Bursts and Bubbles 2021: Summing up our inquiries

My inquiry focus:  Can culturally responsive teaching and learning shift achievement in a time bound assessment driven classroom?

The aspect of student learning my inquiry focused on this year was …..

Was making sure that my Year 13 seniors social studies students were supported in their learning in the short time frame that we had.  More often or not are limited by assessment and this doesn’t always give us a chance to be in-depth with their learning and when coupled with the lack of choice, it was harder for students to be engaged.

I identified this as my focus when I noticed …

That students were engaged when we learning about the content but when left to work on their assessments, they were disinterested and struggled to stay motivated and focused.  The contexts and topics got them credits but we could only really touch the surface.  

To build a rich picture of my students’ learning I used comprehensive student voice.

Most of my year 12’s have taken Social Studies again this year in year 13 so I used their student voice from the end of last year to identify what suggestions they had in how I as their teacher could help them better.

Two key aspects students had identified with:

• A number of students said they wanted more one on one time.
• More in depth understanding and what we are learning (explain it better) and to make it interesting

Although they enjoy coming to Social studies, enjoyment wasn’t enough to get them credits.

The main patterns of student learning I identified was that they were awesome at getting starting but they weren’t getting enough work done in class and that was evidential when checking their docs and the quality of the work was surface level and superficial.  

This then told me I need to provide them with more time outside of normal school hours and to take them outside the classroom learning to get more in-depth knowledge of what we learning about.

My profiling of my own teaching showed that I had strengths in ….

Selling the topic.  Students say I have a great lecture style of teaching and that I could teach a topic generally to the whole class at once.  I have no problems with engaging students and motivating them when I’m in front of them, but when I shifted gear to individual work, it was a slow burn.

When thinking about my own teaching, I knew I had strengths in connecting with students outside the normal classroom timetable.  This was easier in the junior school but finding time in the senior school was a lot harder.

My students would likely make likely more progress if I offered them that opportunity - to do more in depth learning outside of the classroom, they would ask more questions, they would know they would get on the spot feedback and they would have my attention.

Other changes I made in my teaching were ….

Recording small aspects of the work at a time designed to not overwhelm.

Offering really focussed study classes for a few hours and even on a Sunday that allowed for that specific, non intrusive one on one time, unrestricted by bells and timetable.

I also took kids outside of the classroom because I didn’t pretend that I knew everything.

I’ve been guided on this journey by another of key texts:

• The Tapasā:  A cultural competencies framework
• 4 strategies to effectively support Pasifika Learners
• The teachings of Dr Rae Si’ilata, whose message supports creating opportunities for students to bring their value knowledge into the classroom.

The Tapasā offered insight into how I could build and test strategies that work for our Pasifika learners:

Tapasa says look at the approach and relationship with the students and being open.  Allow whanaungatanga, informal conversations, getting to know them first.

Positive strategy examples:  Use the other pacific students to work with you.  Make them realise their value as Pasifika.  Praise and wanting to learn because they feel valued.  Don't just need a teacher but values them for who they are, got their back and cares about things that are going on in their lives outside the classroom.  Encourage kids to communicate in a formal environment too.

The easiest thing  for me to change this year was...

Making better use of my time in the classroom. For those who did stay on after school they understood that their time was my time. 

And hardest things for me to change were…..  

My mindset about the pressure of assessment vs the using the time to get in-depth into what was important.  I needed to move away from being assessment driven and trust that the kids could use time to their advantage because they decided what their time could look like.

Some changes I made along the way were ….. including the teachers in my department in the planning and process to allow them to see what worked and what didn’t work.

Overall… when the students who attended the extra classes and engaged in more in depth learning shared their work, I could see that their understanding of our contexts allowed them to complete an assessment better.  I knew this when I checked their work completion online and saw their attendance to class increase.

The most important learning that I think I’ve made this year was to allow students knowledge to be accessed if given the opportunity and to allow them to create the right pace to share that knowledge.  Assessment is important but we make it work for us and not the other way round.

Inquiry Question #5: Hypothesise and Research

1. Share your findings about the nature and extent of the student challenge. Make sure it is clear what evidence from your inquiry supports each finding.
2. Explain how some of the data you have used to build a profile of the students’ learning will be used as baseline data at the end of the year.

