Learner agency

 

Engagement, focus, participation. 

Listening, contributing, collaborating. 

Flow, drive, passion. 

 

Reflect, grow, develop. 

Life long learning.

These are keywords are at the heart of what teachers do and why we do what we do. Yet as most teachers will recognise, the day to day realities can feel so much farther from the ideal.

It feels that often majority of our students are only at school because they have to be and lack the skills or ability to be self-motivated in their learning. Thus, this often leads to the top-down approach; or policeman approach in teaching and learning. We try and make kids 'do the tasks' but then your left scratching your head - is this really what we are on about? Is this really achieving what we want it to achieve?

Student or learner agency is one such approach that looks at tackling some of these endemic issues. Student agency can be defined as the capacity to set a goal, reflect and act responsibly to effect change. After reading the  OECD’s Conceptual Learning Framework for Student Agency, this quote really stood out to me. Student agency is about acting rather than being acted upon; shaping rather than being shaped; and making responsible decisions and choices rather than accepting those determined by others.'

If we are truly honest - much of what happens in the learning space - happens to students. They are being acted upon, they are being told what learning will take place and when. The adults are determining what the students need to learn and in what sequence.

What are the benefits of student agency? According to the research, student agency will increase motivation to learn and will learn the skill of 'how to learn'. It has also shown to help facilitate overcoming adversity and reducing some of the gaps between the advantaged and disadvantaged students. 

The So What?

What does this actually look like in the classroom? I guess that is one thing I find frustrating about many of these articles - is that they have the research and big ideas - but rarely fail to address the realities of the classroom. How does a teacher go about implementing any of these ideas, when most learners do not have a sense of agency and many are also dealing with significant behaviour issues. How does a teacher go about co-constructing learning with a few students, when the rest need to be carefully monitored? Are teachers being asked to use some of their off-class time to do this co-constructing? How does one facilitate student agency with a prescriptive syllabus and curriculum that is already hard to effectively within the timing constraints? How do you support individualised student agency when you are one teacher and there are 30 students?

For me, I work in a 2:60 model - this does allow a bit more flexibility in how teachers are used in the space. Again, it is easy to consider how we might co-construct with our already engaged and motivated learners - but how does this look with our disengaged learners or the ones with significant learning difficulties? I am intrigued about this idea - any maybe it is like a lot of ideas - you have to start small. Big doors swing on small hinges. Maybe next term I take one or two lessons and try and co-construct them with some students from the class - perhaps not just my already motivated ones. What if they helped design the lessons? What if they even helped implement the lessons? What if they were part of a reflective session to evaluate the lesson and its outcomes? I can see the potential impact of this approach. I just find it difficult to see a way forward with all the other responsibilities that teachers need to juggle on a daily basis. But I guess one reason why we are teachers is that we are people of hope and change. 

Feedback to Feedforward

After a break of two years, I am classroom teaching again. I am privileged to work in a school that encourages its staff to dig deep as we move towards a 'new normal' in teaching and learning. We need to seriously consider new research and understandings of how students learn best and what is needed in a 21st century world. So now I take the plunge into considering how I put into practice some of my learnings over the last two years and continue to stretch my understandings and practice.

Today I reflect on the concept of feedforward. As we support our students in inquiry-learning and facilitate their holistic development, I have read this blog from Cult of Pedagogy and listened to the podcast interview with Joe Hirsch. Hirsch challenges the traditional formats and approaches of feedback and argues for us to take on a more collaborative approach in feedforward - not just with our students but in our workplaces as well. 

Traditional feedback focuses on ratings and not on development. It is often devised from a set of standardised performance standards. It is often dominated by the giver of the feedback, not by the receiver. One of the problems with traditional feedback is that it often leads to mental paralysis. Our frontal lobes go into a defensive mode and goes dark. This is because we are hearing about past flaws that we cannot change. This creates a learned helplessness - we are powerless to do anything about it and usually leads to a fixed mindset. The very process that is meant to energise us actually makes us think that there is no better version of ourselves. We end up focusing on who we are rather than who we are becoming. 

Hirsch states that the essential goal of feedback is to create positive and lasting improvement. The research on feedforward concepts have been around for the last 20 years. The focus is on the future and not on the past. Feedforward is interested in development and not just about providing a rating. It uses a collaborative, authentic, partnership approach to learning and prompts the receiver on a path to self-discovery. A quote from the interview that I found very powerful:

'People don't fear change; they fear being changed'. 

