Learnings from Te Whāriki

He puraora i ruia mai Rangiåtea e kore e ngaro.

A Seed sown in Rangiātea will never be lost.

Te Whāriki states that teachers, educators and kaiako work in partnership with whānau to realise the hopes and high expectations whānau and iwi have for each child. The vision underpinning Te Whāriki is that children are learners are nurtured like a precious seed, instilling in them an understanding of their own importance and their belonging within society. They are "Competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society." 

On the day lockdown began, I had started to write this blog post looking at te Whariki as a guiding document and how this interlinks with our focus on developing a foundation program for Juniors. As I began to write I reflected on the partnership between school and whānau and had a sinking feeling that it seems to often be an aspect of our teaching that can be surface level. By this I mean students are dropped at school by whānau and go home to them at the end of the day with a wave and quick hello, how are you, but really is there true partnership happening? Is it an equal power relationship where parents feel comfortable talking openly with their child's teacher? Does the teacher understand and value the hopes and aspirations each whānau has for their child? Do we take the time and make the effort to find out? Do whānau feel comfortable within our classrooms and know and have input into the learning that happens. Do we understand and value all the learning that happens at home?

Lockdowns have taught me that true relationships between whānau and teachers are powerful and can be a massive impact on student outcomes. 

I have made a mindset shift to purposefully form true relationships with whānau. This is not on a superficial level, this is valuing the contribution whānau brings to the learning of our tamariki. It's forming relationships that are nonjudgemental no matter what the situation is at home. It's listening to them, looking at things from their point of view, and working with them to help students learn in ways that are important and right for that family. 

For at least one of my students I strongly believe that the partnership his mum and I have, has changed his world in a significant way. The walls between school and home have come down, his whānau are helping him with his learning in their own beautiful way and he comes to school proud of the learning he is doing at home. He is able to make connections between this learning and the learning happening at school and build upon these connections. Learning is ubiquitous. The progress he is making is incredible. He has progressed from working at a developmental level of a 3 1/2 year-old, to being able to write a sentence, know all alphabet sounds, and read a sentence. I could have been judgemental when I learned about the challenges he and his whānau face, I can imagine many would. I could say that I have no control over what happens at home. But I do have control over my own beliefs, judgments, and the impact these have on others. By having understanding and true relationships based on trust and respect, there is no judgment. There is a partnership with a little learner (seed) at the center who is being nurtured by those around him and given optimal opportunities to grow. 

Lockdown for our Junior Team as with other deciles one schools allows us to see inside the homes of our whānau. We make phone calls, we do check-ins, google meets. Our parents become the teachers and we are one of their resources. They let us see into their worlds. we need to do this with uttermost respect and aroha. The relationships that are formed through this time are a true asset and like the story above brings down the walls between home and school. I can't help but feel this is what that sinking feeling that I had reading Te Whāriki referred to. These are the relationships that underpin Te Whāriki and that we need to treasure in our practice as teachers. 

In my early years of teaching I had relationships with families that I felt a connection towards but can I say I had strong relationships with those families that were more difficult to connect with... no I can't say I did...and how much of that came down to my own judgments and comfortableness. Probably more than I was willing to admit. 

I think it is important I don't let these learnings as an educator slip away. I look forward to continuing to weave the Te Whāriki aspect of Partnership through our junior school beliefs and practice and our school curriculum.

The Development Of Foundation Skills; Balance

Hypothesis:  If we focus on developing students' foundation skills then this will transfer to progress in reading, writing, and maths longitudinally. 

Foundation skills are the foundations we build our 'traditional' learning upon. If students miss out on acquiring these skills in the early years then how can we be expecting them to build on something that just isn't there. As time is of the essence my hypothesis is that if we can build these skills alongside key early literacy practice then the skills will transfer from one domain across to the other at an accelerated rate. Students are not missing out on those early literacy skills that don't get taught further up the school, yet they are at the same time developing the skills needed to consolidate that learning. 

These skills are 

Exploring this hypothesis  I have taken balance, a foundation skill that influences the ability to adjust movements, muscle strength, core stability, sensory awareness, and movement reactions, and created opportunities throughout each day for the students to develop this skill. 