My inquiry is looking at whether culturally responsive teaching and learning can shift achievement in a time bound assessment driven classroom?

My initial focus was to develop a plan to observe and understand how the teaching and learning strategies from the Tapasa would support our young people their understanding of their learning through contexts that they can relate to.

I have taught level 2 and level 3 Social Studies for a number of years, and when it comes to students understanding and exploring contexts that are interesting, I find that they are less engaged and less productive.

In the past, I have chosen themes and contexts that I know are well-prepared but too far removed in context.  There are often big issues that students select on their own but still can’t be done properly because students become easily bored. 

A big part of my inquiry focussed on the engaging students in their learning through the development of a robust programme that include class trips and relevant guest speakers.

Student voice feedback from our trip to Auckland University earlier this year saw students utilise their learning to now base some real life inquiries around.  My higher ability students in particular and those aiming to go to university could see it was achievable for them to go there and I believe this helped them become more engaged in their work.

Also, the academics from uni who led us, Olivia and co supported our kids and our kids in turn wanted to complete the tasks for them.  

One of my goals with my inquiry this year, is not to wait for the students to design the learning, but to encourage them by allowing them take the initiative.  

Inquiry Question #4: Collecting evidence and data

Begin to collect evidence and data and come to the next session ready to share your preliminary findings about the nature and extent of the student challenge i.e. using your baseline student data and evidence.

Most of my year 12’s have taken Social Studies again this year in year 13 so I used their student voice from the end of last year to identify what suggestions they had in how I as their teacher could help them better.

I have started to think about the staff resources we have in the school to help understand the issue better.

I have spoken to other staff members in my department who teach the same students what they believe the challenges are

I have used a tracking sheet to track progress in their attendance to class and task completion in their assessments. 

Inquiry Question #3: Building an accurate student profile

 Inquiry task #3: 

My task is to describe the tools/measures/approaches I plan to use to get a more detailed and accurate profile of students’ learning in relation to that challenge.  I will also try to justify why I chose these approaches and tools.

My level 3 class is very mixed ability in the academic and cultural sense. The majority are of Pasifika descent and there is still a mix among these young people with regards to which how Pacific they are.  

Here is the link to my diagram showing what I will use (thanks to Karen Ferguson for the model)

Empowering Pasifika Identity at Tamaki College

“A child educated to be strong in their own identity stands confident in the world” 

(Dr Rae Si’ilata)

As part of our Pasifika Initiative, we wanted Pasifika students to have a platform where they would be acknowledged and valued in their cultural ethnicities.  According to Turu #1 of the Tapasā, effective teaching pedagogies must first ‘demonstrate awareness of the diverse and ethnic-specific identities, languages and cultures of Pacific Learners’.  The plan was to hold a Pasifika student platform which doubled as a launch for the programme.  

Planning for the event: 

To get to this point, I met our SLT to share the idea who supported our plan.  I then met with our Pasifika staff to gage how we would go about organising the meeting.  It was important to get their feedback and to have them as a strong part of the journey.  Then I needed to inform our students through whanau meetings and whole school assemblies to prepare them for the day.  Last but not least, we informed our parents and families through letters and social media posts.  

The layout of the day was to enact a Talanoa style environment.  We wanted students and staff to feel like we were back in our villages, in an open fale, where no one was above and no-one was below the other, all were equal and all shared the power.  We covered the floors with mats (fala).  We then put a cover bowl on one side of the auditorium for our Pasifika student leaders to be around and opposite them were going to be our senior leadership team Ms Pamaka and Mr Dunn.

The Event:

On Friday 9th April we held our first ever Pasifika student cultural meeting.  The purpose of this cultural platform was launch the initiative and to hear from some of our ex-students who were not back at the college what they’re schooling experience was like.

We began with a prayer and song, then I shared a brief outline of our journey to this point.  We then had a performance and each of our three speakers shared their educational stories . Our principal then launched the programme and we concluded with a pray.  

To me this powerful image sums it all up.  The feedback from the students was interesting.  They wanted to know more about the purpose of the launch and some had never been in a Talanoa environment before.  A discussion with some colleagues after the day found that students were taking photos of the event and sharing it out to other schools on social media and asking what was happening.  To me, I was in my element and the day would be one of the most significant for me in my teaching career.  I know it was the start of an amazing journey for all students and staff involved.

