13
This article was downloaded by: [Laurentian University] On: 11 October 2014, At: 05:48 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Cambridge Journal of Education Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ccje20 Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice Ruth G. Kane a & Nicola Maw a a Massey University , New Zealand Published online: 20 Aug 2006. To cite this article: Ruth G. Kane & Nicola Maw (2005) Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice, Cambridge Journal of Education, 35:3, 311-322, DOI: 10.1080/03057640500319024 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057640500319024 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

  • Upload
    nicola

  • View
    212

  • Download
    0

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

This article was downloaded by: [Laurentian University]On: 11 October 2014, At: 05:48Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Cambridge Journal of EducationPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ccje20

Making sense of learning at secondaryschool: involving students to improveteaching practiceRuth G. Kane a & Nicola Maw aa Massey University , New ZealandPublished online: 20 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: Ruth G. Kane & Nicola Maw (2005) Making sense of learning at secondaryschool: involving students to improve teaching practice, Cambridge Journal of Education, 35:3,311-322, DOI: 10.1080/03057640500319024

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057640500319024

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to orarising out of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

Making sense of learning at secondary

school: involving students to improve

teaching practice

Ruth G. Kane* and Nicola MawMassey University, New Zealand

Consulting students on their experiences of learning and teaching in schools, while signalled as a

potentially valuable research practice fifteen years ago by Michael Fullan, is now gaining

prominence in educational research within New Zealand. The Making Sense of Learning at

Secondary Schools research began with the premise that to improve classroom practice in secondary

schools we need to ask for and attend to the needs and views of students. This paper draws on

aspects of one research project to consider the ways in which teachers can examine and improve

their own teaching practice through involving students in the identification of how they make sense

of learning in the classroom and how teachers can make it happen. We demonstrate how this

research project reflects values, principles and conditions that support authentic student

involvement.

Introduction

There is a sense, both within New Zealand and internationally, that in spite of

widespread curriculum reform, schools have changed less over the past 20 years than

have the young people whom they serve (Rudduck & Flutter, 2000). Making Sense of

Learning at Secondary School: an exploration by teachers with students1 has its genesis in

teachers’ concerns that their teaching may not be connecting with the reality of

students’ lives and interests. It began with the premise that for teachers and

researchers to be able to understand and improve learning and teaching, we need to

ask for and listen to students’ needs and views. This article argues that good practice

must necessarily be informed by students’ needs and therefore by consultation with

students. It draws on the research experiences within one school2 to highlight the

need for research processes to reflect the principles, values and conditions of

authentic student involvement.

*Corresponding author. College of Education, Massey University, Private Bag 11 222, Palmerston

North, New Zealand. Email: [email protected]

Cambridge Journal of Education

Vol. 35, No. 3, November 2005, pp. 311–322

ISSN 0305-764X (print)/ISSN 1469-3577 (online)/05/030311-12

# 2005 University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education

DOI: 10.1080/03057640500319024

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 3: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

New Zealand context and research

The pioneering work of New Zealand educational researchers Graham Nuthall and

Adrienne Alton-Lee investigating the nature of pupils’ learning in primary schools is

helpful in informing this secondary-based project. Their Understanding learning and

teaching project comprised six studies of children’s learning within the context of

instructional units (a series of lessons or tasks). The research focused on long-term

learning with the goal of developing a grounded explanatory theory for teachers to

incorporate into their thinking and classroom practice (Alton-Lee & Nuthall, 1990).

Utterance data collection was used (Alton-Lee et al., 1993; Nuthall & Alton-Lee,

1993) to explore students’ public and private cognitive and emotional responses to a

lesson in order to help understand children’s experiences with the curriculum and in

the classroom (Alton-Lee et al., 1993) and to develop a model of student learning as

the creation of specific learning constructs (Nuthall & Alton-Lee, 1993). This was

followed by the Project on learning (twelve studies) focusing on students in their

middle school years (seven to ten) using miniature videocameras, individual

microphones and trained observers to capture student experiences in the classroom

(Nuthall, 1999a, 1999b).

