Evaluation of 2020 Intervention

2021 CoL Interview

 Col Interview Questions

What achievement challenge are you considering as an area of focus in 2021 and why? Include in your WHY both evidence and your own passion/expertise

I have decided to continue working on Reading. As I teach both classes Reading, I have the opportunity to further trial strategies that will benefit a wider audience. Also, I chose Reading as I feel I will get more ‘bang for my buck’ as improved literacy skills will have a positive impact on Mathematics, especially word problems. 

What learnings from the 2017 - 2020 CoL teacher inquiries have informed or inspired your thinking.

I have been very grateful for the assistance of Dr Jannie. Dr Jannie has continued to support me in using chunking and deep-diving. My 2020 learning will always be part of my pedagogy. 

I have also been inspired by reading Poto’s blog. I loved how she found creative ways to reach her students during lockdown and it made me want to do more. 

How would your work support Manaiakalani pedagogy and  kaupapa?

Learn: strategies to achieve Tuakana teina

Create: Children use the strategies that they learned in order to produce someting e.g. DLO

Share: Blog/ Share on screen/ ako

Which elements of the extensive Manaiakalani research findings inform or challenge you as you think about this?

WFR showed reading was an area for improvement across the cluster.  HLP (high leverage practices). Using authentic texts to encourage deeper discussions. Using a range of strategies to promote critical thinking e.g. including three-level guide/ questioning/agency/ literature circles (collaboration to encourage student agency)

How would you like to be supported in 2021 as you undertake this inquiry?

Continued support of management and the BOT. Sharing during syndicate and whole-staff meetings. COL meeting support

CoL across school person to touch base with me, to verify and support

DFI offered to teachers who have previously completed it. Learn new Google innovations* in order to keep up with the latest developments.

How would you plan to support your colleagues in your school with THEIR inquiries and/or teaching in the area you are exploring?

Continue support collaborative PLD/ sharing expertise and what works in the classrooms/ syndicate and whole staff PLD. 

Continuing to focus on vocabulary

 With the smaller classes (introduced at in Week 9 of Term 3) I have continued to focus on vocabulary acquisition. Having a maximum of 16 students per class has definitely made a difference (don't let anybody tell you that size doesn't matter!). 

Using deep diving and chunking continues to be beneficial to the students. Using literature circles where students are able to collaborate and work together embraces the Maori concept of tuakana-teina. The tuakana–teina relationship, an integral part of traditional Māori society, provides a model for buddy systems. An older or more expert tuakana helps and guides a younger or less expert teina. In a learning environment that recognises the value of ako, the tuakana–teina roles may be reversed at any time. 

New member joins the team!

In Week 8 a new teacher joined our Intermediate team. Whaea Tamlyn has joined the team as the third Intermediate teacher, together with Hevaha and I. 

After the first lockdown, Hevaha and I trialled subject teaching- with me doing Reading for both classes and Hevaha doing Mathematics with both classes. This proved to be very successful. With the addition of Whaea Tamlyn, our two classes were split into three classes - one class of year 7's, one class of year 8's and a year 8 class combined with very capable year 7 students; so our two classes became three.... 

I will continue to do the Reading for all students, Hevaha continues to do Mathematics and Tamlyn does all the Writing with each of us taking our base class for Inquiry (Genomics). The students were fantastic by how they embraced another change and made Whaea feel welcomed.

This meant that with smaller classes (+/- 16 students per class) students are able to receive a more intensive, specialised approach to fill gaps that were caused by missing a significant amount of school due to COVID-19. It is also an awesome opportunity to get our Year 8 students ready for high school.

Enhancing teaching and learning through the use of digital technology

There have been numerous research articles affirming that the digital literature circle provides students with opportunities to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss and respond to the story / book.  The evaluation of reading was based on specific assessment tools outlined by the school with the main purpose of being accountable to interested parties such as parents, management, BOT and the Ministry of Education.  Most of these assessment tools are standardised and I feel that the content of these tests cater for native speakers of English. The Ministry of Education (2007) affirms that ‘The primary purpose of assessment is to improve students’ learning and teachers’ teaching and that a range of assessment approaches is needed for successful and effective decision making.  As a syndicate we  wondered if the results collated from these standardised assessment tools were adequate, valid and reliable but we thoroughly analysed the data from these high-stake summative assessments before I embarked on this innovation.

When the innovation was implemented,  I found that our students needed longer scaffolding time than I anticipated before they could do it independently.  I started off with books (Literature) lower than their reading level then progressed through to more complicated texts. We began by doing a book as a whole class and we went through doing the roles or tasks that each member of a group would do.  Then the students were divided into groups but used the same book /story for all the groups.  In each group students are given their assigned role (summariser, questioner, connector, director, predictor and vocab investigator) before they get together with students from other groups who have the same role as them, like all the summarisers get together work together, all the connectors work together and so on.  Later, the students returned to their original groups and they shared / reported their findings orally with others but all the members have access to the same Google presentation where they collaborate as a group. When students are assigned specific roles , they have to be prepared to discuss their responses; they feel a sense of responsibility to the group. The effectiveness of this was clearly evident from the quality of work produced by the students.  Having the students with the same roles working collaboratively was a success as they benefit from each other's contributions.   Although it was challenging for most students at the beginning, I have noticed an improvement in the level of engagement, interest in reading and students’ comprehension ability. 

