Audiences

Discuss how you are addressing the context of different audiences local and their perspectives for your inquiry

My local audience is Community of Learning (COL). Using Seesaw for inquiry to ensure that all learners have a place to build upon with their digital savvy and also become a 21st learner and not stuck in the old ways. Currently at Rowandale we are involved with a COL where schools around Manurewa not just primary but also daycare centres and colleges meet and discuss a pathway we can all jump on. My audiences’ perspective is looking into Seesaw in order to help keep track of students progress from kindergarten, to primary, to college while making the transition smooth and there is an open communication about the child in their learning alongside the teachers.  According to Wenger (1998) is a shared domain that the community work collaboratively together to get the best for the stakeholders in the school. The main stakeholder being the student. But to me it is about all parties having a say in the organization of the learning of the children including children. 

The theme that relates to my teacher inquiry is personalising learning.  According to Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins, (2012) personalising learning aligns with the idea that education systems must move away from an Industrial Age “one-size fits-all” model.  For example, not all students are able to write and express themselves using pen and paper. Therefore, moving into a 21st facilitator in the classroom removing the walls the children are enclosed in. We ask children to collaborate. Digital technology can be used as an effective tool in student collaboration. It is interesting to note that Higgins et al., (2012) showed similar results in that  collaborative use of technology (in pairs or groups) is more effective than individual use, although some younger children may need support in collaborating effectively. Higgins et al., suggests that “the use of computer and digital technologies is usually more productive when it supports collaboration and interaction, particularly collaborative use by learners or when teachers use it to support discussion, interaction and feedback (p. 4, 2012)”

Technology has increasingly become an integral part of everyday life, making ordinary tasks easier by a simple push of a few buttons. With the birth of digital natives, more New Zealand primary schools are utilizing technology in order to provide the best learning experiences for children (Ministry of Education, 2017).  For example, COL is planning on utilizing technology by keeping digital portfolio for students, blog, also track students achievement and progress using apps such as, SeeSaw, Reading Eggs and Mathletics. “By the end of 2016, all schools will have access to the technology available to provide high quality, high capacity, ultrafast internet access for teaching and learning.” They go on to say that “Connected classrooms offer today’s students and teachers easier, affordable, and faster access to information, teaching and learning resources, peers, experts and the wider community. (Ministry of Education, 2017)”

As a leader of technology in our school I have already started using Seesaw for my inquiry (writing).  In this program children use it as a reflection of learning tool. They video, record or write their learning and their success criteria and how they have achieved all these.  The next step is to receive feedback from myself, peers and parents to receive feedback about other possible ways to look at a real life problem. But, also the awesome things that the student has done. I really like when the children collaborate on their work. According to Chickering and Gamson (1987) collaboration helps children retain or maintain understand the new learning.  Workspace or any type of 21st learning children should be sharing ideas etc. Sulaiman and Shahrill (2015) believes that teachers need to directly and indirectly teach how to be collaborative learners in the classroom. Indirectly seems to be the way I have been teaching letting them solve the problems/arguments though I feel like stepping in.  I do not.

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

Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in
undergraduate education. AAHE bulletin, 3,7.

Henderson, S., & Yeow, J. (2012, January). iPad in education: A case study of iPad adoption
and use in a primary school. In System science (hicss), 2012 45th hawaii
international conference on (pp. 78-87). IEEE.

Higgins, S., Xiao, Z., & Katsipataki, M. (2012). The impact of digital technology on learning:
A summary for the education endowment foundation. Durham, UK: Education Endowment
Foundation and Durham University.

Ministry of Education. (2017). Education in New Zealand. Retrieved 12 July, 2017, from
https://education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/specific-initiatives/digital-technologies-for-teaching-and-learning/ 

Sulaiman, N. D., & Shahrill, M. (2015). Engaging Collaborative Learning to Develop
      Students’ Skills of the 21st Century. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences,
      6(4), 544.

Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge:

         Cambridge University Press

Reflective model to discuss something that has happened during your Inquiry so far...

Apply a reflective model to discuss something that has happened during your Inquiry so far and how it impacts on taking action

 Gibb’s (1996) model of reflection 

Description
Using digital tools

In my practice our school has used a new program called Hapara. Hapara is a place you

can give the children the resources online to complete the task. 

