CSIC 8100 Blog 8

What have I learnt from during my Digital and Collaborative Learning journey?

Firstly, I am a better leader because of the leadership theory I have learnt. I am able
to use different leadership theory at appropriate times. For example, being a strong
pedagogical leader was helpful at the start of 2019. Andrew (2009) says that “Pedagogical
leadership has  emphasised the importance of establishing clear educational goals,
planning the curriculum, and evaluating teachers and teaching."

This year, our 2018 merged with another team. This merge meant that I initially used a
pedagogical leadership approach to describe the theory behind our play based approach
to learning; to explain how this looks in practise and to set some team goals as we
started the school year. This pedagogical leadership extended to my work with our
leadership team, some of whom were not familiar with play based learning. The
eadership team have continued to evaluate our work as a leadership team; the teaching
teams work with the children; and the way that teachers have adapted to the change.

I have also learnt about servant leadership and have reflected on how this leadership
style is evident in my work. Robertson (2012) says that "The person who is the servant
leader has integrity. They are honest and trustworthy and are willing to walk the talk as they
lead by example." (pp 124). It is important to me to act with integrity, to be trustworthy and
to be a role model for others in regards to modern learning practice. I am aware that
my actions are observed by others and that it is important to be seen to be working in
the way that I expect other teachers to work. This does however, raise the issue of work
load for me when, as a middle leader, I am expected to carry both a teaching workload and a
leadership workload.

My CSIC8100 action research inquiry has also created positive outcomes for me. I inquired
into the frequency of learning conferences in our team.  Osterman & Kottkamp, (2015)
state that "Situated cognition focuses on both the process and the context of learning." (pp 67).
My inquiry has been useful to me in my current context of leading in a modern learning
environment. The process of conferencing with students is crucial to the learning process
in my school; and improving both their quantity and quality is in my best interests as a leader.
The spiral of inquiry (Timperley,H, Kaser. L, and Halbert. J, 2014 ), will lead me to my next
action research project which is likely to focus on the content of learning conferences in
order to improve their quality.

In addition, the action research process I have followed mirrors the inquiry learning process
that students follow at my school; and therefore sits comfortably alongside my pedagogical
beliefs about learning.  Wright, A (2018) confirms my thinking that inquiry learning is a useful
learning process for adults as well as for children when she says; "For lifelong learners,
including EBL (Enquiry Based Learning) assessments can encourage participation and
make the prospect less intimidating for such learners, especially as many of the EBL involves
organisational work." Action research, or inquiry based learning, has certainly been an
engaging and effective learning structure for me.

References

Andrew, M. (2009). Managing change and pedagogical leadership. In A. Robins &
S. Callan (Eds.), Managing Early Years Settings: Supporting and Leading Teams

Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators :
professional development to improve 67

student learning.

Retrieved from:- http://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Created from unitec on 2018-02-18 15:11:40. Copyright © 2015. Skyhorse Publishing.
All rights reserved.

Robertson, Karyn, & Unitec Institute of Technology. (2012). Servant Leadership in
Early Childhood Education: A Multi-site Case Study.

Timperley, H, Kaser. L, and Halbert. J,  (2014) A framework for transforming learning
in schools: Innovation and the spiral of inquiry Centre for Strategic Education Seminar,
Victoria. Series Paper No. 234, April 2014

Wright, A. (2018). Assessing Lifelong Learners through Enquiry Based Learning: A
Master’s Level Perspective. Adult Learner (0790-8040), 134–142. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.libproxy.unitec.ac.nz/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&
AN=133616552&site=ehost-live&scope=site

CSIC 8100 Blog 7

Step 1: What is the observed impact after the ‘Take Action’ phase?

The impact of my Take Action phase has been that teachers are meeting with students for learning conferences more often than they did during the same period of time in 2018. This impact is clearly supported by the figures which show the number and frequency of learning conferences between teachers and students.

Other impacts could be that students have more understanding of the Haeata learning inquiry process; that they have more focus during their day at school; that they better understand their learning goals and how to achieve them; and that they feel more supported by their teachers. I have observed all of these impacts, but I have not collected any evidence to prove them.

