Three students laugh whilst making hot chocolate drinks

Honouring the gift of student voice

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A personal reflection on my journey as a Dr Vince Ham eFellow, by Karen Nicholls

Three students laugh whilst making hot chocolate drinks
Image courtesy of Karen Nicholls

This blog post is about my journey as a Dr Vince Ham eFellow and how the research process challenged my assumptions and resulted in a significant conceptual shift in the way I understood ‘agency’.

In 2020 I embarked on a collaborative action research project aimed at exploring student identity through multimedia texts. I selected a group of 14 students between 11 and 13 years old. To find out what they thought, I set up focus group hui during which, I hoped, we would discuss their identity as a learner and student in the school, and that the data from these hui would result in examples of texts I would then code.

I went into the process with a strong belief that students had something to say, and that they were strong in their identities, and that what they needed was a space to be heard and celebrated for who they are. I had a plan for how the research process would unfold and I had the first few sessions planned and resourced. That’s what good teachers do, right?

The crunch point

The crunch came early on when two students shared with the group that they were unsure what reflected their identities as they were still working out who they were and what they were like. What I soon realised was that I had to truly sit back and listen to what was being said in our conversations. I had to really hear and respond to the stories of the students.

At this point I had a choice:

A. Continue with my plan and steer the conversations towards the end I had in mind?
or
B. Recognise that my belief had been challenged and respond accordingly?

From this point onwards, I had to reframe my thinking, slow down and focus on listening to learn, rather than controlling the student voice for my own ends. My focus changed to one of considering the importance of honouring the stories of my students: the stories they were sharing about their own developing identities.

As a researcher, this was exciting. However as a teacher, I had to quiet that voice in my head that was outcomes-focused: What if we just talked about identity and didn’t “achieve” anything? What if student voice was confronting? What if it led me to places of discomfort and challenge?

I chose to centre my thoughts on my students. I considered what it meant to honour their voices, their vulnerabilities, their willingness to allow each other, and me into their worlds. What could this look like?

Do to this, I referred back to the statement of intent I had written when embarking on the research project:

I am passionate about students being represented strongly and securely in their identities in our school environment. A strong and secure identity is a key aspect of student empowerment and achievement. All our students deserve to be seen, heard and celebrated in our place.

While I was still interested in exploring and creating expressions of identity through multimedia artifacts, I wondered whether making space for authentic conversations – truly hearing and responding to student voices – was where the representation and celebration of each student needed to sit.

So, I took the plunge. I put aside my carefully timed and structured scope and sequence plan, and made space for the narrative to flow. This was my first action to honour their voices.The pressure of expectations to DO eased. Students were able to BE. I was able to hear. Together we were able to explore what they wanted and needed to be seen and heard.

So, how did they want to be seen, heard and connected in our space?

Student voice

My initial assumption was that through the multimedia texts used in our classrooms, we could better represent our students’ identities and provide ways for them to connect with themselves and one another. What I learned was that they wanted to be heard. They wanted to see evidence that their voices, their stories, their lives were important and worthy of teacher time and conversation. In short, they wanted relationships, connections, and response.

The group kept coming back to their shared reality: their identities were developing, changing, growing as they were. They wanted to have a safe place to grapple with all that was going on in their lives as they began the shift from child to young adult. Over and over again I heard how much they valued our weekly research group hui as a safe place where they could be themselves, even if they didn’t know what that meant all of the time. It became a space where they felt that they could speak and be heard. For many, this was not their usual experience of school where in the past when they had given their stories, been vulnerable, offered their voice as a taonga and they had been ignored.

There is power in student voice, and it isn’t a voice any teacher can give. We don’t give voices. We make space for them in our curricula and classrooms, or we don’t. Especially in times like these when our nation is burning, we should listen to the young people. We should center their voices through choice of their tasks, choice of what they want to study, and overall handing them some leadership opportunities. How else will they practice taking over the world (German, 2020, para.14).

In the context of our research, I asked each student to answer the question: What do you want teachers to know?

Their responses were so clear, simple and yet so often ignored in our busy days of timetables, and deadlines, of assessment tasks. Their responses also require kaiako to sit back and truly embrace ako: to learn alongside, to learn from our students, to set aside the need for control and truly engage with our ākonga with their voices at the centre.

So, what did my ākonga researchers want teachers to know? These are their words:

  • [Teachers need to] actually act on the information that the students give them.
  • We all have strong ideas and opinions. Be flexible, listen and have open ears.
  • If we do a Google form / survey, let us know what happens to our answers.
  • [Teachers need to] give us the time to speak. Let kids have time to talk to each other and you.
  • Leave us to discuss without you. Be aware that we feel pressure to say what YOU want, not what WE want.