At the beginning of the year the children were using books moderate of the time. This is because we were limited by the devices we have for the children.  Usually only 5 could go on at a time. We have since moved to devices. Hapara allows children to pick and choose the work they would like to do. It has the goals, resources, work samples, and reflection of learning all under this one workspace.  The children love it and are really engaged in the learning. They are starting to now collaborate on work using devices by sharing with their peers. Getting constructive peer-feedback and feed-forward for their learning. There are certain tasks they must do on their own, but most is open to them to discuss their learning. 

Feelings
Hapara is a big program it does seem to have it flaws like sending individual emails to students.  But, overall the planning for teacher is easier, the work for children is in one place, plus parents are able to see their work once they get home.  It is all online. I really enjoyed the concept and can only go up as I learn more. The biggest issue is tracking children on the device as some would like to play games instead of working. If I am with a group it is hard to monitor.

Evaluation
Loved how children are now engaged in the work.  The children are providing positive feedback and feed forward.  I do like how the students work collaboratively with each other.   For a teacher it is easy to track the work set. Plus you can see who has submitted the work and started it. 

My dislikes printing all the work to put into a hard copy portfolio.  There is a lot of time printing of work that children have completed. Plus, you need work to put onto your walls.  The other is children not showing their digital citizenship and going on to games, etc. Plus, if the net is down then there is no work for the children.  

Analysis
I really like when the children collaborate on their work. According to Chickering and Gamson (1987) collaboration helps children retain or maintain understand the new learning.  Workspace or any type of 21st learning children should be sharing ideas etc. Sulaiman and Shahrill (2015) believes that teachers need to directly and indirectly teach how to be collaborative learners in the classroom. Indirectly seems to be the way I have been teaching letting them solve the problems/arguments though I feel like stepping in.  I do not.

Conclusion
I believe just monitoring the situation better for the children.  Added extra work for the early finishers. Plus, add more reflections for the children to use not just Seesaw.  The children didn't like the voice or video part it put them off. I think they will get use to it.

The level of engagement has increased so has my attendance. Students are now making joint decisions. They are collaboratively problem solving to reach solutions. My next step will be to buddy the more able students with the less able ones. I would also like to use Coggle which is an excellent brainstorming tool. It will be great to see my students create their own games using Scratch.

Action Plan
I am going to be adding more activities to the workspace.  Teaching of other reflection and let them have fun with it.

Reference

Chickering, A. W., & Gamson, Z. F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE bulletin, 3,7.

Sulaiman, N. D., & Shahrill, M. (2015). Engaging Collaborative Learning to Develop Students’ Skills of the 21st Century. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 6(4), 544.

Submit entries that are consistently well structured, professionally focused, edited, presented and engaging

Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness

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

Inquiry topic: Using technology (Seesaw)

What is happening: Using technology to ensure that all learners have a place to build upon with their

digital savvy and also become a 21st learner and not stuck in the old ways.

The general meaning of innovation is characterized only as "presenting something new; there are no

qualifiers of how noteworthy or world-shattering that something should be just that it should be

superior to anything that was there some time recently” (Vaitheeswaran, 2007. P. 4). Innovation in

my understanding differs to many people. Within the classroom setting innovation is “empowering

teachers to develop intelligent, creative and effective teaching methods that will challenge and

engage learners” (Hewitt D and Tarrant S, 2015. P. n.d).

As New Zealand is a multicultural nation, it is important as a student teacher to understand how

indigenous innovation can be successfully implemented in teaching. Point England School is a great

example of how this can be done. Point England School is situated in Glen Innes, Auckland and is a

decile one school. The majority of the school’s demographic is made up of polynesian and Maori

students. The Principal Russell Burt grew up in the area during a time when employment was not an

issue as jobs were in abundance, in contrast to today where most jobs are being taken over by

technology. Just like Māui in the Māori legends, Burt saw this as an opportunity and planned to

overcome this obstacle. He wanted to make sure that the students of his school were able to leave

with skills they could take into the workplace of the future. This was done by integrating technology

into the student’s everyday school life. The New Zealand Curriculum states that “Adaption and

innovation are at the heart of technological practice. Quality outcomes result from thinking and

practices that are informed, critical, and creative.” (Ministry of Education, 2007, p.37). Point England

School successfully uses digital technology to enhance their learning as well as equip students with

a skill base they can use across all sectors of employment. Every student has a digital device. From

years 0-3 students use an Ipad and students from years 4-8 use chromebooks. 

