Thinking ahead to my possible inquiry for 2023

Below are some thoughts about where my inquiry may go next year.

What achievement challenge are you considering as an area of focus in 2023 and why? Include in your WHY both evidence and your own passion/expertise

Improve the achievement of students with additional needs in the learning areas of English/key competency using language symbols and texts

I am in a unique role where I get to see children from right across the school. I want to put more energy into creating some progressions and variations to the Creative Space programme to account for children with additional needs so they can all achieve in some way.

This is something which I have observed by giving variation in tasks throughout the year, however what do I do when there is a child who refuses to take part?

• Survey to find out why they aren’t taking part.

• Ask what they want to be doing?

• What could I do to help them achieve?

• What would an engaging task look like for them?

What learnings from the 2017 - 2022 CoL teacher inquiries have informed or inspired your thinking.

This year there were many CoL inquiries into engagement and enjoyment: Robyn Anderson and Kelsey Parrant looked at this for reading. Christine Tupou-Fonua looked into student and teacher wellbeing and how that influenced achievement, enjoyment and engagement.

I want the children to come to my space and feel that excitement, enjoyment and as a result, achievement - but how do I achieve this for the children who find it more difficult to focus?

How would your work support Manaiakalani pedagogy and kaupapa?

Learn-Create-Share

Transferrable Creative tasks which can also be done in the classroom - ubiquitous

Engagement of children through the create

Transferrable skills

Making strong and replicable progressions for different learning experiences where teachers can challenge children, pull back if it’s too much or look at alternatives if it’s not engaging some children.

Which elements of the extensive Manaiakalani research findings inform or challenge you as you think about this?

2017 research into the main teaching activity observed: conference, instructional, learning model, behaviour/management, q&a or roving.

Developing in Digital Worlds: 3 21st century skills in a digital environment - cognitive, interpersonal, intrapersonal. The benefits of a digital environment in teaching key comps for children. 

I could rate children on key comps at the start of the year compared to the end of the year.

How would you like to be supported in 2023 as you undertake this inquiry?

Regular release so I have guaranteed, regular time to work on my inquiry. This is really important as I don’t have the children constantly in front of me as classroom teachers do.

Collaboration between myself and classroom teachers to support the target group of children.

How would you plan to support your colleagues in your school with THEIR inquiries and/or teaching in the area you are exploring?

Creative activities which can be used in the classroom to support the children with additional needs.

Support of children in the key competencies to lead to the feeling of success for these children.

Bursts and Bubbles 2023

Last week, the annual Manaiakalani Kahui Ako Bursts and Bubbles was held! I picked out some of the inquiries which really resonated with me this year which I could utilise in my role.

Dot Apelu: Focus on supporting children to connect with their local community. 

Scott Mansell: Emphasis on local histories to raise engagement with learners.

Jo Gormly: Building solid foundation of literacy. 

Kelsey Parrant and Robyn Anderson both focussed on enjoyment of reading. Robyn's inquiry focus made me wonder how I could share tips for good reading etc on PENN. This is something to think about moving forward!

Christine Tupou-Fonua: Teacher & Student well-being - how does it influence achievement, engagement & enjoyment?

Poto Faalili: Preparing Year 8 students for Year 9.

Videography Rubric - Results

I am going through the video footage taken by my target students who have been out to video at various events. I have marked them against the rubric I created to compare the quality of the video they have produced. Below are the results, put into graphs.

Student 1:

Student 2:

Student 3:

Student 4:

Student 5:

What does Enthusiasm tell us?

 Over the last couple of weeks, I have had two videographers from my target group of students who have shown interest in being the videographer at in-school events. In these situations, they have been the ones who have suggested being the videographers. This sign of enthusiasm tells me a lot about the mindset of these students, how they feel valued and confident in themselves and that being a videographer is something they are good at and can lead in.

This anecdotal evidence is hugely valuable to see the success in using videography as a way of developing confidence in some children.

In an article on the Western Weekender, an opinion piece (Confidence and enthusiasm) talks about the importance of enthusiasm and confidence in a business environment. I think the same can be said in education. In the article, it states that "being enthusiastic in what you do breeds confidence." This article also makes an interesting point about confidence. It explains how people feel reassured by people who are confident which in turn leads to greater trust. I would add an extra element to this which is that this could be seen as a never ending cycle as feeling trusted by others can also help your confidence to grow. 

Footage Rubric

I have created a rubric which I can use to assess the quality of footage the students gather during a videography experience:

Anecdotal Reflection

So far, my inquiry is going very well. I have started sending my target group of children off on sports tournaments as videographers and the response from them is really positive. One student has now filmed at 2 tournaments so I am beginning to get self assessment responses to form a comparison.

Responses from the students has been positive and they are starting to be more reflective with the improvements they are making. 

As the students begin going to more tournaments, I will be able to start comparing their footage to see how it has improved. I therefore need to create a rubric to assess the quality of the filming.

Roaming Videographers Feedback/Survey Responses

 The children who filming at sports events last week have now given feedback and responses to their experience. I have compiled the responses here:

Of the three children who filmed for the Matariki Day celebration, all felt they enjoyed filming a sports event more than filming at the Matariki Day.

Some things that children felt they got better at included:

-Learning how to use the camera cover during rain.

-Felt they got more confident each time they recorded.

Some children went to the events by themselves while others went as a buddy. Responses were positive for all children, despite whether they were by themselves or with a buddy:

- "I felt good by myself. I felt like I needed to work independently."

- "We were able to record games with not many complaints or arguments."

- "He was a good buddy with recording was because he helped me a lot with recording and he was very fun videoing with."

The responses from children who went out to sports events as videographers was really positive. This can be seen in the graph above. All children came back feeling that they had a positive experience. Reasons for this included:

- "I loved it! but I got soaking wet."

- "It was a good experience because I came out of my comfort zone and it was just a lot different."

- "Because I loved videoing them playing [sport] and watching how good they are."

- "I enjoyed it because recording them was fun. I thought I got some very good shots..."

I feel that these responses couldn't be better! The children's written responses are all positive and enthusiastic.

Of these four children, one was happy sticking to being a videographer. The other three all expressed interest in giving other news roles a go too. None of the children said they didn't want to be doing it. I feel that this is a really good indication that they are feeling more confident through being videographers.