My Research Question

RESEARCH 1 and PRACTICE 1 Reflective Entry 4

April 05, 2020.

Formulating my Research Question

Figure 1

Asking the right question will promote critical thinking in a research writing (Figure 1). For this research I focused on entry 1, entry 2 and entry 3 and concluded that I will utilise the “three bears” problem; too broad, too narrow or just right to come up with a research question:

                     

If I use Google Hangouts for

Reading lessons, how will it Engage my

Year 4 Maori Learners Digitally in a Lockdown Situation?

Due to lockdown our school has been using Google Hangouts for connecting with all of our learners online via Manaiakalani site. Chat histories and files are saved online, and they can be synced between different devices. “For educators, Google Hangouts is a great tool to engage students in collaboration outside of the classroom” (Google Hangouts – Online Tools for Teaching & Learning, 2020). 

Online attendance hasn’t been that encouraging despite sending learners and whanau reminders on multiple platforms. So I came up with my research topic as “Engaging Learners Digitally in a Lockdown Situation”. 

As time went by it became easier to formulate my research question with the help of one of my breakout groups in one of our MindLab sessions. I formulated a more specific research question - “If I use Google Hangouts for Reading, how will it engage my Year 4 Maori Learners Digitally in a Lockdown Situation” (Figure 2). 

Figure 2 - Google Hangout for remote learning

This is because from my Year 4 class out of 5 Maori learners, only 2 would attend the sessions but even they were not consistent. Engaging them virtually was a challenge. In addition to that our school and Community of Learning cluster’s performance in reading was below the national average. Various reading strategies were tried with various modifications and although limited success was achieved, there still was a need for acceleration in reading at my school to reduce the distance below the national curve. I teach at a digital school so utilising TPACK and SAMR model to enhance teaching and learning via hangouts mainly focusing on reading shouldn’t be too difficult. Lynch (2018) indicates that technology used as a tool for reading instruction can supplement the skills being taught, engage students more, and allows them to take charge of their own learning.

With no idea of when everything is going to normalise because of this (now alert level 3) lockdown but as an educator I still have to cater for all my learners, especially my Maori learners by utilising most of the 21st Century Skills available whether it be in or out of the classroom.

In this research my priority learners are going to be Māori learners which requires incorporating the Kaupapa Māori theory into my research topic. The goals of the research topic will be set in collaboration with the learners and their whanau giving them autonomy in how to achieve them. This will be based on the Kaupapa Māori principle of “Tino Rangatiratanga  which asserts and reinforces the goal of Kaupapa Māori initiatives: allowing Māori to control their own culture, aspirations and destiny.” (Rangahau, n.d.). The processes for reaching the goals and measuring the success will be mutually agreed between all participants giving my learners agency over what they do.

The principle of Tino Rangatiratanga closely relates to the Kaupapa Māori principle of Whānau. “It acknowledges the relationships that Māori have to one another and to the world around them. Whānau, and the process of whakawhanaungatanga are key elements of Māori society and culture” (Rangahau, n.d.). Involving the whānau of my learners in the decision making process of trying out the multimodal strategy in reading will give them ownership of this research.

The Kaupapa Māori principle of Ako Māori will be prime in preparing this research as it is related to teaching and learning. “This principle acknowledges teaching and learning practices that are inherent and unique to Māori, as well as practices that may not be traditionally derived but are preferred by Māori” (Rangahau, n.d.).  Although the strategy of multimodal reading is not traditionally derived, I see ways that it can be aligned to learning through all the senses and believe that it would be accepted by my learners whānau and hopefully preferred by them too.

I will look into this research through my own lens and try gaining some valuable insight and I wish that it's going to benefit other educators who are stuck in the same situation as me. Any kind of situation should not stop teaching and learning … Education.govt.nz writes that as our world keeps changing we need our young people to be confident, creative, connected and actively involved life-long learners. We need an education system that supports the development of values, knowledge and competencies, and sets them up to do well in the world (2020). 

References:

Google Hangouts – Online Tools for Teaching & Learning. (2020). Retrieved 9 May 2020, from https://blogs.umass.edu/onlinetools/community-centered-tools/google-hangouts-community-centered-tool/

Education.govt.nz (2020). Practical information about education for parents and carers https://parents.education.govt.nz/secondary-school/learning-at-school/learning-using-digital-technologies/

Lynch, M. (2018). Do digital tools improve reading outcomes? Retrieved from: https://www.thetechedvocate.org/do-digital-tools-improve-reading-outcomes/

Rangahau, (n.d.) Principles of Kaupapa Māori. Retrieved from http://www.rangahau.co.nz/research-idea/27/

Eliminating the White Spaces

RESEARCH 1 and PRACTICE 1 Reflective Entry 3

April 05, 2020.

