OTET Paper 2 key terms

Teaching that matches a child's age, individual needs and social context. It means choosing tasks, materials and expectations that a learner of that stage can handle with reasonable support, rather than pushing content too early or too late.

The gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with guidance from a more capable person. Instruction aimed at this band, with temporary support that is later withdrawn, produces the strongest learning gains.

Temporary, gradually removed support given while a learner attempts a task just beyond their independent ability. Examples include worked models, prompts, cue cards and leading questions. Support is faded as competence grows so the learner takes over the task.

Four ordered stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. Each stage describes qualitatively different thinking, such as the growth of conservation and reversibility in the concrete operational years and abstract hypothetical reasoning in adolescence.

The understanding that quantity, mass or number stays the same when appearance changes, for example water poured into a taller glass. Preoperational children typically fail such tasks; concrete operational children succeed because they can mentally reverse the change.

Difficulty in taking another person's viewpoint. In young children it shows as assuming others see or know exactly what they do. In adolescence it can appear as imaginary audiences and personal fables, where the young person feels uniquely observed.

The ability to attribute beliefs, desires and intentions to oneself and others, and to recognise that another person can hold a false belief. It develops markedly in the preschool years and underpins cooperation, pretence and moral understanding.

A stage account of moral reasoning moving from obedience and punishment avoidance, through conformity to social expectations, to principled reasoning based on universal justice. Stages are assessed by the reasons given for moral choices, not by the choices themselves.

The view that higher mental functions first appear in social interaction and are then internalised. Language, cultural tools and dialogue with more knowledgeable others drive cognitive growth, making collaborative talk central to classroom learning.

The position that learners actively build knowledge by connecting new information to existing ideas, rather than receiving it passively. Teaching therefore probes prior conceptions, poses problems and encourages explanation, prediction and reflection.

An organised mental framework that guides how a person interprets new information and recalls it later. Schemas are revised when experience contradicts them, which is why prior misconceptions can persist unless teaching directly challenges them.

Applying knowledge or skill learned in one situation to a new one. Near transfer stays close to the original context; far transfer involves different settings or problems. Varied practice and explicit comparison of examples support transfer.

Awareness and regulation of one's own thinking: planning an approach, monitoring comprehension, and adjusting strategy when something is not working. Teachers build it through think-alouds, self-questioning checklists and reflection on errors.

Intrinsic motivation arises from interest, curiosity and satisfaction in the activity itself. Extrinsic motivation comes from rewards or pressures outside the task. Overusing rewards for tasks a child already enjoys can weaken intrinsic interest.

Any consequence that increases the likelihood of a behaviour recurring. Positive reinforcement adds something pleasant; negative reinforcement removes something unpleasant. Both differ from punishment, which aims to reduce a behaviour.

Building a complex behaviour by reinforcing successive approximations toward it. A teacher might praise each step of a long division routine before expecting the whole procedure, so early success keeps the learner engaged.

The drive to meet a standard of excellence. It is influenced by expectations of success and the value placed on the task. Mastery goals focus on learning and effort; performance goals focus on appearing able relative to others.

A pattern in which repeated failure leads a learner to believe effort makes no difference, so they stop trying. Attributing failure to fixed lack of ability rather than strategy or effort is a key mechanism.

An account of how learners explain their successes and failures. Attributing outcomes to controllable effort supports persistence, while attributing them to fixed ability or luck undermines it. Feedback language shapes these attributions.

An approach in which all children learn together in ordinary classrooms, with curriculum and environment adapted to remove barriers. It requires differentiation, accessible materials and support services rather than separate provision for labelled groups.

Deliberately varying content, process, product or pace so that learners at different readiness levels reach the same goals. It is planned from the start and does not mean giving some children easier objectives.

A written plan for a learner with special educational needs, stating present levels, specific goals, support and accommodations, and review dates. It is drawn up with parents and implemented by the class teacher with specialists.

Assessment that is spread across the year and covers scholastic and co-scholastic areas, using multiple tools such as observation, projects and tests. Its purpose is improvement of learning, not only ranking.

Ongoing checks during teaching that reveal where learners are and inform the next step. Examples include exit questions, quick quizzes and observation. Feedback is descriptive and actionable, and results are not used mainly for grading.

Assessment at the end of a unit, term or course that judges achievement against expected learning outcomes. It is used for reporting and certification, and is most useful when criteria and weightings are shared in advance.

A scoring guide listing criteria and describing levels of quality for each. Shared with learners beforehand, it makes expectations visible and supports self- and peer-assessment, especially for open-ended tasks such as projects and writing.

A purposeful collection of a learner's work over time, with reflections and selection by the learner. It documents progress, supports self-assessment and can serve as evidence in continuous evaluation of writing, projects or practical work.

The process through which a child learns the values, norms, language and roles of their society, mainly through family, school, peers and media. School contributes through rules, group work and the hidden curriculum of daily routines.

The ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words, such as identifying the first sound of 'ship' or blending /k/ /a/ /t/. It is a strong predictor of early reading success and is taught orally, before letters.

