Practice 2: fourth reflective entry
Reflect on your learning journey
Osterman and Kottkamp (2015) Cycle of Experiential Learning outlines 4 stages including problem identification, observation and analysis, abstract reconceptualization, and active experimentation.
In light of the recent tragedy that has befallen Christchurch, all of us can reflect on what we can do to prevent a recurrence of the hatred that led to Friday’s outrageous act by what appears to have been a lone gunman. Can we, as educators, make a difference?
21st century skills focus on the ability to think critically; to reflect on practice in order to grow relevant skills and to adapt to changing circumstances. The teacher is no longer the fount of wisdom spouting forth at the front of the room. Instead, as facilitator, the teacher is working alongside the students in order to allow them to respond individually and collectively to the challenges put in front of them. But is this the reality for all learners? This is the challenge that we must confront head on. All students need to be fully engaged in their learning; they need to be active participants in their own learning. And they need to respond critically and objectively to any challenge that is placed in front of them.
The Ministry of Education has provided a set of criteria which detail teacher responsibilities and standards; standards that we are required to adhere to. One of those standards talks about Professional learning – the need to use inquiry, collaborative problem-solving and professional learning to improve professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement of all learners. But it also talks about creating a learning-focused culture which is ‘characterised by respect, inclusion, collaboration and safety.’ (Ministry of Education, 2017)
With ready access to social media and answers to questions available at the click of the mouse, our students do not need to memorise reams of information. What they need, instead, is the ability to sift through the wealth of information out there and to develop a healthy scepticism in order to sift out fact from misinformation. What has my MindLab course taught me? Firstly, and most importantly, I now appreciate the value of collaboration. The most important thing is that you do not necessarily seek out people who think like you. What you need are people with complementary skills; those who do not necessarily agree with you. The ability to articulate your viewpoint and to stand your ground when expressing that viewpoint is essential when working collaboratively. How many adults seek out people who think as they do, to avoid defending the indefensible? If we can help students to think critically, to listen to others, to defend their viewpoint in a logical and considered way, then we would be making our world a safer place for all.
“Interpersonal collaboration is a style of direct interaction between at least two co-equal parties voluntarily engaged in shared decision making as they work towards a common goal.” (Cook and Friend, 1992). Three important precursors are identified here: the fact that each contributor is of equal status, they have chosen to work together, and there is a specific goal in mind. Quite unwittingly, when Claire, Rachel and I decided to collaborate together, we fulfilled all three requirements. We had a blast; each of us brought a specific skill to our collaboration, and we each trusted the other to deliver on promises made when we met. So I have added a fourth requirement for successful collaboration: that all parties need to trust each other.
References
Bolstad, R. & MacDonald,J.(2016). An analysis of participant blogs supplemented by teacher interviews. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
Cook L, & Friend M: Educational leadership for Teacher Collaboration in Billingsley et al: Program Leadership for serving students with Disability (1993)
Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators : professional development to improve student learning.(2nd ed.) New York: Skyhorse Publishing.
Ministry of Education (2017). Our code, our standards. Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards
Practice 2: third reflective entry
Evaluate how your Inquiry impacts on future Inquiry/practice
Step 1: What is the observed impact after the ‘Take Action’ phase?
One of the words which is constantly being reflected on in education today is the issue of equity. Despite decades of attempts to close the gaps between our top students and our bottom students, there has been little appreciable shift in NCEA results. Why Spirals of Inquiry? Designed by Judy Halbert and Linda Kaser, it has been in use extensively in schools in British Columbia over a number of years, and has been proven to improve student outcomes. Because Spirals are research-driven, there is a strong correlation between research, practice, and outcomes. More importantly, Spirals can lead to systemic change across a school with teachers working collaboratively, rather than having ad hoc change leading to pockets of brilliance. Spirals place the student at the centre of learning, out of which come further questions and modifications to teaching practice through research, inquiry, action and reflection. The Spiral is never ‘finished’ as that reflection process leads to further questioning.
Our Spiral is based around transition, and the outcomes of this inquiry will, hopefully, lead to further collaborations between primary schools and secondary schools. After a period of reflection and discussion, both with colleagues and the students involved in initiating the programme, we further refined our plan. The outcomes of the initial meeting with primary school students and the analysis of the data clearly showed the value of reaching out and building relationships across schools and across age groups. What we now needed to do was to further refine what we were doing, and implement the Arts initiative so that there would be a discernible outcome of the establishment of the building of this relationship between primary and secondary school students. This is to be the next phase of our inquiry: the building of a google site.
Step 2: How is the observed impact different from or similar to the anticipated one?
We had made assumptions before the action phase of our inquiry, and initial feedback reinforced those assumptions. Observation while implementing our action plan took two forms: through observing the students who were participating in our inquiry, and their interactions with the high school students, we were able to form an opinion. Extensive photographic evidenced was amassed to bear witness to that positive response. We were then able to draw conclusions as to the immediate effect of our action. A follow-up google survey was then conducted to affirm what we were seeing. Interviews with the senior students who had participated in the visit also gave us a different perspective, which also affirmed our observations. All of these views reinforced our original premise: that by building relationships through the Arts we can ease transition from primary school to high school.
Step 3: What is the impact on future inquiry/practice?
One aspect of our collaboration has been that, while we collaborated on the inquiry itself, we were then tasked with evaluating and writing up our findings individually. I found the flexibility of working collaboratively was then undermined by the challenge of then working in isolation to draw conclusions. The challenge, for me, when using the principles of action research which was effective in the collaborative phase, was not as effective when working individually to process and reflect on our findings. I think that in the future when working collaboratively to build data I would recommend that researchers work collectively to process data, draw conclusions, and make recommendations before writing individually. This would make more sense of the process.
References:
Stoll, L: Temperley, J: Narrowing the Gap with Spirals of Enquiry Evaluation of Whole Education’s Pilot. Whole Education 2015
Halbert, J: Kaser, L; and Koehn; L: Spirals of Inquiry: Building Professional Inquiry to Foster Student Learning. Paper presented at ICSEI 2011, Limassol, Cyprus as part of the symposium entitled: What is Inquiry and How Does it Work? Examining Linkages in Assessment, Leadership, Teacher and Student Inquiry Ref # 0053 January 6 2011 15:45
Practice 2: second reflective entry
What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative data? Both are inquiry approaches, and most researchers, I would suggest, would use a combination of the two in their data gathering. In quantitative research, the researcher asks narrow questions, or uses statistical data to define trends. Using this data, the researcher is then able to interpret the data using prior predictions and research data. Quantitative research findings have a lack of bias. With qualitative data, on the other hand, the researcher asks broad questions from which he or she is able to draw conclusions based on personal reflection and past research. This type of data gathering is flexible and can include the researcher’s personal thoughts.
So far we have used a quantitative approach to data gathering. This method of data collection is appropriate for our research question which is “What is the impact of a collaborative Google site initiative on the connectedness to Rangiora High School of at risk Year 8 students?” In order to address the potential impact of student involvement in this project, we are required to survey students before and after the establishment of the google site.
When we conducted our research at the ‘learning’ phase of our inquiry, we formulated our questions collaboratively, basing those questions on the research that we had gathered. In the recently-conducted survey, we asked students specific questions using google questionnaires as the basis for the gathering of information. Our initial data was gathered from 20 Year Eight students from Sefton School. On a scale of up to 7, 30% rated their connectedness at a ‘2’, which was surprising in light of their answers to further questions. When talking about their connections to Rangiora High School, 90% stated that they had friends at Rangiora High School, 40% had one or more siblings at Rangiora High School, while 35% had sporting connections at the high school.
We intend to survey the students again after the second visit by our Cultural Captains (the first visit was conducted just last week), using the same format.
There will be three steps in the process of analysing our data:
1. Organising the data to create our storyline
2. Exploring to data to find our story
3. Displaying our data to share a convincing research story
Once we have organised our data at the conclusion of the second survey, we will be in a position to start to analyse that data. We will need to look for patterns, relationships, connections, and themes.
“Analysing involves coding that leads to categorizing that leads to concepts” (Lichtman, 2010, quoted in Babione, 2014).
References:
Babione, C: Practitioner teacher inquiry and research 2014 (Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com Created from unitec on 2017-08-13 21:17:27.
Creswell, J. W: Research Design. Qualitative, Quantitative, and mixed methods approaches 4th edition. Sage Publications 2014
Riel, M. (2014, August 5).T8 Analyzing Data. Retrieved from Mindlab Portal 3/3/19
Practice 2: first reflective entry
As teachers, we have the opportunity to reach out to our community and entertain, education and inform. This is not something that we are always good at doing. Ironically, it is technology that is making it easier to engage with the community and share with parents, grandparents, and the wider community the progress that students are making within the classroom environment. Can we, as Arts practitioners, initiate change in our relationship with feeder schools and demonstrate that it is possible to forge a productive relationship within the confines of our existing system? I would like to think that our innovation will encourage others to seek ways in which to reach out to school and community in their specialist disciplines.
