esve - course review 2015...from march – june 2015, takingitglobal (tig) facilitated the...

Empowering

in Education

student voice

B RO U GH T TO YO U BY IN PA R T NER SHIP W IT H

Prepared by TakingITGlobal Research

JUNE 2015

T H E E F F E C T I V E N E S S O FT A K I N G I T G L O B A L ' S

Professional Learningin 2015

EMPOWERINGSTUDENTVOICEINEDUCATION:PROFESSIONALLEARNINGCOURSEREVIEW2

Acknowledgements

Thisinitiativewasmadepossiblethroughtheinvolvementandsupportof:

TakingITGlobal

• JenniferCorriero• SaraHassan• MichaelFurdyk• TaniaRashid• KanchanIssar

WGSI(WaterlooGlobalScienceInitiative)

• JulieWrightandHayleyRutherford• HayleyRutherford

CanadianEducationAssociation• RonCanuel• MaxCooke

C21

• RobertMartellacci

CanadianSchoolBoardsAssociation

• ValerieMcLeod• DarrenMcKee

SchoolBoardsInvolved

SunWestSchoolDivision Rosetown,SaskatchewanSevenOaksSchoolDistrict Winnipeg,ManitobaEvergreenSchoolDistrict Gimli,ManitobaPeterboroughVNCCatholicDistrictSchoolBoard Peterborough,OntarioSimcoeCountyDistrictSchoolBoard SimcoeCounty,OntarioWaterlooRegionDistrictSchoolBoard Waterloo,Ontario

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TableofContents

ExecutiveSummary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………4

Participants’Background………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

Teacherperceptionsofblendedprofessionallearning…………………………………………………………………………7

NewKnowledgeandSkills………………………………………………………………………………………………………….7LevelofTeachingPractice……………………………………………………………….............................................9AttitudesandBeliefs……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…11OrganizationalSupportingStructures………………………………………………………………………………………13ReflectionofProfessionalLearning………………………………………………………………………………………….14

SummaryofFindings…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..15

Tables

Table1:TeachingQualificationsofTeachers……………………………………………………………………………..6

Figures

Figure1:Teachers’RoleswiththeBoard……………………………………………………………………………………5Figure2:Teachers’TeachingExperience……………………………………………….......................................6Figure3:GenericKnowledge/SkillsforClassroomTeaching……………………………………..……………….8Figure4:GenericKnowledge/SkillsforInquiry-basedteachingandLearning..…………………………..8Figure5:SpecificKnowledge/SkillsRelatedtostudentvoice…………………………………………………….9Figure6:GenericPracticeforClassroomTeaching……………………………………..……………………………10Figure7:SpecificTeachingPracticeontheFocusareaofinquiry: StudentVoice……….…………….11Figure8:Attitudes/BeliefsaboutGenericClassroomTeachingandStudentLearning………………12Figure9:Attitude/BeliefsaboutInquiry-basedTeachingandLearning…………………………………….12Figure10:OrganizationalSupportingStructures………………………………………………………………………13Figure11:ReflectionofProfessionalLearning………………………………………………………………………….14

EMPOWERINGSTUDENTVOICEINEDUCATION:PROFESSIONALLEARNINGCOURSEREVIEW4

ExecutiveSummary

FromMarch–June2015,TakingITGlobal(TIG)facilitatedtheEmpoweringStudentVoiceinEducationprofessionallearningcourse,withthegoalofsupportingteacherstoco-developstudentvoiceprojectsinordertotransformlearningpartnershipsintheclassroom.ThecourseregistrationfeeswerecoveredaspartofagrantfromtheWaterlooGlobalScienceInitiativeasafollow-uptotheLearning 2030EquinoxSummit.Releasetimewascoveredbyeachofthefiveparticipatingschoolboards,withanaverageof15hoursofreleasetimepereducator.NationalendorsementpartnersincludedtheCanadianEducationAssociation,CanadianSchoolBoardsAssociation,andC21Canada.ThisresearchstudywasconductedtoevaluatetheeffectivenessoftheprofessionallearningopportunityinordertoenhanceTIG’scurrentportfolioofstudentvoiceprogramming,aswellasto helpdevelopnewprofessionallearningopportunities.

Theresultsofthisstudyarebasedonthepreandpost-coursequestionnaireadministeredtoteachersparticipatinginthecourse.Thecourseconsistedofanin-personorientationsession,followedbyfouronlinelearningsessions,eachbuildingtowardsaculminatingstudentvoiceprojectshowcasedduringanationalvirtualprojectshowcase.Thepre-coursequestionnairewasadministeredpriortothefirstsession,andthepost-coursequestionnairewasadministeredattheendofthefourthsession.

WhenparticipantsweresurveyedonspecificknowledgeandskillsrelatedtoStudentVoice,only38%respondedthatthattheywereproficientin,orroutinelyabletoutilizestudentvoiceasapathwayforstudentsuccesstomeetcurriculumgoals.Attheendofthecourse,thisnumberincreasedby39%(+102%)to77%.44%ofparticipantsreflectedsimilarlyon“knowinghowtoembedstudentvoiceinyourclassroom/school”,whichgrew29%(+65%)to73%followingcoursecompletion.

Whenitcametospecificteachingpractice,therewasa95%increase,from44%to86%,intheareaofdesigningstudentvoiceprojectstomeetcurriculumgoalsandschoolpolicies.

With100%ofparticipantsintendingtotransferandapplynewlyacquiredknowledgeandskillstotheirdailyclassroompracticerightaway,(Figure11),weareconfidentthatthisexperiencehascontributedtoapositivechangeinpracticerelatedtostudentvoiceineducation.

EMPOWERINGSTUDENTVOICEINEDUCATION:PROFESSIONALLEARNINGCOURSEREVIEW5

Participants’Background

CourseTimelines:March11toJune1,2015Population:primaryandsecondaryschoolteachers,teachingandlearningstaff,schooladministrators,andschoolresourceteachersSampleSize:pre-coursequestionnaire–50teachersandpostsurveyquestionnaire–29teachers.Intotal,therewere79participantswhofilledoutbothpreandpostsurveyquestionnairesPreQuestionnaire:4questionswithapproximately5–10sub-questionsPostQuestionnaire:5questionswithapproximately5–10sub-questionsModeofdatacollection:onlinepreandpost-coursequestionnaire

Forboththepreandpost-coursequestionnaires,participantswereaskedtofillouttheirbackgroundinformationsuchasrolewiththeboard,schoolname,yearsofteachingexperience,andteachingqualifications.

RoleswithinSchoolBoard

Figure1showsthebreakdownofparticipantrolesaspartoftheirschoolboards:26%arefromtheBoards’TeachingandLearningDepartment,6%areSchoolAdministrators,4%areSchoolResourceTeachers,6%arePrimaryDivisionTeachers,16%areJuniorDivisionTeachers,10%areIntermediateDivisionTeachers,and32%areSecondaryDivisionTeachers.

TeachingandLearningStaff26%

SchoolAdministrator6%

SchoolResourceTeacher4%

PrimaryDivisionTeacher6%JuniorDivisionTeacher

16%

IntermediateDivisionTeacher10%

SecondaryDivisionTeacher32%

Figure1:Teachers'RolewiththeBoard

EMPOWERINGSTUDENTVOICEINEDUCATION:PROFESSIONALLEARNINGCOURSEREVIEW6

TeachingExperience

InFigure2,which provides an overview of the amount of teaching experience of participants, 20%arenewteacherswithamaximumteachingexperienceof3years,2%have4-5yearsofteachingexperience,30%have6-10yearsofexperience,18%have11-15yearsofexperience,20%have16-20yearsofexperience,and20%havemorethan20years’teachingexperience.

TeachingQualifications

Table1belowrepresentsthe teachingqualificationsof participants andtheirspecificteachable.Someteacherswerequalifiedformorethanonesubject.Moreteachers (20%)werequalifiedforJuniorthan any othercategory.

Table1:TeachingQualificationsofTeachers

TeachingQualifications Frequency PercentagePrimary 23 14%Junior 32 20%Intermediate 29 18%Senior 28 18%SpecialEducation 14 9%PrincipalQualificationProgram(PQP) 2 1%Literacyrelatedsubjects(Intermediate/Secondary) 11 7%Mathematics(Intermediate/Senior) 4 3%ScienceandTechnology(Intermediate/Senior) 10 6%Arts(Intermediate/Senior) 7 4%

0-3years20%

4-5years2%

6-10years30%

11-15years18%

16-20years20%

morethan2010%

Figure2:TeachingExperience

EMPOWERINGSTUDENTVOICEINEDUCATION:PROFESSIONALLEARNINGCOURSEREVIEW7

TEACHERPERCEPTIONSONTHEBLENDEDPROFESSIONALLEARNING

Theresultsof50pre-coursequestionnairesfromparticipantswerecomparedwith29post-coursequestionnaires.Basedonthe50and29returnedpreandpost-coursequestionnairesfromparticipants,resultsareshowninthefollowingsections.

