If you’re stuck for an end-of-term teaching idea, how about this for a suggestion? Let your students take control of the lesson.

There’s plenty of evidence to support the use of pupil-led learning in the classroom. For example, in a 2015 study, Ann-Merete Iverson and colleagues from the University of Denmark concluded that learner-led activities mean students are “more involved and engaged in the learning process” and give them a greater sense of ownership and levels of intrinsic motivation. 

Many teachers give students opportunities within lessons to lead their own learning, but I think there is scope to go further than this and, on occasion, dedicate an entire lesson to student-led learning.

I do this two or three times a term, and have found that it helps make pupils more independent and boosts their self-confidence. 

There are three activities, in particular, that I’ve found to be effective. 

1. Silent debate

This activity requires you to prepare six discussion points before the lesson. These should be thought-provoking statements that encourage students to share their opinions. For example, in my subject (geography), I have used things like “China will soon overtake the USA as the world’s hyperpower” and “Globalisation is in reverse”. 

Write each of these statements on a separate piece of A3 paper, leaving the rest of the page blank. 

In the lesson, organise the students into groups of six, and give each student a different statement sheet. Give them two minutes to either write a point down in support of the statement, or against it, making sure they initial their contributions. 

When the time ends, they need to pass the sheet clockwise around their group. They should all receive a new sheet, onto which they can either add to the argument made or oppose it. Continue this for the rest of the lesson. 

You could tour the classroom to monitor the comments or take part in the carousel yourself. Otherwise, you could leave the students to get on with it. The finished sheets provide a great resource to debrief, as well as to copy and issue in the next lesson.

2. Harkness discussions

Here, small groups of students discuss an issue around a table. Normally, this is based around a shared stimulus, such as a newspaper article, but it can also be a great revision method at the end of a unit. 

Share the stimulus material prior to the lesson, and then, at the start of the lesson, issue a list of statements based on that material. Give students time to jot down responses, before asking them to start discussing.

Observe the discussion, making notes on what was contributed and by whom, and deliver feedback at the end. As well as giving their own take on the topic, encourage students to politely question, challenge, or prompt each other. Larger groups could be split into discussants and observers - roles that can then be reversed halfway through the lesson, so everyone gets a turn to discuss.

This activity is a great way to build a focus on speaking and listening into your lessons - and considering Labour’s recent promise to improve oracy, that could soon be something schools are seeking to do more of.

If you think your students might be reluctant to launch straight into such a discussion, you could always begin with a silent debate. 

3. Marketplace

This is a structured version of peer teaching. Divide the class into groups of three or four, and give each group an element of the curriculum to learn and make notes on. In geography, for example, I’ve given each group a different urban regeneration strategy. 

Then, one group at a time, ask the students to spread themselves around the room to teach clusters of the remaining students. This carries on until all groups have taught their content.

This activity, originally promoted by Paul Ginnis 20 years ago, embodies the saying that “the best way to learn is to teach”, although it is worth noting that it has been critiqued and should be used judiciously.

I certainly wouldn’t advocate for this type of lesson all the time, but I think deployed wisely throughout the term, it can build trust between students and teachers, and can provide us with new insights into the topic, and into the personalities and dynamics of our groups. 

As the last weeks of term are now upon us, this might be the perfect time to try it out. After all, what have you got to lose?

David Alcock is a geography teacher at Bradford Grammar School; he blogs at alcock.blog, and tweets @DavidAlcock1 @HopefulE