 

Turu 1.14 Demonstrates understanding that many Pacific learners share multiple heritages, such as inter-Pacific, Māori and non-Pacific, and know the importance of supporting those shared identities, languages and cultures in their educational success and achievement

Teaching through a Cultural Lens: a collaborative workshop

At our Manaiakalani Cluster wide Teachers’ only day held on the 16th April, Christine Tupou, Poto Faalili and I took the opportunity to share with staff the challenges faced by our young Pasifika students every day.  We invited a number of students to speak about the importance of teachers’ knowing how to pronounce their names properly and they wanted shared some of the sad stories of when teachers got it wrong.  They talked about how it made them feel and the space was provided for them to share their stories.  

A few of our presenters practice the day before

Staff who attended our workshop

Our students were amazing.  They spoke with confidence and poise and determination.  We were very proud of them.  It was quite an emotional time for me because I felt they spoke for me and for every child who would have to sit and be embarrassed when someone spoke their name incorrectly or for the child who just accepted the incorrect name because they didn't want to make a big deal.

We designed our own analogy of the kava ceremony and what the ceremony represented.  Each element of the process was described as related to the world of a Pasifika student and how each aspect linked them to their families and that a child's success is the families success. The staff who attended the workshop had the chance to take part in the ceremony.  

Afterwards, we asked staff for feedback and collected their thoughts to be collated and discussed after the holidays.  It was a very special workshop that I felt proud to have been a part of. 

The links to the Tapasa are:

Turu 2.14 Critically reflects and examines whose knowledge is being taught and valued in the early learning setting or classroom in order to balance and enhance power sharing collaborative relationships.  (Please refer to a previous blogpost about the planning for this workshop)

Planning a Culturally Responsive Workshop #1

During our 2nd COL meeting, I made a strong connection with Poto and Christine from Glen Taylor Primary as we shared the same inquiry topic - how to bring to the forefront culturally responsive pedagogy to support our Pasifika students.  I had not talked properly to Poto or Christine before that COL meeting and to find out that they shared the same concerns and the same frustrations as me was validating.  We found that our reasons for why we were concerned were very similar and knew that we needed to support each other in how we could share this message with the world.  We decided that we wanted to work together to present a workshop at the upcoming Manaiakalani cluster wide teachers’ only day being held at Glen Taylor, so we set about organising our first meeting.  

The purpose of the workshop would be to encourage teachers to reflect on their practice in response to a culturally responsive practice.  We decided to call the working 'Teaching through a cultural lens".

We looked at the first Turu of the Tapasā around Identity, Language & Culture and shared stories of how important it was for teachers to know a students name.  We also thought about students who would be judged by their appearance ie. not a ‘full’ Samoan or Tongan or students whose names were very Pacific, but they didn’t look like your typical P.I child.  We brainstormed names of students that we knew and found a common connection in that some students were ex students of Glen Taylor who I currently teach so it made sense for these ex-students to go back to their old school to share their experiences.

We selected about 5 students between us.  Because our kids were different ages, we thought that we’d guide them through the initial introductions by creating a basic speaking frame:

Speaking Frame 

I’ve been called by ….. But my name is … given to me by ….  I am …. (ethnicit/es) 

We decided that we needed another meeting to expand on our introduction and so planned to add more information to our planning doc and to meet again in a weeks time.  I left the meeting feeling excited about the prospect of allowing our kids voices to be heard and thankful that we had each other.

Year 13 Climate Change Trip: Making the learning authentic

One of the most difficult achievement standards that my year 13’s find challenging is ‘Conduct a critical social inquiry’.  It is a huge undertaking worth 6 credits and usually takes a whole term to complete.  I discussed with my colleague who helps to teach the course reshaping it so that it will be more meaningful to the students and hopefully enable their interest to grow.  A colleague of mine at a similar school to ours recommended a unit called ‘Climate Refugees’ which looked at how people were forced to move because of the rising waters in their lands.  Pacific Islands  like Kiribati and Tuvalu were already facing these challenges and in the next 20 years, the bigger islands would not doubt be facing the same issues.

