Developing leadership in Boys

Allison Croxford - Sancta Maria College

Kia ora. This year I am looking at tracking learner agency and developing leadership in boys. My goal is to build boys agency focussing on the transition from primary school (year 6) to college (year 7). I'm asking the following questions:

How does the pathway for boys learning  help them to develop/ grow as leaders/ learners? What are the opportunities for boys to develop and build agency in the classroom and their pathway in the Kahui Ako? What can we put in place to foster agency from school to school?

Through observation with other Year 7 teachers. We have noticed that the transition from Primary school to College does not gather evidence of learners from an ‘holistic' lens. Academic results are tracked and used. However, student voice and maximising learner agency is not present at the moment. 

The big-picture vision of the New Zealand Curriculum says it is important to foster students’ dispositions to learn and to contribute as active members of society. The key competencies directly support this vision. NZC describes them as “capabilities for living and lifelong learning” (p.12).

The goal of this inquiry is to: discover how we enhance learning by empowering ākonga (boys) to actively engage, participate and make decisions about their learning from school to school. 

We are looking at  the transition from Primary school to College (Y6 - 7).  We have selected 16 boys from Year 7. 

We will be focusing on literacy subjects, Key competencies and co-curricular activities.

At Sancta Maria College most of ākonga come from our local feeder schools (Sancta Maria Primary, Our Lady Star of the Sea and St Marks). Not only are the students transitioning into college they are developing socially and emotionally, gaining self-confidence and an understanding of who they are. 

Exploring the goal to build learning capabilities and Self-Efficacy will help guide them to becoming contributing citizens; to be able to make independent decisions and think through the consequences. 

Questions

1. What are the opportunities for boys to develop agency in the classroom and their pathway in the Kahui Ako? 

2. What are the strengths of our akonga in the Primary schools? 

3. How can / are we building on learning acquisitions from school to school? 

4. What is important for the community to understand about transition? 

5. What are the Pathways for co-curricular activities between the primary schools and the college? 

A student’s sense of agency is considered internal and consists of the attitudes, dispositions and beliefs a student has about themselves and their learning. 

 Through observation with other Year 7 teachers. We have noticed that the transition from Primary school to College does not gather evidence of learners from an ‘holistic' lens. Academic results are tracked and used. However, student voice and maximizing learner agency is not present at the moment. 

The big-picture vision of the New Zealand Curriculum says it is important to foster students’ dispositions to learn and to contribute as active members of society. The key competencies directly support this vision. NZC describes them as “capabilities for living and lifelong learning” (p.12).

These include academic mindsets such as:

1. Self-concept

2. Self-efficacy

3. Growth Mindset

1. Based on observation in the classroom - What did teachers/students understand about student capabilities and how were they being implemented in the classroom.

Based on observations - students were not managing time/ expectations/ learning in the classroom. The students were not used to building on the learning from the previous lessons to form new knowledge.  The students found it hard to retrieve information from previous  lessons. 

Boys especially were not managing time in the classroom. 

 Read and learn more about Learner Agency

• Thinking tools and success Criteria 

• Thinking Routines 

• Explicit Instruction 

• Self Directed Learners 

• Maximising student agency 

• Developing student agency (Alison Davis)

• Learner Agency - Final Research report 

2. Outline how to implement the intervention in your classrooms.

Teacher practices designed to promote student agency. 

What practices do teachers employ to provide feedback to students on their performance that assist with the development of student agency?

 How do teachers use data to inform their practices?

What is the Assessment for Learning matrix? This is an evaluative tool to help teachers, leaders, and boards to identify their professional strengths and learning needs. It is based on the six assessments for learning capabilities outlined in Michael Absolum's Clarity in the Classroom.

1. Group students based on Teacher Directed/ Managing Self/ Self Directed 

2. Record of new learning / capabilities look like for students and teachers.

Make the changes by implementing the intervention in your classrooms. 

Survey, Checklist, Grouping students. 

1. Learning capabilities look like for students and teachers.

2. Student Voice