Changes In Practice

   

      

"If we wish to develop new and better methods of practice, we begin by examining the behaviour we want to improve."  (Osterman & Kottkamp, 1993)

Key Change #1

In all honesty, I have never been completely happy with my maths programme. I have always ability grouped learners as I felt this was the method that ensured I was catering to the needs of each student and I could also provide the required assessment data. 

I had never considered another method to be viable until I decided upon my Literary Review Assignment topic - How does mindset impact student self-efficacy in the classroom? I became particularly interested in the findings of Jo Boaler and Carol Dweck with regards to growth mindset and the impact this has on a student's perception of their abilities in Maths. Their views strongly resonated with me. While researching I could actually visualise students in my class that demonstrated traits of a fixed mindset in Maths.

I felt I had a new found awareness. The most significant realisation was that my ability grouped programme was fixed mindset. I found this difficult to reconcile as I had always held a strong belief that ability grouping children was the best method to cater for learning needs. My research hugely challenged my thinking and pedagogy, but the evidence was too compelling to ignore. 

Our 55 students are now engaged in a programme that is based on growth mindset principles. It is problem-solving based with students collaborating in a mixed ability setting. Mistakes are evidence of learning, with students being encouraged to "up challenge", risk take and share their new learning. 

Implications

I truly feel the student's anxiety levels have decreased and their enjoyment of Maths has increased. They are showing determination and resilience in solving problems, and are choosing more challenging activities as the fear of failure or making mistakes are gone. Ensuring curriculum coverage and assessment requirements are met is ongoing. We are currently integrating more numeracy and strand-based workshops and post-testing problem-solving strategies. The plan is constantly being reflected upon. 

PTC Criteria 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Key Change #2

I have always been interested in the benefits of digital technology. Keeping abreast of the latest apps, and the time required to search and critique these had become an issue. I found the digital component of this course to be extremely valuable, particularly the Leadership and the Digital and Collaborative Learning in Context assignments. I fully explored the Seesaw and Trello apps and implemented both successfully into my classroom programme following the plan I outlined in my assignments. It was beneficial to be able to extensively plan an implementation as I don't believe they would have been as successful or well executed without this opportunity.

Implications                                      

Thanks to Mindlab I am now very proactive in using Digital Technology. This term I have used Hopscotch to introduce my students to coding, am using Google Classroom as a form of regular communication and am in the process of exploring how Twitter can be incorporated thanks to exploring Social Media in the classroom context.

PTC Criteria 4, 5, 6  

             

What next?

"Research informed practice has helped guide teachers to change their practice through an awareness of wider sources than their own intuition and experience."

Continuing to have a research informed practice is high on my list of priorities. I have two books, by Carol Dweck and Jo Boaler, to read during the holidays. I feel my growth mindset journey is just beginning and I am looking forward to the continued positive impact this will have in my classroom. 

References

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files/RefPract/Osterman_Kottkamp_extract.pdf

SkillsTeamHullUni. (2014, March 3). Reflective writing.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoI67VeE3ds

The Interdisciplinary Curriculum

"We need to prepare kids for their FUTURE, not our PAST." 

Daniel Pink (n.d)

"A knowledge view and curriculum approach that consciously applies methodology and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience."
Jacobs (1989) 

An interdisciplinary curriculum is a model that I think is already well established in the primary education system. Teachers want students to make real-life connections in their learning and inquiry-based pedagogy has been adopted by many schools to achieve this outcome. The by-product of this is the deliberate combining of curriculum areas. Mathison and Freeman (1997) support this and suggest in the majority of interdisciplinary models, development of inquiry skills are the main goal with the nature of the inquiry able to be varied and include inquiry into a social era, topic, theme or issue. 

The video clip "Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education" also advocates this approach and discusses how it guides students in developing an awareness of the meaningful connections that exist among different subject areas. More importantly, it points out that real-life problems are "complex and multi-faceted rather than compartmentalised into neat subject matter packages. No single discipline can adequately describe and resolve challenging issues." 

Our community inquiry is based on real-life issues around sustainable practices both in our immediate environment, and globally.  It incorporates our school overarching inquiry theme of innovative and creative ideas may improve our future. Our learners have been investigating sustainable practices that we have within our school, and also what is happening globally to help improve our future. We have specific achievement objectives in Science, Social Science and English. 

My Interdisciplinary Connection Map

Potential Interdisciplinary Connections

The potential interdisciplinary connection I have chosen to further consider is "Other Primary Schools". The connection I would like to make is with another Enviro School. I think using Twitter would be an engaging and purposeful way of incorporating social media into the classroom as per my last blog. The students would then have access to other learners who are also having a real-world impact on sustainability. They would be able to share and discuss their issues and collaborate to find solutions. I envisage the learners being heavily involved in making the decisions based on the direction of their inquiries and the information they would like to gather from the new connection formed with other students.

The paper "The Logic of Interdisciplinary Studies" cites many benefits. Those which I see as particularly relevant to my students' connection are:

• a better overall understanding of global interdependencies (sustainability is a global issue)
• the development of multiple perspectives, points of view and values (communicating and explaining their own point of view and listening to others)
• an increased ability to think critically, creatively and synthesise knowledge (knowledge obtained from new connection needing to be synthesised with own prior knowledge)
• identify and assess information needed to reach solutions (research and discussions)
• increased motivation (new connection and use of social media) 

I believe the challenges would be minimal. The learners are already highly engaged in their inquiries, and the addition of a social media tool to communicate and learn from like-minded students can only increase their motivation. Challenges would mainly be related to the digital technology: having a reliable wifi connection when needed, transferring students Seesaw posting knowledge to a broader social media platform, and timetabling regular opportunities for students across the two schools to make their connections.

"Students and teachers will advance critical thinking, communication, creativity, pedagogy, and essential academia with the use of interdisciplinary techniques." Jones (2009)

References

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI7 (26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai

Mathison,S.. & Freeman, M.(1997). The logic of interdisciplinary studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1997. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf:

ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA