Three Way Learning

Conversations

Information Session

Friday 7th March @ 2.30pm in School Hall

Please join us for a coffee and informal presentation

What we will cover today:

•What are Three Way Learning Conversations?

•What is the rationale for change?

•What does the research say?

•Roles and responsibilities of the teacher, students and parents

•Managing known glitches

What are Three Way Learning Conversations and what do they look like?

•Three Way Learning Conversations are a conversation between the student, their parents and their teacher.

• The student has an opportunity to share with their parents, with the support of their teacher, their growth as a learner.

• All three parties - student, parents and the teacher - sit together and talk about the student’s learning by looking at and discussing a range of the student’s work samples.

• Each conference will last for fifteen minutes with times selected through our on-line booking system.

What is the rationale for change?

This reporting procedure, in which the student is very actively involved in the learning and reporting process, is a fundamental shift away from the one-way transference of information from teacher to parents, and is consistent with the characteristics of effective pedagogy and assessment in the NZ Curriculum.

The New Zealand Curriculum has as its Vision...

• Confident• Connected• Actively involved• Life long learners

The Learning Conversations align to the vision and the key competencies of...• managing self• relating to others• participating and contributing• thinking• and using languages, symbols and texts.

•Children must be given the skills to learn how to learn

• Learning is something that they do; it is not something done to them

• Strategies like 3WLC lead students towards becoming self directed, independent, lifelong learners

What does the research say?

Professor John Hattie (formerly University of Auckland) identifies student self-reporting as the most significant indicator linked to raised student achievement.

Black & Wiliam: “the process of students reflecting on their learning, through effective questioning that promotes the articulation of student thinking, is integral to classroom assessment practices that enhance student learning.”

What does the research say?

‘If the focus is to be kept on learning, and the ownership of the learning with the child, then the best person to talk about the learning is the learner’... ‘Not only is the student the best person to tell their parents what they have learnt, but if we believe that students build their knowledge by communicating what they know, then providing

an opportunity for the students to tell their family what they know can significantly assist with that learning.' Absolum, (2006)

Roles and Responsibilities

Teacher

Before:Provide information for parents via newsletters, school’s

website and an information session

Make learning explicit for the students:share formal achievement information,

collect work samples that include learning intentions, feedback and feed forward assessments,

Discuss Three Way Learning Conversations with the students

Practise using opportunities for students

to role-play Three Way Learning Conversations

with one another

TeacherDuring:

Teacher will facilitate the conversation between student and parents on their child’s learning

Teacher will contribute their professional knowledge and expertise to the discussion

Help clarify student work samples if necessary

Encourage reflections and feedback from students, parents and self

Record any actions to be taken as a result of discussions

TeacherAfter:

Follow up on agreed actions from discussions

Support students with their next step learning goals

Take debriefing sessions with the students to discuss process and give feedback

Debrief and evaluate the process with colleagues making

agreed modifications, if necessary, for the next conversations.

StudentsBefore:

Collect work samplesPractise the reflection process

Rehearse 3WLCs through role playing

During:Do necessary introductions

Share their learningDiscuss strengths and challenges

Set next learning goals, and state how they intend to work toward the learning

Discuss ways to be supported with learning at home and at school

After: Thank parents/caregivers for participating

in the conversation Undertake new activities related to new

learning intentions

ParentsBefore:

Read information from schoolMake online booking for appointment

Be positively supportive and give time to talk to your child about what they are learning at school, rather than what they are doing.

During:

Focus on the learning, celebrating successesListen carefully and ask clarifying questions

Support the goal setting and next learning steps

After:

On going support Communicate with teacher if you have any concerns

as a result of the 3WLC.

Managing known glitchesLack of rigour. The teacher must work to ensure that valid,

rigorous data is shared supported by the students work samples.

There should be no surprises: If there are concerns, they should have been shared.

Parents being open to a shift away from the traditional one-way transference of information, where the teacher talks about

someone who is not present.