The day was spent working with Flaxmere School, starting with a breakfast meeting and then working with teachers from each syndicate across the school. The goal was to address specific issues, problems and questions arising from the classroom experiences as teachers implement Inquiry Learning using the SAUCE model across the school. A wide range of practical issues were addressed. The day culminated in a staff meeting where we looked at issues of planning, preparation and the next steps in terms of further Inquiry units. It was good to have such open and positive discussions and to see the school as a whole ready to continue the process of implementing and embedding Inquiry Learning.
I had a great day working with the staff at Blockhouse Bay Primary and some teachers from my old high school ( Lynfield College).
The day was split into two sections. In the morning we looked at learner questioning, questioning skills and the QuESTioning Rubric. During the afternoon session we looked at teacher questioning, and practised a range of teacher questioning and related strategies that would increase student thinking.
I really enjoyed the discussion and enthusiasm of the day.
I had a great evening working with a group of teachers from the Dannevirke area. The focus of the evening was to take a fresh look at thinking skills and determine the challenges for schools as they move seriously towards implementing a learning and teaching approach aimed at improving students’ thinking. During the evening we discussed seven main questions:
- What is thinking?
- Why should we have an increased focus on thinking?
- What is an effective thinker?
- What attitudes does an effective thinker have?
- What skills does an effective thinker need?
- What are the basic, foundational or core skills of thinking?
- What is the reasoning process?
And from these came a set of suggestions that included:
• Defining what it means at your school to be an effective thinker
• Identifying a set of core or foundational thinking skills that will be the focus of your school’s programme
• Identify the tools that will support and facilitate those skills
• Make improving student vocabulary a major focus
• Deliberately target questioning skills
• Utilise the reasoning process as a central structure
• Target improved teacher questioning
I have just got back from Christchurch where I was involved in running two days of workshops for local teachers.
The first day was spent specifically on Questioning, looking at questioning skills, the importance of questioning in learning, the QuESTioning Rubric, its application in classrooms, and how it can be used for school wide assessment of querstioning skills.
The second day was spent with a group of Principals, Deputy Principals and Assistant Principals. The central focus of the day was to look at the Key Competencies in the Draft New Zealand Curriculum. We discussed some of the broader issues arising from the Draft Curriculum and then looked at the Competencies in depth and discussed ways that schools could implement and assess the Competencies in their programmes and structures. We had some very interesting discussion around a wide range of issues including the need for schools to clarify their visions before they try to implemnt the competencies or design school based curriculum.
I am looking forward to ongoing discussion with the schools involved as they start addressing some of the issues discused. It was a great two days.
Today I have just finished reading an intriguing book ‘Change Your Questions, Change Your Life’ by Marilee Adams. One of the key understandings I have gained from the book is that all actions are answers to questions, and if we continue to ask the same questions all we do is repeat old actions. Changing the questions we ask ourselves, and others, gives us new perspectives and new answers. If all actions are answers to questions that we ask, consciously or unconsciously, then changing the questions is a powerful way to gaining new perspectives, new answers, new solutions and powerful change. A simple example:During the last week as I have worked with teachers in Nelson I had a powerful example of this principle in action.As a group of teachers we were looking at how we could facilitate change in our schools and classrooms. To start the process I had intended to look at the question “What is good teaching?”, however I realised that this is a question we have often asked ourselves and while the answers it has generated have been a useful tool for examining our classroom practices we needed to generate a new perspective that would facilitate change. The book suggests that changing the question creates new perspectives. On this basis we took the question “What is good learning?”We sat in groups and discussed this, creating our answers. The next step was to use the answer to the question as a torch to shine new light on to our classroom practice. This was a powerful exercise as we all found that our beliefs about quality learning posed some very real challenges to aspects of our practice. At the end of the session we carried out an “L and P” summation. This requires participants to share something that they have learnt (L) and what they promise (P) to do about it. Every teacher had identified some aspect of their practice that they then promised to make some changes to.
Congratulations to the organisers of the Mid Canterbury Principals’ Association Conference held in Ashburton on the Friday and Saturday. It was a great conference and a privelege to be involved. It was heartening to see the interest in Inquiry learning and questioning. The theme of the conference was “More Magic of Teaching” and my keynote address looked at some of the challenges schools will face as they move towards implementing the Key Competencies from the new New Zealand Curriculum. Handouts available on my website ( http://ictnz.com/Handouts.htm ). I really enjoyed listening to the other keynote speakers Colin Cox and Bruce Hammonds. All in all an inspiring conference.
I have just spent an enjoyable two days working with this cluster of schools. Our two day workshop covered a fresh look at the central questions of:
What is learning?
What is teaching?
What is the process of gaining understanding?
What is the diffence between knowledge, understanding and information?
What is ICT?
What is the role of ICT in learning?
We also had major sessions on:
What is inquiry Learning?
What makes good inquiry learning?
The SAUCE model for inquiry learning?
What is an effective questioner?
What is a good question?
What are the skills of an effective questioner?
The QuESTioning Rubric?
Planning an inquiry task.
Thanks to the participants for a wonderful two days of discussion and refelction. I look forward to hearing the outcomes as the challenges and ideas are taken back into your schools.
A Question we need to develop an answer to urgently in our schools is..
’What are the core skills we need to empower our pupils with to enable them as learners, thinkers, problem solvers, particiapators and contributors in our society?”
What is your answer to this question?