Wero

This seems simple, however how often are we deliberate about including opportunities to connect at this deeper level, building a culture of trust and openness, and protecting space and opportunities to truly listen and respond to student voice with respect for the gift they have given us?

I have the privilege each day of going to work and learning alongside brilliant and inspiring young people and my constant challenge is to ask: What choices will I make today to honour the taonga that is student voice?

Find out more about the Dr Vince Ham eFellowship and read Karen’s research report

 

References

German, L. (2020, August 11). Using Social Justice to Promote Student Voice in Middle School (Blog Post). Retrieved from: https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-social-justice-promote-student-voice

Further reading

Brown, B., 20 of her most inspiring leadership quotes
Goodman, S., Developing Voices: Students Are Your Allies
McClaskey, K., Voice – Make Learning Personal

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Opportunities to push the boundaries: How a little achieves a lot

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Every year CORE Education offers a fellowship to kaiako from all sectors in education and throughout Aotearoa to follow their passions and push the boundaries of educational possibility.

There are some big words in there – “passions”, “pushing boundaries”, “possibility”. The whole concept of the eFellowship is to make a difference by disrupting current ways of doing things. It is premised on a collective, collaborative approach to education, in its broadest sense, and, by being part of a community of learning, transforming into a community of practice that then becomes a genuine community of inquiry.

Supporting learner agency

The Office of the Children’s Commission regularly talks with children and young people throughout Aotearoa to find out their ideas. When granted agency to express their points of view, they were very clear about what mattered to them:

  1. Understand me in my whole world
  2. People at school are racist towards me
  3. Relationships mean everything to me
  4. Teach me the way I learn best
  5. I need to be comfortable before I can learn
  6. It’s my life – let me have a say
    (Office of the Children’s Commission, 2018)

We know from experience, and research, that to achieve equitable learning experiences for all learners and to enable systems level change, takes courage. We know that the organisational climate, the culture of an early years service, kura or school, impacts hugely on learners and on how they feel about themselves. We often hear from kaiako about the challenges of change, of transforming what is, into what could be. The purpose of the eFellowship is to create a space to think about these possibilities with and alongside others.

“As children’s inspirations/ projects evolve, I see my role as the teacher is to give wings to their imagination, to collaborate and create new horizons for new learning. Witnessing how children’s learning evolves as part of the world around them is magnificent!” (eFellow, 2020)

Figuring out that question/niggle.

One of the current approaches used in research is the notion of a puzzle of practice. Some of us at CORE talk about this as a niggle, as a wondering – a ‘why?’ or ‘why not?’. Following through from a niggle to a puzzle to a question about teaching and learning is a process and one of the benefits of the eFellowship takes to heart the mantra “Slow down to speed up” – and dig deep into an issue they are curious about.

We all understand that being in learning environments very often requires quick-fire, responsive solutions to situations as they arise. We also know that we can revert to a default position and rely on responses that work, partially, but don’t actually get to the nub of the issue. So an important starting point is to try something new, and to take time to understand ‘the what’, the why and the how ‘about an aspect of learning and teaching and how it impacts and influences all concerned.

The idea is to transform thinking and the experience of learning. This might be at a personal/professional level, or in a learning space. It may be an idea that needs more substance and fleshing out. This is the opportunity the eFellowship offers kaiako – a chance to explore multiple levels of transformation – a ripple effect that enables all learners (and kaiako are learners too) to succeed.

“Working with ākonga to share and create knowledge, and then to involve them as co researchers in identifying themes and connections has broadened all of our understandings of the forces, assumptions and biases that contribute to why and what we do as teachers and learners. It is powerful for ākonga to be involved in unpacking this for themselves, to move from participating in teacher led surveys and research to analysing their own stories and how they intersect with those of others around them.” (eFellow 2020)

Transform, reimagine, redesign

When we start thinking about curriculum design and education systems, we need to consider future-focused thinking. What will learners need to know? Do our curriculum documents enable us to prepare learners for 21st century living? Think about learning environments at the moment and who they tend to benefit. Who is left out? Which groups are consistently under-achieving?

“As an eFellow, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on how we, teachers, tend to focus on the final results and how easily this distracts us from observing and enjoying the journey.” (eFellow 2020)

Aotearoa leads the world with its educational ideas which embed te ao Māori and are internationally recognised for using dispositional frameworks in curriculum design and assessment that put the learner at the centre.

