CoL 2021

 There are two areas I would like to focus my work on next year, one being my own inquiry focus and the other being affecting change across my school to better meet our students' needs.

 

For my own inquiry I’m wanting to continue to focus on literacy across the curriculum, that is my passion and area of expertise. I know that was my focus in my last inquiry, however, there have been surprises that have emerged which I feel need exploring, for example using drama and storytelling, and the effect my solid phonics programme has had on both reading and writing, both Elena - using drama within literacy, and Clarelle’s wonderings about phonics have inspired this thinking. 

I also want to further my understanding of culturally responsive teaching.

 

Raising literacy achievement especially in reading is a school-wide focus moving into next year and although I have experienced success in my own classroom through change of practice… I have yet to see this change of pedagogy spread across my team (which is something I had hoped for). The Manaiakalani findings through our junior data collection and the research into students starting school highlight the importance of accelerating our students within the first few years at school, building the foundations of early literacy and oral language acquisition. These findings are what challenge me and make me change my teaching to strive to be the best teacher I can be.

 

How would I like to be supported in 2021?

I would like to be supported by the new leadership within my school, and the experience of leaders across Manaiakalani to affect change of practice across school. I would love to investigate the 'how' of change. I want to learn more about change and how to inspire other teachers to change their pedagogy to better meet students' needs and to continue to help them, themselves, learn, create and share through inquiry. The uptake of teaching as inquiry across our school has been my biggest area of reflection, point of frustration and point of littlest success in my current inquiry (all of which tells me that it is the perfect area of learning for me as a leader). I have been aspiring to inspire teachers to do teaching as inquiry, I have explored using staff meetings, collaborative inquiries and sharing effective practise and PLD with some success but I still feel I have a long way to go. I’m excited about the new management within our school and the possible opportunity to make TAI something that we all do. TIA  is such a powerful change agent. I would love to work with my colleagues more on their inquiries within my school and across Manaiakalani. 

 

As well, I would like to align my inquiry with the vision of my new principal to support them in the leadership of the school providing data through my inquiry to help drive changes they envision for our school.