NEWKNOWLEDGEANDSKILLS

Boththepreandpost-coursesurveyhad16sub-questionsaskingallparticipantsabouttheircurrentlevelofknowledge/skillsforteachingandlearning.Thesub-questionscanbeclassifiedintothreecategories:

1. GenericKnowledge/SkillsforClassroomTeaching:%ofPreandPost-CourseQuestionnaireParticipantswith‘Expert’or‘Competent’Response

2. GenericKnowledge/SkillsforInquiry-basedTeachingandLearning:%ofPreandPost-CourseQuestionnaireParticipantswith‘Expert’or‘Competent’Response

3. SpecificKnowledge/SkillsrelatedtoStudentVoice:%ofPreandPost-CourseQuestionnaireParticipantswith‘Expert’or‘Competent’Response

EMPOWERINGSTUDENTVOICEINEDUCATION:PROFESSIONALLEARNINGCOURSEREVIEW8

90%

93%

90%

97%

97%

90%

90%

90%

88%

78%

64%

82%

82%

74%

84%

72%

Knowledgehowtodeterminethedifferentlearningneedsofstudents

Askinghigher-orderqueseonstoallstudents

Usingaconenuumtoplantrajectoryoflessons

Communicaenglearninggoalsand/ortargetstostudentspriortothetask

Usingavarietyofassessmentpracecestoplanforeffeceveinstruceon

Providingacevieesthatidenefysimilarieesanddifferences

Usingtaskspecificrubricsforassessingstudents'learninggoalswhenappropriate

Devoengequitableemetoallstudentsintheirlearning(e.g.,opportunieestoexplainandunderstandconcepts)

Figure3:GenericKnowledge/SkillsforClassroomTeaching:%ofPreandPost-CourseQueseonnaireParecipantswith'Expert'oror'Competent'Response

Pre Post

73%

80%

77%

87%

63%

66%

76%

68%

70%

70%

Applyinginquiry-basedlearningprinciplestoengagestudentsincreaengchange

Usinginterdisciplinaryapproachestoenrichstudents'learningexperiences

Involvingstudentsingoalsejngandprojectdesign/assessment

Uelizingtechnologiestoempowerstudentsasacevelearnersandleadersforthe21stCentury

Culevaengstudents'leadershipskillsbyhavingstudent-ledinieaevesanddirectaceonopportuniees

Figure4:GenericKnowledge/SkillsforInquiry-basedTeachingandLearning:%ofPreandPost-CourseQueseonnaireParecipantswith

'Expert'or'Competent'Response

Pre Post

EMPOWERINGSTUDENTVOICEINEDUCATION:PROFESSIONALLEARNINGCOURSEREVIEW9

Theparticipantsfeltmoreconfidentinusingthestrategiestaughtduringthecoursetoco-designastudentvoiceprojectafteranalyzingtheirownstudentsurveyresults.Theimprovedskilllevelintheseareasallowedteacherstobetterincorporatestudentvoiceintheirteaching.

LevelofTeachingPractice

Therewere14sub-questionsforbothpreandpostquestionnaireaskingparticipantstheirlevelofteachingpractice.Further,thesesub-questionscanbeclassifiedintotwocategories:

1. GenericPracticeforClassroomTeaching:%ofPreandPost-CourseQuestionnaireParticipantswith‘Proficient’or‘Routine’Responses

2. SpecificTeachingPracticeonthefocusareasofinquiry–StudentVoice:%ofPreandPost-CourseQuestionnaireParticipantswith‘Proficient’or‘Routine’Response

83%

73%

77%

48%

44%

38%

Usingstudentvoiceininformingyourprofessionaldevelopment

Knowinghowtoembedstudentvoiceinyourclassroom/school

Uelizingstudentvoiceasapathwayforstudentsuccesstomeetcurriculumgoals

Figure5:SpecificKnowledge/SkillsrelatedtoStudentVoice:%ofPreandPost-CourseQueseonnaireParecipantswith'Expert'or'Competent'Response

