Barker Institute: Learning in Practice Journal 2020

Learning in Practice Volume 4 Number 1 December 2020

Honor Non Honores

Mission An Anglican community inspiring every learner every experience every day

Vision To be a leader in Christian education that is characterised by a global vision that inspires hope

Values Commitment Compassion Courage Integrity Respect

Editors Dr Matthew Hill Mrs Amanda Eastman Dr Greg Cunningham Editorial Assistant Susan Layton

The Barker Institute

About the Barker Institute

About the Learning in Practice Journal

• The Barker Institute exists to use the rich intellectual resources of Barker College to facilitate learning and growth through the School and the wider community.

As a leader in Christian education, Barker College aims to both demonstrate and inform best practice. This journal was developed to showcase a range of initiatives and research projects from across the School. It explains the rationale behind innovations in practice and archives pivotal developments in Barker’s academic, co-curricular and pastoral realms.

• As a research centre the Barker Institute conducts education research and offers consultancy services to individuals, departments, and leaders in the school to assist decision making and reviews using research methods bespoke to the Barker context.

• As a publication house the Barker Institute provides and facilitates dissemination opportunities for staff, students, academics and community members to share their work in various forms internally and externally in journals and at conferences and events.

• As a learning hub the Barker Institute enables professional learning and support for staff in schools, especially associated with research activities. Students, teachers and community members come together as learners at Barker Institute events.

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From the Director of the Barker Institute

How might we collate the brilliant and diverse teaching and learning at this great educational institution? How might we capture the innovation and deep thinking of our staff that impact students each day?

Just as the recently launched Barker College Teaching and Learning Framework describes the diversity of the learning experience at Barker, the Barker Institute Journal, Learning in Practice, attempts to disseminate great thinking, research and innovation that is occurring amongst our staff community. This year, the fourth volume of the journal focuses on demonstrating the varied ways that the current iteration of the teaching and learning framework is explored throughout school life.

We begin by introducing and printing the relaunched Teaching and Learning framework in full, followed by nineteen articles from nineteen authors which demonstrate the framework in particular contexts.

Of course, a theme of teaching and learning in 2020 must include various references to thriving in a COVID-19 affected world. Many changes were made in order to thrive amidst challenging circumstances. However, at Barker these were seen as positive opportunities to explore innovative change for the betterment of education beyond 2020 regardless of the state of the pandemic. Demonstrating this point are the articles ‘Perspectives on the COVID-19 disruption – not wasting a good crisis’ by Phillip Heath and Jeremy von Einem, and ‘Uncharted Waters: A whole school personal interest project during a pandemic’ by Sarah Clifton.

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For over 130 years Barker has provided outstanding teaching and learning through all manner of seasons of national and global prosperity and difficulty, and this journal is just one small capture of what this looks like in 2020 and beyond.

Thank you to Amanda Eastman for her research assistance to The Barker Institute throughout 2020 focussing on the Barker Journey study and this journal. A deep thanks to Susan Layton for all manner of assistance to further the aims of The Barker Institute. Thank you for flexibility and persistence in a difficult year. Finally thank you to Dr Greg Cunningham for proof-reading, and Glenn Quevedo for the design of the journal.

Please do not hesitate to be in contact if you would like physical copies of individual articles, or to be connected with authors to discuss their work. I know that they would be enthusiastic to see the impact of their research.

Dr Matthew Hill Director of the Barker Institute

From the Head of Barker College

While for many 2020 was a year for consolidation and damage prevention, Barker staff demonstrated resilience by not just adapting to change, but by continuing to develop capacity amongst themselves and educators more broadly.

Barker staff are always learning. Learning more about their subject, more about teaching, more about educational psychology and more about their role in the great cause of education. But I am excited that learning is not the end of the process. Our staff wish to share their learnings with others in our community and beyond.

They are not just consumers of literature, but contributors to literature and so I am proud to introduce our fourth volume of the Barker Institute Journal, Learning in Practice.

The School is in the middle of a period of considerable change, with changes to our Secondary School pastoral structures in 2019, the completion of the Rosewood Centre in 2020, and the transition to full coeducation taking place from 2019-2022. Our commitment to high-quality teaching and learning in a Christian community has been constant throughout and will continue to be a defining feature of the Barker experience. Under the direction of Greg Longney, the Curriculum Division has launched the Barker College Teaching and Learning framework to encapsulate what makes Barker great in this space.

All students can expect great teaching and learning opportunities and students, staff and parents can use this document to understand the opportunities and expectations of education at Barker. Therefore, even though this may appear a year defined by COVID-19, this journal reflects how staff have responded to this year through the lens of this Teaching and Learning Framework. This is an ongoing project as we continue to define and develop what we do to help students learn.

One way we are always learning is how better to walk alongside First Nations communities and join them in supporting their young people.

Two articles from Sophie Mynott and Molly Glendenning of the Barker Global team on ‘Exploring education environments for First Nations students’ describe how Barker facilitates both Learning on Country and learning on campus at Barker College, following best practice advice from the literature and the communities themselves. I know we are not the only ones passionate in this domain.

As we continue on this journey together, enjoy each article in this Journal. I also invite you to make contact with the authors, directly or through the Director of the Barker Institute, to respond or to learn more.

Thank you to every contributor working above and beyond their job descriptions. It is a privilege to learn from your thinking and research, and to The Barker Institute for making this all possible.

Please enjoy the 2020 Journal with the theme Teaching and Learning in 2020 and beyond.

Phillip Heath AM Head of Barker College

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Contents The Barker College Teaching and Learning Framework 12 Section 1: Feature Articles Introducing the Barker College Teaching and Learning Framework Greg Longney

25

Perspectives on the COVID-19 disruption – not wasting a good crisis Jeremy von Einem and Phillip Heath AM

31

Section 2: Research and Professional Learning A year in review: The Barker Institute in 2020 Dr Matthew Hill

37

The Barker Journey study amidst COVID-19: Analysis of Year 4 interviews Amanda Eastman and Dr Matthew Hill

43

Section 3: The setting for Learning - Environment Using blended learning to support the Teaching and Learning Framework Andy Mifsud

59

Exploring education environments for First Nations students: 65 Learning on Country Sophie Mynott and Molly Glendenning Exploring education environments for First Nations students: 71 Wingaru-wa Muru-da and High-Expectation Relationships at Barker College Molly Glendenning and Sophie Mynott Boredom in the classroom: Poison or stimulant?

Kathryn Driver

77

Online learning in a COVID-19 environment: 83 An authentic learning experience?

Dr Greg Cunningham Learning support in the Senior School: Creating an inclusive environment on campus and online Amanda Eastman

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89

Change management: The transition to online learning Kate Dundas

97

Section 4: The setting for Learning - Knowledge Modifying the Mathematics curriculum for gifted students in Barker Junior School: What effect does mentoring have on learning in Mathematics?

Jo Quinlan

103

Differentiation in History: How to assess if no-one is Norma or Normann?

Philip Mundy

107

Academic engagement in high-ability Mathematics students: An examination of interpersonal relationships and personal best (PB) goals Kate Caldecott-Davis

115

Creativity and critical thinking in Technology teaching Sally Filtness

131

Section 5: The setting for Learning - Feedback & reflection Progressive reporting Jeremy von Einem

139

Section 6: The Learner - Inquiry, rhetoric, service and gratitude Unchartered Waters: A whole school personal interest project during a pandemic Sarah Clifton

145

A short course in Philosophy & Rhetoric: Developing a framework for thinking, speaking and acting in a complex world Dr Matthew Hill and Jason Saikaly

157

My two blankets: Considering the importance of using home languages in today’s classroom in support of student learning and wellbeing Dr Timothy Scott

163

About the Authors 170

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Teaching and Learning Framework

Teaching and Learning Framework The Barker College Teaching and Learning Framework seeks to translate Barker’s mission, vision and values into a practical guide for teachers, students and parents. This is essential to give the language of teaching and learning a set of clearly understood definitions and a consistent experience in teaching and learning environments across the School. The document also has the twin aims of capturing and defining a language of teaching and learning that is already in play and, at the same time, to be sufficiently ambitious to consider how teaching and learning will evolve and how we wish to influence the evolution of teaching and learning at Barker College, so that every learner can grow and develop their God-given gifts, talents and interests.

The Teaching and Learning Framework at Barker College is framed by our Mission, Vision and Values:

Mission An Anglican community inspiring each learner, every experience, every day

Vision To be a leader in Christian education that is characterised by a global vision that inspires hope

Values Commitment, Compassion, Courage, Integrity, and Respect

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Beyond the School’s mission, vision and values, the experience of a Barker education is captured by the Thrive Framework which is defined by the four pillars of Service, Gratitude, Inquiry and Rhetoric. These provide guiding principles that should be evident in the way that teachers plan for episodes of teaching and learning, that are also clearly visible in the experiences of students.

At the centre of the teaching and learning framework is the learner. Barker seeks to develop the learner by creating a learning ENVIRONMENT that is inclusive and based on mutually respectful relationships between students and teachers. This means teachers having high expectations of all students and students having high expectations of themselves.

The acquisition and application of KNOWLEDGE is crucial to the learning framework as we seek for Barker students to be thirsty for new knowledge and for teachers to be experts in helping students to learn and connect complex knowledge and concepts.

We value strong disciplinary knowledge and opportunities to connect disciplines together and for students to apply knowledge in new situations. Deep knowledge allows students to problem-solve, to think critically and to communicate with confidence.

A focus on INQUIRY and RHETORIC creates opportunities and frameworks for students to investigate areas of personal interest, to pursue authentic problems and to develop the mental structures to think deeply and creatively. The School utilises the Guided Inquiry Design framework to facilitate genuine and purposeful units of inquiry. RHETORIC is favoured as a model for reasoning with evidence, making ethical decisions and allowing students to communicate ideas with certainty and confidence.

The framework is supported by many equally-valued opportunities for FEEDBACK. Feedback between teacher and student is designed to move the learner forward and to provide the teacher with a direction for future instruction. Feedback between the School and parents is designed to provide clarity about student progress and to allow the School to improve in its mission to be an Anglican community inspiring each learner, every experience, every day.

Underpinning all of these aspects is a focus on SERVICE and GRATITUDE. A focus on gratitude encourages students to live and develop through thankfulness. Service encourages the individual to grow, personally and intellectually, by investing time in the service of others. In a teaching and learning sense, service and gratitude will support positive learning environments, thankfulness for opportunities to learn and perseverance in learning.

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Promoting curiosity and providing opportunities to connect and apply ideas to create new knowledge.

Seeking to understand the needs of others and taking purposeful action; noticing and acting, listening and following through.

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UI

INQ

An attitude of thankfulness for what we have been given - by God, by our parents, by others.

Investing in relationships and valuing people and learning opportunities.

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Holding ideas and beliefs and persuading with knowledge and clarity of thought.

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Environment

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Creating the optimum conditions and relationships for learning

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Knowledge Valuing deep disciplinary and inter-disciplinary knowledge

E FEEDBACK & Reflection Meaningful commentary to move the teacher and student forward

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Environment Focus Areas Positive Relationships High Expectations Use of Learning Space and Technology

What are teachers doing?

What does it look like for Students?

Setting and communicating high expectations for all students

Feeling valued and known by their teachers

Creating a focus for learning

Being actively engaged in learning

Using learning spaces flexibly and interchangeably

Having their voice heard and valued

Being inclusive and thinking about the needs of all students Establishing classroom norms and expectations Getting to know students and building positive relationships Using blended learning to maximise face to face teaching time

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Challenging themselves to achieve their best Understanding that learning can be hard and needs attention and focus Learning in different environments and scenarios

Knowledge Focus Areas Valuing Knowledge Academic Challenge Differentiation

What are teachers doing?

What does it look like for Students?

Identifying and teaching important subject knowledge

Feeling challenged to learn new things

Applying principles of cognitive science to help students commit knowledge to and retrieve it from long-term memory

Seeing the value in learning, retaining and applying knowledge

Challenging students to learn new ideas Teaching explicitly to ensure students understand key knowledge

Seeking new knowledge and being curious Understanding how memory works and how to study Using knowledge to think critically and creatively

Explaining and modelling Helping students apply knowledge to new content in and across subject domains

Persevering when learning becomes difficult

Ensuring learning is accessible to all students

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Feedback & Reflection Focus Areas Moving the Learner Forward Tracking and Reporting Progress Student Reflection and Action

What are teachers doing?

What does it look like For students?

Providing feedback that moves the learner forward

Receiving timely and helpful advice on how to improve

Helping students to respond to feedback and set goals for improvement

Understanding how to set goals for improvement Taking responsibility for improving

Using data to track student progress Using student feedback to inform teaching Using effective formative assessment strategies Reporting on student progress

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Knowing how to think about and respond to feedback Actively seeking feedback and clarification

Inquiry Focus Areas Guided Inquiry Creating Strong Learning Habits Connecting and Sharing Learning

What are teachers doing?

What does it look like FOR students?

Applying the Guided Inquiry Design framework to formal units of inquiry

Having opportunities to think about and pose responses to interesting questions

Seeking opportunities to support student inquiry: questioning, lesson sequence

Being confident to work independently

Supporting student curiosity by posing important and interesting questions Seeking opportunities to share the products of Inquiry with the broader community Promoting excellent research practices that encourage independence Promoting student selfregulation and executive function

Being able to investigate areas of personal interest Being confident to share and evaluate new learning Understanding how to manage time and self-regulate Making ethical decisions Knowing how to conduct research and select information

Seeking to make connections across domains

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Rhetoric Focus Areas Effective Thinking Confident Communications Expressing Learning

What are teachers doing?

Providing opportunities for students to think deeply and reason Asking challenging questions Structuring and modelling different types of thinking (making thinking routine)

What does it look like For students?

Thinking about what has been learnt and how to communicate it Feeling challenged to think deeply about what is being studied Understanding how to communicate ideas best Appreciating ethical concerns

Providing opportunities for students to communicate their thinking verbally, in writing and through performance

Feeling responsible for their own work

Giving students the space and opportunity to express their learning

Seeking and taking opportunities to express ideas

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Knowing how to express dissent

SERVICE Focus Areas A Heart for Service Taking Responsibility Noticing and Acting

What are teachers doing?

Looking for ways to use knowledge for the service of others - modelling through pedagogy that the product we want from our knowledge is service Giving specific examples of how people within different disciplines have used their knowledge to serve others – helping students see concrete examples of service in action

What does it look like For students?

Showing empathy, being able to see things from another’s perspective and identify their needs Supporting the work of charities through involvement in chapel offertory, volunteering time and supporting House Charities Being involved in some form of community service each year

Providing opportunities for students to serve one another and the wider community

Noticing and acting, helping and caring, seeing someone’s needs and meeting them, listening and respecting

Enhancing the life of the student by providing opportunities to explore complex problems that need creative solutions

Making a positive and meaningful contribution to our School and wider communities Having the courage to seek change

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Gratitude Focus Areas Developing Empathy Appreciating and Feeling Appreciated Respect and Grace

What are teachers doing?

Modelling thankfulness in the classroom and in their approach to students - looking for the gold Providing opportunities for students to share something they’re grateful for Treating others with respect and grace, especially in difficult and stressful situations Providing situations where students are challenged in order to experience life ‘without’ in order to develop empathy, understanding and appreciation Offering a prayer of thanks before classes and other activities to establish a culture of gratitude

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What does it look like For students?

Being known and appreciated as a person Being thankful for the gift of life and the opportunity to learn Showing appreciation by attitudes, words and actions. Looking for the gold in others and in each subject Looking after the learning environment, taking pride in looking after classrooms and resources Students independently identify new opportunities to show gratitude

Feature Articles Section 1 Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 21

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Introducing the Barker College Teaching and Learning Framework Greg Longney Director of Teaching and Learning

Abstract This article serves as an introduction for this edition of the Barker Institute Journal Learning In Practice by providing a context for the development of the School’s Teaching and Learning Framework. It documents the process of developing a framework from a set of ideas and important School language to a finished document. This article expresses the author’s intentions in developing the framework, details the collaborative process involving students and staff, describes the published framework, and explains the framework’s current place in the School whilst sharing some hopes about what the document can become.

In a previous article in this Journal (Scott 2019, p. 43), a Barker teacher experienced in teaching and learning framework design and implementation explained the purpose of such a document: Teaching and learning frameworks can assist in delineating content and processes that teachers should convey as part of learners’ schooling. They can also provide the basis for strategic thinking about pedagogy within a school’s own context. They can contribute to the construction of an environment whereby teachers can develop the belief in themselves, and their competencies as educators, to positively impact learner outcomes.

Specific to Barker College, the framework has been designed to provide clarity about the School’s position on what it stands for in the connected realms of teaching and learning, and what it seeks to develop in its students. In addition, it allows teachers to identify areas where they feel they are already competent, and it will bring to light areas of their teaching practice that may need attention.

This process of the individual teacher reflecting on their teaching practice supports a culture of continuous improvement and echoes the words of Dylan Wiliam (2015) when he says, ‘Every teacher needs to improve, not because they are not good enough, but because they can be even better.’ It is my hope that this framework represents a clear vision for teaching and learning that rests on the School’s mission, vision, and values (found on the inside cover of the Journal) and the intentions of the Thrive Framework (Figure 1).

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Figure 1: Barker College’s Thrive Framework.

Tentative First Steps The first step towards a teaching framework was to identify and gather up all the terminology relating to teaching and learning that is currently used at Barker College, and to look for connections and overarching themes. Figure 2 reveals the extent of all the pedagogical language that teachers, and to some extent, parents and students, contend with, and the complex process of refining all these terms to a create a meaningful and useable framework.

Figure 2: A process document encoding language and themes relevant to the multi-faceted areas of teaching and learning. These need to be drawn together in the framework.

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Figure 3 shows the steps taken to order the language in a more meaningful way, identifying key ideas such as climate and feedback, and terms that have been identified as being important at Barker College, rhetoric, and inquiry. The aim at this stage was to create a sense of order, structure, and to consider what this might look like as a purposeful process for teaching and learning.

Figure 3: An early iteration of the current framework showing the organisation of the language used around teaching and learning.

Collaborations and Deliberations The next step involved sharing ideas with staff and students. All secondary school staff were invited to provide feedback through their subject department. Some individuals offered direct feedback. A few key collaborative groups were formed, and several clear messages emerged.

One of these messages identified a need for any new framework to sit meaningfully with existing School language, particularly the School’s values. This was excellent feedback and prompted several conversations about the School’s values of compassion, commitment, courage, respect, and integrity, and how these values aligned with classroom practice. Could the framework be a vehicle for the School’s mission, vision, and values to be more closely and deliberately aligned with the day to day business of teaching and learning? As a consequence of this feedback, an introduction to the framework was written to explain how the language of the School’s mission, vision, and values connects with the language of teaching and learning.

The earliest iterations of the framework prioritised rhetoric and inquiry as the academic aspects of the Thrive Framework. However, a second recurring piece of feedback was that a new framework needed to incorporate all aspects of the Thrive Framework; if gratitude and service were to be central to a Barker student’s experience, then they had to be present in the teaching

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and learning experience. This feedback helped the framework to evolve to allow all four aspects of the Thrive Framework to be equally represented at the centre of the document. Likewise, each of the aspects of thriving is represented in the elaborations pages alongside environment, knowledge, and feedback and reflection. This represents a significant step in connecting all the important language of the School together in one document.

Sharing with Students Draft versions of the framework were also shared with various student groups. Students were asked to consider two questions: 1.

Does the language of the framework, particularly the elaborations, reflect your experience of school?

2.

Does the language capture a version of school life that is worth aspiring to?

One of the initial comments from a student was, ‘this is literally just marketing!’ It was fascinating to hear this perspective, the view that this was a glossy brochure that would have little influence on the lived experience of students. However, as they agreed that this was a version of school life worth aspiring to, I was able to explain my determination that this document had to be something that was lived out by teachers and students. Complete change would not happen overnight, but the framework would stimulate continued growth towards its exciting vision.

Student feedback confirmed that there are already lots of examples of exemplary teaching happening at Barker. It also confirmed that the range of student experiences could be more consistent, stemming from a lack of clarity about what certain terms mean and how they should be applied.

The Fram ework in Action The final version of the framework captures the essence of teaching and learning in a single graphical representation. The graphic identifies the process through which teaching and learning occurs; the environment, subject knowledge and what we want students to do with that knowledge, and the vital steps of feedback and reflection. The language of ‘Thrive’ (inquiry, rhetoric, service, and gratitude), at the centre of the framework, applies directly to the learner, and the broader dispositions that we hope to develop in our students as they progress through the School. Viewed together, the steps followed by our teachers and the aspirations we have for our learners provide a clear statement about what kind of education we value at Barker College.

The document then elaborates on each aspect of the graphic in a series of statements that speak firstly to teachers and then to students. For each aspect of the framework the document asks, ‘What are teachers doing?’ and ‘What does it look like for students?' The different parts of the document fulfil the twin aims of setting a vision for teaching and learning and providing a practical guide for teachers and a reference point for students.

The framework was officially launched to staff at the commencement of the school year in January 2020. The final version represents a great many hours of thoughtful reflection by many staff about how we best capture teaching and learning at Barker College and, more importantly, how the School can live out this vision to inspire each learner, in every experience, every day!

Since its launch, the framework has begun to claim some footholds on the landscape of teaching around the School. It has formed the basis of staff professional learning through the 2020 iteration of Teacher Learning Communities which, this year, have had a focus on feedback and reflection.

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The framework has also begun to inform discussions about school reporting practices as we begin a move to progressive reporting. This journal is another example of the framework in action whereby teachers recognise how their vision for education aligns with common goals across the school. This is incredibly heartening to see and, while the change brought about by the implementation of the framework is only just beginning, the progress from this first year confirms the value of a cohesive document to guide the core business of teaching and learning at Barker.

References Scott, T 2019, ‘The Untended Garden: Reflections on designing and implementing a teaching and learning framework within a coeducational, international school context’, Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 3, no.1.

Wiliam, D 2015, ‘Changing What Teachers Do is More Important Than Changing What They Know’ https://www.dylanwiliamcenter.com/2015/03/02/changing-what-teachers-do-is-more-important-thanchanging-what-they-know/ Downloaded on 15 September 2020.

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Perspectives on the COVID-19 disruption – not wasting a good crisis Phillip Heath AM Head of Barker College Jeremy von Einem Head of Curriculum

Abstract In the final dark days of World War Two, as the concept for the formation of the United Nations was being imagined, Churchill is believed to have said ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’. It is hard to see how COVID-19 is a ‘good crisis’, but there are ways in which educators have sought not simply to survive these days but, by careful use of creativity, enable our teachers and students to thrive. Amongst many other initiatives that were generated by the ‘good crisis’, two have been worthy of note: a revised ‘Shape of the Online Day’; and a ‘Reimagined Academic Year’, with a ‘Personal Interest Project’ available to every student from Pre-K to Year 10.

Publication note: Along with this internal publication, a version of this article also appears in the journal Australian Educational Leader published by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders in Term 2, 2020.

The Shape of the O nline Day All schools wrestled with the need rapidly to support staff for online learning and Barker was no exception. Amidst the uncertainty, we resolved to conduct a trial online day for Years 3 – 11 before the pandemic was declared. Teaching staff remained at school and ‘taught’ to their usual timetable after which we surveyed staff, students and parents. The feedback was invaluable, revealing that the conventional timetable structure online led to fatigue and disengagement of some learners. The trial showed us that maintaining the regular timetable through an online learning practice was not going to be sustainable in the medium to long term. With over 6 hours of screen time required to complete a school day without additional research tasks as set by teachers, we wondered about the impact of online learning on student and teacher thriving.

Parental feedback also supported this concern.

The Curriculum Leadership Team at the School began to imagine how we could make online learning a sustainable experience. With some medical authorities warning that the pandemic would disrupt our community for many months, it became increasingly necessary to set a pattern that would support learners, parents and teachers to do their best work in a new way. In the febrile atmosphere of the shift to online learning, this required our Curriculum Leadership Team to be imaginative and also courageous in the face of some parental objections that the normal

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timetable was being changed to suit a new situation, unlike nearby schools with whom we were compared.

The School Curriculum Team resolved to plan a day that had variety, an opportunity to catch up with their teachers, time to work for a longer period without interruption and a chance to interact with their class mates, albeit in an online environment. To provide certainty, we sought to create a model that would respond to changing governmental directives and with student wellbeing at the core.

The use of visual materials including interactive videos was highly valued by students but brought challenges for some teachers for whom the camera is not a comfortable space. Our Shape of the Day (see below) tried to limit live streaming to 30 minutes per class and then once or twice a week. Students needed time to complete the work, not simply watch live infotainment!

Consequently, we changed the timetable to four 30-minute blocks in the morning that ran parallel to the regular timetable.

In a curious way, being liberated from a set timetable was an infinitely sustaining experience for our teachers and students. After a few days of disquiet from our community, the Shape of Day became an enduring support for many. Session lengths were different to that of the regular classes for most year cohorts.

Figure 1: The Shape of the Day for a Secondary School student during remote learning in 2020.

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Our plan was to have a blend of synchronous and asynchronous learning to minimise the impact of screen time on staff and students. Students could continue to contact staff using chat in MS Teams or email. We established protocols for communication between staff and students to the great relief of many students and staff who were confused by many voices.

Clearly there were many students who revelled in online learning and the freedom it gave them to work at their own pace. We surveyed students about their period of online learning and the findings were instructive:

Figure 2: Student survey responses regarding remote learning.

Teaching staff showed remarkable agility, quickly improved their skills recording video and live streaming classes. By necessity, we condensed what has been estimated to be two years of professional development into two days. By reducing the number of online tools and supporting teachers to be their best in a new environment, we sought to make COVID-19 a ‘good crisis,’ not a wasted one.

2020 Reim agined Amidst the rising uncertainty of daily press announcements and the forlorn task of cancellations of much-cherished events in the life of the School, the Leadership Team began to work on a new way of seeing 2020 – moving our approach from reactive to imaginative. With uncertainty about the duration of social isolation and school closures, we began to imagine ways in which we could maximise our face-to-face time in 2020. Many of us have lived through the former three-term years. Could we reimagine 2020 as a three-term year, bringing forward time for online learning experiences while the COVID-19 crisis was at its height, and restoring time when restrictions were eased?

By extending the Easter break from two weeks to four weeks (following a two-week period of online learning), we created two thirteen-week terms, with half-term breaks that coincided with the regular school vacation periods. Hybrid learning was offered to all students from 11 May 2020.

During the first two weeks of the ‘Reimagined Term Two’, around 80 – 90% of students attended from Pre-K to Year 12. Lessons were live streamed for those who felt unable to attend. Year 11 and 12 students completed learning packages to stay in touch during the extended break. Many of them attended School to maintain routine.

Students in Pre-K to Year 10 were invited to submit a Personal Interest Project (PIP) on the theme of ‘Unchartered Waters’.

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PERSONAL INTEREST PROJECT

Junior School “Uncharted Waters” is a whole school interest project designed to inspire the Barker community over the upcoming weeks. Students, families and staff are encouraged to participate in a PIP which will culminate in a showcase exhibition and awards on return to school.

Figure 3: A poster advertising the Personal Interest Project to Junior School students.

The project was an optional task to be completed individually, in groups or as a family during the unprecedented five-week non-teaching period.

Students could submit an individual Project, form small groups or even work as a family unit using any form of medium they liked. There were submissions from more than 1100 students, including musical compositions, poetry, scientific research, art work, short stories and digital presentations that accessed some of the finest minds in the world to assist them. COVID-19 gave students a voice in their own learning experience.

The COVID-19 experience has been a difficult time for all, a ‘good crisis’ of the most enduring kind. It is improper to pretend otherwise. Yet from this crisis has issued countless opportunities, many of which are still being imagined as we make hesitating steps towards normality.

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Research and Professional learning Section 2 Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 33

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A year in review: The Barker Institute in 2020 Dr Matthew Hill Director of The Barker Institute

Abstract Despite global changes and challenges, research, innovation and professional learning continued in 2020 through the Barker Institute. Research was published, conferences became virtual, and events were run through both face-to-face and online mediums to support public health requirements. A new element of research and event topics emerged through the transition to the COVID-19 affected world as new opportunities and risks were considered for the young people at Barker and beyond. This article serves as an overview of the various presentations and areas of coverage included in the internal and external events throughout the year, concluding with a vision for 2021.

The Barker Institute as a Research Centre: Research supporting decision m aking around online learning While there were many short, and long-term initiatives in the School that benefitted from the advice and guidance of The Barker Institute as a research centre, unsurprisingly a key focus for 2020 research was associated with the efficacy of various online learning strategies.

In early March, the School's leadership recognised that a period of online learning would be required as the public health crisis deepened in Australia. To prepare for this best, students from Year 3 to Year 11 participated in an at-home, online learning trial on March 18. While this placed an additional burden on some families, it was invaluable in preparing both teachers and students (and possibly even some parents) for what was to come.

Results from around 2000 parent, teacher and student surveys were analysed by The Barker Institute and feedback was delivered to both academic and pastoral leaders throughout all levels of the School as they made decisions about online learning which formally began on March 23.

Evidence from the surveys demonstrated the high capacity of the outstanding students and staff at Barker, along with the IT systems, to continue to learn under trying circumstances.

Student attendance and participation was high across all year levels. With the students returning to class for over a week after the trial, teachers could debrief with all students and offer guidance to students who completed less than their usual amount of work. Engagement did slightly decrease later in the day which was one of the influences in the decision to reduce the number and length of classes that students would attend during ongoing online learning.

The trial was an opportunity for teachers to test various types of online learning tasks. Students, parents and teachers identified the need for increased differentiation (assigning flexible work which could be completed in a way that is most appropriate for the academic abilities of every student). This was a goal for teachers as they prepared for further online learning. In addition,

Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 35

both parents and teachers noted the difficulty in supporting sustained learning through the day for students in the Junior School.

Secondary School students identified examples of excellent online teaching from every one of our teaching departments. Analysis of positive and negative stories from students reinforced the importance of: •

clear instructions

•

easy to locate resources

•

real-time assistance from teachers (73% of students believed that this was done effectively during the trial)

•

opportunities for interaction with teachers and peers

•

providing variety in learning activities throughout the day

This rich data set meant department and grade specific feedback was being given to teachers and course coordinators to encourage and challenge them to consistently meet the needs of students in these ways consistently.

It was also encouraging that even after one day students described how they missed, and now more greatly value, their face-to-face, personal relationships with their teachers. This new-found self-actualisation and appreciation of the classroom and School community will bear fruit in every lesson going forward throughout their time at Barker.

The School is deeply thankful for the 437 suggestions that the parents made to improve the online learning experience. The responses were coded by using a systematic process using qualitative analysis software NVivo.

It was found that: •

Parents highly valued direct connections between Barker teachers and students. While online videos from external presenters were helpful, live classes and video recordings of Barker teachers were most highly valued.

•

Parents (and teachers) wanted to ensure that online learning was not the same as what in the past has been given as homework (e.g. only revision and note making). At Barker, online learning was to be something different, an adaption of regular learning through alternative mediums and methods. Already, the experiences of online learning are shaping how teachers and students view homework even during full face-to-face teaching times.

•

Parents were concerned about social isolation and wellbeing of their children with fewer interactions than on a normal day. Teachers sought to engage students in collaborative tasks, even while learning from home, as well as tasks that take students away from the screen.

While government mandated online learning was only a small part of the Barker calendar in 2020 (thankfully), additional data was collected about the teacher and student experience which will continue to inform decision making in the academic and wellbeing space. Excitingly, the best of online learning has already begun positively to disrupt the typical face-to-face experience. Further research and developments will be shared with the Barker community as they become embedded in practice.

36 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

The Barker Institute as Learning Hub: 2020 events featuring experts and best-practice research.

In 2020 the Barker Institute continued in its strong legacy of providing access to rich and diverse presentations, research and thinking across a range of settings to approximately 2000 people.

After hosting four face-to-face learning events in Term 1, in-person events were transitioned to eight additional online events to meet the needs of the community during a complex year.

Four events had the widest reach into the broader community. Each of these was related to areas of the Stage 6 curriculum and were designed to support our students while resourcing students and teachers throughout the state. The topics were designed to be of public interest and over 500 people attended talks by Richard Whittaker on The Science of Climate, Simon Holloway of Vegepod Global on Vegepod’s journey through agricultural entrepreneurship, and two Barker teachers as part of our second year of Science Extension Public Lectures.

Students and teachers from across the state (from Albury to Armidale) joined our own students when Barker’s Year 12 Science Extension classroom went public for the second year. Dr Alison Gates spoke on Storytelling & Science Education: Great Moments in Science and Dr Matthew Hill presented an Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. Participants were very grateful for the opportunity to learn and gain access to Barker’s two student research journals, Scientific Research in Schools (2019 and 2020).

Two events accompanied the return to school for Term 2 after the extended Easter break. Andrew Fuller, renowned child psychologist and author, spoke to the Barker community on the theme of Surging ahead academically in trying times and was interviewed about applications to the Barker experience by Institute Director, Dr Matthew Hill. Soon after, Yasmin London of YSafe shared with eager parents the particular issues and trends to be aware of while students were increasing their social media use while needing to socially distance.

Appropriate use of technology was also the theme of a Term 1 in-person event where the school launched its partnership with FamilyZone, a software-based solution for parents to support their children when they go online on any of their devices.

Events to promote effective learning were held for Year 7 students and their families (Year 7 Study Skills Webinar with Dr Matthew Hill), Middle School Families (Middle School Study Skills – Parent Information Session with Mr Greg Longney, Director of Teaching & Learning) and new Year 12 students and families (Barker Big Start, 2021 with Dr Kester Lee, Director of Studies, Mr John Hensley, Senior Counsellor, and Mrs Melinda Bower, Dean of Careers & External Programs).

