I hate the term 'knowledge organiser'. It's yet another stupid piece of education jargon to describe something teachers have been using for centuries, just rebranded to make it seem cool and original. I've got an allergy (which is getting more pronounced by the year) to education fads that inexplicably roll onto the scene one day, blow up to the point of obsession, then fizzle out.
Often these things can be situationally useful when used properly, but they're never game changers. Knowledge organisers (or summaries or fact files or whatever they used to be called) can also be useful, but students need to be taught what they are and what they are not. They are tools for summarising the key points of a topic. They are not everything they need to know for the exam so they can just learn it and ignore you.
In no other job do you have to keep proving you can do your job to keep your pay as much as in teaching. Other places, you have proven your experience level and get a raise and then you do a good job and get another raise. You may move to another position or company and for more pay - never really working any harder - just smarter with experience. In teaching SLT have to keep making stuff up and push it on others whether it makes sense or not just to keep proving yourself or you get criticised for not doing enough for your salary which is already pittance. - Is what I understand from what I have seen and heard as an ECT2.
Constant meetings with new buzzwords and rehashed techniques just to prove their worth. I got to M6 in the last school I was in. I took on extra responsibilities, that were eventually given to a different department with a TLR pay boost, 🤷♂️ (wtf) applied for jobs which I later found out were ear marked for certain members of staff. I left and now work as a Lecturer for more money and less responsibility. The education system is so fucked.
I love teaching and being in the classroom but that is what - 30-40% of what I do and the rest is mostly time wasting, energy draining BS that takes up my free time and family time of which I don't get paid for.I work through break times and lunch times, before and after school and at home. I spend Saturday in bed recovering and Sunday is back to school work for Monday. Of the tonnes of hobbies I had I am barely holding on to 1.
Then you add on that the roles to 'aspire' to are crappy roles with really no meaning. I laugh internally when someone says "I got promoted to HOD" because I know they will appoint anyone who is willing to work extra for just £200 extra month and only 1 hour extra time a day. Some schools have even giver trainees the position early because they are so desperate. How is that a promotion when they are just using you and no one cares about your personal development or wellbeing?
I am out. From Sept I am looking elsewhere and I am a shortage subject. Only 1-8 people in any area ever train to teach my subject per year (last year there were 2). 80% of people I trained with across the subjects are already considering leaving and are really disheartened by the whole field.
I personally can't wait for the icons they made us put on our slides this year to change and we all have to do it again in September, one of my favourite parts of the year
I agree with you, I personally quite like them for being used as a place to locate key vocab and concepts. They are also great for "self study placeholder" tasks if someone has finished early, and useful for mitigating absence. I was led to understand that they were to fit on a single A4 sheet, and ideally no more than double sided.
I have however seen some people that put down literally everything and it becomes more of a summary booklet than any kind of organiser. It is nice to have an extra axe in my shed, but I would be hesitant to incorporate them into every lesson unless someone can explain the benefit to me. They are not a substitute for actual teaching.
We call them something else at my school (I can’t say what as it’d identify me).
I have ALWAYS loathed them. I print them at the start of every project, we stick them in and that’s it. The kids very rarely need to refer to them again! Huge waste of everyone’s time.
I think they’re good, but you can’t really use them ‘as-is’ .
Use them to make quizzes or MCQs or other retrieval tasks.
There are a lot of crappy knowledge organisers about, this is part of the issue. Classic lethal mutation.
I just don’t get the point of them? They can’t use them in exams. I moved to a new school that uses them and I’ve been criticised for not using them. No one can show me how they’re used well.
I feel like they're a way to avoid buying textbooks, which always have chapter summaries. I don't make them, and haven't been convinced when I've seen them in action.
BRING BACK TEXT BOOKS!!!!
Why on earth are teachers expected to plan, write, print and trim question sheets for each lesson for the children to stick in, lose, get in the wrong order, then for the teacher to have to mark without an answer book?
If I was an educational consultant I'd make millions flogging text books to reduce teacher workload, save lesson time and save paper, glue and printing costs.
I like them.
I developed one for my subject that runs through ks3 and ks4. I see it as a tool box. Has most if not all the key language and definitions we use, a variety of techniques, methods and other things pupils can use to develop work.
Also means that I don't need to rehash what words mean or some of the basic concepts. The kids can find it and I can keep move forward.
I supplement them at times with other bits or have pupils fill them as we go through projects to make sure they have all the right knowledge as we move through topics.
I’ve been actively avoiding having to make them for some time now. We’re being encouraged to make them but most of my students just can’t handle the information overload. It would be wasted effort for me to make them. I also don’t think management realise how time-consuming it can be to make them for every bloody topic.