One of the aims of our Community of Learning is to assist in ways in which students can transition from one stage of education to another. By participating in our educational initiative, we are hopeful that this will be a way in which we can make this wish a reality. This week, representatives from our team of Cultural Captains will travel to Sefton School to facilitate the first step in a combined initiative that will allow students from Sefton School to work with students from Rangiora High School to collaborate in a “Heart of the Arts” showcase in May. By creating a Google site, students from Sefton School will demonstrate their digital and creative skills and twin what they are doing with a similar Google site that has been created by the Arts Faculty at Rangiora High School.
Bolstad et al in their book “Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective” identify six themes as emerging principles for a 21st century education system. The sixth theme, where they discuss new partnership and relationships, resonated with me. Our project, which involves local primary and secondary schools collaborating to produce an exhibition to which community members are invited to attend, should go some way to breaking down the barriers between school and community. Through this participation they will participate in a real-world activity where they, through collaboration, will become more connected with the community.
Schools have made huge investments in educational technology, reflecting the value that society places on digital technology. However, there is evidence that shows there can little academic advantage. Having access to technology is not enough. The actual use that we, as teachers, make of technology and our ability to integrate it into our teaching practice is more important. Building a Google site will provide students with an opportunity to apply a new skill to a real world situation. Hopefully this experience will provide students with the confidence to apply this newfound knowledge in a variety of ways.
Our teacher inquiry is about transition to high school and the way in which collaboration between primary and secondary school can create bonds that could ease that transition. In discussion with teachers in our community of learning, particularly those that are leading our COL, there has been significant interest in what we are doing. Can we, as Arts practitioners, initiate change in our relationship with feeder schools and demonstrate that it is possible to forge a productive partnership within the confines of our existing system?
The OECD in its report on educational trends highlights three areas for focus:
(a) Improving teaching and learning by equipping teachers with sound pedagogical knowledge;
(b) Building digital resilience through teaching skills and implementing appropriate mediation skills at home and at school;
(c) Providing skills for the future through developing higher-order thinking together with social and emotional skills.
References:
Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins: “Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective” (2012)
Escueta, M; Quan, V; Nickow, A J; Oreopoulos, P: Education technology: an evidence-based review. National bureau of economic research 2017
Lombardi, M M: Authentic Learning for the 21st Century: An Overview (Educause learning initiative 2007)
Rogers, E.M.: Diffusion of Innovations (4th edition) The Free Press, New York 1995
Trends shaping education Spotlight 15 (OECD 2018)
Practice 1: fourth reflective entry (uploaded 22nd February 2019)
“Discuss how issues of ethics, society, culture and professional environments (including law, regulations and policy) are being addressed while you are taking action”.
Blaxter et al (2001) suggest that a common cause of ethical challenge is conflicts of interest between the researcher and the researched. The researcher is passionate about their project and keen to collect relevant data from those closely associated with the issues that they are researching. There is a risk that the researcher may be tempted to consider unethical research practice in order to try to obtain some of that data.
We completed an ethics questionnaire in which we posed important ethical questions, which we then attempted to answer in order to anticipate any issues:
Ethical question:
Our suggested solution/s:
Will the students lose any learning opportunities when they take part in the inquiry project?
Any survey or interview will be carefully constructed so that they are short and therefore not too time-consuming.
Will you seek parental consent?
Letters to parents and students.
Consent forms to be signed by both parents and students; school also included in the process.
Will students participate in a survey or interview?
The students will be made fully aware that they can choose not to participate the survey if they choose not to.
Will the participants be made fully aware of all intended uses of the information, for what period of time, and the potential effects of this use?
The letter and the consent form will state all of these facts before the project is started.
By building relationships with the participants, any issues will be dealt with as they arise; should there be any concerns they will be discussed openly.
Will the respondents be given the content and purpose of the data collection so that they may make an informed judgment about whether they wish to participate?
All students will be made aware of just what is being surveyed before starting the process. Consent will be based on full knowledge of what the undertaking is, the time that will be expended in fulfilling the larger project, and the steps along the way.