To end the year on a high note, school leaders from around Australia were invited to join Junior School parents for an online webinar Introducing Peachy: The Junior School Therapy Dog. Yvonne Howard, Deputy Head of Junior School, and Kate Davis, Junior School Counsellor/Psychologist, spoke about the program and the research that they were conducting to ensure its efficacy.

Special guests on the evening included Brad Rundle of Therapy Dogs Australia who spoke about the training process, and Barker Year 4 teacher, Taylor Graham, shared the student experience in the classroom, and of course Peachy herself made an appearance. In partnership with the Baker Institute and Therapy Dogs Australia, Junior School staff will be researching the impact of introducing Peachy to the school with results to be shared at an event in 2021.

The Barker Institute as Publication House: Research and publications At the start of the year the third volume of the Barker Institute Journal, Learning in Practice (2019), was published. This included 18 articles from 19 Barker staff members involved in teaching, research and leadership.

Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 37

Coinciding with the first year of girls in the Middle School, the theme for the journal was quality teaching and learning in a coeducational context. It was fitting to begin the journal with a feature article from Melissa Brady, Director of Coeducation Transition on ‘Teaching in a coeducational classroom’ (2019) written as a follow up to her previous article, ‘A coeducational future’ (2017).

The second year of the next iteration of The Barker Journey Study was not immune to the COVID19 effected year. In 2020, Year 4 students were interviewed about their personal development and Barker experience with responses compared to their own last year, and their counterparts a decade ago. While the focus was not COVID-19 it will certainly be an impactful feature of their Barker Journey and is documented in this Year’s journal article (2020) as part of the decade-long research project.

Twelve Year 12 Barker students (studying Science Extension in its second year) were published in our second Volume of Scientific Research in Schools (2020) academic journal disseminating firsthand research more typically seen at a university level. Copies of this journal are available to the public on the Barker Institute website and are read and used by teachers and students at schools around Sydney as they construct their own research projects. Excitingly, multiple students have contacted the Barker Institute as they have decided to continue a Barker students research project for their Science Extension work. This journal has motivated another 30 students to begin the research process in 2020 at Barker which again makes us the largest cohort in the state.

Outside of the Journal, three main avenues of dissemination were particularly related to Barker’s success in the Science Extension course.

1.

One of the students, Arabella Crowley, had a poster presentation accepted for the Australasian Science Education Research Association (ASERA) conference, held virtually in Wollongong in June (Crowley & Hill 2020). Arabella's research into emotions of students in the high-school Physics laboratory received positive feedback from various members of the science education academic community. Alex Gray won First Prize for Physics research as part of the STANSW Young Scientists’ Awards and has had his project submitted to next year’s International Science Education Fair. Tom Harper was also placed first in the Measurement Prize – Technology at the awards.

2.

At the same conference, the three Barker Science Extension teachers gave a paper presentation on the new course and how it is challenging the role of teachers in the classroom (Hill, Gates & Terrett 2020). Inspired by experiences at Barker and drawing from the teachers’ backgrounds in research supervision as well as a reading of existing literature, it was proposed that Science Extension requires a unique approach to student supervision.

3.

In October, this was applied more broadly in a presentation at the inaugural Research Conversations Conference organised by Research@SACS at St Andrews Cathedral School (Hill 2020). The presentation applied this new conceptualisation of students as research apprentices to Barker’s whole-school Personal Interest Project in early 2020 as well as to the two years of the new Science Extension course.

The Barker Institute in 2021 The Barker Institute will continue to grow as a research centre, learning hub and publication house in 2021 with a particular focus on Professional Learning. For the first time, staff will be able to be recognised as doing professional development through conducting action research at the school.

Another initiative will involve a complement to the evening public events, afternoon learning opportunities targeting staff will be run throughout the year.

38 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

Research and dissemination will continue in the areas of online learning opportunities, the Barker Journey research project, student feedback on learning and learning as apprenticeship amongst many others. We look forward to sharing these with you next year.

References Brady, M 2017, ‘A coeducational future’, Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 13.

Brady, M 2019, ‘Teaching in a coeducational context’, Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 11.

Crowley, A & Hill, M 2020, ‘The effect of colour and story on student emotion during physics practical tasks’, in Book of Abstracts of the Australasian Science Education Research Association Conference, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, viewed 23 November 2020, https://conference2020.asera.org.au/ASERA2020%20Book%20of%20Abstracts.pdf.

Hill, M 2020, ‘From teacher to research supervisor – investigating the changing role of teachers in project supervision’, Research Conversations Conference, St Andrew’s Cathedral School, Online.

Hill, M, Gates, A & Terrett, K 2020, ‘A new frontier in secondary science education: Teaching scientific research to high school students’, in Book of Abstracts of the Australasian Science Education Research Association Conference, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, viewed 23 November 2020, https://conference2020.asera.org.au/ASERA2020%20Book%20of%20Abstracts.pdf.

Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 39

40 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

The Barker Journey study amidst COVID-19: Analysis of Year 4 interviews Amanda Eastman Assistant to the Director of the Barker Institute Dr Matthew Hill Director of the Barker Institute

Abstract Over a decade of research into the Barker Journey has yielded perceptive insight into aspects of the Barker experience that defy traditional metrics. In summary, the students reported that Barker had enabled them to become the best possible version of themselves.

The second iteration of the study began in 2019 with the Year 3 cohort including girls for the first time. This iteration not only illuminates the students’ personal growth on an individual level, but tracks important turning points in the School at an institutional level, such as the transition to coeducation. This report examines the 2020 interview responses. It investigates the dominant recurring themes of the study (relationships, values, coeducation, aspirations and resilience), but also explores the unique challenges of 2020 that have arisen out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

M ethodology Data collection 29 individual interviews were conducted with 14 boys and 15 girls from Year 4 at Barker College.

These were 29 of the 30 students who were selected for individual interviews in 2019 (Eastman & Hill 2019). In 2020, the interviews took place in mid-August, three months after the students commenced a modified calendar to minimise COVID-19 disruption including a two-week period of online learning, followed by a five-week holiday where they had the opportunity to participate in a school-wide Personal Interest Project.

The interviews followed a mosaic approach, which Clark and Statham (2005) define as gathering data using multiple data collection methods. In this instance, the students used both drawing and speaking to communicate their ideas. This approach was designed to contribute to the variety and veracity of ideas elicited in the interviews (Kocyigt 2014). Initially the students were given time to draw their ideal school. The participants were then asked to explain their drawing and reflect on how Barker compared to this ideal school. This activity allowed for identification of areas of strength and weakness in the Barker education model, without directly asking the students these things.

Some of the individual questions were designed to mirror questions from version one of the study to allow for analysis of long term change and continuity. Other questions were designed to speak specifically into the contemporary context. As in 2019, no questions were asked directly about coeducation, with the view that the opinions would be more valid if they arose naturally in Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 41

questions about highlights or challenges throughout the year. Questions about the impact of COVID-19 were included at the end of the interview, as this could turn out to be a formative experience in the children’s lives and the data could prove valuable in years to come. Leaving these questions to the end allowed the students an opportunity to raise it themselves if they felt it had been a particularly distinctive or impactful feature of their 2020 schooling experience. The School’s Year 4 coordinator provided advice on the language of the questions ensuring they were appropriate and accessible for the intended participants. Once completed, drawings and interview notes were scanned and stored electronically.

Data analysis The interview responses were transcribed into NVivo to ensure a rigorous level of qualitative analysis. The responses were coded according to the 5 main recurring themes of the study: relationships, values, coeducation, aspirations and resilience. For this year, an additional code was added for responses relating to Covid-19. Node trees were used to create categories within each code to allow for constant comparison analysis. Componential analysis was used to count and code word frequencies (such as words used to describe Barker). The reliability of the coding was determined to be a very high 97.5%, likely due to the relative simplicity of the categories (Miles & Huberman 1994). The findings were compiled into a written report and also condensed into infographics to disseminate key findings to relevant stakeholders. These processes ensure that the results and recommendations of the investigation can be enacted accordingly.

Discussion Overall impressions

In a COVID-19 effected year, the researchers were struck by the positivity and resilience demonstrated by the cohort. The word frequency cloud in Figure 1 captures the dominant language of the interviews. Whilst many students identified challenges, the majority reported that this year had still in many ways been better than the previous year, as evidenced by the prominence of this word in the frequency cloud. With the forced suspension of the cocurricular program came a greater appreciation for learning and interpersonal connections.

Figure 1: A word frequency cloud generated from all the interviews

The drawing component of the interviews engendered excitement amongst the participants and yielded some fruitful discussion about what they value in a school. There was a strong correlation 42 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

between their ideal school designs and Barker itself, particularly in the design of spaces and facilities. Where their designs diverged, the ideas were often fanciful, such as free ponies, fast food outlets and rollercoasters. Interestingly, very few students included technology in their diagrams, suggesting that it was not high on their agenda for an ideal school. A sample of the drawings are displayed in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Sample drawings of the students’ ideal schools

Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 43

Overall, the students spoke very positively about their journey at the School. When asked to identify three words that described their experience at Barker this year, 55% of participants said ‘fun’. The other top responses were amazing, great, awesome, exciting, fantastic and friendly.

Additionally, when asked to rate Barker on a thumbs up/down scale, all the responses fell on the positive side of the scale, with some students even giving a double thumbs up. The students were then asked to explain their rating and the answers were coded into categories in order to generate a list of what students value about Barker. The top responses fell into the categories of relationships, activities and facilities. These are summarised in Table 1 and will be analysed throughout this report.

Table 1: Numerical summary of what students like most about Barker

Category

Relationships (42% of responses)

Activities (31% of responses)

Facilities (27% of responses)

Elaboration

•

Two thirds of these responses were about peers, with the remaining third about teachers.

•

Students valued friendliness, helpfulness and the coeducational environment.

•

Students liked that teachers are nice, funny, helpful and make learning interesting.

•

One third of the responses related to learning activities like ‘hands-on’ experiences and interesting work.

•

One third of the responses related to sport such as rugby, cricket, swimming and basketball.

•

The remaining third were other cocurricular activities like STEAM, band, coding, chess and cartooning.

•

These responses included buildings (such as the newly opened Rosewood Centre), spaces (such as the ovals and play areas) and occasionally resources.

Recurring themes: Relationships Table 1 (above) shows that relationships were frequently cited as the best thing about Barker.

Interestingly amongst the same students, the order of the three factors was reversed the previous year, with students most commonly referring to facilities, followed by activities and then relationships. There could be multiple reasons for this shift. Facilities may have been a tangible factor that struck those who were new students, whereas the relationships would take time to flourish. In the previous iteration of the study, conducted from 2008 – 2017 and reported in Eastman & Merrick (2019), activities remained the preferred aspect of the school experience for much longer, and it was not until the Senior School that the students really came to value the depth and uniqueness of the supportive School culture. In order to determine why this shift has been accelerated amongst the current cohort, the researchers considered their other responses

44 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

and propose that COVID-19 played a significant role. With many activities being periodically cancelled, the students gained a greater appreciation for other aspects of School life.

Whilst relationships at School were strongly valued, when students were asked ‘Who do you turn to for help when things get hard?’ most students still reported that they turn to their parents. This result is promising, given that research emphasizes the importance of family cohesion in navigating the current pandemic. Masten and Motti-Stefanidi (2020, p.7) report that ‘When individual children are the focus of the study, the quality of the parent-child relationships, parent management skills, or family cohesion are frequently identified as protective factors (e.g., Masten & Palmer 2019; Meng et al. 2018)’. Indeed, strong family relationships may have been a protective factor against the potential challenges of a difficult year.

In addition to this parental support, a growing number of students reported that the teacher was their preferred confidant. Commonly, as children mature they look beyond parents to staff for support, and then eventually prefer to reach out to peers rather than adults. Anticipating these shifts allows the researchers to equip the right groups for supporting students at appropriate times. To ascertain more about the student – teacher rapport, participants were asked to tell us something they liked about their teacher. A word frequency analysis showed the top five adjectives (in order) used to describe teachers were fun, nice, kind, funny and good. This mirrors the results of the first iteration of the Barker Journey study where in the early years students valued personal characteristics of their teachers. In the middle years they offered deeper reflections about how teachers had shaped and inspired them (Eastman & Merrick 2019). Then, in the latter years there was a much stronger focus on the teachers’ knowledge, passion and ability to prepare them for life beyond the Mint Gates. This trajectory will be tracked throughout this version.

Interestingly, 14% of participants also demonstrated more introspective methods of responding to hardship, categorised as ‘self’ in Table 2 below. These included comments such as ‘sometimes I just go and read a book or maybe play or fidget around with something’. These comments did not appear to be necessitated by an absence of external support structures, but rather represented a sense of empowerment and self-efficacy, a promising predictor of future resilience.

Table 2: Students’ preferred source of support when things get hard

‘Who do you go to for help when things get hard?

Source of Support:

No. of participants:

Parents

18

Teachers

16

Peers

8

Self

7

As evidenced by the numerical totals in Table 2, many participants cited more than one source of support, suggesting a well-developed sense of belonging, security and support.

When asked ‘What do you do when things get hard? Who do you turn to?’ one of the students cited her Christian faith, saying ‘My parents or my friends or God … Because God is the one who controls the world and that's why I normally turn to him and pray.’ One of Barker’s aims is to

Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 45

nurture students in their faith and there is scope to ask students more about how their world views have been shaped by their schooling experience in the future.

Recurring themes: Values The questions were designed to avoid leading questions by deliberately not using the word ‘values’. The researchers wanted to see how entrenched the Barker values (commitment, compassion, courage, integrity and respect) were without merely seeing if they could be recited.

Whilst there was a correlation between the students’ sentiments and Barker’s values, the specific language of the Barker values did not feature in their vocabulary. It is to be expected that the articulation and embodiment of Barker values will begin slowly and develop over time, but it is worth considering whether there is scope to improve in this area. Halstead and Taylor (2005, p.

9) argue that for values education to be effective over time, it needs to permeate all aspects of school life, including:

in curriculum subjects and cross-curricular themes, and in sport, community links, fundraising for charity, extra-curricular activities generally, teacher-pupil relationships, the structures and management of the school, school discipline, the pastoral system, the processes of teaching and learning, the hidden curriculum and the ethos of the school.

These categories could be examined more closely to identify specific areas for future focus. Next year’s interview questions will be crafted to examine whether the Barker values have become more entrenched. This could mean that students are not only given the opportunity to raise the values organically, but also explicitly prompted to give a more in-depth account.

When reflecting on how they have grown as a person, some students were only able to identify concrete physical changes, like ‘I’m taller’. The majority focused on their improvement in performance in particular subjects or skills, whilst a small minority dug deeper to reflect on character growth. Figure 3 shows the responses when mapped along a spectrum of growth. This spectrum could be used in subsequent years, with the hope that the mean would shift to the right as the students become more exposed to the Barker values and more self-reflexive about their own personal growth.

Students' reflection on personal growth Explanation of scale:

Number of participants

9 8 7 6

0 = No growth / not sure

5 4

1 = Only concrete growth until prompted

3 2 1 0

0

1

Figure 3: Level of personal growth.

46 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

2

3

Level of growth

4

Recurring themes: Coeducation The interview responses strongly suggested that the coeducational environment in the Junior School is both natural and valued. Only one fifth of the participants mentioned coeducation, suggesting that for the majority it has become normalised. For those who did mention coeducation, it was seen to be one of the highlights of their Barker experience. They liked that ‘there’s boys and girls so we can play with different people’. For some, their ability to relate to both sexes was identified as an area of personal growth. When asked ‘how have you grown as a person this year?’ one student said, ‘sometimes I'm playing with boys instead of just girls, 'cause I used to be from an only girls school’ and another said ‘but now I can play with the boys and also the girls.’

For others who discussed coeducation, it was raised when discussing what their ideal school would be like: So can you think of any ways that Barker is like the ideal school that you designed?

It's a co-ed school.

And why is it important to you that it's coed?

I think that in an only girls’ school you wouldn't have that much interaction with others.

Of the 29 participants, only one provided a negative element of coeducation, reporting that she found it difficult being the only girl in her chess club and felt like this was the reason she sometimes found herself sitting alone. Barker College has taken many steps to ensure that the girls do not feel marginalised and this has largely been successful, but it is important for staff across the School to identify and respond to these anomalies.

Recurring themes: Aspirations In relation to the theme of aspirations, this year appears to have brought notable change. Each year the questions include asking the students what they want to be when they grow up. Overall, 2020 saw a significant increase in students saying ‘I don’t know’, particularly amongst the female students. The number of girls in this category increased from 13% in 2019 to 47% in 2020. Is this shift a symptom of uncertainty amidst the pandemic or an age appropriate development? To address this question the researchers considered the trends from the previous iteration of the study and found a similar trend. When the previous cohort were in Year 3 in 2008, their aspirations were fairly insular; often being inspired by the careers of family members (Eastman and Merrick 2019). It appears that as they were exposed to a greater variety of possibilities, many students questioned their preconceived notions and reconsidered their options. In the first cycle of the study, their aspirations were first challenged in early Primary School, then reshaped as they approached Secondary School and then consolidated as they neared the HSC. And for many of the original cohort, these aspirations are now in the process of being realised. Similarly amongst the current cohort, the Year 3 students often cited family, with responses such as ‘I want to be a chef like my mum’. They have now entered a phase of increased uncertainty and the researchers will continue to track the development of their ideas.

Amongst those who did name a career aspiration this year, the responses exhibited a level of traditional gender bias, as shown in Figure 4 below. The examination of gendered career goals was driven by research that girls’ career aspirations are shaped by societal expectations (Archer, DeWitt, Osborne, Dillon, Willis & Wong 2013). The hope is that a coeducational learning environment will, over time, counteract perceived limitations arising from socially imposed gender conventions and allow girls to envision audacious and limitless aspirations.

Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 47

Number of students

2020 Career Aspirations by Gender 8 6 4 2 0

Education and the Arts

STEM

Sport Girls

Other

Don't know

Boys

Figure 4: Gender distribution of career aspirations in 2020

Recurring themes: Resilience Research points to resilience as one of the most essential characteristics to develop amongst today’s youth (Duckworth 2016). However, Brown and Dixon (2019) determine that explicit school interventions to target resilience have experienced mixed success and can lead to negative associations with the term ‘resilience’. They claim that wellbeing education is more effective when it is student driven and involves discussion, debate, personal experience and practical tips. The researchers have set out to track resilience amongst the cohort in order to reflect on and enhance Barker’s social and emotional learning programs.

Last year resilience was identified as one of the growth areas as students struggled to articulate what they would do when things got hard (Eastman & Hill 2019). In the 2020 interviews it was evident that students could better identify positives amidst difficult times and were more empowered in self-determination. Students have experienced many opportunities to grow, particularly through the role of their teachers, and the unanticipated hardships bought by COVID19 appear to have accelerated personal growth in unprecedented ways. Whilst the preliminary research on the impact of the pandemic suggested many potential worries, (Golberstein, Wen & Miller 2020; Prime, Wade & Brown 2020), there is also potential that one of the silver linings will be a generation with more resilience and adaptability than their predecessors.

Children… have lost the normal routines of school, play, social life, vacations, and celebrations marking developmental milestones, such as graduation. There are many signs of frustration and distress, but also observable signs of resilience emerging. Families, schools, communities and young people are responding with creative efforts to learn, teach, play, work, and connect in meaningful ways at a distance. (Masten & Motti-Stefanidi 2020, p. 8) In many ways, the students’ responses to interview questions illustrated that these characteristics of resilience had been modelled by parents, teachers and School management; thus having a flow-on effect in the attitude of the participants. For example one student, when asked ‘what do you do when things get tough?’ responded with ‘Most of the time I just look on the bright side and look at the positive things. Like there’s always gonna be next year!’

48 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

Although 2020 has been challenging, it does provide a unique opportunity to foster resilience.

The following section delves deeper into the impact of COVID-19 amongst the cohort and makes recommendations for ongoing action.

The im pact of CO VID -19: O verview The initial global research into COVID-19’s impact on children yielded some concerns, drawing on prior examples of school closures and economic uncertainty to predict possible outcomes.

Even short-term school closure can have an ongoing impact on academic performance (Robson 2020). Additionally, general wellbeing can be adversely impacted particularly due to social disruption (Prime, Wade & Brown 2020). Specifically, there is a need for schools to keep a close watch on the mental health of the students and their families ‘because of the unique combination of the public health crisis, social isolation, and economic recession’ (Golberstein, Wen & Miller 2020). Reassuringly, as the pandemic has progressed, more research has emerged about the opportunities to develop resilience amongst today’s youth. At Barker College, the difficult situation is being used as an opportunity for effective and positive student development.

The impact of COVID-19: Hardships Interestingly, only 52% of participants raised the impact of the pandemic before being directly asked about it, so for many, it was not the dominant experience of Barker College in 2020.

Of those who did raise COVID-19, the things they found difficult included: • • • •

Adapting to online learning, Missing out on activities they were looking forward to (such as camp, excursions, sport and travel), Not seeing their extended family, friends and teachers, and for one student, the main difficulty was that her ‘dad was a terrible teacher!’

The impact of COVID-19: Silver linings Amidst the difficulties of living through a pandemic, some positive trends also emerged. The students demonstrated resilience in their ability to adapt to the situation and look for positive outcomes. Some of these reflections included:

What has the best thing been about this year?

That even though there's COVID, we still can have fun and the teachers supporting us.

Why do you say this year is better than last year?

Because I've learned that… because of COVID-19 I think spending more time with friends is more important in this this difficult time.

How has your time spent doing the online learning changed the way you think about coming back to school?

I've been nicer to everyone because I know that this might happen again. I've been trying to help out a bit more… because if we go into another lockdown, we’re not going to be able to do all of these things anymore.

Another interesting adaptation amongst the students was a change in the types of activities they valued (activities were the second most commonly given highlight of the School year, see Table 1). Specifically, those highlighting classroom learning (rather than cocurricular) activities had dramatically increased. This suggests that during the temporary cessation or modification of cocurricular activities due to COVID-19 the students developed greater appreciation for other aspects of School life. Some of the initiatives that came about as a result of the pandemic ended Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 49

up being a highlight. One student stated that getting a certificate for his Personal Interest Project was the best part of his year, and another’s favourite activity was ‘when we got to do that facetime call with the person that works at the place where they got to keep convicts’. Others spoke more generally of the ‘hands on learning’ and how ‘work is fun’. These reflections are a testament to the way Junior School teachers have found creative and enlightening ways to transform an unexpected predicament into a valuable learning experience.

The impact of COVID-19: Implications for further study Robson (2020) claims that ‘From their academic success to their social skills and mental health, the pandemic is a crisis for today’s children – and the fallout may follow them for the rest of their lives’. In the case of Barker College, the immediate impact for students appears to have been contained in the two-week online learning phase. However, it will be important to keep a close eye on the wellbeing of individual students as the longer term impacts of the pandemic emerge. Masten and Motti-Stefanidi (2020) suggest that an individual child’s coping mechanisms can be significantly shaped by their school environment.

Barker College has applied many of the recommendations from this research, including building a sense of belonging in the online learning environment, offering learning support services, cultivating optimism and rethinking routines and celebrations. Another recommendation from Masten and Motti-Stefanidi (2020, p.9), is that: Engaging youth in recovery planning and actions to prepare for future disasters can build that sense of hope for the future as well as immediate feelings of self-efficacy and agency with the potential to counter feelings of helplessness that can accompany the experience of disaster.

Barker College should consider how they can include students in future planning and thus develop their capacity, cohesion, agency and purpose.

Figure 6 shows a summary of findings in relation to COVID-19 which the researchers developed to enlighten key stakeholders and inform School policy and interventions.

50 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

Growing from COVID-19:

Findings from the ‘Barker Journey’ research report Context: These findings are drawn from interviews with a random selection of Year 4 students in August, as part of the ‘Barker Journey’ study.

What does the research say?

•

Potential mental health impacts are concerning

•

School closure can result in academic regression

•

Hardship can be a pathway to resilience

•

The response of families and schools is critical in minimising negative outcomes for children

What have the students found difficult?

•

Adapting to online learning

•

Missing out on activities they were looking forward to (such as camp, excursions, sport and travel)

•

Not seeing their extended family, friends and teachers

Key quotes: What positives have emerged?

•

Greater appreciation for school community

•

Increased gratitude for on campus learning

•

Growing sense of resilience

•

Most of the students still had overtly positive views of Barker in general and 2020 specifically

“I've been nicer to everyone because I know that this might happen again.”

“Because of COVID-19 I think spending more time with friends is more important in this this difficult time” “Even though there's COVID, we still can have fun and the teachers supporting us”

Recommendations: •

Continued monitoring of students’ emotional and academic wellbeing

•

Increased student involvement in recovery planning

•

Creative redesign of traditional routines and celebrations

•

Partnering with families to actively build optimism, purpose and coherence

•

Modelling of ways to build a sense of community and belonging while maintaining social distance For a full report see: Eastman, A & Hill, M 2020, ‘The Barker Journey study amidst COVID-19: Summary of Year 4 interviews’, Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 4, no.1.

Figure 6: Summary of findings on the impact of COVID

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Conclusions Overall, the 2020 interviews captured the positivity and personal growth of the participants and highlighted many areas of the Barker experience to showcase and celebrate. They also provided the researchers with insight into areas which could benefit from further investigation and development. These key areas are highlighted in the infographic below (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Conclusion of findings in 2020.

The areas to celebrate all reflect a positive School culture, whereby students feel connected, empowered and nurtured. The areas for growth are not cause for concern. Rather, they are areas where change and development is to be expected and recommendations will be developed by the researchers as necessary.

Overall, the participants represented an impressive group of young people who are a credit to their parents, their teachers and themselves.

Acknowledgem ents In addition to the wonderful students themselves, the authors would also like to thank the Year 4 teachers: Taylor Graham, Laura Hayter and Scott Hosford for allowing the participants to contribute to this study and for their unwavering support of the students during a difficult year.

The Stage 2 Coordinator Nicky Cameron also contributed to the organisation of the interviews and provided valuable advice about the wording of the questions.

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References Archer, L, DeWitt, J, Osborne, J, Dillon, J, Willis, B & Wong, B 2013, ‘Not girly, not sexy, not glamorous: primary school girls’ and parents’ constructions of science aspirations.’ Pedagogy, Culture & Society, vol. 21, no.1, pp.

171-194.

Brown, C & Dixon, J 2019, ‘‘Push on Through’: Children’s Perspectives on the narratives of resilience in schools identified for intensive mental health promotion’, British Educational Research Journal, vol. 46, no.2, pp. 379398. DOI: 10.1002/berj.3583.

Clark, A & Statham, J 2005, ‘Listening to Young Children: Experts in Their Own Lives’, Adoption and Fostering, vol. 29, no.1, pp.45-56.

Duckworth, A. 2016, Grit. The Power of Passion and Perseverance. USA, Scribner.

Eastman & Merrick 2019, ‘The Barker Journey: Lessons from cohort 1’, Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol.

3, no.1.

Eastman & Hill 2019, ‘The Barker Journey: The commencement of cohort 2’, Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 3, no.1.

Golberstein E, Wen H, Miller BF 2020, ‘Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents’, JAMA Pediatrics, vol. 174, no.9, pp. 819–820.

Halstead, M & Taylor, MJ (eds) 2005, Values in Education and Education in Values. Routledge Falmer, Oxon.

Kocyigit, S 2014, ‘Preschool Age Children’s Views about Primary School’, Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, vol.14, no.5, pp.1870-1874.

Masten, AS & Motti-Stefanidi, F 2020, ‘Multisystem Resilience for Children and Youth in Disaster: Reflections in the Context of COVID-19’, Adversity and Resilience Science, Advance online publication: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7314620/.

Masten, AS & Palmer, AR 2019, ‘Parenting to Promote Resilience in Children’ in M. H Bornstein (Ed.), Handbook of Parenting, pp.156-188, Routledge.

Meng X, Fleury JJ, Xiaaang, YT, Li M, D’Arcy C 2018, ‘Resilience and protective factors among people with a history of child maltreatment: A systematic review’, Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, vol. 53, pp.453–475.

Miles, MB & Huberman, AM 1994, Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook (2nd ed.). Sage Publications, Inc. Prime, H, Wade, M & Brown, DT 2020, ‘Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic’, The American Psychologist, vol. 75, no.5, pp.631-643.

Robson, D 2020, ‘How COVID-19 is changing the world’s children’, BBC, viewed online, https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200603-how-COVID-19-is-changing-the-worlds-children.

Wu, G, Feder, A, Cohen, H, Kim, JJ, Calderon, S, Charney DS, & Mathe, AA 2013, ‘Understanding resilience,’ Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience, vol.7, no.10.

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54 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

The Setting for Learning Environment Section 3 Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 55

56 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

Using blended learning to support the Teaching and Learning Framework Andy Mifsud Digital Learning Leader

Abstract A previous article on blended learning in this journal focused on developing a studentcentred approach in using technology in the classroom (Stewart et al. 2017). As the article was written prior to the development and implementation of the current Teaching and Learning Framework at Barker, an update is required. In the same way, blended learning has been used to support other key strategic initiatives at Barker College from guided inquiry (Longney and Mifsud 2018) to formative assessment (Mifsud 2019). This paper presents evidence for the use of blended learning strategies to support the new framework.

Ke y t e r ms Blended learning ‘Blended learning is any time a student learns at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home and at least in part through the Internet with some element of student control over time, place, and/or pace’ (Horn and Staker 2014, p. 34).

Student-centred learning A teaching and learning ideology that relies on active and deep learning, where students are directly involved and invested in the discovery of their own knowledge (Anderson 2004).

Body Introduction Blended learning can be seen as a set of teaching and learning strategies that focus on using technology to provide students with greater control over the time, pace, place and style of learning (Horn and Staker 2014). While the approach has already been utilised by teachers at Barker College (Stewart et al. 2017), the recent development and implementation of the Teaching and Learning Framework (Barker College 2019) provides an opportunity to reshape blended learning to align with this approach.

The framework consists of three domains that describe the setting for learning, as well as the learner. The setting refers to the environment, knowledge and feedback and reflection. The learner is described in accordance with the Barker ‘Thrive’ framework and refers to inquiry, rhetoric, service and gratitude. The aim of blended learning should therefore be seen as a vehicle that supports and upholds these domains. This article addresses the way blended learning can

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be used to support the creation of the setting in the Teaching and Learning Framework by providing examples from the literature.

Environm ent This domain seeks to establish an inclusive, learning-focused environment for students. The domain focuses on building positive relationships between members of the learning community, building high learner expectations and use of learning spaces and technology. Blended learning offers much in the way this environment can be created.

When used effectively, blended learning strategies can be used to provide greater interaction between members of the learning community during face-to-face (F2F) classes. An example of this is through the use of a flipped learning model. Studies of Kindergarten to Year 12 flipped learning environments demonstrate that this approach can drive far more interaction between members of the learning community (Altemueller & Lindquist 2017; Chen 2016; Cukurbasi & Kiyici 2018; Gariou-Papalexiou, Papadakis, Manousou & Georgiadu 2017). In these cases, interaction is increased due to the reallocation of F2F time away from passive learning experience, towards active experiences. This time can be used by teachers to work with students to catch misunderstandings and misconceptions (Altemueller & Lindquist 2017), or to increase interactions and collaborations between students (Foldnes 2016). Using technology to strategically to offload certain teacher-centred activities have been shown to increase opportunities for formative feedback (Altemueller & Lindquist 2017; Chen & Wen 2019; Kalogeropoulos & Liyanage 2019; Kazu & Demirkol 2014), better communication (Cukurbasi and Kiyici 2018) and improved academic results (Foldnes 2016).

Blended learning provides flexibility around the spaces both inside and outside of the physical classroom. Using the analogy of caves, campfires, watering holes and mountain tops (Thornburg 1999) allows teachers to provide flexibility in all learning activities. Using this analogy, students have opportunities for independent work and reflection, collaborative exchanges, direct and expert instruction and moments for sharing and celebrating work. In each case, digital tools can act to fill in the gaps to allow for these personalised moments to occur.

Knowledge The knowledge domain values the development of knowledge at the appropriate level of each learner. This is achieved through the use of differentiation and challenge appropriate to the level of an individual learner. This personalised approach is one that is frequently cited in recent education reports (Gonski et al. 2018), and it can be traced to the Vygotskian theory of the zone of proximal development (Vygotsky 1980), where students learn when they are faced with challenge appropriate to their current level of ability.

The challenge of providing differentiated and personalised learning experience is frequently leveraged through the use of mastery or competency-based blended learning strategies (Horn and Staker 2014). Blended learning gives opportunities to meet this challenge. The use of sequences of online learning resources and activities allows teachers and students to determine activities appropriate to each individual learner (Lea, Stephenson, & Troy 2003; Reigeluth & Garfinkle 1994). Importantly, as with the zone of proximal development, blended learning activities require significant scaffolding (Van Laer & Elen 2017) in order to move an individual learner forward successfully. This scaffolding can be provided and made accessible online. This point leads into the final domain of feedback and reflection.

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Feedback & reflection The aim of the domain is to move the learner forward in their learning by providing rich, targeted and ongoing feedback and by placing the emphasis on student goal setting and reflection. There is strong evidence from the literature on the ability for blended learning to support this domain.

Formative assessment in blended environments is usually supported by a learning management system (LMS) which not only tracks learner progress and presence, but is also used for regular online assessment (Boelens, De Wever, & Voet 2017). Spanjers et al. (2015) argue that these regular assessments provide learners with an understanding of their progress within the course, revision of content and their organisation of their workload, while instructors benefit from being informed about the learning progress of their students, and how well the course is catering to their needs.