From their research, Alton-Lee and Nuthall (1990) developed a model of how

children learn in classrooms and suggested that teachers need to understand how

their pedagogical practices are likely to affect children’s learning. Subsequently,

Alton-Lee and Nuthall (1998) demonstrated that effective teaching must be

coherent with the ways in which students learn. Nuthall (2002) suggested that to

provide New Zealand teachers with an understanding of how their activities affect

student learning, we need to know how student learning is shaped by teacher

thinking, teacher activities and by classroom experiences.

Working with secondary school teachers and students, Gavin Brown of the

University of Auckland included a study within his doctorate that identified tensions

in the ways in which both teachers and students understand learning (Brown,

2002a). Students conceived of learning as surface level mastery of information

and facts, while secondary teachers agreed more strongly with a deep view of

learning (Brown, 2002a). Brown (2002a, 2002b) argues that the students’ views of

learning actually reflect activities that teachers provide for them and the values

teachers convey as being important, primarily attaining good grades in final

assessments. Thus, Brown asserts that students were construing learning in ways

that they have been socialised to do, through their perceptions of what teachers

value.

Alton-Lee and Nuthall (1990) and other New Zealand researchers such as Hattie

(2002) and Purdie and Hattie (1999) argue that successful learning requires that

students (and teachers) have a wide variety of learning processes that can be used

flexibly, yet Brown (2002, p.72) demonstrates that teachers and students in

secondary schools continue to ‘talk past each other in terms of their conceptions of

learning’. These studies signal the need for greater understanding of students’

perspectives of learning and teaching, and for research that consults students directly

about aspects of their schooling.

312 R. G. Kane and N. Maw

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 4: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

The most influential research currently underway with New Zealand secondary

school students can be found in the work of Russell Bishop of Waikato University.

Bishop’s Te Kotahitanga3 project with young Maori adolescents in schools (see for

example Bishop, 2003; Bishop et al., 2003; Ministry of Education, 2004) reveals that

children and young people are able to articulate and theorise the important elements

of schools and teaching that both foster and stymie their willingness to engage and

their sense of belonging in schools. Te Kotahitanga seeks to improve the educational

achievement of Maori students in mainstream education through identifying and

supporting good teaching practice. In its first phase (2001–2002) the project

gathered narratives of students’ classroom and school experiences through the

process of collaborative storytelling (Bishop, 1996). Students were able to articulate

the main influences on their educational engagement and achievement in school and

make suggestions as to how teachers could create classroom contexts that would be

more conducive to learning. Through examining the messages within the narratives

of young Maori students, Bishop et al. (2003) were able to identify conditions

necessary for supporting the engagement of Maori youth in school-based learning as

a means to enhance achievement. Central to the results was the discovery that young

Maori students valued teachers who would enable them to bring their cultural

experiences to the learning conversation (Bishop, 2005). From the initial phase

located in four pilot schools, Te Kotahitanga is currently active within numerous

New Zealand secondary schools, with researchers working alongside teachers

actively seeking to change their classroom practices to ensure enhanced achievement

for Maori youth. Bishop’s research advances our understanding of how teaching and

learning can be improved by listening to students.

Vaughan (2003) reveals a less than consultative picture of New Zealand research

on the experiences and thoughts of young people in New Zealand (including those

about their schooling). She suggests that within New Zealand there is a lack of

research that seeks to prioritise the views of young people and that current policy

doesn’t entirely match with the lived experiences of young people. She argues that if

we really want to make a difference to the lives of young people, we need to put

young people’s perspectives at the centre of our research and policy development as

demonstrated in the work of Bishop et al. (2003). This is the national context within

which the Making Sense of Learning at Secondary School Project was developed.