Complication in Evaluating the Outcome

The students and I were excited about our new way of learning that we implemented in our classroom, then Covid-19 struck and all the restrictions associated with it. Our innovation was stopped in its’ tracks by the uncertainty of school. Therefore, we focused on just finding ways to continue with it during our online lessons. This was not an easy move but we were courageous enough to make it work.  It was a rewarding experience as our innovation was put to the test where students were able to continue collaborating online and there was an opportunity for discussions when we had our Google Meets. I can't wait to do an assessment but I think that assessment needs to be more than just summative because I can see that the targeted students have shown improvement with their comprehension skills and engagement.

Conclusion

It was evident that our learners participated in literature circle discussions, showed high levels of comprehension, higher-level thinking, and an ability to engage deeply in texts. However,  teachers have to be prepared to be a facilitator and provide students with necessary scaffolds so they can actively make worthwhile contributions towards completing their tasks to a  higher standard.  According to  Dalie  (2001) when students are doing literature circles,  we are giving them ample opportunities to practice and develop the skills and strategies of good readers. 

References

DaLie, S.O. (2001). Students becoming real readers: Literature circles in high school English classes, in 

Ericson, B.O. (Ed.), Teaching Reading in High School English Classes. Urbana: NCTE, 84-100.

Eeds, M., & Wells, D. (1989). Grand conversations: An exploration of meaning construction in literature study groups. Research in the Teaching of English, 23(1), 4–29.

Glasser, W. (1986). Control theory in the classroom. New York: Harper & Row.

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

Roskos, K. & Neuman, S. (2014). Best Practices in Reading: A 21st Century Skill Update. The Reading Teacher, 67(7), 507–511. Retrieved from: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/best-practices-reading-21st-century-skill-update

Thomas A. F. (2014). An Action Research Study Involving motivating middle school students’ learning through online literature circles. Journal of Ethnographic & Qualitative Research (serial online). Fall 2014.

Policies and Guidelines

Policies and Guidelines

Our school has policies and guidelines in place to reflect the local curriculum based on the New Zealand Curriculum.  It is updated regularly as the Ministry of Education updates/revises its policies and guidelines.  We are therefore bound by these policies to deliver the innovation in the classroom. The innovation being improving our students’ vocabulary knowledge through explicit teaching of vocabulary,  was influenced by the digital technologies in The New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa as well as the e-Learning Planning Framework. Our school is fortunate to have effectively aligned processes and practices across the school and community.  I was able to adapt the innovation of explicitly teaching vocabulary easily to the school’s policies. I incorporated multiple features of digital technologies in the teaching and learning.  In class, the students were able to access my learning website, knew how  to navigate and locate their tasks and activities, look for feedback and present completed work.

The e-Learning Planning Framework (Ministry of Education, n.d) identified different phases. “The phases – from Emerging through to Empowering – have been aligned with a number of international frameworks that describe how technology is adopted and integrated into teaching and learning”  (Ministry of Education. n.d). Our school is presently at the “Extending” phase.  We have  “effectively aligned processes and practices across our school and community. The use of technologies is appropriate and allows significant adaptation of learning experiences to meet all learners' needs. In the classroom, teachers and students work together to use technologies as part of authentic, higher order, co-constructed learning.”  (Ministry of Education. n.d).

Our school is fortunate to have effectively aligned processes and practices across the school and community.  It was therefore seamless to include the digital and collaborative innovation into the teaching programme.

One of the ideas discussed to improve reading comprehension was literature circles.  According to Van Hees  “providing multiple encounters is by far the most important condition” in order to learn vocabulary (Van Hees & Nation, 2017).  In the innovation, these “multiple encounters” was provided digitally.  This approach allows students to use and practice 21 st century skills. The 21 st century skills that are exhibited during reading circles include:

Critical Thinking - Finding solutions to problems

Creativity  - Thinking outside the box

Collaboration - Working with others

Communication - Conveying ideas

In using the policies embedded in the digital technologies in the New Zealand Curriculum, our students presented their work by creating DLOs, videos and blogs to show their understanding of new words they encountered.  This is in keeping with what the Minister of Education said “The digital curriculum is about teaching children how to design their own digital solutions and become creators of, not just users of, digital technologies, to prepare them for the modern workforce." (Ministry of Education. n.d). 

The barrier to implementing this initiative was the limited time we had on hand. This was caused mostly by taking Covid-19 precautions by the closing of schools.   