Reflection cues can be defined as ‘prompts that aim to activate learners’ purposeful critical analysis of knowledge and experience (before, during and after), in order to achieve deeper meaning and understanding’ (Van Laer & Elen 2017, p. 1410). Blended learning is well-positioned to promote reflection cues as the strategy provides increased access and visibility of feedback and progress markers. Reflection as a vehicle of developing personal meaning has been found to increase learner motivation, particularly when learners find themselves at lower motivation levels (Ibabe & Jauregizar 2010).

Conceptual model The ideas represented in this article can be conceptualised using the Blended learning strategic model (see Figure 1). The model shows that the objective of blended learning is to support the Teaching and Learning Framework. This is achieved by providing a visible structure of online materials that offer students flexibility around their pace, place, style and time of learning. The F2F classroom environment supports this flexibility by adapting spaces using the campfire analogy. Finally, there is recognition that blended learning relies on specific tools used by teachers and learners.

Figure 1: The Barker blended learning strategic model

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Conclusion This article has shown that the domains of environment, knowledge and feedback and reflection are well-supported by examples from Kindergarten to Year 12 blended learning literature. While blended learning offers a valuable toolkit for educators, it is only through the realisation of these higher motives and objectives, such as those in the Teaching and Learning Framework, where the tools become truly transformative.

References Altemueller, L & Lindquist, C 2017, 'Flipped classroom instruction for inclusive learning', British Journal of Special Education, vol. 44, no.3, pp. 341-358.

Anderson, T 2004, 'Towards a theory of online learning', Theory and practice of online learning, vol. 2, pp. 109119.

Barker College 2019, Teaching and Learning Framework, available online, https://www.barker.college/media/3411/teaching-framework-final.pdf.

Boelens, R, De Wever, B & Voet, M 2017, 'Four key challenges to the design of blended learning: A systematic literature review', Educational Research Review, vol. 22, pp. 1-18.

Chen, F & Wen, F 2019, 'Research on Flipped Classroom Teaching Mode of High School Mathematics under the Background of “Internet+”', Paper presented at the 2019 3rd International Conference on Education, Management Science and Economics (ICEMSE 2019).

Chen, LL 2016, 'Impacts of flipped classroom in high school health education', Journal of Educational Technology Systems, vol. 44, no.4, pp. 411-420.

Cukurbasi, B & Kiyici, M 2018, 'High school students' views on the PBL activities supported via flipped classroom and LEGO practices, Journal of Educational Technology & Society, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 46-61.

Foldnes, N 2016, 'The flipped classroom and cooperative learning: Evidence from a randomised experiment', Active Learning in Higher Education, vol. 17, no.1, pp. 39-49.

Gariou-Papalexiou, A, Papadakis, S, Manousou, E & Georgiadu, I 2017, 'Implementing a Flipped Classroom: A Case Study of Biology Teaching in a Greek High School', Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, vol. 18, no. 3.

Gonski, D, Arcus, T, Boston, K, Gould, V, Johnson, W, O’Brien, L & Roberts, M 2018, Through growth to achievement: Report of the review to achieve educational excellence in Australian schools, Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia.

Horn, MB, & Staker, H 2014, Blended: Using disruptive innovation to improve schools, John Wiley & Sons.

Ibabe, I & Jauregizar, J 2010, 'Online self-assessment with feedback and metacognitive knowledge', Higher Education, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 243-258.

Kalogeropoulos, P & Liyanage, A 2019, 'Flipped learning: a mathematics experience for Year 9 boys', Paper presented at the Mathematical Association of Victoria Annual Conference 2019: Making+ Connections.

Kazu, IY & Demirkol, M 2014, 'Effect of Blended Learning Environment Model on High School Students' Academic Achievement', Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 78-87.

Lea, SJ, Stephenson, D & Troy, J 2003, 'Higher education students' attitudes to student-centred learning: beyond 'educational bulimia'?' Studies in higher education, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 321-334.

Longney, G & Mifsud, A 2018, 'Positioning inquiry: The place for inquiry in years 7-10', Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 2, no. 1.

Mifsud, A 2019, 'A blended learning approach to formative assessment', Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 3, no. 1.

Reigeluth, CM & Garfinkle, RJ 1994, Systemic change in education, Educational Technology.

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Spanjers, IA, Könings, KD, Leppink, J, Verstegen, DM, de Jong, N, Czabanowska, K & van Merrienboer, JJ 2015, 'The promised land of blended learning: Quizzes as a moderator', Educational Research Review, vol. 15, pp. 5974.

Stewart, J, Temlett, S, Mifsud, A & Harmon, P 2017, 'Shaping blended learning at Barker', Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 19–25.

Thornburg, DD 1999, Campfires in cyberspace, Starsong Publications.

Van Laer, S & Elen, J 2017, 'In search of attributes that support self-regulation in blended learning environments', Education and Information Technologies, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 1395-1454.

Vygotsky, LS 1980, Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes, Harvard University Press.

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Exploring education environments for First Nations students: Learning on Country Sophie M ynott Director of Global Partnerships M olly G lendenning Barker Global Research Assistant

Abstract What constitutes the best approach to education of young people from an Indigenous background is a topic of constant research and review in Australia and comparable countries. This paper will discuss the latest findings of this research and locate these findings in their historical context. It then explores some of the factors that explain why, despite the funding and effort that go into researching best practice in education for Indigenous students, it is ‘business as usual’ in most Australian schools, meaning that First Nations students are expected to adapt to a curriculum and style of education which may be at best, lacking relevance, and at worst, openly hostile, to them. Using the work of Indigenous researchers and educators, it examines the appropriateness of the Learning on Country model, particularly in remote areas. It concludes by outlining the approach being taken in one community in northern Australia to create a culturally relevant, bilingual school which will enable young people to walk in two worlds. This is the first of two complementary articles which discuss models of education for Indigenous students within and outside mainstream school campuses (Glendenning & Mynott 2020).

K e y t e r ms Indigenous person (Australian context) – A person who identifies as coming from one or more of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations that make up the continent known as ‘Australia’.

First Nations person (Australian context) – A person who identifies as coming from one or more of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations that make up the continent known as ‘Australia’.

Indigenous education – The education of young people from an Indigenous background OR programs designed to educate Indigenous and non-Indigenous people about Indigenous cultures, histories and perspectives and/or issues affecting Indigenous peoples.

Remote areas – This is a dynamic concept, and relative to where one is, but the ABS measures ‘remoteness’ by distance from a population centre of over 250 000 people. On this measure, the entire Northern Territory apart from the immediate surrounds of Darwin and Alice Springs is classified as ‘very remote’.

Learning on Country – the education that First Nations people receive from their Elders and community during the course of daily activities and community events OR reshaping the structure of formal schooling to better reflect Indigenous peoples’ ways of educating their young people, especially by locating that learning in places that have significance for that community and which avoid removing children from their community.

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Body The prevailing discourse in Australia around ‘Indigenous education’ (meaning in this context the education of young people from an Indigenous background) is focused on the significantly different educational outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and in particular, the marked differences for Indigenous students in remote and very remote areas. A data-driven approach, such as that outlined in the annual Closing the Gap Report, which is focused on attendance, NAPLAN results and completion of Year 12, suggests that current educational policies and practices are not meeting the needs of many Indigenous children.

Indigenous Year 12 Attainment gap, by remoteness, 20–24 year olds, 2012–13 and 2018–19 Per cent Per cent

Per cent cent Per

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Chart Title 1.2

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2012-13 2018-19 2012-13 2012-13 2018-19 2018-19 2012-132014-15 2018-19 2012-13 2014-15 2018-19 2012-13 2018-19 2014-15 2018-19 2012-13 2014-15 2018-192012-13 2012-13 2014-15 2018-19 2012-13 2018-19 Major Cities Major Cities 0

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Year 12 attainment gap

Figure 1: Indigenous Year 12 Attainment gap, by remoteness, 20-24 year olds, 2012-13 and 201819. Source: CTG Report 2020 In response to this, schools, non-government organisations, and the Federal, State and Territory governments have adopted three approaches in an attempt to reduce inequalities of access and outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, particularly for First Nations students from remote communities. These are: •

to provide boarding opportunities in existing, mainstream schools;

•

to set up schools for Indigenous students which teach the Australian Curriculum; and

•

to establish schools which offer Indigenous students a blend of a culturally-based curriculum and the Australian Curriculum – the ‘Learning on Country’ model.

Year 12 Attainment

63

Both the ‘problem’ and the ‘solutions’ fail to acknowledge the considerable historical baggage carried both by the identified targets (attendance, NAPLAN, completion of Year 12) and by the notion of schooling itself. In addition, these may not reflect the aspirations First Nations people have for their children and themselves. ‘Schools have been the instruments of colonial policy from the time of those first established by the invaders’ (Lester 2016, p. 50). The first school for 64 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

Indigenous children was the Native Institute at Parramatta set up in 1814 by Governor Macquarie and run by the missionary William Shelley. Dharug children were removed from their families and forced to live at the school to be ‘civilised, educated and Christianised’ (Macquarie quoted in Han 2015). ‘It is clear from the General Orders that the intention was for these children to lose their language, their culture, their heritage and their Aboriginal way of life’ (Norman-Hill quoted in Han 2015). From then until now, schools and education have been intended by governments to be, and have been perceived by Indigenous people as, tools to separate, assimilate, integrate or generally ensure the expectations of the non-Indigenous community are met (Lester 2016). As recently as October 2020, the NSW Legislative Council published a Review of the New South Wales School Curriculum in which are statements such as: •

‘A critical part of learning is…to appreciate the virtues, history and other civilisational influences of the society in which one finds oneself…Yet in NSW syllabuses, every subject is guided by three Cross-Curriculum Priorities (Aboriginal Studies, Asian Engagement and Environmental Sustainability) with little mention of Western civilisation. In fact, in many courses, the material is openly hostile to who we are and where we have come from as a nation – a self-loathing that cannot be allowed to stand’ (pp. 5-6)

•

‘the Aboriginal lobby clearly wishes for something more glorified than the truth of a nomadic people’ (p. 23)

•

‘Our Asian competitor nations are not wasting classroom time on…Indigenous content in Science. They do education the way we used to and not surprisingly, they get the results we used to get’ (p. 24).

Given this context, it is no surprise that attempts to ‘improve outcomes’ or adopt ‘culturally inclusive education’ are met with scepticism in many Indigenous communities, especially given the gap between stated policies and classroom practice for most Indigenous students. ‘Colonial ideology and to some degree its perceived ongoing practice in contemporary Australian schools, provides a fertile ground for continuing negative perceptions and the ongoing reality of issues surrounding racism, exclusion, victimisation, cultural genocide and marginalisation.’ (Lester 2016, p. 51) Having said that, if we operate from the assumption that what most First Nations students and their families aspire to is the successful completion of thirteen years of formal schooling, what should that look like, and how should success be determined?

That is, where does ‘the gap’ exist and what should be done to ‘close’ it?

The answer to those questions is ‘it depends’. The aspirations, experiences and pathways for a young First Nations person from Hornsby will be different to those of a young person from Bourke, which will be different again for a young person whose first language is not English and who lives in a community made up entirely of their family in East Arnhem.

To alleviate the feelings of being second-class citizens on our own lands, our children must be afforded the right to access learning in a safe, secure, unbiased environment, for them to gain the confidence, selfworth and capabilities to be part of the global citizenry.

Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM (2017)

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There is a diversity of factors, relationships and resources required for a student to learn, successfully complete school and commence a pathway beyond school which is personally rewarding…And, in practice, the contexts, factors, relationships and resources that impact on learning and opportunities don’t exist as discrete entities. Their interactions influence the learning, growth and nurturing of students from their early years through to school graduation and beyond.

(Halsey 2018, p.8) The key focus should be for educational systems to provide students with opportunities they can genuinely access which enable them to develop their skills, determine and realise their ambitions, and participate in society or societies (OED 2017). The remainder of this paper will explore the options for Learning on Country for students in remote areas, while our second paper investigates improving outcomes for First Nations students from urban and regional environments in mainstream schools.

The current default option for young First Nations people from regional and remote areas is for those students to attend boarding school in the city. The Federal Government subsidies students’ attendance at existing schools, and the State and Territory governments go along with this because it is cheaper for them than providing their own quality education option. This model focuses on high school education, presumably because negative shifts in Indigenous student engagement manifest in secondary school (viz. ‘drop out’ rates, increased absenteeism and increasing poor behaviour). Yet the research shows that the foundation of such disengagement is established in primary school (e.g. Lester 2016). There is increasing evidence that these mainstreaming programs work only for a small number of students (Guenther & Fogarty 2018; O’Bryan 2016), due to students’ geographical separation from their families, limited parental access to the school, and the trauma that separation from Country, kin and culture causes for many young Indigenous people when they are placed in a boarding context. This can be reduced or overcome if schools are committed to removing barriers to students maintaining their links to Country, language and community, and to helping them to reconcile the different expectations and mores of home and school, enabling them to ‘walk in two worlds’.

Learning on Country It is through the song cycles that we acknowledge our allegiance to the land, to our laws, to our life, to our ancestors and to each other. We work from the new moon to the full moon – travelling these song cycles as a guide to life and the essence of our people: keeping it all in balance so that wealth and prosperity might flow. This is the cycle of events that is in us and gives us the energy for life, the full energy that we require. Without this, we are nobody and we can achieve nothing.

Galarrwuy Yunupingu (2016)

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For children growing up in a community within a First Nations social structure that is still in place, where the whole of the community is collectively involved in each child’s nurturing, the Australian Curriculum and mainstream visions of what education means are likely to be extremely foreign. In these contexts, where young people and their families have a sense of self, connection and community which many non-Indigenous Australians have lost, and many Indigenous Australians have had stolen from them, schools should be seeking to view language, lore, law and kinship structures as strengths to be transferred into the formal learning space. This has been happening successfully in New Zealand for over thirty years. The Kura Kaupapa Māori are cultural immersion schools which teach Māori students in Māori. The first Kura started in 1985, and the model has been so successful that there are now over 70 primary and secondary schools throughout New Zealand which follow it. There is a national governing body and the NZ Ministry of

Education has incorporated the curriculum and teaching strategies employed in the Kura into their compliance regime. The Kura Kaupapa Māori have been extensively researched, and provide a guideline for best practice in cultural immersion schools (Tākao et al 2010).

The Dhupum a Barker project This is the philosophy behind the establishment of Dhupuma Barker at Gunyangara in East Arnhem in 2021. The fundamental purpose of the project will be to focus on the ongoing development of each child and their connection to their community, culture and Country. The aim is to use the interconnectedness of language, culture and tradition to transform the educational pathways of the next generation of Yolŋu children. With the parents and grandparents involved in curriculum design and teaching in these formative years, the learning outcomes will be a community affair, thus ensuring the child’s learning development is not interrupted. It is also envisaged that children will have the confidence, ability and dignity to communicate their stage of personal development.

Where schools and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities work in authentic partnership, students get better results from their education. It’s that simple.

(National Curriculum Services 2012, p. 27) Attendance data tells us that 80% of Aboriginal students in East Arnhem do not continue school past Year 8. The ‘Closing the Gap’ Report and My School data indicate that all current and past intervention programs have been highly unsuccessful (YYF 2020). We believe a model that embraces and engages the Yolŋu community will overcome this. The Dhupuma Education Project aims to stop the cycle before it starts, by offering a pathway in which there is no conflict between school and home, between school and culture, and between school and community. Yolŋu Matha is a living language. We must prize this as a crucial asset in improving the level of engagement and educational outcomes of Yolŋu children. Thus, Dhupuma Barker will utilise Yolŋu Matha speaking teachers and will reorganise the Australian Curriculum to reflect and represent Yolŋu knowledges and pedagogies. Evidence from the region, including analysis of the My School data, reinforces the fact that any Yolŋu involvement in a school increases student attendance, engagement and participation (YYF 2020).

Dhupuma Barker will take an evidence-based, culturally responsive approach, based on engagement of the whole family, with the support of the whole community, to establish young people on a path to the future. ‘Indigenous society is very much reliant on establishing personal relationships, which are based on traditional complex spiritual social and cultural inter-relationships that in themselves are perceived by Indigenous peoples as more important than education itself’ (Lester 2016, p. 45). Through a relationships-based approach, Yolŋu and Balanda (non-Yolŋu) staff of Dhupuma Barker will build respect, strong values and confidence by developing every student’s cultural identity and leadership potential. We hope this will equip young people to make informed choices for the future through a bala-rali (both ways) education.

Ten years on from the national apology, we are still tackling the same issues, having the same conversations and it is because we haven’t properly addressed the core issue underpinning everything: intergenerational trauma… It doesn’t matter who you are, trauma affects the way people think and act and overwhelms their ability to cope and engage.

Richard Weston (2018

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Conclusion First Nations Peoples across the world have all experienced processes of colonisation which have reduced or eliminated their access to their identity, language and culture. Simultaneously, they have typically been denied access to the educational opportunities available to settler communities. ‘These two forces in combination have undermined the educational opportunities and outcomes of successive generations of Indigenous children and young people, at times with catastrophic effect’ (OECD 2017, p. 1). If we are to address the ongoing impact of the trauma that many Indigenous people associate with schooling, and if we are to stop ‘tackling the same issues’, we need to be open to exploring new options. This is much more than an Australian issue. We can learn from what has been tried in other countries, and in other education systems. Individual schools, local communities, and federal, State and Territory education policy makers, have the opportunity to investigate, support and implement Learning on Country projects, as is being done at Dhupuma Barker. We hope that more individuals and institutions will move away from a ‘one size fits all’, data-driven model, to a ‘Learning on Country’ model, where the school structure, teaching and learning are informed by the community from which the students come.

References Australian Government 2020, Closing the Gap Report 2020, Australian Government, Canberra.

Glendenning, M & Mynott, S 2020, ‘Exploring education environments for First Nations students: Wingaru-wa Muruda and High-Expectation Relationships at Barker College,’ Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 4, no.1.

Guenther, J & Fogarty, B 2018; ‘Boarding school for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students can have very damaging effects: new evidence-based research’, Australian Association for Research in Education, accessed January 29 2020, http://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=2658.

Halsey, J 2018, ‘Independent Review into Regional, Rural and Remote Education: Final Report’, Department of Education and Training, Canberra.

Han, E 2015, ‘Parramatta Native Institution: Aboriginal children remembered 200 years later’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 January.

Kunoth-Monks, R 2017, personal communication with Phillip Heath and Sophie Mynott, May 2017.

Lester, J 2016, Why Do Aboriginal Kids Switch Off School?, PhD Thesis, University of Newcastle.

National Curriculum Services 2012, ‘What Works. The Work Program. Success in remote schools: a research study of eleven improving remote schools’, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra.

NSW Legislative Council 2020, ‘Review of the New South Wales School Curriculum: Chair's Discussion Paper - October 2020’, NSW Parliament, Sydney.

O’Bryan, M 2016, ‘Shaping Futures, Shaping Lives: An investigation into the lived experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in Australian boarding schools’, unpublished thesis, Melbourne Graduate School of Education.

OECD 2017, Promising Practices in Supporting Success for Indigenous Students, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264279421-en.

Tākao, N, Grennell, D, McKegg, K & Wehipeihana, N 2010, Te Piko o te Māhuri: The key attributes of successful Kura Kaupapa Māori, NZ Ministry of Education, Wellington.

Weston, R 2018, ‘The gap won't close until we address intergenerational trauma’, The Guardian, 12 February, https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/12/the-gap-wont-close-until-we-address-intergenerationaltrauma.

Yothu Yindi Foundation 2020, Operation Plan: Dhupuma Barker, unpublished report, July 2020.

Yunupingu, G 2016, ‘Rom Watangu: An Indigenous leader reflects on a lifetime following the law of the land’, The Monthly, July, https://www.themonthly.com.au/issue/2016/july/1467295200/galarrwuy-yunupingu/rom-watangu.

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Exploring Exploring education education environments environments for for First First Nations Nations students: students: Wingaru-wa Wingaru-wa Muru-da Muru-da and and High-Expectation Relationships Relationships High-Expectation at Barker Barker College College at Molly MollyGlendenning Glendenning Barker BarkerGlobal GlobalResearch ResearchAssistant Assistant Sophie SophieMynott Mynott Director DirectorofofGlobal GlobalPartnerships Partnerships

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Body Disrupting the low expectation / deficit m odel Many Australian teachers have a low expectations, deficit mindset when it comes to First Nations students, which is both a symptom and contributor of prevailing societal discourse (Ridges & Wess 2018). Low expectations of First Nations students limit the individual student’s educational opportunities and represent (consciously or not) an internalisation of the same racist narratives around the capabilities of First Nations peoples that were initially weaponised to justify the continent’s invasion (Fforde et al 2013). Dr Chris Sarra, Founder and Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute, highlights this broader national context as an environmental factor for teachers to consider, where ‘as educators, we work within a policy environment where public discourse around educational underachievement and failure frequently relies on deficit accounts that attribute blame to ‘disadvantaged’ groups’ (Sarra et al 2020, p. 32). The deficit cycle in educational contexts was detailed in a 2012 Canadian study investigating Merton’s Self-fulfilling Prophecy where ‘(low) expectations potentially shaped and maintained ethnic and racial discrimination’ (Riley & Ungerleider 2012, p. 305). In the study, Riley and Ungerleider (2012) test how stigma and stereotype operate in the classroom as representations of larger societal myths surrounding the capabilities and success of Indigenous peoples. Teachers were asked to make recommendations for a student’s future learning support based off grade cards that showed the student’s academic history with identifiers designed to create the inference that the students fell into the categories ESL, Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal. The study found a trend of teachers undervaluing the capabilities of students they judged to be Aboriginal, despite the grade cards being ‘manipulated to ensure that students in the three categories would have identical records of prior achievement’ (Riley & Ungerleider 2012, p. 309). Additionally, there was consistency in how teachers justified their response, centring on three key assumptions about students perceived as Aboriginal: laziness, low-ability, or negative home circumstances. This ultimately led to the study’s finding that ‘while all teachers articulated a clear opposition to the negative stereotyping of Aboriginal peoples, their comments occasionally revealed the same stereotypes they opposed’ (Riley & Ungerleider 2012, p. 316). Hence disrupting the low expectation/deficit model is a key first step to creating a meaningful educational experience for First Nations students.

The benefits of a high -expectations m odel The intertwinement of low expectations of First Nations students and pervasive stereotypes reveals the power of a high-expectations approach that challenges this understanding. It must be acknowledged that the key issue at hand is the structural core of an educational system that can be argued to be operating on the false primacy of Western epistemologies and pedagogies.

The authors recognise and firmly believe this; however, the focus of the following sections is how the potentially damaging nature of this structure for First Nations students in mainstream schools may be mitigated on the day-to-day level for each individual student. This begins with acknowledging that this broader educational context has created a gap in teaching capability where ‘the void has been filled by stereotypes that misrepresent Indigenous peoples, and where Indigenous knowledge and cultures are seen to have no relevance’ (Sarra 2011 and Matthews 2015 in Sarra et al 2020, p. 33). This gap is not without consequence, with a 1999 study by Smith et al finding that ‘a teacher’s belief regarding a student’s potential could influence that student several years after the initial point of contact’ (quoted in Riley and Ungerleider 2012, p. 305). A highexpectations relationship-based model subverts this effect, because inherently, to expect something from a student is to believe they are capable. Within this framework, students are empowered to recognise their own potential and achieve their own goals.

Dr Sarra articulates a practical example of enacting this framework in his illustration of the difference between a low expectations response, a high-expectations ‘believing/rhetorical’ response, and a high-expectations ‘enacting’ response: A low expectations response to a student

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refusing to complete work that is ‘too hard’ would be to ‘accept the student’s attitude and make concessions for their inaction’. A high-expectations’ ‘believing’ response would be to ‘demand that the student completes all set tasks and outline the consequences if the student does not comply’. A high-expectations ‘enacting’ response would be to ‘discuss their concerns and explain the importance of the task, work with the student to understand what ‘too hard’ means to them and which parts of the task need additional scaffolding and if there are other forms of support that the student may require’ (Sarra et al 2020, p. 38). It is important for educators who become conscious that they are operating within a deficit mindset to not simply pivot to a highexpectations ‘rhetoric’ model without enactment. Dr Sarra (2020, p. 37) describes this as the need for both ‘socially just relating’ (fair) and ‘critically fair relating’ (firm), or the ‘fair and firm coupling’.

Applying the ‘fair and firm coupling’ is a way to avoid the low expectations trap of leaving students unaccountable, but also takes the time to consider the individual student’s circumstances with care rather than punishment which may lead to disengagement and distrust. Ultimately, this high-expectations model provides a practical way educators can improve outcomes for First Nations students in mainstream schools through challenging deficit discourses and the prevailing colonial myths from which these discourses were born.

A high-expectations’ m odel in practice: The W ingaru-wa M uru-da program In the pursuit of establishing a high-expectations framework to guide the school life of First Nations students at the Hornsby campus, the Wingaru-wa Muru-da Program was established in 2018. Wingaru-wa Muru-da means ‘learning on the path to the future’ in Darug, the language spoken in Hornsby for millennia. The following sections outline the practicalities of the program, its successes, and its future path that has been determined with student input. In 2019, the program became part of the Association of Independent Schools (AIS) Pilot Program Improving Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students. Within this, three target areas were isolated from which to identify student growth and potential for empowerment within the everyday school environment: 1.

Student pride in culture

•

providing a designated space (Mirrung Ngurang – the belonging place) on campus for First Nations students and community members to utilise as a physical, cultural and emotional ‘safe space’

•

hosting Yarn Up (First Nations students’ peer support group) weekly to encourage student connection to each other, establish expectations, and liaise with support staff

•

supporting students to participate in and lead major cultural events such as NAIDOC Week and Reconciliation Week

•

supporting students to attend cultural programs together outside of school and engage with First Nations students from other schools

2.

Student transition into the school

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designation of the Coordinator of Indigenous Student Programs and Director of Barker Global Partnerships as central support staff for First Nations students and their families

•

building relationships with new students and their families in the year prior to entry to Barker

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3.

Literacy and numeracy outcomes

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Wingaru specialist learning support: three sessions per week for Middle School students

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specialised small group tutoring for Senior School students: four sessions per week in the evening

•

personalised student learning profiles: students write letters to their teachers for the new year explaining who they are, topics they are comfortable discussing in class, and setting their own goals for the year

The program’s targets were chosen from a pool assigned by the Improving Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students program. We acknowledge that the focus on improving literacy and numeracy in some ways reflects a deficit mindset, and therefore were conscious to embed a ‘high-expectations enacting response’ framework within each activity designed to reach this target. Each program within the first iteration of Wingaru-wa Muru-da attempted to create a dual-flowing high expectations environment in which students were expected to strive academically and culturally, and program staff were expected to take and respond to student feedback. Successes and limitations of the program were researched for AIS reporting purposes and provide a useful platform for reflection. Major successes of the program, as reported in Barber and Netherton (2020), were: •

Student improvement in grades – particularly in Semester 2, 2019

•

Improvement in students’ self-assessed academic confidence

•

Student demonstrated and self-reported high expectations of themselves academically and in their lives as a whole

•

Students reported feeling supported by program staff

•

Students reported that cultural programs (specifically Yarn Up) contributed to their sense of identity and strength as a person

•

Students felt and highly valued strong relationships with other First Nations people on campus and in the broader school community

•

Student retention rate of 100% with the largest ever First Nations cohort graduating from the School in 2020.

Extending the W ingaru-wa M uru-da program Whilst the development of a high-expectations model through the Wingaru-wa Muru-da program was largely successful in contributing to student success at school (as defined by the three focus outcomes), student feedback suggested the need for the model to extend into their School life more broadly. As such, the second phase of the program will aim to extend the framework of high expectations and cultural safety beyond the First Nations-only spaces that were largely the focus of the program’s first iteration. New target areas are: 1.

School culture

•

maintaining existing culturally safe spaces (Mirrung Ngurang)

•

mapping and auditing of curriculum to embed First Nations perspectives and cultures

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•

providing opportunities for families and students to share knowledge and have input into School activities

•

developing the cultural competency and socio-political knowledge of staff (see below)

2.

Staff cultural competency

•

whole-staff professional development on the high-expectations model and debunking deficit mindsets

•

voluntary sessions with each department to brainstorm meaningfully incorporating First Nations histories, cultures and perspectives into their programs

•

promoting resources to staff to support self-awareness of personal biases and internalisation of deficit narratives

•

centralisation of student pastoral care to the Coordinator of Indigenous Student Programs

3.

Literacy and numeracy

•

targeted individual tutoring for Senior School students

•

continuation of Wingaru learning support in the Middle School

•

current students refresh personal learning plans and letters and incoming students create their own

Conclusion Societally institutionalised deficit discourses hold back First Nations students in mainstream schools. The likelihood of success for First Nations students in mainstream schools is significantly increased if students are effectively mentored, empowered, and supported. The Wingaru-wa Muru-da program, by providing a ‘transition to Barker’ experience; targeted literacy, numeracy, homework and executive functioning support; and supporting families to access the opportunities available at Barker College, aims to provide this mentorship to individual students, and facilitate a change in School culture to improve academic, social and emotional outcomes for First Nations students.

References Barber, T & Netherton, C 2020, Improving Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Students: AISNSW Pilot Project Phase 2 Final Report. Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, University of Technology, Sydney.

Ridges, M & Wess, T 2018, ‘Letters from Mungo: A Dialogue on Decolonisation to Improve Academic Engagement with Aboriginal Students’, International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 89–98, Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/2247807974/.

Riley, T & Ungerleider, C 2012, ‘Self-fulfilling prophecy: how teachers' attributions, expectations, and stereotypes influence the learning opportunities afforded aboriginal students. (Report)’, Canadian Journal of Education, vol. 35, no. 2, pp. 303–333.

Sarra, C, Spillman D, Jackson, C, Davis, J & Bray, J 2020, ‘High-Expectations Relationships: A Foundation for Enacting High Expectations in all Australian Schools’, The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 32–45, doi: 10.1017/jie.2018.10.

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Stronger Smarter Institute (2020), High Expectations Relationships, Stronger Smarter Institute, viewed 20 November 2020, <https://strongersmarter.com.au/high-expectations-relationships/>.

Mynott, S & Glendenning, M 2020, ‘Exploring education environments for First Nations students: Learning on Country,’ Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 4, no.1.

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Boredom in the classroom: Poison or stimulant?

Kathryn Driver Dean of the Middle School, History teacher

Abstract Boredom is a state or a trait that is almost universally considered undesirable. It is a term that was born from an industrial age and is said to be experienced particularly by adolescents in high school. In the classroom, it has been seen as antithetical to student engagement and learning. In this sense, it is certainly something to be avoided. Rather than by becoming more entertaining, this article describes how teachers can work to reduce boredom by providing students with some autonomy and making the relevance of tasks visible. However, it will also be argued that boredom is an inevitable experience that should be embraced and even manufactured by teachers to promote endurance, creativity and reflection.

Anyone? Anyone?

In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone?... the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone?... the tariff bill. The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act which… Anyone? Raised or lowered?... raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the Federal Government...

And so the scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) goes, a monologue given by Bueller’s Economics teacher to a class whose slack-mouthed, glazed-eye reactions tell us what we instinctively know: that boring teachers who say boring things in a boring way will manufacture total disengagement. This scene and our own similar experiences as students and educators, remind us that boredom constitutes failure. Of course, we want to avoid being boring teachers, but I wonder if there something in this fairly modern construct that we can utilise to enrich our teaching and equip our students for life beyond school?

W hat is Boredom ?

Various definitions of boredom have been postulated by philosophers, psychologists and educators. Shaw defines boredom as ‘a state of understimulation, underarousal, lack of momentum, or a lack of psychological involvement associated with dissatisfaction in the task situation’ (Belton & Priyadharshini 2007, p. 580). Fallis and Opotow state that in education, boring stands for a ‘one-way, top-down, unengaged relationship with a teacher whose pedagogy feels disrespectful because it is not designed to tempt, engage or include students’ (Belton & Priyadharshini 2007, p. 586). Mann and Robinson put it succinctly and simply: ‘boredom is the result of having nothing to do that one likes’ (Weinerman & Kenner 2016, p. 19).

These definitions point to the undesirable nature of boredom and the fact that its undesirability is found in the perception of those who experience it. When the student feels under stimulated,

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they experience dissatisfaction. When material does not tempt them, this is subjective to the student and not necessarily inherent in the task or teacher. This is important to note as we explore ways we can alleviate boredom in the classroom and as we consider how we could re-construct the concept for good.

The Advent of Boredom The word ‘boredom’ was first used in the English language in 1750. Of course, this doesn’t mean that this condition hadn’t been experienced beforehand, but it was a concept born out of a modern, liberal, industrial age in the Western world. Boredom arose from the homogeneity and speed that were integral to this age. Individuals began to feel they were passive spectators rather than actors with agency, who had a greater degree of certainty in their jobs and in their lives. A sense of helplessness, a lack of meaning, a feeling of predictability and inevitability about the future fed this concept of boredom.

Some have argued that boredom is particularly associated with adolescence and the advent of the teenager, also a modern construct. This is because adolescents have a peculiar experience of increased independence alongside adult-imposed constraint. Bernstein (2007) notes that there was a rise in the numbers of young people suffering from chronic boredom in the 1970s as they experienced growing affluence, greater personal freedom and technological advances.

Conditions which seemed so full of promise also meant less purposeful activity and less challenge.