The Making Sense of Learning at Secondary School Project

The Making Sense of Learning at Secondary School Project faced two central

challenges: to make student learning explicit through asking secondary students

how they understand and make sense of learning at school (Challenge # 1); and to

support teachers as they bring together and examine the ways in which they and their

students construe learning as a means to improve their own teaching practice

(Challenge # 2). In seeking to address Challenge # 1 (above), we worked from the

assumptions that: students know more than they think they know; students know

more about what they know than the researcher or their teachers do; and most of

Involving students to improve teaching practice 313

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 5: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

what students know, they know implicitly (Burnard, 2002). Put simply, if we wanted

to find out how to improve teaching practice to enhance student learning, we needed

to ask the students.

This paper uses the experiences of the first school in the Making Sense of Learning

at Secondary School Project, a relatively small (330 students), special character4

secondary school, to illustrate the ways in which student consultation can inform

enhanced teaching practice. We first briefly present the research design and

strategies used and subsequently examine the ways in which the Making Sense of

Learning project reflects the principles, values and conditions identified within the

international literature as important to authentic student consultation.

The research design

University-based researchers, responding to an approach by the deputy principal of

the school, presented initial ideas at a whole-school staff meeting and subsequently

met with the small group of volunteer teachers (six) who were interested in

examining their own teaching through seeking student insights on learning and

teaching. Each teacher nominated one class to work with during the project. The

classes nominated were all in the senior school (years 11–13) and included

geography, chemistry, mathematics, Bible studies, English and English for academic

purposes. The researchers, teachers and students worked together over a school

term (ten weeks).

The research was designed to allow researchers to observe teaching practice

directly, to capture what students and teachers think and say about student learning,

and to reveal the thinking, beliefs and conceptions that underpin students’

experiences and teachers’ practice (Kane et al., 2004). A multi-method research

design was adopted including the use of questionnaires, initial interviews, learning

journals, fast feedback, video-taped teaching sessions and video stimulated recall

interviews.

Principles and values of student involvement

On the international stage, over 15 years have passed since Delpit suggested that the

‘teacher cannot be the only expert in the classroom’ (1988, p. 288), and since

Michael Fullan alerted us to the historical absence of students’ voices in research

about learning and schooling by asking ‘What would happen if we treated the

student as someone whose opinion mattered?’ (Fullan, 1991, p. 70, in Rudduck &

Flutter, 2000, p. 81). This challenge has been taken up by others who seek to

authorise students’ perspectives, including, Cook-Sather (2002a); Fielding (2001a,

2001b), Groundwater-Smith (1998), Rudduck & Flutter (2000) and Soo Hoo

(1993). Emerging from this research are a range of principles, values and/or

conditions regarding the involvement of students as collaborators or partners in

teaching and research. While these are expressed variously as guidelines (Delpit,

1988), principles and/or values (Fielding, 2001b; Rudduck, 2003; Rudduck &

314 R. G. Kane and N. Maw

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 6: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

Flutter, 2004), observations (Rudduck & Flutter, 2000), issues and conditions

(Fielding, 2001a, 2001b; 2004), and challenges (Cook-Sather, 2002a), together they

seek to illuminate aspects critical to effective involvement of students in research on

teaching and/or schooling practices.

The following section of this paper identifies the underlying principles that were

fundamental to the research process and strategies in the Making Sense of Learning

project. We are reluctant to propose yet another set of principles necessary for

student involvement; rather, we present evidence of the ways in which our project

reflects principles and values previously identified, organised within three key areas:

the positioning and autonomy of the students, the role and dispositions of the

teachers, and the conditions for authentic student involvement. While these areas

are presented below as distinct, in practice they are closely inter-related and difficult

to separate.

Positioning and autonomy of the students

1. Students have something worthwhile to say about learning

Central to this research project is the assumption that students have something

worthwhile to say about learning coupled with an understanding that it is their

choice to contribute (or not). We were confident that given appropriate questions

and conditions, students could shed light on the process of learning, explain what

helps them to learn, and identify barriers to effective learning in the secondary

classroom. At the outset we were seeking a research relationship with students that

relied significantly on the degree to which they were prepared to contribute. Bishop

et al. (2003) and Bishop (2003, 2005) demonstrate that students have the capacity

to provide well-articulated and theorised views on learning and the practices that

support learning in schools. Bishop’s work also demonstrates that students must

participate on their own terms and draw from their own discourses to explain their

classroom experiences. In our project all students within the nominated classes

completed questionnaires focused on eliciting their conceptions of learning, the

teaching practices that support or stymie learning, and open questions inviting

students to complete sentences about what they like, don’t like, and would like to

change about their teacher’s practice.

