Student Action Teams C: Practice 1 Part C: Student Action Teams: In Practice… Local initiatives...

Student Action Teams C: Practice 1

Part C: Student Action Teams: In Practice…

Local initiatives

Choosing a topic

Curriculum placement

Common steps and elements


Local implementation 1: 2003-6 Darebin: northern Melbourne suburbs -

Preston to Reservoir

Working class, cultural diversity - concern

about ‘low aspirations’

Cluster of primary and secondary schools

around SRC/JSC issues since about 1989

(10-15 schools)

Traffic Safety (2003); Environment (2005-6)


Local implementation 2: 2005-6 Manningham: outer NE Melbourne suburbs

- Bulleen-Doncaster-Templestowe-Donvale

Relatively well-off area; fairly mono-cultural

Cluster of six Catholic primary schools with

some recent history of working together

around SRC support

Values Education grant from Australian

Government (2005-6)


Value of a cluster … Increases shared resources Provides external events that are exciting and

‘special’ Enables students to summarise and present to

other students Persuades community groups: extends impact Forums can ‘drive’ in-school work both in terms

of ideas and in deadlines Professional development of staff


Problems of a cluster …

Cluster priority - an extra layer of work Commitment needed to cluster self-

management Extra funding required for student travel Need for trust and shared vision Competition, ownership, egos …

6Student Action Teams C: Practice

Choosing a topic

Traffic Safety: approach from TSE consultants to schools

Environment: initiative of schools Values: cluster application to Australian

Government program Possibilities for initiatives:

– From community: approach schools with issue;– From schools: identify issue and set up team;– From students: concern (eg SRC) or ‘search’

process within broad program constraints


One teacher’s view …

“If there’s a community issue to be

tackled, our normal approach is

now to set up a Student Action

Team to deal with it.”Secondary school teacher, Melbourne, 2001


Location within school

Increasingly within a class versus cross-school, ad hoc or SRC

Identification of interested teacher/s and appropriate subjects

Reasons:– Time: provides students and teachers with

timetabled space;– Recognition: as curriculum - a way of meeting

curriculum objectives;– Sustainability.


Overall Structure

Engagement Event (Forum 1) Research Phase:

what is the issue? what do we know about it? Research Reporting Event (Forum 2) Action Phase:

what will we change? what will we do? Action Reporting Event (Forum 3)


SAT Flow Chart…

RESEARCH PHASE

ACTION PHASE

Engagement Event

Research Reporting

Event

Action Reporting

Event


Role of community or external body

Challenging: commissioning real work

Resourcing: providing ideas, material,

people

Partnership: working on common issues

together

Audience: receiving student reports


Step 1: Teacher Preparation

Development of a shared commitment to the approach, definition of a broad topic, constraints, funding, management structures, partnerships

What issue?What are the external expectations?What are our views of students’ roles?Who will be involved?


Step 2: Engagement

First investigation of the issue by students

Students acknowledge that the topic is important to them and to others

What is this issue all about? Is it important? Why? To whom?Do we want to do this? Why?


One Student’s Response…

“When I saw these figures, I was

first of all surprised, then angry,

then determined to do something

about them!”

Primary school student, Preston, 2003


Step 3: Research Questions

Usually two areas for research:– What is the important issue in our

community?

– What do we know about it and want to know

about it?

What do we know already about this?What do we need to find out?How will we do this?


Step 4: Research Planning

Setting up a structure for data collection and defining methods such as interviews, surveys, observations, measurements etc

What sort of research?Who? How? How many? When?What instruments? What questions?


Step 5: Conducting Research

Carrying out the research; reflecting on its progress

How is it going?Are we keeping to the timeline?What gaps in our research?What changes are needed in

our approach?


Step 6: Analysing Research

Looking at the research results and asking what they mean; analysing by population groups, location etc

What is it like now? (describe)What are we finding?What differences/diversity exists within

our results?


Step 7: Presenting Research Results

Reporting on findings - often to an external audience, including commissioning body

What did we do (summary)?What did we find out?Who do we need to tell?


Step 8: Need for Action

Reflection on research and a comparison of ‘what is’ with ‘what should be’; possibilities for ‘dreaming’ or ‘visioning’

What surprises us?What concerns us?

(makes us angry, annoyed, worried?)Why?Do we all agree on this?


Step 9: Setting Goals

From the vision, specifying some outcomes or objectives:

What should it look like?What do we want to see happening?What needs to change to make it like that?What are the barriers to change?What is needed to overcome these? To

bring about change?


Step 10: Defining Action Needed

With the objectives in mind, designing the forms of action that will be appropriate, achievable and effective

What can we do to bring about these changes?

What forms of action can we take?


Forms of Action:

Education: providing information, telling or training people

Encouragement: rewarding positive behaviour, praising, good examples

Enforcement: punishing negative behaviour

Engineering: building things, structural changes


Ways in which students take action:

Taking action themselves: things that student can do directly

Asking others to act: demands or requests

Sharing in decisions about action: collaboration and partnerships in decisions and implementation


Step 11: Planning Action

Details of the action: developing an action plan with timelines and commitments

What to do?When?Who will do it?How?What is needed?


Step 12: Taking Action

Carrying out the action plan, but also monitoring it and adapting it where necessary

How is it going?What do we learn as we do this?


Step 13: Assessing Action

Comparing the situation before and after the action; this might involve more data collection

What has changed? Why?How do we know we’ve made any

difference?


Step 14: Presenting Outcomes

Reporting on the action taken, including accountability to the body commissioning this work; effective means of presentation

Who do we need to tell?How?


Step 15: Celebrating & Reviewing Reflection on the journey and

celebration of achievements; evaluation; also setting new tasks

What have we achieved?Where to now? Why? How?What did we learn?How could we improve

next time?


Resources

Connect magazine - several issues

reporting on these Student Action Teams

Student Action Teams:

Implementing Productive Practices

in Primary and Secondary School

Classrooms - forthcoming, 2006 -

available from Connect (approx. $30)


Changing teachers too…

“I have always held as sacrosanct the need to put students at the centre of all I do: that I must ensure I don’t teach them just knowledge, but teach them the skills to understand the knowledge; that good

curriculum allows for this to happen while superficial curriculum allows students to

regurgitate facts… I know [involvement in the Student Action Team project] has made me a

better teacher. It has made the students believe they have a valid and important voice.”

Leesa Duncan, St Clement of Rome School, Bundoora


Changing teachers too…

“Children who were not achieving

started to really shine… The children

now really believe that they have a

voice and can make a difference. I

now believe that too.”Geraldine Butler, St Charles Borromeo School, Templestowe

Student Action Teams C: Practice 1 Part C: Student Action Teams: In Practice… Local initiatives...

Documents

Transcript of Student Action Teams C: Practice 1 Part C: Student Action Teams: In Practice… Local initiatives...