Pre Post

EMPOWERINGSTUDENTVOICEINEDUCATION:PROFESSIONALLEARNINGCOURSEREVIEW10

93%

93%

86%

97%

77%

97%

97%

77%

80%

90%

68%

88%

76%

90%

44%

92%

88%

82%

70%

76%

Planninglessonsbasedoninformaeonyouhavegatheredaboutstudents'thinkingonthetopic

Providingopportunieesforgrouplearning

Havingstudentsuseconcretematerialsandmodelstorepresenttheirthinking

Anecipaengstudentresponsestoqueseons

Providingjustinemelearningforeverystudent

Helpingstudentstoidenefyandcorrecterrors

Providingstudentsopportunieestoacevatepriorknowledgeandmakeconneceonstonewcontent

Providingexplicitongoingfeedbackforstudents'progresstowardstheirlearninggoalsthroughout

Celebraengstudentachievementthroughouttheunit(e.g.,workdisplayed,lekertohome)

Ensuringallhomeworkhasaclearpurpose,withrelevancetoidenefiedlearninggoals

Figure 6: Generic Prac/ce for Classroom Teaching: % of Pre and Post-Course Ques/onnaire Par/cipants with 'Proficient' or 'Rou/ne'

Responses Pre Post

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AttitudesandBeliefs

Inbothpreandpostquestionnaires,participantswereaskedtwotypesofquestionsabouttheirattitudesandbeliefsaboutclassroomteachingandstudentlearning:

1. Attitudes/BeliefsaboutGenericClassroomTeachingandStudentLearning:%ofPreandPostQuestionnaireParticipantswith‘StronglyAgree’or‘Agree’Response

2. Attitudes/BeliefsaboutInquiry-basedTeachingandLearning:%ofPreandPostQuestionnaireParticipantswith‘StronglyAgree’or‘Agree’Response

86%

48%

83%

79%

44%

22%

52%

40%

Designingstudentvoiceprojectstomeetcurriculumgoalsandschoolpolicies

Usingsocialnetworkingandmediatoempowerstudentvoiceatalocalandgloballevel

Usingstudentvoicetocreatelearningpartnershipsbetweenstudentsandteachers

Ensuringstudentvoiceprojectsareeffeceveandsustainable

Figure7:SpecificTeachingPraceceonthefocusareasofinquiry-StudentVoice:%ofPreandPost-CourseQueseonnareparecipants

with'Proficient'or'Rouene'Response Pre Post

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100%

93%

100%

100%

96%

100%

Icandiffereneatemyinstruceonfordifferentneedsofmystudents

IbelievethatIcanprovideinterveneoninawholeclasssejng

Ibelieveallstudentscanlearn

Figure8:Ajtudes/BeliefsaboutGenericClassroomTeachingandStudentLearning:%ofPreandPost-CourseQueseonnaireParecipantswith'StronglyAgree'or'Agree'Response

Pre Post

96%

100%

93%

90%

96%

92%

Iamconfidentinmyabilitytoimplementinterdisciplinarystudiesapproachesinmyteaching

Iamconfidentinmyabilitytoimplementstudent-centeredapproachesinmyteaching

Iamconfidentinmyabilitytousee-technologiestoassistmyteaching

Figure9:Ajtudes/BeliefsaboutInquiry-basedTeachingandLearning:%ofPreandPost-CourseQueseonnaireParecipantswith

'StronglyAgree'or'Agree'ResponsePre Post

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OrganizationalSupportingStructures

Inthepreandpostquestionnaires,participantswereaskedthesamesetofquestionsabouthowmuchsupporttheyreceivedfromtheirschooladministratorsandcolleagues.

69%

52%

83%

55%

35%

48%

72%

59%

84%

64%

80%

66%

54%

46%

88%

56%

Successesareacknowledgedandshared

Thereisacommitmenttoprovideadaquateplanning,preparaeonandself-refleceonemefor

Mycolleaguescollaborateandshareacommitmenttoimproveteachingandstudentlearning

Regularfollow-upsupportisprovidedfornewinieaeves

Adaquateemeisprovidedforteacherstoimplementnewideasandteachingstrategies

Newideasandteachingstrategiesareregularlysharedatstaffmeeengs

Newideasandimprovementeffortsareencouragedandsupportedbytheschooladministraeveteam

Thereareopportunieesforsharingwithcolleaguesfromotherschools

Figure10:OrganizaeonalSupporengStructures:%ofPreandPost-CourseQueseonnaireofParecipantswith'GreatExtent'or

'Moderate'Response

Pre Post

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ReflectionsonProfessionalLearning

Inthepostquestionnaire,therewere10sub-questionsaskedofparticipatingteachersregardingtheirexperiencewiththeprofessionallearninginitiative.