Bernstein goes on to posit that there was ‘a particular form of training for success for young people’ that involved ‘behavioural compliance’ and ‘repression of feelings’ (Belton & Priyadharshini 2007, p. 583). This was a breeding ground for boredom.

Boredom seems to be a prevalent sensation experienced by students in high school today. A 2013 Gallup poll of 500,000 American students in Grades 5 to 12 found that nearly 8 in 10 elementary students were ‘engaged’ with school. By high school, this had fallen to 4 in 10. When Gallup asked teenagers in 2004 to choose the top three words that describe how they feel at school from a list of 14 adjectives, ‘bored’ was chosen most often, by half the students (Jason 2017). Explanations for this growing boredom in their later school years have included the emphasis on standardised testing, fading novelty of school and transition from an education based around the ‘tactile and creative to the cerebral and regimented’ (Jason 2017).

Alleviating Boredom There is good reason for the causes of boredom to be explored and mitigated. Studies have shown that it can correlate with disinterest and distraction on the one hand and depression, anxiety, hostility, impulsivity and destructive behaviours on the other (Belton & Priyadharshini 2007, p. 587). Bored students are likely to experience lower grades, higher rates of absenteeism and a greater probability of dropping out of school (Weinerman & Kenner 2016, p. 18). Boredom accounts for 25% of variation in student achievement – about the same percentage attributed to intelligence (Koerth-Baker 2016). So what can we do about it?

Firstly, take it seriously. Jal Mehta, an Associate Professor at the Harvard School of Education, has studied student engagement for a decade. He says, ‘We have to stop seeing boredom as a frilly side effect. It is a central issue. Engagement is a precondition for learning’ (Jason 2017). He argues that teachers who inculcate interest do two things: trust students to sometimes control the class and enable students to see the purpose of tasks ‘that would make the necessary boredom endurable’ (Jason 2017). Far from advocating teachers as entertainers, he promotes student involvement in decisions and the explanation of task relevance.

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A study by Cui, Yao and Zhang (2017) found that teacher enthusiasm for their subject and for teaching was one of the most important qualities that positively affected student enjoyment and achievement. Significant for our purposes, the study found that enthusiastic teachers did the two things recommended by Jal Mehta: they provided students with more autonomy and they enabled students to see the value of the tasks they were performing. If ‘boredom occurs when drama fails’ (Belton & Priyadharshini 2007, p. 586), then enthusiastic teachers provide drama that is viewed by students not as superficial adornment but as in fact crucial to their learning.

Research conducted by Csikszentmihalyi (Belton & Priyadharshini 2007, p. 591) led to the notion of ‘flow’ that can be seen as a remedy for boredom. He used the term to identify the state experienced by someone who is completely absorbed in an activity he or she finds inherently enjoyable. Flow involves a sense of discovery, exploration, problem-solving and ‘losing oneself’ or feeling close social connections. Csikszentmihalyi argued that flow occurred when an individual’s skill matched the challenge and opportunity presented, according to their perception.

The research agrees about how to prevent boredom that stultifies students and inhibits learning.

There is no support for teachers becoming entertainers, filling space with frenetic activity, changing tasks regularly and injecting excitement. There is support for teachers increasing student agency and altering student perception about tasks they complete so that they see value and relevance. Intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation is key.

Em bracing Boredom As educators, we experience almost a compulsion to alleviate boredom. At some point or other we have all experienced the slack-mouthed, glazed-eye audience and the feeling of failure it elicits. We know that engaged students are effective learners. We know that working hard to design lessons with a variety of tasks that provide something for every learner is good. We use videos and quizzes and whiteboards and posters and games to spice up our lessons. We hope that our students are telling the other students that we are fun and that our subject is interesting.

However, in avoiding boredom at all costs, we might be doing our students a disservice, because we all know that boredom is inevitable at some point (indeed, if we are honest, at many points) at school and in life. We can give our students a gift by enabling them to be bored sometimes and by teaching them the benefits that come from perseverance through and reappraisal of undesirable circumstances.

Boredom can have extraordinary potential. As an indication that something is unsatisfactory, it can act as a prompt to exploring new opportunities. It can lead to dramatic rethinking and reshaping. It can trigger creativity and resourcefulness. It has been recently seen as a ‘lost art form’ that is redolent with possibility. Psychotherapist Adam Phillips is critical of adults who quash boredom. Belton and Priyadharshini (2007, p. 589) quote Phillips (2017) where he notes that: Often the child’s boredom is met by that most perplexing form of disapproval, the adult’s wish to distract him – as though the adults have decided that the child’s life must be, or be seen to be, endlessly interesting. When the child’s boredom is often recognised as an incapacity, it is usually denied as an opportunity.

Philosopher Betrand Russell argues that adults should be wary of providing their children with too much excitement lest they become incapable of enduring what he termed ‘fruitful monotony’ (Popova 2015).

Boredom can deliver another great benefit – the skill of contemplation. Zeigler (2004) writes: Our society tells us that we need stuff to do, but sometimes we do so much stuff and have so much stuff that we don't have any time to think about all the important stuff.

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Subjecting students to constant activity and optimising every spare moment of their time can rob them of the space and the desire to indulge in inward activities of observation and reflection, of experiencing stillness within. This enables students the time to respond rather than react. It is a vital feature of a productive life. As Paul (2019) puts it, ‘It’s when you are bored that stories set in.’

A capacity for boredom is beneficial for everyone. It is also essential for those who want to achieve excellence. If you want to be a great pianist, you need to practise your scales, regularly and indefinitely. If you want to make scientific discoveries, you need to engage in testing many times over many months. If you want to win the trophy you need to run the same distance over and over. Mark Bauerlein (cited in Jason 2017) writes that an overemphasis on engagement may ‘stunt students' for college, where pushing through tedious work is required to advance. ‘In telling [students], ‘You think the material is pointless and musty, but we’ll find ways to stimulate you,’ high school educators fail to teach them the essential skill of exerting oneself even when bored’ (Jason 2017).

Bauerlein makes a salient point. A key consequence of students enduring boredom is that they learn how to endure. Challenging and undesirable tasks will come to us all. How much better if we have learnt a measure of self-control and self-discipline so we can grapple with the task ahead and persevere? In a 2014 study, researchers asked people to sit in a room with nothing to do for 15 minutes. Some of the participants, particularly men, preferred to give themselves small electric shocks rather than be left alone with their thoughts (Koerth-Baker 2016). We can respond constructively to boredom, but unless we are faced with a healthy diet of it at school and in the home, we will never learn how.

There are lessons here for educators. We need not cave in to those who tell us that students can’t absorb material that is wordy or lengthy, can’t listen without interaction, can’t reflect without activity. We can train students to appreciate the value of these tasks as we witness the benefits of students who endure, create, improve and access their inner world.

Conclusion How do we reconcile boredom as a poison and a stimulant? How can we both avoid it and encourage it? As educators, we need to put boredom in its appropriate place. Boredom that issues from disengaged teachers who mandate tasks that appear meaningless, whether compounded by an absence of activity or hyper-activity, is diabolical for student learning.

Boredom by design delivered by enthusiastic teachers enhances student learning. These teachers give meaning and value to challenging tasks, they facilitate student autonomy, they embrace tedium as a means to develop perseverance and skill, and they pour into empty spaces the fullness of reflection and dreaming. Let us put boredom in its appropriate place in our classrooms.

References Belton, T & Priyadharshini, E 2007, ‘Boredom and schooling: A cross-disciplinary exploration’, Cambridge Journal of Education, vol. 37, no. 4, pp.579-595.

Cui, G, Yao, M & Zhang, X 2017, ‘The dampening effects of perceived teacher enthusiasm on class-related boredom: the mediating role of perceived autonomy support and task value’, Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 8, no. 400, pp.1-11.

Ferris Beuller’s Day Off 1986, motion picture, Paramount Pictures, Los Angeles, USA. Produced by John Hughes and Tom Jacobson; directed by Tom Hughes.

Jason, Z 2017, ‘Bored out of their minds’, Harvard Ed. Magazine. Available: https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/ed/17/01/bored-out-their-minds.

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Koerth-Baker, M 2016, ‘Why boredom is anything but boring’, Nature Magazine. Available: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-boredom-is-anything-but-boring/.

Paul, P 2019, ‘Let children get bored again’, The New York Times. Available: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/02/opinion/sunday/children-bored.html.

Peters, D 2016, ‘Our growing fascination with boredom’, University Affairs. Available: https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/growing-fascination-boredom/.

Phillips, A 2017, On Kissing, Tickling and Being Bored, Faber & Faber.

Popova, M 2015, In defense of boredom: 200 years of ideas on the virtues of not-doing from some of humanity’s greatest minds. Available: https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/03/16/boredom/.

Weinerman, J & Kenner, C 2016, ‘Boredom: that which shall not be named’, Journal of Developmental Education, vol. 40, no. 1, pp.18-23.

Zeiger, H 2004, Combating boredom. Available: http://www.politicalusa.com/columnists/zeiger/zeiger_013/.

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Online learning in a COVID-19 environment: An authentic learning experience?

Dr Greg Cunningham Director of Accreditation, English teacher

Abstract For some time, online education has been a good option for students who cannot access face-to-face teaching. While there are still examples of rudimentary online courses, both the pedagogy and technology driving online learning has improved considerably over the last decade. With the COVID-19 pandemic, there appears to be a growing number of cases where online education is actually outperforming its traditional classroom counterpart. This article considers some of the evidence that shapes student success using eLearning and online learning and what the implications might be for future educational encounters.

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant that teachers globally continue to investigate the best ways to support student learning outside the traditional school or early childhood setting. This has meant considering options such as virtual/online learning or home-schooling at scale. Countless new resources, guides and checklists on how to deliver eLearning include a focus on what students and parents should do to make the most of learning virtually. In their planning, teachers also need to bear in mind the difference between online and eLearning. eLearning allows the students to interact with their teacher only through the internet while online learning allows students to use virtual conferencing software such as Microsoft Teams, and Zoom to interact with their teacher face-to-face along with learning online through the internet.

However, as the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) points out, whereas many of these support materials are helpful, some resources are based on little more than anecdotal evidence (AITSL 2020). What educators and parents seek is best practice evidence to guide teachers in planning and delivering online learning and, in turn, guidance that teachers can give to parents during this process. Key considerations include principles that demonstrate the benefits to student learning outcomes including wellbeing.

No matter how well intentioned, parent expertise in teaching cannot match that held by teachers.

Teachers are professional experts with the motivational skills to engage learners in individual, small group and whole-class settings. Many parents will not have these attributes, nor will they have access to the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s peer group that is often harnessed by teachers. Similarly, school culture is characterised by routines for students (start time, recess breaks and gazetted time to complete certain activities) which gives a sense of sequence to learning opportunities in a structured school environment. There is a possibility that student achievement gaps may widen during this period if remote learning is poorly implemented. It is thus critical that both teachers and parents work together to implement practical and evidence-based solutions to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic as it relates to online learning as an authentic learning experience.

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Distance learning is a complex balance of online content and physical interaction with content that is not delivered on a computer screen. It is also important to remember that there are positives to home-based education. For example, quality education is not always structured or necessarily scholastic or academic. In addition, learning occurs in many different contexts. Home life can provide opportunities for students to engage with nature, bond with family, learn civic responsibility and focus on social health. While barriers to online learning include an absence in social activity and a lack in student readiness to be a self-regulated learner (Acquaro 2020), there is still a range of measures that teachers, school leaders, students and parents can undertake to support effective online and eLearning.

A major factor to consider is the range of a student’s visual literacy competency and the way in which reading and reading the visual interact. Classical and medieval theories of memory and learning, for example, placed a strong emphasis on how the visual format of words and lines affected the ordering of information in the mind. According to researchers and educators (Briggs 2015), visual literacy can improve one’s creativity, critical thinking, educational achievement, empathy towards others and ability to decipher technology.

Anticipating a kind of image-driven cultural renaissance, Hempel (quoted in Briggs 2015) draws an interesting parallel between the Internet and the printing press: In the 1400s, Europeans were considered literate if they could spell their name – and 80% could not. Then came the printing press. Within a century, people could read and write in growing numbers, and the literate were able to express complex ideas in writing. This mass shift in literacy ushered in progress in science, general education and the arts. We are now entering a similar period for images. Our smartphones and the Internet that enables them are the modern-day equivalent to movable type – and these tools are still very new.

There is some evidence that students who are heavy visual users (use of mobile phones, tablets, Apps and screen viewing such as television) dislike reading and tend to access digital materials of lower quality. Reviewing research across the past forty years, Neuman and Prowda (1981) and Cunningham (1999) assembled research into viewing habits, reading attitudes, reading materials and preferences on a large scale. The number of students reporting ‘enjoyment’ of reading decreased with age, while the number of those reporting a ‘dislike’ of reading increased. Neuman (1982) looked at students' preferences for reading or television viewing and the quality of their leisure reading material. Approximately 200 middle-class students in Years 4-6 kept television and reading logs for a month. Neuman found that students who preferred reading to television read the highest quality books, while heavy television viewers (more than 3 hours a day) and light readers (fewer than 2 books a month) chose books of lower quality.

Morgan (1980) used scores on standardised achievement and IQ tests, as well as data completed by more than 600 students and their parents, representing a variety of socioeconomic levels to examine how reading habits and preferences were related to televiewing. He concluded that heavy viewers (more than five hours a day) tended to read teen romances and books about celebrities, while light viewers (under three and a half hours) read science fiction, mysteries and general nonfiction.

In my own research, I considered the relationship of quality reading experience and its effect on response to visual texts, particularly films (Cunningham 1999). Unsurprisingly, the value of a student’s reading experience (the ability to appreciate and decode print-based texts), directly influenced their ability to appreciate, comprehend and a respond to visual texts.

Children do learn from television and digital media. Educators can use digital texts to improve reading skills, promote print-based, leisure reading and to encourage active discernment of visual texts. Activities that involve adult guidance, selective viewing or direction in the choice of websites, the quality of online internet searches for educational purposes all seem to be the most effective.

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Further studies have investigated the effects of ‘guided television viewing’ on listening skills and found that Year 3 students who received such guidance scored higher on standardised listening and reading tests than did students who were taught using an educational publisher's listening laboratory program. Other research examined student, teacher and parent reactions to a program in which primary school students read scripts prior to viewing television shows and then engaged in class discussions and other activities related to the show. Overwhelmingly, teachers, students, and parents thought the program increased student interest in and enjoyment of reading.

Students reported that the program enhanced their story comprehension and appreciation of characterisation and teachers reported that this approach was effective with all reading levels.

Im plications of online learning for teaching and learning Turning to contemporary research, not much has changed! Alqurashi’s (2019) research considered student satisfaction as one of the key elements to evaluate online learning experiences, while perceived learning is considered as an indicator of learning. Her study aimed to explore how online learning self-efficacy, learner-content interaction, learner-teacher interaction and learnerlearner interaction might predict student satisfaction and perceived learning. 167 students participated in this research. Results of the study revealed that the overall model with four variables: online learning self-efficacy, learner-content interaction, student-teacher interaction and learner-learner interaction were significantly predictive of satisfaction and perceived learning.

The study found that learner-content interaction was the strongest and most significant predictor of student satisfaction, while online learning self-efficacy was the strongest and most significant predictor of perceived learning.

Macquarie University’s pilot study (Kohnen 2020) using online reading lessons, used a sample of 18 students aged between seven and twelve. Students were tested on three reading measures: reading words, reading non-words and their letter-sound knowledge, twice before the intervention commenced and once after it concluded. Results revealed scores on two of three measures increased ‘significantly more’ during the intervention period and that they made more reading progress than they would have while attending school without extra help. Participants each completed three Skype, Zoom or FaceTime lessons a week for ten weeks and the sessions were tailored to their needs.

The overriding implication for teachers was the effective use of video technology. The value and efficacy of this study revealed a number of key points: planning how teachers delivered their evidenced-based teaching and learning program effectively, the use of books, whiteboards and live video to deliver material in each virtual sessions and the length of the lesson (ideally 30 to 45 minutes long). Lead researcher, Dr Saskia Kohnen, observed that more research would be needed, to compare face-to-face and online interventions: ‘We don’t have good data that has been peer-reviewed on whether this is an effective delivery mode. That is a gap our research is filling. Nevertheless, there might also be children who don’t benefit from this kind of delivery. We need to learn more about this’ (Chrysanthos 2020).

Teachers planning online learning opportunities for their students obviously need to take into account the level of reading engagement and student ability when planning online lessons in addition to logistical considerations such as time of day, length of online session and the scope of activities students are to undertake. Engagement with learning material, but an awareness of the ability of students to achieve outcomes necessary to produce specific learning goals, is the overriding aim. Lastly, the choice of medium of delivery, for example online as opposed to an eLearning approach, is also an important consideration that relates directly to the efficacy and impact of the learning experience for the student.

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Im plications of online learning for students and parents Regardless of the wealth of research into teaching and learning in a classroom context, more recent research in the area of online learning is slowly emerging. Online learning’s use during the pandemic has created fertile ground for more sustained investigation. For that reason, this article is provocative in suggesting that while online learning might appear to be a panacea for alternate means and mediums of learning, further research needs to be conducted into the efficacy and impact of online learning.

Preliminary emerging findings, however, suggest that students develop discriminatory frameworks for using online platforms through online learning experiences rather than by direct teaching of these frameworks. Direct teaching towards a discriminatory framework may be counterproductive if the student has insufficient online learning experience to incorporate what is being taught. The role of parents is integral in the development of online learning experience while parental restriction, like teacher intervention, may be counter-productive.

Further investigations emphasise the interaction between students’ existing worlds of experience, beliefs, thinking and knowledge as they try to make sense of their world and experiences and the educational outcomes that teachers seek their students to accomplish. Research data suggests that pre-existing knowledge is strongly influential and its identification is one of the central challenges of teaching within an online context. The importance of a supported online learning experience cannot be over-emphasised in the development of the student. In meeting this demand, teachers are increasingly required to display an informed, enthusiastic and discriminating breadth of digital teaching knowledge and experience that is uncalled for in the wider society.

Students and parents most certainly can derive benefit from the ‘flipped classroom’ approach to get the most out of more limited face-to-face and synchronous opportunities (such as live webinars) in online learning and to manage limited concentration spans online. Student engagement can be channelled ahead of time to do much in terms of reading and preparing.

Face-to-face eLearning or in webinar contexts can drill down and gain deeper insights from the students. This approach can also help to weave together the principles of social, cognitive and teacher presence, which underpin a successful online education experience.

Amid the timeframe to complete online course delivery, Owen Shemansky (2020) from the University of Melbourne, senses a concern from educators, students and the community that online study will not be able to offer the same peer support as traditional models: ‘Wellconstructed online experiences don’t have to be like that at all. In fact, they privilege the social cohort experience and put that at the forefront.’ Whether it be through peer assessments, group projects, discussion boards or some of the new collaboration-tools, students can enjoy online social engagement with their peers.

The value of ‘purposeful play’ promotes peer engagement, while also creating an openness to experiment, be creative and explore. In learning to try things together, students lose their inhibitions and fear of failure. This in turn empowers students to take learning risks that adds to their academic resilience. Finally, Shemansky observes that collaboration through group projects online can be an effective way to activate a sense of play, while also mirroring life in a modern workplace – infusing diverse experiences and ‘combinational thinking’.

Conclusion Two important observations arise: firstly, despite the misgivings among some educators and parents to the ‘value’ or ‘purpose’ of online learning, the use of online learning and eLearning

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platforms as teaching tools cannot be ignored or avoided. It is an integral part of social experience and it is here to stay.

Secondly, the experience of interaction between parent and child in the learning process is paramount in developing the desire to learn ‘beyond the pleasure dome’ in a meaningful way.

Positive parental attitude should continue well into the teenage years as to the value of online learning so that the student may experience the sense of self-worth and value in the learning process. Teachers can reinforce this process, but there is strong research evidence to indicate that parental involvement and support is a strong determinant. Positive and productive attitudes to the use and value of online learning either as the sole instructional means or as an adjunct to face-to-face experience are vital if learning is to progress and succeed.

The COVID-19 pandemic as a once-in-a-generation event is nothing short of monumental in terms of its impact on the social, economic and educational impact on Australia and the world.

Yet, despite the challenges in moving so rapidly to online learning this experience will prove a gigantic reconsidering of learning and the way it is delivered as it forces everyone to adapt and puts the student experience sharply into focus.

References Acquaro, P 2020, ‘Structuring and Scaffolding the Online Course’, International Journal of Online Graduate Education, vol. 3, no. 1, pp.1–16.

Alqurashi, E 2019, ‘Predicting student satisfaction and perceived learning within online learning environments, Distance Education, vol. 40, no. 1, pp. 133-148.

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 2020, ‘What works in Online and Distance Teaching and Learning?’ Accessed at: https://www.aitsl.edu.au/research/spotlight/what-works-in-online-distanceteaching-and-learning.

Briggs, S 2015 ‘Deeper Learning: What Is It and Why Is It So Effective?’ Accessed at: https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/why-visual-literacy-is-more-important-than-ever-10ways-to-cultivate-it/.

Chrysanthos, N 2020, ‘Video-conferencing lessons effective in helping children read: study,’ Sydney Morning Herald, 15 October 2020, https://www.smh.com.au/education/video-conferencing-lessons-effective-inhelping-children-read-study-20201014-p5652e.html.

Cunningham, G 1999 An exploration of factors influencing the development of discrimination in film viewing.

University of Sydney: Unpublished doctoral thesis.

Kohnen, S, Banales, E & McArthur, G 2020, ‘Videoconferencing Interventions for Children with Reading and Spelling Difficulties: A Pilot Study’,Telemedicine journal and e-health: the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. 10.1089.

Kuhlthau C, Maniotes L, & Caspari, A 2015, Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century. Libraries Unlimited.

Livingstone, S, & Blum-Ross, A 2017 ‘Quality is key’, Digital Parenting, 26. Retrieved from: https://parentzone.org.uk/system/files/attachments/Digital Parenting 6 NEW.pdf.

Mangieri, JN, & Arthur, S 1978, Listen to Television. Columbia: University of South Carolina.

Morgan, M 1980, ‘Television Viewing and Reading: Does More Equal Better?’, Journal of Communication, vol.

30, pp.159-165.

Neuman, S 1982 Television Viewing and Leisure Reading: A Qualitative Analysis. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New York, March, 1982.

Neuman, S & Prowda, P 1981, Television Viewing and Reading Achievement. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Los Angeles, California, April, 1981.

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Shemansky, O & Seignior, D 2020, ‘The value of online education: How teachers can boost an engaging student experience’, Melbourne Graduate School of Education. Accessed: https://education.unimelb.edu.au/news-and-events/news/2020/the-value-of-online-education-and-howteachers-can-boost-an-engaging-student-experience.

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Learning support in the Senior School: Creating an inclusive environment on campus and online Amanda Eastman Assistant to the Director of the Barker Institute, Learning Support Teacher Michele Studd Head of Learning Support

Abstract The Barker College Senior School Learning Support Department aims to make learning accessible, enjoyable and successful for all students. This article brings to light the theory and practice behind their work, which often occurs behind the scenes. It also explores how the Department catered for the diverse needs of its students when the School was unexpectedly thrust into an online learning environment in March 2020, as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This rapid shift had the potential to compound the difficulties experienced by students with extra learning needs. The Learning Support Department was able to draw on research and experiences from around the world to ensure that despite being physically remote the students were well-supported.

O verview of pre-CO VID -19 approaches The Barker College Learning Support Department is committed to making every aspect of the Barker learning experience accessible to students who face cognitive, social or emotional barriers.

Their strategies are underpinned by contemporary research and refined each year as they get to know the students in their care. This year presented the unique challenge of learning how to care for students in a remote learning environment. This article will outline the cornerstones of the Learning Support Department’s traditional practices, examine how and why these supports were modified to suit online learning, and reflect on how the challenges of COVID-19 can drive us to further refine these support systems into the future.

Their work is underpinned by the philosophy that no two students are the same, but that all deserve to be able to access the curriculum and demonstrate their progress. This involves identifying each individual student’s learning barriers and tailoring their educational experience accordingly. ‘Failure to do so results in teaching to the middle and providing material that is too challenging for some students and too simple for others’ (Lindner, Dooley & Williams 2003, p.26).

The danger of teaching to the middle is highlighted by Todd Rose in his research ‘The Myth of Average’ (2013). He argues that no individual (in any area of society, not just educational institutions), actually embodies the ‘average’ and that by catering to this mythical construct we are restricting performance.

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Figure 1: Image from Disability Leadership Summit (ACEL 2018), sourced from: www.csepa.com

In order to cater to a large number of students with diverse needs, the Barker College Learning Support Department apply a tiered model of inclusion (Figure 2). This model describes on campus practice and also informed the transition to online learning.

Figure 2: AISNSW Multi-tiered systems of support for students with diverse needs (Source: AISNSW n.d.).

88 â&#x20AC;˘ Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

Tier one According to the multi-tiered support structure, the first tier involves implementing quality, differentiated learning in all classrooms. This approach benefits every student, regardless of whether they have a diagnosed learning difficulty. Barker’s Teaching and Learning Framework (Barker College 2019) provides a common language for teachers to discuss and grow in their ability to cultivate this environment. It has many ambitious and pertinent aims, including for all students to feel ‘valued and known by their teachers’ (p. 8). One of the ways the Learning Support Department contributes to this aim is by providing in-class support to assist the students in their care and build teacher capacity in catering to individual students. Ideally, large numbers of students can be supported in this way without being removed from their standard classes. The Learning Support Department also develop individual learning profiles to disseminate to staff, enabling them to integrate targeted support strategies into their regular lessons. These may be supplemented with resources and training sessions to equip classroom teachers.

Expecting every student to achieve ACEL Disability Leadership Summit 2018

Differentiation is a teacher’s proactive response to the range of learner needs in the group or class

according to students’

readiness

interests

learner profiles

and through

content

process

product

learning environment

Figure 3: NESA guidance on differentiation (NESA 2020)

Differentiated teaching practice is foundational to the success of tier one support. As shown in Figure 3, differentiation may involve varying the lesson content, the learning process, the classroom environment or the means by which the student is able to demonstrate their understanding. In their ‘Fact Page Differentiated Teaching’ (n.d.), the AISNSW recommends strategies such as providing additional scaffolds, adjusting worked examples and offering supplementary teaching.

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Tier two The second tier of support is more targeted and occurs when differentiated class instruction is insufficient to enable particular students to access the curriculum in its entirety and thus meet their full academic potential. At Barker College, this involves supports such as Additional Studies (for years 7, 9 and 10) and Senior Studies (for years 11 and 12). In these small groups, students receive targeted support in areas such as literacy, numeracy and executive functioning skills, as required. Support at this level may also involve assessment adjustments and disability provisions to ensure that all students have a fair chance to demonstrate their understanding.

Tier three Students in the third tier require intensive interventions. At Barker College, they are individually managed by a case manager from the Learning Support Department. They often have Individual Plans which are developed through a collaborative process involving the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s parents, Head of House, Dean, Counselling Department and external specialists as required. Tier three students are frequently monitored and their plans are regularly reviewed and refined.

Adaptations for online learning The aforementioned strategies have been implemented successfully for many years at Barker College. However, with the unforeseen transition to the COVID-19 context came the challenge of how to support such a diverse student group remotely. The established three tier model provided a helpful framework for categorising needs and allocating resources. The Learning Support Department assisted staff at a tier one level by developing and disseminating materials about how to make online learning accessible to every student. In particular, this involved advice about the layout, language and procedural complexity of tasks. Tier two students were invited to small group check-ins with Learning Support staff via Microsoft Teams. Tier three students had more individualised support developed in consultation with their parents, including adjustments such as an amended workload and one-to-one assistance with task completion.

In addition to adapting the tiered model of intervention, the Learning Support Department undertook research to inform their methodologies. This was conducted in consultation with the Barker Institute and synthesised into a presentation for Learning Support staff. Despite the situation being unprecedented, there was a body of research to draw on in developing a bestpractice approach. This included research into pre-existing online learning scenarios such as universities and distance education, combined with experiences from countries where schools were closed ahead of Australia. The key findings were as follows:

The potential benefits of online learning for students with additional learning needs The research outlined many positive outcomes of online learning for students with learning needs.

These benefits are summarised in Figure 4, and the Learning Support Department aimed to capitalise on these potential advantages throughout the process. These benefits are particularly enabled through the range of technologies available that can assist with differentiating the learning process and the product students construct to demonstrate their understanding (Hensel 2020).

90 â&#x20AC;˘ Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

Figure 4: Excerpt from a presentation given by the researcher to Learning Support staff

The challenges of online learning for students with additional learning needs The research identified some possible challenges of online learning for students with learning difficulties. Firstly, several learners lack independent learning skills such as the executive functioning ability required to regulate their own learning (Zhou et al. 2020). Compounding this, teachers across the globe had limited time to adapt their methods and content for remote learning. This was problematic, given that online learning ‘is not simply transplanting normal classroom teaching or offline education scenarios to the internet platform’ (Zhou et al. 2020, p.514). This difficulty extends to assessments, leading many to be postponed or redesigned. In order to minimise these potential negatives, Barker College conducted an online learning trial.

This yielded valuable feedback about the process and provided time for staff to plan and collaborate. In this period, Barker College’s Digital Learning Team produced instructional videos to upskill teachers and ensure they were equipped to utilise the available technologies. At a tier one level, the School provided all students with guidelines about how to shape their day and the Learning Support Department advised teachers on how to differentiate within an online environment. For students in tiers two and three, Learning Support staff provided additional help with locating, prioritisng, chunking, planning and completing tasks.

Another significant challenge was supporting the wellbeing of students, especially given that significant change and the removal of social supports can both be significant risk factors for depleted mental health. Compounding this, extended screen time can have detrimental effects.

To reduce these issues, Barker College did not require all learning to be synchronous, meaning that students could work without being on their devices for the duration of the school day. Barker College also aimed to provide opportunities for students to connect and collaborate through Canvas, its online Learning Management System. It will be important to continually to monitor the wellbeing of students given the research that school interruptions can have ongoing effects on student wellbeing (Golberstein, Wen, & Miller 2020; Prime, Wade & Brown 2020).

Recom m endations Research by the Smart Learning Institute of Beijing University (2020), surmised that the two interventions with the greatest impact would be one-on-one tutoring and real-time

Barker Institute Learning in Practice • 91

communication with parents. The Learning Support Department utilised these to great effect, especially for students who fall into the third tier.

The remaining recommendations fall into three broad categories. Firstly, building relationships (between peers and with teachers) is paramount to successful online learning. Secondly, task types need to be varied, flexible and not simply a replica of in-class tasks. Thirdly, work needs to be disseminated and tracked in an accessible, concise and predictable manner. These recommendations are expanded upon below.

Category 1: Facilitate building of relationships • Teachers should ‘Show your face: research has shown that lecture videos that show instructors’ faces are more effective than simple narrated slideshows. Intersperse your slides with video of yourself’ (Lee 2020).

•

‘...if we work to reduce the psychological space between participants and instructors through pedagogy, it will likely lead to higher learning outcomes’ (Groshell 2020).

•

‘A good online teacher facilitates a variety of forms of interaction between participants and instructors, such as instructor-learner and learner-learner interactions (Huang, Chandra, DePaolo & Simmons 2016).

•

‘Don’t underestimate the need to communicate… enthusiasm and tone of voice can ease their stress… foster personal relationships and have fun’ (Glauser & Grillo 2020).

•

‘Don’t hide your feelings: Online teachers’ emotional openness is a great instructional strategy.

Tell your students that it is your first time teaching online and you are learning while teaching.

Explicitly ask them to help you, reassuring them that you will do your very best to support their learning as well. They will be sympathetic since they share the same emotions, and you will be set up for success’ (Lee 2020).

Category 2: Rethink task types • Remember that learning is recursive. In particular, skills and knowledge learnt via online learning need to be regularly revisited - ‘refresh and reinforce key information regularly to help support memory retention’ (Shearer, 2019).

•

Utilise digital technologies rather than mimic normal lessons.

•

Work should cater for different ability and efficiency levels (for example, use a ‘must do’ / ‘should do’ / ‘can do’ structure).

•

Integrate opportunities for parent / student feedback (before complaints emerge).

•

Work should be authentic with real world significance or applications.

•

Integrate opportunities for positive thinking, personal reflection and gratitude.

•

Include accessibility options such as closed captions, text to speech and dictator tools.

•

Consider setting offline options (low tech or no tech activities).

•

Use formative feedback to adjust learning tasks and move the learner forward.

•

Integrate flexibility and choice - there should be variation in the required product, such as recording their verbal responses rather than having to type, or choosing from a matrix of tasks.

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Category 3: Disseminate work clearly and consistently • Work should be easy to find and manage.

•

Clear protocols should be in place to ensure a uniform process of dissemination across different subjects.

•

Include a suggested time frame for each task.

•

Clearly indicate due dates and criteria for success.

•

Provide interactive scaffolds / calendars to help students keep track of due dates and work completion.

•

It should be clear from the start of the page what students are required to do (rather than specifying the task after copious background reading).

•

Create patterns of activity (Glauser & Grillo, 2020). For example, follow learning patterns or sequences to reduce procedural complexity.

•

‘Online students do not like frequent changes in their learning style. They are happy to repeat the same structure and activities. Once you find a teaching style working for you, feel free to repeat it each week until you are back in your classroom’ (Lee, 2020).