First I did a quick assessment of students' balance standing on one leg, hopping, walking along a low beam, and their ability to sit still on the mat (core stability and strength). Some students found these activities challenging. These students also are pre-writing stage, making marks on the page yet to form letters.

Then I made a trip to Kmart to buy balance boards.  I placed these in my classroom. As soon as the students saw them they were on them. They seemed to gravitate to them throughout the day as a way to calm and center them as if they were seeking the stimulation. This reminded me of the readings I had done about play schemas. 

I also incorporated movement games and activities throughout the day that developed balance. Each time we did an activity we talked about how balance strengthens our core and helps us to do certain activities. The outcome of this is that students can now identify activities that help them to balance and choose these activities independently "Look miss I'm balancing." They seem to enjoy the challenge of seeing if they can balance in different ways.

The exciting thing is that I'm seeing it transfer into formal learning. These students can sit for longer periods on a chair or on the mat. They seem to hold a pencil easier and are beginning to form letters correctly. The latter part may not be connected to balance but there is a noticeable difference in a short period of time.

TIA20 Academic Reading; Krashen

S. Krashen

Facilitating language comprehension; what we do as teachers naturally and what we should actually focus on.

Slowed down speech, clearer articulation, use of more high-frequency words, syntactic simplification, shorter sentences and the use of fewer idioms may appear to promote language comprehension however this limits students to minimal language input. Secondly, we actually tend to make these changes naturally when speaking to a second language speaker, therefore, this is not what we as teachers need to focus on.

Instead, it is important to focus on comprehension and communication and if we do this then the syntactic requirements will follow suit. (Krashen, 1982)

"Believe that your child can understand more than he or she can say, and seek, above all, to
communicate... "If you concentrate on communicating, everything else will follow." (Brown,
1977, p. 26. in Krashen, 1982)

Krashen highlights these strategies as effective methods of teaching language acquisition.

• Check students comprehension by monitoring their verbal and non-verbal responses.

• Use pictures and objects to encourage language acquisition. This helps students to understand concepts outside of what they know.

• Take advantage of what student's know about in the world however, be aware that if the context is too familiar they may have little or no interset and uptake will be minimal. Utilize their curiosity of contexts outside their known worlds whilst helping them make connections to what they already understand.

• Share the process of language acquisition with the students so that they can continue to progress and be aware of their progress independently.

These points affirm the work of Dr Jannie Van Hees and the intensive oral language acquisition work I have currently been doing. I want to be much more open with my students about the process of language acquisition. This is something I remember Jannie discussing with students on one of her modelling sessions for us teachers. This will help them to be metacognitive and add value to what we are doing. It will also help them to continue with their language acquisition when they are not in the class situation.

Krashen, S. (1982). Principles and practice in second language acquisition.

TAI20 Professional Reading; The Oral Language Book by Sheena Camaron and Louise Dempsey

The Oral Language Book; Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey

Traits of Effective Teachers of Oral Language

• Explicitly teach speaking skills
• Engage in dialogue not monologue
• Model, scaffold support and guide speaking and listening learning in the classroom
• Create a safe respectful talking environment
• Explicitly teach listening skills
• Explicitly teach vocabulary

What am I doing already? What can I do differently?

What am I already doing?	What can I do differently?  Ideas are taken from Sheena Cameron and Louise Dempsey's The Oral Language Book
Explicitly teach speaking skills
Encourage students to speak in sentences, not one-word answers.	Modelled and shared, guided and independent speaking and listening approach gradually releasing responsibility (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983)
Engage in dialogue not monologue
Say and do activities	Think-pair-share instead of hands up…. I still need to work on ‘no hands up’ Think, pair, walk and talk
Model, scaffold support and guide speaking and listening learning in the classroom
Provide devices and opportunities for students to record and listen back to themselves speaking. Model correct sentence structures, encourage students to use correct sentence structures.	Scaffold speaking and listening using talking strips  Doughnut circles
Create a safe respectful talking environment
Really listen to students and encourage students to really listen to each other. Value and encourage the use of heritage language in the classroom. Allow for think time and allow students to work with a partner or in small groups.
Explicitly teach listening skills
Engage Games with focus on listening carefully	Barrier Games Construct charts describing what good listeners do
Explicitly teach vocabulary
Drama and role play Retelling	Word pictures

Cameron, C & Dempsey, L (2016). The Oral Language Book, Auckland: S&L Publishing Ltd.