Learning Theories

In our cluster of schools we have moved away from just the “Chalk and Talk” method of teaching.  Based on the theories that promote digital learning, our school leans closely with the connectivist learning theory.  Starkey (2012) proposed that “Teaching and learning in the digital age is likely to be underpinned by connectivist learning theory which has emerged from a decentralised view of knowledge based on complexity.”  The connectivist learning theory is one of the more controversial ones developed by George Siemens. He touted this as a “learning theory for the digital age”. (Parsons, 2015).  “Connectivist learning theory asserts that knowledge is created through connections and learning occurs through the networks to which learners belong.” (Starkey, 2012).  In this digital and collaborative innovation, we are approaching vocabulary acquisition through the use of digital tools, hence making connections between the student and their community (home), other learners (collaborating), experts beyond the classroom (video clips, chats, email) to “make connections between experiences and knowledge as part of the learning process” (Starkey, 2012). For Siemens himself, ''Decision-making is itself a learning process (Siemens, 2004)."  In the delivery of our digital and collaborative innovation, we have moved away from traditional spelling and dictation tests - which emphasized memorisation of words to the students understanding what words mean and therefore able to use them in new settings.  Starkey viewed the constructivism learning theory as “ a focus on understanding what and how students are learning, and how they can be guided or scaffolded to the next stage of their learning.” (Starkey, 2012). 

Delivery Models

The traditional form of teaching in schools often involves lessons being given to large groups of students, together with tutorials and workshops and with some independent study. However, at our school we have moved away from the traditional model of delivery to one of collaboration and online learning.  Our digital and collaborative innovation explored other modes of delivery such as the flipped classroom and blended learning. Hill (2012) found that there “is a transition to an educational system no longer dominated by traditional education and one or two alternative models.” and “educational technology and new educational courses and programs are interacting to create new language and models for education.”  Moving to online learning, especially through New Zealand’s response of eliminating Covid-19, was a safe and effective method of teaching and learning.  Teaching in a school whose policies encourage the use of digital devices, the implementation of our innovation was seamless.  Now that we are back at school, we continue the use of technology in collaboration and learning.

References

Hill, P. (2012). The emerging landscape of educational delivery models. Retrieved from: https://eliterate.us/the-emerging-landscape-of-educational-delivery-models

Ministry of Education: Pasifika Education Community. (2019). Tapasā – Cultural Competencies Framework for Teachers of Pacific Learners. Retrieved from: https://pasifika.tki.org.nz/Tapasa

 Ministry of Education. (n.d) Digital technologies in The New Zealand Curriculum.  Retrieved from: https://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Curriculum-learning-areas/Digital-Technologies-in-the-curriculum

Ministry of Education. (n.d). e-learning planning framework.  Retrieved from: https://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/e-Learning-Planning-Framework#:~:text=Phases%20in%20the%20e%2DLearning,development%20in%20technology%20integration

Parsons, D. (2015). Top ten learning theories for digital and collaborative learning. [video]. Retrieved form: https://app.themindlab.com/media/121176/view

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. eLearnSpace. http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Starkey, L. (2012). Teaching and learning in the digital age. ProQuest Ebook Central. Retrieved from: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Create Staff Meeting

 We had our Manaiakalani Create staff meeting today after the previous one was put on hold due to COVID-19. Mr Naidoo and I presented a workshop on infographics. After a few digital hiccups everything went smoothly. 

Feel free to use this slide deck with your students!

School Policy

 

INTRODUCTION

My innovation, like all other curriculum plans and strategies, has to operate within our country’s laws, regulations and policies. Although they may have some common elements, there is a marked difference between law, regulation and policy. Clinical psychologist, Alyssa Lee (UpJourney, 2019) differentiated law as “a policy written into legal language and passed by our elected officials” (UpJourney, 2019) and regulation as, “a rule within a law that specifies how the ideas of the law are actually going to be implemented” (UpJourney, 2019), while defining a policy as ideas “informed by how people would like to see the space defined. They are often aspirational in nature and do not typically have legal implications if they are not followed” (UpJourney, 2019).

POLICIES

 Marouchak (UpJourney, 2019) explained that “policies are drafted and created by an organisation to help the members achieve their goals. They bring to completion whatever their plans are and unlike law, policies are flexible.” At our school we have a whole list of policies which facilitates the smooth running of the school.  The school's policies are governed by the Ministry of Education’s Education Act 1989 and Digital Technologies. All of our policies are drafted and housed on the Ministry approved School Docs website.  In delivering the innovation of vocabulary acquisition, I had to adhere to the school policies that included: the ICT policy - the use of devices, the internet, and being safe when online as students learn, create and share information online; the curriculum delivery policy - ensuring the innovation is delivered in an approved manner and assessed according to pertinent guidelines; The inclusion policy - that celebrates diversity and involves the identification and minimising of barriers to learning and participation that may be experienced by any pupils, irrespective of age, ability, gender, ethnicity, language and social and social background; the “Kawa of Care” policy - ensures that students know how to take care of digital devices.  As teachers, we are also subjected to the Teachers Council’s codes and standards. Our school policies are local, unique to our school and are reviewed and changed periodically.  

