Renwick School, with Renwick Kindergarten, Bohally Intermediate School, Marlborough Girls College, and Marlborough Boys College (TLIF 5-046) - Ako i roto i te mahi – Ako in action Publications
Publication Details
Project Reference: Renwick School, with Renwick Kindergarten, Bohally Intermediate School, Marlborough Girls College, and Marlborough Boys College (TLIF 5-046) - The teachers in this project sought to break down the silos between their schools through setting up learning labs. These labs operated in two ways, through cross-sector observations of teacher practice and through regular cross-sector forums.
Author(s): (Inquiry Team) led by Michelle MacGibbon (Renwick School, Across School Lead – Piritahi Kāhui Ako)
Date Published: August 2021
Overview
All schools in Piritahi Kāhui Ako were engaged in spirals of learning, but the across-school teachers noticed that, for the most part, they were not sharing their learning with each other. Furthermore, while most teachers sought to hear student voice, neither students nor their whānau were active in the inquiry process.
When we’re looking at students and student learning in the classroom, what it really boils down to is relationships. It’s all about the relationships between students, the relationships between the students and teachers, and this project is all about fostering better relationships between teachers, as well. And as soon as you understand that, then it becomes really important to go and see lots of different classes to see what those teachers do to build relationships in their classroom.
Kate Grage, teacher, Marlborough Girls’ College
I was nervous my first time, but then, as it went on, it got easier and easier and I started getting really excited to see all the classes and take a fresh perspective of them … so instead of being the person ‘in’ the class, I was outside … a third person view.
Ben Roger, Year 9 student, Marlborough Boys’ College
The teachers in this project sought to break down the silos between their schools through setting up learning labs. These labs operated in two ways, through cross-sector observations of teacher practice and through regular cross-sector forums. The team used the shadow coaching tool developed by the Poutamu Pounamu team (at Waikato University) to collect observational data regarding teachers’ use of culturally responsive relationships for relational pedagogy. This in turn enabled ‘shadow coaching’ – robust learning conversations that supported the observed teacher to explain and critique their own practice. A team of student detectives also participated in the observations, taking notes, talking informally with students, and feeding their perceptions and noticings back to the teachers. They were participants in the learning labs alongside the teachers. The cross-sector learning labs provided a space for all those involved in the inquiry gathered to discuss, share, and critique their learning.
The extension to include whānau proved too much to accommodate in the available time. However, this project supports the value of a cross-sector ‘learning lab’ model that utilises a well-designed observation tool and makes systematic use of student voice. Such an approach can enable ‘ako in action’, fostering shared understandings and the spread of effective pedagogy.
The inquiry story
This inquiry involved a group of schools within Piritahi Kāhui Ako. Over the course of the inquiry, it involved 11 teachers from five different settings. Two of these teachers were across-school leads in the Kāhui Ako. The inquiry also involved these teachers’ students, including nine in the role of ‘detectives’. It was intended to involve whānau, but this proved too difficult to achieve within the available timeframe. The focus was on the learning experience for all students, but especially upon Māori.
What was the focus?
All schools in Piritahi Kāhui Ako were engaged in collaborative spirals of inquiry and working towards embedding culturally responsive pedagogies and the pedagogies required for deep learning. However, the across school leads had noticed that teachers in different sites were not learning a great deal from each other. In particular, there was little sharing across teachers in different sectors. Further, the collection of student voice was not translating into their active involvement in spiral learning and teachers were not involving and learning from whānau. Data from use of the Rongohia Te Hau survey indicated widening inconsistencies in teacher, student, and whānau beliefs and expectations that increased as students progressed through their learning pathways. The teachers involved in this project asked, “Can a ‘learning lab’ model using inquiry sharing, observation, and whānau and student voice, deepen and spread effective pedagogies?”
What did the teachers try?
The project team established a learning lab of colleagues teaching children at kindergarten, new entrants at primary school, intermediate school students, and secondary school students. The learning labs also included nine intermediate school and secondary school students who took on the role of ‘student detectives’.
The teachers were trained in how to use the co-inquiry ‘shadow coaching’ tool developed by the Poutama Pounamu team to observe in each other’s spaces. This tool supports observation of whether educators are developing cultural relationships for learning and utilising responsive pedagogy. It places the onus on the person being observed to dig into their practice, justify and seek feedback upon their decisions, and seek out next steps with nonjudgmental and empowering support from their observer. The role of the student detectives was also to observe and use this to answer set questions to feed what they noticed back to the observed teacher. The student detectives often talked with the students in the classes they were visiting to check their perceptions. Thirty observations were undertaken over five terms.
The learning labs had two functions. First, there were the across-sector classroom observations and the collaborative discussions that followed. Protocols were developed for these conversations that were supported by the across-school leads and, to some extent, by the project’s critical friend. The purpose was to clarify emerging shared understandings about effective practice.