Step 2: How is the observed impact different from or similar to the anticipated one?

One of the positive impacts I anticipated was that students might improve in their ability to describe their learning at school. I have no information which can tell me this definitely one way or another. It would be interesting to conduct a survey with students to establish if this has been the case.

The other positive impact I predicted was that teachers would also be more articulate about learning at Haeata. My anecdotal observations would indicate that this is the case. However I would also have to survey teachers to establish if my observations are valid, and also to establish how many teachers have experienced this positive outcome.

An unexpected impact of the inquiry is that teachers are more curious about learning conferences. They are interested in unpacking how learning conferences are conducted and what different types of learning conferences might look like.

Step 3: What is the impact on future inquiry/practice?

This inquiry could lead to a second inquiry during which I might interview teachers and students in regards to the impact that learning conferences have on them. I would collect some qualitative information about the how both groups feel about learning conferences. I would ask both groups how frequent learning conferences contribute to their understanding of the Haeata inquiry process and other aspects of learning at our school. I would ask teachers if the conferences have given them useful information about individual students. I would ask students if the conferences help them to focus on their learning, and if they help them to carry on working independently of the teacher. 

It would be helpful to have a team of teachers collect this information from a number of students of different ages. 

I would also collect the frequency data that I have collected during this part of the inquiry, so that I can compare future data with data from the first six weeks of 2019.

I will definitely continue to encourage all the teachers in our team to meet the goal of conferencing with students every two weeks. I will also continue to offer teachers classroom based time during which they can do this. 

CSIC 8100 Post 6

New Research Question

If we define the number of teacher student conferences required in a specific time period,
will the number of teacher student conferences increase?

Preparation for Analysis

The kind of data I collected is about the number of one-to-one interactions teachers have
with students. It gives information about a learning action that the teacher and student
have engaged in. It is quantitative data about a qualitative assessment method.

At the start of Term 1, 2019 our kaiarahi team decided to take some actions to encourage
more kaiako conferencing one to one with ākonga. The first action we took was to define
our expectations; kaiako are to meet with each ākonga in your puna ako group once every
2 weeks.

I collected pre and post intervention data about the number of one-to-one conferences a
teachers and students engage in.

Of the 21 examples I collected, I eliminated one result because the 2018 result was 0 and
I could not calculate a percentage.

Analysis of the Data

The data I have collected indicates the frequency with which teachers and students are
engaging in a particular learning activity. The results can be seen in the graph below.

In the first 6 weeks of 2019, teachers and students have completed 56% of the
number of learning conferences that they completed during all of 2018.

The lowest percentage a single teacher achieved was 8%. This teacher had completed a
high number of conferences with this particular student during 2018.

The highest percentage a single teacher achieved was 100%. This was achieved by two
teachers.

These percentages are also indicative of an increase in the actual number of learning
conferences. If teachers continued to conference with students at a this rate for the
rest of the school year; the number of learning conferences would be more than three
times the number held this year.  

Interpretation of the Data

Gray (2012) points out that “Data does not speak for itself”.

It is clear from this data that the number and frequency of teacher conferences have
increased during the first six weeks of 2019. This would indicate that teachers have
responded positively to the exact stipulation of kaiarahi expectation of one conference
for every student every two weeks.

In addition to stipulating the number of conferences required over a two week period;
kaiarahi also gave teachers more time to complete conferences. I think I might be able to
surmise that offering teachers more time to achieve their conferencing goal has contributed
to their success. However I am assuming that teachers used the extra time for learning
conferences and I don’t know that for sure. Assuming that the time was used for learning
conferences; I do not have information on the number of extra conferences completed in the
extra time.

I also do not have any information about the duration of learning conferences or the content
of learning conferences. I am therefore not able to comment on the quality of interaction
between the teacher and the student.