TAI20 The Nature and Extent of the Student Challenge: Whānau Voice

I have been collecting parent voice through the method of Talanoa. This method allows whānau to speak openly without the expectation to answer questions in a forced and directed way. These conversations are a way to listen to whānau and the messages they are sharing in a comfortable natural way.
All three pieces of whānau voice were collected through long comfortable conversations in natural environments with other whānau members present. This information was given by them without prompting or questioning. 

One mum talked about the impact of helping her children do their learning during the lockdown:
"I wasn't aware of the impact of what was going on at home was having on the children's achievement. They didn't use to be like this. (This is referring to an extremely difficult situation the family has been through).

They are at a 5-year-old level. I don't want them falling further behind. It wasn't only me it was the older siblings helping them.

I'm glad all the growling at them to do their work has paid off. It was hard work.

I have noticed they have changed. They are happy kids. They come home from school all talking at once wanting to tell me about their day."

Another mum discussed how she loved working with her daughter during the lockdown: 

"I want to keep working with her. I can see the progress she is making. We don't do the projects as we don't have the things you need but we do reading, writing and maths. I haven't paid much attention to their leaning before but now I'm reading and doing things with my younger children too."

Discussion during a home visit with Samoan whānau: 
"We don't feel safe coming back to school yet. We are learning through our bible studies and the church band. We are doing things together as a small family group. I am teaching them about God's ways. The children use my hotspot to go on their site in the evening after they have done their jobs." As we were talking the children were playing doctors with a toy medical kit.

My reflection of whānau voice is 

• The impact high levels of stress in the home setting has on students self-regulation and uptake of new learning at school. As illustrated above whānau may not be aware of the impact stressful home situations have on children's learning. Once made aware of this whanau made changes to their family interactions and gave more support with their children's learning.
• Families have limited resources at home however during the lockdown, having learning visible on the class site allowed whānau to become more involved in their child's learning and they could see the progress their child was making. This was a motivating factor for some whānau and they wanted to continue helping their child with their learning after the lockdown.
• It is easy to look at education and views of success through a Pakeha lense. However, it is important to step out of our cultural world view into the world views of our students. I need to gain a deeper understanding of  Māori and Pasifika beliefs of success, values and education if I am to truly look at achievement and what we measure as success. 

MIT and TAI2020 Gaining a Greater Understanding of Māori and Pasifika Perspectives of Play

It is a common perception that play is a normal way for children to learn about themselves and their environment and that the learning and development that happens through play reflect the social and cultural contexts in which the child lives. Also, that play is important for the holistic development of the child. (Bruce, 2001; Leaupepe, 2011)

The ENGAGE Programme takes this further by showing the importance games can make as a catalyst for developing self-regulation skills needed to navigate successfully through life.

My proposed project outcome is to create an online platform to connect our Māori and Pasifika whanau with the Engage programme that our schools are incorporating into their daily curriculum.

However, Leaupepe (2011) indicates through her research into Pasifika Perceptions of Play that the above common viewpoint may not a Pasifika viewpoint. Her paper illustrates the perception of play can sometimes be seen as inappropriate and taking children's time away from more productive activities like helping around the house.  Contribution/ service is a hugely important value in Pasifika cultures. 

If this is the case then will whanau see the value in the ENGAGE programme, and be willing to learn more about it through the proposed website?


To gain further insight into a Māori and Pasifika view regarding play I meet with Maori and Pasifika teaching colleagues using the Pasifika method of Talanoa. 

My Colleague Talking From a Māori Perspective:

"Games are viewed as learning- you are learning as you play, through play learning is achieved. Maori believe should be enjoyable because through play learning is achieved.

What memories do you have of play as a child?


"Marbles, pūrerehua, ti rakau, poi, spinning top hit with a harakeke, pole with ropes like a swing, kōruru (cow knuckle bones), and calabashes,"

What games do you play as a family at home? Are they different from when you were a child?


