Teach For Long Term Learning By Activating Students’ Working Memory

Ask a class to multiply 57 by 3,489 in their heads and most will give up or get lost in the numbers. Set work that's too easy and they won't think at all. Between the two is the struggle zone, where learning happens.

Keeping pupils there takes a few deliberate moves. Desirable difficulties slow thinking down just enough to make it stick, and teaching to the top keeps the challenge high for every pupil, whatever their starting point. There's practical advice on explanations and modelling, and on questions that make pupils think rather than just checking who's listening.

The other half is making that thinking efficient. Chunking, scaffolding and building on what pupils already know all cut cognitive load, which leaves room for the hard part.