Inquiry Framework - South Auckland Technology Cluster

A lot of the work I am doing within the SSA contract (Secondary Student Achievement contract) is often linked to middle leader inquiry (as on pg35 of the NZC, 2007).

Given that this is an expected part of our teaching roles to undertake an inquiry around our own personal teaching practice, to reflect on questions/issues we have and think around ways to answer/eliminate those potential barriers to students learning. 

I thought it relevant therefore to share an Inquiry that I have undertaken using the spiral model, which has taken the original framework and unpacked the stages further. With a view to modelling how the framework process can actually be applied to middle leadership scenarios.

The process for me started at the scanning phase, with the need for a way to bring together the south Auckland hard materials teachers.

So far we have had two successful meetings the first held at De la salle, Mangere. The second hosted by Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate senior school.

A big thank you to Selwyn (The student, who stayed behind to share his experiences and his work with the captive audience.)

One of the key reasons for the group coming together was a need to moderate with other subject specialists. Given that many of the schools attending only have one teacher in each particular discipline. Together we designed an online-shared Google form, which shows each schools programmes (Standards offered) with the purpose of being able to link up with each other over aligned standards.

Example of cross school sharing document

The second purpose of the cluster is to share and network. The opportunity to discuss programmes and see different learning environments has been valuable.

Third but by far from last is the opportunity to discuss the latest updates/changes to technology education. So far we have discussed the following topics, please see the links to relevant resources.

 

Health & Safety Legislation change http://www.minedu.govt.nz/NZEducation/MinistryBulletinSchoolLeaders/Issue31/HealthAndSafetyUpdate.aspx 
 

Moderation Changes http://assessment.tki.org.nz/Moderation/Moderation-processes  
 

External Panel leaders reports 2014 http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/subjects/technology/levels/

The next step for me as the instigator of this group is to set an agenda of content to be covered based on the needs of those attending. I am planning to do this by collecting evidence through a survey to all participants asking them what they would find valuable. 

I also need to create a collaborative leadership structure to the group to enable it to morph into a sustainable model. 

The value of a collaborate leadership model, is the link to my origional topic of Inquiry.

Why Collaborative Inquiry?
“Collaborative inquiry holds potential for deep and significant change in education. Bringing educators together in inquiry sustains attention to goals over time, fosters teachers’ learning and practice development,
and results in gains for students.” Ontario education Ministry

What distinquishes collaborative inquiry from other approaches to educator professional learning?
Collaborative inquiry offers an alternative to one-size-fits-all and top-down approaches to educator professional learning through its approach and its results. Collaborative inquiry changes the professional learning experience by reframing how professional knowledge is constructed and applied. Moving from professional learning approached as the acquisition of methods and structures developed outside the classroom and the school, collaborative inquiry places educators in the role of actively constructing professional knowledge through treating their classrooms and schools as sites for investigation. http://www.literacyinlearningexchange.org/collaborative-inquiry-differs