Conclusion During the period of remote learning, the Learning Support Department studied the recommendations from this article, applied them in their own practice and provided school-wide support for staff and students alike. The period was challenging for many members of the Barker community and students with additional learning needs were potentially at greater risk, but it has been pleasing to see many silver linings emerge out of the difficulties. Anecdotally, there are reports across the School of beneficial collaboration and upskilling amongst staff; increased independence, resilience and self-efficacy amongst students; and a deepened gratitude for school community. These gains extend to the students involved with the Learning Support Department. In addition, this experience has led to technology being integrated more seamlessly into the classroom and there is scope for the lessons about accessibility to be applied more effectively to formal assessment tasks. The School will continue to examine and learn from this event, enhancing their delivery of a first-rate educational experience across all learning abilities, despite the impact of unpredictable external factors.

References ACEL 2018, Expecting Every Student To Achieve, PowerPoint slides from ACEL Disability Leadership Summit 2018.

AISNSW n.d., Students With Diverse Needs: Planning Tools and Resources, viewed March 2020, https://www.aisnsw.edu.au/teachers-and-staff/supporting-students/students-with-diverse-needs/planningsupport-and-resources.

AISNSW n.d., Fact Sheet: Differentiated teaching, viewed September 2020, https://www.aisnsw.edu.au/Resources/WAL%203%20%5BMembers%20Only%5D/Differentiated%20Teaching %20Fact%20Sheet.pdf.

Barker College 2019, Teaching and Learning Framework, available online, https://www.barker.college/media/3411/teaching-framework-final.pdf.

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Hensel, M. 2020, The Benefits of Online Ed for Disabled Students. Online Universities. https://www.onlineuniversities.com/articles/students/the-benefits-of-online-ed-for-disabled-students/.

Huang, X, Chandra, A, DePaolo, CA, & Simmons, LL 2016, Understanding transactional distance in web-based learning environments: An empirical study. British Journal of Educational Technology.

Glauser, J & Grillo, KJ 2020, Teaching Special Education Online During Covid-19, Council for Exceptional Children, viewed March 2020, https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=teaching+special+education+online+during+covid19%E2%80%99.

Golberstein, Wen, & Miller 2020, ‘Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and Mental Health for Children and Adolescents. JAMA Pediatrics, vol. 174, no. 9, pp.819-820.

Groshell, Z 2020, The unproductive debate of synchronous vs asynchronous learning https://educationrickshaw.com/2020/03/30/the-unproductive-debate-of-synchronous-vs-asynchronouslearning/.

Lee, K 2020, COVID-19: 14 Simple Steps for better Online Teaching. The Conversation, March 17 https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/03/27/covid-19-14-simple-tips-for-better-online-teaching.html.

Lindner, J, Dooley KE & Williams JR, 2003. ‘Teaching, Coaching, Mentoring, Facilitating, Motivating, Directing. What is a Teacher to do?’ The Agricultural education magazine, vol. 76, no. 26.

Lord Nelson, L 2020, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Implementation, viewed March 2020, https://theudlapproach.com/media/episode-37-kelley-culp/.

Prime, H, Wade, M & Brown, DT 2020, ‘Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic’. American Psychologist, vol.75, no.5, pp. 631-643.

Rose, T 2013, The Myth of Average: Todd Rose at TedxSonomaCounty, online video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eBmyttcfU4.

Shearer, J 2019, How to Make Online Learning Accessible for People with Special Needs. LearnFast Australia Pty Ltd, viewed March 2020, https://blog.learnfasthq.com/how-to-improve-accessibility-to-online-learning-for-people-with-special-needs.

Smart Learning Institute of Beijing University 2020, Handbook on Facilitating Flexible Learning During Educational Disruption: The Chinese Experience in Maintaining Undisrupted Learning in COVID-19 Outbreak Version 1.2 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ahmed_Tlili3/publication/339939064_Handbook_on_Facilitating_Flexi ble_Learning_During_Educational_Disruption_The_Chinese_Experience_in_Maintaining_Undisrupted_Learnin g_in_COVID-19_Outbreak/links/5e6efcbba6fdccf994cd6744/Handbook-on-Facilitating-Flexible-LearningDuring-Educational-Disruption-The-Chinese-Experience-in-Maintaining-Undisrupted-Learning-in-COVID-19Outbreak.pdf.

Willis, J 2020, How can School assessment be fair in a time of Covid-19 disruption? The Centre for Inclusive Education, viewed March 2020, https://research.qut.edu.au/c4ie/2020/03/27/how-can-school-assessment-be-fair-in-a-time-of-covid-19disruption/.

Zhou, L, Wu, S, Zho, M & Li, F 2020, 'School’s Out, But Class’ On’, The Largest Online Education in the World Today: Taking China’s Practical Exploration During The COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention and Control As an Example (March 15, 2020). Best Evid Chin Edu 2020, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 501519. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3555520 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3555520.

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Change management: The transition to online learning Kate Dundas Head of May House (Middle School), History Teacher

Abstract Rapid educational change has become the norm in the 21st century. However, few could anticipate the dramatic shift to online learning that became necessary as a response to COVID-19. Barker College began 2020 in an advantageous position, having implemented a Blending Learning approach in the latter half of 2017 and having a clearly developed Teaching and Learning Framework (Barker College 2019). While the burden of guiding the community through this period has fallen on senior leadership, the implementation of their vision is carried primarily by classroom teachers and middle management. This paper will examine, from a secondary school teacher’s perspective, how a culture that embraces change has been facilitated by leadership and will explore research on change management approaches.

Twenty-first century educational leaders face the challenge of leading in a time of continuous change (William Bridges Associates 2009) where staff can feel overwhelmed by ‘a sea of excessive, inconsistent, relentless demands’ (Fullan 2000, p. 583). Research on change management reveals that leaders must create a clear moral purpose as well as building teachers’ capacity to embrace change (Fullan 2000). Barker’s Teaching and Learning Framework and related professional learning, has been crucial in preparing staff for the unprecedented pressure that the pandemic placed on educators.

Research into change management suggests that articulating a clear moral purpose is key (Doe et al 2017, Fullan 2000) and Barker has done this through their Teaching and Learning Framework, which articulates many common elements of other teaching and learning frameworks. This could lead some to question why a broadly used framework was not chosen instead. While similar pedagogical trends are likely to occur, a framework tailored to the specific needs and values of an organization is more likely to have an impact. As one of the largest schools in the state, Barker has unique opportunities and challenges that require leadership to create a culture throughout each level of the School. Barker’s Thrive framework has a focus on creating a learning environment that emphasizes positive relationships and the use of learning technology. Information technology is rapidly evolving and is a key driver of change in education. Having a clearly articulated framework has had a positive impact on staff as they navigated the move to online learning during 2020. Research suggests that change is more likely to be embraced when a clear moral purpose is defined, which is a key in creating conditions to enable transitions to be smooth (Doe et al. 2017).

With numerous departments and a large teaching staff, ensuring consistency during the move to online learning across the secondary school was essential. Middle leaders such as Heads of Departments and Heads of House played a crucial role in disseminating information and ensuring

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that feedback from staff and the community was communicated to the executive. Some of our younger Middle School students found adjusting to new platforms challenging to navigate at home. Heads of House and Deans contacted home to support students and their parents when challenges were identified. This not only contributed to creating positive relationships, but also meant that technical challenges faced by students were presented to key decision makers so strategies could be amended or recommunicated. The Head of the Middle School and the Middle School Deans provided support for the Heads of House. This involved communicating any changes with them, presenting their suggestions and advocating for them when student and parent online requests increased suddenly. The Environment focus in the Thrive framework created moral purpose when navigating the challenges of moving suddenly to online learning.

While the changes that occurred were indeed challenging, having a focus on maintaining positive relationships throughout the process helped the change that occurred to be consistent with Barker’s values and created a strong moral purpose.

For change to occur smoothly it is imperative that leadership consider building capacity amongst staff. Powell and Powell (2015) note that a key factor in resistance to change is often related to technical challenges. Once staff have agreed that change is needed, informational learning must be provided to facilitate the development of new skills. Barker provided professional learning to staff to equip them for the challenges of a rapid move to online learning. By providing a staff day prior to lockdown, informational learning was undertaken. Courses were created by the Digital Learning Team so staff could upskill in preparation for moving more content online. These were provided online and were self-paced, allowing for staff to identify areas that they needed extra training in. Andragogical research suggests that adults are more likely to engage when there is a sense of volition (Knowles et al 2005). While this day was beneficial, the initial demand on teachers’ time in creating content was considerable. Teachers in each department who identified as being particularly proficient in ICT volunteered to be content creators for the online learning. They uploaded content to the Learning Management System for courses which helped to create consistency for students. This initially resulted in these teachers carrying a heavier workload which may not have been sustainable. More equitable distribution of work was delegated by Heads of Department and this resulted in more collaboration.

A great benefit of the online learning period was the sense of comradery among staff and excellent collaboration. This culture of embracing informational learning and enhanced collaboration enabled the change transition to be successful. Leaders were responsive to feedback and proactive in identifying areas that needed modification. In the early stages of online learning, some students struggled with knowing exactly where to access information for each lesson. The Director of Professional Learning created a proforma for staff to ensure that work was disseminated consistently across the Secondary School. This responsiveness to student needs was beneficial and ensured that the online learning environment was easier to navigate. The guidance from the Digital Learning and Curriculum teams was crucial in building capacity among staff and creating a culture that embraced learning.

Change management is a skill that school leaderships needs now more than ever. While the pandemic placed enormous pressure on the education sector, Barker has thrived. This is due to leadership having a clearly articulated moral purpose, coupled with professional learning and support for staff. Baker (2020) noted that ‘this pandemic could profoundly change education for the better.’ The lessons from online learning are currently being examined by leadership. This is another key step in ensuring that change is sustainable and will continue to be embraced by the school community.

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References Baker, K 2020, COVID-19 is changing education for the better, @FinancialTimes, Financial Times, viewed 17 September 2020, <https://www.ft.com/content/51496fde-98e7-11ea-871b-edeb99a20c6e>.

Barker College 2019, Teaching and Learning Framework, available online, https://www.barker.college/media/3411/teaching-framework-final.pdf.

Doe, T, Fradale, P, David Ernest Lynch & Sell, K 2017, Unpacking the Effective School Leader, ResearchGate, unknown, viewed 17 September 2020, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317615356_Unpacking_the_Effective_School_Leader.

Fullan, M, Cuttress, C, & Kilcher, A 2005, Eight forces for leaders of change. JSD, 26(4). viewed 17 September 2020, https://michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/13396067650.pdf.

Knowles, M, Holton, EF & Swanson, RA 2005, The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development (6th ed.). Elsevier: Burlington, MA. Powell, W & Kusuma-Powell, O 2015, ‘Overcoming resistance to new ideas’, Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 96, no. 8, pp. 66–69, viewed 17 September 2020, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0031721715583967.

William Bridges Associates 2020, Bridges Transition Model, viewed 15 October 2020, https://wmbridges.com/about/what-is-transition/.

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Modifying the Mathematics curriculum for gifted students in Barker Junior school: What effect does mentoring have on learning in Mathematics?

Jo Quinlan Junior School Aspire and Digital Learning Leader

Abstract Mentoring can be a valuable experience for gifted learners. A mentoring relationship has the potential to engage, inspire and encourage both mentee and mentor. This article describes an approach to modifying the Mathematics curriculum for a group of high achieving students in Barker Junior School. After briefly describing a variety of strategies used to modify the curriculum, the article focuses on how two teachers worked collaboratively to establish a peer mentoring project between Year 6 and Year 9 students in 2020, including initial outcomes of the project and suggestions for further development of this approach to learning.

MacLeod (2004) suggests that curriculum designed to challenge and meet the needs of gifted learners must address their need for increased pace and complexity and allow for instruction and scaffolding for learning that may not require the level of repetition and support needed in a regular classroom.

At the start of 2020, the Gifted Education support teacher in the Junior School worked collaboratively with Year 6 teachers to analyse a range of qualitative and quantitative data collected on student achievement in Mathematics. This included anecdotal observations from 2019 Year 5 teachers and early observations from 2020 Year 6 teachers, 2019 APSMO Maths Olympiad scores, off-level PAT Mathematics results and Numeracy results from the Year 5 NAPLAN test, to identify a group of students who could benefit from involvement in a more challenging Mathematics curriculum.

The Mathematics’ curriculum was differentiated using the following teaching approaches that are well suited to gifted learners (Munro 2012, p. 3): •

Clustering students achieving highly in Mathematics.

•

Completing an end of Year 6 Mathematics test at the beginning of the year to determine student’s existing knowledge and skills. This allowed compacting of the Mathematics curriculum, reducing time spent on reviewing Year 6 syllabus content that students had already mastered to focusing on addressing a few gaps.

•

Telescoping the Mathematics curriculum by teaching content at a faster rate and accessing content and skills from resources typically developed for older students.

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•

Participating in extra-curricula programs such as the Senior Division of the Maths Olympiad competition (developed for high achieving mathematics students in Yrs 7 & 8), the BEBRAS Challenge, and the Australian Maths Trust’s Australian Mathematics Competition.

Recognising that there is still a range of abilities within this cluster of students, many of the mathematical tasks designed for this modified Mathematics curriculum make use of the low-floorhigh-ceiling (LFHC) framework advocated by Jo Boaler (Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University and founder of YouCubed). LFHC tasks are sometimes inspired by real-world problems, usually open-ended and often visual, with a layer of abstraction and/or complexity that allows everyone to get started at the ‘floor’ that best suits them, and continuing to work mathematically until they get stuck at their own ‘ceiling’ (NRICH Maths 2013). LFHC tasks encourage students to manage the pace and depth of their own learning. When students are exploring LFHC tasks, the teaching role shifts to that of facilitator, checking in to guide or ask the right questions at the right time, helping students stretch themselves wider and/or deeper as they explore further. Well-designed LFHC tasks aim to put students into places of struggle as Boaler (2019) states: Neuroscientists have found that mistakes are helpful for brain growth and connectivity and if we are not struggling, we are not learning. Not only is struggle good for our brains but people who know about the value of struggle improve their learning potential.

Working in a Pre-K to Year 12 school where there is access to human resources and expertise on site, provided an ideal opportunity to explore another strategy that is of particular benefit to gifted students – mentoring. Berger (1990) maintains that exposure to a mentor who is willing to share values, interest, time and talents is one of the most valuable experiences a gifted student can have.

Two teachers – a Senior School Maths teacher and a Junior School Gifted Education support teacher - met late in 2019 to consider the possibility of establishing a mentoring relationship between high achieving Year 6 Mathematics students and high achieving students in the top Year 9 Mathematics class. The teachers agreed to run a trial program in 2020, to see if and what value could be added to learning in Mathematics for both mentee and mentor students. The teachers had an open-minded and flexible approach to the program. They did not go into it with preconceived expectations or goals, or a fixed plan in mind. Both teachers committed to supporting the mentoring program for the year, sharing responsibility for the design and development of mentoring sessions. Teachers made use of resources they were already familiar with and they adapted activities to a LFHC design to facilitate learning for both Year 6 and Year 9 students.

Technology can be a useful aid to mentoring programs, so a shared Class Notebook was created, so students could continue working together asynchronously in the Collaboration Space if desired.

The success of mentorships usually depends on the compatibility of the partners (Schatz in Bisland 2001) and the mentor and mentee feeling they have not had a mentoring relationship forced on them (Clark 1995). This mentoring program could have been doomed from the start given that it was initiated by teachers, with students randomly paired by the teachers. However, the opposite outcome has eventuated, where students have been keen to meet with their partner, eagerly anticipating each of the mentoring sessions.

Student commitment to the mentoring relationship is more likely to result in a successful partnership. Teachers have observed varying levels of commitment from both mentors and mentees. Some of the Year 9 mentors have demonstrated high levels of commitment to the partnership as evidenced through kind and helpful asynchronous feedback they wrote on work that Year 6 students submitted to their shared Class Notebook, while others left no feedback at all. Some Year 6 students have responded to feedback from their mentors, while others have not.

Clasen & Clasen (1997 in Bisland 2001) suggest that mentors can be motivated, stimulated and challenged through mentoring, while Berger (1990) found that mentees reported benefiting from 102 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

having a role model from whom they received support and encouragement. Teacher observation of partners interacting together on mathematical tasks and listening to learning conversations between mentor and mentee suggests that these benefits occurred. Feedback from students supports this: ‘I like seeing how the Year 6 students see and think about problems differently to how we might do them’ ‘I like having the opportunity to explain my understanding and play the role of the teacher’ ‘I like seeing what is ahead of us in Maths and working with older students’ ‘I like working with a Year 9 student who thinks and works differently to most of my Year 6 peers’ The mentoring program has faced challenges too. The Year 6 and Year 9 Mathematics’ timetables align for one period once each fortnight. Disruptions to the timetable resulting from online learning and a re-imagined school year meant that face-to-face mentoring sessions have occurred infrequently. Use of the Class Notebook to support collaboration on tasks asynchronously has not eventuated.

However, both teachers feel that the mentoring program has had very positive outcomes. It would be worthwhile applying learning from this year’s open-ended, relaxed project to a more rigorous mentoring program in the future such as: •

Developing and administering a survey to 2020 mentors and mentees to gather data about their evaluation of and reflection on mentoring in Mathematics.

•

Analysing student survey submissions and teacher evaluations to determine if/how the program has affected learning in Maths for either or both Year 6 and Year 9 high achieving Mathematics students.

•

Clasen & Clasen (1997 in Bisland 2001) maintain that mentoring needs to be a flexible arrangement, so that emerging needs, interests, and issues can be explored, which suggests that students need choice regarding participation in a mentorship, and more input into the design of the mentoring program. Consideration also needs to be given to how mentoring relationships can be personalised and facilitated to better meet the needs, interests and issues of the partners involved.

•

Making use of Clark’s three phases of the mentoring relationship (1995) to pre-plan mentoring programs: o

Establishment of the mentoring relationship where mentors and mentees are identified, goals and expectations are discussed and a development plan is created, so that mentors and mentees understand the purpose of the relationship, their responsibilities and the benefits they hope to achieve.

o

Implementation of the development plan. Students could be encouraged to keep a journal documenting the experience, which would provide a powerful means of selfevaluation.

o

Evaluation of and reflection on the mentorship by mentor and mentee.

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References Berger, S 1990, Mentor relationships and gifted learners. Hoagies Gifted Education Page. Retrieved on September 8 from https://www.hoagiesgifted.org/eric/archived/e486.html.

Bisland, A 2001, ‘Mentoring: An educational alternative for gifted students’, Gifted Child Today; Fall 2001: 24.4. ProQuest.

Boaler, J 2019, Oct 28. Why Struggle Is Essential for the Brain — and Our Lives. Retrieved on September 8 from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2019-10-28-why-struggle-is-essential-for-the-brain-and-our-lives.

Clark, E 1995, ‘Mentoring: a case example and guidelines for its effective use’[online]. Youth Studies Australia, vol. 14, no. 2, Winter 1995: 37-42. Availability: <https://search-informit-comau.ezproxy2.library.usyd.edu.au/documentSummary;dn=951009496;res=IELAPA> ISSN: 1038-2569. [cited 08 Sep 20].

MacLeod, B 2004, Gifted and Talented Education Professional Development Package for Teachers. Module Five: Curriculum Differentiation for Gifted Students [PDF file]. Gifted Education Research, Resource and Information Centre (GERRIC), The University of New South Wales (UNSW). Retrieved on September 5, 2020 from https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/pdf/gifted_talented_education_module5_primary.pdf.

Munro, J 2012, Effective strategies for implementing differentiated instruction [PDF file]. Australian Council of Educational Research. Retrieved on September 5, 2020 from https://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1144&context=research_conference.

NRICH Maths 2013, Low Threshold High Ceiling – an Introduction. Retrieved on September 5, 2020 from https://nrich.maths.org/10345.

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Differentiation in History: How to assess if no one is Norma or Normann?

Philip Mundy Head of History

Abstract Student ability and achievement vary greatly and, in any given classroom, teachers have students with a wide range of needs. Multiply that by many classes across a large cohort and one gets widely divergent learning profiles. Some students are ready for extension challenges while others need more support to foster their development. Despite this, all students in a course typically take the same assessment task. While in theory an assessment task should be able to accommodate all students, in practice this can often prove difficult, particularly in subjects where tasks require students to answer only a few long questions.

Differentiated assessment helps to address these concerns by providing students with the opportunity to choose appropriately challenging questions in assessment tasks. Students thus do not take the ‘same’ task but, instead, one that more comfortably challenges them.

Context Popular education literature teems with slogans on differentiation – ‘one size does not fit all’, ‘Differentiated Instruction Helps Hit the Bullseye – Success for All!’, or ‘Differentiation – Different Paths, Same Destination!’ Like most slogans, these tend to oversimplify the situation and promise that a simple fix to a complex problem lies within easy reach. Instead, the reality of differentiation presents a much more nuanced and layered challenge that defies easy solutions. Differentiation at Barker takes many forms and this article examines the use of differentiated assessment tasks.

Differentiation aims to group students of similar ability together on the assumption that ‘a homogeneous pupil population provides the most room for the learning potential of each pupil, and that it promotes the efficiency and effectiveness of education’ (Denessen 2017). Barker College has streamed many subjects, especially in Stages 4 and 5, for quite some time.

Mathematics goes so far as to offer different Stage 5 courses, much as it does along with English in Stage 6 with Standard and Advanced. The School uses a number of different streaming models, but all share some element of ability grouping.

However, differentiation is much more than just allocating classes at the start of the year. One of the most prominent writers on the subject, Carol Ann Tomlinson (2003 p. 121) defines differentiation as: An approach to teaching in which teachers proactively modify curricula, teaching methods, resources, learning activities and products to address the diverse needs of individual students and small groups of students to maximize the learning opportunity of each student in a classroom.

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Barker uses formative assessment in this way in the classroom to respond to student development and needs. This, combined with some form of class streaming, provides a strong level of customisation for our students.

The Challenge Even though streaming typically narrows the range of achievement in a class, students across a large cohort take the same common assessment tasks. Prima facie this makes sense – after all how can one measure achievement across a cohort using different tests? Beyond this, there is also the issue of opportunity. One does not want to fall into the trap of pigeon-holing students into certain streams. Students frequently surprise their teachers and often even themselves with what they can achieve on assessments. So, one would argue, shouldn’t students all take the same task?

This makes sense in theory, but in practice it can be very different. In an assessment with many questions, having a few very difficult ones at the end gives the best students an opportunity to stand out. But in tasks with only a few questions, this becomes much more problematic. Take Year 9 History, for example. Many students are ready for the challenge of writing full essays and should be doing so. However, many students need a more scaffolded approach. In tasks that only last for 50 minutes, students cannot write a full essay and answer a whole series of other questions. The essay is the task, and if a student really struggles with them, then the task tells us little beyond whether or not that student struggles with essays. And the student and his or her teacher will already know that!

When faced with questions like that, it makes sense to go back to the original goals of assessment for guidance. According to scholar Jim Tognolini, standards-referenced assessments aim to provide evidence for a child’s ‘progress on a learning continuum defined by the outcomes and levels of achievement expressed in the Curriculum Framework’ (2006, p 4). So, in essence, assessments should address a range of outcomes. For students who are ready to write them, essays can reveal a great deal about their knowledge of the subject and their ability to organise ideas, make and support judgements, or to sustain a line of discussion. For students who really struggle to write an essay, it reveals little about these outcomes and provides little guidance for how to improve.

The New South Wales Education Standards Authority (NESA) argues along the same lines as Tognolini (2020). It asserts that Summative assessment (assessment of learning) should be designed to maximise student opportunity to demonstrate what they have come to know, understand and be able to do as a result of the lesson sequence/unit. It can also ‘feed forward’ to the next lesson sequence/unit so that the teacher is continuously gathering data on student growth and refining instructional plans based on the data. (NESA 2020) By aligning marks to standards, schools can make the criteria they are using to determine marks more explicit. This in turn means that students and parents get more specific feedback about how students can improve.

This is where differentiated assessment offers potential both to support students better and to provide more targeted feedback. It can provide questions more aligned with their current level of achievement and thus provide more detailed information about how they are achieving. This in turn makes more specific feedback possible.

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A Differentiated Approach In his book, The End of Average, Todd Rose (2016) writes about how the US air force sought to design the perfect cockpit seat by averaging ten body measurements from 4000 pilots. By making the perfectly average cockpit seat, they hoped to cater to the widest possible range of pilots. As it turned out, the seat did not suit a single pilot. Similarly, in the 1940s, artist Abram Belskie and obstetrician-gynaecologist Robert Latou Dickinson created the statues of Norma and Normann based on average measurements of over 15,000 people in their early 20s (Cambers 2020). When the Cleveland Museum of Health held a competition to find the woman who most closely resembled Norma, they found it nearly impossible to find even a close match (Rose 2016).

Much like the statues, a typical whole-cohort assessment with few questions, like an essay task, is generally aimed at the average student. While there are more students that meet this definition than there were Normas or pilots, nonetheless an essay aimed at the average student does not sufficiently challenge the more accomplished students, nor does it provide sufficient access to less accomplished students to allow them to show what they can do.

By differentiating tasks – providing students with question options of varying difficulty – we have aimed to address this problem. While methods varied considerably, in general, extension questions challenged students to make and support complex judgements and standard questions asked for an explanation or discussion without the same expectation of nuanced judgement.

More structured options scaffolded the task more fully by asking a series of more targeted questions (see Appendices 1 and 2).

Writing questions of varying level of difficulty is the easy part. Using them as part of a differentiated task proved more challenging, and we have experimented with a number of different models to find the most effective way to do this.

M odel 1: No student choice on the day of the task In this model, we produced two versions of the assessment task, one standard and one extension.

Both assessments shared some common questions but then had either standard or extension sections in the second half. Teachers used students’ formative work completed in class to recommend to students which option the teacher felt would be most appropriate. In discussion students could ask for the other option, but they had to make their decision before sitting the assessment. On the day of the assessment, students were given their nominated version of the task and could not switch.

M odel 2: Student choice on the day of the task We constructed the task similarly to Model 1 with about half the task common and half the task differentiated, but in this permutation, students were able to choose which questions they wanted to answer during the task. This meant that they could make decisions about which questions to answer after seeing the specific questions. Teachers still provided students with advice ahead of time about which option the teacher felt would be more appropriate.

M arking M odels We trialled different approaches to marking. In one version we set separate marking guidelines for the standard and extension questions but offered bonus marks to the students who attempted the extension question. Marking guidelines were calibrated so that a ‘standard’ answer to an ‘extension’ question would even out with the bonus marks. The aim here was to avoid penalising students for attempting the more challenging question.

In another version, we constructed a more generic set of guidelines that applied to both the standard and extension questions. Strong answers to the extension questions had more scope to

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access the highest bands, though an excellent answer to the standard question could also earn very high marks.

Discussion Feedback from both students and teachers revealed that students found the differentiated tasks more accessible and appropriately challenging. High achieving students had questions that really pushed them and students who needed more scaffolding in longer written tasks had the option of answering a series of questions. We found that we had many fewer very low marks or students who simply could not attempt the task in a meaningful way.

At the top end, we still had some very high marks, and overall better students who did extension questions ended up earning better marks on the extension questions than students who attempted the standard questions. We have seen a consistent pattern of the extension question average being higher than the standard question average. By making tasks more accessible at the bottom end and more challenging at the top, we narrowed the overall distribution of marks.

There are lingering concerns with this discussed more fully in the recommendations section.

Students and staff preferred giving students choice on the day of the task where they could compare questions, but student choice may not be at its best under assessment conditions. In particular, students at times seemed to get cold feet about attempting the more challenging option. In Year 7, there are four ‘high ability’ classes, streamed in parallel. These students are natural candidates to attempt the extension options, but uptake varied considerably from 17% to 96%.

Table 1: Percentage of Students in High Ability Classes Attempting Extension Question. Classes have been anonymised.

Class

Percentage attempting extension option

A

17%

B

67%

C

78%

D

96%

Similarly, some students in the Year 9 Film as History assessment achieved high marks in both the common section and differentiated extended response but opted to answer the easier questions in the paragraph section rather than tackle the harder options (Figure 1). In this section, students had to attempt three out of five paragraph questions. The first two questions were standard and the last three extension level. So at minimum students had to attempt at least one extension question and as many as three. The colours and associated trend line (‘Extension Paragraph Count’) refers to how many extension paragraph questions a student on that point attempted.

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Figure 1: Comparison of student choice and marks

Conclusions and Recom m endations Differentiated assessment holds a great deal of promise to make assessment more meaningful by giving students questions that challenge but don’t overwhelm them. This allows teachers to gather more meaningful information about their students, and, in conjunction with standards referencing, to provide more effective feedback.

Differentiated assessment also provides a way forward in a school with a wide range of student achievement. It provides a mechanism for providing top students with extension level work on par with what they would get in a selective school. It does this without requiring that top students be separated from the rest of their class in a ‘school within a school’ approach. The latter approach runs the risk of pigeon-holing students too early.

Many challenges remain. Students who should tackle extension questions need to be encouraged to do so, and this will require more focus from teachers. In addition, students who attempt extension questions should not end up with lower marks because they challenged themselves. A possible solution to this that has worked elsewhere is to meet the statutory obligations by reporting on an A to E scale but also including in reports that a student’s mark reflects attempted extension questions. Many schools use an E1-E3 scale to do this.

It is also essential that the School maintains high standards, which are critical for student achievement. While we want to assess students with questions that allow them to show what they know and can do, the questions still need to challenge students beyond what they think they can do. Without close attention to maintaining standards, differentiation runs the risk of becoming a slippery slope to lowered standards. Measuring and tracking differentiation has already required the development of a specialised database to store marks for analysis as well as development of more efficient methods of data collection. More work is required in this area, including building a larger bank of work samples to help set standards from year to year.

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Ultimately, if no one is Norma or Normann, assessment practices need to be rigorous enough to maintain high standards but sufficiently flexible to function most effectively.

References Altintas, E & Ozdemir, AS 2015, ‘Evaluating a Newly Developed Differentiation Approach in Terms of Student Achievement and Teachers’ Opinions’, Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, vol. 15, no. 4, https://doi.org/10.12738/estp.2015.4.2540.

Cambers, DS 2020, ‘The Law of Averages 1: Normman and Norma’, Cabinet Magazine, http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/15/cambers.php.

Denessen, E 2017, Dealing Responsibly with Differences: Socio-Cultural Backgrounds and Differentiation in Education, https://openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/64329/Oratie_Denessen_Engels.pdf?sequence=1.

Keats, J 2016, ‘The End of Average Tells Us Why We Should Discard a Mean Idea’, New Scientist, https://www.newscientist.com/article/2076608-the-end-of-average-tells-us-why-we-should-discard-a-meanidea/.

Lawrence-Brown, D 2004 ‘Differentiated Instruction: Inclusive Strategies or Standards -Based Learning That Benefit the Whole Class’, American Secondary Education, vol. 32, no. 3, pp.34–62, http://differentiation.dbbcso.org/uploads/7/9/6/7/7967947/differentiating_instruction__lawrence_brown.pdf.

NESA 2020, ‘Differentiating Learning’, https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/professionallearning/teacher-quality-and-accreditation/strong-start-great-teachers/refining-practice/differentiatinglearning.

Rose, T 2016, The End of Average: How We Succeed in a World That Values Sameness, New York: HarperOne, An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2016.

Subban, P 2006, ‘Differentiated Instruction: A Research Basis’, International Education Journal, vol. 7, no. 7, pp.

935-947. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ854351.

Tognolini, J 2001, ‘Assessment’, Educational Testing Centre: University of NSW, http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/1751776/20693301/1350729363343/AssessmentTognolini.pdf?token=kYQwEAizecTWxjlgZSmGA2b7X0M%3D#:~:text=ASSESSMENT,A%20paper%20by%20Professor%20Jim%20Tognolini,information%20for%20a%20specific%20purpose.

Tognolini J, 2006, ‘Meeting the Challenge of Assessing in A Standards Based Education System’, School Curriculum and Standards Authority of WA, December 6, https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/74804/Tognolini-report.pdf Tognolini, J & Stanley, G 2007, ‘Standards Based Assessment: A Tool and Means to the Development of Human Capital and Capacity Building in Education’, Australian Journal of Education, vol. 51, no. 2, pp.129–45, https://doi.org/10.1177/000494410705100203.

Tomlinson, C 2014, The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. ASCD.

Tomlinson, CA, Brighton, C, Hertberg, H, Callahan, CM, Moon, TR, Brimijoin, K, Conover, LA & Reynolds, T 2003, ‘Differentiating Instruction in Response to Student Readiness, Interest, and Learning Profile in Academically Diverse Classrooms: A Review of Literature’, Journal for the Education of the Gifted, vol. 27, no.

23, pp.119–45, https://doi.org/10.1177/016235320302700203.

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Appendices Appendix 1: Sample Year 9 Differentiated Question s Sample differentiated questions from a Year 9 task. Note the added level of complexity in Question 2.

1.

2.

Explain how people can use film to learn about the past. In your response, you must refer to the film you studied in class OR Evaluate the view that film is a valuable way to learn about the past. In your response, you must refer to the film you studied in class

Appendix 2: Sample Year 7 Differentiated Questions Core Option: Answer two paragraph questions.

1.

2.

What was the role of the Catholic Church in Medieval Europe?

Explain how an individual you studied this term impacted the society in which they lived.

Extension Option: Answer in a multi-paragraph extended response.

Students had a series of sources that they were given ahead of time from which they could draw their evidence. This gave students the opportunity to work through the material, but they didn’t know the exact question until they sat the task.

Assess the view that life was challenging in the Middle Ages.

• •

In your answer you must reference specific individuals and situations as evidence.

You must also use information from the source page to support your answer.