The implementation of digital technology in this school also provided a solution to an ongoing ‘lull

period” during the summer break when students learning significantly slowed down. To combat this

problem the Manaiakalani trust which runs the digital learning hub, introduced a blogging contest

over the summer period. This competition required all students to read a book then post a book

review on their own blog. Students were also required to give constructive feedback of other

student’s book reviews. The top three students from each school were given prizes for the most

feedback submitted. This innovative solution saw a significant shift in student’s learning over the

long summer break. 

Integrating digital learning into the school has not in any way impacted on any cultural elements of

the school but instead has allowed students to express their cultural identity more confidently.

Students show great confidence in waiata Māori, karakia, mihimihi, and pepeha through the use of a

school wide network news programme.

Using digital technology to develop skill base for students, the implementation of a summer blogging

contest to overcome the summer ‘lull period’, and the use of a school network news programme to

encourage confident culturally aware students, are great examples of innovation in education and

shape the way for innovative education of the future.

References:

        Hewitt. D. & Tarrant. S (2015). Innovation Teaching and Learning in Primary School

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media Limited

Wikipediaorg. (2017). Wikipediaorg. Retrieved 10 August, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples

Law, regulations and/or policy impact on teacher inquiry

Discuss how aspects of law, regulations and/or policy impact on teacher inquiry

Inquiry topic: Writing 

What is happening: Using Seesaw for inquiry to ensure that all learners have a place to become a

21st while doing writing.

How is it working: It is so far working well.  I would like to focus on lifting them in writing.  But more

importantly become more self reliant.  

How am I feeling: I am excited to see where I can go with this.

The Community: The Year 1 students staff that participated in Mindlab.

Building upon getting parents involved in the program (SeeSaw for writing). Plus, the stakeholders in

the school grounds to see a progression to implement in the whole school.

Understanding: What can I do to make this easier for my colleagues in the year  1 class?

One of the main statutes that will be discussed first is the Education Act 1989.  This Act signified the

introduction of Tomorrow Schools which shifted substantial financial and administrative

responsibilities for managing schools, to elected boards of trustees.  Roberts (2008) points out that

the politics of education can be seen in the layout of the classroom, in the relationships between

teachers and students, in the teaching methods employed, in decisions about what is and is not

taught, in the policies and laws to which teachers and students are subject, in the forms of

assessment and evaluation applied and in the funding and resources for educational initiatives. This

supports the idea that laws apply to teachers everyday classroom practice, especially the Education

Act 1989.  

As school x teacher, I participated in the weekly Professional Development workshops.  The theme

for the workshops was based around Writing using SeeSaw. Teachers had selected work from their

target students to evaluate and to discuss ideas on how to give effective feedback.  This workshop

was run by Vision Education and was intended to lift achievement of target students. How was this

need for professional development for writing identified? Under Section 61 of the Education Act

1989, it stipulates that a school charter must include the board’s aims, objectives, directions,

priorities, and target student achievement, including the assessment of students against any

national standard published under section 60A(1)(ba).  In the Charter of school x they have clearly

outlined their annual targets for 2016 in Mathematics, Reading and writing.  This charter is very

specific as it includes the baseline data, the expected outcomes, and the actions needed to achieve

these outcomes.  In the annual target for writing, one of the expected outcomes was to shift 6

students in each of the 17 classes identified BELOW the national standard to AT National Standard. 

The school actioned this by having professional development sessions for teachers as well as

having those 6 target students work with a specialist from Vision literacy team. The team will track

and lift these students academically to AT the National standard. 

As a beginning teacher, it has become clear that the importance of the strategic plan/school charter

is like a compass that guides teachers to reach the school’s overall objectives. The school charter of

school x included the National Education Goals (NEGS) and the National Administration Guidelines

(NAGS). These NAGS and NEGS follow the Education Act 1989 under section 60A.

The Education Act 1989 continues to govern the way we teach in New Zealand.

References:

Hall, A. (2008). Professional responsibility and teacher ethics. In C. McGee & D. Fraser (Eds.),

         The professional practice of teaching (3rd ed.). Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Cengage  

         Learning. 

New zealand school trustees association, N.Z.S.T.A. (2016). Nzstaorgnz. Retrieved 10

November, 2016, from http://www.nzsta.org.nz/employer-role/employment-conditions/code-of-conduct

Roberts, P. (2008). Teaching as an ethical and political process: A Freirean perspective. In V. 

        Carpenter, J. Jesson, P. Roberts & M. Stepthenson (Eds.), Ngā kaupapa here: Connections 

        and contradictions in education (pp. 99-108). Melbourne, Vic., Australia: Cengage Learning.