References:

Data Quality Campaign What is Student Data? dataqualitycampaign.org

Retrieved from:-

http://2pido73em67o3eytaq1cp8au.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/
What-Is-Student-Data.pdf

Gray; Jonathan. (2012) What data can and cannot do. Retrieved from: - https://www.
theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/may/31/data-journalism-focused-critical

CSIC8100 Post 5

Create a reflective entry to discuss how you are addressing the context of different audiences (local, national and/or international) and their perspectives while you are taking action.

The audience I would like to write about in relation to my inquiry is the business world. This could be local businesses or international businesses. People who work outside the education world might ask why we conference with children. Conferences also promote engaged learning because teachers can identify a child's interests and use these to develop an interesting learning path or inquiry.

In Trends Shaping Education Spotlight 15, the writers state that "Scientific literature on technological development suggests that advances in computers’ artificial intelligence, vision and movement capabilities could impact tasks carried out by the majority of workers in currently existing jobs (Elliott, 2017)." This means that the 21st Century students need to develop a different skill set to students of the past. 

The article discusses various issues related to the use of Information and Communication Technology in schools. However, the last section "Towards the Future" is most relevant to my inquiry about conferences with students. 

The Towards the Future section discusses the importance of 'supporting more personalised and engaged learning". The conference process is one way that teachers can achieve this. When conferences are conducted individually  teachers have the perfect opportunity to personalise learning to the child.

Bolstad,Gilbert,McDowall, Bull, Boyd, & Hipkins, (2012) ask "Why does personalising learning matter for the 21st Century?". They answer this question by saying that personalised learning involves a 'systems level shift'; one in which "the system is built around the learner"(pp17). Individual learning conferences are evidence of this shift in practice in a modern learning environment. This systems level shift is difficult for some people outside the 'education industry' to understand (and some within). 

At our school, teachers conference with children in order to find out how to build a learning system around them. This system can be very personalised and can differ from child to child. As times goes on, our teachers are learning more about how they can work as a collaborative team to cater for many different kinds of learners at one time. 

Bolstad,Gilbert,McDowall, Bull, Boyd, & Hipkins, (2012) also say that in 'deep expressions of personalised practice' students will have genuine input into shaping their learning, and the learning activities that they are involved in at school. Learning conferences are one way to create a genuine opportunity for students to contribute to the design of their own learning. 

Another aspect of personalised learning discussed by Bolstad et al (2012) is the need to "...shape a learners pathway in ways that support their needs and interests...".  A skilled teacher will be able to tell where a child is at, and what their next steps could be. 

The teachers in our team seem to enjoy the opportunity to conference with children individually. However, they are grappling with the ups and downs of a school day, time management, multi-tasking, unpredictable events and real live emotional young human beings. It is important to remember that deep learning is not a one way race to the finish line, although sometimes it happens quickly. Deep learning is more like an orienteering event in which the destiny keeps changing - so it's important to keep checking in with the competitors along the way to make sure they still know where they are going!

References:- Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching — a New Zealand perspective. Report prepared for the Ministry of Education. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

OECD. (2018).Trends shaping education 2018 spotlight. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/Spotlight-15-A-Brave-New-World-Technology-and-Education.pdf

CSIC8100 Applied Practice in Context Number 4

“Discuss how issues of ethics, society, culture and professional environments (including law, regulations and policy) are being addressed while you are taking action”.

I have chosen to use the Ethical Decision Making Model to discuss ethical issues relating to my research. 

Critical Incident and Responses to Critical Incidents

Most children are open to havinzdfghg a learning conversation with me in the course of a day, but there are a couple who refuse. This is a problem because conferencing with children is one of the main ways that we record learning and offer guidance to ākonga. How might I respond? Is it appropriate to make children have learning conferences with a teacher?

There are some different points of view to consider. 

Ehrich, Kimber, Millwater, & Cranston (2011) say that research processes need to "Avoid causing harm, distress, disadvantage or anxiety." The children we work with in school have the right to an emotionally safe learning environment where they are treated with respect. 

Ehrich, L. C. , Kimber M., Millwater, J. & Cranston, N. (2011) also point out that researchers need to avoid lowering self-esteem by highlighting difficulties and deficiences. It is possible that compelling children to participate in learning conferences could do this.