This is why the traditional command and control method of feedback has such little impact. When you can coach and guide someone to make changes for themselves, this is far more impactful than traditional approaches. Hirsch outlines six key qualities for a feedforward approach. These form a REPAIR model and are summarised in the image below.

A few key takeaways for me as I consider how I use this approach in my own teaching:

Current generation is interested in a lattice not a ladder - they are looking sideways for skills and personal development opportunities. There is a great need for coaching and creating opportunities for growth and stretch.

Take a leaf out of the improvisation world. Yes, and... 

I noticed, I wonder, what if, how might?

Need to be specific and thoughtful of the focus of our feedback. Feedback is not a cleaver - it's a toothpick.

A continuous and ongoing conversation

Dump the praise sandwich - it's not authentic. Give voice and choice to the receiver. 

PREP: Point, reason, explain and prompt. Prompt needs to give voice to the receiver and facilitate a collaborative conversation. What do you think we can do about this? How can you see a way of us improving this?

You can't force change on someone.

Guided self-discovery is impactful.

Consider creative abrasion. Bringing people together with different experience, knowledge and skills. This leads to the creation of something new and unfamiliar. 

So what, now?

I am wondering how we can be more intentional and structured to support these concepts of feedforward in our learning spaces? I find it hard to give useful feedback in the buzz of a classroom where we are constantly moving between 60 students. Workshops provide one such means but even then, how well can it be individualised to support where each student is at. This is what I am pondering as I move into Term 2 and consider how we can provide meaningful feedforward to students in order to support them in learning that demonstrates how we value development over student ratings and performance. 

2021 Reflections

    What is something you did as part of a team that you will remember for the rest of your life?

During lockdown in 2021 we didn’t see our students for about 17 weeks. For many students, this was incredibly difficult and the challenges were varied and often immense. However, for students with diverse needs and with significant learning difficulties, online learning was almost insurmountable. Logging in everyday, zooming with a whole class, getting lost in google docs and Canvas meant that many of these students were facing 17 weeks with little learning progress or engagement. I am proud of the way that our diversity team supported these students everyday. We zoomed twice daily with a small group of students and developed a google site that provided them with work and instructions that they could access. Two teachers and three teacher assistants worked incredibly hard and showed above and beyond commitment towards their learning. As a result, these students stayed engaged, made progress in their learning and we were able to provide exceptional support to their families as well.

        What was the most challenging part of this year for you?

  This year had a number of challenges both professionally and personally. I was working        very long days and hours supporting students with significant learning needs. However,        my own kids were struggling at home as well. I was incredibly grateful that my husband        was available to support our kids, but it certainly had its frustrations. I found it hard not to take on too much responsibility for my students’ learning. As my case load increased, I found myself almost cracking at the edges. I felt like I couldn’t cope anymore. I needed to take a mental health day and process what I was thinking and feeling. I needed to reset my professional boundaries and realise that I was not solely responsible for their learning. The students have choice and responsibility and their family also have a significant part to play. I needed to make sure I was taking care of myself and my own family.

What is something you learnt from a fellow colleague this year?

I work with some pretty amazing people. I learnt patience and compassion from a colleague this year. She has taught me to be more understanding of others and to be slower in my immediate reactions. I am often quick to feel frustration at what appears to be inadequacy or ineffectiveness or incompetence. She has taught me to be slower in my responses, to remember that most people are trying their best with the resources that they have at the time. That most people have their heart in the right place and a conversation usually reveals circumstances or context that was not obvious to me. Working alongside people, be patient and to be kind is something I have learnt from a colleague this year.

What are six adjectives that best describe this school year?

Flexible, challenging, long, extenuating, demanding, growing

Learning to get out of the way

Connected Learning 2.0 bore down upon us very quickly at the end of last term. Suddenly, we had a second opportunity to take what we learnt from last lockdown and apply it to a second round... only this time much longer. My role as a diversity teacher (similar to a learning support teacher) has taken on some unique shifts and turns over the last 10 weeks. 

So, what have I learnt over the last 10 weeks? 