2. Students have the authority to nominate who speaks for them

The research strategies employed enabled students some measure of control over

their level of participation, over who spoke on their behalf and, towards the latter

stages, over the direction of the project. During initial class meetings with the

researcher, each class was asked to appoint a focus group of up to five peers from

their class who would represent them through the course of the project. In all classes

students took ownership of this process and led the elections of focus groups. While

more girls showed an interest in participating than did boys, students actively

encouraged their male peers to ensure what they considered to be fair representation

Involving students to improve teaching practice 315

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 7: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

of the students within the class. During the course of the project, in response to focus

group students’ concerns about being the ‘chosen few’ speaking on behalf of the

class, a form of fast feedback ‘Tickets out of Class’ was introduced to enable all class

members to feed back insights and reflections on learning and teaching.

3. Students are able to explain learning in a language that conveys meaning and authority

Students were encouraged to use their own language for expressing their ideas and

understandings. The initial interview enabled them to begin to establish a language

of learning (Cook-Sather, 2001, 2002a; Rudduck & Flutter, 2000) in preparation for

the subsequent video stimulated recall interviews (SRI). During the SRI, students

took control of the video remote control enabling them to stop and start the video

tape at any time to comment on what was happening in the lesson and to explain

what was influencing their learning. In this project the students were regarded as

authorities on learning and on teaching (Cook-Sather, 2002b), a position they found

increasingly comfortable as they realised that the teachers were accepting their

insights and reflections as meaningful and authentic feedback.

4. Students need to trust and see value and relevance in the research focus

Engaging students as authentic collaborators in research on teaching and learning

cannot be achieved through mandate or through manipulation. Students revealed

that they were willing to contribute initially because the focus of the project had

relevance to them as secondary students and they had established relationships with

their teachers and with each other. They were willing to respond to the questionnaire

and to the initial interviews and focus group SRI, although their commitment to

writing in the learning journals was variable over the course of the project and

signalled their preference for engaging in direct feedback and relevant conversations.

5. Students need to be aware of the outcomes and uses made of data through established

feedback cycles—listening, hearing and action

The students were initially sceptical that their input would be considered seriously

by the teachers; however, they became more confident in sharing their insights and

feedback as the project progressed, and the impact of their critique was ‘fed back to

them’ through transformed teaching practice. Being able to communicate

respectfully and purposefully with teachers and to have their voices contribute to

change within their classrooms gave students the confidence to view themselves as

able to contribute to teaching improvement.

This whole research project helped me to better appreciate not only the teachers we

were working with but all my teachers, as I learnt to evaluate and spot qualities I hadn’t

noticed before. In trying to find fault with them I realised how good they actually were.

So much depends on the teacher. Regardless of the subject, the teacher has the power to

make you look forward to the class, or to dread it. If they are grumpy they can

intimidate you to keep you quiet or make you read really big textbooks. They can

316 R. G. Kane and N. Maw

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 8: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

encourage you to learn or without realising it put you off the subject they teach, merely

because of their attitude and the way they teach it and how fascinating they make it

seem. So our job was to open that up and try to encourage them to improve that. I’ve

learnt during this research that it’s possible for us to improve our learning environment

by opening up that respectful dialogue with the teacher. For me establishing that level of

communication in student teacher relationship was a key part of the research. It’s just

that both sides must be willing to open that door (Year 11 Student).

