Schola Europaea European School Brussels II

an important determinant of whether an
IWB is successfully embedded into a
teacher’s pedagogy, then one might expect
any impact on attainment levels to become
apparent over a longer timeframe. Two
reviews of the Primary Schools Whiteboard
Expansion Project by researchers from
Manchester Metropolitan University
(Somekh et al, 2007) would suggest that
the introduction of an IWB, for at least
two years, does have a positive and
measurable impact on pupil attainment.
Lewin et al (2008) concluded that their
analysis showed:
“There were measurable gains in
children’s test score results (at age 11)
in Mathematics, English and Science
when they had been taught with an IWB
for more than two years” (p. 296)
Are there any differences in how IWBs are
used in Primary classrooms as opposed to
their use in Secondary school settings ?
There seems to be much more reported
research in the literature on IWBs and
their impact in the primary school
sector than on experiences with IWBs
in the secondary school sector. This
may not be surprising as setting up and
conducting research in primary schools is
generally easier, as they are usually smaller
institutions with whole-class teaching
settings, where the same class would be
taught every day by the same teacher in
a particular classroom. Lewin et al (2008)
recognized this important advantage for
their research context:
“… for the majority of the school day,
primary school teachers are based in the
same classroom and teach most, if not
all, of the curriculum to a single group
of pupils. This meant that teachers, their
teaching assistants and the pupils had
exclusive and sustained access to the
IWB” (p. 292)
Rudd (2007) goes on to say that:
“There is also evidence to suggest
that IWBs may be more ‘accepted’ at
primary level because they are viewed
as a resource more readily identifiable
with primary strategies and whole-class
teaching requirements. The multimodal
aspects allow for concepts to be
explained and expressed in different
formats and styles, and the often ‘tactile’
nature of use has been argued to be
generally beneficial for pupils of this age,
helping to increase the engagement and
attention by engendering ‘theatrical
tension’ in the classroom” (p. 5)
In secondary school classrooms, the IWB
seems to support a more conventional
teacher role, which sees her in front of
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