The NZARE (2010) encourages researchers to consider using research methods which '...promote the aspirations of Maori". I believe that the learning conference offers teachers an opportunity to engage with Maori students about topics which are of interest to them as Maori. 

NZARE (2010) principle 3.3. discusses Capacity to Consent; asking the researcher to consider the participants capacity to give consent. This is an interesting issue when the participant is a child. Do whānau give schools the right to include children in research projects when they enrol their children in New Zealand schools? The NZ Curriculum (2007) certainly encourages teachers to participate in research and teacher inquiry (pp34).

Beliefs that impact on my decision making could be:

I believe that learning conferences are the best way to offer personalised feedback to children. Russell Bishop (2010) confirms this when he describes the value of descriptive feedback to Maori students.  

I believe some children are too shy to talk with the teacher by themselves. 

I believe that it is my job as a teacher to get to know children individually as learners. 

The choice I have made is offer more choice to children. I thought that I could set up a booking system and children could choose to come to a group conference or an individual conference. Both conferences will follow the same format. 

Implications could be that some children do not end up participating in individual conferences, which is one of the school assessment guidelines.

Some children might participate in a group conference and then find that they are comfortable with the conference process which will enable them to participate in individual conferences in the future. 

Group conferences might produce more interesting discussions with children about learning.

Ehrich, L. C. , Kimber M., Millwater, J. & Cranston, N. (2011). Ethical dilemmas: a model to understand teacher practice, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 17:2, 173-185, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2011.539794  

Ministry of Education (2007), New Zealand Curriculum 2007, Learning Media, Wellington, NZ

New Zealand Association for Research in Education (NZARE). (2010). NZARE Ethical Guidelines. Retrieved  from:- http://www.nzare.org.nz/portals/306/images/Files/NZARE%20EthicalGuidelines2010.pdf

CSIC 8100 Applied Practice in Context Number 3

Examine how indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness are informing the way you are taking action.

I really enjoyed the readings and viewings about cultural responsiveness for this post because they resonated with my personal pedagogy and that of my school. I feel that learning conferences with individual ākonga are a great opportunity to practice personalised culturally responsive pedagogy. 

Bishop (2012) describes an 'agentic teacher' who believes in each child's ability to achieve. He says that agentic teachers are able to manage the classroom in such a way that they can have "...interactions with young Maori people which provide them with academic feedback and feedforward." 

Learning conferences achieve this goal. The ākonga and kaiako can use the learning conference as an opportunity to connect prior knowledge, set goals, offer support, advice and feedback. The whole learning journey can be designed in a personalised and culturally responsive way for the individual ākonga.

A speaker in the Teaching Tolerance (2010) video reiterates the need to cater for individual voice, stating that a 'one size fits all' approach to cultural diversity can be damaging. She points out that "Each child brings their own version of culture, which is highly personalised."

Bucher (2008) describes the nine mega skills for Cultural Intelligence. Number 9 is about "Understanding the Dynamics of Power; meaning that it is important that kaiako understand that they usually hold the power in a classroom. I see learning conferences as an opportunity to hand this power back to the ākonga because their intention is put the ākonga in charge of their learning journey.

I have chosen to use the Mauri Model to reflect on how I have gone about taking action in regards to learning conferences; and also to discuss how our team are responding to the requirement to do learning conferences.

I see myself as being in the Mauri Ora state of being actively engaged. I feel highly motivated and committed to helping to establish learning conferences routine mahi for kaiako in the teina hapori. My recent Mindlab work has enabled me to change the direction of my research so that I am now reading, writing and thinking about an aspect of my work that is related to my research but that is more engaging for me. 

I feel alert and I am interested in talking with other kaiako about their experiences so I understand them more. I would like to create opportunities for kaiako to discuss the why, how and when of learning conferences. 

I believe that hapori wide a few of our kaiako may be in the Mauri Moe state. They may be choosing not to participate because they are feeling anxious about how our emphasis on learning conferences challenges their  perception of their role as a kaiako. Other kaiako are in a Mauri Oho state where they are interested in finding out how they can make the time to have effective, culturally responsive and culturally intelligent learning conversations with our ākonga.