LAWS

Marouchak (UpJourney, 2019) defines law as: “Laws are directives which were outlined, drafted and directed by highly authorized personalities, the legislative body.  This is absolute and fixed and cannot be changed instantly not unless the body will amend that existing law provided that it will bring more unity, order, and benefit to the majority.”   Therefore my innovation of vocabulary acquisition is subject to the Education  Act of 1989 and Digital Technology. “The Education Act 1989 contains provisions that are directly relevant to how schools should manage an incident involving digital technology when it is involved in an incident.” (Ministry of Education. n.d)

REGULATIONS

Regulations are closely linked to laws as they represent the ways the law is to be applied. Lübeck (UpJourney, 2019) defines regulations as: “a set of rules created to make people comply. These are restrictions set by those people in authority to encourage people to follow the desired code of conduct. Like law, this is fixed.” Laws need regulations to ensure that the law is applied. Petersen (Upjourney, 2019) defined regulations as “a rule promulgated by the agency which is responsible for enforcing the regulation”. Lee (UpJourney, 2019), on the other hand, describes regulations as “a rule within a law that specifies how the ideas of the law are actually going to be implemented.” He went further to add that, “Regulations are vital to the implementation of the law.” (UpJourney, 2019). The  Education  Act of 1989 and Digital Technology lays out a whole list of regulations on how the Act is to be applied. We are bound by this act when creating and applying our innovation in the State Schools where we are employed. As an example, The Education Act 1989 contains provisions that are directly relevant to how schools should manage an incident involving digital technology when it is involved in an incident. The chart (Figure 1) below shows the steps a teacher must take if there is reason to retain a student's digital device.

Fig 1: Steps a teacher must take if there is reason to retain a student's digital device

CONCLUSION:

As initiators of our digital innovation, Hevaha and I have no authority to make changes in the laws and regulations of the country.  Regulations, either required by the Ministry of Education or The school’s Board of Trustees, need to be incorporated in our digital innovation and we are required to work within these parameters.  Working in the Manaiakalani Kāhui Ako has immense advantages in practising our innovation, as the cluster has a very comprehensive “Kawa of Care” and “Cybersmart” policies. These policies outline what we as innovators can produce/disseminate in our school while still working within the schools’ policies.  Account ownership, content ownership, privacy and guidance policies are entrenched in these two policies.  Finally, Nicholas Marouchak (UpJourney, 2019) sums up the concepts of policies, laws and regulations as:

"Think of policy as the seed we plant, an idea that we have envisioned to improve our surroundings. The seed is planted and out of that seed grows the trunk of the tree, a law with a firm foundation. Finally, from the law, we get branches of regulations that reach out into the community and assist with the growth of leaves or community improvements in our tree scenario.... Watering that tree and helping it grow and thrive can be considered an essential part of our civic duties"

References:

Ministry of Education. (n.d) Digital Technology: Safe and responsible use in schools. Retrieved from: https://education.govt.nz/school/digital-technology/digital-technology-guide-for-schools/digital-technology-safe-and-responsible-use-in-schools/new-cd-page-3/the-legislation-and-rules/

Teaching Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards. Retrieved from: https://teachingcouncil.nz/content/our-code-our-standards

Toki Pounamu (n.d) Kawa of Care. Retrieved from: https://www.tokipounamu.org.nz/parents/kawa-of-care

UpJourney. (2019). What is the difference between law, policy, and regulation, according to 7 experts. Retrieved from:  https://upjourney.com/what-is-the-difference-between-law-policy-and-regulation 

New Zealand Government. (2020). New Zealand Legislation. Education Act 1989. Retrieved from: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1989/0080/latest/whole.html

Digital Ethics

 Digital Ethics

Technology moves at an aggressive rate because the demand for it exists. “Television didn’t transform education. Neither will the internet. But it will be another tool for teachers to use in their efforts to reach students in the classroom. It will also be a means by which students learn outside of the classroom.” Technology has the ability to give even the quietest, most unassuming student a voice. It is up to us as educators to teach and guide students on how to harness and use the power of technology to their benefit. 

                                                                    

 Figure 1:  Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives

As technology is an integral part of almost every aspect of life today, our comprehension ability will always be an essential skill - ntegrating vocabulary and technology will definitely enhance students ability in Reading. Many researchers have been investigating the effectiveness of integrating literature circles with digital technology. This was supported by Dalie (2001) as literature circles give students ample opportunities to practice and develop the skills and strategies of good readers. Peralta-Nash & Dutch (2000) quote that the literature circle provides a “low-risk learning environment for children who are learning English as a second language.” I truly believe that using digital literature circles will empower students to communicate, collaborate,  be more creative and become critical thinkers. 

                               

4 C’s of 21st Century Learning ( 4.bp.blogspot.com )

Despite the advantages of digital literature circles, we may still encounter issues of using technology with this innovation. 

Ethical Issue:

What is the ethical issue in using technology through digital literature circles in my innovation?

We all benefit from the advancement of technology and it being integrated into the education system.  Although technology has many advantages such as promoting independent learning, preparing students for the 21st century, encouraging both students and teachers’ creativity and many more, we also need to understand the challenges that it comes with, such as ethical issues of technology in the classrooms.  Knowing how to educate our students to become ethical citizens in a digital world is vital.  Preparing our students for cyberbullying and copyright issues was brought to the forefront prior to the implementation of my innovation. According to Mattison (2018) understanding the biggest ethical issues affecting our classrooms will help us better understand how to address them. Therefore, educating our students to be cybersmart will help them to confidently handle real-life situations and they will always make good choices when working online.  Manaiakalani has an awesome cybersmart curriculum, which teaches learners to be smart about what they do online and as Leonhard (2018) says, “do the right thing with technology. Understanding ethical issues of technology in the classroom helps students become ethical citizens in a digital world”  (McGilvery, 2018).  