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Academic engagement in high-ability Mathematics students: An examination of interpersonal relationships and personal best (PB) goals Kate Caldecott-Davis School Counsellor / Psychologist

Abstract Research has sought to understand the trajectory of engagement and subsequent achievement of gifted students in order to develop effective interventions to reduce and reverse academic underachievement (McCoach & Siegle 2003). Previous studies have demonstrated the link between high-quality interpersonal relationships and academic engagement, mediated by personal best (PB) goal setting within general student populations (e.g. Collie et al. 2016; Martin et al. 2016; Martin et al. 2019). Grounded within a self-determination theory framework, this study examines the associations between three interpersonal relationships (teacher, parent, and peer), PB goal setting, and academic engagement within a sample of high-ability middle school students. A cross-sectional, selfreport survey was undertaken with a sample of 66 male, high-performing Year 8 mathematics students, enrolled at an independent school located in Sydney, Australia.

Consistent with previous research, general linear model analyses found teacher and peer relationships, but not parent relationships, to be positively associated with academic engagement. PB goal setting uniquely predicted academic engagement above and beyond each interpersonal relationship subtype. The findings of this investigation indicate the importance of fostering high quality interpersonal relationships and PB goal setting previously found in studies of general student populations also extend to gifted and talented students.

K e y T e r ms Self-determination theory A broad framework for understanding factors that facilitate or undermine motivation and psychological wellness.

Personal best (PB) goals Competitively self-referenced growth-based goals.

Interpersonal relationships Social interactions and regard between two or more individuals.

Academic engagement Observable cognitive, behavioural, and emotional connection and participation with a specific concept, process, or activity.

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Body Introduction In the context of prescriptive curriculum standards, school rankings, and university admission requirements, there is significant national interest in the academic achievement of Australian students (Rudd & Gillard 2008). With interventions aimed at minimising the number of students failing to meet minimum benchmarks, ‘at-risk’ populations benefit from the majority of allocated educational resourcing (Jarvis & Henderson 2012). Whilst efforts to provide equitable access to targeted educational interventions, and resourcing for these student populations is vital, there remains another, overlooked and frequently neglected, student population – Australia’s gifted students.

Whilst the onset of gifted underachievement and declining engagement is well established within the literature, there is less consensus regarding the underlying reasons for such an abilityachievement trajectory. In a review of the gifted underachievement literature, Reis and McCoach (2000) identified associations between achievement and environmental perceptions (e.g. attitudes about teacher relationships and school), goal valuation, self-efficacy, and self-regulation.

They found relationships with peers to be positive influences on underachieving gifted students, and may support the reversal of underachievement (Reis & McCoach 2000).

Personal best (PB) goal setting is a growth goal currently receiving much research attention, with studies suggesting that PB goals enhance student outcomes to a greater extent than traditional performance and mastery goals (Bostwick et al. 2020; Burns et al. 2018a; 2018b). Given that interpersonal relationships are known positively to predict growth goals, and that PB goals are related to positive student outcomes, associations between interpersonal relationships → PB goals → academic engagement are a focus in this paper.

By conducting multiple linear regression analyses of high-ability Year 8 mathematics students’ self-reported survey responses, this study sought to determine the extent to which PB goal setting is associated with academic engagement when controlling for the influences of interpersonal relationships with teachers, parents, and peers within gifted students.

Characteristics of gifted students Within the research literature, Gagné’s Differentiated Model of Giftedness and Talent 2.0 (DMGT; Gagné 2010) has achieved near universal consensus for conceptualising giftedness. The DMGT is a talent development model that recognises individual factors, including the possession of innate abilities (i.e. gifts), which are influenced by environmental (e.g. parents, teachers, and peers) and interpersonal catalysts (e.g. motivation, volition, and self-awareness), and developmental processes (e.g. access to education and training, and resources), leading to the expression of abilities into observable competencies (Gagné 2010; Preckel et al. 2006; Rubenstein et al. 2012).

According to the DMGT, giftedness refers to the possession of inherent natural abilities or aptitudes, in at least one domain of human functioning, that places an individual within the top 10% of same-aged peers (Gagné 2010). Talents, a construct related to, yet distinct from giftedness, refer to exceptional mastery of one or more domains of expressed competencies (knowledge and skills) to the extent that places the individual within the top performing 10% of peers within their field (Gagné 2010). Within this study, mathematical-talented students are those performing within the top 10% of their grade level in the area of mathematics. Whilst not directly examined here, it is expected that the majority of mathematically talented students included in this study, also possess high intellectual ability (viz. giftedness).

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There is a dearth of research investigating motivation and growth goals within gifted and talented students, and to the author’s knowledge, there are no studies of this kind within an Australian context. Thus, this study aims to consider the existing body of literature regarding academic engagement within general student populations and explore the applicability to a talented student population within the participant school.

Self-Determ ination Theory Self-determination theory (SDT; Ryan & Deci 2017), a conceptual framework of human motivation, posits that fulfilment of three basic needs – autonomy, relatedness, and competence - facilitate optimal autonomous motivation and associated positive outcomes. Within classroom-based contexts, need-supportive practices are associated with greater motivation, wellbeing and academic achievement (Jang et al. 2012). Of particular interest here, ‘relatedness’ refers to an individual’s experience of feeling valued, accepted, and cared for by others (Ryan & Deci 2017).

In line with the SDT theoretical framework, this paper operationalises students’ need for relatedness as quality interpersonal relationships with teachers, parents, and peers. The notions of self-determination and internalisation within SDT provide support for the hypothesised relationship between interpersonal relationships and PB goals (Collie et al. 2016). Deci and Ryan (2012) argue that high quality interpersonal relationships increase the probability that the individual will internalise the beliefs and values of significant others. Thus, it is expected that within this school context, high relatedness with others (viz. teachers, parents, and peers) will increase the likelihood, and perhaps the extent to which, the schools’ (via individuals within the school community) values of learning and academic growth are internalised by individual students. Collie et al. (2016), suggest that it is this internalisation process that promotes PB goal setting by enhancing autonomous motivation through the satisfaction of SDT basic psychological needs.

Interpersonal relationships For school students, three types of interpersonal relationships have been identified as influential on school functioning: teachers, parents, and peers (Collie et al. 2016; Martin & Dowson 2009; Martin & Mainhard 2015). Each of these interpersonal relationships will be introduced next.

Teacher relationships Positive teacher relationships are important for student functioning, and promote internalisation of the teachers’ values and beliefs regarding school and learning (Martin & Dowson 2009; Ryan & Deci 2017). Teacher relationships refer to the students’ experience of positive interactions with their teacher which include perceptions of teacher’s demonstrated interest and support of the student. Longitudinal research has shown high-quality student-teacher relationships to be associated with positive student outcomes, such as academic achievement (Martin & Dowson 2009), academic engagement (Furrer & Skinner 2003), and motivation (Opdenakker et al. 2012).

Causal links have been established within empirical research investigating the importance of student relationships with teacher, locating these interpersonal relationships as reliable predictors of a range of positive student outcomes (Wentzel 2010).

Parent relationships Similarly, interpersonal relationships with parents are associated with positive student outcomes such as motivation and engagement (Fan & Williams 2010), academic goal setting (Martin et al.

2009), and academic achievement (Jeynes 2007). High-quality parent relationships have been found to predict academic connectedness (Dumont et al. 2012), in addition to school engagement and achievement (Hong & Ho 2005; Wang & Eccles 2012). In this paper parent relationships are operationalised as the extent that students’ feel understood and fairly treated by their parents, and how well they like and get along together.

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Peer relationships The experience of positive relationships with peers is associated with a range of positive wellbeing and school-related outcomes (Wentzel 2009). Peer relationships are defined in this paper as a sense of reciprocal positive regard and interest between the student and their peers. Consistent with interpersonal relationships with parents and teachers, peer relationships have been found to be positively associated with academic engagement (Wang & Eccles 2013; Wentzel 2009), goal setting (Martin et al. 2009), and perceived academic competence (Guay et al. 1999). Wentzel (2009) suggests that these outcomes can be attributed to the resources, emotional validation, and modelling resulting from supportive peer relationships.

Summary Taken together, research literature highlights commonalities amongst these three types of student interpersonal relationships (viz. teacher, parent, and peer), with high quality relationships being predictive of academic and non-academic, positive student outcomes. Prior research (e.g. Collie at al. 2016; Deci & Ryan 2012; Wentzel 2010) posits that, in combination with SDT theory, empirical evidence indicates a causal relationship between interpersonal relationships and student wellbeing and academic outcomes. Despite this, researchers have not yet investigated the importance of relatedness within high-ability student populations. Should these research findings extend to gifted and talented students, resulting implications for educational practice may augment strategies to reverse gifted underachievement.

Personal Best (PB) G oals PB goal setting is a growth-based approach focusing on superseding an individual’s previous performance or behaviours. Martin (2006) defines PB goals as being competitively selfreferenced, challenging, and specific in nature. In contrast to traditional goal setting, such as mastery and performance goals, which reference success compared to a specific achievement outcome (e.g. learning mathematical times tables), or relative to another’s performance (e.g. being top of the maths class), PB goals aim to outperform one’s past efforts or achievements (Burns et al. 2018; Collie et al. 2016; Martin 2006). A growing body of literature is demonstrating positive associations between PB goal setting on academic engagement and academic achievement (Burns et al. 2017; Martin 2013; 2015). Furthermore, PB goal setting has been shown positively to predict academic outcomes beyond that explained by mastery and performance goals (Martin & Elliot 2015; 2016; Yu & Martin 2014). Prior research has found that sufficiently challenging goal setting, may enhance intrinsic motivation, leading to increased performance outcomes (Senko et al. 2011). Given the self-referenced focus on personal improvement, it is anticipated that PB goals will elicit such intrinsic motivation (Burns et al. 2018). Within the SDT framework, PB goals are likely to support autonomy- and competency-need fulfilment, as they necessitate the selfreflection of previous personal achievements and involve control over PB goal development. The self-determined nature of PB goals, emphasising students’ volition and autonomy are expected to be enhanced by relatedness need-supportive practices within the school setting (Collie at al.

2016). Due to the established association with relatedness support via interpersonal relationships in previous research (e.g. Collie et al. 2016), PB goal setting has been included in the present investigation as a crucial variable related to improved academic outcomes (e.g. Burns et al. 2018; Martin & Elliot 2015; 2016).

Although the importance of the association between PB goal setting and engagement has been established within the general student population, it is not yet known whether this association holds true for gifted students. Should PB goal setting be found to positively predict academic engagement within gifted and talented students, the resulting implications may hold promise for pedagogical interventions targeting achievement in gifted populations.

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Academ ic Engagem ent Academic engagement is a multidimensional concept, comprised of three factors: cognitive, behavioural, and emotional engagement (Collie & Martin 2017; Fredricks et al. 2004). Cognitive engagement refers to the extent to which an individual is willing to actively engage in thinking, understanding, and learning novel ideas or skills. Behavioural engagement encompasses agentic action to participate in social and learning activities. Emotional engagement refers to the extent to which the student is affected by their school, schoolwork, and members of the school community. Engagement research has consistently demonstrated positive student outcomes emanating from high levels of engagement in domain-general (Collie et al. 2016; Jang et al 2010; Wang & Eccles 2012), and, more recently, domain-specific school contexts (e.g. Baroody et al.

2016; Collie & Martin 2017). In this study, academic engagement draws upon the three-component model of engagement (Fredricks et al., 2004), using a domain-general approach to measurement within a sample of mathematics students. High academic engagement is associated with a range of short- and long-term outcomes (Skinner et al. 2008). Academically engaged students are more likely to experience positive self-concept (Liem & Martin 2011), healthy functioning (Liem et al.

2008), and academic achievement (Jang et al. 2012). Thus, educational practices that support high levels of student engagement may hold significant promise for increasing achievement in gifted students.

The Present Study There is an abundance of empirical research concerning the alarming rates of disengagement amongst middle-school students. Given the unique socio-affective characteristics and learning needs of high-ability students, it is important to understand how the interpersonal relationships of high-achieving students impact upon their academic engagement and how these differ from their low-achieving peers. Additionally, the emerging body of literature showing the benefits of growth approaches, specifically PB goal setting, to increase student motivation and academic achievement may hold promise for interventions targeting gifted underachievement. To date, research investigating PB goal setting and interpersonal relationships, has been conducted within general education populations, and with reference to ‘at risk’ groups of students (e.g. diagnosed ADHD, culturally and language diverse). In order to address this gap in the literature, this study represents the first investigating interpersonal relationships and PB goal setting within a highability student population.

This study addresses the following research question: 1. To what extent are PB goals associated with academic engagement over and above the association with interpersonal relationships in mathematically gifted students?

Building upon previously established temporal relations between interpersonal relationships and academic engagement, together with prior research on PB goal setting, it is expected that PB goals will positively predict academic engagement over and above each type of interpersonal relationship.

Method Participants Data was collected from Year 8 students enrolled at an Independent school, located in Sydney.

Participating students were identified as mathematically-talented using standardised measures of mathematics achievement (stanine 8). A sample of 66 male children aged 12-14 years (Mean Age= 12.89, SD= 0.468) agreed to participate in the study. All students in the school’s Year 8 cohort are male and attend as day students. The majority of students list English as their primary language

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(72%), have one or more university educated parents (undergraduate qualification 14%; postgraduate university degree 72%). This sample represents students originating from families with an above-average socio-economic status.

Measures The single online questionnaire included participant information and consent as the initial item.

The following items included all measures rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (Strongly Agree) to 7 (Strongly Disagree), and demographic items.

Interpersonal Relationships Student perceptions on three interpersonal relationship factors were measured: relationships with teachers, parents, and peers. Four items assessed perceived teacher relationships (e.g. ‘In general, my teachers are interested in me’) (Martin & Marsh 2008); four items measured perceived parent relationships (e.g. ‘My parents treat me fairly’) (Marsh 1992); and four items assessed peer relationships (e.g. ‘Overall, I am liked by other students at this school’) (Marsh 1992). Each of these scales have shown evidence of validity and reliability in previous research (e.g. Collie, et al. 2016; Marsh 1992; Martin & Marsh 2008). Data from the current sample demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.864).

PB Goals Items from the Personal Best Scale (Martin 2006; Martin & Liem 2010) were used to measure academic PB goals (e.g. ‘When I do my schoolwork, I try to improve on how I’ve done before’; 4 items). Previous research has shown sound psychometric properties for this scale (e.g. Collie et al. 2016; Martin 2006). Internal consistency based on data from the current sample was excellent (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.909).

Academic Engagement Following previous research (e.g. Collie & Martin 2017; Collie et al. 2016), academic engagement was measured using a composite scale, aligned with Fredricks and colleagues’ (2004) threecomponent model of engagement, including cognitive, behavioural, and emotional constructs.

Operationalising academic engagement by incorporating these components provided sound theoretical construct validity whilst circumventing multicollinearity between these engagement constructs (Collie & Martin 2017). Internal consistency based on data from the current sample was good (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.861).

Statistical Analyses To address the central research question, the extent that PB goals predict academic engagement over and above interpersonal relationships in mathematically talented students, a series of multiple linear regression analyses were conducted. The unique effects of interpersonal relationships and PB goal setting on student academic engagement were examined by regressing PB goals with each of the interpersonal relationships simultaneously on academic engagement.

Hierarchical multiple linear regression analyses were conducted for each of the interpersonal relationships (teacher relations, parent relations, and peer relations).

Results Preliminary Analyses Descriptive statistics and assumption testing The mean, standard deviation, distribution data, and reliability statistics for each scale in the total data set (gifted and maths support) is presented in Table 1. This data is comparable with prior research (e.g. Collie et al. 2016; Martin & Liem 2010, Martin et al. 2013). Skewness and kurtosis statistics indicate that data from each scale fits a relatively normal distribution. As shown in Table 1 reliabilities ranged from .85 to .95 indicating good internal consistency. Continuous data were

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screened for violations of parametric test assumptions (Field 2016), with all assumptions being met.

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics

Mean

Std. Deviation

Skewness

a

Kurtosis

Statistic

Std. error

Statistic

Std. error

Interpersonal relationships Teacher relationships

9.47

3.52

1.21

0.30

1.72

0.58

.83

Parent relationships

7.62

4.42

1.89

0.30

3.47

0.58

.87

Peer relationships

9.88

3.84

1.01

0.30

1.66

0.58

.87

8.48

3.66

1.21

0.30

2.55

0.58

.91

Academic engagement

7.53

2.55

1.90

0.30

6.15

0.58

.86

Academic intentions

6.85

2.34

1.33

0.30

2.39

0.58

.61

Class participation

7.92

3.36

1.81

0.30

6.86

0.58

.92

School enjoyment

7.80

4.21

2.41

0.30

8.37

0.58

.89

Goals PB goals

Inferential Statistics Bivariate associations between study measures Pearsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s product-moment correlations were estimated to examine bivariate associations between academic engagement and PB goals, teacher relationships, parent relationships, and peer relationships (see Table 2). Within this sample all of the predictor variables were significantly associated with academic engagement, PB goals (r = .672, p < .01), teacher relationships (r = .682, p < .01). parent relationships (r = .437, p < .01), peer relationships (r = .537, p < .01).

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Table 2: Pearsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Rank Order Bivariate Correlations

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

1. Age 2. Teacher relationships -.016 3. Parent relationships .099 .455** 4. Peer relationships -.144 .449** .208 5. PB goals .039 .713** .561** .346** 6. Academic engagement -.154 .682** .437** .537** .672** Note. * Correlation is significant at the .05 level (2-tailed), ** Correlation is significant at the .01 level (2-tailed) Associations between interpersonal relationships, PB goals, and academic engagement in talented students The central research question investigated the extent to which PB goals are related to academic engagement over and above the association with interpersonal relationships in high-ability mathematics students. To examine this association beyond the bivariate correlations described above (see 3.2.1; Table 2), a simultaneous multiple regression was conducted to predict academic engagement from PB goals, teacher relationships, parent relationships, and peer relationships.

These variables statistically significantly predicted academic engagement, F(4, 61) = 22.779, p < .001, R2 = .599. With the exception of parent relationships (t = .602, ns), each of the variables (teacher relationships, peer relationships, and PB goals) added statistically to the model, p < .05 (see Table 3).

Table 3: Simultaneous Regression Model of Predictors of Academic Engagement

Teacher relationships Parent relationships Peer relationships PB goals R2 F

b .634 .103 .554 .702 .599 22.779***

SE B .266 .171 .181 .262

b .291** .059** .278** .335**

Notes. * p < .05, ** p < .01, p < .001

To examine the unique contribution of PB goals in the explanation of academic engagement, hierarchical regression analyses were performed. Predictor variables associated with academic engagement were entered in two steps. Based on prior theorising and longitudinal research, interpersonal relationships were entered in the first step equation, followed by PB goals in the second step. Results of the variance inflation factor (all < 3.0), and collinearity tolerance (all > 4.90) indicate that the estimated bs are well established in the following regression models.

In the first analysis, a multiple linear regression was calculated to predict academic engagement based on teacher relationships (step 1) and PB goals (step 2). The results of step 1 indicated a significant association with academic engagement F(1, 64) = 55.766, p < .001, R2 = .465. The second step of this analysis, which included PB goals, significantly predicted academic engagement, F(2, 63) = 36.305, p < .001, R2 = .535. In this sample, PB goals significantly predicted academic engagement over and above teacher relationships, DR2 = .070, p < .01. The unstandardized regression coefficients, intercept, and standardised regression coefficients for the full model are reported in Table 4.

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Table 4: Linear Model of Predictors of Academic Engagement (95% Confidence Intervals Reported in Parentheses).

b

SE B

8.530 (4.521, 12.539) 1.483 (1.086, 1.880)

2.007

7.361 (3.518, 11.203) .896 (.364, 1.429) .793 (.280, 1.306)

1.923

b

p

Step 1 Constant Teacher relationships

.199

< .001 .682

< .001

Step 2 Constant Teacher relationships PB goals

< .001

.266

.412

.001

.257

.378

.003

Note. R2 = .465 for Step 1; DR2 = .070 for Step 2 (ps < .01).

In the final analysis a multiple linear regression was calculated to predict academic engagement based on peer relationships (step 1) and PB goals (step 2). The results of step 1 indicated a significant association with academic engagement F(1, 64) = 25.903, p < .001, R2 = .288. The second step of this analysis, which included PB goals, significantly predicted academic engagement, F(2, 63) = 39.609, p < .001, R2 = .557. In this sample, PB goals significantly predicted academic engagement over and above peer relationships, DR2 = .269, p < .001. The unstandardized regression coefficients, intercept, and standardised regression coefficients for the full model are reported in Table 6.

Table 5. Linear Model of Predictors of Academic Engagement (95% Confidence Intervals Reported in Parentheses).

Step 1 Constant Peer relationships

Step 2 Constant Peer relationships PB goals

b

SE B

12.001 (7.552, 16.450) 1.070 (.650, 1.491)

2.227

5.942 (1.898, 9.986) .689 (.333, 1.045) 1.158 (.784, 1.533)

2.024

.210

b

p < .001

.537

< .001

.005

.178

.345

< .001

.187

.553

< .001

Note. R2 = .288 for Step 1; DR2 = .269 for Step 2 (ps < .001).

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Discussion The aim of this study was to examine associations among high-ability middle school studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; perception of their interpersonal relationships, PB goal setting, and academic engagement.

Results revealed that PB goals were positively associated with academic engagement over and above each of the three interpersonal relationships. Of the three types of interpersonal relationships, teacher and peer relationships yielded a significant association with academic engagement, with no significant association being found between parent relationships and academic engagement.

I n t e r p e r s o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s , P B g o a l s , a n d a c a d e m i c e n g a g e m e n t i n h i g h- a b ilit y s t u d e n t s Consistent with previous research (e.g. Collie et al. 2016) the findings of this investigation show teacher and peer relationships, but not parent relationships, associated with academic engagement when controlling for PB goal setting. As with previous SDT research, it is likely that relatedness-support increases autonomous motivation, which in turn leads to greater levels of engagement (Deci & Ryan 2012). This study uniquely contributes to existing literature by replicating these findings within a high-ability student population.

Collie and colleagues (2016) assert, that the positive influence of peers on student engagement is contrary to common parental and educator concerns regarding the disruptive impact that peer influence may have on student learning during this developmental period (Martin 2006). Aligned with SDT, this study highlights the importance of positive peer relationships, within a relatednesssupportive school environment, to be conducive to greater levels of academic engagement.

Although significant bivariate correlations were found between parent relationships, and PB goal setting and academic engagement, no unique parent relationship association was found when controlling for teacher and peer relationships. Again, these findings are comparable to previous studies of general student populations (e.g. Collie et al. 2016) and add weight to existing evidence regarding proximal influence of relatedness-need satisfaction on academic outcomes.

PB goals positively predicted academic engagement over and above each of the interpersonal relationships within this sample of high-ability students, replicating prior research findings in general student populations. Thus, significant attention should be given to the potential PB goals may have to narrow the ability-achievement gap of gifted students. As such a prominent construct within this study along with previous research, further research investigating the discrete benefits of PB goal setting within motivation and engagement models could be expected to have significant implications for practice (Collie et al. 2016), which may yield important benefits to academic achievement in gifted student populations. The self-determined nature of PB goal setting aligns closely with the SDT model, from which heightened experiences of autonomy, together with perceived relatedness is known to be associated with increased student engagement (Jang et al. 2012; Pianta et al. 2012).

Im plications for practice The findings of this investigation indicate the importance of fostering high quality interpersonal relationships and PB goal setting previously found in studies of general student populations also extend to high-ability students. Aligned with practice recommendations emerging from research emphasised in general and special education contexts, to support relatedness within the classroom, teachers are encouraged to be interested and respectful of studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s opinions, sensitive to their learning needs, avoid punitive measures, and create a warm and nurturing classroom climate (Collie et al. 2016; Pianta et al. 2012). For high-ability students, relatednesssupport may be particularly salient to facilitate autonomous motivation for high levels of academic engagement that lead to learning beyond curriculum requirements. In addition to classroom122 â&#x20AC;˘ Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

based efforts, policy and practice should foster more broadly an inclusive sense of belonging within the school community and provide opportunities for social and emotional learning (Martin & Dowson 2009). To achieve these goals, school executives should provide support and training for teachers to build their skills and personal resources to develop positive relationships with their students, particularly during instances of challenging student behaviours (Collie et al. 2015; 2016; Martin & Dowson 2009). As students’ interpersonal relationships with teachers and peers were found to yield the greatest impact on academic engagement within the classroom setting, an important focus for schools will be to focus on enhancing the quality of those relationships most proximal to the learning environments.

In addition to high-quality interpersonal relationships, the significant association found between PB goals and academic engagement over and above the association of each interpersonal relationship type, highlights the potential value of focusing resourcing and teacher training to promote PB goal setting of high-ability students. Teachers can support gifted students by encouraging students to set competitively self-referenced goals regarding learning behaviours (e.g. increasing requests for teacher feedback, spending more time preparing for assessments) or outcomes (e.g. completing more practice questions, achieving a higher maths result than on previous attempts) (Collie et al. 2016; Martin & Elliot 2015).

Lim itations and future directions Whilst this study has yielded some interesting results, there are a number of limitations that warrant consideration when interpreting the findings. Firstly, the cross-sectional research design precludes causality when considering the temporal association between interpersonal relationships → PB goals → academic engagement. Whilst there is substantial longitudinal research (e.g. Furrer & Skinner 2003; Opdenakker et al. 2012; Skinner et al. 2008) and sound theoretical basis (viz. SDT framework) for the temporal (causal) ordering between the study variables, there is also suggestions within the literature of an iterative process involving these motivational and engagement mechanisms underlying academic achievement (Creasey et al. 1997; Guay et al. 2009; Martin et al. 2015; Sameroff 2009; Siegle et al. 2017). In order to establish causation and clarify these complex motivational processes, it will be important that future research incorporates experimental and longitudinal research designs.

The self-reported quantitative data used in this study is subjective as it represents participants’ perceptions of each of the variables, and may not align with the perceptions of others, due to the uniquely personal nature of each of the included constructs (most notably interpersonal relationships). Individual perceptions of relationship quality are likely to exert greater influence over relatedness need-fulfilment, and motivational processes than third-party or objective measures. Therefore, self-reported data is considered an appropriate approach to examine students’ perceived school experiences.

Within this study domain-general measures for each of the study variables were used to investigate the relationships between constructs. The inclusion of the same domain-general survey items found in prior research involving general student samples (e.g. Collie at al. 2016), enabled comparisons between the findings from the current sample of high-ability students with previous studies of general student populations. Whilst these results are limited to the extent that they assess students’ perceived experiences broadly and over time; and prohibit inferences to be drawn regarding the influence that specific interpersonal relationships, PB goal types, and specific domain of engagement (in this case, mathematics teacher and peers, PB mathematics goals, and engagement in mathematics), they do provide important findings from which significant practice implications result. As the body of motivation and engagement research in gifted students emerges, focuses on domain-general versus domain-specific differences will be important to

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enhance understanding of the unique influences of each dimension, and further to refine research-informed educational practice.

The fourth and most significant limitation of this study relates to sampling issues. In order to identify high-ability students without undertaking extensive and onerous individual cognitive testing, recruitment focused on existing mathematics ability-grouped classes. Whilst this recruitment strategy enabled identification of mathematics students demonstrating achievement within the top 10% of their peers, thus talented in this area (Gagné 2010), interpretation of these findings is limited to the extent to which these students may be achieving beneath their potential albeit within an advanced mathematics class. It would be prudent for related, larger-scale research to control for these factors, and to include prior achievement as an important covariate (Burns et al. 2019; Martin 2011; Yu & Martin 2014).

Despite the limited scope of this project, results replicated previous research findings of the association between interpersonal relationships, PB goals, and academic engagement (e.g. Collie et al. 2016; Martin et al. 2009) within a sample of talented mathematics students. Notwithstanding the limitations of this study, these results suggest that prior research within general student populations may be generalisable to gifted students.

Conclusion In the current study, Year 8 mathematics students’ self-reported perceptions of three types of interpersonal relationships (viz. teacher, parent, and peer), their PB goals, and their level of academic engagement were investigated. Quantitative analyses examined the association between each of the interpersonal relationships and PB goals with academic engagement in mathematically talented students. Results revealed significant positive associations between teacher and peer relationships with academic engagement, but not parent relationships. PB goal setting was found to be a significant predictor of academic engagement over and above each of the three types of interpersonal relationships, suggesting an important educational strategy to support academic engagement in high-ability students by incorporating PB goal setting opportunities in the classroom. The central findings of this study provide preliminary evidence of the generalisability of prior interpersonal relationships, PB goal setting, and SDT research findings within a sample of high-ability students. Further research in this area will be important to augment academic achievement in gifted students.

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Burns, EC, Bostwick, KCP, Collie, RJ & Martin, AJ 2019, ‘Understanding girls’ disengagement: Identifying patterns and the role of teacher and peer support using latent growth modeling’, Journal of Youth and Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-00986-4.

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Martin, AJ, Collie, RJ, Durksen, TL, Burns, EC, Bostwick, K & Tarbetsky, AL 2019, ‘Growth goals and growth mindset from a methodological-synergistic perspective: lessons learned from a quantitative correlational research program’, International Journal of Research & Method in Education, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 204-219. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2018.1481938.

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Creativity and critical thinking in Technology teaching Sally Filtness Head of Butters House (Senior School), Design and Technology teacher

Abstract Creativity is an essential skill for 21st Century learners, yet it is often marginalised amidst a crowded curriculum. Stage 4 Mandatory Technology teachers are confronted with new syllabus documents, limited knowledge and experience of dissemination, having to be ‘jack of all trades and a master of none’, think on the run for design projects and solutions, overcome personal and situational limitations, accreditation and reporting requirements, all serve to shape expectations and limit practices and upskilling in the Technology classroom.

This article will explore the nature and importance of creativity and make recommendations for cultivating critical and creative thinking in the classroom.

K e y t e r ms Creativity Creativity is the act of turning new and imaginative ideas into reality. Creativity is characterised by the ability to perceive the world in new ways, to find hidden patterns, to make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena, and to generate solutions. Creativity involves two processes: thinking, then producing (Goodwin 2019).

Critical Thinking Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skilfully conceptualising, applying, analysing, synthesising and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action (Phan 2010).

Creative Thinking Creative thinking involves students learning to generate and apply new ideas in specific contexts, seeing existing situations in a new way, identifying alternative explanations and seeing or making new links that generate a positive outcome. This includes combining parts to form something original, sifting and refining ideas to discover possibilities, constructing theories and objects, and acting on intuition. The products of creative endeavour can involve complex representations and images, investigations and performances, digital and computer-generated output, or occur as virtual reality (ACARA 2014).

Design Thinking Design thinking is defined as an analytic and creative process that engages a person in opportunities to experiment, create and prototype models, gather feedback and redesign (Razzouk & Shute 2012).

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Body Creativity is a unique gift of nature, a highly valued human quality that has been known for a long time to have its influence on scientific, technological and artistic spheres of human activity.

The rapidly changing demands and challenges existing in the world today have almost necessarily been accompanied by creative expression and contributions from talented persons. When we look critically at the present-day educational practice, one of the voids is a lack of importance given to creativity (Ponnusamy 2019).

Creativity is a dynamic process which generates ideas that are both novel and of value. However, there is little understanding of what drives creativity in students and how to help teachers or educational experts detect creative thinking (Shillo, Hoernle & Gal 2019). It is essential to stimulate the students to be excited about content and project-based learning. Fasciato’s (2002, p.14) findings state that the design process we are currently using could be ‘restrictive, limiting and constraining the student’s natural ways in doing design’. How could we as teachers teach the content to decrease it being ‘restrictive and limiting’ while still addressing the syllabus needs from NESA? The next step prompted the researcher to go to curriculum, syllabuses and higher Authorities to seek further understanding. The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA 2014) states: In the Australian Curriculum, students develop capability in critical and creative thinking as they learn to generate and evaluate knowledge, clarify concepts and ideas, seek possibilities, consider alternatives and solve problems. Critical and creative thinking involves students thinking broadly and deeply using skills, behaviours, and dispositions such as reason, logic, resourcefulness, imagination and innovation in all learning areas at school and in their lives beyond school.

Thinking that is productive, purposeful and intentional is at the centre of effective learning.

By applying a sequence of thinking skills, students develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the processes they can use whenever they encounter problems, unfamiliar information, and new ideas. In addition, the progressive development of knowledge about thinking and the practice of using thinking strategies can increase students’ motivation for, and management of, their own learning. They become more confident and autonomous problem-solvers and thinkers.

Responding to the challenges of the twenty-first century – with its complex environmental, social and economic pressures – requires young people to be creative, innovative, enterprising and adaptable, with the motivation, confidence and skills to use critical and creative thinking purposefully.

This capability combines two types of thinking: critical thinking and creative thinking.

Though the two are not interchangeable, they are strongly linked, bringing complementary dimensions to thinking and learning.

Critical thinking is at the core of most intellectual activity that involves students learning to recognise or develop an argument, use evidence in support of that argument, draw reasoned conclusions, and use information to solve problems. Examples of critical thinking skills are interpreting, analysing, evaluating, explaining, sequencing, reasoning, comparing, questioning, inferring, hypothesising, appraising, testing and generalising.

Creative thinking involves students learning to generate and apply new ideas in specific contexts, seeing existing situations in a new way, identifying alternative explanations, and seeing or making new links that generate a positive outcome. This includes combining parts to form something original, sifting and refining ideas to discover possibilities, constructing 130 • Barker Institute Learning in Practice 2020

theories and objects, and acting on intuition. The products of creative endeavour can involve complex representations and images, investigations and performances, digital and computer-generated output, or occur as virtual reality.

