Practice guide for primary and secondary schools

Develop techniques and practices

Teach explicitly
February 2024

Our report on How Student Learn Best shows that learning is optimised through a
structured and sequenced approach to explicitly teaching new content. Introducing new
information is most effective when teachers break it down and teach it explicitly using
explanation, demonstration and modelling, especially when students are new to that
learning area.1

This practice guide will help you understand ways to:

• explain, demonstrate and model the content of learning so students can practise and acquire new
knowledge and skills
• minimise the risk of cognitive overload that could interfere with students’ retention of new knowledge
and skills
• support students in drawing on their foundation of knowledge and skills to build a deeper understanding,
before undertaking more complex tasks with less guidance.

Teach chunks of new information explicitly with explanation, demonstration, and modelling
(Teach explicitly) is one of 18 interconnected practices identified in our Teaching for How Students
Learn model of learning and teaching. This practice sits in the Instruction phase, which focuses
on managing students’ cognitive load as they process and acquire new learning. This practice is
interconnected with:
• Enabling, which focuses on positive, respectful relationships in a culturally safe, learning-focused
environment
• Planning, which focuses on developing and using a sequenced and structured plan for the
knowledge and skills students will acquire
• Gradual release, which focuses on maximising students’ opportunities to retain, consolidate
and apply their learning.

Enabling Planning Instruction Gradual release

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Understanding this practice

These examples demonstrate what teaching chunks of new information explicitly with explanation,
demonstration and modelling might look like in the classroom, and potential misapplications in practice.

What it is

•
•
Teaching new information explicitly and at an appropriate pace.

•
Moving on to the next chunk of new information once students have mastered component tasks.

Demonstrating and modelling how to complete a task for students, and providing appropriate

•
scaffolding.

Providing regular opportunities for students to practise what they’re learning during a lesson.

What it isn’t

• Teaching new information too slowly or too quickly for the needs of students in the class,

•
and the nature of the task.

•
Moving on to new information without students having mastered the prior task.

Setting tasks that require application of new or developing knowledge and skills without explicit
teaching and modelling, or removing scaffolding too soon after teaching students how to

•
complete a task.

Spending most of the lesson explaining, demonstrating or modelling without giving students
the opportunity to practise for themselves.

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The importance of teaching explicitly for effective teaching

and learning

Key points from the research

• Working memory can quickly become overloaded if too much information is presented too quickly.
During cognitive overload, there’s a risk new information won’t be transferred to long-term memory,
and won’t be connected to current knowledge, and so won’t contribute to students’ understanding.2
• Chunking information helps manage cognitive load. ‘Chunking’ is the practice of breaking complex
concepts, strategies or skills into smaller, more manageable components.3 When chunks are taught in
a logical sequence of small steps, it helps students build on what they already know, understand and
can do, and retain what they’re learning for future use.4
• Learning new information happens most effectively and efficiently when teachers provide explicit
guidance so students aren’t left to construct meaning or discover new knowledge themselves.5

Key strategies and techniques

There are a range of strategies and techniques you can use to teach chunks of new information explicitly
with explanation, demonstration and modelling. This section describes those key strategies and techniques
(see summary in Figure 1), including what they might look like in the classroom.

Figure 1: Key strategies and techniques to teach explicitly

Key strategies Key techniques

Analyse the intended learning

Sequence the chunks of learning

Break down complex skills and knowledge
into smaller instructional tasks Move between guided and independent
practice to support students’ attainment of
mastery at different paces

Link subject matter to learning objectives

and success criteria
Fully explain what students need to learn
Explain new information clearly and concisely

Use an appropriate pace

Demonstrate and think aloud

Demonstrate and model what students
Model using worked examples
need to learn
Provide examples and non-examples

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Break down complex skills and knowledge into smaller instructional tasks

Analyse the intended learning

Analyse the intended learning and break the learning into small, manageable components, noting that
some learners may require learning to be further broken down into smaller components than others.

Sequence the chunks of learning

Sequence these components so students can learn step by step. Planning a sequential scope and sequence
– ideally with a consistent, whole-school approach – can guide the breaking up and sequencing of content
into manageable amounts that can be taught at an appropriate pace and in a meaningful order.