Social Issues:

Alhumaid (2019) draws attention to the social issue of “isolation and loneliness [which] seem to be the ultimate repercussion of students’ use of technology as, being totally immersed in manipulating the classroom digital gadgets, they often forget there are classmates they can rely on and interact with.”  I hope that by using digital literature circles collaboratively, students are able to chat, to confidently navigate the site to access learning, confidently navigate and harness their devices and learning applications, ask questions, comment on each other's work, learn with and from each other.     

There is also the fear or danger that students could access inappropriate sites. This is prevented by filters which screen out inappropriate content and blocks access to inappropriate sites. A headline in the NZ Herald, 14 October 2019 screamed out, “Schools block 2.2 billion attempts to access gaming and other blocked sites. This showed that students were trying to access websites that were not allowed but it also clearly demonstrates that the filters and restrictions placed on students by the school admin is effective. 

In many BYOD schools a child’s device is a marker of their economic standing. In Manaiakalani schools, all students are provided with a chromebook at minimal cost to the whanau (around $4 per week). This allows all pupils to have devices without placing a major strain on the whanau’s finances and without the device becoming a social or economic indicator.

Cultural Issues

The cultural issues in the planned innovation was acknowledging my students’ culture, traditions and language. As Baker (2006) says children come to school with a wealth of knowledge and expertise from their backgrounds. Gay (2001, p.106)  states that culturally responsive pedagogy is defined by  “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”.  I address this cultural issue by making sure the stories used in our reading lessons reflect the diversity of our students.  I also ensure there are multiple opportunities to tap into our students’ cultural capital/ expertise so they see its value.  The Education Hub (2019) mentioned that “Culturally responsive teaching is about making school learning relevant and effective for learners by drawing on students’ cultural knowledge, life experiences, frames of reference, languages, and performance and communication styles.” (p.5)    The Ministry of Education (2007) affirms that all students should be supported and empowered to learn and achieve personal excellence regardless of their individual circumstances but we strongly believe that teachers have to be the agent of change in order for every child to reach their full potential.  According to Cummins (2001), students who are empowered by their school experiences develop the ability, confidence and motivation to succeed academically. 

References:

Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4th ed.).                           

Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

Cummins, J. (2001). Empowering minority students: A framework for intervention. In      

C. Baker, & N. H. Hornberger (Eds.). An introductory reader to the writings of 

Jim Cummins (pp. 175-194). Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters.

Leonhard, G. (2018). Why Digital Ethics is #1 topic in technology in 2019: keynote excerpt Gerd Leonhard. Retrieved from:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy0w1nRvgYU

Larson, L. (2009). Reader response meets the new literacies: Empowering readers in online learning communities. The Reading Teacher, 62(8), 638–648.

Mattison, L. (2018). Ethical Issues with Using Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved from:

https://study.com/blog/ethical-issues-with-using-technology-in-the-classroom.html

McGilvery, C. (2018). Ethics For Technology Use In The Classroom.  Retrieved from:  https://online.nwmissouri.edu/articles/education/ethics-technology-use-classroom.aspx

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

           Media Limited.

 

Peralta-Nash, C., & Dutch, J.A. (2000). Literature circles: Creating an environment for choice.

Primary Voices K-6, 8(4), 29-37. [EJ 604 621] 

Why I chose to use Literature Circles

My change initiative came about as a result of analysing and reflecting upon my students' results. It was apparent that the majority of Pasifika students had not made significant progress in Reading over the past years (fig.1). Over 93% of Pasifika students were achieving below the national norm. 

 

Fig 1: Year 7 Reading Comprehension Results (Beginning of the Year 2020)

My research question is, “How can literature circles improve Pasika students' reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge so that they can be reading at or above their chronological age?”  

 In developing a plan to show my change initiative, we have modified  “the learning initiative canvas” (https://netmind.net/) for our learning innovation.  (see Figure 2)

Figure 2 (Adapted from Whare Aki’s Business Model Canvas Template)

RESEARCH

My decision to use literature circles as my change initiative was based on the following literature that I referred to:

Research #1:  Modified Literature Circles as an Effective Comprehension Strategy

The key findings from Holley Boor (2015) journal article were:-

• He identified key reading comprehension strategies that can be implemented through literature circles.
• He described eight 21st century thinking skills that can be taught and nurtured through literature circles.
• He emphasised how literature circles put demand on teachers to constantly think of the relationship between the text and the readers (students).
•  He listed the benefits of literature circles such as improving language development, reading comprehension, enjoyment of the literature and self-efficacy. 
• He also suggests that literature circles can be modified to meet the needs of students.

Research #2:  Literature Circle  - Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups

The key findings from Harvey Daniels (2002) journal article were:-

• He confirms that literature circles improves students' achievement scores.
• He argued that the literature circle has increased students' enjoyment and engagement in reading.
• He discussed how literature circles increased multicultural awareness, enriched students' experiences as well as promoted other perspectives on social issues and  gender equity.
• It describes the link between great readers and  great writers. When students get to high school they become fluent writers and skillful collaborators.
• He identified problems that could be encountered through the implementation of literature circles but he also assured that these problems are solvable.
• He argues that excessive testing and high demand of assessment data can put extra pressure on any innovation to prove it’s value and to justify its effectiveness.
• He states eleven key ingredients for successful implementation of the literature circle. 

Research #3: Literature circles for the EFL classroom.

The key findings from Mark. Furr (2004) journal article were:-

• He emphasises the importance of knowing and understanding the cultural values and capital of students with English as a second language.
• It is proved that the literature circle is successful in combining the close reading of texts (intensive reading) with fluency-building skills (extensive reading). 
• Mark replaces the first four of Daniel’s (2002)  key ingredients for the literature circle to meet the needs of his learners who have English as their second language.
• He states that the core of successful literature circles is the fact they do allow students to participate in real-life meaningful discussions.  
• He advocates the importance of choosing reading materials very carefully so that is appropriate for extensive reading.
• He reminds us that teachers serve as facilitators rather than instructors in the literature circle.
• He suggests that at the heart of the literature circle is a good story.

Research #4: Getting started: Using Literature Circles in the Classroom

Gilbert, Lori. Primary Voices K - 6; Urbana Vol. 9, Iss. 1,  (Aug 2000): 9-15.

The key findings from Gilbert  were:

• Before starting to use literature circles, class expectations need to be set up e.g. discussing the types of talk that is appropriate and the types of things we wanted to learn.
• During literature circles, reading a wide genre of books including picture books, novels, short stories, poems, newspaper articles and even recipes was encouraged.
• Initially, discussion focussed on simple retelling and then evolved into deeper thinking e.g. “What the author was thinking when writing, where the idea for the plot came from, how the pictures support the text; and connections from the book to other books, other authors’ styles, and to our own personal experiences are all now a much larger part of the talk in our classroom. We will often stop reading a book to make predictions regarding what will happen next and create 20 different books in the process!” (Gilbert, 2000)
• It was important to revisit and if necessary modify the expectations for the literature circles.

Reading this article by Gilbert, reinforced that expectations around literature circles had to be set at the beginning and that it took several weeks for students to get a thorough understanding of how literature circles work. It was also stressed that the expectations were to be revisited and modified if necessary to ensure maximum benefit from the literature circles' activity.

Research #5: The impact of literature circles on student engagement in middle years English Clark, Loren

• Literature circles have a positive impact on student perceptions, including independent reading habits and engagement in English.
• Students enjoyed positive perceptions of English. 
• Literature circles also provided authentic reading experiences for children and connected them to texts that had relevance in their lives.

This was a very interesting, albeit lengthy read. The benefits of using literature circles were clearly outlined using student feedback, data, teacher observations and anecdotal notes.  

THE STAKEHOLDERS

As identified in figure 1, the main stakeholders in my innovation will be my group of identified learners (Year 7 Pasifika learners) and their families followed by the rest of the year 7 and year 8 learners.  Teachers and the senior management team at school will also have a stake in this innovation. Finally, the Board of Trustees (BoT)  will want to see how any investment by them has secured better outcomes for our students.  According to Rogers Diffusion of Innovation Theory (1962), the early adopters will be one of the identified learners in this class, with the first follower being X, a year 7 or 8  boy, who is always eager to try things out and show his peers how it is done.  With his enthusiasm,  we can see the rest of the identified group become the early adopters of literature circles. As I take both Year 7 & 8 classes for Reading, I can implement this innovation across the intermediate school.  The early majority who take to the innovation we predict will be the rest of the learners in the class, as well as the other teachers who are teaching middle school learners and the late majority will be the rest of my colleagues at school. 

Robinson (2009) advises that the early majority followers of an innovation must be nurtured as this is the crucial part of the innovation.  In educational terms this is to be:

• Early adopters assuming ownership of their own learning.
• They are motivated to continue either intrinsically or by being offered incentives (extrinsically)  like stickers, points, books, free time, etc.
• Recognised at assemblies or/ and by the senior management team as leaders.
• Ensure the tasks are interesting, easy to follow and simple to understand.
• Teacher to support the early adopter learners.

I will incorporate Robinson’s advice about early adopters and early majority learners and colleagues as well, by recognising that they are the main takers to follow my innovation. 

TIMELINE FOR OUR CHANGE INITIATIVE

I will use Kotter’s 8 step change model (Kotter, 2017) to outline our actions and timeframe of my implementation plan.  See figure 3

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Figure 3: Kotter’s 8 Step Change Model 

Kotter divided these processes into three phases, the first being creating a climate for change, the second, enabling and engaging the organisation and finally implementing and sustaining change brings up the last phase.  Aligned to Kotter, in the first phase I plan to create a sense of urgency by ensuring the school’s management team, the learners and their whanau are aware and back our implementation plan.  I will be guided by the management, students and their families to the content of my implementation plan.  My vision and initiative will include using literature circles to enhance students' reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge.  

In the enabling and engaging phase, I have my colleagues who will assist me to put the plan into action.  The early adopters, hopefully will be the group of students who are really enthusiastic about participating, and they will hopefully lead the early followers.  To ensure this happens, I plan to reward the early adopters to encourage them to influence the other students.  I also hope that the school’s management will resource this innovation.   