My bad! Forgot it was key stage 1! They can be really challenging but I think if they do it from the start by learning to stick the knowledge organiser then they will get used to it perhaps?
I've never understood why seemingly every primary school has such an obsession with making books look tidy, when (especially with KS1) the natural state is so much the opposite. I've also never had anybody manage to answer the question "what is the educational benefit of tidy books".
I like the concept, but think they’re more of a revision tool. I think students should make them themselves to consolidate knowledge and regularly use them as a revision strategy. I also have adhd; I have found that the visual organisation of knowledge organisers is rather stressful to look at, and, ironically, not very conducive to knowledge building.
I changed the way I use them this year and the children have actually used them!
Rather that sticking them in books where they are ignored, they are in a folder on the wall. The children know that the wall is one of the places to look when you need help.
The number of children who will now get up, go to the wall and go through the knowledge organiser is amazing. Predominantly for vocab, spelling and word definitions, but also for processes in science or remembering dates in history.
I'm going to update them next year to reflect how they've been used this year, but explicitly teaching that they are a helpful resource has raised independence in the class.
Before this year I hated them and hated the hours it took to create them and barely remembered to photocopy them never mind stick them in books.
We not only have to provide KOs, but they all have to follow a certain layout and word count. We’re also expected to refer to them in every starter and have them out on the desks in every lesson. Regardless of subject or year group.
I hate them with the fiery passion of a thousand suns and would gladly see the lot disappear into as many suns as it takes.
My more experienced colleagues predict we’ll only have another year or so of them before it’s something else. Then I have +/- 5 years to get out of the profession before they come back again.
Ours are extra pointless because they’re like a document that’s just there to please Ofsted. The kids don’t even get one. I didn’t think knowledge organisers could feel even more pointless but here we are
I like them when they’re a blank structure and the kids do the work and fill them in. I think there’s something to be gained from that.
I don’t like them when they’re just dished out completed to tick a box. Waste of paper, never to be looked at again.
YES!! I spent all last year creating maths knowledge organisers to a specific format, in a specific font etc etc....they've never been used this year...waste of my time 🙄🙄
Have them in secondary science, hated them at first, more nuanced view now. They have their place. We mainly use them as summaries of key definitions that students will need to know to access the course and sit exams. Only time we insist on their use is in homework, every week a knowledge recall practice based on the topic currently being studied. Works quite well in conjunction with a direct instruction approach.
Interesting reading. I currently use them with year 1 - yes 5 and 6 year olds- I’ve always thought maybe they might be useful for older students who can read and access them more appropriately?Then hoping that we might be laying the foundations for accessing them later on… seems maybe not
Yeah, hate them. It's never been easier for children to find support to help them with their studies. Organising that support is a life-skill that children need for future study. Knowledge organisers rob them of the chance to develop those skills.
Soon universities and employers will have to provide something similar because current students won't know how to do it independently.
I keep thinking how previous generations had to check out books from the library (if the book wasn't already checked out), write reliable notes, attend extra study clubs, write their own personal statements etc.
These days, all those things are streamlined and SLT beaurocrats keep thinking easier = better.
It's not.
I love them but they must be...
- separate by module/topic, and not binded together or stapled together. They should be glued into their books on a double page spread.
- ideally, one side of A3 each
- really condensed info , with a focus on the 'difficult' content/key terms and not wasting space with the obvious stuff.
I made some years ago (ahead of curve on that one)- we still use them. I think they’re great.
It’s just a textbook/flash card hybrid really- don’t think it’s revolutionary and it gets used the same way to double check info, to revise from, to use to test yourself from etc
I like them for MFL; better than the disorganised mess of a vocab list and you can structure them in a way that shows how the components of the language interact with each other (which has definitely improved accuracy in writing). I didn't realise other subjects use them that much and can't really visualise how it works for many of them - is it just a topic summary?
In KS4 I think they are useful for revision, scaffolding tasks and having on desks /in the room as a reference. However, that depends on the subject (I use them in English but not in practical subjects and have them A3 and laminated for revision lessons).
For level 3/KS5/CPD they are good to get students to populate themselves- like notes that are structured to fill in. However, there's no need for absolutely everyone to use them or SLT to be dogmatic about it. Other methods like flashcards or mindmaps can do the same job!
I hate the term 'knowledge organiser'. It's yet another stupid piece of education jargon to describe something teachers have been using for centuries, just rebranded to make it seem cool and original. I've got an allergy (which is getting more pronounced by the year) to education fads that inexplicably roll onto the scene one day, blow up to the point of obsession, then fizzle out. Often these things can be situationally useful when used properly, but they're never game changers. Knowledge organisers (or summaries or fact files or whatever they used to be called) can also be useful, but students need to be taught what they are and what they are not. They are tools for summarising the key points of a topic. They are not everything they need to know for the exam so they can just learn it and ignore you.
The fad culture to prove SLT’s existence is valid is one of my least favourite parts of the education system at the moment
In no other job do you have to keep proving you can do your job to keep your pay as much as in teaching. Other places, you have proven your experience level and get a raise and then you do a good job and get another raise. You may move to another position or company and for more pay - never really working any harder - just smarter with experience. In teaching SLT have to keep making stuff up and push it on others whether it makes sense or not just to keep proving yourself or you get criticised for not doing enough for your salary which is already pittance. - Is what I understand from what I have seen and heard as an ECT2.
Constant meetings with new buzzwords and rehashed techniques just to prove their worth. I got to M6 in the last school I was in. I took on extra responsibilities, that were eventually given to a different department with a TLR pay boost, 🤷♂️ (wtf) applied for jobs which I later found out were ear marked for certain members of staff. I left and now work as a Lecturer for more money and less responsibility. The education system is so fucked.
I love teaching and being in the classroom but that is what - 30-40% of what I do and the rest is mostly time wasting, energy draining BS that takes up my free time and family time of which I don't get paid for.I work through break times and lunch times, before and after school and at home. I spend Saturday in bed recovering and Sunday is back to school work for Monday. Of the tonnes of hobbies I had I am barely holding on to 1. Then you add on that the roles to 'aspire' to are crappy roles with really no meaning. I laugh internally when someone says "I got promoted to HOD" because I know they will appoint anyone who is willing to work extra for just £200 extra month and only 1 hour extra time a day. Some schools have even giver trainees the position early because they are so desperate. How is that a promotion when they are just using you and no one cares about your personal development or wellbeing? I am out. From Sept I am looking elsewhere and I am a shortage subject. Only 1-8 people in any area ever train to teach my subject per year (last year there were 2). 80% of people I trained with across the subjects are already considering leaving and are really disheartened by the whole field.
I personally can't wait for the icons they made us put on our slides this year to change and we all have to do it again in September, one of my favourite parts of the year
I agree with you, I personally quite like them for being used as a place to locate key vocab and concepts. They are also great for "self study placeholder" tasks if someone has finished early, and useful for mitigating absence. I was led to understand that they were to fit on a single A4 sheet, and ideally no more than double sided. I have however seen some people that put down literally everything and it becomes more of a summary booklet than any kind of organiser. It is nice to have an extra axe in my shed, but I would be hesitant to incorporate them into every lesson unless someone can explain the benefit to me. They are not a substitute for actual teaching.
We call them something else at my school (I can’t say what as it’d identify me). I have ALWAYS loathed them. I print them at the start of every project, we stick them in and that’s it. The kids very rarely need to refer to them again! Huge waste of everyone’s time.
I think they’re good, but you can’t really use them ‘as-is’ . Use them to make quizzes or MCQs or other retrieval tasks. There are a lot of crappy knowledge organisers about, this is part of the issue. Classic lethal mutation.
I just don’t get the point of them? They can’t use them in exams. I moved to a new school that uses them and I’ve been criticised for not using them. No one can show me how they’re used well.
This is a problem that I have. In 8 years I’m yet to see anyone from our SLT or teaching team able to demonstrate how they can be used well.
I feel like they're a way to avoid buying textbooks, which always have chapter summaries. I don't make them, and haven't been convinced when I've seen them in action.
BRING BACK TEXT BOOKS!!!! Why on earth are teachers expected to plan, write, print and trim question sheets for each lesson for the children to stick in, lose, get in the wrong order, then for the teacher to have to mark without an answer book? If I was an educational consultant I'd make millions flogging text books to reduce teacher workload, save lesson time and save paper, glue and printing costs.
I like them. I developed one for my subject that runs through ks3 and ks4. I see it as a tool box. Has most if not all the key language and definitions we use, a variety of techniques, methods and other things pupils can use to develop work. Also means that I don't need to rehash what words mean or some of the basic concepts. The kids can find it and I can keep move forward. I supplement them at times with other bits or have pupils fill them as we go through projects to make sure they have all the right knowledge as we move through topics.
I’ve been actively avoiding having to make them for some time now. We’re being encouraged to make them but most of my students just can’t handle the information overload. It would be wasted effort for me to make them. I also don’t think management realise how time-consuming it can be to make them for every bloody topic.
I agree, I feel like they are the antithesis of well-organized knowledge.