"Video games, more electronic games. The Whakawhanaunga, the intimacy, wairua, the spiritual connection has been lost. It is missing, noho ngātahi (being together as one)"

What are the positives about helping your child learn at home?

"Whakawhanaungatanga , spiritual connection. We are very kanohi ki te kanohi."

Two Of My Colleagues Talking From a Pasifika Perspective

Some families are strict and children have to do what they are told to do. Others allow for time to do something and spending time together as a family and play. 
Traditionally games are competitive... egg and spoon races, sack races.

The conversation turned to opportunities and challenges of sharing the ENGAGE programme with families and expecting them to implement the games at home. 

It was mentioned that it can be difficult to have the drive, and daily routines and there is the distraction of social media e.g.facebook, this takes time away from spending time interacting with children. They said that there is the risk that they will say they will do things that the school recommends but in reality when they get home it probably won't happen. 

School is school, and home is home. It is polite to say the right things and families don't necessarily say what they think. When discussing ways of sharing... Culturally, if it is fun families will come especially if it is something simple ..... food and their children performing.... bring families in to share. 


My Reflection after meeting with colleagues:

• It is important to value Whakawhanaungatanga and embed this value throughout the process and within the prototype.
• Include Maori games such as ti rakau 
• Incorporate competitive games
• Students demonstrate games as an incentive for parents to connect.
• Launch an online platform through a celebration for our Pasifika community, sharing food and cultural performances.

References

Bruce, T. (2001). Learning through play: Babies, toddlers and the foundation years (pp. 112-124). London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Leaupepe, M. (2011). Pasifika perspectives of play: challenges and responsibilities. Peer-Reviewed Paper: Vol2, Num4-March 2011, The University of Auckland.

Teaching chunks of words PELP

Articles and pronouns are used to describe nouns and have a variety of formats. Correct use is important in writing.  Articles and pronouns are often used incorrectly or amitted in our student's oral language which of course is then reflected in their writing.

What have I learned from the Pacific Early Literacy Project and My Work With Dr Jannie Van Hees regarding the use of structural words?

• Instead of teaching bilingual learners individual words, teach words in meaningful chunks by teaching the words within the other words surrounding it. Bilingual students may understand lexical words but don't know the structural words that go with them such as pronouns and articles. Therefore, build these structural words into oracy programmes. Instead of using nouns in mind maps and think pair share activities build both the nouns and the articles that proceed them. Display the words within meaningful chunks for students to see and revisit.
• Insisting students use correct sentences through listening, thinking about what they are going to say, copying and repeating is a way of practising using the structural words surrounding new vocabulary e.g. say and do- "I am placing the tuatara on top of the log." "I am tieing the apron around his waist." 

What am I doing differently in my practice?

• I'm insisting on the correct use of pronouns and articles, I am doing this through modelling and gifting correct use and I give them multiple opportunities to practice. This can be done through hands-on 'say and do' activities like exploring floating and sinking I am picking up the stick and placing it on top of the water."  or "These objects float and these objects sink.
• Using mind maps that include the pronouns and articles that go with nouns.

How is it going?

It sure isn't easy for the students to use these words and this can seem laborious, but students amaze me with their perseverance working hard at correct speech. We talk a lot about how talking and listening are helping our brains grow.  One thing that I have noticed is the children finding it difficult to calm their bodies and minds down so that they are able to listen to others talking including me modelling the correct speech.  

What am I noticing?

The four students I'm tracking are all using correct sentence structure after repeating these correct structures a few times. They are using words such as they, that, these more often and when asked to think about what they are going to say are able to use a greater amount of words. However, they still all revert to short word-groups or one or two-word responses when they are talking naturally. I feel that significant changes to their everyday speech patterns may take time and that the hard work students are putting into their speech in the above learning situations will transfer into their day to day speech. 

COL- Teaching as Inquiry New Learning From Jannie Van Hees

Hypothesis 2: Developing oral language through short high-interest topics and real-life experiences, with a focus on intensive oral language acquisition, will create an environment of language in abundance.

Our Junior Team has been fortunate enough to enlist the help of Dr Jannie van Hees to help us develop an effective intensive oral language programme throughout our Junior School. 

