Explicit Instruction is one of the most powerful teaching tools we have. It brings clarity. It builds fluency. It supports students to succeed—especially in the early stages of learning.
But there’s a risk we can’t ignore.
If we focus only on the teaching, we may forget to develop the learner.
And when that happens—even the best instruction will eventually fall flat.
The Teaching Is Getting Better. But Are the Learners?
Over this series, we’ve explored three unintended outcomes of well-structured, expertly delivered Explicit Instruction:
- Short-term success without long-term growth
- Passivity masked as success
- Mindset messages that reinforce performance over process
Each of these issues is subtle. None are the fault of Explicit Instruction.
But all highlight the same blind spot:
Teaching for content coverage is not the same as teaching for learner capability.
Reintroducing the Learning Equation
This is the shift we need to make.
Growth = Skilful Teaching × Skilful Learning
We’ve done incredible work on the first half of that equation.
Instruction has never been more precise. More structured. More evidence-based.
But the second half—skilful learning—hasn’t received the same attention.
And without it, the equation breaks down.
Because no matter how skilfully we teach, students only grow when they engage as learners.
We’re Not Just Teaching Content. We’re Building Learners.
This is the distinction at the heart of Learnership.
In my book Learnership: Raising the status of learning from an act to an art in your school, I define learnership as the capability to engage in the process of learning skilfully—to reflect, adapt, stretch, and improve over time.
When we teach for learning, we focus on delivering content clearly.
When we teach for learners, we also develop the habits, strategies, and mindsets students need to carry learning forward.
We teach them how to:
- Persist in the Learning Zone
- Recognise and use mistakes
- Act on feedback, not just receive it
- Apply effort with strategy
- Take initiative, not just follow direction
These aren’t soft skills. They’re success skills.
And they’re not automatically developed through good teaching.
They have to be taught.
Learnership Doesn’t Replace Explicit Instruction. It Completes It.
This isn’t a call to abandon Explicit Instruction.
It’s a call to finish the job.
Explicit Instruction delivers the clarity and structure students need to succeed in the Performance Zone.
Learnership ensures they have the capability to grow beyond it.
One builds mastery.
The other builds agency.
Together, they create learners who thrive not just in school—but beyond it.
Are You Teaching for Learning? Or Teaching for Learners?
This is the question I hope you’ll take from this series.
Because it’s not enough for students to complete the curriculum.
They need to become learners—capable of driving their own growth, especially in the face of challenge.
When Learnership and Explicit Instruction work together, we stop dragging students through content…
and start building the capacity to walk ahead of us.
That’s the shift.
That’s the goal.
Want to Go Deeper?
This blog wraps up a five-part series exploring the limits of Explicit Instruction—and the missing piece that completes it.
Explicit Instruction Delivers Learning. Learnership Develops Learners.