Online learning magnifies the learning challenges of many students. I have come to realise how much most learners and even us teachers, rely on the physical and social environment for learning and progression. Students become very adept at watching and asking their peers, waiting for additional teacher prompts or check ins or using the structure of a school day with its familiar classroom procedures to help them stay motivated. Of course, a classroom can also be a great place for a student to 'hide'. When you take all these familiar structures away, a student who has little intrinsic motivation or low executive functioning or slower cognitive processing speed will likely feel like they are drowning in an online remote learning mode. And so, our diversity team has worked incredibly close with a small number of students using adjusted learning sites, highly visualised learning materials, small group and 1:1 zooms twice per day. We have found this to be exhausting for us staff, but essential for these students to stay connected and to learn and to progress through this. 

Despite the immense challenges, I have had the incredible privilege of working with some amazing students. Everyday these students have made me smile and laugh and enlightened me with facts about ancient tribes in the middle east, photosynthesis, minecraft, aviation or space. I have been able to get to know these students in a different way and learnt more about their families, lives, strengths and challenges. I have seen these students overcome what have been substantial barriers and changes in their learning. They have turned up everyday, twice a day, most of them without fail. They have learnt to be patient with others and wait their turn on zoom. I have been able to build their trust and walk with them everyday as they learnt to navigate  zoom, how to share a screen, how to share a doc, how to email a teacher, how to learn to take turns on zoom, how to seek help, how to find zoom links, how to be on time, how to copy docs and how to submit their work. I have witnessed some students start the term with very few of these skills but by the end of term they have become proficient in them. They have learnt a level of independence and mastery that they would not have learnt in the classroom. Because we could not do it for them. We too easily teach students with additional learning needs dependence, not independence. What some students had not mastered in two terms of Year 7, they had mastered in 5 weeks of connected learning.

This is a massive lesson. It is too easy to do too much for our learners. So what did I learn? I learnt that I need to get out of the way. It might be a struggle in the beginning. It might lead to a lot of frustration and deep breaths and repeated instructions. But with guidance, prompting and repetition, they can get there!

The second major lesson I learnt is a bit more personal. By about week 7, I was mentally exhausted and petering on the edge of a breakdown. I was working very long days and juggling significant needs of a number of students, my own families needs (including a child with additional needs) and adjusting and setting work across all KLAs for these students everyday. 

One particular week, I had a number of students who were struggling with the learning and so we needed to increase their level of support. By the end this week, we had added about 4 more students to my caseload. The work doesn't significantly increase with each student - but it mentally fatigued me. I felt myself taking on personal responsibility for each of these students. That somehow I needed to be their main support and it was up to me whether they sunk or swam. Talking with families and students who are struggling can be really challenging. I am a very empathetic person, so I feel their struggles deeply and often identify through my own experiences.

But it was taking its toll. I needed to step back. So I planned a mental health day. I planned activities that I know would help me unwind and process. I did a long bushwalk, worked in the garden, baked and did some reading. I realised that I couldn't be and it wasn't my job to be all of this for my students. There is only so much I can do from behind a computer screen. Students and their families need to also take personal responsibility - after all - we're all in this together, right?

So, as I gear up for at least a few more weeks of connected learning next term, I will take this learning with me: the need to step back, step aside and get out of the way.

Wellbeing: a new frontier in teaching

 We had a recent opportunity to work in a small group of teachers on an inquiry project around 'How do we identify students with wellbeing needs?' Mental health needs are increasing. In fact, our research indicates that 20% of students will show symptoms of mental health concerns. Teachers are faced with situations that we are not necessarily equipped to know how to handle or what to say or who to refer to. This was a great opportunity to work through an inquiry process, considering what we already know about the topic, what we need to know, conduct some research on the issue and come up with some proposals for our context. 

What was interesting to observe during the inquiry process is even teachers are reluctant to spend time with the open questions and allow research to inform our responses and conclusions. We often observe this in our students, that they often come to problems with a foregone conclusion and research feels like an obstacle to getting to the end product. I found teachers generally have the same difficulties. It was hard to hold the questions as genuinely open before designing solutions. We were eager to jump to the end product where change happens (understandably so!) and not dig deep in research. I wonder what we can learn from this in order to help our students be more authentic in their research and inquiry processes?

Our inquiry showed us that we need to be more equipped and prepared for students with mental health concerns. Schools are now seen as the first line of prevention in being able to identify and refer appropriately. So it is prudent that we are thorough in working out ways to approach and formalise processes that support both teachers and students in caring for the wellbeing needs of students. Here is the link to our presentation on our inquiry.

