Blogpost #7 - Academic & Professional Readings...

Share three pieces of academic or professional reading and explain how they and other sources helped you form hypotheses about aspects of teaching that might contribute to current patterns of learning.

Inquiry Question: Can we make accelerated shifts in Literacy through teaching Identity and Cultural Competencies?

1. Difficulties relating to teaching and learning are derived largely from the kinds of conflicts that arise in the process of translating foreign ideas and the difficulty of conceptualising these ideas. Most of the content as well as the methods of our formal education systems have been and continue to be based on mainly western rather than indigenous systems.

As teachers we owe it to ourselves and our communities to look towards our cultures, (the contexts in which the task of educating future generations is carried out), for clues to some of the questions that vex us today. We need to share this cultural knowledge with those who come to us...so they too would better understand the context in which we work and which give us sustenance...

for we cannot let our silences

again keep us apart

mortgage our identity

or even sell our pride

we do not want to suffer pain

privately at the end

because we know deep inside

we've only ourselves to blame

A Consideration of (Cultural) Context in Teacher Education

Konai Helu-Thaman (1992)

2. Talanoa is a popular and preferred means of communication that captures the traditions and protocols of the Pacific Islands. It is a Pasifika research methodology used to capture people's stories, realities and aspirations (Vaioleti, 2003). Talanoa can be referred to as a conversation, a talk, an exchange of ideas or thinking between people. It can be formal or informal and almost always carried out face to-face. Tala means to inform, tell, relate and command, as well as to ask or apply. Noa means of any kind, ordinary, nothing in particular, purely imaginary or void (Vaioleti, 2006). Talanoa is common in many parts of the Pacific, such as Samoa, Fiji and Tonga. It enables social engagement and can lead from storytelling to critical discussions. It is an approach that most Pasifika people relate to as they practice it everyday in their homes, churches and schools.

Talanoa Research Methodology: A Developing Position on Pacific Research

Timote M. Vaioleti (2006)

3. Sourced from my Tongan culture, is the kakala framework. Kakala refers to fragrant flowers woven together to make a garland, and has many equivalent concepts in Oceania such as lei (Hawaii), hei (Cook Islands) or salusalu (Fiji). Kakala embodies physical, social and spiritual elements and reflects the integrated nature of indigenous epistemologies and knowledge systems. There are three major processes associated with Kakala; toli, tui and luva. Toli is the collection and selection of flowers and other plant material for making the kakala...tui is the making or weaving of the kakala. The time taken to do this depends on the complexity and intricacies of the flowers...Luva is the final process and is about giving the kakala away to someone else as a sign of peace, love and respect. Kakala requires me to utilise knowledge from global as well as Pacific (indigenous) cultures in order to weave something that is meaningful and culturally appropriate for my students.

This is important because, teaching in my view, is essentially autobiographic: as teachers, we give of ourselves when we share our knowledge, skills and values with our students. If this is motivated by compassion, a commitment to peaceful and harmonious relations, and respects for one another's cultures, then sharing will lead to wisdom and sustainable relationships in the classroom and other learning contexts.

Teacher capacities for working towards peace and sustainable development

Konai Helu-Thaman (2010)

Blogpost #6 - May Blogging - How will I use the data?

Explain how some of the data you have used to build a profile of the students' learning will be used as baseline data at the end of the year.

Data gathered through:

1. Learner Voice Questionnaire
2. Informal Teacher Observations (Incl Observation of Student engagement)
3. Formative & Summative Assessments (PAT, Probes, Padlet, Google Forms)
4. Teacher Observations
5. Learner Profiles (Filled in by students)
6. Visuals (Photos & Video Recordings)

This year I have collected some valuable data about each of my students'. I share this information with my learners too because I feel it's really important for the students' to know where they are and where they should be by the end of the year, with the guidance of this inquiry.

I am most excited to see the data from assessments but also through teacher observations because it's raw and it's not scripted. Student/Learner Voice will also allow me to see if there has been a shift in attitude towards the above learning areas. I look forward to hearing my 6 quiet, highly disengaged boys who initially disliked the words 'Reading & Writing", share their experiences of being part of the Pashiska Boys.

Blogpost #5 - May Blogging - Hypothesis and Research...

1) Share your findings about the nature and extent of the student challenge. Make sure it is clear what evidence from your inquiry supports each finding.

The challenge for my students this year is to make accelerated shift in Literacy by sharing knowledge about their identity and culture. To further elaborate, in the past, I have taken it upon myself to plan for my students. I planned a Kai Pola (Tongan Feast) and the causal chain that helped accomplish hosting this Kai Pola was identified by me. This time, I'm having my learners identify the steps we need to take to accomplish the same thing, for Tongan Language Week this year. In hopes, that this practice will be applied to their learning all year round and to other areas of their learning.

In discussion with my team and fellow CoL teachers at school, data continues to identify VOCABULARY & MAKING INFERENCES as a need. With my inquiry focus on IDENTITY & CULTURAL COMPETENCIES this year, I'm taking a culturally responsive approach on the matter. It will be practical, it will involve the arts, cooking, community engagement and more. Through this experience, the students will learn new vocabulary and use it to build and strengthen their current bank of words.

In previous years, I tried changing my reading programme and I believe it helped in making some shift, but it wasn't accelerate progress. Over the years, I've implemented content, based on students ethnic and cultural backgrounds together with their passions and interests, this hooked in their engagement. My goal now is to take it a step further by having my learners actively involved in the planning stages of the learning before actioning it, through a more practical approach.

Accessing content or topic specific vocabulary continues to be an obstacle for our learners and this often limits student achievement. Our students are not confident in using new vocabulary in their daily conversations or talanoa. Through this inquiry, I want my learners to stand confidently talk about their learning experience of making the Kai Pola. Low self-efficacy and limited knowledge of vocabulary means 'speaking in front of an audience will be delivered through a fast rap, a quiet whisper or an inarticulate flow. 

I know from experience and in my inquiries over the years, if the learner is unfamiliar with the setting, or lacks engagement and content knowledge on the task, their connection to the learning will absent. I want my learners this year to make accelerate progress, to make a connection to their learning and be passionate about it. To speak confidently and use content specific vocabulary when sharing their learning with others. 

Inquiry Question: Can we make accelerated shifts in Literacy through teaching Identity and Cultural Competencies?