Insights:

• Inclusivity: Embraces all students, regardless of their abilities or needs.
• Flexibility: Adapts to various subjects and grade levels.
• Empowerment: Provides teachers with the tools and guidance to be more effective and responsive to the needs of their students.
• Focus on Essential Skills: Prioritizes the development of skills that are vital for success in the modern world.

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What is Quality First Teaching and how does it create high standards?

Quality First Teaching (QFT) is a whole-class teaching approach that delivers high-quality instruction while meeting individual student needs without creating separate lesson plans. It creates high standards by using the Three-Wave Framework from National Strategies, which provides targeted support at increasing levels of intensity to prevent students from falling behind. This approach emphasizes consistent implementation of inclusive teaching practices.

Quality First Teaching (QFT) is an approach that underscores inclusive and high-quality teaching for all students, with particular attention to vulnerable pupils such as those with neurodiversity, including conditions like Dyslexia or Dysgraphia. A key principle of QFT is responsive teaching, which involves adapting teaching methods to meet the diverse learning needs of all pupils.

In a classroom, this might manifest as a teacher using retrieval practice methods to help dyslexic students remember key curricular learning points or providing additional tools like speech-to-text software for students with dysgraphia to foster independent learning. According to the National Strategies Intervention, such responsive teaching strategies have resulted in a 20% improvement in academic performance for vulnerable learners.

Quality First Teaching is not about labeling students, but about embracing the diversity of learning needs and tailoring instruction accordingly. This ethos of QFT which strives to create a supportive learning environment for all students, irrespective of their learning challenges.

Thus, QFT serves as a beacon guiding the way towards truly inclusive education. By focusing on the individual learning needs of each student and adapting teaching strategies accordingly, educators can ensure that every pupil, regardless of their abilities or challenges, has access to high-quality education. This not only promotes academic achievement but also instills confidence and resilience in students, paving the way for their long-term success.

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What were The National Strategy Interventions?

The National Strategies Intervention ensures that mainstream schools teachers are being inclusive in their choice of pedagogy to teach each child. These teachers must support all the children, irrespective of circumstances, to learn to the best of their ability. This program was dropped by the UK's department for education and skills in 2010 but its legacy lives and can be accessed via the .gov archive. 

We need to first understand the three ‘waves’ of intervention, to benefit from The National Strategies Intervention QFT, which was designed to be strategically introduced by schools to reduce underachievement in every student.

Wave 1. Quality First Teaching (Universal): The first step encourages teachers to carefully plan each lesson so that the learning objectives must be clear. The teachers must use worksheets, exercises and other learning resources to the learning outcomes. The reasoning behind the first wave of quality first teaching was a useful planning of manageable and well-sequenced classwork and lessons, alongside effective pedagogical choices, and robust assessment, to modify teaching so each student could achieve -  was the first step towards minimising underachievement.

Wave 2. Additional Interventions (Targeted): Wave 2 can be used with Wave 1 to offer additional support to the students who do not seem to meet age-related expectations. Wave 2 involves the identification of these students and taking the desired initiatives to provide them with high-quality everyday personalized teaching and help them get back to their learning journey. Extra support can be offered during regular learning in class. The corrective instruction is mostly provided during whole-class teaching in small groups. This would help the students meet age-related expectations.

Wave 3. Specialist Interventions: This step is designed for those students who need more support than provided in Wave 2. Wave 3 depicts targeted educational provision for a minority of young learners where it is crucial to provide highly personalised specialist interventions to stimulate progress or to allow children to accomplish their potential. It is suggested to use provision mapping to capture specialist and targeted interventions that will be ‘different from’ or ‘additional to’ the regular differentiated curriculum for students. Wave 3 may even include additional SEND provision and support learners to progress at the desired rate.

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How do teachers provide individual support in Quality First Teaching?

Teachers provide individual support through responsive teaching techniques that adapt instruction during whole-class lessons rather than creating separate activities. This includes using varied questioning techniques, flexible grouping, and providing scaffolds that students can access as needed. The approach supports neurodiverse learners, including those with dyslexia or dysgraphia, within mainstream lessons by offering multiple ways to demonstrate understanding.

The main objective of QFT is to ensure that each student must be provided with high-quality individual support to facilitate their progress in learning.