Neurodiversity: Diverse not divergent

 I attended a professional learning course last week about ADHD. I was left feeling a little underwhelmed. A little disappointed. A little frustrated. It took me awhile to isolate why I felt these emotions. The course was accurate in the information it presented. It was a sound introduction into some of facets of ADHD. It covered some of the challenges faced by students with ADHD and spoke about the the 'functional impacts of ADHD as a disability'. I sat with this information for awhile. I have two children and a husband with ADHD. It forms a pretty significant part of our daily life. Are there aspects of their ADHD make life seem more difficult? Yes. Are there functional impacts of the ADHD? Without a doubt. Do we implement daily strategies to reduce these impacts? Absolutely. Does ADHD make them unique? Yes. Does ADHD contribute to their creative, tangential and innovative ideas? Resolutely yes. Would they be the same amazing people and thinkers without ADHD? Not a chance.

As educators who work in highly structured learning environments, I find that it is often too easy to concentrate on the challenges that students face. We quickly notice the impairments or how the student is struggling to engage or access the curriculum. In other words, we notice their deficits. As a diversity teacher, this is a huge part of my job. And I do it because I care. I want to see every student thrive and succeed. I want to be an advocate for students who find themselves lost and sometimes even scared in our education system. Through an inclusive framework, I form my approaches around what adjustments we can make to the environment to support the student and reduce the barriers to learning. Sometimes it is around giving students extra support or time to learn skills that they have not yet acquired. When I conduct reviews, I make time to ensure that I hear their voice and their perspective on their learning. As I am well aware that what I think the student needs might be very different to what they believe they need.

And yet, if I'm honest with myself I know there is still a strong sense of 'how can we help these students be more like the 'norm'? I think it comes from a place of good intentions because I don't want to see kids struggling when they don't fit the norm. I don't like to see them hit their heads in frustration or rock in the corner or lose it when they go home because it's all too much. I quickly see what is not working but fail to recognise to the same extent how their diversity is a gift us through their different ways of seeing and thinking about the world. 

I have recently been challenged by the discourse around neurodiversity to start shifting my thinking. Neurodiversity means that there are many and diverse ways of thinking, seeing and understanding the world. The idea of neurodiversity is that there are normal and naturally occurring differences in the human brain that result in differences like Autism and ADHD. Brains are diverse rather than divergent. Differences are not caused by disease or injury. In one way, differences in the way the brain functions could be seen the same as the differences in skin colour. It is just the way we are made. They are not flaws, just differences. The lens of neurodiversity helps us to shift our thinking away from pathologising people - thinking that differences are a problem that need to be fixed. Instead, we can see neurological diversity as a vital part of humanity. Now this is quite a stark divergence from the traditional way of viewing disabilities and impairments. 

The neurodiverse discourse does not deny the existence of impairments or the fact that these impairments can have challenging functional impacts for people. As a diversity teacher, I see this everyday. It's my job to support the student to find ways and paths towards greater participation and success. However, the framework of neurodiversity means that we need to work harder at realising that participation and success will look different for different people. It challenges assumptions about what intelligence is and how to measure it. It makes us reexamine what behaviours are accepted as 'normal'. It promotes understanding. It calls us to create communities where all people feel like they belong and have a way they can contribute.

Far too frequently, neurodiverse young people feel like they don't belong. They are often acutely aware of their differences, seek to hide and withdraw. We have created a society and communities where neurodiverse people label themselves as 'dumb', 'stupid', 'wrong', 'failures'. Our learning structures and education focus often highlight their impairments and struggles. They spend much of their adolescence wishing they were someone else or that they could do things that other people can, rather than seeking, finding and flourishing in their differences. For where would our world be without neurodiverse people such as Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Issac Newton, Bill Gates, William Yeats, Wolfgang Mozart, Michelangelo, Thomas Jefferson, Hans Christian Anderson and Charles Darwin?

I think this is what I found lacking in my recent professional learning. If the teachers of diversity are framing their conversations around deficits and impairments, what hope do we have for change in our wider school communities? We need to be stretched in our thinking. We need to see the beauty, the wonder, the mystery. We need to find pathways to help students discover their gifting and embrace its flourishing. We need to learn acceptance of tangential thinking and behaviours. We need to learn to listen. There will always be challenges. We see it. The students are reminded of these everyday. It's time to remind them that they are remarkable. And our world would not be the same without them.   

      

So what is inclusion anyway?

What does it mean to be an inclusive learning community? 