Teaching the relationships between letters or letter groups and the sounds they represent, so learners can decode unfamiliar printed words. Systematic phonics proceeds in a planned sequence from simple to complex correspondences.

Converting printed symbols into spoken words using letter-sound knowledge and patterns. Fluent decoding frees attention for meaning, so weak decoding often shows up as slow, effortful reading with poor comprehension.

Words a reader recognises instantly, without sounding out, including irregular high-frequency words. A large sight vocabulary speeds reading and supports comprehension by reducing the attention spent on individual words.

Reading with appropriate accuracy, speed and expression. Fluent readers group words into meaningful phrases and self-correct. Repeated oral reading with feedback and modelled reading aloud are common ways to build it.

Two fast reading strategies. Skimming moves quickly through text for the gist or general idea; scanning searches for a specific detail such as a date or name. Both are taught with timed, purposeful tasks.

Drawing a conclusion that the text implies but does not state directly, using clues plus background knowledge. Teaching inference means asking why, how a character feels, and what would happen next, with evidence from the passage.

An approach that organises language learning around meaningful communication rather than isolated grammar rules. Learners use the target language in pair and group tasks, with accuracy developing alongside fluency and interaction.

Acquisition is the natural, subconscious development of a language through exposure and use. Learning is conscious study of rules and forms, usually in formal settings. Classroom teaching aims to provide acquisition-like exposure as well as explicit knowledge.

Spoken or written language slightly beyond the learner's current level that can still be understood from context, gesture and support. It drives language growth when the message is understood even if not every word is known.

Lessons built around meaningful tasks, such as planning a trip or solving a problem, with language learned as a resource for completing them. A pre-task, task cycle and language focus stage are typical.

How a teacher responds to learner errors. Immediate correction suits accuracy work; delayed or reformulating feedback suits fluency tasks. Over-correction can raise anxiety and reduce willingness to speak in a second language.

The principle that a digit's value depends on its position, so in 4,705 the 7 means seven hundreds. It underpins reading, writing, comparing and calculating with multi-digit numbers, and is a frequent source of early misconceptions.

A linear model showing numbers in order and equal spacing, used for comparing, rounding, adding and subtracting, and later for fractions and negative numbers. It helps learners see magnitude rather than only counting procedures.

Moving from handling real objects, to diagrams or pictures, to symbols and rules. For example, sharing counters, then drawing groups, then writing division facts. It gives meaning to procedures before fluency is demanded.

A physical object used to model mathematical ideas, such as counters, base-ten blocks, fraction strips or geometric solids. It is most effective when the teacher links the action on objects explicitly to the written symbols.

Any way of showing a mathematical idea: objects, diagrams, tables, graphs, symbols or words. Moving between representations builds understanding, and problems are easier when learners can choose and translate among them.

A diagram linking ideas with labelled arrows to show relationships, such as the connections among fractions, decimals and percentages. It reveals a learner's mental structure and exposes gaps or wrong links for discussion.

A cycle of observing, asking a question, forming a testable hypothesis, planning a fair test, collecting and analysing data, and drawing conclusions. In school science it is taught as thinking and doing, not as a fixed set of steps.

An investigation in which only the variable being studied is changed, while all other relevant conditions are kept the same. Learners must identify the changed, measured and controlled variables to judge whether a comparison is valid.

A testable prediction about the relationship between variables, stated so that evidence could support or contradict it. It differs from a guess because it is based on prior knowledge and can be investigated.

Using hands-on activities not merely to confirm facts but to surface learners' predictions and reasoning. The teacher observes, questions and records what students do and say, then adjusts the next lesson accordingly.

A persistent idea that conflicts with accepted knowledge, such as heavier objects always falling faster. Misconceptions resist simple telling; they change when learners predict, test and explain discrepant events.

Primary sources are first-hand evidence from the period, such as inscriptions, coins, letters or photographs. Secondary sources interpret such evidence, such as textbooks and later histories. Both require source criticism.

Judging a source by who made it, when, for whom and why, and by checking it against other evidence. Learners ask what is claimed, what is left out, and how bias or purpose shapes the account.

Placing events in time order and using dates, periods and timelines to show sequence and duration. It includes conventions such as BCE and CE and helps learners see cause and consequence rather than isolated facts.

Explaining why events happened and what followed, recognising multiple causes, short- and long-term effects, and unintended outcomes. It moves history beyond listing events toward reasoned explanation with evidence.

Recognising that accounts reflect the position, interests and values of their authors, and that no account is neutral in every respect. Learners compare viewpoints, including those absent from a source, before drawing conclusions.

Reading and using maps through scale, direction, symbols, keys, grid references and contours. These skills connect location to physical and human features, and include interpreting thematic maps such as rainfall or population maps.

Scale expresses the ratio between map distance and ground distance; direction uses cardinal and intermediate points, often with a compass rose or north arrow. Together they let learners locate and measure real places.

The study of how human activity interacts with natural systems, and of meeting present needs without damaging the resource base for the future. Classroom treatment includes local resources, pollution, conservation and sustainable practices.