The role and dispositions of the teachers

6. Teachers are committed to improvement of their own teaching practice

The Making Sense of Learning project was initiated by teachers who were concerned

that their teaching may not be relevant to the students in their classes. They were

motivated first and foremost by their interest in improving their own teaching

practice as a way to enhance student learning. Throughout the research process,

regular meetings between researchers and teachers provided supported opportu-

nities for the teachers to examine the feedback of the students and the messages

therein for improving practice. In opening their practice up to the critique of

students, teachers placed themselves in a vulnerable position thus demonstrating a

degree of trust in the research process and in the insights of the students.

I suppose you never get to a point where you’re perfect in your career. I had to come to

grips with that, to know that I wasn’t [perfect] and something that would be valuable for

me would be to hear what my students actually felt, what they thought about the

process through which I taught them, the process in which they actually participated in

the class (Teacher Researcher).

7. Teachers are open to listening to students and to meeting student needs

Participating teachers, with the support of the university researchers, examined and

then shared transcripts of their own interviews and data from questionnaires to

identify the ways in which they conceptualised student learning. Transcripts of the

students’ SRI were discussed with the teachers each week, providing a way of

bringing together understandings of both teachers and students with respect to

learning and teaching. Reflecting on student transcripts was critical to the teachers’

self-study as students’ perspectives were acknowledged and examined within the

context of the intentions and goals of the teachers. What students said encouraged

teachers to examine more carefully their own practice and the assumptions

underlying their practice and, invariably, to engage in pedagogical reform. What

was critical in these weekly cycles of supported reflection was the teachers’

willingness to listen carefully to the students’ data with the underlying intent to

improve practice.

8. Teachers engage in power sharing with students in classrooms and in research

Teachers demonstrated openness to listening and attending to the insights and

reflections of students in their classes. As noted by Delpit, it is teachers, ‘those with

Involving students to improve teaching practice 317

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 9: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

the most power, those in the majority, who must take the greater responsibility for

initiating the process’ (1988, p. 279). In so doing, teachers in this study acknow-

ledged students as ‘co-authorities on teaching and learning’ (Cook-Sather, 2002b,

p. 22). Through attending to the feedback of students, teachers created the

opportunity for purposeful dialogue with students that had hitherto not been part

of their teacher–student relationship. As the research progressed and the teachers

began to acknowledge and respond explicitly to students’ data, so too did the

students become more confident in providing critique and comment. A cycle of

purposeful and respectful dialogue through the medium of the research process had

been initiated.

I’ve spent a fair bit of time this year not only critiquing myself but actually coming to

accept what the critique of the students is and listening to and dialoguing with the

students. You always heard them but you didn’t necessarily listen. But when you have it

on paper in front of you, and when it’s on video going in front of you, you can’t ignore

it, you see yourself in a slightly different light (Teacher Researcher).

Conditions for authentic student involvement

9. Openness, transparency of purpose and ethical process

Initial whole class meetings with a university-based researcher provided an

opportunity for students to gain an understanding of the research project, its

fundamental focus on learning and teaching and their potential role within it.

Students were encouraged to raise questions about process and purpose. While every

effort and opportunity was taken within the project to ensure that students were fully

informed and able to contribute as research collaborators, barriers to effective

partnerships with teachers and students are almost inevitable, both in the complex

protocols and daily lives of secondary schools and the rigid ethical requirements of

university research committees. Nairn and Smith (2003) signal that requirements for

ethical approval and protocols for access to schools are both determined and

controlled by adults (the first, by the university ethics committee and the second by

the principal and/or board of trustees), and must be satisfied prior to approaching

students as research collaborators. Thus, while genuine in our commitment to

consulting students, this project was initiated and developed without their input—

something which is still to be resolved in the goals of student research within New

Zealand.

10. Ensuring the safety of students and of teachers

The Making Sense of Learning project adopted a research approach that sought to

protect the rights of both teacher and student participants and respect each as co-

authorities on teaching and learning. Through positioning the researcher as a conduit

for student feedback, students were able to provide feedback with the assurance that

it would not, unless they specifically wished, be directly linked to individuals.