Our Goal: For our children to have a large vocabulary and to be able to express their ideas in detail fluently.

Jannie has delivered both an initial theory session and workshop to train teachers and teacher-aides to conduct a hands-on language experience session which will become the basis for a three-day oral language intensive programme. The programme is designed to be used in small groups of 6-8 children.

Key Points from Dr Jannie van Hees Sessions which we will implement within our oral language programme:

• Tell the children why we are doing this and what it's about. Create a culture of talking in the classroom so that children understand that in our classroom we use lots of words.

Example:

“Our brain needs to be used, your voice and brain need to talk with each other - In our safe place, we push ourselves to talk because talking is your job. We need to push ourselves to use our brain and talk and to value that of others." -Jannie

"You have a clever brain. You need to think and think but there is something else you need to do and that's talking." - Jannie

• Give the meaning of new vocabulary.

Example:

"You are gardeners. Gardeners are people that grow and care for plants."

• Repetition! Students repeat new phrases and vocabulary multiple times over multiple days. This is the uptake. They need to hear it multiple times and use it multiple times for uptake to happen. Students are doing something with the new vocabulary pushing them to extend their language. Repetition and recycling of new words and phrases pushing them to the edge using complex language that they don't hear at home.

• Do it and say it. Children use new phrases and language in a hands-on context. Foster and encourage self-talk. Self-talk is a safe place to try out the language.

Example: 

The children put on each other's gardening aprons to get ready to do gardening explaining what they are doing as they are doing it. The teacher models "Here is your apron. I'm going to put it over your head. I'm going to flatten out the front and tie it at the back" The children then copy the teacher 'doing it and say it' to their partner. The teacher insists that they talk as they do it.

• Insist on connected speech. Many of our students don't use connected speech. They don't have the word groups (also illustrated through our work with PELP), students are used to using cryptic talk. Supporting them to use connected speech through gifting, modelling then insisting they use complete sentences is really important. They are used to using a few words then letting us complete their sentence. If we don't insist on them using connected speech they will continue to get away with broken speech patterns. This may feel extremely uncomfortable for the student and the teacher as it doesn't feel natural. 

Example: 

Teacher models: We need the...(bean seed)...to put in the ...(soil)...so the seed can grow into a ...(little bean plant).

Students: Each student has a turn in saying the sentence. They repeat it with help until they are able to say it fluently.

• No questions from the teacher, no hands up. 

Example: 

Students choose equipment to use for planting seeds.

Teacher: "We are all going to pick something and say what it is and say why it is important."

Teacher models: "I'm going to pick a pair of scissors because we may need to cut something."

"We are going to give it a go and if you don't have the words we will help each other."

"Ben you go first."

How and why will this changed practice impact the specific learning outcome?

It is believed that this intervention will give our students the vocabulary and sentence structures that will allow them to express their ideas in detail fluently. We hope that this will transfer into reading and written language.  

What is different from what we were doing before?

Personally, although I have always tried to explain the meaning of new vocabulary and given them hands-on activities to connect new language to, I have not insisted on them using connected speech. I have modelled how complete sentences would sound but not insisted that they repeat it back or use it multiple times. As a teacher you are always in a rush to move on, slowing it down and taking the time to get students to talk in complex sentences is going to mean letting go of the rushing. Finishing students sentences or accepting broken speech is also something I need to let go of and accept that it is going to feel uncomfortable 'discomforting' the students through pushing them to extend their language instead of jumping in to save them. 

Tasks are going to have to be thought out ahead of time and well planned. Instead of giving children a hands-on activity to explore away from the teacher, with the notion that students will share their ideas, knowledge and vocab with each other, activities will need to be done with a teacher and expected vocabulary and prepositional noun groups will have to be anticipated, planned for and modelled. This is far more teacher-directed than the 'play-based learning' approach I have used in the passed.

How will we monitor the effects of our changed practice?

Each teacher will take notes anecdotally on the oral language uptake of their students. The combi list and ELLP forms will be a way of recording progress made by students and teachers will reflect on their own teaching of this programme in terms of what is working and what needs tweaking. These aspects will be shared at team meetings.

