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What are Knowledge Organisers? The Narrative and Grid Styles.


Knowledge organisers have been a part of my faculty’s approach to homework and the curriculum for roughly 5 years. During that time I have thought at length about what makes a good knowledge organiser. However, that also raised a fundamental question about what knowledge organisers actually are. Looking at other schools’ approaches and research on Twitter seems to suggest that there are two main styles, the narrative style and the grid style.

The Grid Style:
The grid format focuses on the clear presentation of facts, whether they are keywords, dates, or key individuals. They act as a method of directly reinforcing facts which pupils have already been taught in lessons. They are not presented in prose or a narrative, but rather than as a table in a “term: definition” format. Pupils often ‘quiz’ with these knowledge organisers with a ‘look, cover, say, write, check’ process, replicating the knowledge organiser, or by asking people to ask them the key definitions of different terms (or vice versa).


Advantages
Disadvantages
-          Homework can be set without any further resources
-          Lower risk of knowledge organisers becoming verbose or ‘mini textbooks’
-          Easy to identify a clearly defined schema
-          Possibly less daunting for pupils with a low reading ages
-          Easy for staff to identify key facts which have to be taught
-          Difficult to explain or demonstrate a narrative or links between facts
-          Risk of pupils with low reading ages finding it difficult to remember or comprehend the significance of seemingly abstract concepts
-          Pupils who have missed a large number of lessons may find it difficult to benefit from the knowledge organiser
-          Possibility of staff interpreting the significance of facts differently

The Narrative Style:
I work within a department which uses a narrative style.


The narrative format still focuses on the presentation of facts. However, these key terms are presented in prose, usually using bullet points. This type of knowledge organiser reflects and reinforces what pupils have been taught in lessons. However, rather than the knowledge grid, they usually reflect teachers’ more closely, rather than focusing purely on the facts themselves. Pupils ‘quiz’ on these knowledge organisers by either writing their own set of questions based on the knowledge organiser, or by answering a set of pre-defined questions, written by the teacher (see later blog!).

Advantages
Disadvantages
-          Extra tasks (sets of quiz questions) make it easier for teachers to gain formative information about misconceptions and gaps in pupils’ knowledge
-          Easier to explain a narrative and to demonstrate links between facts
-          Pupils may find facts more concrete when they are within a narrative
-          Clarity as to how different facts are used within a unit
-          Homework can be difficult to instantly quiz from; further resources, such as quiz questions, may be needed
-          Risk that key knowledge and facts may become ‘lost’ in prose.
-          Pupils may find large sections of text (even as bullet points) daunting
-          Staff may not engage in the knowledge organiser if it takes longer to read
-          Knowledge organisers may need to be tweaked more often to keep them completely in line with schemes of work

Conclusion:
Both of these styles have their purposes and their merits and, when I first started writing knowledge organisers, I preferred the narrative style. However, having used and adapted them for roughly 5 years, while I still lean towards for the narrative style, I would advocate a hybrid approach; there are situations in which prose is necessary, usually to introduce concepts or to show how information fits within the knowledge organiser as a whole. However, where appropriate, the use of diagrams and graphic organisers mean that, without using lengthy prose, knowledge organisers can still clearly demonstrate processes, narratives, and the links between facts. Ultimately, effective knowledge organisers must balance three vital concepts: accessibility, clarity, and (particularly in the case of history) the establishment of a clear narrative.



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