What we can learn from ‘Hard Quiz’

One of our favourite TV shows to watch as a family is ‘Hard Quiz’ on ABC iView. For those of you who are not familiar with ‘Hard Quiz’, it is an Australian quiz show where everyday contestants apply to appear on the show because they consider themselves subject matter ‘experts’ on a particular niche topic.

The contestants move through three rounds where they are asked questions on their expert area, followed by some more general questions.

At the end of each round one contestant is eliminated, with the final round being a showdown between the two remaining contestants on their expert topic.

The low budget prize is glory (and a brass cup)!

The contestant's expert subjects are always very niche. Some of our favourite contestants have been experts in: Coldplay (the band), Bunnings (the hardware store), Ted Lasso (the TV show), Cholera (the disease), Whale Sharks (the sea creature) and the Treehouse Books.

‘Hard Quiz’ makes you realise the deep level of expertise and interest people develop in very specific areas, and often, (not always), how little they know about other areas (general knowledge)!

Gold Logie winning, Tom Gleeson is the host of 'Hard Quiz' and has a very dry sense of humour which appeals to all of us in the Rogers' household!

It is a very entertaining show to watch!

There are even 'Hard Quiz-Kids' episodes where it is amazing to see how much knowledge individual children (around 10-12 years old) have developed on areas as varied as 'Taylor Swift'(the singer) through to 'Babushka Dolls'. I think we have all taught a child who could appear on 'Hard Quiz' as they have a keen interest in particular areas!

I remember a boy in my class who had a very keen interest in car racing. From Formula One to Drag Racing to Super Cars, he knew so much!

Teaching him that year, I heard A LOT about Motorsport, and to this day, every time I see that the Grand Prix is happening in Melbourne, I smile and think of him!

Currently I am reading an excellent book by Guy Claxton called 'The future of teaching and the myths that hold it back'. It is a wonderfully considered book, which is beautifully written by Guy. 

The book talks much sense about the considerable amount of time and energy we waste in political and education circles by polarising the age-old debate about what is the 'best' way to educate children.

Guy talks about the pitfalls of pitting 'traditional' and 'progressive' education against each other, and the importance of searching beyond these dichotomies for a model of education that is empowering and effective for all. 

A system that encourages good thinking, alongside the acquisition of knowledge, with the ultimate goal to develop life-long learners.

Guy starts his book by sharing a quote from Albert Einstein:

Things should be made as simple as possible, but not more so. For every problem that is muddled by over-complexity, a dozen are muddled by over-simplifying. 

For me, this exemplifies what is currently happening in the current debates around maths instruction.

By over-simplifying the debate and boiling it down to create an Inquiry vs Explicit Instruction 'war', it is difficult for us who are what Claxton (2021) describes as 'open-minded middle- the vast majority of teachers who are not wedded to a polarised view of things' (p.xxii) to move forward.

As Guy states, if you aren't seen to be 100% in favour in one of these instructional approaches, you are seen to be against it.

For me, with almost everything in life, the answer is always somewhere in the middle. The same is true in maths instruction.

I consider myself an avid reader. I want to be considered an expert who has read widely enough to be able to confidently advise schools and systems in a pragmatic and informed manner on the best approach for their students. 

I have read many books (I have hyperlinked a few I recommend) on Direct Instruction, Explicit Direct Instruction, Explicit Instruction.

When I read these books, I think, wow, these make such great points, and I absolutely agree with what they are saying- I want a systematic way to ensure students acquire skills and knowledge.

Then I read research papers and books that advocate for Challenging Tasks and Thinking Classrooms and I completely agree with what they are saying as well- I want to help students develop problem solving and thinking skills.

How can this be possible? Don't I have to take a side?

No... because two things can be true at the same time in different contexts.

It can be true that social media is great, and social media is terrible.

For some people social media is a wonderful way to connect with family, friends and like-minded people across the world. For others, it can be addictive, toxic and have terrible consequences.

Both of these can be true. It depends on your context and experiences.

As Guy Claxton states, "both traditional and progressive education go wrong at the extremes"(Claxton, 2021,p. xxviii).

I would argue that most things go wrong at the extremes!

It can be true that Direct Instruction is a highly effective way to teach mathematics, and it can also be true that Inquiry is a highly effective way to teach mathematics. 

Among other things, it depends on the students we teach, the teachers at our school, the content we are teaching and most importantly where the students are at in their learning journey (novices through to experts, which we can determine through high quality assessment).

Would I use an Inquiry approach to teach Foundation student how to count? Definitely Not!

Would I use Inquiry for Year 5s who are fluent in whole number place value and I now want them to explore and generalise their knowledge by working with other bases? Absolutely! 

It is all about when and where!

I read the other day that Ricky Gervais (the comedian) said: "The best advice I've ever received is no-one else knows what they are doing either".

I think this is a great piece of advice to keep in mind. No body has got the puzzle of maths teaching perfectly figured out, there are just too many variables and contexts to consider.

It is not about taking sides, but reading widely, avoiding extremes, and making considered decisions based on your own context.

So this week, I encourage you to take some time to consider your own context, continue to learn from experts with a variety of perspectives, and remember that even expertise comes with a bias! (Also, take a minute to consider what your expert topic on 'Hard Quiz' might be should you decide to apply!)

Have a great week!

Ange🎲🎓

P.S. You can download the PDF version of this blog to print or share with colleagues here.