Figure11showsthepost-coursequestionnaireparticipantswho provided a‘StronglyAgree’or“Agree’response.Thishighlightstheiroveralllearningexperienceaswellassatisfactionlevelwiththecourse.Overall, theparticipantsfeltthatthiscoursewasavaluableexperience.

90%

93%

100%

100%

93%

97%

97%

100%

97%

100%

Iwouldrecommendthisacevitytomycolleagues

erall,Ifeelthisprofessionallearningacevitywasasuccessfullearningexperienceforme

Iamabletomodifytheuseofthesenewknowledge/skillswithinmyowncontexttoimprove

Iintendtotransferandapplynewlyacquiredknowledgeandskillstomydailypraceceinthe

Igainednewknowledgeandskillsthathasdirectandpracecalvaluefordoingmyjob

Myoverallunderstandingofthecontentareawasenhanced

Thediffcultylevelofthecontentwasaboutrightforme

Thecontentwasrelevanttomyownprofessionalneeds

Theobjecevesfortheinieaevewerebasedonidenefiedstudentlearningneeds

Theobjecevesandgoalsfortheinieaevewereclearlyareculated

Figure11:RefleceonofProfessionalLearning:%ofPost-CourseQueseonnaireParecipantswith'StronglyAgree'or'Agree'

Response

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SummaryofFindingsThemainobjectiveofthepreandpostquestionnairesistoevaluatetheeffectivenessoftheprofessionallearningintheareasofteacherknowledge/skills,teachingpractice,attitudes/beliefs,andorganizationalsupportingstructures.

Inadditiontothepostsurveyquestionswiththegivenchoices,participantswereaskedtwoopen-endedquestionsasfollow:

1. Whatspecificelementsoractivitiesofthisprofessionallearninginitiativedoyouthinkwerethemostusefulforyou?

2. Whatdoyouthinkwas(orwillbe)themostsignificant/beneficialchangeinyourteachingpracticesasaresultofthisprofessionallearninginitiative?

Thesequestionsallowforamorein-depthanalysisoftheirpersonalexperienceaswellasthebenefitsfromthisprofessionallearninginitiative.Also,thesetwoquestionsallowtheparticipantstosharemoreinformationabouttheirexperience.Further,itallowsustoseeifthereareanycommontechniques,benefits,aswellasteachingpracticeswhichwerelearnedorsharedbytheteachersduringtheirprofessionallearning.

Thevastmajorityofteacherssaidtheyreallyenjoyedhowtheywereencouragedtocollaboratewiththeircolleaguesduringtheprofessionallearning.Theyalsoaddedthat“Itwasmucheasiertogetideasandseehowotherteachersdothingsatotherschools.”TeachersmentionedthattheyreallyliketheopportunitytoconnectandcollaboratewithTIGleadersandeducatorsfromvariousschooldivisions.Thisallowedthemtomore deeplyunderstandthetopicsandshareopinionswiththeircolleagues.

Ingeneral,themajorityofteachersattendingtheprofessionallearningenjoyedbeingabletoworktogetherwiththeircolleagues,discussionandbrainstormingsessionwithotherteachersfromotherschools,andsharingideas.Theyalsoappreciatedthe blend of bothin-personandonlinetrainingforthisprofessionallearning.

Manyteachersenjoyedtheengagementofthestudents(i.e.,projectdesign,evaluation,constructionassignments,andassessments)intheirclassroom.Mostofthesuggestions/commentsinpreandpostquestionnairewerepositive:

• “Ireallyenjoyedhowyoumodelledinstructionalactivitiesashowweideallywanttointroduce initiativeslikethistoourstudents.”–Courseparticipant

• “Thankyouverymuchforthisleaningopportunity.Verypowerful.Yourenthusiasmandenergy asTIGleaderswascontagiousandtheopportunitytoconnectwithothersandalsotoworkwith ateamofteachersIdonotnormallyworkwithinmydivisionwaspowerful.Thankyou!”–Courseparticipant

Special thanks to the Research team at the Toronto District School Board for the initial development of this research methodology.