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Session 3. The Cycle and Care for Pupils
Objective. Write a one-page plan for a three-to-four-week plan-act-observe-reflect cycle, and check it with a simple ethics test, including pupils' consent and privacy.
A cycle is only useful if it survives a real school term, with lost lessons, tests and surprises. Care for the pupils is not an extra: it is what lets them answer honestly and keeps their trust in you. This lesson goes deeper than the key ideas, with a practical way to size a cycle and a plain-language approach to ethics that a teacher can use without any forms.
Key ideas
The four steps of the cycle
- PLAN: your question, the one change, the evidence and the dates. ACT: teach with the change for 3 to 4 weeks, as normally as you can.
- OBSERVE: collect the evidence exactly as planned and keep the one-line log. REFLECT: read what you collected, decide what it means and what to do next.
- The last step leads to the next plan, so it is a cycle, not a line. One short cycle is better than one perfect cycle you never finish.
Keep it small and protect the normal lesson
- One change, one class, 8 to 12 lessons. Collect your baseline first in 1 or 2 lessons, then start the change on a set date.
- Write what stays the same: the syllabus, the textbook, the marking. The change should be something you think will help pupils, so no pupil loses learning time.
- Plan B: lessons are lost to Navruz, exams and events. Add two spare lessons to the dates, and write down what you will do if the cycle is cut short.
Ethics: do no harm, ask, tell
- Pupils are not 'subjects'. They are children who trust you, and they may feel unable to say no to their teacher. So you must make saying no easy and free of any penalty.
- Tell pupils in plain words what you are trying and why, that taking part is voluntary, and that their answers will not change their marks. Do this for pupils at their level, and tell parents briefly if your school requires it.
- Ask your head of studies or head teacher before you start, and follow your school's rules. Where the school's rule and this course differ, the school's rule comes first.
Privacy and respect for what you collect
- Collect only what your question needs. Do not ask about family, money, health or marks of named children. Use numbers or no names on slips, and never read out one pupil's answer to shame or praise them.
- Do not use exit tickets or surveys for marks. If pupils think it counts, they will write what they think you want, and the evidence is spoiled.
- Keep papers in a safe place, share only anonymous copies with colleagues, avoid photographing faces, and destroy the raw slips when the cycle is over. If a pupil writes something that worries you about their safety, follow your school's child-protection route, not the research plan.
One short cycle
Sizing a cycle so that it survives the term
Count backwards from the calendar. If you teach a class twice a week and four weeks are available, you have about eight lessons. Use the first one or two for the baseline, keep one or two as spare for lost lessons, and the rest are your cycle. Write the dates in the plan so that Navruz, an exam week or an assembly does not eat the cycle without you noticing.
Also decide what you will not change. If you alter the seating, the homework and the teaching method together, you cannot say which one mattered. Write one line: 'Stays the same: textbook, homework amount, marking.' Finally, write a plan B: if only five lessons happen, you will compare the first and last two.
Ethics in plain language: do no harm, ask, tell
Pupils trust their teacher, and a child may say yes simply because the teacher asked. So the first duty is to make saying no easy. Tell pupils in simple words what you are trying and why. Say that nobody will be marked or treated differently, that you will not write names, and that anyone can say no. Then really accept the no. Where school rules ask for parents to be told, do that too, and ask your head of studies before you begin.
Think also about what you collect and how long you keep it. Collect only what the question needs. Keep slips in a safe place, share only anonymous copies and destroy the raw slips when the cycle ends. A good test is: would I be comfortable if the pupil and their parent saw how I used this?
Examples from the classroom
Eight lessons, two spare
Scene. Dilnoza in Samarkand has a Grade 6 class twice a week and four weeks before the spring exams. That gives eight lessons. She uses lessons 1 and 2 for the baseline, plans the change for lessons 3 to 8 and marks lessons 7 and 8 as spare. When Navruz removes lesson 5, she still has six lessons of change, and she is not forced to give up.
Insight. Counting backwards from the calendar and keeping spare lessons makes the cycle robust.
Asking, not telling
Scene. Aziz in Fergana says to his Grade 7 pupils: 'For four weeks I will try a reading guide. Everybody gets it because it should help. Separately, I would like to look at your short written lines, without names, to see if it works. This will not change your marks. If you prefer not, leave the line empty and nothing will happen.' Two pupils leave it empty.
Insight. A clear, kind invitation with a real way out gives meaning to consent.
Both classes get the idea
Scene. Jasur in Bukhara first thought of trying a new revision routine only in 7A. After talking with his head of studies, he uses it in 7A for the first two weeks and in 7B for the next two, with the same short exit ticket in both. Both classes benefit, and he can still compare how each class responded.
Insight. A fair design avoids one group missing a useful idea.
Common pitfalls
- Changing several things at once so that you cannot say what mattered.
- Letting a pupil feel they cannot refuse because the teacher is asking in front of the class.
- Counting exit tickets or surveys towards marks, which spoils honest answers.
- Sending photographs of pupils' notebooks, with names or faces, into group chats.
Plan the Cycle, Check the Ethics
- Open the Activity Kit: a SAMPLE problem from Aziz in Fergana, a blank one-page cycle plan, five ethics situations (A to E) and a sample pupil note.
- Pairs (15 min): fill in the cycle plan for Aziz: the one change, the evidence, baseline and cycle dates, what stays the same, plan B.
- Pairs (10 min): judge each ethics situation: acceptable, or needs a change? If a change, write what you would do instead.
- Groups (10 min): improve the sample pupil note so a Grade 7 pupil can understand it and feel free to say no. Compare with another pair.
- Alone (5 min): start the one-page cycle plan for your own question and write your classroom action task from the Kit.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- Which ethics situation was hardest to decide, and what made it hard?
- How did you make it easy for a pupil to say no in your note?
- What would you do if your cycle lost two weeks to exams and events?
Reflect
- Have you ever asked pupils something that, looking back, put them in an awkward position?
- Who in your school should know about your cycle before it starts?
- What is the smallest version of your change that you could start tomorrow?
Try it tomorrow
- Count your real lessons for the next four weeks and write the cycle dates with two spare lessons.
- Write three plain sentences you would say to pupils, including that they may say no.
- Tell your head of studies in one minute what you plan to try and how you will keep papers safe.
Further reading and links
Run a small cycle with one change, make it safe to say no, collect only what you need and keep it private.