My Space and My Place: February 2017

How do we know or ascertain whether every student has the same learning experience, or more so, the same learning opportunities irrespective of which classroom they step into? I guess when I’m talking about learning opportunities, what I’m really referring to is the opportunity to achieve and progress. Therefore, when I’m talking about the ‘same’ learning opportunities, I’m talking about the equal opportunity to achieve and progress regardless of which subject, which teacher, or which classroom the student steps into during the course of the school day. This may sound like a relatively straight forward question, with which many may argue, should have relatively straight forward answers or solutions. However, nothing could be more further from the truth.

There are a multitude of different variables that potentially impacts on the type of learning experience that students may encounter. This includes course content, resourcing and arguably the most significant, course delivery. If say, we were referring to students within one school, there may be minor resourcing variances between one department to the next, but is resourcing (as a whole) likely to vary so greatly within a school, that this is the major cause for inconsistent learning opportunities? Debatable. Course content on the other hand can vary greatly from one learning area or curriculum area to the next. Some subjects may be more process-orientated such as Technology and the use of technological practice and the design process, in comparison say to other Learning Areas that may be more content-driven. Or the medium by which students learn such as Art or Catering and Hospitality; these subjects may have substantially different delivery methods than say Mathematics.

Those variables aside, course delivery or workflow is an area of teaching that has the potential to be packaged in the most consistent manner. That is not to say that teachers need to religiously follow and undertake every single learning activity in exactly the same way as every other colleague in the school. However, it is possible to obtain consistency of course delivery or workflow, through the use of a framework, or guidelines to focus a collaborative and collective approach towards the execution of teacher practice, and ultimately student learning and achievement.

At this stage I'd also like to raise the difference between the life experiences and prior knowledge that students may bring to the learning table, versus the learning opportunities that students have access to, through their schooling experience. Whilst life experiences can greatly impact on differences in learner perspectives, this is not to say, that variances in teacher practice is justifiable in terms of the learning opportunities that learners be presented with.

And so, it will be really interesting to see and hear what learners have to say on the situation through student voice ... watch this space!

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It was time to take the Notes and Sketches, and transform them into something feasible, something that other people could see, that weren't just ideas in my head.

On the 22nd September I met with Russel Dunn to pitch the ideas of an eLearning framework that included a range of components linked to Learn, Create and Share that could be used by staff. The ideas were a step up from the notes and sketches, with more coherence and a deliberate focus. The pitch was around the vision of the framework to remove barriers to learning for students, by means of access to learning resources and ongoing and regular feedback and feedforward of specific criteria relating to learning activities; all to enable student learning to progress and to improve student achievement. An area that has been a constant focus for myself and students in my senior class.

After bouncing ideas back and forth, my next step was to pitch the idea of the framework to Middle Leaders and also the rest of the Senior Leadership Team. Middle Leaders being a crucial stakeholder group for executing change with staff within a school environment. On the 11th October I delivered a presentation to Middle Leaders of the framework, with an overview that focussed on VTaL for Teachers, VTaL for Students and VTaL for Parents. [VTaL being the acronym coined for Visible Teaching and Learning, which is the basis for the framework.]

The presentation included a Q & A session. I'd also outlined to Middle Leaders that my intent beyond the presentation overview, was for us all to have the opportunity to 'nut out' the framework at our upcoming Middle Leaders Day. And so, the Middle Leaders Day took place on the 14th November, whereby we met and looked at the VTaL framework in depth to gain a collective understanding of the intent of the framework, to identify issues (technical, pedagogy and staff capability), and discuss alternatives (known and unknown). There was mixed debate over various aspects of the framework, keeping in mind that the framework had the potential to be an evolving structure and process. The general consensus, irrespective of the known and unknown and all of the intricacies associated with this, is that the framework enabled a pathway forward in terms of a cohesive approach to eLearning across the school.

The next step, was to pitch the concept of the Visible Teaching and Learning (VTaL) Framework to staff at the next staff meeting on the 22nd of November, as shown in the presentation below. The focus of the presentation was to give an overview of the framework, and to provide staff with an insight of how the framework could enable us to collectively walk a journey to deliver teaching and learning in a way that is accessible (in real time) to students, parents, and also other stakeholders (ourselves included).

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Manaiakalani

Tamaki College

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