“Whānau type relationships that demonstrate we care for our learners and have high expectations for their learning – [things like] understanding whakapapa and knowing who our learners are; their cultural experiences and prior knowledge are foundational to their identity as learners. It’s important to promote a common vision or kaupapa that is focused on the potential of ‘all’ learners to thrive in the education system without compromising who they are.” (eFellow 2020)

The UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 raise questions to inform curriculum design and implementation by asking:

  • efellowWhat is possible?
  • What is probable?
  • What is desirable?

When we consider these goals and questions in light of our future, we need to think about the type of education provided and the type of education needed. They are not necessarily the same thing. To close, or bridge that gap means thinking about how children and young people learn and how teachers teach: At the heart of this is finding out what learning matters – to the learner, the kaiako, to whānau and to local communities. What brings us together as a society and what supports our identities, languages and cultures?

It starts with a question …

It all starts with a question or a puzzle about learners and/or teaching. There is a short application form and after a selection process, this is followed up with an interview. We look for innovative, courageous ideas – ideas that will make a real difference to learners. Over the years these have been big and small but what they have in common is something new, something fresh, something that makes us look at a familiar process or experience in new ways.

“Why not invest in an assessment process which recognises ‘success’ as the learning process itself?  Observing, analysing and responding to children’s interests has transformed the meaning of assessment in my classroom and it is now a constant part of our routine.” (eFellow, 2020) 

The idea (or niggle or puzzle) is the most important thing to bring to your application. Our research team works closely with the successful applicants through the design process and ethics application. Once approved, CORE whānau throughout the motu (country) support our eFellows to bring their projects to fruition by wrapping our networks and expertise around them. We do this internally and also using our external, community networks.

“When reflecting on our eFellow hui, the moments I found most valuable were those where I was able to bounce ideas off other people. Where I was heard, where I was able to joke, where I didn’t feel afraid to share my potentially half-baked ideas. What became clear is what works for teachers, works for students. We are a reflection of one another and so are our best learning experiences.” (eFellow, 2020)

The eFellowship is about creating and using knowledge by bringing people together and collaborating to solve problems.  That’s how we want to push the boundaries of possibility. We want learning that matters to people and to places, where exciting ideas are made visible and brought to life.

“To the CORE eFellows team – What a year! I am thankful for all of you. Our passionate conversations have reignited my desire to keep going – our rangatahi deserve so much more! To the ākonga who agreed to work alongside me in this process. You have taught me so much. You have been open, giving, vulnerable, honest, hilarious and crazy. This is your work. You have given me a gift of your voices – your stories. I will endeavour to honour that gift.”

Becoming an eFellow

If you are interested in becoming an eFellow you can apply here. The due date for applications has been extended until Sunday 31 January.

This year we’re thrilled to be offering a kaupapa Māori strand of the Dr Vince Ham eFellowship! Educators from Māori medium settings are given the opportunity to explore an aspect of their own localised curriculum through a supported process of rangahau (action research). Apply now >

References

Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (2018). Education matters to me: Key insights [PDF]. Office of the Children’s Commissioner. Retrieved 18 January 2021, from https://www.occ.org.nz/assets/Uploads/OCC-STA-Education-Matters-to-Me-Key-Insights-24Jan2018.pdf

United Nations. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Disability | United Nations Enable. Un.org. Retrieved 18 January 2021, from https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/about-us/sustainable-development-goals-sdgs-and-disability.html

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Transformation Theory: A theory of adult learning

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Image source: Suzanne D. Williams, CC0

I am often skeptical of some of the language we use in education, and that is common in other sectors too. This includes words such as: disruption, innovation, transformation. I wonder about the human impact using these words has. How does it feel to be ‘disrupted’, to be asked to ‘innovate’, or to ‘transform’ one’s self or one’s practice? This isn’t to say though that I don’t believe in challenge or provocation, nor that I don’t see the value in encouraging people to test their assumptions and question their underlying beliefs. Indeed, far from it.

So let’s think more about transformation for a moment.

Common metaphors for transformation include the butterfly, which evolves from its humble beginnings as a caterpillar into a beautiful, soaring creature. Another metaphor is a Biblical one: St Paul’s conversion to Christianity on the road to Damascus. Both of these metaphors encompass the idea of a sudden, dramatic, and profound change in direction or orientation or worldview. When we talk about transformative experiences, we might say something like: ‘the scales fall from your eyes’, or use what is a favourite quotation of mine (attributed both to Ralph Waldo Emerson and Oliver Wendell Holmes): “The mind once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions”.

