What this standard says
Official wording from the DfE Teachers' Standards.
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What the teaching and learning focus terms mean
- Do now
- A short task on the board as learners arrive, usually retrieval, so learning starts straight away.
- Retrieval practice
- Recalling learning from memory, such as low-stakes quizzes, which strengthens long-term memory.
- Spacing and interleaving
- Revisiting topics over time and mixing them, rather than teaching each once in a block.
- Metacognition
- Learners planning, monitoring and evaluating their own learning. The EEF's 2025 guidance recommends teaching it within subject lessons, not as separate ‘learning to learn’ sessions.
- Cognitive load
- Working memory is limited, so explanations, slides and tasks should avoid overloading it.
- Dual coding
- Pairing words with visuals so learners process information through two channels.
- Rosenshine's principles
- Ten research-based steps for explicit teaching, including daily review, small steps, modelling, guided practice and checking understanding.
- Responsive and adaptive teaching
- Checking understanding during the lesson and changing what you do in response, rather than planning separate tasks for fixed groups.
- Instructional coaching
- Regular, focused coaching on one small, practical step at a time.
- AI in teaching
- DfE guidance allows staff to use generative AI in line with school policy. You must check what it produces for accuracy and bias, keep learners' personal data out of it, and keep professional judgement for yourself. The OECD's 2026 Outlook warns that finishing tasks with AI does not mean learners have learned.