I decided to use ‘Climate refugees’ as a focus for our context and set about researching resources to build the unit.  I didn’t know too much about the topic so I made contact with Olivia Yates who is a PHD student with the Centre for Asia Pacific Refugee Studies who agreed to meet with our students and talk about what they do and the importance of knowing about the impact of Climate on the people of the islands. 

We initially planned to meet in early March but with an unexpected lockdown, the day was moved to the end of March.  

Our students travelled to the Auckland University Fale Pasifika and for most students, it was the first time they’d set foot at the University.  We were then guided through a two hour workshop which allowed students to understand the difficulties faced by those in the Pacific who would potentially lose their homes.  We used the fonofale model of health which ‘encompasses a system of wellbeing that acknowledges and embraces Pacific perspectives’.  Students were provided the space to share their knowledge and ideas which we hoped would be used at a time where their voices were needed.

Our students outside the Fale Pasifika

Students found the experience interesting and useful in understanding the impacts of Climate change on all the Islands of the Pacific.

Some of the ideas our students came up with

I met one of my students Cathy from 2020 studying Law and Samoan - great combo!

In relation to which turn this learning experience relates to, it may be as an Experienced teacher, turu 2.11 Extensively uses Pacific resources, tools, references and conceptual models to enhance communication and relationship building in planning, teaching and assessments and turu 3.11 Uses data and evidence including the different Pacific conceptual models and frameworks as a reference and guide for planning, teaching and assessment. 

Unpacking the Tapasa to relate to my Inquiry #1: Planning draft

There are 3 Turu that align with what teachers and leaders could relate to.

For my inquiry, I will try to align my inquiry in different steps to the Tapasa, so I could plan to use the Turu in my inquiry.

I  have started to document initial comments and thoughts around ways to address what the Turu suggest.

Resetting my inquiry take #1: Taking up the Year 13 Challenge

Here were the two drafts of my inquiry:

Draft #1:  Can I develop the capabilities of my staff to accelerate learning through understanding and applying the Tapasā in a year 10 Social Studies class?

Draft #2:  How does taking teachers on a journey of growth in Tapasā affect their pedagogical implementation?

Review of the inquiry points:

I originally started my inquiry basing it on supporting non-Pasifika staff in my department to implement strategies from the Tapasa as I found there were times when they struggled to connect with their Pasifika students in the classroom and these struggles led to disengagement and sometimes misbehaviour.

Reasons for the change:

I did discuss the opportunity to be part of my inquiry to members of my team and although they were happy to take part, finding the time became too much of a barrier.  This was bad planning on my part as a number of classes that I wanted to observe, I was teaching.

Another reason was right in front of me.  I have a huge year 13 class who I could potentially see were going to be a struggle to engage and motivate.  Having taught year 13’s for a number of years, our department has always struggled to find ways to motivate them to the end and it has become a pattern of failure over the years.  I have been reluctant to inquire into knowing the real why and how to address it into what could work with this group as my own biases have been a barrier and I have in the past put it into the too hard basket.  I feel I have to take up the challenge and I felt that I was doing a disservice by trying to help my non-Pasifika staff apply the strategies of the Tapasa to raise achievement when my own class was failing.

The majority of my class are Pasifika students and I want to be able to be inclusive of their identities in my teaching and their learning as I can be without leaving out our Tagata whenua and other cultures.  So I am thinking about applying the strategies that I have not used or tried to use with my year 13 class in an attempt to keep them focused and motivated and to raise achievement.

Final Inquiry #3  Can I raise student achievement in my year 13 Social Studies class by applying holistic approaches found of the Tapasa?

In my next blog, I will look at how I will approach this inquiry change.

Making Sense of Tapasā PLD

An awesome opportunity was offered by CORE education to take part in a PLD called Making Sense of Tapasā.  It was a two-hour online session that provided support for teachers to engage with their Pasifika learners.  It was a really good P.D that connected me with lots of other teachers in different sectors who wanted to understand the document better.

Some of my key takeouts are below:

It’s mandated by our MOE.  We do have professional obligations to these documents.  Being culturally responsive is to interact with families.  Different ways of knowing, being and doing.  Important to unpack what different beliefs are eg. Tongan ways.