CoL Teaching As Inquiry; The importance of a shared vision focusing on change

Hypothesis 1: A collaborative inquiry across the junior school (Years 1-3) will grow professional capital across the school. The shared inquiry will allow all students across the junior school to benefit from the effectiveness of changed practice and allow teachers to learn from and with each other. It will hopefully also enable an effective changed practice to become sustainable.

The importance of a shared vision focusing on change

One of my first questions is how do I get our Junior team to paddle this waka with me so that all our students benefit from changed practice, change is sustainable and effective practice is shared?

Teachers need a desire to change their practice (Hargreaves, 1994), desire being "the basis of creativity, change, commitment and engagement (Hargreaves, 1994, p12)". A desire to change connects teachers to their practice. This desire drives 'exceptional and creative teachers' towards excellence in their practice and strong relationships with students. Pink (2009) talks about being able to see the purpose underpinning the learning and giving value to it in order to surpass the bare minimum of what is required. Hattie (2012) acknowledges that expert teachers are passionately engaged in teaching and learning, both inspired by student learning and inspiring students to learn. Teachers need to be intrinsically motivated through autonomy, mastery and purpose to change their pedagogical ideas.

In order for cohesive change to occur all participants, including families and students, need to be connected and committed to a shared moral purpose. Teachers need to align their beliefs with a shared vision, building capacity through working together in a purposeful doing, within a supportive change climate. (Fullan & Quinn, 2016).

Therefore, teachers need to understand the need to change. Assessment information highlights this need along with the data gathered from Welcome To School: A Study of Conditions of Disadvantage on Entry to School in the Manaiakalani Kahui Ako (2017). It is important that we look at this data together during the 'Learn Stage' of the inquiry to understand the status quo and to release the need to change our practice to accelerate student learning. 

Teachers need to see and value the purpose underpinning the learning in order to be intrinsically motivated to change their pedagogical practice. The 'Why' behind the change becomes incredibly important. Teachers need to understand and value the theory and 'why' behind pedagogical interventions to see the purpose underpinning the learning. If this doesn't happen will teachers being intrinsically motivated to change their practice? 

For the cohesive change to occur we need to be paddling the same waka. Successfully conducting a collaborate inquiry will mean aligning our beliefs with a shared vision, having a shared understanding of pedagogical interventions and working together in purposeful doing supporting each other along the way. 

CoL Teaching As Inquiry; Student Voice- Pre Intervention

Student Voice

This is the student voice collected from Year 1 students within my Target Group (Maori Pasifika Boys). Student 1 (S1) and Student 2 (S2) are Tongan, Student 3 (S3) is Samoan, Student 4 (S4) is Cook Island Maori/Maori.
Initially, I was going to use survey monkey to create a survey for students to answer, however, due to the fact that students have low oral language and can read yet I opted for students to answer questions through an informal discussion with a teacher.

I am good at reading/ writing - yes/sometimes/no?
S3- ”Sometimes I don’t do well because I'm tired.”
S1-” I’m good I write on the word.”
S4 - "I write my sister’s names.”
S1- “I can write it good, my pirate one. I could write so many words.”
S4- “I need the word card.”

When I can't do something it is easy to ask my teacher for help- yes/sometimes/no?
S1- “Ask 3 people before the teacher, ask your friend then you go ask the teacher.”
“Ask your friend (repeated by all 4)”

My teacher listens to my ideas - yes/sometimes/no?
S2- “Everyone always talking, she picks the people who are listening, who get to talking.”

Do you like talking about your ideas? Why or Why not?
S1-” Yes so you can get smarter.”
S3- “You know what the answer is and you put your hand up.”
S4- “I sit quietly because I want to listen.”
S2- “I want to sit nicely at mat time.”S1j- “I like reading so I can learn.”
S4- “I like reading cause it's my favourite.”

What makes learning hard/ easy at school?
S1- “People block. (Hard)”
S2- “I like writing the ABC.”
S3- “Maths and learning.”
S4- “Writing on ABC card.”
S1- “Word work games so I can learn my words.”

What makes learning hard/ easy at home?

