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).
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Advantages
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Disadvantages
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Homework can be set without any further
resources
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Lower risk of knowledge organisers becoming
verbose or ‘mini textbooks’
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Easy to identify a clearly defined schema
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Possibly less daunting for pupils with a low
reading ages
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Easy for staff to identify key facts which
have to be taught
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Difficult to explain or demonstrate a narrative
or links between facts
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Risk of pupils with low reading ages finding
it difficult to remember or comprehend the significance of seemingly abstract
concepts
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Pupils who have missed a large number of
lessons may find it difficult to benefit from the knowledge organiser
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Possibility of staff interpreting the
significance of facts differently
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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!).
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Advantages
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Disadvantages
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Extra tasks (sets of quiz questions) make it
easier for teachers to gain formative information about misconceptions and
gaps in pupils’ knowledge
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Easier to explain a narrative and to
demonstrate links between facts
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Pupils may find facts more concrete when they
are within a narrative
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Clarity as to how different facts are used
within a unit
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Homework can be difficult to instantly quiz
from; further resources, such as quiz questions, may be needed
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Risk that key knowledge and facts may become ‘lost’
in prose.
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Pupils may find large sections of text (even
as bullet points) daunting
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Staff may not engage in the knowledge
organiser if it takes longer to read
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Knowledge organisers may need to be tweaked
more often to keep them completely in line with schemes of work
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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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