Engaging Learners Digitally either during or after lockdown and how it encompasses Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness

We are living in the 21st Century so it’s vital that we incorporate 21st Century Skills into teaching and learning despite race, culture, socio economic background and so on (Figure 1). In my research I will be focusing on engaging learners digitally either during or after lockdown and how it encompasses indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness.

Figure 1 - Modern Learning in School

Indigenous Knowledge is “the understandings, skills and philosophies developed by societies with long histories of interaction with their natural surroundings (Figure 2). For rural and indigenous peoples, local knowledge informs decision-about fundamental aspects of day-to-day life” (UNESCO, 2020).

Figure 2

The school where I teach is a multicultural school. It comprises of Maori, Tongans, Samoans, Chinese and a few other minority groups. Interacting and understanding my learners is my priority because I, myself come from a different background with varied diversity of experiences, language, viewpoints, life experiences and so on. Me being the leader in class means I need to be more culturally responsive.

At our school term one is always about getting to know each other and building relationships. We always get learners to write about “All About Me” - introducing them in English, their heritage language with whanau then I compile a video for an inquiry presentation. “The teacher who acknowledges, respects, and values students’ identities and cultures is best prepared to build on these diverse perspectives” (TKI, 2019). To engage learners digitally I plan to incorporate the knowledge of the local Maori and Pacific cultures, their folk knowledge and their customs and beliefs in teaching throughout the different curriculum. Digitally learners will be able to research, learn and share more about their own and other cultures. This will also allow me to learn more about their customs, traditions and cultures at the sametime. Using digital device learners and I will only be a fingertip away into exploring their various cultures. I also plan to use Ako Maori - The Principle of Culturally Preferred Pedagogy. “This principle acknowledges teaching and learning practices that are inherent and unique to Māori, as well as practices that may not be traditionally derived but are preferred by Māori.” (Rangahau, n.d.). This principle ties in well with one of our school values, “Ako”. Digitally I will be able to research and keep myself up to date creating and assigning valuable related tasks and making sure that the learners and whanau are connected by utilising 21st century skills (TPACK) whether it be learning (SAMR), creating, sharing their learning. During this lockdown whanau engagement has been great. “We’ve had whānau that have gone out of their way to learn quickly. They’ve been nervous, but because of their commitment to their tamariki, they’ve worked it out” (Education Gazette, 2020). So it means that it is possible to engage whanau in teaching and learning as well.

“Cultural responsiveness means interacting with families to truly understand their reality; it means understanding the socio political history and how it impacts on classroom life; it means challenging personal beliefs and actions; and, it means changing practices to engage all students in their learning and make the classroom a positive learning place for all students” (News/Media, 2020) (Figure 3).

Figure 3

In Kia Eke Panuku (2016), “culturally responsive and relational pedagogy is understood to be contexts for learning where learners are able to connect new learning to their own prior knowledge and cultural experiences.” Lynch (2016) argued that “Culturally responsive pedagogy is a student-centered approach to teaching in which the students’ unique cultural strengths are identified and nurtured to promote student achievement and a sense of well-being about the student’s cultural place in the world.” (Figure 4).

Figure 4 - Multicultural Classroom

Moke-Maxwell (2015) in her video mentions that “Crown has a relationship with Māori in the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi where they promised Māori to care for its taonga (treasures). Research should therefore be based on the “protection, partnership and participation with Māori.” Cultural Responsiveness and my Research Topic Milne (2017) stressed that “cultural identity needs to be implemented all the time, not timetabled on certain occasions” like cultural weeks or on educational visits. She added on to say that “schools have a role in sustaining culture instead of negating it”..... “this 21st-century era of connectedness, culturally sustaining practice has to take into account how to prepare students to be global citizens”. As for my learners' cultural capital, I will make sure to use digital tools to enhance and include their cultural identity in all curriculum areas throughout the year so learners can feel connected and valued as they prepare themselves as global citizens (Figure 5).

Figure 5

To add on for my research topic I will utilise Whānau - The Principle of Extended Family Structure. “The principle of Whānau sits at the core of Kaupapa Māori. It acknowledges the relationships that Māori have to one another and to the world around them (Figure 6). Whānau, and the process of whakawhanaungatanga are key elements of Māori society and culture.” (Rangahau, n.d.).

