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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.
2 Comments
23/5/2017 07:46:08 pm
Hi Rowan,
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27/2/2018 11:27:19 am
Thank you so much for taking the time to write and record your Inquiry Process.
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