Transcripts of student stimulated recall interviews were discussed with the teacher

318 R. G. Kane and N. Maw

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 10: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

without naming student contributors. While this initial attempt at confidentiality was

appreciated by both students and teachers, once a cycle of respectful dialogue was

established both students and teachers sought to communicate directly on matters of

pedagogy and learning and the researcher was able to increasingly withdraw.

After the research, I felt I was one step closer to becoming a better teacher. I’m better

because I’m more responsive to my students, more thoughtful about my actions in the

classroom, and more creative in lesson planning and most of all this research has given

me a clear picture of what I would like to become in the near future, an inspirational

teacher who is knowledgeable, practical, humorous, and has the ability to cater for

students with different needs (Teacher Researcher).

11. Providing a space and the time for dialogue

Rudduck and Flutter advise that there is a need to take the time to establish a climate

that is safe and comfortable when engaging in research that involves student

participation (2000, p. 83). Initial meetings with the six teachers provided space for

them to contribute to the research design and discuss any concerns surrounding

their participation. Early weekly meetings with student focus groups enabled us to

establish a rapport with the students, to share ideas about the project and explore

potential benefits. Establishing the trust of the students was crucial to any progress

in the project and this was achieved through regular meetings, open conversation

and securing a private space where the students and researcher would not be

interrupted. The project extended over a full school term, enabling the students and

teachers to take seriously the commitment of researchers to supporting the process

over time.

12. Allowing for a flexible and responsive process

As previously noted, the Making Sense of Learning project was initially designed by

the researchers in collaboration with the teachers without student input. As the

project progressed, however, it became evident that the students sought greater

input in its direction and scope. The researchers were able to respond to the

students’ calls for increased autonomy through introducing the ‘Tickets out of Class’

and facilitating meetings of teachers and students to discuss goals for further student

involvement in teaching and school-wide concerns.

Making sense of the Making Sense of Learning at Secondary School Project

The Making Sense of Learning project confirms the findings of other studies involving

student consultation, that students have well-formed and articulate views of their

own learning and the conditions that support learning (Rudduck & Flutter, 2000;

Bishop, 2003; Bishop et al., 2003). Through supportive engagement with the

researcher in the stimulated recall interviews, students began to ‘develop a language

for talking about learning and about themselves as learners’ (Rudduck & Flutter,

2000, p. 76). Students began to identify and articulate those aspects of the teacher’s

Involving students to improve teaching practice 319

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 11: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

practice and the classroom interactions that engage their learning and, conversely,

aspects that serve as barriers.

Participating teachers reported significant transformations in their own pedagogy

which were substantiated by students in their classes. There is evidence of what

Fielding (2001b, p. 129) terms ‘radical collegiality’ where teacher learning has been

enhanced through dialogic encounters with their students as they share responsibility

for the success of teaching and learning in the classroom.

The research has given me more valuable feedback and insights from my students than

any of the weekly ‘professional development’ that I attended in the last four years of my

teaching career. The feedback from the students has shown me a different perspective

about teaching in schools. And the students’ voices have inspired me to try other

methods of teaching in class (Teacher Researcher).

Michael Fielding’s four-fold model which distinguishes between students as

sources of data, as active respondents, as co-researchers and as researchers (2001b,

p. 135) provides a useful frame for considering the ways in which students within our

project were first positioned by us, and more recently have begun to position

themselves. While the project began with a strong researcher and teacher

commitment to consulting students and taking account of their perceptions, we

were unprepared for the level of independence, autonomy and initiative that was to

be displayed by the student participants. With the completion of the cycles of

stimulated recall interviews, both teachers and students called our attention to ‘so

what happens now?’ In recent meetings with the students and teachers we have been

required to consider the responsibilities of moving in and then out of a school, the

ethics of speaking about others and the potential for students as researchers

(Fielding, 2004). Students especially have called us to account for ongoing support

in enabling them to address each of the elements that Rudduck and Flutter include

in their model, ‘The conditions of learning in school’ (2000, p. 85).