S2- “I practice my word, I practice my sounds on my iPad.”
S4- “I write on my iPad.”
S3- “I use my letter card at home.”
S1- “I read my book.”

Do you feel okay to talk in your own language at school? Why or why not?

S2- “No I want to practice my language at home, I have to learn it from my mum. It is hard to write in Tongan. I would like to talk more in Tongan at school.”
S1-"No because people are Maori. People keep saying Maori to me.”
S3- “I speak Samoan with my friends.”

What do you want your teachers to know about you and how you learn best?
S2- “Tell my teacher about at writing, about pirates”
S4- “I like maths, soccer, cooking.”
S3- "Bikes”
S1- "I like to cut coconuts.”

First Thoughts After Listening To Student Voice

All the students say they help each other with their learning. They mentioned ‘See 3 before me’ which is a management strategy I use while taking guided reading groups. This could mean that they feel unable to ask the teacher for help which means I need to ensure there are opportunities for students to approach me for the help they need, or it could also mean that getting help from their peers helps them with their learning. If the later is the case ensuring that there is always opportunities for students to work together and talk about their learning is important. Also to me, Tuakana Teina and creating opportunities for students to learn from and with their peers within a shared learning space is important.

Students are aware of classroom resources that help them with their learning e.g. word cards, word work games.

I thought it was interesting that mat time was mentioned as a time when you sit and listen. Put your hand up if you know the answer and that people talk and the teacher picks people that are listening. How could mat time become a powerful opportunity for open conversations to take place? What culture needs to be built so ‘teacher talks and asks questions and students listen and answer with a hand up’ is replaced with student talk in abundance.

It is easy to assume that students do most of their learning at school, however, I was surprised by the clarity in which the students could talk about the learning they did at home and how this learning happens. All the students talked about how they learn literacy at home. This instantly made me consider the powerful influence strong home/school partnerships could have on student learning and the amazing possibilities that could happen if we share more openly with whanau, share resources and work together.

CoL Teaching as Inquiry- Testing Each Hypothesis and the Evidence That Will Support It

Developing Inquiry Hypotheses

The hypotheses were formed through a process of exploring possibilities into why the data looks as it does and possible changes of practice that could take place. Below I discuss the reading, discussions and learning opportunities that lead to the development of hypotheses.

Hypothesis 1: A collaborative inquiry across the junior school (Years 1-3) will grow professional capital across the school. The shared inquiry will allow all students across the junior school to benefit from the effectiveness of changed practice and allow teachers to learn from and with each other. It will hopefully also enable an effective changed practice to become sustainable.

Collective capacity building to develop a common knowledge and skill base across the learning community is a powerful learning opportunity. Social capital, the quality of the group is more powerful than human capital, the qualifications of individuals (Hargreaves & Fullan, 2012; Fullan & Quinn, 2016). This approach to professional development replaces fragmented traditional professional development programmes, workshops or presentations that aim to fix the individual. As collective capacity builds, it increases momentum involving more people and reinforces the strategy for change towards a collective purpose. However, it is important to be aware that a supportive climate is needed to ensure teachers feel safe to take risks and build capacity through learning from each other (Fullan & Quinn, 2016). As Hargreaves (1994) points out, in a collaborative culture teacher’s values and purposes, failures and doubts are shared, discussed and disagreed over. This exposure of vulnerabilities should take place in a supportive environment.

Hypothesis 2: Developing oral language through short high-interest topics and real-life experiences, with a focus on intensive oral language acquisition, will create an environment of language in abundance. 

In order to find an appropriate tool to measure oral assessment, I sought out the help and expertise of Dr Jannie Van Hees. Jannie came and talked to the team about the use of the combilist and value of creating an intensive oral language literacy programme that focused around high-interest topics and experiences.

Hypothesis 3: Utilising the student's strengths in their first language, working in bilingual and multilingual ways, creating Talanoa, and working in partnership with families will help build students English language and literacy.

PELP focuses on working in partnership with Pasifika families, building on the strengths of the students first language, culture and identity through bilingual and multilingual teaching practices and the use of bilingual resources. Having the opportunity for our teachers to learn through participating in this project will embed cultural responsiveness within the inquiry.