Malo ‘e lelei, my name is Christine Tupou-Fonua.
My Inquiry focus for 2022 is:
TEACHER & STUDENT WELL-BEING - HOW DOES IT INFLUENCE ACHIEVEMENT, ENGAGEMENT & ENJOYMENT?
The speaking frame we are provided asks us to inquire into the learners. I inquired into my teacher practice, and what changes I should make to positively impact student learning.
The beginning of the year was rough. We transitioned from face-to-face teaching and learning, to virtual learning and then to hybrid learning.
My thoughts were: Is this another new norm? How are the students feeling? What about the teachers and staff? Some voiced they were nervous, excited, anxious. Some just wanted to come back to the classroom.
What evidence do I have to support this?
To name a few : Teacher, Student & Voice, Assessment Data, Student attendance summary, staff attendance and my own recollections of talanoa with teachers within my school and across the cluster.
From this I was able to analyse the findings, and identify some common key concepts that were evidently important in students and teacher well being.
These key concepts included: Well-Being, Collaboration, Adaptability, Empathy and Patience.
The process also highlighted important factors that included “Relationships, Mental-Health and Resilience”, to name just some.
What changes did I make?
The planning of this intervention was co-constructed by my team of teachers and our Y7&8 students. It was practical, authentic and culturally relevant to all.
It involved changes in Teacher Practice, driven by student agency and the primary importance of Well-Being.
It included weekly sessions of talanoa for students and teachers, collaborative planning, cross-group teaching for the learning areas, flexible learning spaces, Multi-modal resources and culturally authentic learning experiences.
It improved interpersonal interactions and relationships between teachers & students, enhanced empathy, collaboration and adaptability throughout the school.
This holistic approach has actually enhanced delivery of the academic outcome and attendance for our Senior students this year.
Some literature that helped me along the way were:
Tapasa, Ka Hikitia & Tataiako Cultural Competencies Framework
Scholarly articles on Teacher Well-Being
Pasifika methodologies
Scholarly articles on student agency, assessments & Teacher Practice
The hardest things for me to change was:
Myself. Changing my mindset from what we considered important to teach - to something more in-depth and powerful, a way of practice to motivate and engage learners, students and colleagues, to promote their own agency.
My wonderings?
How do I ensure that my practice uplifts and prepares my fellow kaiako, kahui ako, whanau and communities for the challenges of today and tomorrow?
No comments:
Post a Comment