The Making Sense of Learning in Secondary School Project was modest in its goals,

working with a small group of teachers interested in transforming their own

classroom practice in response to student feedback. Its original conception did not

presume to reach beyond the participants’ classrooms to grapple with whole school

improvement. Within this participating school there were signs of ‘transformative

momentum’ (Fielding, 2001b, p. 129) taking hold with both participating teachers

and students examining ways of broadening the impact and effect of the initial study.

The project began with researchers ‘working with the willing’, yet emerging results

have drawn attention to the potential for whole school improvement. Participating

teachers report senior management and colleagues’ interest in observable

pedagogical change and students’ calls for opportunities to develop cycles of

respectful, productive dialogue with teachers in other classes.

The challenge facing the research team as this paper is being prepared is how best

to effect the transition from research project involving student consultation, to a

school-based sustainable commitment to student consultation and involvement.

There are ethical obligations of the university researchers who initiated this project

to ensure that teachers and students are supported in their combined commitment to

320 R. G. Kane and N. Maw

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 12: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

advance student involvement in the enhancement of learning and teaching. There

are pragmatic time and resource challenges in ensuring that spaces are created for

teachers and students to engage in what they themselves have termed ‘respectful,

productive dialogue’ in the busy, unpredictable lives of schools. To date this is

proving to be a slow process involving researchers, teachers and students advocating

for students to be situated and acknowledged as more than just learners within the

school. A recent school community meeting focused on explicating the potential of

student involvement in improving teaching practice signals the emerging support of

the wider faculty and management. As a result, the focus of our work in 2005 is to

allow the students and the teachers to identify, define and drive the research process

in a more authentic partnership towards making sense of learning and teaching in

secondary schools.

Maybe if the teachers or the school people actually really listened to us they could have

a deeper much clearer view and understanding of what we are going through in school

(Year 12 Student).

Notes

1. Funded through the New Zealand Ministry of Education Teaching and Learning Research

Initiative.

2. Making Sense of Learning at Secondary School is a two-year project conducted in three New

Zealand secondary schools throughout 2004 and 2005. The first school’s experiences alone

are used to illustrate the arguments of this paper.

3. Te Kotahitanga: The unity.

4. In New Zealand special character schools are integrated into the public school system while

retaining their special Christian or cultural foundations.

References

Alton-Lee, A. & Nuthall, G. (1990) Pupil experiences and pupil learning in the elementary

classroom: an illustration of a generative methodology, Teaching and Teacher Education, 6(1),

27–45.

Alton-Lee, A. & Nuthall, G. with Patrick, J. (1993) Reframing classroom research: a lesson from

the private world of children, Harvard Educational Review, 63(1), 50–84.

Alton-Lee, A. & Nuthall, G. (1998) Inclusive instructional design: theoretical principles emerging from

the understanding learning and teaching project (Wellington, Ministry of Education).

Bishop, R. (1996) Collaborative research stories: Whakawhanaungatanga (Palmerston North,

Dunmore Press).

Bishop, R. (2003) Changing power relations in education: Kaupapa Maori messages for

‘mainstream’ education in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Comparative Education, 39(2), 221–238.

Bishop, R. (2005) Messages from Te Kotahitanga for teacher education, keynote address to the

biannual meeting of the Institute for Studies of Teachers and Teaching (ISATT), Sydney, July.

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Tiakiwai, S. & Richardson, C. (2003) Te Kotahitanga: The experiences of

year 9 and 10 Maori students in mainstream classrooms (New Zealand, Ministry of Education).

Brown, G. (2002a) Student beliefs about learning: New Zealand students in year 11, Academic

Exchange Quarterly, 6(1), 110–114.

Brown, G. (2002b) Teachers’ conceptions of assessment. PhD thesis, University of Auckland.

Burnard, P. (2002) Using image-based techniques in researching pupil perspectives,

Communicating … The ESRC Network Project Newsletter, 2–3 (UK, Economic and Social

Research Council).