Risks that we anticipated:
· All participants both directly and indirectly involved needed to know what the data was being collected for, why it was being collected, how it was being collected and how the data was to be stored in order to guarantee anonymity.
The United Nations is quite explicit about the rights of children. Article 12 of the Convention of the rights of children states that they have the right to express their own views when decision are being made about things that may affect them. Children also have the right to be able to express their views freely.
Or, as our Registered Teacher Code of Ethics says, Responsible Care means that we are required “to do good and minimise harm to others.”
References:
Blaxter L., Hughes C., & Tight M. (2001) 2nd edition. How to research. Chapter 6: 153-191. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Education Council of New Zealand: OUR CODE OUR STANDARDS Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession (2017)
UNICEF: The conventions on the right of the child (1989)
Practice 1: third reflective entry (uploaded 22nd February 2019)
Using Rolfe’s model of reflection, examine how indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness are informing the way you are taking action
Step 1 (What):
Recently, Dr. Anne Milne talked about the role of the Ministry of Education in determining Maori outcomes. According to MOE this will take time – and, Milne, quite rightly, says “We have been saying this for how long?” Schools gather data that focuses on our under-achievers, which has a disproportionate number of Māori and Pasifika represented. What do we hope to achieve by doing this? Schools keep on replicating the status quo, therefore Māori and Pasifika students keep on failing. They are not failing; we, as teachers, are responsible for that failure.
Russell Bishop talks about ‘fiscal deficits’ – we have gathered sixty years of data which has accumulated evidence of a huge gap between achievement between European and Māori results. Bishop states that this is a debt that we owe Māori. Historically, Māori have been blamed for that failure: it is cultural; they are simply not able to be educated; it is in the psyche; it is genetic as they were born to be warriors. But in 2001 the 500th Māori PhD’s was awarded. This raises the question that if Māori can achieve at tertiary level, then why are they failing at secondary level? We need to change our practice as it is clearly not working.
Step 2 (So what)
Milne talks about culturally sustaining pedagogies, not culturally responsive pedagogies. The point she is trying to make is that being culturally responsive is not about the here and now, but about making a difference long term so that it becomes the norm. And what can we, as teachers, do to be culturally responsive? Russell enumerates what we need to do: caring, high expectations, understanding who we are and where we come from, positive interactions, co-constructing learning as leader and servant, utilising a wide range of strategies effectively, and using feedback as a way of feeding forward.
Milne has presented her action continuum. I think our school is in the blue space: where we are ‘benevolent.’ We are genuine in our attempts to incorporate aspects of Māori tikanga into our school culture. In my classroom practice, too, I am attempting to incorporate Māori tikanga into classroom practice both orally and visually. I am currently doing a course through Te Wananga o Aotearoa, but I still have a long way to go. On the plus side, over 30 staff are currently undertaking this course, so others obviously feel as I do and are keen to build their knowledge of the Te Ao Māori .
Step 3 (What next)
Our next step as a school community is to address the issue directly with the help of students, school, parents and community. The issue we are confronted with is not just one that we can tackle individually in our classroom practice, it is a societal one that needs a change in the mindset of everyone. How do we overcome inter-generational bias?
I am currently organising a Rural High Schools’ Music Festival for late March. There will be a mihi whakatau before commencing our day. I worry that this is mere tokenism, for our whanau class will not be involved further. Is this wrong? Or can I justify this by saying that the day is about orchestral music? Is a mihi whakatau even needed? Schemantics, perhaps, but we are also organising our Arts expo for later in the year. Unlike the RHSMF, kapa haka will be an equal partner in our Arts celebration. Which is as it should be.
References:
Practice 1: second reflective entry (uploaded 9th February 2019)
My Second Reflective Entry
“Unless teachers develop the practice of critical reflection, they stay trapped in unexamined judgments, interpretations, assumptions, and expectations. Approaching teaching as a reflective practitioner involves fusing personal beliefs and values into a professional identity”
(Larrivee, 2000, p.293).
Why should we reflect on our teaching practice? We can:
(a) Examine our assumptions of everyday practice.
(b) Critically evaluate our own responses classroom situations.
(c) Allow us to think over routine practice critically in order to gain new understandings
(d) By doing this, we can improve future practice. (Finlay, 2008)
Rolfe’s Model of Reflection is based upon three simple questions:
· What? - describing the situation;
· So what? - analysing and explaining what has happened in relation to supporting literature; and
· Now what? - how this reflection can contribute to future practice
What?