Figure 6

I have been and will continue to create videos of learning experiences that will facilitate discussion between students and parents, mainly for English as a second language families. The Class Blog, SchoolLoop and Class Dojo has become a portal for parents to interact with especially during this lockdown and I am certain that it can continue for the whanau as an e-portfolio where student progress can continue to be shared. As for the community each class has been making 3 minute videos and then it gets played at the Hoyts Sylvia Park for the community to celebrate. I believe my learners can utilise their skills they learn in class and involve the community for making videos, recording songs and facilitating community workshops or present at their churches. There are a number of ways learners can impart and add their knowledge onto their kete. So “Relationships are central” but intended to focus more on aspects of the pedagogy (The Mind Lab, 2020).

Reference: Education Gazette Editors. (2020). “We are kanohi ki te kanohi people”: keeping Māori students connected during Covid-19. Education Gazette, (99)1. Retrieved from https://gazette.education.govt.nz/articles/we-are-kanohi-ki-te-kanohi-people-keeping-maori-students-connected-during-covid-19/ Kea Eke Panuku. 2016. Culturally Responsive and Relational Pedagogy. Retrieved from https://kep.org.nz/dimensions/culturally-responsive-and-relational-pedagogy Lynch, M. (2016). What is culturally responsive pedagogy? Retrieved from https://www.theedadvocate.org/what-is-culturally-responsive-pedagogy/ Milne, A. (2017).Coloring in the white spaces: reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. Moke-Maxwell, T. Sep 8, 2015 [Video] Dr Tess Moeke-Maxwell discusses Kaupapa Maori research. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHfEXqBcBig News/Media. (2020). Retrieved 7 May 2020, from https://www.ppta.org.nz/news-and-media/rss/ Rangahau, (n.d.) Principles of Kaupapa Māori. Retrieved from http://www.rangahau.co.nz/research-idea/27/ The Mind Lab. (2020). Retrieved 7 May 2020, from https://app.themindlab.com/media/120357/view TKI. 2019. Effective teaching is culturally responsive. Retrieved from https://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Science/Pedagogy/Culturally-responsive United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. (2007). Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/priority-areas/links/related-information/what-is-local-and-indigenous-knowledge/

The Audiences

RESEARCH 1 and PRACTICE 1 Reflective Entry 2

April 18, 2020.

Audiences - Local, National and International

Reese (2019) indicates that “many authentic tasks can be created for a local, national, and or global audience. Our students need to create mental relationships for their existence in a global, interconnected world. Topic and audience can help to create the situation and require students to utilize practices and capacities, adapting as necessary for a global audience and or an audience somewhere other than where they are familiar”. These will then only take us forward to be 21st Century learners. (Figure 1).

Figure 1 - 21st Century Learners Qualities

After reading the above quotation, I had my eruka moment. This is because for my research, I am focusing on Engaging Learners Digitally in a Lockdown Situation (adhering that soon we all are going to come out of this lockdown) addressing the context of different audiences (local, national and international) and their perspectives. 

Years ago while teaching overseas I only thought that the audience for my learners was only me. This is because learners were only using books and pencils and the books were kept at school. Only at the end of the year the books were given out to be taken home. When I immigrated to New Zealand and as time went by, teaching and learning became digital in our Manaiakalani Cluster. Then only I realised that the audience involves people more than me and that was huge.

I will utilise Brookfield’s (2017) (Figure 2) Four Lenses of Critical Reflection ...“students’ eyes, colleagues’ perceptions, personal experiences, and theory and research. These will help us uncover when and how certain assumptions work and when distorted or incomplete assumptions need further investigation”.

Figure 2 - Brookfield’s Four Lenses

Local Audience

The local audience include learners, colleagues, parents, Board of Trustees (BOT), community and cluster.

Who is the audience for 99 percent of the work students do in school? The teacher! If you happen to work with students who come to school eager to win their teachers' approval, you won't need to do much to motivate them. (The Power of Audience - Educational Leadership, 2020). However engaging learners digitally in a lockdown situation or after lockdown can be challenging but not impossible.  

The next local audience will be my learners. Brookfield (2017)... seeing ourselves through students’ eyes makes us more aware of the effects of our words and actions on students. This helps us clarify our assumptions and decide when they make sense and when they need to be changed or discarded. Monitoring my learners' behaviour online will give me some ideas.

My colleagues are the next lot of audience whom I can look up to when stuck. We always collaborate, bounce back ideas with each other seeking better ways of teaching using 21st Century Skills since we are a digital school. Colleagues can suggest perspectives we might have missed and responses to situations in which we feel clueless (Brookfield, 2017). 