An effective way to make sure that all children are learning at their age-related expectations is to perform a regular review of the quality of teaching. It will provide Student learning targets (SLTs) a chance to find ways to improve the overall quality of teaching. Then the teachers must be provided with the necessary support to make sure that they can fulfil every child's individual needs for curricular learning.

One of the most significant learning objectives of Quality First Teaching strategies is to make sure that the school must provide an inclusive learning environment to each student. This means that the school leaders must promote inclusive teaching within the school by creating inclusive workplace culture, and by communicating inclusion goals with the class teacher and specialist teacher of other subjects. Also, teachers can ensure the inclusion of pupils by celebrating the differences between the students.

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What are the key QFT strategies from National Strategies interventions?

The National Strategies Three-Wave Framework provides structured intervention levels: Wave 1 focuses on inclusive whole-class teaching, Wave 2 adds small group support, and Wave 3 provides intensive individual intervention. Key strategies include using visual aids, breaking down complex tasks into manageable steps, and incorporating regular formative assessment. These interventions work together to catch struggling learners early before gaps in understanding become significant barriers to learning.

Following quality teaching strategies must be used alongside the three waves of National Strategies Intervention:

1. Classroom must have a lot of clearly written direct instructions, symbol labels and designated places providing learning opportunities for pupils. Displaying pictures, posters and other visual resources are great for explaining abstract concepts and reminding previous learning the students.
2. An effective lesson planning will help to integrate differentiation and make the lesson accessible for each learner.
3. Clear explanations of teaching points through direct teaching will provide an effective teaching strategy for the independent learning of individual pupils.
4. High-quality teaching will demand pupil involvement by providing realistic challenges in a supportive environment for learning.
5. Break lessons and instruction from class teachers into small, manageable chunks will help ensure the learning of students of varying levels of study skills.
6. Regular opportunities for assessment for learning will help provide checks for understanding of difficult concepts and identify where the class is at with a concept.
7. Key to success is to incorporate additional teaching strategies and use a lot of examples to pupils with learning difficulties.
8. Appraisal process must involve positive feedback. If negative feedback is necessary, it must be provided constructively.
9. Lesson Design must focus on pupil participation, self-regulated learning and development of pupil knowledge through applying the most effective teaching strategies in the classroom.
10. Explicit teaching strategies will involve a combination of visual, tactic and kinaesthetic learning opportunities. It is recommended to take regular breaks from auditory learning to improve basic literacy skills in the students.



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What impact does Quality First Teaching have on student outcomes?

Quality First Teaching significantly increases student engagement and achievement across all ability ranges. Students develop stronger key skills including critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration through consistent exposure to high-quality instruction. The approach particularly benefits struggling learners who receive support within the classroom context rather than being removed for separate interventions.

As senior leaders in educational institutions, it is vital to recognize and implement Quality First Teaching (QFT) across the board. The following strategic table offers a succinct blueprint on how to incorporate the principles of QFT into the everyday practices of a school.

This guide serves as a valuable roadmap, enabling senior leaders to devise actionable plans, enhance inclusivity, and ultimately enrich the learning experiences of all students. By adopting this approach, schools can ensure that every learner, irrespective of their background or learning needs, receives high-quality, tailored instruction that facilitates their academic growth and success.

                                                                                   

Quality First Teaching Concept	Strategic Actions
School Approach: The first step towards implementing Quality First Teaching (QFT) is to adopt it as a holistic school approach. This involves embedding the principles of QFT in the school's ethos and teaching practices.	Develop a clear mission statement highlighting the commitment to QFT. Involve all staff members in the process to ensure a shared understanding and commitment.
Practical Guide: Create a practical guide that outlines the key characteristics of QFT. This guide could detail the implementation strategies, best practices, and success indicators.	Collaborate with teaching staff to develop the guide. This could be a living document that evolves based on staff feedback and student outcomes.
Educational Setting: The physical and emotional environment of the educational setting can greatly impact QFT. An inclusive, supportive, and accessible environment promotes effective learning.	Ensure classrooms are learner-friendly and accessible for all students. This may involve specific arrangements or adjustments for students with physical disabilities.
Learning Resources: Tailoring learning resources to meet diverse learner needs is a vital aspect of QFT. These might include assistive technologies, visual aids, or differentiated worksheets.	Regularly review and update learning resources to ensure they cater to the needs of all learners. Incorporate student and staff feedback in this process.
Student Learning Targets: Clear, individualized learning targets help guide the teaching process and provide students with a clear understanding of their learning journey.	Implement a system for setting, reviewing, and adjusting individual student learning targets.
Barriers to Learning: Identifying and addressing potential barriers to learning is essential in QFT. This could include learning difficulties, socio-economic factors, or language barriers.	Regularly assess potential barriers to learning and devise strategies to address them. This might involve liaising with specialists, offering additional support, or adapting teaching strategies.

