leading learning in the social sciences margaret leamy national coordinator social sciences te...

Leading Learning in

the Social

Sciences

MARGARET LEAMY

National Coordinator Social SciencesTe Tapuae o Rehua Consortium

margaret.leamy@otago.ac.nz

He waka eke noa

A canoe which we are all in with no exception

Outcomes for the day:

To identify ways that leadership can make a powerful difference to student outcomes

To explore the use of pedagogical knowledge to lead teacher learning for success

To examine the leadership of effective inquiry and mentoring of teachers

To explore the concept of leading change

By the end of today, you will:

Have an understanding of leadership that works and why

Have an effective Teaching as Inquiry model for middle leadership

Understand what your data says, and have ideas around what you can do about it

Identify ways to lead change

Leadership can make a powerful difference to student outcomes

Leadership =

An activity, not a position!

An effective middle leader…

I need to I do this

give this well more thought and often

• Share your reflection with someone else AND• Discuss the strategies and actions you could use

to give aspects more consideration• How will I know I have progressed?

• Strategic planning – identifies and prioritises actions to be taken

• Strategic goals – Social Science goals – subject specific goals - are they all aligned?

• What does your school consider important?

• Priority learners – who are they? Why? How are they being supported to improve student outcomes?

Leadership dimensions

1. Establishing goals and expectations

2. Resourcing strategically

3. Planning, coordinating and evaluating teaching and the curriculum

4. Promoting and participating in teacher learning and development

5. Ensuring an orderly and supportive environment

Effect size

Figure 1. Relative impact of five leadership dimensions on student outcomes

Dim

ensi

on

Teaching as Inquiry – possibilities…

Why inquiry?

To raise achievement levels of priority learners:

• Shifting the focus to student-centred learning

• Knowledgeably implementing a responsive and rich curriculum

• Using assessment information to know about, and plan for, students’ learning

ERO – ‘Evaluation at a glance’ www.ero.govt.nz/National-Reports

How do you lead this inquiry in your Social Science department?

What should I teach next, how should I teach it, and what do I base those decisions on?

What can inquiry look like?

• Undertake meaningful inquiry projects into the impact of teaching on students

• Inquiry is central to teachers’ professional learning

• Reciprocal sharing of inquiries with other teachers

• School-wide professional learning

Leading inquiry at a teacher levelwww.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Middle-and-senior-

leaders

Consider the data…

• What conclusions can you make based on the data today?

• What could this mean for your department? Which areas may need to be the focus?

• What data is available at school for you to use? Is there other data that could be useful?

Use assessment data to inform practice

Effective practice to Inquiry

• Focus group of students• Evidence about what is happening for

these students• Identify an aspect that you act as an

effective agent to help students improve

• Take actions & apply teaching interventions to create improvements for students

• Quality thinking about the value and effectiveness of actions

• Inquiry is based within a suitable timeframe

• Meet and share regularly with your colleagues

• Include as part of appraisal• Clear direction for professional

learning

Effective practice to Inquiry cont…

Examine the leadership of effective inquiry and mentoring of teachers

Leading Inquiry

• Inquire into effectiveness of teaching and its impact on students

• Help teachers improve their knowledge of the inquiry process

• ‘Leading learners’ – the more leadership is focused on teaching and learning, the greater the impact

To what extent do your teachers use teacher

inquiry to improve the learning for students?

Use of pedagogical knowledge to lead teacher learning for success

• Who is effective in your department or school?

• How do you know?

• How is effective teaching and learning shared?

• What does this look like?

BES Leadership

Case studies for Professional Learning to improve student outcomes

As part of an expert group:1.Identify 2-3 key ideas that will make a

difference in your department – Why?2.What good leadership practices come

out of this case study?3.How will this impact on my priority

students?4.Share your findings and ideas with

your home group.

‘Crossing the landscape several times’

Enhancing teaching and learning

Learning logs exemplarwww.educationcounts.govt.nz/topics/bes/bes-

exemplars

• Discuss how this exemplar could be used topromote effective feedback to improve studentoutcomes in your particular area within the

SS.

• What needs to be considered?

Instructional Strategies may include…

• Modelling – reading texts, processing information, writing, using exemplars, discussing...

• Scaffolding towards independence

• Connecting texts and tasks – purpose and relevance – Why am I reading this? What do I focus on?

• Linking between modes – link practical activities to discussing, reading, writing, presenting

• Critical thinking (perspectives, connectivity, relationships)

• Providing sufficient opportunities to practise literacy skills. Practise using the language of the subject

• Building vocabulary – oral, written, visual

• Selecting relevant information and evaluating information

• Critiquing sources

• Using evidence, integrating evidence when writing…

Analysing student writing

Consider:• Audience and purpose

• Content/ideas

• Structure/organisation

• Language

• Surface features

Making it manageable…

• RTCs

• Tataiako

• Appraisals

Learning relationship process…

• Set focus for observation of teaching or learning

Reflective interview – explore goals and intended outcomesObservation

• Self-assessment by partnerPartner highlights strengths/missed opportunities/areas for

developmentCoach listens without interruption or discussion

• Coach gives evaluative feedbackCoach gives a perspective of strengths and areas for further

focus or development

• Coach and partner engage in discussion and reflective interviewing

Exploring the concept of leading change

Teachers have greatest influence on student outcomes

How to promote teacher professional learning

Learning from data becomes an integral part of practice

Promote conditions which teachers use data to inform practice

Leaders – your promotion of and participation in teacher professional learning

On reflection…

Reflecting on today's workshop:

• What will you do differently?

• How will you lead this?

• Consider individuals that may take longer to influence – how will you work with them?