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I just get the kids to stick it… make them write their names and spend the first 15 minutes going through it
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My bad! Forgot it was key stage 1! They can be really challenging but I think if they do it from the start by learning to stick the knowledge organiser then they will get used to it perhaps?
I've never understood why seemingly every primary school has such an obsession with making books look tidy, when (especially with KS1) the natural state is so much the opposite. I've also never had anybody manage to answer the question "what is the educational benefit of tidy books".
I like the concept, but think they’re more of a revision tool. I think students should make them themselves to consolidate knowledge and regularly use them as a revision strategy. I also have adhd; I have found that the visual organisation of knowledge organisers is rather stressful to look at, and, ironically, not very conducive to knowledge building.
I love the idea of students making them themselves! That would turn them into far more useful documents!
I changed the way I use them this year and the children have actually used them! Rather that sticking them in books where they are ignored, they are in a folder on the wall. The children know that the wall is one of the places to look when you need help. The number of children who will now get up, go to the wall and go through the knowledge organiser is amazing. Predominantly for vocab, spelling and word definitions, but also for processes in science or remembering dates in history. I'm going to update them next year to reflect how they've been used this year, but explicitly teaching that they are a helpful resource has raised independence in the class. Before this year I hated them and hated the hours it took to create them and barely remembered to photocopy them never mind stick them in books.
I like this idea, going to have to borrow it for next year
Hate them. Can’t wait for them to become a distant bad memory. Give me a nice CGP revision guide!
What about a CGP Revision Knowledge Organiser? I actually really like the computer science ones
We not only have to provide KOs, but they all have to follow a certain layout and word count. We’re also expected to refer to them in every starter and have them out on the desks in every lesson. Regardless of subject or year group. I hate them with the fiery passion of a thousand suns and would gladly see the lot disappear into as many suns as it takes. My more experienced colleagues predict we’ll only have another year or so of them before it’s something else. Then I have +/- 5 years to get out of the profession before they come back again.
Ours are extra pointless because they’re like a document that’s just there to please Ofsted. The kids don’t even get one. I didn’t think knowledge organisers could feel even more pointless but here we are
I like them when they’re a blank structure and the kids do the work and fill them in. I think there’s something to be gained from that. I don’t like them when they’re just dished out completed to tick a box. Waste of paper, never to be looked at again.
YES!! I spent all last year creating maths knowledge organisers to a specific format, in a specific font etc etc....they've never been used this year...waste of my time 🙄🙄
Have them in secondary science, hated them at first, more nuanced view now. They have their place. We mainly use them as summaries of key definitions that students will need to know to access the course and sit exams. Only time we insist on their use is in homework, every week a knowledge recall practice based on the topic currently being studied. Works quite well in conjunction with a direct instruction approach.
Interesting reading. I currently use them with year 1 - yes 5 and 6 year olds- I’ve always thought maybe they might be useful for older students who can read and access them more appropriately?Then hoping that we might be laying the foundations for accessing them later on… seems maybe not
Yeah, hate them. It's never been easier for children to find support to help them with their studies. Organising that support is a life-skill that children need for future study. Knowledge organisers rob them of the chance to develop those skills. Soon universities and employers will have to provide something similar because current students won't know how to do it independently. I keep thinking how previous generations had to check out books from the library (if the book wasn't already checked out), write reliable notes, attend extra study clubs, write their own personal statements etc. These days, all those things are streamlined and SLT beaurocrats keep thinking easier = better. It's not.
I love them but they must be... - separate by module/topic, and not binded together or stapled together. They should be glued into their books on a double page spread. - ideally, one side of A3 each - really condensed info , with a focus on the 'difficult' content/key terms and not wasting space with the obvious stuff.
I made some years ago (ahead of curve on that one)- we still use them. I think they’re great. It’s just a textbook/flash card hybrid really- don’t think it’s revolutionary and it gets used the same way to double check info, to revise from, to use to test yourself from etc
I like them for MFL; better than the disorganised mess of a vocab list and you can structure them in a way that shows how the components of the language interact with each other (which has definitely improved accuracy in writing). I didn't realise other subjects use them that much and can't really visualise how it works for many of them - is it just a topic summary?
If you have ADHD, it makes sense that you don't like it. If you don't have ADHD, it's better not to use the term flippantly. (Just saying)
In KS4 I think they are useful for revision, scaffolding tasks and having on desks /in the room as a reference. However, that depends on the subject (I use them in English but not in practical subjects and have them A3 and laminated for revision lessons). For level 3/KS5/CPD they are good to get students to populate themselves- like notes that are structured to fill in. However, there's no need for absolutely everyone to use them or SLT to be dogmatic about it. Other methods like flashcards or mindmaps can do the same job!
Ugh such a dirty word. Should be banned.