Goodwin (2019) states: It is interesting to note that ACARA link creative and critical thinking together under the general capabilities section. In this case, creativity is not seen as being embedded, but an add-on to curricula. Schools decide when and how the general capabilities will be introduced. (Lamb, Maire, & Doecke 2017) Taboada & Coombs (2014) set the context and consider the current environment around teaching and learning in general and around design education specifically. Literature shows that creativity is strongly related to trust and diversity (Atkinson 2002; Goldschmidt & Tatsa 2005; Myers & Torrance, 1967; Polanyi 1967; Torrance 1967 cited in Taboada & Coombs 2014).

Trust, however, is something that takes time and effort to build and it does not exist if it is not authentic (Cole-Edelstein 2004; Healey 1997; Marzano 2006; Palmer 1997; Polanyi 1967 cited in Taboada & Coombs 2014). One cannot be ‘forced’ into trusting someone else. As is well described

by Brookfield (1995), it is the very subtle actions of the teacher that will make students feel secure enough to trust, or that can easily undermine any possibility for trust to happen. Taboada & Coombs (2014, p. 32) state that: Therefore, the ultimate transformative experience in design teaching will come from a solid bonding of creative trust between students and tutors, which should provide stronger engagement with more abstract issues and reinforce and inform connections to the needs of the industry. We believe design thinking combined with process-based learning can help engage students in their self-transformation.

In New South Wales, Mandatory Technology is a subject taught at the Secondary School level, Stage 4 (Years 7 and 8). The syllabus is determined by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) and it recommends: Technology and an understanding of design processes enable people to manage, interpret, shape and alter their environment to improve their quality of life at home, school, in workplaces and in the broader community. The rapid rate of technological change in an increasingly knowledge-based society highlights the need for flexible technological capability, innovative thinking, creativity and effective communication skills. (p. 8) And further, NESA’s Annual Report 2018-19 (p.98) stated one of their values and operating principles as ‘Research, evaluation and innovation: Encourage and promote innovation and creativity to encourage new strategies, ideas, products and processes.’

Goodwin (2019) also looks at the Technology Mandatory course and states: In common with most technology syllabi around the world, the NSW syllabus in Technology Mandatory Years 7-8 requires learners to ‘express themselves through creative activity…’ (p.

5), and ‘understand and apply a variety of analytical and creative techniques to solve problems’ (p. 5). Assessment of creativity ‘involves the generation of ideas and the degree of difference from existing ideas’ (p. 17), and the methods used to develop creative works include ‘mind mapping, brain storming, sketching, drawing and modelling’ (p. 30). These specifications commonly reflect definitions of creativity concerned with being different or novel and appropriate. (p. 30) Friedman (2003) advocates the need to think of the design solution as a series of skills, tasks and planning processes that come before the production of the artefact. Design courses should focus

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on developing design thinking skills rather than focus mainly on production. Buchanan (1998) agrees by stating that the focus on developing skills to solve problems of the present through a stronger flow of communication between industry practitioners and educators is valid, but that this should evolve into a different relationship between theory and practice. He believes that theory should go beyond practice developing ideas and solutions for problems yet to be felt by the industry, through studio practice and design research.

Brown (2009) crafts the term ‘Design Thinking’ to represent the strategic role of design in igniting ideas and the identification of issues at very Liminal Moments: Designing, thinking and learning early stages of development of a ‘solution’, as opposed to the common view of design as a ‘tactic’ activity that ‘builds on what exists and usually moves it (only) one step further. Designers then have their roles shifted from simply solving an aesthetic problem to become the core strategists and thinkers, helping not only to solve, but also to better outline the problems (Brown 2008; Brown 2009; Lockwood 2010). These arguments easily underpin the idea of aiming for a transformative design education, where the higher levels of reflection and transformation are achieved through the act of learning how to become a designer. As teachers of design we strive for our students to be achieving the ‘higher levels of reflection and transformation’.

Fasciato (2002) cited in Lim, Lim-Ratnam and Atencio, (2013) compared a few design processes and creativity/ design thinking models used in schools to explain and solve problems. Although the three models were termed as linear, cyclic and iterative in nature, the design stages were flowing in a linear fashion. It was found that there are “certain elements in common” (Fasciato, 2002, p.31) even though the three design process models appeared to look different. This commonality is reflected in the comment below: Having identified a problem, the student established the needs to be met by the final solution, carries out research and generates ideas, details a specification, and plans and makes the final design, while evaluating at each stage. (p. 31) This perspective detailed by Fasciato (2002) parallels the prescriptive, linear stage-model that the NSW Technology teachers have adapted. Fasciato views such design models as being restrictive, limiting and constraining the student’s natural ways in doing design.

What does this research mean and what are the implications for teaching and learning at Barker College? The Design and Technology Department seek to plan their 2021 design model without it ‘being restrictive, limiting and constraining (to) the student’s natural way of doing design’. The charge is also to build on a synthesis of research on teaching and learning in Design and Technology to address this as a department for programming into 2021. This study has implications for the work of educators in schools, particularly those who teach at a Stage 4 level and teach Mandatory Technology. Also, how to embed critical thinking, creativity and creative design thinking into our classrooms is a continual and concentrated focus so that we are addressing 21st Century essential skills.

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Goodwin, T 2019, ‘Creativity in the classroom: Chasing the tiger’s tail.’ Technology Education New Zealand TENZ Conference, October 1 – 3, Auckland, New Zealand, 978-0-473-50485-4 First published in New Zealand in November 2019 by Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ)(October 1 – 3, 2019), 40–53. Retrieved from https://tenz.org.nz/2019-conference/.

Lamb, S, Maire, Q & Doecke, E 2017, Education future frontiers: Analytical report, Key skills for the 21st century: An evidence-based review, NSW: NSW Department of Education.

Lim, SSH, Lim-Ratnam, C & Atencio, M 2013, ‘Understanding the Processes Behind Student Designing: Cases from Singapore’, Design and Technology Education: An International Journal 18.1, 18.1, 20–29. Retrieved from https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/DATE/article/view/1797 Lockwood, T 2010, ‘Foreword’, In: LOCKWOOD, T. (ed.) Design Thinking: Integrating innovation, customer experience, and brand value. NY: Allworth Press.

NESA 2019, NSW Education Standards Authority Annual Report 2018-19, retrieved from https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/f106c0be-0b8f-4642-b08caa59e83b2b24/NESA-annual-report-2018-19.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CVID=.

Phan, HP 2010, ‘Critical thinking as a self-regulatory process component in teaching and learning’, Psicothema, vol. 22, no.2, pp. 284–292.

Ponnusamy, P 2019, ‘Creativity of Student-Teachers with Reference to Their Gender and Locality’, Shanlax International Journal of Education, vol. 8, no. 1, 2019, pp. 48–53.

Razzouk, R & Shute, V 2012, ‘What Is Design Thinking and Why Is It Important?’ Review of Educational Research. September 2012, Vol. 82, No. 3, pp. 330–348.

Shillo, R, Hoernle, N & Gal, K 2019, ‘Detecting Creativity in an Open-Ended Geometry Environment’, EDM 2019 Montreal - Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Educational Data Mining Collin F. Lynch, nd

Agathe Merceron, Michel Desmarais, Roger Nkambou (eds). July 2 , 5th 2019 Montreal Canada (ISBN: 978-17336736-0-0), 408–413. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED599096.

Taboada, M & Coombs, G 2014, ‘Liminal Moments: Designing, thinking and learning’, Design and Technology Education: An International Journal 19.1, 19.1(1), 30–39. Retrieved from https://eprints.qut.edu.au/63030/15/TaboadaCoombs_LiminalMoments_21FEB2013_submission.pdf.

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The Setting for Learning Feedback & Reflection Section 5 Barker Institute Learning in Practice â&#x20AC;¢ 135

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Progressive Reporting Jeremy von Ei nem Head of Curriculum

Abstract School reports have remained principally unchanged for close to a hundred years. Often they are received at the start of the school holidays and so any advice prescribed in them is received too late for remediation. Also, commentary might refer to work completed by students many months earlier. This brings into question the usefulness of teacher comments in a traditional school report. In addition to this, the machinery and processes associated with producing semester reports distracts teaching staff from concentrating on the teaching and learning that should be going on in their classes. This article discusses a different way to report, which is more forward looking and disaggregates the teaching and learning time from reporting.

Feedback and reflection Feedback and reflection are key components of effective teaching and learning and naturally find themselves at the heart of the School's Teaching and Learning Framework (Barker College 2019). The language that we tend to use around feedback is 'moving the learner forward', providing guidance that is going to be meaningful to the student when they attempt a like task in the future. However, too much of the feedback given by teachers is backwards looking, focusing on what has already been completed rather than what can be achieved 'next time'. In 2019, one of the leading thinkers in this area, Dylan Wiliam, presented to Barker College staff about formative assessment, one aspect of which is feedback. Wiliam summarises his ideas of feedback in the simple statement that good feedback should be a medical and not a postmortem. What this means is that good feedback diagnoses the problem and then provides a remedy (rather than describing why the work possibly failed to meet expectations).

When we apply this kind of thinking to school reports we can too often find backwards looking commentary, providing information about what the student has done. This is always combined with recommendations for actions that will lead to improvements but, due to the timing of reports, it can be difficult for students to make good use of these recommendations. Furthermore, the report is written about the students, but to the parents and therefore any feedback has to be translated and passed on to the student.

A new system has been proposed based on timely and meaningful feedback that can prompt student reflection and action. We refer to this process as progressive reporting.

A review of school reporting Every school has a different format of reporting to parents. Since the early part of this century, all schools have been mandated to provide semesterly reports, including A â&#x20AC;&#x201C; E grades for each subject. This requirement has not changed. After reading probably tens of thousands of reports from different schools over my lifetime, the overwhelming majority contain comments written in

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reports that are a summary of what has happened in the past and, due to space restrictions, usually provide no individualised advice for future success. This is not really anyone’s fault – it is more a product of the timing and scale of reporting as well as the perceived purpose of reporting.

Many people see the traditional school report as something for a future curriculum vitae rather than helping the student improve their knowledge, skills and understanding in the immediate future to demonstrate learning on the next task.

The Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) conducted a major review of school reporting last year. They looked at the information (data) that was reported as well as the comments themselves, made by teachers. They came up with a series of recommendations. The report states in Section 4: Student reporting has traditionally been organised to present summative information coinciding with scheduled semester and year-long subjects, limiting its capacity to provide information that has currency and placing extra demands on teachers during these scheduled times. (Hollingsworth, Heard, & Weldon 2019) Instead of scheduling student reporting as ‘an event’ that takes place at specified times for all teachers, all students and all subjects, a school reporting system that is continuous and aligned with the teaching-learning-assessment cycles of different subjects and courses is proposed.

All teaching is based around three key questions, according to Dylan Wiliam: Where is the learner going? Where is the learner right now? How to get there? In the classroom teachers set the direction by sharing learning intentions and success criteria. They then gather information and evidence about student learning through formative assessment practices. Finally, feedback is used to inform students how to get there. Therefore, teachers need to be clear with their feedback and direct attention to what is next rather than focusing on how well or poorly the student did the work. Good feedback should be more work for the recipient than the donor. Students should feel compelled to act on feedback. This means feedback needs to be written in a way that causes an action.

An alternative m odel: Progressive reporting The School’s Learning Management System, Canvas, currently allows staff to enter feedback for a task with any grade or mark. While this information is principally directed at supporting student learning and growth, it can be published to parents so that they can see the progress of their child in each subject over the course of the year rather than only on two occasions at the end of each semester This is one possible approach: A series of class activities that provides feedback to the student to help improve the very next piece of work.

This task-based progressive reporting can form a replacement to the teacher’s comment at the end of the semester. It would result in a semesterly report that could be prepared and sent to parents significantly more efficiently than the current system. It would also even out the demand on high stakes testing traditionally completed at the end of every semester and return the focus back on to teaching and learning throughout the year rather than being distracted by the pressures of the semesterly reporting ‘season’.

In this model of progressive reporting, students will be required to respond to the feedback and will have opportunities to demonstrate improvement soon after receiving the feedback. As discussed above, this is also a valuable learning experience as is goal setting and reporting on student growth in addition to raw achievement. These are important additions to the reporting process that will drive further student gains in learning.

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Finally, this model would not negate the need or desire to produce a more summative report at the end of each semester. The plan would be to continue to produce a semester report (as it is mandated by the Federal Government), but that it would be more of a transcript than a document outlining actions for future improvement. Parents would be directed to Canvas to see feedback on tasks and advice for future improvement. In such a document a comment from the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Head of House would remain and could become a more powerful piece of advice, summarizing ideas from the ongoing feedback as well as a distinct wellbeing comment.

Conclusion Progressive reporting is an alternative model to traditional reports that truly drives the learner forward while adhering to the requirements of the Federal Government. Feedback is more immediate, directed to students but visible to parents, and requires a response and change from the student. Finally, it enables teachers to make reporting a part of their regular teaching and learning practice rather than something taking time away from the classroom.

References Barker College 2019, Teaching and Learning Framework, available online, https://www.barker.college/media/3411/teaching-framework-final.pdf.

Hollingsworth, H, Heard, J & Weldon, P 2019, Communicating student learning progress: A review of student reporting in Australia. Camberwell, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.

Wiliam, D 2018, Embedded Formative Assessment, Hawker Brownlow.

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The Learner Inquiry, Rhetoric, Service and Gratitude Section 6 Barker Institute Learning in Practice â&#x20AC;˘ 141

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Unchartered Waters: A whole school personal interest project during a pandemic Sarah Clifton Director of Professional Learning

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has caused educators globally to rethink teaching. At the height of NSW government social isolation restrictions, the school executive made a decision to create a re-imagined 2020 calendar that included a five-week break over April and May. During this time, students from Pre-K to Year 10 were invited to undertake a personal interest project. The aim was to take the opportunity of uninterrupted time to create a learning experience that under normal circumstances would be difficult, due to the confines of school and curriculum structures. This article captures the process, result and recommendations of the ‘Unchartered Waters’ personal interest project.

K e y t e r ms Inquiry In education, inquiry is an approach to learning that involves the learner exploring the world through observing, asking questions, searching for answers and testing theories.

Body The Design The process began with the formation of a team of five curriculum leaders including the Head of Curriculum, Director of Teaching and Learning, Director of Professional Learning, Deputy Head of the Junior School and a Digital Learning Leader to prepare and lead the implementation of the initiative.

As the personal interest project (PIP) was to be completed during what was officially school holidays, it needed to take a different direction to how most educators would usually design such a project. The differences were necessities, however also presented an exciting opportunity to offer a learning activity with very different processes and assessment. There would be no grades attached and the project was not related to academic attainment. The underlying criteria in the design was therefore to encourage interest and engagement for students and families to take part in the project during holidays. How could a project be designed to capture the intrinsic desire to learn? The project was designed based on the following concepts; •

Topic: The chosen topic needed to be broad enough to capture interest for all.

•

Form: There needed to be freedom of choice in the form that the project would be presented so that students could utilise their strengths and interests.

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•

Independent or collaborative: Students given the choice to work either independently or collaboratively. The unique situation also provided an opportunity to learn together as a family.

•

Support: Students needed to have access to support whilst completing the project. Staff voluntarily nominated to be mentors.

The project – ‘Unchartered W aters’ The broad topic of water was chosen. The Junior School shaped their topics in stages based on the PYP framework. Pre K – 1 What is water, Years 1 and 2 Water is in our world, Years 3 and 4 Water is shared by living things, Years 5 and 6 The power of water.

In the Secondary School, six themes were constructed: Water and the Arts, Water and People, Water and History, Water and the Environment, Water and Science and Water in the Future.

Darkinjung Barker and Ngarralingayil Barker, Barker’s two schools uniquely supporting Indigenous students, decided to pursue the theme ‘Inspirational People’.

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The Project - Junior School

Project Theme

CENTRAL IDEA

“Unchartered Waters”

Pre-K and Kindergarten Central Idea: What is water?

An inquiry into water.

Water is an important part of our world. It has philosophical, ecological, social and political implications upon how societies and individuals have lived, are living and will live in the future. Connections to water can be found in literature, poetry, fine art, theatre, music, and film whilst also being the building block of life.

The PROJECT Details

Think about Water is all over the Earth Water is important Water is used everyday

The Personal Interest Project will culminate in a showcase of student work in the “Uncharted Waters” exhibition. Students can opt in to the exhibition with all submissions to the exhibition to receive a certificate.

Prizes will be also awarded.

AWARDS Each official submission to the exhibition event will receive an award (Participation, Bronze, Silver or Gold). These will be awarded per stage; Years Pre-K - K, Years 1-2, Years 3-4, Years 5-6,

MAJOR AWARDS Head of School Award As voted by Mr Phillip Heath Peoples’ Choice Award Voted by exhibition attendees Best in Form Award 1 award for each creative, research, practical and literature Best in Category Award 1 award for individual, group and family categories

Think about The water cycle What does a drop of water weigh?

Time to save water

Key Concept: Form (What is it like?)

Key Concept: Function (How does it work?)

Year 3 and Year 4 Central Idea: Water is shared by living things

Year 5 and Year 6 Central Idea: The power of water

Think about The use of water Living things need water The importance of clean water

An inquiry into the importance of water.

Participants can complete the project individually or as part of a small group, or as a family unit. Project submissions can be either creative, research based, practical or literary in form allowing for diversity of interest and talents.

Year 1 and Year 2 Central Idea: Water is in our World

Key Concept: Reflection (How do we know?)

1

2

Key Concept: Perspective (What are the points of view?)

Choose a category

Individual

Think about The use of water Different states of water What is the future of water

Read the Central Idea and Think About.

Complete the PIP in one of the follow categories.

Small Group

Family

How will you exhibit your work?

CREATIVE

RESEARCH

Photography Painting Drawing Music/Song Film/Movie Animation Sculpture

Historical Report Scientific Experiment Review Literature Review

PRACTICAL

Literature

Design Build Model Graphic Design Human Movement

Story Poem Persuasive Article Picture Book Autobiography

3

SUBMIT PROJECT

Due on Return to School – Monday 11th May Showcase Event “Unchartered Waters” Exhibition Date TBA.

Further Detail: Click on this link to “Unchartered Waters” Project on CANVAS

Figure 1: The Junior School (Pre-K to Year 6) PIP one-page information sheet

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The Project – Secondary School

Project Theme

1

Participants can choose to complete the PIP in one of the follow categories.

Choose a category

“Uncharted Waters” Participants are to explore the significance of water.

Individual

Small Group

Family

Water is an essential part of our world. It has philosophical, ecological, social and political implications upon how societies and individuals have lived, are living and will live in the future. Water themes can be found in literature, poetry, fine art, theatre, music, and film whilst also being the building block of life.

The project An area of interest or inquiry should be chosen within one of the 6 water themes listed below. The significance of water can be explored through a personal, community, national or global perspective.

Participants can complete the project individually or as part of a small group, or as a family unit. Project submissions can be either creative, research based, practical or literary in form allowing for diversity of interest and talents.

The personal interest project will culminate in a showcase of student work in the “Uncharted Waters” exhibition. Students can opt in to the exhibition with all submissions to the exhibition to receive a certificate. Prizes will be also awarded.

2

Choose a form

Participants can choose the medium in which to present the project. Note: Examples are suggestions only and not limitations. The choice is up to the participant.

CREATIVE

RESEARCH

Photography Painting Story Music/Song Film Story Telling Poem

Historical Report Scientific Experiment/Review Literature Review

PRACTICAL

Rhetoric

Design Build Model Graphic Design Human Movement

Speech Persuasive article Essay Advertisement Debate

Project Details Participants are to choose a theme from below that best evokes a personal connection to the significance of water.

Water and History Water and the Environment Water and People Water and the Arts Water and Science

3

SUBMIT PROJECT

Due Monday 11 May Showcase Event “Uncharted Waters” Exhibition Date TBA.

Awards Each official submission to the exhibition event will receive an award (Participation, Bronze, Silver or Gold). These will be awarded per stage; Years 7 - 8 and Years 9 - 10

Major Awards Head of School Award As voted by Mr Phillip Heath Peoples’ Choice Award Voted by exhibition attendees

Water and the Future

Further Detail: Click on this link to “Uncharted Waters” Project on CANVAS

Figure 2: The Secondary School (Year 7+) PIP one-page information sheet

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Best in Form Award 1 award for each creative, research, practical and rhetoric Best in Category Award 1 award for individual, group and family categories

The Project – Darkinjung Barker and Ngarralingayil Barker

GREAT IDEAS

1

Choose an Aboriginal Australian that inspires you. Someone that inspires you (and maybe others) by their various achievements, but also by their attitude and values. It can be somebody that is famous, someone you know or a local identity.

There are so many more amazing, inspirational people to choose from. The hardest part will be deciding which one. Work hard and enjoy. We can’t wait to see who inspires you and your creative creations!

Neville Bonner Oodgeroo Noonuccal Anthony Mundine Greg Inglis Adam Goodes Arthur Beetson Nicky Winmar Sharon Finnan David Unaipon Samantha Harris Cathy Freeman Nova Peris Adam Goodes Latrell Mitchell Marcia Ella Steve Ella Eddie Mabo Vincent Lingiari Evonne Goolagong Cawley Archie Roach Anita Heiss Troy Casser-Daley Busby Marou Linda Burney Leah Purcell Charlie Perkins Jessica Mauboy Deborah Mailman Mandawuy Yunupingu Rachel Perkins Sally Morgan Albert Namatjira Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri Queenie McKenzie Bronwyn Bancroft

Choose Someone that inspires You

2

Research Research as much information on that person as you can.

Things like; Where they were born? Where they went to school? Where they live? What they have done?

Where they work? How they have helped others? What impact have they had on you or others? What character traits do they have?

How do they inspire you?

3

Project Presentation When you have gathered all this information (2-3 weeks worth) decide on a unique way to proudly present it. Some ideas could be; a life size paper mache sculpture, an information poster, creatively on cardboard, in a slideshow or in a project book.

You could think outside the box and dress up as that person and be videoed or contact them and arrange to interview the person. It is up to you to present it how you choose.

Don’t stop until you’re proud!

v

Be creative and be proud ~ do your absolute, best work! These will go on display in our school wide exhibition for the community at the official opening at Ngarralingayil Barker

Figure 3: The Darkinjung and Ngarralingayil Barker (Indigenous campuses) one-page PIP information sheet.

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Participation 1105 students chose to participate producing over 700 individual, group and family submissions.

Allowing for disruption and difficulties due to COVID-19 management plans, there were still 620 adults who were able to attend the project exhibition.

The student interest and community response to the project was overwhelming. Much time and effort had been given. The excitement surrounding the project meant that a showcase of the diversity of talent, interest and emotions depicted by the projects was a necessity.

Owing to the continued social isolation restrictions, a delay on physical project submissions was required. Therefore, a two-minute video of each project was requested as the first point of submission. The overview videos made the quantity and quality of student PIPs evident. These videos became an important element of the showcase.

The exhibition was held over five days at the start of June with projects displayed in a large indoor facility at the School. Exhibition sessions were designed to allow bookings for 10 adult guests at a time to comply with NSW health regulations. Sessions were booked out by the second day.

With the easing of social restrictions, bookings for up to 20 adults per session were enabled for the final few days of the exhibition.

All Junior School classes were allocated a time to view the exhibition and the exhibition was open to Secondary School students during recess and lunch times.

The exhibition displayed art works, woodwork, models, hydroponics, aquariums, posters, research papers, scientific experiments, poetry, fiction, and computer-aided designs. Coded computer games, movies and websites were displayed on screens whilst musical compositions were played through the sound system.

Student projects were accompanied with a name card that included a photo, the project theme and the year group. It also incorporated a QR code that linked any video submission including the two-minute video overview to the project so that attendees could view the video to understand more about the project. Whilst time consuming to create, this added a fantastic dimension to the exhibition.

A virtual tour of the exhibition was also created and shared with the Barker community which can continue to be viewed at the following link: https://t.co/z8LQhxLqTN.

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Figure 4: A collage of various student works on the theme Uncharted Waters

Feedback The exhibition was well received by all in the School community including staff, students and parents. Below is a sample of comments from the guest book that demonstrate three themes including: how impressed attendees were with the quality of student projects, that they were thankful to the school for the initiative, and how they were inspired by this way of learning.

•

‘Very emotional and wonderful experience to see so many beautiful projects under one roof.’

•

‘Well done to all the young people who participated. Great to see the depth of curiosity and creativity. Wouldn’t it be great if school were always like this! Thank you’

•

‘What a privilege to see the creations of the students. It made the best out of this unprecedented challenge for us all. Well done.’

•

‘What an amazing exhibition! The creativity and effort is staggering! Well done to all the students for their work and to the Barker staff for setting up this exhibition. Fantastic!’

•

‘This was awe inspiring to see the projects from pre-K-10, the sheer amount of effort put into these projects.’

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•

‘Really fascinating exhibition showing lots of diversity of thought and ideas. Thank you for all the hard work putting this together.’

•

‘We have been blown away by the creativity and thoughtfulness of every project. A big thank you to all the students for giving us such a feast of information and art.’

•

‘Such a wonderful initiative – the work is heartfelt and amazing.’

•

‘Congratulations to all the students and parents. I do believe this exhibition could stay as a permanent exhibition as there is so much incredible and important information in this room.

INCREDIBLE! So very glad we were able to see it. Bravo! And thank you Mr Heath for your vision.’

•

‘Amazing efforts by all participants. We are totally in awe of the creativity displayed by the exhibits in all disciplines. This is an excellent idea to enable each to pursue his or her individual interest and display talents and persistent effort. Thanks to Barker for making this stimulating and enlightening exhibition possible.’

•

‘I am blown away by the creativity, imagination and artistic ability of our children. The world is in very good hands and the future looks great.’

•

‘Astonishing work in concept, variety and execution. Well done in challenging us.’

Judging It was a difficult task to judge the projects. They were diverse and personal. Unlike the usual school projects, there were no specific criteria. This added to the project. Intrinsic reward was provided through the quality completion of each project and the pride that came from such effort. Nevertheless, judging needed to occur.

Three prominent guest judges including current and former members of the School Council spent hours admiring the students’ work and selecting projects for major awards. Staff also selected projects, as experts of their discipline, for awards. All projects were seen, watched, heard, explored, or read. Every participant received a certificate.

Discussion While there is no doubt that this project was unique to the circumstances of an extended school holidays during a disrupted school year, there were many factors that contributed to its success, which can inspire future initiatives in schools.

Some potential reasons for the success are suggested below.

Choice: The project allowed freedom of choice. The topic of water was broad. Students were able to link water to a particular passion or interest. There was choice in how the project was completed that enabled students to use and demonstrate their strengths. For instance, students composed music, designed models, used digital imagery, coded games, submitted paintings, drawings, built models, completed woodwork, wrote research papers, made movies, took photos or made bike tracks. There was also choice to work independently, in a group with peers, or with family members.

Family support in learning: There is no doubt that families being at home together with parents working from home, was a huge factor in the success of the project. Having parent involvement,

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interest and even teaching their children skills enhanced the quality of project submissions.

Families also commented that the PIP was a positive learning experience that enabled them to support their children in a more productive way than was possible in online learning.

Uninterrupted tim e: The five-week period was time without the usual commitments. No social gatherings, no co-curricular and no dining out or shopping. Therefore, time could be directed towards the PIP. Communication from the Head of School: The project was well communicated to families by the Head of School. This recommendation to participate in the PIP added gravitas to the project.

Many parents have expressed their gratitude for this direction by the school that gave them something positive to focus on during the extended time at home.

Staff leadership and voluntary staff collaboration: The voluntary collaboration of capable and committed staff across the school made the project and the exhibition possible.

No grade attached: There is something wonderful about students participating intrinsically in learning purely for enjoyment. For projects to not be tied to any criteria, enabled complete freedom to explore interest areas and direction without limitation.

Recom m endations While this article serves as a celebration of the 2020 PIP and provides a guide for educators seeking to undertake similar initiatives, there are also lessons that can be learned for future learning experiences in a typical classroom environment. The following recommendations for all manner of future learning experiences have been provided.

Parental involvement in learning ‘The underlying assumption of teacher-parent collaboration is that everyone who has a stake in a child’s life, including the parents and teachers, should work together to give that child the best education possible.’ (Adams et al. 2016, p. 26). This was highlighted through the quality of the personal interest project submissions.

A strength of the Barker parent community is the interest that they take in their children’s learning.

In a meta-analysis of parent influence on academic achievement Boonk et al. (2018). Summarised the most consistent and positive relations were found for: (a) reading at home, (b) parents holding high expectations/aspirations for their children’s academic achievement and schooling, (c) communication between parents and children regarding school, and (d) parental encouragement and support for learning.

It was also suggested by Boonk et al. (2018, p. 184) that: As children grow older it is more important that parents create the conditions under which academic success can be fostered by setting high academic expectations and creating a comfortable space for them to develop their academic motivations in ways not considered intrusive or controlling.

We need to think more about how we can further include our parents in our learning programs.

How can we further engage our parents in supporting learning at home? What skills can we equip them with? What communication can we provide? How do we do this whilst also helping our students become independent self-learners?

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Uninterrupted learning time In a literature review on the effect of extracurricular activities on achievement Tanner (2017, p.

162) suggests that whilst extracurricular activities may have a positive effect on academics, especially when they contribute to a balanced life, self-confidence, and feelings of belonging, they may have a negative effect when they produce an overloaded personal schedule if the student is left with insufficient time and energy to devote to academics.

In the world that is a large, busy, independent school like Barker, where learning comes in many forms, do we provide enough uninterrupted time for students to focus on academics? Do we have the balance right? How can we evaluate the time demands on our students and the learning that is gained from these other experiences with the impact that is has on academic rigour, inquiry and achievement?

Reducing emphasis on grades and assessments COVID-19 has demonstrated how heavily learning is attached to grading. In current circumstances, equitable grading has become difficult and has forced educators to look for alternative options.

This has led some advocates to push to make some of the changes last. Adam Rosenblatt, Associate Professor of the Practice in International Comparative Studies at Duke University, wrote in the Duke Chronicle (2020):

As soon as students are doing their work without feeling like they have to guess what the professor is looking for in order to get a good grade, they start doing wonderful things.

They are more likely to take risks, collaborate, suggest creative formats and approaches and reveal important pieces of themselves.

This too was the experience of Unchartered Waters.

It may be that too much of what happens at school is based on assessment tasks and grades for reports. What can we do in our learning programs, particularly in the Middle School, so that student motivation is less attached to assessment grades?

Student choice â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Choice leads to an increase in intrinsically motivated behaviour. The perception of an increase in autonomy seems to be a strong catalyst of an engagement in learningâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Schneider 2018, p. 171).

Whilst student choice is becoming a greater focus of the curriculum and pedagogy, a greater emphasis needs to be had on providing students with some elements of choice. How can we allow more freedom of choice in how students demonstrate their understanding of concepts but still meet the outcomes and teach the required skills?

Conclusion The Uncharted Waters initiative was unprecedented. It can be celebrated as an inspired innovative learning opportunity for students with their families that not only made the most of a unique and difficult year, but modelled how innovation can disrupt the normal expected phases of schoolbased learning with highly successful results. There are many lessons to be learnt and these must not be overlooked for future learning. What it most clearly demonstrated though was what young people can do when a highly relevant and engaging learning opportunity is combined with a positive, supportive and uninterrupted learning environment. We must find ways to provide students with opportunities within the day-to-day curriculum to display the diversity of talent, skills and interests that were showcased by this project. The challenge of how this can be done should be a focal point for schools.

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Acknowledgem ents Thank you to the Curriculum leadership team who oversaw the initiative including Jeremy von Einem, Greg Longney, Voni Howard and Andy Mifsud. Thank you also to Pia Midgley for her leadership in the organisation of the exhibition along with support from Tara Van Drempt, Virginia Ellis, Maddy Burton and the Visual Arts’ Team. Thank you to the Maintenance and Communications teams and the Print Room staff for their support and efficiency.

References Boonk, L, Gijselaers, HJM, Ritzen, H & Brand-Gruwel, S 2018, ‘A review of the relationship between parental involvement indicators and academic achievement’, Educational Research Review. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.02.001.

Rosenblatt, A 2020, ‘Committing to ungrading, in an emergency and after’, Duke Chronicle, 26 March 2020, viewed 1 September 2020, https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2020/03/duke-university-gradincoronavirus-covid-19-public-health-crisis-emergency-thinking-ungrading-pass-fail.

Schneider, S, Nebel, S, Beege, M & Rey, GD 2018, ‘The autonomy-enhancing effects of choice on cognitive load, motivation and learning with digital media’, Learning and Instruction, vol. 58, pp. 161-172. Chemnitz University of Technology, Straße der Nationen 12, 09111, Chemnitz, Germany.

Tanner, B 2017, ‘Effects of Extracurricular Activities and Physical Activity on Academic Success’, The BYU Undergraduate Journal in Psychology, vol. 12, no. 2, art. 16, pp. 159 – 180, BYU Scholars Archive, 2017.

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A short course in Philosophy & Rhetoric: Developing a framework for thinking, speaking and acting in a complex world Dr Matthew Hill Director of the Barker Institute Jason Saikaly Head of Library Services

Abstract Philosophical thinking is a crucial skill if students are to understand themselves and their place in the world. A Barker College education trains students to think, speak and act in ways true to their own values and in a way that engages those around them. Since 2016 all Year 9 students have experienced a short course entitled ‘Philosophy & Rhetoric’ built around persuasion which has sought to develop students’ discussion skills, metacognitive skills, deeper thinking, logical thinking, and independent thinking. In 2020, under new leadership, the course has applied persuasion to various ethical frameworks to provide a scaffold for students to complete when they are seeking to truly understand a complex issue.