But there is another aspect to transformation I think it’s useful to know of: the adult learning theory – Transformation Theory. Transformation Theory is generally ascribed to American Jack Mezirow based on his study of women returning to university in the late 1970s. Mezirow (2009) offers this definition of transformative learning: “Transformative learning may be defined as learning that transforms problematic frames of reference to make them more inclusive, discriminating, reflective, open, and emotionally able to change” (p. 22, emphasis in original).

Transformation Theory focuses on critical reflection and dialogue to support people to adapt their worldview – to orient it towards being agentic, inclusive, open, seeking social justice and equity. Therefore we could say that transformative learning occurs when a person is able to change their their worldview, for example about what knowledge is; how society operates; or about their beliefs about themselves (Kitchenham, 2008).

In practice, Transformation Theory could look like CORE Education’s Dr Vince Ham eFellowship. The Dr Vince Ham eFellows are committed to exploring ways of doing education differently for their schools, kura, centres and communities. The purpose of the Dr Vince Ham eFellowship is to inspire transformational practice through inquiry. eFellows are mentored through their own deep inquiry journey that generally takes the form of an action research project. They experience workshops, field trips, critical reflection and dialogue – learning from and with one another.

Further, Transformation Theory can also support school and kura leaders to think about how they design professional learning and development opportunities for their colleagues. Some of the challenges include: nurturing robust professional learning conversations; creating safe environments where people feel comfortable in being vulnerable: admitting they don’t know, or made a mistake. It is important that leaders value and model critical reflection and dialogue with one another, and with colleagues.

To that end, leaders might consider the following questions:

  • How might we encourage teachers to understand their current worldview and assumptions about education, including their position within the education system?
  • How might we foster supportive, safe, and inclusive relationships that allow space for critical reflection and dialogue to unfold?
  • How might we respectfully challenge our assumptions and our assumptions of others so that we can learn other ways in which to view the world?

References and further reading:

Kitchenham, A. (2008). The evolution of John Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory. Journal of Transformative Education, 6(2), 104-123. Retrieved from doi:10.1177/1541344608322678

Meluish Spencer, K. (2016). Can we create conditions for transformation? Retrieved from http://blog.core-ed.org/blog/2016/04/can-we-create-conditions-for-transformation.html

Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative Dimensions of Adult Learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning to think like an adult. Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress / Jack Mezirow and Associates (pp. 3-33). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Mezirow, J. (2009). Transformative learning theory. In J. Mezirow & E. W. Taylor (Eds.), Transformative learning in practice: Insights from community, workplace, and higher education (pp. 18-31). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

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The School that Story built

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The stories that circulate in and around a school paint a picture of the school’s culture and values, heroes and enemies, good points and bad, animating the actions and intentions of leaders, teachers, students, whānau and community. By creating and sharing our stories, we define “who we are”. Our identity is intricately woven into the tapestry of the narrative. 

Strong school leaders distinguish themselves by being good storytellers; voices that people listen to, are inspired by and respect. We need stories in order to understand ourselves and communicate who we are. We use stories to help us make sense of the world and the experiences of others. By sharing stories, we can better understand the conflicts of daily life and find explanations for how things fit together in the world.

“Paul Austeronce said that telling stories is the only way we can create meaning in our lives and make sense of the world.” (Fog, Budtz, Munch & Blanchette, 2010, p. 18)

My own learning journey has provided ample fodder through which one might understand how story can influence perceptions about learning, identity creation, and identity affirmation. One thing that has been evident to me is the huge gap in our understanding of the lived realities of the learners we teach. Narrative influences how students are perceived and how they perceive themselves.

As educators, we collect copious amounts of data. In many schools, data gathering and interpretation practices are Euro-centric and the information is rarely viewed from any other perspective. Data flows from every aspect of a child’s learning experience and plays an important role in the development of their learning story. Care should be taken to ensure that our data practices do not result in a depersonalisation of information. In many instances, the challenge is centred on the notion that data, especially without meaningful patterns, is cold and has a lack of intrinsic meaning.

The problem is not with the data itself. The challenge is with the stories we construct out of the data; the ones we tell ourselves and our students, and the stories our students figure out on their own.

As a concept, storytelling permeates all cultures and is hardwired into us. We can’t help but make sense of the world through story.  In our schools, one challenge is to discover how the future might be shaped by story and how and why storytelling can make a difference.

  • What’s the point of telling stories anyway?
  • What makes a good story?
  • And how do you go about telling a story so that it supports student learning?

Making storytelling more tangible is a step toward helping students, teachers and whānau further engage in education. If stories are so fundamental to the human experience, we need to figure out how to better incorporate them into the educational landscape. The question I am left asking is how might schools turn abstract notions of storytelling into practical tools for the benefit of all? Perhaps the answer lies in the fabric of the story of each school, student, teacher and whānau. Perhaps story is the language through which learning may be explored and changed.

 

References:

Fog K, Budtz C & Yakaboylu B. (2010). Storytelling : branding in practice, Springer, 19.

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Making diversity visible for gender and sexuality inclusive schools

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At any conference or professional learning event, the idea of “inclusive education” tends to buzz. It’s a theme that many workshops or presentations have at their heart. But when we talk about inclusive education, are we also including sexuality minorities or gender identity?

Data capturing the voices of same-sex or both-sex attracted, and transgender youth suggest we are not. These groups of students are regularly overrepresented in statistics for bullying and well-being in the Youth2000 surveys (Clark et al., 2013; Clark et al., 2014). Sexuality and gender diverse students may not be visible in a lot of Aotearoa’s schools, which can make inclusion complex. However, it is now 2018, and our diverse young people are beginning to make more noise. They are proudly coming out and demanding change.

Last year I was privileged to be selected as one of the 2017 CORE Education eFellows. Seven teachers from various contexts undertook action research projects over the course of the year with guidance from CORE mentors and the support of one another.

I set out to work with a small group of teachers to develop their inclusive practice to support making sexuality and gender-minority students feel welcome, included, and accepted at school. I was interested in delving into the teachers’ historical understanding of sexuality and gender and support the development of that understanding. The inquiry investigated what makes a difference for teachers in this area and to encourage ongoing practice that promotes empathy and acceptance. I hoped that understanding the teachers’ journeys, both past and present, would help to develop gender and sexuality inclusive practice in others.

diagram
My findings led me to develop this diagram (with some source inspiration from this blogpost). Our inclusive practice is in tension between the pressure to be more inclusive and the pressure to be comfortable. Pressure comes from well-being initiatives or professional development opportunities, the statistics (above) that tell us that more needs to be done, and student voice that demands change for inclusion. The pressure in the opposite direction comes from internal pressure that naturally wants to maintain the status quo, the drive to stay in your comfort zone, and competing priorities.

In order to create a shift, I propose drawing inspiration from Newton’s First Law: an object at rest stays at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. What is required to shift teachers to more gender and sexuality-inclusive practice is greater pressure for change. To avoid diversity inertia, we need to make the compelling reasons to change more visible.

Friday 18th May is Pink Shirt Day. This is an opportunity for visibility, for schools to shift the inertia.

The purpose of Pink Shirt Day is “to create schools, workplaces and communities where all people feel safe, valued and respected.” While the day sets out to address bullying in a general sense, the origins of the day come from the LGBT+ community. It is important that homophobia and biphobic and transphobic bullying is specifically addressed by Pink Shirt Day events because sexuality and gender minority young people experience higher rates of bullying (Bullying Prevention Advisory Group, 2015).

It is easy to be involved; many schools already participate. The harder part is ensuring that the day results in a deeper understanding of the prevalence and impact of bullying on young people’s mental health and wellbeing. The Pink Shirt Day toolkits are a great place to start. This is also a good opportunity to reflect on our practice too: how do sexuality and gender minority students know they are safe in our schools? In our classrooms? How does our practice support the disruption of heteronormativity or binary views of gender?

Participating in the day is one action that can make a difference. Taking part could mean one individual wears pink, or a whole school. But this is only a start. We need a tidal wave of action to push us out of diversity inertia and start turning around Aotearoa’s embarrassing statistics for our sexuality and gender minority youth.

Links to further information:

References

Bullying Prevention Advisory Group. (2015). Bully prevention and response: A guide for schools. Bullying Prevention Advisory Group. Retrieved from http://www.education.govt.nz/school/student-support/student-wellbeing/health-and-wellbeing/bullying-prevention-and-response/bullying-prevention-and-response-a-guide-for-schools/

Clark, T. C., Fleming, T., Bullen, P., Denny, S., Crengle, S., Dyson, B., Fortune, S., Lucassen, M., Peiris-John, R., Robinson, E., Rossen, F., Sheridan, J., Teevale, T., Utter, J. (2013). Youth’12 Overview: The health and wellbeing of New Zealand secondary school students in 2012. Auckland, New Zealand: The University of Auckland.

Clark, T. et al. (2014) The Health and Well-Being of Transgender High School Students: Results From the New Zealand Adolescent Health Survey. Journal of Adolescent Health 55, 93-99.

 

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