A key change in my professional practice would be my understanding of how a quality TAI (Teaching As Inquiry) project should be constructed and conducted.(Professional learning - Use inquiry, collaborative problem-solving and professional learning to improve professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement of all learners.)
Now What? (Osterman & Kottkamp, 2015)
Stage 1 Problem Identification
It is not enough to be handed a model and/or an outline of a task without a working understanding of the building blocks that makes it effective. and it does not build capacity to learn. It is the old adage, give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. But teach him to fish and he can feed himself for a lifetime.
When introducing a new initiative, it is important that leaders manage the change and take the time to educate the participants or help them discover the value of this change so they are able to take ownership of the learning, demonstrate a working understanding and eventually, independently use this tool again in the appropriate context. Fullan & Quinn wrote about connected components. They say, “The first step in making headway in the complex world of subjective coherence, it to train yourself in simplicity. This means taking complex problem, identifying the smallest number of key components ad making them gel. (Fullan & Quinn, 2016, p. 32) They go on to explain that because leaders say “this is the way we are doing a task”, does not mean that the people are convinced of the value of the ideas. They see effective leaders as being able to participate as learners.
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| Coherence Framework Fullan & Quinn 2016 |
Most of my observations regarding this issue are anecdotal. This includes my own experience and those of others as they express confusion regarding the process or the validity of the inquiry to their practice. The process has been top down directed (driven by National Standards) and linked in with the professional development being offered at the time. Should our TAI be driven by our professional needs for improvement rather than an all encompassing directive?
Stage 3 Abstract re-conceptulisation
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| Spiral of Inquiry Retrieved from: The Spiral Playbook C21 Canada |
Stage 4 Active experimentation
As a result of the TAI research, when deploying the iPads into the junior school, the emphasis has been on the students creating content. The iPads are seen as learning tools to support the learning and the students are taking ownership of their learning, being given agency to express their ideas and internalise their knowledge in a manner that suits them, allowing students to manipulate, tinker and create. We aim to be working in the upper levels of Blooms (Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo., 2018) and the SAMR model (Puentedura, 2013). As a school we have also adopted Seesaw as our eportfolio platform to again give our students the ability to create content for an authentic audience and create that home/school partnership.
What Next?
The whole process has improved the quality of information gained from my TAI and ensures that any recommendations or decisions made regarding the procurement and utilisation of devices in our school is well researched and informed, thus making the most of our investment in ICT for the betterment of the teaching and learning.
Moving forward, I now have a good working understanding of action research and will be striving to make a tangible difference to the quality of my students learning experiences and their skill sets.
References:
Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo. (2018, February 28). Bloom's Taxonomy | Centre for Teaching Excellence. Retrieved from https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/planning-courses-and-assignments/course-design/blooms-taxonomy
Ferrance, E. (2000). Action Research (1st ed.). Retrieved from https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/sites/brown.edu.academics.education-alliance/files/publications/act_research.pdf
Fullan, M., & Quinn, J. (2016). Coherence Making. School Administrator, 30-34. Retrieved from https://www.scoe.org/files/Fullan_Quinn.pdf
Kaser, L., & Halbert, J. (2017). The Spiral Playbook: Leading with an inquiring mindset in school systems and schools [PDF] (1st ed.). Retrieved from http://c21canada.org/playbook/
Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators : professional development to improve student learning.(2nd ed.) New York: Skyhorse Publishing.
Puentedura, R. R. (2013, June 13). The SAMR Model Explained by Ruben R. Puentedura [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QOsz4AaZ2k
Thanks Shona for a fantastic blog. So often change is made or given to us as teachers without those important steps of sharing the vision, modelling and building those blocks of understanding. Through these important steps comes ownership and everyone being on the same journey. I think it is also important that we all come from different places on the journey and learn at different rates. We as teachers are continually doing this with our learners but go to a staff meeting and there is the opposite happening. It sounds like you are not letting this happen with your leadership. I'm sure that your staff and their learners will adopt the changes much more successfully due to this. Well done and good luck for the future.
ReplyDeleteGreat points Kristen! Thanks for a good read Shona. I think that given the research you back your choices with, then you should feel confident to share with your colleagues in a safe space. Perhaps you need to pull in a couple of early adopters so it doesn't come as quite a shock to the rest.. good luck, I know you have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to your ICT so take the time to let those grasp your initiative and you'll be away laughing.
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