Why School-Wide Teaching and Learning Models Might Be Missing Half the Story

Over the past few years, we’ve worked with many schools to review, refine, and/or co-design their teaching and learning model. Of course, each school’s model looks a little different, shaped by context, priorities, and culture. But here’s something we’re noticing more and more…

Many models describe the teaching in detail… but say far less about the learning.

If a model tells us what teachers are doing, but not what learners are thinking, saying, or showing in response, then half the story is missing.      

Teachers can diligently follow every step of a model and still be unsure whether learners are actually experiencing and benefitting from this diligence.  When half the story is missing, implementation becomes lopsided.

If your current model could speak, would it tell the story of teaching, the story of learning… or both?

A powerful teaching and learning model should function like a split screen:

one side clarifies the teacher moves, the other side clarifies the learner moves. 

Without this dual focus, we risk prioritising:

• performance over progress,

• compliance over cognition, and

• routines over reasoning.

Why the Learner Side Matters

When we make learners’ actions and thinking visible, three things happen:

1. Clarity increases. Teachers know exactly what they are looking for, and learners understand what effective learning feels, sounds, and looks like.

2. Feedback improves. Peer, self, and teacher feedback all become more targeted and useful.

3. Agency grows. Learners can track their progress, adjust strategies, and take more ownership.

What The Strongest Models Include

The most impactful models we see go beyond teaching steps. They map the learning behaviours that sit alongside instruction. For example:

• If the teacher is modelling, what are we aiming for learners to be thinking and doing?

• If the teacher is checking for understanding, what are learners showing or explaining?

• If the teacher is prompting metacognition, what are learners reflecting on or articulating?

This turns invisible mental processes into visible actions that everyone can see.

The Challenge and the Opportunity

Revising a teaching and learning model isn’t about adding more boxes, stages, or arrows. It’s about broadening the lens from what teachers do to what learners think, say, do and believe as a result. The most powerful models go beyond documenting effective teaching,  they illustrate the shared story of learning, one that belongs equally to teachers and students.

So, to revisit the question we asked earlier. If your current model could speak, would it tell the story of teaching, the story of learning… or both? 

How might you shift  or strengthen the lens from what teachers deliver to what you want our learners to experience?

Questions Worth Asking As You Refine or Create Your Model

If your school is refreshing or developing a Teaching and Learning Model, these prompts can help guide your team’s thinking.

How might we...

• build a shared understanding of what we mean by a ‘Teaching and Learning Model’?

• ensure the model makes both teaching actions and learner behaviours visible in meaningful ways?

• design the model so it actively shapes planning, coaching, feedback, and classroom dialogue across the school?

• explore whether dual versions — one for teachers, one for learners — could strengthen clarity, ownership, and shared understanding?

• create a model that continues to evolve as our collective understanding deepens?

A  last thought:  If a model only captures what teachers do, it risks becoming a compliance tool.   When it captures what learners think, say, do and believe, it becomes a catalyst for deeper learning, richer dialogue, and shared responsibility.

Does your model show learning… or just teaching?