If we have students with disabilities and learning challenges in our classrooms, does this make us inclusive? 

If we display posters advocating for people with disabilities, does this make us inclusive? 

 If we provide ramps and lifts, does this make us inclusive?

If we provide adjustments to enable student learning and success, does this make us inclusive?

 If we have additional teacher's aides to support student learning, does this make us inclusive?

    If we believe we have ever reached a truly inclusive learning environment, then we are probably not understanding the true nature and complexities of inclusion. Inclusion is an ongoing and evolving process of reflection, understanding and change. Inclusive environments will adapt to new learning and be responsive to differing needs. 

    A truly inclusive learning environment must foster the participation, dignity and self-worth of students with disabilities. It must enable the growth and development of all students; regardless of ability. The graphic below is a helpful way of visualising what inclusion is and is not. 

Source: United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities General Comment No. 4 (http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CRPD/GC/RighttoEducation/CRPD-C-GC-4.doc)

    Now more than ever, it is important we as educators reflect on our attitudes and approaches to inclusion. The number of students with disabilities in mainstream classrooms is estimated to rise by 50% by 2027 and yet according to NESA only one in five teachers have participated in professional development on teaching students with disabilities in the last three years (SMH article, 6 Dec 2020).  The graphic above highlights how imperative systematic reform is to an authentic approaches to inclusion. It needs to be holistic - and it's not just about how to differentiate a task.

    Attitudes or beliefs about disability have been identified as one of the major barriers to inclusive learning environments. Many approaches or frameworks for thinking about disability has been shaped by the pervasive medical model; where disability is viewed as an illness or impairment that can be treated, controlled or protected. This view often results in marginalisation or exclusion of people with disabilities. In contrast, the social model explores the social, economic, cultural and institutional constructs that create barriers for people with disabilities. Impairment and disability are not believed to be the same. A person can have physical impairments but they experience disability due to socio-cultural constructs and barriers. In the social model, disability is viewed as part of human diversity. People can be enabled when barriers and oppressions are removed or reduced.

    Research has shown that there are powerful binary narratives about ability and disability in education. This can often be evident in the language that is used about students with disabilities. While many educators will support inclusion, phrases such as 'they can't engage with the work' or 'they aren't able to do that' are common. Or the categorising of students into high, average and low ability groups highlight the complexities around attitudes. Or the designing of a task or activity around the able and then we try and include those who don't fit the norm as an afterthought. These underlying frameworks or attitudes can undermine the intent of inclusion and create cultures of disability where students with learning difficulties will ‘remain marginalized through their construction as an othered group’ (Goodley, 2007, p.318).

    Here lies the pinch. Teachers are architects of learning. As a Diversity Teacher, I work with students who have significant learning difficulties. My role is to help them access the learning and reduce barriers to learning. So how do I address some of the impairments that make learning a challenge for these students without participating or enabling deficit models of thinking around disability? How do I view my segregated reading intervention group through this lens? How do I keep my thinking fresh and not slip into old ways of viewing disability as something to be fixed or remediated? 

    Perhaps there is no easy answer... perhaps it's the constant wrestling with these questions... perhaps it's constant reflection on my practice... perhaps it's in the advocacy for students who feel they have no or little voice... perhaps it's in the small moments of when a student who has felt useless and worthless can participate and have a sense of achievement... perhaps it's in moving away from pathologising disability and recognising the ways we can implicitly be fostering issues of social injustice... perhaps it is in the everyday of choosing advocacy, inclusion, justice, equity and giving those a voice who may not have found a way to be heard before. 

    Whatever the road ahead looks like, it needs to be bigger than just the teacher in the classroom trying their best to include and support all students in their classrooms. Inclusive practices must be reflected in a holistic way, referencing the sociocultural practices of the whole learning community. Critical reflection that transforms schools and classroom cultures and redresses the explicit and subtle ways that students experience marginalisation and exclusion may lead us to more authentic and life-changing inclusive practices.

References:

    Fallang, B., Øien, I., Østensjø, S., & Gulbrandsen, L. M. (2017). Micro-processes in social and learning activities at school generate exclusions for children with disabilities. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research
    Goodley, D.  (2007). Towards socially just pedagogies: Deleuzoguattarian critical disability studies, International Journal of Inclusive Education
    Liasidou, A. (2014). Inclusive education and critical pedagogy at the intersections of disability, race, gender and class. Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies