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Week 32 - Reflect on your learning journey

Problem Identification One of the main problems I identified in my Mindlab learning journey was students not collaborating well when working on digital projects. This was really important to increasing achievement as students were not taking the opportunities available to them through collaboration, such as shared learning, improved communication and problem solving. Teachers were reluctant to action planned collaborative lessons because of the tension within groups and poor outcomes and therefore teachers were asking for 1-1 devices and the strain on resources increased and inquiries were left incomplete.  Observation and Analysis Using a focus group of students I sought to understand the nature of the problem with collaboration from students. Students just did not know what collaboration was, how to collaborate, what it looked like and how valuable it could be for their learning. Through research I also gained knowledge around the benefits of explicitly teaching collabora
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Week 31 - Evaluate your Impacts

During this inquiry we explored and looked at the development of a planning framework to provide teachers and students a clear approach to implementing PBL digital inquiries within the classroom. We should have been able to answer the questions: Was this delivery method of PBL digital inquiries effective? What criteria - including teacher skills and guidelines are necessary for it to be effective? How does the planning framework need to be changed to accommodate further needs of students and teachers? How does using this innovation improve student outcomes ? If the data collection and research point to use of this planning framework with or without modifications the anticipated outcome will mean the need for other Year 5/6 classes to start using this method and then eventually throughout the school. What is the observed impact?  Improved student outcomes in science and social sciences areas of the curriculum - using the framework students had a more in depth u
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Week 30 - Data Collection and Analysis

This inquiry seeks to gather data to inform us whether using our “innovation” which is a planning framework which includes teacher criteria, can deliver PBL in a more robust and rigorous manner compared to a control group not using the framework. We also want to seek out further criteria and additions to the beta model framework to ensure we can have the best delivery for teachers and students. Our data collection methods will have two approaches: Evaluate and refine the innovation which in this case is the planning framework and criteria - Collect teacher baseline data - assumptions regarding PBL, inquiry process and perceived successes and challenges of current inquiry in classroom with Google Forms Ongoing basis through the student inquiry, collect observations, videos of teaching Collect student data on whether teachers are meeting criteria set out, skills of teachers and student feedback on the framework through interview Collect teacher endpoint data
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Week 29 - Consider your audiences

Defining Audiences My inquiry is about the use of a planning framework for digital integration and project based learning. My audience will therefore be > Local - The teachers and students involved in the inquiry Year 5/6 as well as the community that students engage with during their inquiry about the NZ Bush ecosystem - in this case local community, forest and bird, DoC, pest free NZ. > National & Internationally - Other teachers within our CoL to other teachers interested in development of scaffolds for project based learning > Researchers, Teacher Facilitators who are looking for a model to base their practice on under the theme of personalising learning with a subtheme of the role of current and emerging technologies according to (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins, 2012) , “Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective” . This inquiry  challenges us  to think about how to deploy the resources for
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Week 28 - Ethical Dilemmas

Step 1 (What): The main ethical dilemma I have come across during my action plan is the use of students to gather data regarding their teachers performance. Students are asked to rate teachers on a sliding scale based on the skills and framework we devised for Project Based Learning to assess the effects of using the framework on delivering what students need to scaffold them. Prior to the action it was noted that Students may feel like they cannot rate their teachers poorly or some students may deliberately rate their teachers poorly dependent on their relationship with the teacher. This was planned to be mitigated with the onus put on them to provide evidence of their learning in these circumstances. Bourke (2013) suggests giving students multiple opportunities for informed dissent to withdraw from participation in order to maintain ethical principles and it is important that this data is kept anonymous from the teachers. The ethical dilemma I came across was when gat
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Week 27 - Cultural Responsive Pedagogy

What is cultural responsive pedagogy?  Savage et al 2011 talk about cultural responsive pedagogy as instances where the teachers care for students as culturally located individuals - what does this mean - is it merely personalising learning in a manner that impacts student achievement? Is it where students view the culture of the school to be in sync with their own culture? Culture includes a variety of aspects and I believe cannot be linked solely to race, ethnicity but includes the belief system, values and how students view the world around them which impacts how they learn. Erickson 2010 suggests that culture in schools can be represented at multiple levels, visible and invisible, where a dominant culture can devalue minority cultures within a school even if it views itself as multicultural. Gay 2010 describe cultural responsive pedagogy as teaching students to and through personal and cultural strengths and so it seems it is where all the elements discussed above come to
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Week 26 - A reflection using Rolfe's model

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What? At this point of the Take Action Inquiry the teachers came together to plan their student inquiry for Term 1. Teachers were asked to bring resources to aid integration across literacy and numeracy. My expectations were that this is what would happen and there would be robust discussion and collaboration amongst peers to create this plan using the planning framework. I observed very few teachers did what was expected and team leaders in particular were not prepared. When this occurs team leaders do not behave as leaders in these meetings and then defer all leadership to me as the facilitator in order to not take responsibilities for their actions. Leaders take a followers stance and alienated at best to try and build  camaraderie  with others in the group this way they deflect accountability . We are all in this together and no one wants to be here attitude, which is not conducive to creative thinking or mobilising teams into action.  Great leaders move us. They ignit
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