In the third and final phase sustaining the initiative will be by proving that the implementation will accelerate learning, and get more students to participate.  When my innovation results in the achievement of the stated goal, I hope that the way reading is taught will incorporate literature circles. 

At our school we base all teacher inquiries on Timperley’s (2014) spiral of inquiry.  This is the format that we will use for developing a hunch and taking action.   

I plan to incorporate Kaupapa Maori principles when working with our Pasifika students. As teachers we want to see ‘Maori success as Maori’ and we also want to see Pasifika success as Pasifika.  I pondered this I was formulating my research question.  The question now is, ‘What does Pasifika  success as Pasifika mean?’  The Ministry of Education mentioned that it’s having an “education system that provides all Maori students with the opportunity to realise their own unique potential and succeed in their lives as Maori.”  Due to a high percentage of Pasifika students in my classes I have to incorporate the Kaupapa Maori approach into my research topic. This means I will be incorporating the knowledge, skills and values of the Maori society and the Pasifika society. 

In this research I am aiming at working collaboratively with our Pasifika students and making connections with their whanau to nurture mana in students.  I believe that the students' success can be based on the “Pasifika Success Compass”, Figure 4.  In incorporating the Tapasa model in my teaching, I plan to centre my teaching and learning of literature circles in reading, around the Pasifika student, their families, and the communities. Using the Pasifika identities, languages and cultures; maintaining collaborative and respectful relationships; and implementing pedagogical approaches that are effective for Pasifika learners I hope to cover the three ‘Turus’ (competencies) which form the framework for Tapasa (Teaching Council, n.d.)  

Figure 4: The Pasifika Success Compass

  This will promote self-worth, enhance their confidence, and empower our Pasifika students to succeed academically. 

IMPACT

Change initiatives or innovation eventually has an impact on several levels.  Using literature circles in reading to improve the students' vocabulary and comprehension will also have an impact.  The most profound and focused impact that my change initiative will have is that my students will be able to make meaning of what they read and widen their vocabulary by using student agency.

In W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s (1998) logic model, in order to effect the desired change, there needs to be a change in “organisations, communities, or systems”.  The change for us will begin with the change in our mindset because it is said that we cannot change others unless we ourselves change. It will be much easier recommending this changed pedagogy to colleagues once I have tried it out and have measured the success of such change. Certainly, the greatest motivator to adopting new pedagogy will be the positive effect that pedagogy has on students. If the positive effect is to be the success of the learners making meaning of their reading and growing their vocabulary, this will be a change worth adopting.  

If such success is something I am really pleased with, I can certainly ask the BOT for further funding to implement this across the school. Teachers need to take time to thoroughly prepare students on how to conduct literature circles, to lay the foundation of the expectations and to occasionally revisit and modify the expectations.

Using literature circles also presents an opportunity for students to use the key competencies from the New Zealand Curriculum. Literature circles encompass the competencies of thinking, relating to others, using language symbols and texts, managing self and participating and contributing. 

REFERENCES

Boor, H . (2015). Modified Literature Circles as an Effective Comprehension Strategy: A Focus on Diverse Learners.

Clark, L.  (2013). The impact of literature circles on student engagement in middle years English 

Daniels, H. (2002) Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups.      

           Second Edition. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse.

 

Furr, M. (2004). Literature circles for the EFL classroom: Proceedings of the 2003 TESOL Arabia Conference, academia.edu

Gilbert, L. (2000). Getting started: Using literature circles in the classroom

Kotter Inc. (2017). 8 Step Process. Retrieved from https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-proces s-for-leading-change/

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publishers, Inc.

Rangahau, (n.d.) Principles of Kaupapa Māori. Retrieved from http://www.rangahau.co.nz/research-idea/27/

Robinson, L. (2009). A summary of Diffusion of Innovations. Changeology. Retrieved from http://www.enablingchange.com.au/Summary_Diffusion_Theory.pdf

Rogers, E. (1962). Diffusion of Innovations. Free Press of Glencoe.

Teaching Council. Retrieved from: https://teachingcouncil.nz/content/tapas%C4%81-cultural-competencies-framework-teachers-of-pacific-learners

Using Literature Circles in the classroom

“ To increase the number of ALL students reading at chronological age.  An emphasis on acceleration in Yrs 1 & 2 students as well as Maori students in Yr 3 - 8 to be reading at chronological age.” Glen Innes School BoT. 

This was one of the school goals formulated by the Board. This was in large part due to our PAT results and the research and data provided by Woolf Fisher Research Centre - as discussed in a previous blog entry (19/03/2020).
We talked to other teachers about what they are implementing in their classrooms, we also went online looking for strategies that we could use to improve our students' comprehension skills, vocabulary knowledge and to promote student agency. We came across Literature Circles, a reading approach, where students work in small groups, reading the same text but each student is given a special task to complete while reading the text independently.  A meeting time is organised where the students are involved in in-depth discussion. The discussion is led by the students. Literature circles involve communication, critical thinking and creativity with the opportunity for collaboration while working on their tasks.