Mindful of what our practices do in how we engage with students to ensure that they have learning environments where they are positive and they feel safe and has successful outcomes.

Tapasa (p12)

Teachers and professional leaders will work together to integrate, contextualise, and refine their own understandings of what each standard looks like and what quality practice in their place. 

The Pasifika learners, parents, families and communities at the centre where it all begins and are surrounded by the 9 Pacific values.

Biggest key of having an understanding of the 9 values will help non pacific teachers who didnt have an understanding of knowing, being and doing - as soon as you understand them, it will open up incredible learning opportunities to see what they mean within the pacific lens.  

Examples of what I do:

• Greeting students at the door with eye contact and welcoming.
  
• Seniors - sitting at the table and i purposefully say hello to students who i haven’t seen 
  

It’s important that you understand your own distinctiveness, identity and culture in deep and meaningful ways in order to genuinely engage and respond to the distinctiveness, identity and culture of others.

For young Maori and Pacific people in nz, research shows that the stronger our cultural identity, the stronger our wellbeing is.  If we embrace and strengthen cultural identity, we strengthen our wellbeing.

The more we teachers, understand ourselves, the better we can understand our learners.  Students want teachers to learn to pronounce my name correctly

• Use experts in the class all the time - use them as experts
• Don’t be scared to ask the kids the questions.  
• Learn greetings in our home language
• Watch them before school or in the playground play and interact (especially Pasifika)- how to take it into learning programme.
• Ask what they’d be doing at church time especially celebrations
• Pg 7: number 2, do not be frightened if you get the pronounciation wrong and show i’ve given it a go but follow up with the question of ‘have i pronounced that right’, can you help me.
• Be out in the carpark and talking to families in the carpark, supermarkets.
  

• Observe, listen carefully and waited longer - don’t interrupt children’s thinking.

Being Tapasā Visible at Tamaki College

At our last COL meeting at Point England Primary, I noticed on the wall a display that had photo’s of staff holding the document of the Tapasa up.  To me, this display helped to show staff how valuable it is when supporting Pasifika students.  I then wanted to replicate the display and set off to take photos of our Heads of Departments.  I enjoyed the task and allowed me to explain to the HOD’s my purpose.

The display board at PES

The display board BEFORE

1st example of HOD photos

2nd example of HOD photos

The finished display board

COL meeting #2: 18th March, 2021

COL#2: 18th March, 2021

Today we had our second COL meeting at Pt England Primary school.  It was lovely to see the team for the first time in person this year.  Below are some of the notes I took from my meeting. 

Think about a size that is manageable and measurable.

What causes our kids to have a reading problem.  Not enough vocab?  So what?  What's the inquiry?

Teacher feedback or impact makes the most impact on a student.

Has to be something that we are in charge of.

How would we hone down things like engagement?

Kotahitanga - Dr Russell Bishop said 'kids do well if they get on with the teacher'.

“Something in the deliberate acts of teaching that could make a big difference”. Teachers might be doing it the wrong way or not doing it enough.

How do you know whose getting what and the right amount?  

We can measure the lunch programme - if they get the same stuff, how come boys are lower.

Control groups not always fair. Not compulsory.

Agree around some commonality but see the difference

Collaborative Inquiry is a “can do”

A group could agree to use a common tool 

They may end up using a different approach or could combine and try the same approach (may be a benefit in more numbers)

Still needs to be based on the evidence from various classes i.e. variations in content in response to learners.

In order to develop an intervention it’s important to know why is that happening?

Discussion time - find others who are doing similar inquiries.

https://christinetupou.blogspot.com/

https://potofaalili.blogspot.com/

I had an awesome discussions with Poto and Christine and how they want to focus on empowering the learners through the teachers that teach them.

Key takeouts:

• We share the fact that our Pasifika kids respond to their Pasifika teachers better
  
• Identity is a key factor that allows our learners to feel valued.

I had always felt that sometimes my inquiry is too focused on the how what I could do would change literacy and numeracy when the reality is, what needs addressing is teacher practice.  My passion is our empowering our Pasifika learners and after talking to Poto and Christine, I feel committed to continue my line of inquiry.