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Why should schools implement Quality First Teaching approaches?

Schools should implement QFT because it provides a sustainable framework for improving outcomes for all students while reducing teacher workload through efficient whole-class strategies. The approach creates an inclusive environment where every student can access high-quality teaching without requiring extensive differentiation or separate lesson planning. QFT can be adapted across all subjects and grade levels, making it a versatile solution for school-wide improvement initiatives.

The term 'Quality First Teaching' is frequently used within the education sector for bringing a difference to classroom learning. According to the DfE Code of Practice, high-quality teaching that is personalised and differentiated will the individual needs of each child and young learner in a classroom. Quality first teaching educates the children to help them become active and productive members of society. Key features of QFT include:

• Lesson design is highly focused with sharp objectives;
• Higher levels of interaction for all students;
• Higher demands of pupil engagement and involvement with learning;
• Regular use of authentic praise and encouragement to motivate students;
• Regular opportunities to dialogue individually or in groups;
• Appropriate use of teacher explaining, modelling and questioning;
• Expectation from the students to work independently and accept responsibility for the learning.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is Quality First Teaching and how does it differ from traditional teaching methods?

Quality First Teaching (QFT) is a dynamic teaching approach that delivers high-quality instruction to all students through whole-class teaching whilst incorporating personalised elements to meet individual needs. Unlike traditional methods, QFT goes beyond simple differentiation by using responsive teaching techniques that support all learners, including those with neurodiversity like dyslexia or dysgraphia, within mainstream lessons rather than creating separate provision.

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How does the Three-Wave Framework work in practice within schools?

The Three-Wave Framework provides structured levels of support: Wave 1 focuses on universal Quality First Teaching with clear learning objectives and effective pedagogy for all students. Wave 2 offers additional targeted interventions for students not meeting age-related expectations through small group work during whole-class teaching, whilst Wave 3 provides specialist interventions for students requiring highly personalised support that may include SEND provision.

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What specific strategies can teachers use to support pupils with dyslexia and dysgraphia without labelling them?

Teachers can implement responsive teaching strategies such as using retrieval practice methods to help dyslexic students remember key curricular points and providing assistive technology like speech-to-text software for pupils with dysgraphia. These approaches foster independent learning and have shown a 20% improvement in academic performance for vulnerable learners according to National Strategies research.

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How can schools implement QFT without creating thirty different lesson plans for individual students?

QFT maintains whole-class teaching whilst meeting individual needs through adaptive instruction rather than separate planning. Teachers introduce concepts to the entire class, then provide differentiated tasks or support based on students' understanding and needs, using tools like graphic organisers to scaffold learning for all pupils simultaneously.

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What evidence exists that Quality First Teaching actually improves student outcomes?

National Strategies research demonstrated a 20% improvement in academic performance specifically for vulnerable learners when responsive teaching strategies were consistently applied.

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How do teachers assess and identify which students need Wave 2 or Wave 3 interventions?

Teachers use robust assessment during Wave 1 to identify students who do not meet age-related expectations, then provide targeted Wave 2 support through small group work within regular lessons. For Wave 3, schools should use provision mapping to identify students requiring specialist interventions that are 'different from' or 'additional to' the regular differentiated curriculum.

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Can Quality First Teaching be adapted across different subjects and year groups effectively?

Yes, QFT is designed to be versatile and can be adapted across various educational settings, subjects, and grade levels. The framework focuses on developing essential lifelong skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration, which are transferable across all curriculum areas whilst maintaining the core principles of inclusive whole-class teaching.