The learning labs also happened in the form of cross-sector forums that took place twice per term – nine times in all. These involved all participants, including the student detectives, and were intended as an opportunity to share and check progress and new learning. The team spent much of the first cross-sector learning lab co-constructing protocols for the observations and forums that would facilitate collaborative problem-solving and learning-focused critical conversations. These conversations addressed questions, such as: “What is working well for whom?” “Are there common challenges across the sectors?” “How can we use this knowledge to strengthen pathways for our students?”
The intention was to widen the inquiry to include whānau in the labs during 2020. However, the team found that its work on student voice and sharing teacher pedagogy was wide enough. To do it justice, they needed time to go deeper before moving on to the inclusion of whānau voice as the natural next step of their journey. Instead, the team focused more closely on transitions and what teachers can learn and do to smooth students’ learning journeys.
The project finished with the production of a film that tells its story. It shares what the teachers and students learned and experienced and how the project impacted upon them.
What happened as a result of this innovation?
‘Hard’ data (such as collated data from the student interviews) was collected at the start, middle, and end of the project and used to understand shifts in teachers’ use of culturally responsive and relational pedagogy and its impact. Overall, the trajectory was positive, though there were some inconsistencies associated with teacher turnover and student transitions. What felt more important, as revealed in the collection of soft data (such as teacher blogs), was the relationship-building and learning dialogue that was happening, both during and outside of the learning labs. This had practical consequences, with teachers adopting observed practices within their own contexts and new transition processes being developed by Renwick Kindergarten and the new entrant teachers at Renwick School.
The team found that the shadow coaching tool worked well to empower them to examine and unpack their practice in a collegial manner. The conversations deepened as they came to better understand the tools and the dimensions of effective practice it addresses. This was highlighted when two teachers joined the team in 2020. They found their first learning lab quite confronting, but quickly developed trust and felt comfortable inviting colleagues and the student detectives into their classrooms for the observations and follow-up conversations.
What did they learn?
The team found that the across-sector learning lab model worked well to provide a forum within which teachers could have robust discussions, share feedback, and develop shared understandings about ‘what works’. Further, the cross-sector observations enabled teachers to discover similarities and differences in their pedagogical approaches and develop ideas they could take back to their own classrooms. The student voice data collected by the student detectives and the feedback they offered was invaluable, and the team believes that this way of collecting student voice should be an integral part of all future inquiry. While the shadow coaching observation tool was designed to unpack aspects of culturally responsive and relational pedagogy with particular regard to Māori students, the team found that it worked well for monitoring the impact of their practice on all students.
Unintended learning included the importance of keeping the inquiry focus tight, the need for flexibility when working across multiple learning sites, and the value of creating a Google site giving shared access to all documentation, including teacher reflections. The teachers learned the importance of selecting the right observation tool. The inclusion of a teacher of te ao Māori within the team was important in deepening his colleague’s understandings about the dimensions of culturally responsive practice embedded within the shadow coaching tool. When a student detective transitioned into year 9, the team learned from him about the magnitude of the change this involved and the need for holistic support.
Inquiry team
The inquiry was led throughout by Michelle MacGibbon (Renwick School, Across School Lead – Piritahi Kāhui Ako). Over the course of the inquiry, the team also included Peter Kehayioff (Marlborough Boys College, Across School Lead – Piritahi Kāhui Ako); Sarah Greenslade, Jane Milne, and Kate McVie (Renwick Kindergarten); Rose Guile and Deborah Jones (Renwick School); Bronwyn Jones-Haddon (Bohally Intermediate School); Lindsay Burrows and Kate Grage (Marlborough Girls College); and Ben Christian (Marlborough Boys College).
The project’s critical friend was Helen Timperley (Auckland University, Timperley Consultants).
For further information
If you would like to learn more about this project, please contact the project leader, Michelle MacGibbon, at michelle@renwick.school.nz
Reference list
Bishop, R., & Berryman, M. (2010). Te Kotahitanga: culturally responsive professional development for teachers. Teacher Development: An International Journal of Teachers’ Professional Development. Vol. 14., 173–187.
Hattie, J. (2015). What works best in education: The politics of collaborative expertise. Corwin
Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H., & Fung, I. (2007). Teacher professional learning and development: Best Evidence Synthesis iteration [BES]. Ministry of Education, New Zealand.
Timperley, H., Kaser, L., & Halbert, J. (2014). A framework for transforming learning in schools: Innovation and the spiral of inquiry. Centre for Strategic Education, Seminar Series Paper No. 234.
Poutamu Pounamu: Classroom Observation Tool: https://poutamapounamu.org.nz/resources/other
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