I worked in a collaborative team with two others to develop an inquiry that would build Arts appreciation and understanding within our respective schools, and illustrate the relevance and value of the Arts through primary to secondary school and beyond. The data already showed that student transition to high school was eased when those students who had connections to the high school, notably through sport. Our reasoning was that for those without sporting connections, would the Arts fulfil the same need? After a lot of discussion, we developed a hunch that became further refined so that we could reflect within the time restraints of the MindLab course: “What is the impact of a collaborative Google site initiative on the connectedness to Rangiora High School of at risk Year 8 students?”
So what?
One of my specific roles was to create a logic model that would cover all of the aspects needed in planning a project of this nature, from personnel involved to building a budget, timeframe, moving through to the potential short, medium term and long term impacts of the project. By presenting this information in a table before committing to the concept, it enabled us to envisage outcomes before expending too much energy on an idea that may not have been adopted.
Now what?
Being tasked with preparing a logic model meant that I was able to envisage the project from inception to outcome. This is something that I had not realised was a significant aspect of the success of any project. By approaching the event this way, I was able to think of aspects of the project that I had not considered, and even to anticipate issues that may arise. By doing this, I was able to bring a longer-term vision to our collaboration.
I will use this model in any future planning. Success is not just about having a good idea; it needs to be underpinned through strong pedagogical links, and there also needs to be some consideration about how any successful event can be part of a continuum. For example, we developed and ran a very successful Arts Expo in 2015. In this, we hosted several primary schools and secured funding from Creative NZ to hold the event in the newly refurbished Rangiora Town Hall. Sadly, the event, while well-received and enjoyed by all participants, was a stand-alone event. It could (and should) have been a beginning. The preparation of a Logic model might have meant that I could take a longer view and consider the next step.
References:
Finlay, Linda: Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice’ A discussion paper prepared for PBPL CETL (www.open.ac.uk/pbpl ) January 2008
https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/50363_ch_1.pdf
Practice 1: first reflective entry (Uploaded 9th February 2019)
‘Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi,
engari taku toa i te toa takitini.’*
“My success is not mine alone as it was not the work of one but the contribution of the collective.”
The three of us – two from the Arts Faculty at Rangiora High School, and the third a primary school teacher based at one of the smaller contributing schools. We decided to make an arts-based initiative the focus of our inquiry. We looked at the data on transition; it told us that students from the smaller primary schools had more issues with their transition to high school. The data also showed us that those with prior connections to the high school – siblings, connections, sporting ties – were more confident due to that personal connection. We asked ourselves whether an arts initiative might also help student transition, particularly those that were not necessarily sporty.
Our initial inquiry question - What is the impact of a focussed collaborative Arts initiative on the transition to high school for at-risk students? – was too unwieldy for this project; instead it became modified to: “How does participation in a collaborative Google site initiative assist potentially vulnerable year 8 students in their connectedness to Rangiora High School?
We then met and worked collaboratively to formulate the drafts of letters and questionnaires in January 2019 over successive weeks.
Timeline:
· Permission was obtained from the primary school Principal for the building of the Google sites with the assistance of RHS Arts Captains
· Conversations took place November 2018 with the 2019 Arts Captains
· Meetings will take place next week with the Arts Captains
· Letters to parents have been drafted
· The questionnaire (to be completed before and after the building of the collaborative Google site) has also been completed.
Since then, however, things have gone a little awry. Our planning went swimmingly with only three of us; now that we are starting to involve more people (combined with the busyness of the start of another school year) the timeline is now shot to pieces. Flexibility is needed! Added to this is yet another setback. Letters to parents were supposed to have been sent out this week. Unfortunately, the death of a parent at our contributing primary School, our collaborative partner, has meant that those plans, too, have been delayed.
By making our decision to work collaboratively, by accident we fulfilled all of the three stated ingredients for successful collaboration – equals who have voluntarily chosen to become involved in a project that focuses on a common goal. (Cook & Friend). Our collaboration has also meant that I have reflected on leadership and the qualities that each of us brings to that collaboration. Through working collaboratively, our democratic approach in practice has meant that we defer to the expertise of each participant. Today, we are aware that there are many different leadership styles, and the transactional style in this time of huge technological change may soon be consigned to the history books.
References:
Cook L, Friend M: “Educational Leadership for Teacher Collaboration”. 1993 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED372540.pdf
SkillsTeamHullUni. (2014, March 3). Reflective writing.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoI67VeE3ds