Introduction From 2016-2018 there was a push for students to be developing philosophical thinking at the School as part of the Hearts & Minds program (Hill 2017). The vision was twofold. First, that students would develop a skill set particular to effective rhetoric and persuasion and thinking at its best that could be employed both during and after their time at Barker College. Second, that this developed skill set would encourage strengthened participation in regular classrooms and across all subjects.

Philosophical Instruction Philosophy education is based on proposing questions which ‘(a) lack answers, (b) lack decision procedures for finding such answers, and (c) nevertheless deal with issues that students find intensely meaningful’ (Lipman 2014, p. 13). Therefore, participation in philosophical activities requires students to develop critical thinking that is both deep and logical (Winstanley 2009).

When students seek to answer philosophical questions in community, they learn how their discussion skills can be improved (Fischer 2009) and are required to provide independent thought (Winstanley 2009). As students are asked to reflect on their own thinking they are engaging in a metacognitive process. In this way Philosophical Instruction develops the skills that Barker College hope that the Hearts & Minds program may provide for their students.

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Iteration 1: Applying a rhetorical fram ework to everyday situations and Year 9 subjects Logistics Every student in Year 9 attended a Philosophy & Rhetoric class once per fortnight throughout the year. Teachers throughout the School volunteered to take the course.

Content The course was written in 2016 and focussed on persuasion. Students reflected on why some arguments come across more convincing than others and considered Aristotleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three modes of rhetoric as a framework. The purpose was not only that they may be more persuasive themselves when participating in class discussions and examination responses for any school subject, but that they may also be able to better assess arguments presented to them in the classroom or beyond such that they may ensure that they are being persuaded towards ideas that are true and meaningful. The specific knowledge and skills outcomes are presented in Table 1.

Table 1: 2016-2019 course objectives and outcomes.

2019 Philosophy & Rhetoric Objectives and Outcomes

OBJECTIVES The student develops knowledge and understanding about: 1. Various features of a convincing argument

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OUTCOMES The student: P1 Discusses why some arguments are more convincing than others P2 Identifies features that make an argument convincing

2. How logos, pathos, and ethos contribute to the persuasiveness of an argument

P3 Describes the factors contributing to the success or failure of logic in an argument

SKILLS OBJECTIVES

SKILLS OUTCOMES

The student develops skills to:

The student:

4. Communicate information in an effective manner that is persuasive to the audience

P8 Practises simple communication tasks utilising specific rhetorical skills

5. Engage with various points of view in a meaningful manner

P9 Develops arguments supporting points of view that they may not hold themselves

P4 Demonstrates how appealing to emotions in an argument can persuade a listener to take action

P10 Practises discernment when listening to the ideas of others in the class or various texts

P5 Discusses the importance of the character or status of the author in relation to the persuasiveness of an argument 3. The function and role of arguments at school and in daily life

P6 Discusses various situations where the need for persuasiveness arises P7 Explores whether using persuasion techniques is ethical in various circumstances

6. Use rhetoric in academic, professional, & social situations

P11 Applies rhetorical concepts appropriately in sections of essay and short answer academic tasks P12 Applies rhetorical concepts appropriately in speech writing P13 Recalls rhetorical concepts when participating in online discussions

Students were taught the Aristotelian rhetorical framework in Term 1 and practised applying it to various situations through scaffolded activities in Term 2. Terms 3 and 4 involved a Semester 2 project where students could receive credit by completing any combination of 20 different activities demonstrating their understanding and newly developed skills. This allowed them to display their proficiency on outcomes P8-P12 and immediately apply the framework to their other Year 9 studies.

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Tasks were worth different points based on their difficulty or length and included activities such as: •

Assessing sources as if an advertising executive giving feedback to a company.

•

Writing a half-time speech when down 1-0 in an important football game.

•

Analysing scenes from Macbeth (which was concurrently being studied in Year 9 English) through the rhetorical framework.

•

Incorporating their new rhetorical skills in an assessment presentation for Christian Studies and demonstrating how this was implemented in their submission for the Philosophy & Rhetoric class.

Students were given opportunity to resubmit after tasks were marked and their cumulative total was displayed to the class. As well as providing choice, this project was exciting as it was not based on a deficit model but rather a cumulative total where every time students completed an activity their score would increase. There was no particular target, rather a challenge and an opportunity for students to excel and demonstrate their abilities.

Staffing To date, over sixteen different school staff have been involved in developing and teaching the course. Teaching specialties vary from English, Music, IT, Mathematics, Science, Design, Commercial Studies, Geography, History, and Library Services. Each student had one teacher.

However, the diversity of the teaching team provided a richness to the overall Year 9 student experience where all students have made progress in each of the outcomes, but each class with slightly different approaches.

Iteration 2: A rhetorical and ethical m atrix to scaffold student thinking and com m unication Content In 2020, new leadership of the course brought about a positive evolution particularly suitable to a world struggling to articulate the most ethical responses to a global pandemic. After introducing Aristotle’s three modes of persuasion in Term 1, the course explored four ethical frameworks summarised as ‘rights, rules, values and results (which) form our immediate awareness of right and wrong (Cameron 2011, p.15). This also complemented students wrestling with ethical questions as part of the Year 9 Christian Studies’ course. The 2020 outcomes are presented in Table 2.

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Table 2: 2020 course objectives and outcomes.

2020 Philosophy & Rhetoric Objectives and Outcoes

OBJECTIVES The student develops knowledge and understanding about: 1. Various features of a convincing argument

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OUTCOMES The student: P1 Discusses why some arguments are more convincing than others P2 Identifies features that make an argument convincing

2. How logos, pathos, and ethos contribute to the persuasiveness of an argument

P3 Describes the factors contributing to the success or failure of logic in an argument

SKILLS OBJECTIVES

SKILLS OUTCOMES

The student develops skills to:

The student:

4. Communicate information in an effective manner that is persuasive to the audience

P9 Practises simple communication tasks utilising specific rhetorical skills

5. Engage with various points of view in a meaningful manner

P10 Develops arguments supporting points of view that they may not hold themselves

P4 Demonstrates how appealing to emotions in an argument can persuade a listener to take action

P11 Practises discernment when listening to the ideas of others in the class or various texts

P5 Discusses the importance of the character or status of the author in relation to the persuasiveness of an argument 3. Different philosophical normative ethical ideologies (deontology and utilitarian), virtue ethics, and human rights

P6 Understand the different philosophies and can use judgment to apply these philosophies in diverse situations P7 Explains how, and why, different philosophical approaches may be subjectively justified P8 Understand the history of the UDHR and explore their influence on philosophical ideologies

6. Identify the features of different normative ethical ideologies

P12 Argues the strengths and weaknesses of different normative ethical philosophies P13 Applies, and justifies, different normative ethical philosophies to hypothetical and real-life situations

7. Explore a real-life issue within the context of Aristotelian rhetoric and normative ethics

P14 Through an inquiry process, composes a comprehensive response to a real-life situation from a specific normative ethical or human rights perspective using Aristotelian rhetoric

The authors recognised that by combining the three modes of rhetoric with the four ethical frameworks, a matrix could be produced to scaffold student thinking about any issue (see Figure 1), which lead to a guided inquiry project for the students to complete in the second half of the year.

The guided inquiry project featured four phases including explore, identify, create and respond and the topic area was ethical questions around COVID-19. Students could pick a single square in the matrix as their focus area for their response, or any combination of squares. At least one teacher required their students to populate every square to have the students develop a wellrounded perspective on their chosen issue. During the create phase students submitted a 5-10minute video which was then viewed and evaluated by a selection of their peers during the respond phase.

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YEAR 9 2020 PHILOSOPHY RHETORIC

LOGOS

&

MATRIX

PATHOS

ETHOS

UTILITARIANISM

The rightness of an actions is determined by their consequences

DEONTOLOGY

The rightness of an actions is determined by legality

VIRTUE ETHICS

The rightness of actions is determined by whether the actions are virtuous

HUMAN RIGHTS

Rights inherent to all people regardless of age, gender, nationality or beliefs

Figure 1: Matrix demonstrating the integration of the two elements of the Philosophy & Rhetoric course including Aristotelian rhetoric and four prominent ethical perspectives.

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Conclusion The short course in Philosophy & Rhetoric has undergone an exciting evolution. By combining the Aristotelian rhetorical framework with an exploration of alternative structures for ethical thinking, students have been equipped to approach a real-life complexity with nuance and sophistication. Time will tell the broader impact on student thinking, however exposure to such ideas can only be beneficial for developing teenage minds.

References Fischer R 2009, ‘Philosophical Intelligence: Why Philosophical Dialogue is Important in Educating the Mind’, Philosophy in schools, pp. 96-104. Continuum International Publishing Group, London.

Hill, M 2017, ‘Developing Hearts & Minds through Philosophical Instruction: A short review of the Hearts & Minds Program in 2016-2017’, Barker Institute: Learning in Practice, vol. 1, no. 1.

Lipman, M 2014, ‘The Educational Role of Philosophy (with a new commentary by Phillip Cam)’, Journal of Philosophy in Schools, vol. 1, no. 1.

Winstanley, C 2009, ‘Philosophy and the development of critical thinking,’ Philosophy in schools, pp. 85-95.

Continuum International Publishing Group, London.

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My two blankets: Considering the importance of using home languages in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classroom in support of student learning and wellbeing Dr Timothy Scott History Teacher

Abs t r act This paper considers the importance of home languages in the classrooms of today and tomorrow. In an increasingly multilingual world, especially in a city with 43% of the population born overseas (Mackay 2018), it is not possible to assume that a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first language is English. Acknowledging the place of home languages in the classroom and leveraging it to enhance understanding is supportive of student learning and student wellbeing. This article was inspired by work conducted in the History classroom to make source material more accessible to EAL/D students at the same time as working to develop their understanding of academic English in the context of a history classroom.

Key terms EALD students English as an additional language or dialect students are those whose first language is a language or dialect other than English and who require additional support to assist them to develop proficiency in English.

ELL students English Language Learners are students who are unable to communicate fluently or learn effectively in English, who often come from non-English-speaking homes and backgrounds, and who typically require specialied or modified instruction in both the English language and in their academic courses Home Language Also can be referred to as Mother Tongue, Parent Tongue or Mother Language, Home Language refers to a first language, native tongue, or native language to which a person has been exposed to from birth or within what linguistics refer to as the critical period of language acquisition.

Interlingualism An approach where all school languages and cultures are constantly present and respected.

Home languages or mother tongues are learnt in the classroom interchangeably with other classroom languages.

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Translanguaging The interaction between two languages to communicate ideas, information and concepts. This term implies that both languages are of equal status and contribute equally to meaning making using the learner's full language repertoire.

Body

I nt r oduct i on Nobody spoke like I did.

When I went out, it was like standing under a waterfall of strange sounds. The waterfall was cold. It made me feel alone. I felt like I wasn’t me any more. (Kobald and Blackwood 2014, ‘My Two Blankets’, p. 5-6).

In the children’s story, ‘My Two Blankets’, the central character, called Cartwheel, flees her country with her aunt due to a civil war. She moves to a place that is strange to her. She no longer feels like herself, disconnected from language and culture. Throughout the story the reader sees Cartwheel wrap herself in two blankets, metaphors for different levels of comfort with the old and the new. The first she calls her old blanket, symbolic of her home culture and language. The second blanket is gradually created as she increasingly interacts with a girl she meets regularly in the park. By the end of the story, Cartwheel has two blankets, both of which are as comfortable as each other.

The story stands as an extended metaphor of the transition that children make when they must make cultural and linguistic changes. It illustrates the importance of culture and language as anchor points for a child’s identity. For an educator, it serves as a reminder of how confronting learning in a culture or a language that is not one’s own can be, and, conversely, how comforting learning in a student’s home language may be.

‘My Two Blankets’ serves as a good starting point to consider the importance of home languages in the classroom of today and into the future, regardless of whether the learner is an EAL/D or ELL student. According to the Barker College Teaching and Learning Framework: At the centre of the Teaching and Learning Framework is the learner. Barker seeks to develop the learner by creating a learning ENVIRONMENT that is inclusive and based on mutually respectful relationships between students and teachers. (p. 4) If a framework has the learner and learning environment central to its purpose, then the place of home languages in that environment must be considered. Furthermore, if we accept that the acquisition and application of knowledge is important in what is experienced by learners in the classroom, as described in the Barker framework, then the position of home languages becomes even more important. Deep knowledge that allows learners to be problem solvers, to think critically and to communicate with confidence may not be readily obtained without the active leveraging of home languages in the learning process.

A gl obal expect at i on There exists a global expectation for educators and educational institutions to honour home languages in the classroom, reflecting the multilingual context of the world beyond the classroom.

This broader context helps educators and educational institutions understand the significance placed on acknowledging home languages in the classroom. The Incheon Declaration, a statement on education adopted at the World Education Forum in Incheon, South Korea, in May 2015 as a continuation of the Millennium Goals on Education, presented a vision of education that ensured inclusivity and equitability and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for

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all (UNESCO 2015c, p. 7). As a part of the proposed strategies for achieving such a goal, the Incheon Declaration (UNESCO 2015c, p. 27) states: In multilingual contexts, where possible and taking into account differing national and subnational realities, capacities and policies, teaching and learning in the first or home language should be encouraged.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) is another example of global expectations being set for educators and educational institutions in relation to home languages.

Articles 29 and 30 affirm the right of children to enjoy their own culture and use their own language. This is not at the expense of the national values of the country in which the child lives or from which the child originates. Rather, both the Incheon Declaration and the CRC position the classroom to provide authentic learning tasks that support student learning and wellbeing.

Arguably there is more work to be done to position classrooms in a way as to meet such global expectations. Five international academies in December 2020 for the first time in their history released a joint statement in support of further investment in language education (British Academy et. al 2020). Their observation was that Anglophonic communities are deficient in producing enough speakers of languages other than English to meet 21st-century needs.

Important for the considerations of this article, the statement went on to say that these communities were not doing enough to preserve, maintain or invigorate the other linguistic communities with whom they lived. The joint statement challenged the assumption made by many Anglophonic communities that English should be the lingua franca. It affirmed that the use of home languages in the classroom can contribute to stronger levels of English literacy, promote equality of access to education, and support the creation of multilingual societies and meaningful cross-cultural communication (British Academy et. al 2020, p. 2).

S t u d e n t L e a r n i n g a n d We l l b e i n g Using home languages contributes to supporting a student’s learning. It is a way that teachers can strengthen the learning power of students (cf. Claxton 2018, p. 17). Lifelong learning is at the centre of many learning frameworks, and teaching and learning philosophies. However, language is a significant challenge for the development of lifelong learners despite the multilingual reality of the world. Garcia and Wei (2014, p. 47) explain one reason for this is the persistence of monolingual ‘academic standard’ practices. This might be even when the education system concerned is bilingual (cf. British Academy et. al 2020). UNESCO (2015a p. 23) describes the impact this scenario has on lifelong learning in this way: …the way in which language is used and, more specifically, how critical literacy is affected by the dominance of the English language and how this influences non-English speakers’ access to information.

The dominance of the English language in the classroom can have an adverse impact on student learning, particularly in critical literacy. The ability to learn and connect complex knowledge and concepts, at the same time as possessing strong disciplinary knowledge or navigating opportunities to apply knowledge to new situations, is reduced.

Niehaus and Adelson (2013) bring a student wellbeing dimension to the discussion. Their study of social and emotional learning with EAL/D or ELL students indicated a susceptibility amongst EAL/D or ELL students to stressors that would have an adverse impact on their learning. One of the identified stressors was learning English while being in an academic environment where the language of instruction was English (Niehaus & Adelson 2013, p. 236; Adams & Richie 2017, p. 82).

Rader (2015) takes this further and explains that such a scenario for some students results in some students being hesitant to speak their home language at school because ‘they mistakenly think it

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will hinder their English or additional language development’ (Rader 2015, p. 45). The very thing that informs their cultural identity is not provided space to develop or acknowledged as something that might actively contribute to their learning (cf. Zins and Elias 2007, p. 45).

Wa y s o f u s i n g h o me l a n g u a g e i n t h e c l a s s r o o m Translanguaging Translanguaging is one way that home languages can be leveraged for the benefit of student learning and student wellbeing, encouraging the interaction of a student’s home language with the language of instruction. The student is no longer in a situation where content and concepts fundamental to his or her understanding of a topic is rendered solely in a non-home language.

The additional benefit is that such an approach encompasses working in the language of instruction and helping the student develop competency in what might be his or her second, or even third, language. This can play out in different ways. For example, a student might read a text in their home language but write about that text in English (Rader 2015, p. 43). Similarly, an assessment task might be planned in their home language but completed and submitted in English. Teachers need not speak or teach the home language; the willingness to integrate pedagogy with home language use can contribute positively to student learning and wellbeing.

Translanguaging was the method adopted in the history classroom by this author to communicate historical content and concepts to EAL/D students whose proficiency in an environment where the language of instruction was English was low. Figure 1 provides an example of how this looked with historical material being provided in both Mandarin and English. The expectation of the students was that answers should be provided in English, but the conceptual ‘working out’ could be conducted in the home language. This had not always been the approach undertaken but when the strategy was adopted the change in student attitudes was immediate: ‘Thank you for this! I can now understand what is happening!’.

Figure 1: English-Mandarin example

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Interlingualism Promoting interlingualism is to take the notion of translanguaging one step further. Gallagher (2008) coined the term interlingual teaching and learning to reflect how a student’s home language is a right, a fact and a resource. In the interlingual classroom, the student does not only learn about their home language but about every language that is in the classroom. Home languages are incorporated into the very fabric of the teaching and learning at the school. As Gallagher (2008, p. 93) states:

Children can see their own language and culture highlighted and taught as a regular school subject, whilst at the same time, extending their knowledge on other languages and cultures.

The interlingual classroom enables the student to take the perspective of and empathise with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures (cf. CASEL 2017). This might be supported through key words or concepts, and accompanying definitions, being rendered into the home languages of the classroom, exhibiting the range of languages in the classroom and how they connect to different areas of the curriculum. NESA command terms, for example, provided in the home languages of the classroom, in addition to English, can assist students to understand more closely the expectations associated with concepts such as ‘assess’ or ‘evaluate’ or ‘describe’, particularly in the context of a specific disciple. The expectations for ‘evaluate’, for example, might be different in History to that of Economics.

One of the main results of supporting interlingualism in this manner is the promotion of the inclusivity that many teaching and learning frameworks seek to espouse. In the interlingual classroom cultural knowledge experiences and home languages are viewed as precious resources for furthering academic growth and participation in learning (Gallagher 2008, p. 93 cf. Rader 2015, p. 44). Students feel valued and known by their teachers, can be more actively engaged in their learning and have their voice heard and valued in an authentic manner.

Use of identity or dual writing texts Another option that empowers academic growth and student wellbeing is the practice of writing dual language texts (cf. Cummins & Early 2011). This also helps to promote students’ identity and support their own language development (Rader 2015, p. 44). For example, a Year 7 History assignment on Ancient China could be submitted by a Chinese student in both English and Mandarin, providing the student with an opportunity to learn about Ancient China in both languages.

Concl us i on At first my new blanket was thin and small. But every day I added new words to it. The blanket grew and grew. I forgot about the cold and lonely waterfall.

Now, my new blanket is just as warm and soft and comfortable as my old blanket.

And now, no matter which blanket I use, I will always be me.

(Kobald and Blackwood 2014, p. 24-26) At the beginning of this article, we were introduced to Cartwheel, a war refugee whose life had been completely uprooted. Everything that was familiar to her, everything that contributed to her sense of self no longer made sense. By the end of ‘My Two Blankets’, Cartwheel had created a second blanket, symbolic of her adopted culture and language. While it took time, Cartwheel’s story finished with her being comfortable with her old blanket and her new one. Her home language as much as her adopted language informed her sense of wellbeing and identity.

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Acknowledging and using home languages in classrooms, regardless as to whether the learner is an EAL/D or ELL student, is an important part of looking after the academic development and the overall wellbeing of the students for whom teachers care each and every day. While there are international frameworks that set global expectations regarding the place of home languages in classrooms, research clearly indicates that student learning and student wellbeing both benefit from using home languages to support understanding. This can be achieved in different ways.

Three options briefly explored in this article were translanguaging, interlingualism and the use of identity or dual language texts. If teachers are to help students develop the mental structures to think deeply and creatively or to assist students to foster the means to make ethical decisions and communicate ideas with certainty and confidence, then facilitating understanding at a fundamental level will be required. This will mean recognising the multilingual reality of the world today, and into the future, as well as acknowledging the place of home languages in supporting student learning and wellbeing. That way, students can feel the same as Cartwheel did by the end of ‘My Two Blankets’: being able to make sense of the world around them at the same time as feeling sure in their sense of self.

Ref erences Adams, SR & Richie, C 2017, ‘Social Emotional Learning and English Language Learners: A Review of the Literature’, INTESOL Journal, vol.17, no.1, pp. 77-93.

CASEL 2017, Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Competencies. https://casel.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/12/CASEL-Competencies.pdf [accessed 23/9/2020].

Cummins & Early, M 2011, Identity Texts: The Collaborative Creation of Power in Multilingual Schools. Tretham Books: Stoke-on-Trent.

García, O & Wei, L 2014, Translanguaging: Language, Bilingualism and Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke Gallagher, E 2008, Equal rights to the classroom: Many languages. One message. Multilingual Matters: Clevedon.

Jaumont, F 2017, The Bilingual Revolution: The Future of Education is in Two Languages. TBR Books. Brooklyn, New York.

Kobald, I & Blackwood, F 2014, My Two Blankets. Little Hare Books: Richmond.

Mackay, H 2018, Australia Reimagined: Towards a more compassionate, less anxious society. Macmillan Australia.

Niehaus, K & Adelson, J 2013. ‘Self-concept and native language background: A study of measurement invariance and cross-group comparisons in third grade’, Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 105, no. 1, pp.

226-240.

Rader, D 2015, Teaching and Learning for Intercultural Understanding: Engaging young hearts and minds.

Routledge: London and New York.

UNESCO 2015a, Global Citizenship Education. Topics and Learning Objectives. UNESCO. Paris.

UNESCO 2015b, Global Citizenship Education. Preparing learners for the challenges of the 21st century.

UNESCO. Paris.

UNESCO 2015c, Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. UNESCO. Paris.

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United Nations 1990, Conventions on the Rights of the Child. https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx [accessed 20/9/2020] Zins, JE & Elias, MJ 2007, ‘Social and emotional learning: Promoting the development of all students’, Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, vol.17 (2-3), pp. 233-255.

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About the Authors Kate Caldecott-Davis is a registered psychologist who has worked in the role of School Counsellor at Barker College since 2008. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree and Postgraduate Diplomas in Psychology, a Master’s Degree in Research, and a Master’s Degree in Gifted Education (With Excellence). In addition to Kate’s professional practice, and work in the area of gifted education, she conducts quantitative research investigating the motivational processes underlying optimal psycho-social functioning of students and teachers within educational settings. Kate is passionate about empowering all students to thrive at school, which is reflected in her approach to working with students, and her research into social and emotional learning which will be the focus of her doctoral studies in 2021.

Sarah Clifton is in the first year of a new role, as the Director of Professional Learning at Barker College. Prior to this appointment she led a large department as the Head of PDHPE. Sarah has many years of experience teaching the mandatory 7 – 10 PDHPE courses and developed a now thriving Stage 5 and Stage 6 elective program. Although holding a passion for all physical activity and having coached across a range of sports at Barker, basketball is her number 1. Sarah has been the co-curricular coordinator of Girls’ basketball, continues to coach the 1st team along with undertaking selector and coach roles at ISA and CIS level. She is looking forward to the challenge of delivering a program of professional learning that supports the Barker Teaching and Learning Framework.

Dr Greg Cunningham is currently the Director of Accreditation. His PhD investigated the influence of reading on student response to visual texts. He has been a visiting educator in the United States and in the United Kingdom and he has presented papers that consider approaches to teaching and learning, particularly in understanding, pedagogy and teacher professional learning. He has represented the Independent Schools of NSW on the Professional Learning Committee at the NSW Education Standards’ Authority. His interests include English teaching, teacher coaching and professional accreditation. A Fellow of Trinity College of Music London, he has also given organ recitals in London, Sydney and South Africa.

Kathryn Driver is one of the Deans of the Middle School and a History teacher. She has an MA in History and is interested in the teaching of History for the purposes of fostering critical thinking, developing empathy and exploring the formation of identity. She is passionate about Russian history and the unique development of that state. She has presented on PBL approaches at an AIS History Conference. Kathryn was also responsible for co-leading a Project Group set up to consider best practice in pastoral care as Barker moves towards comprehensive coeducation.

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Kate Dundas is a Middle School Head of House for May and held a number of leadership positions in wellbeing prior to commencing at Barker in 2017. She teaches History, specialising in Ancient History and is also an experienced Legal Studies teacher. She is currently studying a Master of Education in Educational Leadership with a focus on student wellbeing. She is passionate about supporting students to develop their God given talents so they can be active global citizens.

Amanda Eastman commenced her career teaching History and currently works in Learning Support. From 2012 – 2014 she was the Assistant to the Director of Studies, overseeing the implementation of the Australian Curriculum. In 2017, she began working as the Assistant to the Director of the Barker Institute, contributing to initiatives such as the ‘Barker Journey’ longitudinal research project and the editing of the Barker Institute journal. She has also enjoyed participating in a variety of Barker’s cocurricular activities such as Softball, Touch Football, Hockey, Snowsports, Boarding, Crusaders and Focus On.

Sally Filtness is a Senior Head of House for Butters and has been a senior pastoral carer at Barker College since 2002. She has a Master’s Degree in Technology Teaching and is a Nationally Accredited Highly Accomplished Teacher. She has been a member of the ISTAA Experienced and Highly Accomplished Teacher Assessment Panels and she has written three textbooks on Design and Technology for Stages 4, 5 and 6. Sally is a member of the College of Teachers and is currently working on her PhD in critical thinking and creativity in a Design and Technology classroom. She also lectures, writes and marks for numerous Bachelor of Technology teaching degrees at Southern Cross University, NSW. Sally has HSC marked and judged for 20 years and enjoys the process. When not doing all of the above she enjoys playing with her six year old identical twin girls, Zara and Chloe.

Molly Glendenning is the Barker Global Research Assistant, joining the Barker Global team in 2019 to assist the Director of Barker Global Partnerships in the establishment of Ngarralingayil Barker on Wonnarua Country in Wollombi. Molly is a third-year university student undertaking a Bachelor of Social Science majoring in International Relations and is passionate about cross-cultural exchange and global politics. In November 2019, Molly was named a 2020 New Colombo Plan Scholar by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, chosen as 1 of 125 from the Australian undergraduate cohort.

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Phillip Heath AM achieved a First Class Honours degree in Reformation History and taught at Trinity Grammar School Sydney and King’s School Ely (UK), before becoming Deputy Head of The William Clarke College in Kellyville, and then Headmaster of St Andrew’s Cathedral School, Sydney, where he formed the Gawura Campus for Indigenous inner city children. Author of ‘Trinity, the Daring of Your Name’, and numerous journal articles, Mr Heath became fifth Principal of Radford College ACT in 2009 and the school received the Order of Australia Association (ACT) Award for Community Service twice under his leadership. He was made a Fellow of the ACT Branch ACEL in 2011 and in 2018 was awarded as a Member in the general division of the Order of Australia for his service to education and his commitment to creating greater opportunities for Indigenous students.

Mr Heath was appointed as the Head of Barker College in 2014. In 2016 it was announced that the School would transition to be fully coeducational by 2022 with female students commencing in Years Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten in 2018, Year 3 in 2019 and Year 7 in 2020. In 2016 Mr Heath formed the Darkinjung Barker Campus for Indigenous children on the Central Coast of New South Wales and in 2020 the Ngarralingayil Barker Campus for Indigenous children in the Hunter Region of New South Wales. An MOU was signed in 2020 with the Yothu Yindi Foundation in Dhupuma with the intention to form a school for Indigenous children in North East Arnhem Land.

Mr Heath has served on the NSW Board of Studies representing the Independent Sector (2000-2009) and is also a past National Chair of the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (2013-2015). He is currently working on an unpublished manuscript titled ‘One Life at a Time’, exploring his journey and work to create greater educational opportunities for Australia’s First Nations people.

Phillip is married to Alison, who is also an educator with expertise in English literacy and language acquisition.

Dr Matthew Hill is the Director the Barker Institute with a focus on professional learning, research and innovation in the School. He teaches Physics and the new Science Extension course at the School which introduces students to scientific academic research. Matthew's doctorate reflects his passion for science education focusing on Representational Fluency amongst physics students at school and university. He has published in leadership, education and science journals and been involved in course development and teaching at The University of Sydney and The University of Western Sydney. He has also completed a Graduate Diploma in Divinity at Ridley College in Melbourne.

Greg Longney is a teacher of History and the Director of Teaching and Learning.

His Masters of Education (Research) focused on how History teachers understand disciplinary knowledge and how they communicate it to their students. Recently, Greg has worked with staff to develop a teaching and learning framework, based on educational research and grounded in the culture, language and traditions of the School. He continues to teach History from Years 7-12.

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Andy Mifsud is Digital Learning Leader and a Music teacher. He is currently researching student perceptions and experiences of secondary school blended learning environments as part of his Doctor of Education studies at The University of Sydney. He has been involved in a number of action research projects based on social learning sites and he has presented his work at national and international education conferences. Andrew is the NSW Secretary of the Australian Society for Music Education and is a past recipient of the ASME Music Educating for Life Award and Outstanding Professional Service Award for his work promoting professional learning in the music education community

Philip Mundy has worked at many leading secondary schools both in the United States and Australia, most recently at Sydney Grammar School prior to becoming the Head of History at Barker. He has presented extensively at history days in NSW and has significant experience with development of assessments. He also has worked extensively in teacher professional learning and in school administration. Mr Mundy graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Yale with a major in History and earned his Masters Degree from Rutgers University. He currently teaches History to Years 7-12.

Sophie Mynott is the Director of Barker Global Partnerships, responsible for the School’s Indigenous education and global engagement strategies. She has developed an Indigenous education strategy for the School and assists teachers to bring Indigenous histories, cultures and perspectives into their classroom. She also works with Indigenous communities and organisations to improve access to education for Indigenous students, and to develop the understanding of and commitment to reconciliation of non-Indigenous students and teachers. She has assisted Mr Phillip Heath, AM to set up two schools – Ngarralingayil Barker in Wollombi (2020) and Dhupuma Barker in Gunyangara, NT (2021). She has a lifelong passion for human rights and social justice, having worked as a paralegal at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and done her Masters thesis on miscarriages of justice in international criminal law. Her other experiences in education have involved roles at the NSW Education Standards Authority and as an academic at the University of New South Wales. She is the President of the Legal Studies Association of NSW, and lectures students and delivers professional development to teachers across NSW. She is grateful that both in her role in Barker Global, and as a Legal Studies and Global Studies teacher, she gets to share her passion for social justice and engage students with the issues of the day.

Jo Quinlan sees teaching as her vocation. She has loved working in a variety of roles in primary and secondary education over 25+ years and is currently enjoying the challenge of her multi-faceted role in Barker Junior School as Numeracy Specialist, Aspire and Digital Learning Leader. She draws on her post-graduate studies and ongoing interest in the area of gifted education to work collaboratively with class teachers in exploring, designing and modelling effective ways of engaging and inspiring gifted learners to achieve to their potential. She is co-ordinator of the IPSHA Gifted and Talented Umbrella Group.

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Jason Saikaly has been Head of Library Services at Barker College since 2013. In 2020, he was also appointed to the role of Coordinator of Philosophy & Rhetoric (Year 9).

Jason holds a BA (English/History), a GradDipEd (Secondary Education), a Masters in Library & Information Management and a Master of Business Administration.

Prior to his current role, Jason was Head of Library Services at Masada College (2008-2012) and, before that, Head of Library Services at a private boarding school in New Zealand (1994 – 2007). Professionally, Jason is most interested in the impact genrefication has on reading patterns and habits and in the impact online resources have on the role of specialised librarians.

Dr Timothy Scott is an experienced History and modern languages teacher. His PhD investigated socio-political influences on contemporary German conceptions of history and archaeology. Most recently, Dr Scott was the Director of Academic Affairs of an international school in Germany. In this role he shared the responsibility for setting the school’s strategic direction for intercultural teaching and learning, and for building and sustaining an interlingual learning community focused on delivering quality international education. Dr Scott returned to Australia in 2018 and he currently teaches History at Barker.

Michele Studd is currently Head of Learning Support. Prior to coming to Barker, she was Director of Middle Years at Northholm Grammar and she has held various Special Education teaching and consultancy roles. Michele's particular areas of interest include supporting all students to achieve their personal best and working collaboratively with classroom teachers to plan and establish inclusive and effective classroom learning environments

Jeremy von Einem began teaching at Oxley College, Bowral as the foundation Physics teacher. He became Head of Science at Barker College in 1997 and led the staff response to the building of the Foundation Science Building. After two years at Cranbrook School, he returned to Barker College as Director of Studies and remained in that role for 12 years before moving to the new role of Director of Academic Performance and then as Head of Curriculum. As Head of Curriculum he leads the curriculum team and Heads of Academic Departments. He is particularly interested in how educational theory is expressed as actual classroom practice and in improving ways students study and remember information.

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