Bucher, R. (2008). Building cultural intelligence (CQ): Nine Megaskills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Pohatu, T. W. (2011). Mauri - Rethinking human wellbeing. MAI Review, 3, 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.review.mai.ac.nz/index.php/MR/article/v...

Teaching Tolerance( 2010, Jun 17) Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Retrieved from:
https://app.themindlab.com/media/31865/view 

CISC 8100 Applied Practice in Context Week 2

The reflective model I have chosen to use is the Jay and Johnson model. I have decided

to use this model to analyse what is happening hāpori wide in regards to conferencing

with ākonga. It was not my original intent to collect comparative information in regards

to how other kaiako manage conferencing. However, because I am experiencing

some difficulties myself and also because this is a new process for some,

I thought this could be a useful topic to reflect on.

What is happening?

The kaiarahi (team leaders) recently informed us of the required frequency of

conferences with ākonga, this being once every two weeks. Interestingly, this is

a match with the frequency of conferencing I aimed to achieve during my research.

I am not yet managing to achieve this frequency. Remarks from other kaiako

indicate that they are experiencing the same difficulty, so I am curious to see

how and if we can improve.

Is this helpful and for whom?

It seems helpful to me to have a specific goal set for kaiako by the kaiarahi.

There is a clear expectation of what we are expected to achieve. It may put pressure

on some kaiako and this could create negative outcomes for them. This action is helpful

to ākonga who will come to expect regular individual and personalised conferencing

time with kaiako.

How am I feeling?

I am feeling inspired to achieve this goal. It makes me feel like changing the

focus of my research from encouraging whānau interaction with LincEd to

encouraging kaiako interaction with ākonga.

What do I not understand?

I don't understand how our current timetable might or might not limit the

ability of other kaiako to achieve the goal of conferencing once each fortnight

with ākonga.

How do other people who are involved or indirectly involved describe

what is happening?
Feedback from other kaiako indicates varying levels of success. One kaiako is
very happy, while others are experiencing frustrations with time and experience.

What does research contribute to an understanding of this matter?

Baleghizadeh and Zargami (2015) say that "At all times, students must

feel that the conference is under their control and for their benefit." This statement

makes me wonder how kaiako can best approach the topic of a conference

with ākonga, and how ākonga feel about conferences.

The research Baleghizadeh and Zargami (2015) conducted in regards to

student conferencing concluded that students who conferencewith teachers

achieve similar results to students who are tested by teachers. However they

state "...it can be concluded that applying alternative assessment procedures

resulted in a significant difference between the participants' attitudes...". This

conclusion fits well with our schools pedagogical statements in regards to

assessment.

How can I improve what is not working?

I could help kaiako to explore different ways to manage conferences.

Critical Reflection

What are the implications of the matter when viewed from these alternative

perspectives?

I now feel that conferencing is a more specific task than I originally thought.

It could be useful to develop a conference format to use repeatedly so that ākonga

will know what to expect from a learning conference.  

How does this reflective process inform and renew my perspective?

McManes (2015) states that "The key to a successful student-led conference

is the preparation." A professional development session about conferencing would

be useful for helping our kaiako to prepare well. It could cover research and

pedagogy about formative assessment; suggestions for formats; possible questions

and role playing.

References:

Baleghizadeh, S., & Zarghami, Z. (2015). 3 ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING:

THE IMPACT OF STUDENT-GENERATED TESTS AND CONFERENCING
ON EFL STUDENTS' GRAMMAR LEARNING.

The European Journal of Applied Linguistics and TEFL, 4(1), 45+.

Retrieved from

http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.unitec.ac.nz/apps/doc/A528616250/AONE?

u=per_unit&sid=AONE&xid=5c2be80f

McManes, G. (2015). Student-Led Conferencing in PE Showcasing their skills and

achievements can help students take ownership of their learning.

Physical & Health Education Journal, 81(1), 22–23. Retrieved from
http://libproxy.unitec.ac.nz:2048/login?url=

http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN

=108643468&site=ehost-live&scope=site