According to DaLie, S.O. (2001) “The most important revelation I have had about what we do as teachers is the realisation that learning must be student-centered . Students, not the teacher must be at the heart of the learning process, and they must be active participants in their own learning process, not passive recipients.” I found this quite similar to what I often say to my students and what I truly believe - "Learning is not a spectator sport, you have to participate!"

The stakeholders for using literature circles was not just restricted to our students. It includes:
Local Audiences:
According to Shugan (2003), “Research will often be more interesting if it impacts a wider audience and has a greater impact on that audience.” This indicates that learning has is of greater value and more relevant if it extends beyond the walls of your classroom. The most important audience are the students and getting them to buy-in to the idea of literacy circles and to embrace it. The local audience also includes colleagues. Although we work in single-cell classrooms, our planning and methodologies align and we work well together but it is also important that we share our newly-acquired knowledge with our peers.Having supportive colleagues is important as they often work as sounding-boards for new ideas.
The senior management team and the BoT (comprising of whanau and community members) are ultimately responsible for student achievement and they will form part of the local audience. According to the Ministry document, Successful Home-School Partnerships,” Where teachers are committed to working closely with parents, and see this partnership as being beneficial to their own teaching as well as to student learning, the time and effort needed to establish such relationships is not seen by teachers as being a burden. For these teachers, home–school partnerships are not an optional ‘extra’ but rather they are integral and essential to their core work of teaching.”

National Audiences:
Our colleagues within our community of learning (CoL) form part of our national audience; as data from all schools within our CoL submit their data to the WFRC (part of the University of Auckland) to identify trends, norms and patterns. The Ministry of Education and the National Monitoring Study of Student Achievement (NMSSA) also form part of our national audience as all data ultimately ends up with them. This is were student norms and averages are calculated.
International Audiences
New Zealand education compares relatively favourably in world rankings (OECD). This is just one of the international audiences. International students and their parents often use this ranking to decide on an educational institution to attend. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),  Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) are all agencies that form part of our international audience. What we achieve in the classroom ultimately affects education not just within our school bubble but has international implications.

Reese (2019) pointed out that “many authentic tasks can be created for a local, national, and/or global audience. Our students need to create mental relationships for their existence in a global, interconnected world. Topic and audience can help to create the situation and require students to utilize practices and capacities, adapting as necessary for a global audience and/or an audience somewhere other than where they are familiar.”

Changes after lockdown

After lockdown our school trialed a change in lesson times. Initially, we had 3 sessions; session 1 was 75 minutes, session 2 was 2 hours and session 3 was 75 minutes. We had two breaks, 20 minutes and an hour. The new times were 4x 70-minute sessions with 3 breaks (2 x 30-minute breaks and 20 minutes for morning tea). After trialing the new lesson times for a fortnight staff voted to keep the new times and not to revert to the old session format.

Along with that change, my senior teacher and I (with the permission of management) decided to rotate classes. As we shared the only two Year 7/8 classes in the school, we decided that Hevaha would teach Math to both classes and I would do the Reading for both classes. Our decision was based on the fact that after speaking to some teachers at TC, it was mentioned that one of the things that the Year 9 students struggled with was having a different teacher for each subject and moving from class to class.  We hoped that getting the students to rotate classes would help to smooth their transition into high school. The feedback received from students (using Google forms) was extremely positive about the change.

Some of the benefits of rotating teachers include:

• Students avoid getting bored with the same teacher.   
• A different teacher brings a new style, a different accent, a different sense of humour….
• Class rotation helps children become more flexible and forces them to better organised.
• It introduces variety into the school day for both teachers and students.
• It has encouraged a feeling of camaraderie amongst students as we feel like one big class. 
• Both classes getting the same information and instructions.

Lockdown Learning Musings

Lockdown Learning Musings

"The impact of COVID-19 on education has been significant. In the short-term, there has been a complete change to the day-to-day realities of educators, students and their families. However, there also are much broader and on-going implications. The physical closure of schools has shone a spotlight on some of the persistent and systemic challenges facing our education system, providing an opportunity to refocus our attention and efforts on them. It further has created a space for asking big questions about education; do we want to return to the status quo and business as usual when schools reopen? Might the lockdown period act as a catalyst for education reforms that many have been seeking? And if so, what should we be looking to change?" - Dr Nina Hood

Lockdown was literally looking into an unseen part of the lives of my students. Initially, it was very hard to get them to turn their cameras on and it was hard to hard to get them to engage, I think it was all very strange for the (and me too)! I struggled a bit with the online interactive board, but persevered when I saw how much my students enjoyed working collaboratively. 

Teaching remotely and face-to-face teaching share the same principles i.e. 

• The importance of relationships and developing a class culture based on mutual respect, care, empathy and warmth, and the need to attend to and ensure the emotional wellbeing of each student.
• Establishing a careful sequencing of content to be covered, which builds logically and consistently through a series of well-designed and clearly focused tasks.
• Designing learning activities in keeping with the principles of how we learn so as to avoid cognitive overload and to facilitate an understanding from comprehension, to remembering, to understanding and the engagement with higher-order thinking skills.
• Supporting students to effectively manage their time, establishing routines and habits and establishing clear expectations for what students will be doing
• The need to ensure plenty of opportunities for free play, for time in nature, for creative engagement, and rest