Move between guided and independent practice to support students’ attainment of

mastery at different paces
At times, it may be necessary to move backwards and forwards between providing instruction, guiding
practice and providing opportunities for independent practice. A useful guide is to aim for 80% of students
providing correct answers during guided practice before moving those students to independent practice.
Offer intensified support for students who are yet to grasp the learning, which may involve reteaching,
and referring students for additional small group or individual intervention delivered with more repetitions.
Regular progress monitoring is important until students have mastered the content. Once students have
demonstrated their understanding, provide opportunities for independent practice so all students can use
and apply what they’ve learned for deeper learning. This approach provides the opportunity for students
to attain mastery at differing paces.

Fully explain what students need to learn

Link subject matter to learning objectives and success criteria

Communicate learning objectives and success criteria for each lesson using student-friendly language and
clearly defined terminology, so students know and can understand what they’re intended to learn, and how
it relates to what they already know.

Explain new information clearly and concisely

Provide clear, concise and unambiguous explanations of key concepts, strategies or skills. Use consistent,
well-defined language that matches the key vocabulary students need to learn, and that builds on or
aligns with students’ prior knowledge. Limiting unnecessary information helps students focus and manage
cognitive load during learning.

Use an appropriate pace

Use an appropriately brisk pace, tailored to the needs of students in the class, as well as the complexity of
the task. Set a pace that will allow students to move from listening and observing, to engaging with guided
practice tasks that prompt them to think about and try out what they’re learning.

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Demonstrate and model what students need to learn

Demonstrate and think aloud

Guide students through content using step-by-step demonstrations, narrating the thinking or decision‑making
process needed to complete relevant tasks or procedures.

Model using worked examples

A worked example shows or models all the steps required to complete a task or solve a problem. It can be
used to clearly and concisely demonstrate how to complete a task. Worked examples can gradually introduce
different elements of the task or show alternative ways of completing it. As students become more expert,
remove steps from worked examples and replace worked examples with independent problem-solving
or decision-making. Students can be asked to identify and explain what steps are missing from examples
during checks for understanding.

Provide examples and non-examples

Comparing and contrasting examples and non-examples is a useful technique to pre-empt likely misconceptions,
and to provide the contextual information that students need to help them recognise when and how to
apply their learning to future tasks.

Developing your practice

Consider what’s informing your current practices, expectations and beliefs. Use these questions to reflect,
make a plan to develop your practice and seek feedback to monitor the impact for your students.
» When you teach new information how do you:
– support students to draw on their existing knowledge to build deeper understandings?
– explain, demonstrate and model the content?
– sequence chunks of new learning so that students can learn step by step, and grasp
foundational knowledge before moving on to less guided practice?

» How does your teaching approach help to manage the risk of students experiencing cognitive
overload?
» Review the 4 capabilities in our rubric on explicit instruction, noting the connection between
breaking up learning into chunks and being able to communicate learning objectives effectively.
How is this reflected in your current practice? What area might be an important focus for your
next professional learning goal?
» What would others (peers, students, leaders) notice about your approach to teaching new information?
What might they notice you do, create or say to break up and sequence new information, and
explain, demonstrate and model the content? How could you invite and use their feedback to
strengthen your approach?

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Further reading
Martin, A. J., & Evans, P. (2018). Load reduction instruction: Exploring a framework that assesses explicit
instruction through to independent learning. Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal
of Research and Studies, 73(1), 203–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.03.018
This paper explains how teachers can help students manage their cognitive load during the initial stages
of learning, and then, as fluency and automaticity develop, how students can be encouraged to engage
in guided independent learning.

Sweller, J., van Merrienboer, J., & Paas, F. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design.
Educational Psychology Review, 10, 251–296.
This seminal literature review provides an overview of cognitive load theory – what it is, how it relates
to the human brain, and the implications of cognitive load theory for instructional design.

Endnotes
1 Archer, A. L., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Explicit instruction: Effective and efficient teaching. Guilford Press.

2  entre for Education Statistics and Evaluation. (2017). Cognitive load theory: Research that teachers really need
C
to understand. NSW Department of Education. https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/educational-data/cese/
publications/literature-reviews/cognitive-load-theory.html

3 Hughes, C. A., Morris, J. R., Therrien, W. J., & Benson, S. K. (2017). Explicit instruction: Historical and contemporary
contexts. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 32(3), 140–148. https://doi.org/10.1111/ldrp.12142

4 Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of instruction: Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American
Educator, 36(1), 12–19. https://www.aft.org/ae/spring2012/rosenshine

5 Archer, A. L., & Hughes, C. A. (2011). Explicit instruction: Effective and efficient teaching. Guilford Press.

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