A Drama conference, if you choose your sessions appropriately, can greatly resemble what I imagine a hippy commune is like. Start your day with yoga; move into a session of ritualised stomping, group death, and reanimation; then conversely, head over to experience your birth as you exit your egg and blindly interact with a stranger. This was just in my first morning in Christchurch. Why is this relevant to you? Am I trying to get you all to experience Shaku-Hachi as part of the Suzuki Method of Actor Training? No. Although to be honest this was the most alert and present I have felt in ages. Am I wanting you to experiment with dissonant vocal sounds as you explore waving a scarf using four means of movement? No. To be honest that session, which was the last one of the weekend, was dreadful and I wish I hadn’t gone to that. Am I wanting you to explore the world blindly for the first time and have your only connection be with a stranger’s hand? No. Well, actually, yes. To be honest, I would love nothing more than to get the whole staff to try out this wellbeing exercise as it was truly extraordinary and the fact that afterwards everyone was able to locate their stranger was amazing and a bit woowoo. But I doubt I would get many willing to do that. Any takers, let me know. My Year 13s will be subjected to this in the coming weeks. What is relevant are the messages that came through again and again in these sessions about being creative, being strong, and being resilient. In order to further develop these key conference themes, the keynote address was delivered by Dr Viv Aitken an expert (unironically) on Mantle of the Expert. Aitken based her talk around ‘The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion’ by Jonathan Haidt. A subject she noted she had considered changing given recent events. Dr Aitken entwined Haidt’s theories on morality and righteousness with the theories of the Mantle of the Expert’s creator, Dorothy Heathcote. Here is where you come in. Brotherhood is part of the Mantle of the Expert process; Mantle of the Expert being the approach where participants take up the specialist knowledge required to perform a task. For example, a student could take on the Mantle of being a Roman baker and discuss bread fraud (which, fun fact, was a real thing) as part of a group’s exploration of life in Roman times. As part of this Mantle of the Expert work, you pause before a moment to think of the people who have taken a similar step/action as you are about to undertake. This could be in the present in New Zealand or throughout history and throughout the world. You are joining that brotherhood. “All those who” is a phrase attributed to this work. Aitken tasked us with adding in the opposite view too. Could we also think of “all those who don’t”? Those who would be adversely affected or would be opposed to the step/action. This is a fitting consideration in our current climate. Do you often consider the worldview of others? In fact, how can you consider the worldview of others? Have you ever considered your own? Have you, as Haidt explores, considered your righteous stances? An acting process that can be helpful in this also comes from Heathcote. This is her exercise on the 5 Levels of Meaning:
It seems a very important time to consider our actions, motivations, models, investments, and values. In education, we are not teaching the views. We are teaching that there are views. Contested and contestable. Who are your brothers? Who aren’t your brothers and why? Does it really matter? Considering our brotherhoods (a term that the feminist in me is a little snarky about using) is an interesting and illuminating challenge. Because we are not immune to the viruses of hate, of fear, of other. We never have been. But we can be the nation that discovers the cure. -Jacinda Adern ~Lauren Mackay
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On Christmas Eve we flew to Taiwan from Christchurch, arriving at 11.30pm to Taipei Taoyuan International Airport - where we spent the night before shuttling with our tandem bikes to a hotel in central Taipei at 7am on Christmas morning. I first became interested in Taiwan when I watched a documentary some years ago where Oscar Kightley traced his DNA roots back across the Pacific through Samoa and Vanuatu, to Taiwan. You can watch the documentary here: Made in Taiwan . As well as interesting me from the perspective of indigenous peoples (see below) Taiwan is geographically fascinating due to its duality between traditional and sophisticated ways of life. Taiwan is a mountainous island. The island has the largest number and density of high mountains in the world. There are 286 mountain summits over 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) above sea level on the island, with Yushan being the tallest mountain in both Taiwan and East Asia. Taiwan was also the site of the February 2018 6.4 magnitude Hualien earthquake. Unbelievably, this was the first time I travelled in Asia so it was a unique learning experience in all respects and a very fascinating tail-end of my Highgate Fellowship. We spent four days in Taipei and were surprised not to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of people (2.6 million in Taipei and 23 million in Taiwan - a country just a little larger than Otago). Taipei has superb public transport and this enables a relative absence of cars and complete order in moving vast quantities of people everywhere. The National Palace, the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Shilin Night Market, Beitou Hot Spring Museum, Huashan 1914 Creative Park and the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines were all highlights. ![]() So how do you leave the relative comfort of an inner city hotel and jump on your bike to head out of Taipei and around the island of Taiwan? Surprisingly - just the same as the nervous anticipation when you leave the comfort of your own home here to embark on any adventure. With the help of non-english-speaking Eddie at the hotel, Google, a paper map, two policeman at the end of the road and two locals on a scooter (along with lots of thumbs up and ‘Welcome to Taiwan’ shouted from passing vehicles and scooters), we made it to the huge Taipei Bridge and exited onto a cycleway that lead many kilometres to the south-west end of the city. The cycleway was embellished by huge murals that stretched for miles - just a foretaste of the incredible artworks, sculptures, buildings and structures that we were to encounter across the island. Our route stretched down the very industrialised and urbanised West Coast, through the busy city of Hsinchu and down past the fishing nets and windmills on the No 1 Cycleway. I was pleasantly surprised not to encounter the pollution and smog I had anticipated (the wind may have helped with this). We encountered our first Bhuddist Temples and marvelled at the incense, the colour, the devotion, the detail of the ceilings and shrines, and the stories within. We saw the first of many rice padis and followed the one traffic rule you need in Taiwan - don’t hit anything in front of you! (perhaps ironic in light of my recent events!) Footpaths and carparks are clogged with scooters in cities and you have a complete right of way on a bicycle, passing double-parked cars, mobility scooters, dogs, street stalls and other unexpected obstacles in the scooter lanes which are shared. Traffic was kind and giving and many scooter riders and/or passengers (which sometimes included dogs and children) attempted communication or gave thumbs up or took our photo while stopped at red lights. Everywhere - on and off the road - we heard ‘Jia you’ which is a term of encouragement and kind of means ‘Keep going’. Even on our last days people still called out ‘Welcome to Taiwan’ as they passed on their scooters or called from the street. The 7-11s (a bit like our Night ‘n’ Days) became our lifeline to get out of wind or heat, eat something, go to the loo and just rest. Even there recycling was mandatory - and included almost everything, including takeaway coffee cups. There are very few plastic bags and no smoking allowed in parks. We saw solar bridges, thousands of electric vehicles, green spaces and dedicated cycleways everywhere we went. A highlight was the Sun Moon Lake, a steep 800m ride up to a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains and home to the Ita Thao aboriginal tribe. The Xiangshan Visitor Centre is the most incredible modern building I have seen, built specifically to frame the lake beyond. The lake itself is enveloped by a fabulous spacious cycleway that cantilevers and almost floats above the lake. Unfortunately this came to an abrupt end where it was closed due to a killer hornet nest! The Wenwu Temple perched high at the end of the lake was another highlight. We attended an Ita Thao cultural performance which was vibrant, colourful and told important stories despite the language barrier. Taichung and Kaoshuing on the West Coast were two of our favourite cities. Modern, crammed with cycleways, beautiful parks, sculptures and green buildings in all directions, these cities are visions of the future where sustainability and aesthetics are prioritised in urban design. Apart from a vertical drop rollercoaster and missing an Uber ride home in the dark on New Year’s Eve, the highlight of Taichung was the incredible Rainbow Village created by former soldier, Huang Yung-Fu, who began painting houses in his settlement, now known as Rainbow Village, to save them from demolition. Over the years his colourful artwork, which includes birds, animals and people, has spread over the remaining houses in the village. In Kaoshuing the beautiful Kaoshuing Stadium was shaped like a dragon with a full roof of solar panels and by night Love River in Kaoshuing transformed into a river of lights, beautifully lit sculptures, river boats and buskers. We biked as far south as Checheng before crossing to the East via the 42km climb to the 500m Shouka Pass. Emerging to the glistening turquoise Pacific was wonderful - though travelling through the gobsmacking roadworks and engineering feats of the new East Coast highway required some skill to negotiate the one lane construction zones. There were also Taiwanese military exercises involving bombs and fighter planes adjacent to the road as we departed the west, evidence of growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait between China and Taiwan. The East Rift Valley was a highlight. We stood on the boundary between the Philippine Sea and the Eurasian tectonic plates, were invited to refreshments in a luxury resort, went to the famous Mr Brown Avenue - a “green road of paradise”, visited a tea plantation, crossed the Tropic of Cancer and emerged again at the coast at Hualien. Unlike Christchurch there is zero evidence of last year’s devastating earthquake there - testament to the huge construction industry in Taiwan and the wealth of the nation. The absolute pinnacle of the trip was our cycle up the Taroko Gorge on Lucy’s 17th birthday. It is a 19km marble canyon carved by the Liwu River, as stupendous as Yosemite or other geological marvels around the world. At the head of the gorge we walked on the Baiyang Waterfall Trail and saw Formosan monkeys grazing in the trees alongside the trail. Cycleways, surf towns, cycle tunnels, hills and yet more stops at 7-11s led us back into the cycleways of Taipei and we finished our trip with a trip to the Taipei 101 skyscraper - the tallest and largest green building in the world. We travelled up 89 floors in 37 seconds. The building design echoes Bhuddist pagodas and bamboo and contains a 728 tonne steel pendulum that spans two floors and combats seismic movement and winds from tropical storms. In conclusion, Taiwan was beautiful, fascinating and thought-provoking. Rich in religion, culture, history, architecture, art, engineering, wildlife and scenery and having experienced rapid and recent economic development, Taiwan leads us up and into the age of the modern and beautiful. Because it has emerged so recently economically, its design and planning has been in line with the rise of sustainability, making it green, clean and gorgeous. Despite the language barrier and not knowing what we were ordering or eating half of the time, the people were warm, helpful and encouraging, with a great sense of humour. Its future is uncertain politically but one likes to think it can remain as it is - free, beautiful, sustainable and democratic.
You can read further about the whole journey here: http://onewheeleach.blogspot.com/ Many thanks to the school and the Board of Trustees for giving me such rich learning opportunities over the past year. It has been a year of very positive growth and development for me - despite the rollercoaster journey! ~Bridget Davidson Six New Zealand teachers will learn about Indonesia and Islam up close and personal on a two-way exchange starting next week. Nicky Chapman and Lisa Taylor will travel to Jakarta to connect with their Indonesian counterparts at Al Azhar Schools from April 11 to 18. Al Azhar has some 50,000 students across the country, and Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, with close to 90 percent of its 264 million people followers of Islam... To read the official press release about their trip click hereA few weeks ago when I was on a course in Wellington, one of the presentations involved questions around gender and some common terms. We were discussing the challenges students and schools face when catering for the diverse needs of our LGBTQI community. Some of the terms I was very familiar with, (I know that I am a cisgender female), but others, I wasn’t so confident with, for example, what it means to be bigender. So I thought I’d do some research, and also share with you a wonderfully simple diagram which helps to explain, or map out, gender. I thought I knew "the basics", but this diagram and the explanations really helped me solidify my understanding, and my confidence in explaining some of these terms and concepts to students (and my son) who may ask. The Genderbread PersonGender identity, gender expression, biological sex, and sexual orientation exist independent of one another. The schema used below to map out gender (the “-ness” model) allows individuals to plot where they identify along both continua to represent varying degrees of alignment with the traditional binary elements of each aspect of gender, resulting in infinite possibilities of “gender” for a person. Gender Identity: Who you think you areOn the left of both continua there is an empty set symbol, which is meant to represent a lack of what’s on the right, and on the right we have “woman-ness” (the quality to which you identify as a “woman”) and “man-ness” (ditto, but with “man”). Gender identity is all about how you think about yourself. It’s about how you internally interpret the chemistry that composes you (e.g., hormone levels). It has been accepted that we form our gender identities around the age of three and that after that age, it is incredibly difficult to change them. Formation of identity is affected by hormones and environment just as much as it is by biological sex. Gender Expression: How You Demonstrate Who You AreOn the left of both continua there is an empty set symbol, which, you guessed it, represents a lack of what’s on the right. On the right sides we have “feminine” and “masculine.” Examples of different gender expressions and possible labels are to the right. Gender expression is all about how you demonstrate gender through the ways you act, dress, behave, and interact—whether that is intentional or unintended. Gender expression is interpret- ed by others based on traditional gender norms (e.g., men wear pants; women wear dresses). Gender expression is something that often changes from day to day, outfit to outfit, and event or setting to event or setting. Biological Sex: The Equipment Under The HoodOn the left of both continua there is an empty set symbol, representing a lack of what’s on the right, and on the right we have “female-ness” and “male-ness” (both representing the degree to which you possess those characteristics). In the examples to the right, you see a term, “intersex,” which is a label for someone who has both male and female characteristics. You also see two “self ID” (self-identification) labels, which represent people who possess both male and female characteristics but identify with one of the binary sexes. Biological sex refers to the objectively measurable organs, hormones, and chromosomes you possess. Let’s consider biological sex in the ultra-reductive way society does: being female means having a vagina, ovaries, two X chromosomes, predominant oestrogen, and the ability to grow a baby in your abdominal area; being male means having testes, a penis, an XY chromosome configuration, predominant testosterone, and the ability to put a baby in a female’s abdominal area; and being intersex can be any combination of what was just described. Attraction: Who You're Romantically & Sexually IntoWe have two related ideas here. On the left of each we have “nobody,” meaning no feelings of attraction. On the right we have “men/males/ masculinity” and “women/females/femininity.” Sexual attraction can be thought of as the want, need, or desire for physical sexual contact and relationships. Romantic attraction is an affinity and love for others and the desire for emotional relationships. Some folks have both, some folks have neither, many experience more of one than the other. Gender identity, gender expression, biological sex, and sexual orientation are independent of one another (i.e., they are not connected). People’s sexual orientation doesn’t determine their gender expression. And their gender expression isn’t determined by their gender identity. And their gender identity isn’t determined by their biological sex. If someone is born with male reproductive organs and genitalia, he is very likely to be raised as a boy, identify as a man, and express himself masculinely. We call this identity “cisgender” (when your biological sex aligns with how you identify), and it grants a lot of privilege. It’s something most of us who have it don’t appreciate nearly as much as we should. The video below illustrates this idea beautifully, I think... I feel like I've learnt a lot during my research, and hope this might support anyone with questions to access some great resources.
I am so proud to work in a school community which is so inclusive and backs all our students and community members as beautiful, unique individuals who all belong here. I'm particularly proud of our QSA group, who really embody our school's core values in every way by being champions for equity in our school community. I've included some resources below if anyone has further questions / interest: http://inclusive.tki.org.nz/guides/lgbtiqa/ Inclusive education guide for schools http://insideout.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Making-Schools-Safer-For-Trans-and-Gender-Diverse-Youth-web.pdf (a comprehensive guide with a great glossary of terms at the end) https://insideout.ry.org.nz/ A friendly and accessible learning resource to help increase understanding and support of sex, gender and sexuality diversity, so we can all belong Content credit: Breaking Through The Binary - SamKillermann ~Rowan Taigel ![]() I first became interested in the Feuerstein approach because of our Syrian students. Just as with many other English Language Learners, it was hard to assess their thinking skills because of the language barrier. As well, we thought it was likely that emotional trauma and previous poor schooling could hamper their learning. These barriers, however, are not unique to refugees or homesick and culture shocked international learners. We all know that for too many Kiwi learners, the biggest barrier is not learners’ lack of ability, but the lack of belief that they can develop those abilities, usually manifesting itself as disengagement in all its challenging forms! Moreover, thinking is a Key Competency of our Curriculum, and is core to our teaching for all students. (Note that there could now be a renewed emphasis on these higher levels of the Curriculum, given that our new Minister of Education’s, Chris Hipkins', mother is Rosemary Hipkins who worked on this area of the Curriculum…) Feuerstein developed his theory and practice working with traumatised children moving to Israel after World War Two. He took a growth mindset approach. He wanted to find ways to assess their capabilities and enable them develop those. Not only had these children missed on formal education, they were lacking the normal cultural support for learning in all areas because their families had been destroyed. This is an important insight that links Feuerstein with Vygotsky (even though they worked completely independently): all learning is mediated. Parents, and teachers, are those mediators. In an ideal world, we know what stage the learner is at, and what they need to reach the next. Feuerstein developed tools for assessing learning that were not reliant upon language. He also developed ways to strengthen thinking. These cognitive changes do not require language, or any subject-specific knowledge. However, they have been to shown to transfer to applied areas of learning. Through his method, learners develop their cognitive and metacognitive skills and motivation to learn. (See What the Feuerstein approach has to uniquely offer by Dr Dorothy Howie - be aware Feuerstein’s terminology does initially seem odd!!) This is not a ‘brain training’ programme, but something much richer, as it relies on shared learning, and hence a focus upon the emotional and cultural components of each person’s learning. It is intensive, and long term, and ideally is a whole school approach, similar to the three-tiered PB4L initiative. I am not sure yet how we could best incorporate it into our already busy Curriculum learning but am thinking it could be something we could trial with whanau groups next year, and perhaps as part of our English Language and Literacy classes or Learning Support. From what I’ve read, the students enjoy it greatly. ![]() In the September holidays, I attended a two day course run by Dr Dorothy Howie who is an expert on the Feuerstein approach (scanned slides). She trained with Feuerstein in Israel, and we are extremely fortunate to have her expertise available to us. The first day was an overview of approaches to teaching thinking. The second day looked at what the Feuerstein approach offers. There were a number of other teachers there, including Simon McMillan from Kaikorai Valley College. In 2016, Simon researched the teaching of thinking in the United States while on a Fulbright Scholarship. Since then, as he found so few practical approaches for classroom teachers, he has become very interested in the practical value for teachers of the Feuerstein approach. I’ve attached some of his links to Feuerstein, especially the Feuerstein Instrumental Enrichment (FIE) Method. Dr Howie is now going to run a five-day training session at Kaikorai Valley College from Monday the 22nd January to Friday the 26th of January. I am going, and look forward to learning and sharing more. If you want to learn more, or think you might like to attend, email me or Simon. ~Nicky Chapman Linda gave me some interesting articles last year all about the lifelong impact of self-control. One such study was a 40-year study of 1000 children which revealed that childhood self-control strongly predicts adult success (Moffitt, Poulton, & Caspi, 2013). The results of the study showed that it did not matter what your level of intelligence was, or your socio economic status. Self-Control is a predictor of early mortality, psychiatric disorders, and unhealthy behaviours which could include drunk driving, unsafe sex, smoking, overeating and general non compliance in a range of contexts. ![]() So what is self-control? Since I didn’t understand the highly complicated definition in the article I had to look it up. Self-control (noun) The ability to control oneself, in particular one's emotions and desires, especially in difficult situations. "Lucy struggled for self-control." I had a bit of a laugh when I saw the example above of “Lucy silently struggled for self-control”. How many Lucys do we have in our classrooms? Many of our girls don’t “silently” struggle for self-control either, they let it all out! We all have issues with self-control one way or another as this is just how humans are. When we have difficult students we have our own sanity preserving techniques to help them to manage their behaviour. Some approaches work well, and some we’d rather not remember. Sustaining this type of management in a volatile environment can be very difficult. Taking ownership of behaviours which exhibit a lack of self-control though is what we would hope our students will eventually do - PB4L. But how do we empower our young women to kick-start their self control? Do they have the tools to do this, what are they? Can self-control be taught or is this something that develops with maturity? (I figure I must be pretty slow to mature!) Added to these questions is the concept of willpower. I always thought it was really the same as self-control but some recent readings have made me think differently. Willpower (noun) control exerted to do something or restrain impulses. "most of our bad habits are due to laziness or lack of willpower." ![]() An excellent book, entitled ‘Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength’ (Baumeister & Tierney, 2012) talks at length about the willpower gap and that in fact, willpower is a depletable resource. ‘Until 1998, scientists didn’t know that willpower was measurable’ (Baumeister et al, 2012). We evidently have about 15 minutes of willpower at any given time. Just imagine the everyday decisions we make which can deplete this willpower - eg. shall I delete this email, reply or save it for later? Should I have the piece of fruit or custard square? You know, you decide to get fit, think about it, dream about the end result, make an amazing weekly plan of exercise and go for it. Day one you are totally awesome, and feel a bit sore but a great sense of achievement. Then by day five you are over the initial enthusiasm and just can’t seem to get out of bed early enough, making the excuse that you’ll work extra hard tomorrow. We all know how the story ends - within a few weeks we have decided that after our birthday we’ll start again, or after the wedding …. etc. By the way, how many of you have stuck to your 2017 new year resolutions? Hmmm? Where is your willpower? What was the pivotal moment where you decided to not pursue your dreams and goals? If you do remember the moment - you’ll probably realise that your willpower was at a pretty low peak. The good news is folks, that although willpower is a depletable resource, you can restore it. This could be through a few minutes of meditation, gardening (for me), a walk, prayer, creative activities, reading something motivational or simply reminding yourself of your goals and why you have them. Putting this all into the educational context. If, as research indicates, our students at any given time have 15 minutes of self-regulatory willpower, the ability to restrain certain behaviours or impulses. With all the choices students make even before they get to school, how do we help them to restore their willpower and ultimately their self-control resources? No student comes to school to fail, and even though I have taught some extremely challenging students, I don’t believe that a single one of them really wanted to behave so badly that the consequences were exclusion or stand-down. Wouldn’t it be great to have the keys to tap into the willpower gap for those students? How awesome to develop strategies with these students so that they know how to restore depleted willpower in order to develop the self-control necessary for success in all aspects of learning, life and future goals? Perhaps somewhere in this rambling is a good research topic? Have a great break everyone - you’ll find me in the garden! ~Robyn Bazika References Baumeister, R., & Tierney, J. (2012). Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. Penguin USA. Moffitt, T., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2013). Lifelong Impact of Early Self-Control. American Scientist, 100(5), 352. doi:10.1511/2013.104.1 We’re almost half-way through the year, and so this is a great time to pause and take stock of how far we’ve come and where to next. We started the year off with 1. The formation of cross-curricular Professional Learning Groups. The cross-curricular make-up of PLG groups is to ensure that everyone has opportunities to benefit from the rich and varied experiences of different teachers, and the different perspectives and approaches that other subject's disciplines can bring to a common challenge. 2. You honed in on a small group of priority learners in your class(es). You focused on 2-3 students in a class or across your classes who you thought should be your priority for whatever reason your professional judgement told you. The academic, engagement and wellbeing data you gathered from and about those students will have helped give you a clearer understanding of specifically what category of challenge it is that these students seem to be facing. 3. You shared and compared your data. In your group collaborative doc / template, or whatever format you’ve chosen to use, you’ve shared the data and information you have regarding:
4. You have found a common focus area. For many PLGs, you share the challenge of weaker levels of student engagement, so for the purpose of this example, I will use engagement as the focus. Because engagement is such a large abstract challenge, many of you have broken this down into types of engagement and shared the indicators or signs you’re seeing of a lack of engagement of these different types:
5. Brainstorming the signs you may be seeing of lack of engagement in your class(es) is a good way to narrow down to a manageable focus for yourself and your group. Remember, you don’t have to be a superhero. Pick the low-hanging fruit! Here is an example of one’s PLG group’s engagement brainstorm. The stars represent the indicators that they felt were the most significant / important ones for them to focus on. Ultimately, this group chose to focus on one sign of disengagement - the willingness to take (perceived) risks in learning. "How might we encourage students to take risks so that they feel comfortable expressing ideas, demonstrating engagement? " Remember that these three areas often blend into each other, so as this group tries different approaches, they may (or may not) find that some work on wellbeing may be a part of this challenge too. 6. Hunch forming. This is often the uncomfortable part of the inquiry process because this inquiry is about what WE can do DIFFERENTLY in order to improve learning experiences and outcomes for students. How might what WE’RE doing in our practice be contributing to this? It's also the fun part, where you get to brainstorm and share ideas with your teammates for how you might go about encouraging students to participate more, for instance, or help them get started with work more quickly. This is where referring to the 7 Principles of Learning resources and research might help you with ideas / strategies to try. (New Learning). [link to 7 P's here] ![]() 7. Take action! You have an idea for something new to try to see if it improves the indicators you’re seeing in class. Try it! Consciously watch and reflect on how it went. Record what happened in your collaborative doc. If it was a success, your team deserves to know! How do you know it was a success? (Checking) If it was a flop, you deserve help from your team to unpack why that might have been and to support you in your next prototype or iteration. You’re doing great! The inquiry structure or framework is not meant to make any extra work from what you would normally be doing as the reflective and conscientious teachers that you are. It is merely a guide for a way to progress through an inquiry process to ensure you can maintain momentum (which is always a challenge in the busy life of a teacher) and have a reference point to different modes of thinking for when you may hit a tricky patch or lose focus. Almost all of your PTCs will be ‘ticked off’ across the year through your inquiry journey and the recording and sharing of it with your colleagues. Discussing how it’s going with your appraiser before and after and observation lessons will also support its value and meaningfulness to you with your registration, your classroom teaching and your understanding of and relationships with your students and colleagues. ~ Rowan Taigel
Choose your mode:
click on the image above to play the video The alternative is to read the transcript below, with the accompanying screenshots of each slide. ![]() To me, teaching as inquiry is fundamentally about examining the conditions and environment we have created for learners, and ensuring they are ideal to support learners to connect, learn and grow. To use a gardening analogy; we need to support the growth of the seeds we’ve been given. We can’t exchange them, genetically modify them or discard them. Not all flowers like direct sunlight and not all like shade. Some need more watering than others. But with the right climate and conditions, each seed can grow to be the best version of itself. ![]() Why Spirals? Like the Teaching as Inquiry cycle on the left, the Spiral of inquiry is designed to be a continuous cycle of teacher reflection and improvement. It is designed to promote equity and innovation. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you use an inquiry framework or process, be it Teaching as Inquiry, Design Thinking or Spirals. This is to ensure you have a foundation or anchor for your inquiry, that you can refer to a structure if you become stalled or stuck, and that you record and reflect upon new information and changes you’ve made. A framework helps us to make sure we haven’t skipped anything important, jumped ahead too quickly or made any assumptions we could or should have avoided. Following a framework means we are most likely to see positive change and outcomes from our inquiry because we have been methodical with our process and it is founded upon the research of the latest science about learning. ![]() Teachers can’t afford to waste time and energy putting strategies into effect that have no impact on student outcomes. The Spiral of Inquiry is geared towards making sure that our response to student needs is targeted and effective; that it will have an impact and make enough of a difference for our learners. ![]() Unlike the Teaching as Inquiry framework, Spirals of Inquiry is specifically designed to be collaborative. By working as an interdisciplinary team, our students will benefit from the changes teachers are making to their practice in more than one subject. No matter whether certain students are a PLG’s “priority learners” or not, all students in classes will benefit from the changes teachers are making to address their priority learners’ needs. ![]() Spirals reminds us to use strategies and approaches that suit the learners in front of us, not the ones we had last year. We often will not try a new or different approach because it is a natural feeling to want to know that it’s actually going to work before we do it. No-one wants to waste their time doing something that is not going to work, only to go back and do what they’ve always done anyway. The reason we keep using strategies that we always have, is that they’ve generally resulted in decent outcomes for most learners. But is that good enough? Is there an acceptable number of students who will not experience success or high achievement in our subject? What is that number? The way to be most sure that any new strategy will have improved outcomes for learners (be they in wellbeing, engagement or achievement) is to do the initial groundwork first. Effective scanning and exploring of information about and from our learners means we can be sure that what we are going to try will have a positive effect and will make a difference. While this group couldn’t be 100% sure this idea would work, they had done enough research, asking people what might encourage or support them to change their habits, that when they decided upon a strategy, they knew there would be a positive outcome. ![]() Spirals of Inquiry is designed to support and promote reflection and action for equity, quality and innovation. If you think about the diagram with the trees to the left, your priority learners are represented by the shortest person in the picture. Whether they are a priority because they experience more challenge around basic literacy than other students, are more challenged by their ability to focus in class, or their ability to relate what they’re learning to their own lives, or perhaps their ability to feel safe, comfortable and confident in the learning environment. An approach that improves conditions for this student, will still be beneficial and useful to everyone. ![]() There are no hard and fast rules to Spirals of Inquiry. While there are different steps in the process listed on the left, and we tend to read around a circular object in a clockwise direction, it is important to remember that these are less like phases, and more like “modes” of thinking. A common scenario is that firstly, we actually will notice something is not working so well for a student and we might have a hunch as to what the reason is behind this. We take action with an idea for what we think might work. It may work to a certain extent, but still not as well as we’d hoped for. So, instead of reverting to what we’ve always done again, this is where doing some scanning, or gathering of more information about and from the student and their learning needs and experiences will be useful to us. From this information, we should be able to find a pattern or trend in the information that leads us towards an area or aspect that we feel we could focus on to make the biggest difference. ![]() From this information, we should be able to find a pattern or trend in the information that leads us towards an area or aspect that we feel we could focus on to make the biggest difference. Gathering information on engagement might mean having a colleague come and observe a lesson in your class, where they focus on your priority learners and make note of when they seem to be engaged or disengaged. It could be that you call home and talk to parents about how your learners feel about school and where and when they find the most enjoyment and experience the most success. Perhaps we find out that our priority learners seem to be achieving well in areas of their life where they have the ability to be more physically active or hands-on? Perhaps they are experiencing success in areas or subjects where they feel the teacher knows and understands them more. ![]() Going into scanning mode may mean that you’re seeking evidence to support your hunch. If you don’t find it, then you need to adjust your idea or understanding about what is leading to the learner’s challenges. It is best to approach scanning with an open mind as to what you may or may not find. ![]() It’s important that we have gathered information about and from our learners regarding not only their academic abilities, but also their wellbeing and engagement. In order to see the greatest impact and improvement, we need to channel our energy into a concentrated focus, rather than dispersing it across many initiatives. We need to have decided which area to focus on for the learners which will make the biggest difference to their learning experiences. While there may be many things which may require attention, we have to prioritise these, we’re not superheroes! You’ll have more success at making an object move higher or faster if it’s already moving. What is the student already able to do, or where are they experiencing success currently that you can utilise in the aspect of achievement, engagement or wellbeing that you’re going to focus on? Do you know or have an idea of what it is you’re hoping to see as a result of your change in practice? What are the specific indicators? A student “being better” at something or being “more engaged” doesn’t really mean anything as an outcome. What does being better look like? What will you see or hear if a student is now more engaged? (Checking) ![]() There’s a million things that matter in your subject and classroom, and hundreds of things that you can actually control about your own practice, your environment and your subject area. Your inquiry focus should be a small and concentrated area in amongst all of this that is targeted and manageable for the busy human being that you are. ![]() When zeroing in on a focus, this is one of those times when it really is all about you. Remember; we can’t change the student, nor should we want to. The only thing we can change is our own practice. Designing an inquiry question is important as it keeps you focused on your goal and can be an anchor when life and the demands of school mean that sometimes we lose sight of what we’re doing. How are WE contributing to the situation? ![]() In this example, we may have realised that our students' outlook towards risk-taking or attitude in the face of academic challenge is what’s holding them back. This is the thing we’re wanting to change (the bit in yellow). What we don’t know yet, is how we’re going to go about improving that. That’s what our inquiry’s all about. We may have a few ideas or a hunch as to how to go about improving this, but we will probably also have to undertake some new learning or PLD in this area... ![]() Again here, as a team, we may have realised that a commonality between all our priority learners boils down to a weakness in their social and emotional skills in the school or classroom setting. We know that they’re going to need to be able to work with others in order to achieve many things at school and in the workplace, so our TEAM inquiry is around how we might provide more meaningful opportunities for students to develop these important skills, which will ultimately affect their ability to succeed academically and at life. ![]() You’re a team. Use your collaborative doc to share what you’re doing and to support each other. Everything you do, enact, share and reflect upon “counts” or aligns with the 12 Practising Teacher Criteria you need evidence and reflection around in order to be re-certified as a teacher. Undertaking this collaborative inquiry is not an add-on. If the inquiry process is your way of being, then you will naturally amass a portfolio of evidence which will serve to support the renewal of your teaching certificate. ~Rowan Taigel. These days, we have so many competing priorities, that it is often difficult to find the time to read. Some days I don't even feel I have the time to read a tweet! let alone keep up with the latest research in education. One way I'm managing to do this, and keep up with learning about things I'm interested in amongst everything I do, is to listen to a podcast while on my weekly walk (yes, I know, I should exercise at least 3x per week... I'm working on that one). The drive to school is also a good time for this (unless you have energetic kids in the car). I'll also freely admit, that sometimes the thought of professional reading tends to wake up my inner "procrastination monkey" who will find that very moment to suggest something much more "easy and fun" to do. I've found podcasts are a great way for me to placate the "panic monster", while still enjoying other more mundane and leisurely activities, like going for a walk or doing the dishes. *Check out the above video of Tim Urban's TED Talk, "Inside the mind of a procrastinator". (No prizes for guessing how I came across this video!) My favourites...The podcasts below are a small selection of ones that I personally find very interesting, informative, and often amusing. I encourage you to check them out. [click on image to go to site] [click on image to go to site] [click on image to go to site] [click on image to go to site] Use the comments section below to share your favourite pod casts! ~ Rowan Taigel
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AuthorsWe'll have a variety of authors from OGHS over the year sharing their thoughts and experiences about education, teaching and learning Archives
June 2019
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