Involving students to improve teaching practice 321

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Page 13: Making sense of learning at secondary school: involving students to improve teaching practice

Cook-Sather, A. (2001) Between student and teacher: learning to teach as translation, Teaching

Education, 12(2), 177–190.

Cook-Sather, A. (2002a) Authorizing students’ perspectives: toward trust, dialogue, and change in

education, Educational Researcher, 31(4), 3–14.

Cook-Sather, A. (2002b) Re(in)forming the conversations: student position, power, and voice in

teacher education, Radical Teacher, 64, 21–28.

Delpit, L. (1988) The silenced dialogue: power and pedagogy in educating other people’s

children, Harvard Educational Review, 58, 280–298.

Fielding, M. (2001a) Beyond the rhetoric of student voice: new departures or new constraints in

the transformation of 21st century schooling? FORUM, 43(2), 100–109.

Fielding, M. (2001b) Students as radical agents of change, Journal of Educational Change, 2(2),

123–141.

Fielding, M. (2004) Transformative approaches to student voice: Theoretical underpinnings,

recalcitrant realities, British Educational Research Journal, 30(2), 295–311.

Fullan, M. G. (1991) The new meaning of educational change (London, Cassell).

Fullan, M. G. (1993) Changing forces (London, Falmer Press).

Groundwater-Smith, S. (1998) Students as researchers: two Australian case studies, paper

presented at the BERA Annual Conference, University of Sussex, Brighton.

Hattie, J. A. C. (2002) What are the attributes of excellent teachers? in: B. Webber (Ed.) Teachers

make a difference: what is the research evidence? Conference Proceedings (Wellington, New

Zealand Council for Educational Research), 3–26.

Kane, R. G., Sandretto, S. & Heath, C. (2004) An investigation into excellent tertiary teaching:

emphasising reflective practice, Higher Education, 47(3), 283–310.

Ministry of Education (2004) Te kotahitanga. Available online at: http://www.minedu.govt.nz

(accessed 9 July 2005).

Nairn, K. & Smith, A. B. (2003) Taking students seriously: their rights to be safe at school, Gender

and Education, 15(2), 133–149.

Nuthall, G. A. (1999a) The way students learn: acquiring knowledge from an integrated science

and social studies unit, Elementary School Journal, 99, 303–341.

Nuthall, G. A. (1999b) Learning how to learn: the evolution of students’ minds through the social

processes and culture of the classroom, International Journal of Educational Research, 31(3),

139–256.

Nuthall, G. (2002) Knowing what we know and need to know about effective teaching, in:

B. Webber (Ed.) Teachers make a difference: what is the research evidence? Conference

Proceedings (Wellington, New Zealand Council for Educational Research), 41–63.

Nuthall, G. & Alton-Lee, A. (1993) Predicting learning from student experience of teaching: a

theory of student knowledge construction in classrooms, American Educational Research

Journal, 30(4), 799–840.

Purdie, N. & Hattie, J. (1999) The relationship between study skills and learning outcomes: a

meta-analysis, Australian Journal of Education, 43, 72–86.

Rudduck, J. (2003) Pupil voice and citizenship education (Cambridge, Faculty of Education,

University of Cambridge).

Rudduck, J. & Flutter, J. (2000) Pupil participation and pupil perspective: carving a new order of

experience, Cambridge Journal of Education, 30(1), 75–89.

Rudduck, J. & Flutter, J. (2004) How to improve your school: giving pupils a voice (London,

Continuum).

Soo Hoo, S. (1993) Students as partners in research and restructuring schools, The Educational

Forum, 57, 386–393.

Vaughan, K. (2003) Changing lanes: young people making sense of pathways, in: B. Webber (Ed.)

Educating for the 21st Century: rethinking the educational outcomes we want for young New

Zealanders: Conference Proceedings (Wellington, New Zealand Council for Educational

Research), 3–17.

322 R. G. Kane and N. Maw

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Lau

rent

ian

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

5:48

11

Oct

ober

201

4