Our administration team, Board of Trustees, Cluster, parents and extended whanau are another lot of audience. Their contribution also assists my practice when it comes to engaging my learners digitally especially during or even after lockdown. Effective partnerships between schools and parents, whānau, and communities can result in better outcomes for students. The better the relationship and engagement, the more positive the impact on students' learning (Involving parents, families and whānau/ Partnerships and networks/ Home - Educational Leaders, 2020).

National Audience

The national audience includes the New Zealand and Ministry of Education impacting New Zealand. 

Google for Education (n.d.b) indicates that New Zealand is attempting to address the ‘digital divide’ between students of differing socio-economic classes. In response to the estimated 100,000 children residing in homes lacking internet connectivity, the government has promised to close the digital divide by 2020 to offer all students digital competence opportunities. (p.3).

The first part of my national audience are my school colleagues together with twelve other schools belonging to the Community of Learning cluster. With the help of Woolf Fisher Research Centre (University of Auckland) yearly we compare how much progress the learners have made using devices as a tool for learning in reading (Figure 3), writing (Figure 4) and maths (Figure 5) within the cluster. The strategies and suggestions are discussed at professional learning groups and celebrated at yearly conferences called hui.

Second audience is the Ministry of Education, Education Review Office and cluster as they collect data. We use Teaching as Inquiry (TAI) which illustrates how teachers have used an inquiry approach to teaching to become more culturally responsive and to improve outcomes for their Māori and Pasifika students (Involving parents, families and whānau / Partnerships and networks / Home - Educational Leaders, 2020). In both cases learners' performances are measured while they use devices to enhance their learning. 

Figure 2 - Woolf Fisher Research (PAT Reading)

Figure 3 - Woolf Fisher Research (Writing)

Figure 4  - Woolf Fisher Research (Mathematics)

International Audience

PISA 2018 result table shows that New Zealand has done well in literacy and mathematics. The New Zealand Ministry of Education and The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will be my international audience. “OECD is an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives. Their goal is to shape policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all” (About the OECD - OECD, 2020). When implementing my research topic it may improve the scores as shown in the PISA 2018 result table.

However “Theoretical and research literature can provide unexpected and illuminating interpretations of familiar as well as newly complex situations. Practices that you may have thought were transparent and empowering may be experienced by some as invasive and aggressive or as taking away power in a wholly unconvincing way” (Brookfield, 2017). 

My research topic Engaging learners digitally in a lockdown situation addresses the context of multiple audiences and their perspectives. It has shown some light as to where I stand with my situation.



Reference:

About the OECD - OECD. (2020). Retrieved 6 May 2020, from https://www.oecd.org/about/

Brookfield, (2017). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. 

Google for Education (n.d.b). Future of the Classroom: Emerging Trends in K-12 Education NZ Edition. Retrieved from http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/new_zealand_future_of_the_classroom_country_report.pdf?utm_source=web&utm_medium=campaign&utm_campaign=FY19-Q2-global-demand gen-website-other-future the classroom

Involving parents, families and whānau / Partnerships and networks / Home - Educational Leaders. (2020). Retrieved 4 May 2020, from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Partnerships-and-networks/Involving-parents-families-and-whanau

Reese, D. (2019). The Importance of Audience in Authentic Teaching and Learning. DefinedSTEM. Retrieved from definedstem.com

The Power of Audience - Educational Leadership. (2020). Retrieved 4 May 2020, from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov08/vol66/num03/The-Power-of-Audience.aspx

The Research Topic

RESEARCH 1 and PRACTICE 1 Reflective Entry 1

April 05, 2020.

Engage Learners Digitally in a Lockdown Situation

The whole world has seen drastic changes, in particular New Zealand. On March 26th, the government announced alert level 4 lockdown. Dictionary.com (2020) defines lockdown as “freeze or pause”. Everybody went into panic mode thinking what’s next!

COVID-19 was the only reason behind the lockdown apart from the essential workers because they worked in essential sectors and were allowed to go to work. The Guardian (2020) discusses that “the move came after the number of cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand rose past 100”. 

Teacher’s, parents/ caregivers and children were all asked to stay home. Students' learning became a concern such as to maintain what has been taught and get some new learning done.

After two weeks of lockdown the Ministry of Education decided that they are going to roll out the devices so virtual learning can take place. Jantjies (2020) talks about online learning as an obvious way to keep lessons going especially in times like this. Within 2 days the chromebooks were delivered and I started my Hangout lessons using my school laptop from home. Almost daily I added a short video recording myself using screencastify and a varied plan for teaching. I used a few of their heritage languages in my video to motivate and engage my learners. My Year 4 learners used Hangouts for the first time and they did exceptionally well. Racheva (2017) defines virtual learning as “distance learning conducted in a virtual learning environment with electronic study content designed for self-paced (asynchronous) or live web-conferencing (synchronous) online teaching and tutoring”. (Figure 1).

