Reflection 1

Reflection 1 - Audiences "To what extent does a collaborative 3-phase teaching approach develop science knowledge in maori students" 

There are several local, national and international audiences for my research. Firstly, student participants and their immediate whanau are my initial audiences, followed by the wider school community including the leadership team, Board of trustees and broader audiences like the Education Review Office (ERO) and international maker community.

“Because knowledge-sharing is at the heart of the maker movement, individual makers can draw on a wide range of expertise and human resources...it will essentially be part of a broader community – a local and global culture of making” (Enabling e-Learning, n.d) Future focused learning which underpins the global maker movement as well as the government’s future focused learning and the knowledge age are one of my wider national and international audiences. An end goal of my research is to see improvements in the science knowledge of year 5 and 6 Maori students. Knowledge is very different now than what it was fifty years ago. Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins, (2012) state that in the 21st century, as educators, we need to focus on equipping people to do things with knowledge, to use knowledge in inventive ways, in new contexts and combinations. No longer is knowledge something that stands still, it is a moving, living thing. This has made me reflect on my research, since a goal of my research involves looking at the extent to which teaching has on improving science knowledge. I think that students definitely need to take ownership of their knowledge they will hopefully gain, as they will have the opportunity to design their own paper circuit to light up an aspect of their visual (illustrated) pepeha. However, what will happen next with this knowledge? I wouldn’t want it to lie stagnant and be forgotten. Students need opportunities to apply their knowledge and reshape it in new ways. Foster, (2004) addresses ways in which using ‘Ako’ as a way of making knowledge more applicable to students, he states “Teachers and learners can take turns in storying and re-storying their realities, either individually or in a group. Reciprocal learning and teaching promotes knowledge-in-action” (p.107). Some ways that I am addressing this will be by sending home paper circuit kits to their Whanau. Students will also be able to work in our school makerspace and have to share, create and reshape their knowledge of paper circuits and get that knowledge - moving.

 ERO are the national audience for my research. When ERO reviewed the teaching of science in New Zealand schools in 2012, they reported that “knowledge-based programmes were evident rather than interactive thinking, talking and experimenting approaches” ERO, (2012, p.2). The ways I am addressing issues raised in my approach to teaching will be through using mentoring and teacher prompting where students are exposed to a model, have time to experiment and ask questions which are supported by teacher mentoring and prompts as well as a few basic knowledge fundamentals around basic electrical circuits. Students will have opportunities to work in a collaborative environment where they will be able to think, talk and experiment.

 The school leadership team and Board of Trustees are another audience for my research. As I am responsible this year for teaching science and STEM through the school and establishing a school makerspace. I will have an opportunity to share successes and challenges faced during this time and report on the teaching and learning of science to the Board or Trustees. The senior leadership team and Board of Trustees are very supportive of my role, which they helped to establish this year, upon recommendations from our 2019 ERO report. My research artifacts and quantitative and qualitative data will be able to show some evidence of the teaching approach and knowledge being applied. I will be collecting student pre and post data and will have evidence of student artifacts. 

References 

 Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching — a New Zealand perspective. Report prepared for the Ministry of Education. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Education Review Office. (2012). Science in the New Zealand curriculum: Years 5 to 8. Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/science- in-the-new-zealand-curriculum-years-5-to-8/

 Foster, G. (2004). Finding a better way to facilitate the improved achievement of Maori students in science. New Zealand Science Teacher, 107, 11–18.

 Te kete Ipurangi (n.d) Enabling E-Learning, Makerspaces. Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Future-focused-learning/Makerspaces