     

Figure 1 - Class Online Site

Daily turnout on average was around 12-14 learners out of 26. Some whanau also joined in now and then which made the 30 minute sessions interesting. The reason for such low numbers were: few learners didn’t have access to the internet, three never had devices, some were sharing with other siblings, few not so concerned or were unaware about the sessions as there was no way I was able to contact the parents.

Now the challenge was engaging learners. Ministry of Education (2017) talks about Cognitive, Behavioural and Emotional engagement. I wanted all of these three to engage my learners whether they were Māori, Pasifika students or from any other cultural background. For that I utilised 21st Century Learning Design Rubrics from ITL Research which are Collaboration, Knowledge construction, Self-regulation, Real-world problems/ innovations, ICT for learning and Skilled Communication (Figure 2). The 21st Century skills are necessary for students and teachers because it helps “educators identify and understand the opportunities that learning activities give students to build 21st century skills” (ITL Research, 2012). I included activities for learners to do as part of their school-related work which was either asynchronous or synchronous and few involved whanau.

Figure 2 - 21st Century (ITL) Skills

Amidst the lockdown the principal had to reshuffle the classes because of the two pregnant teachers, since they were asked to stay home. So I ended up having 14 new learners from another class whom I never taught this year. I never got a chance to form any relationship, I still don’t know them well and they might be having the same feeling.

During online sessions I noticed that learners were shy to greet each other especially from another class, there was lack of discussion as they were able to see each other on the screen, could be because of recording, lack of confidence or maybe the surrounding they were in. However, our school is a digital school so accessing various sites or activities was easy for our learners and they displayed that very well while on their devices. 

The learners followed given instructions and behaved well. I overtook the lessons since I did most of the talking. Teaching was happening but not in depth use of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Figure 2. TPACK is a framework for teachers developed by Koehler and Mishra (2009) that identifies the different aspects of knowledge needed to learn effectively with technology (Figure 3).

 Figure 3 - TPACK Model

The activities I assigned digitally learners were not able to utilise Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition (SAMR) developed by Ruben Puentedura (Figure 4). According to TKI (MoE. n.d.) SAMR offers a method of seeing how computer technology might impact teaching and learning. Being away from classroom teaching I was not able to see and follow the progress through teaching and learning with technology. This is because apart from eight learners others needed reminders to go to the redefinition stage and few were reluctant.

Figure 4 - SAMR Model

The Ministry of Education has solved the biggest problem by letting learners have their devices and providing internet services so learners can have digital and collaborative learning. Despite sending messages on Class Dojo (teacher) and SchoolLoop (principal) I figured out that by providing whanau with my mobile number they were quick to respond mainly via text messages. 

For me it means I have to continue using my 21st Century Skills that ITL (Innovative Teaching and Learning Research) decided were most important for students and teachers. Keeping in mind that somehow I have to engage all my Year 4 learners digitally in a lockdown situation. The ministry has done its part and our school staff, including me, are doing best for all our learners. At the moment I need to continue engaging my learners digitally utilising TPACK so they can use SAMR and build on or gain new knowledge.

Reference:

ITL Research. (2012). 21CLD Learning Activity Rubrics. Retrieved from https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/ITL-Research

Jantjies, M. (2020). Kids can keep learning even during a lockdown. Here’s how. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/kids-can-keep-learning-even-during-a-lockdown-heres-how-134434

Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge? Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70. Retrieved from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/29544/article_29544.pdf

Ministry of Education (2017) http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Teaching-as-inquiry/Student-engagement

MoE. (n.d.).Using the SAMR model. Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Teacher-inquiry/SAMR-model

(n.a). (2020). Dictionary.com. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/lockdown

Puentedura, R. (2010). SAMR and TPCK: Intro to advanced practice. Retrieved from http://hippasus.com/resources/sweden2010/SAMR_TPCK_IntroToAdvancedPractice.pdf.

Racheva, V. (2017). What is virtual learning? https://www.vedamo.com/knowledge/what-is-virtual-learning/

The Guardian (2020). Support the guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/23/kiwis-go-home-new-zealand-to-go-into-month-long-lockdown-to-fight-coronavirus

TKI. Using the SAMR model. (https://www.google.com/search?q=tpack&oq=TPACK&aqs=chrome.0.0l8.2317j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&safe=active&ssui=on).