Research – Teaching & Learning Research Initiative

CoRe: A way to build pedagogical content knowledge for beginning teachers

Research has shown that one of the factors which enables teachers to be effective is their rich pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Beginning teachers need support to develop this PCK and recent research in the field has proposed a conceptual tool known as “content representations”, or CoRes, as a model for doing this. The study reported here brought together science and technology experts in content and pedagogy, early career secondary teachers, and researchers to design a CoRe to assist development of teacher PCK. The study then researched the early career teachers’ use of the CoRe in their planning and delivery of a unit in their classrooms to examine the effect of the

Connecting curriculum; connecting learning; negotiation and the arts

Introduction This project contributes to the field of curriculum integration and the role of the arts within integrated learning contexts. In particular, it scrutinised integrated inquiries that incorporated drama and visual art with other learning areas. It also examined ways in which children, teachers, and the wider community engaged in arts-based integration. Most of the international practices in this field fall into the “good idea” category rather than being based on research. This project helps to address this knowledge gap. Key findings The most commonly integrated curriculum areas were science, social studies, technology, and English with drama and visual art. Scaffolding children to take on increasing adult-like responsibilities encouraged children’s engagement,

Building students’ inferential reasoning: Statistics curriculum Levels 5 and 6

This report summarises the research activities and findings from the TLRI-funded project conducted in various schools entitled Building Students’ Inferential Reasoning: Statistics Curriculum Levels 5 and 6. The project was a 2-year collaboration among two statisticians, two researchers and nine teachers. The project team designed innovative approaches to develop students’ informal inferential reasoning and sought evidence that these innovations had a significant effect on improving students’ statistical reasoning in this domain. Key findings Students initially used descriptive approaches to boxplot comparisons and expressed everyday conceptions of sample and population, but later moved towards thinking inferentially. Designed learning trajectories can lead students to “discover” a rational basis for making claims when comparing

Titiro Whakamuri, Hoki Whakamua. We are the future, the present and the past: Caring for self, others and the environment in early years’ teaching and learning

1. Aims, objectives and research questions Drawing from both kaupapa Māori and Western perspectives, this study has focused on global issues of ecological sustainability in a variety of local/national early childhood education contexts. It has aimed to contribute to an emerging body of research which illuminates, documents and integrates possibilities for early childhood education pedagogies that reflect and enact an ethic of care, both from kaupapa Māori (Ka’ai, Moorfield, Reilly, & Mosley, 2004; Mead, 2003; Ritchie, 1992) and Western theoretical perspectives (Braidotti, 2002; Dahlberg & Moss, 2005; Foucault, 1997; Gilligan, 1982; Goldstein, 1998; Noddings, 1994, 1995). We considered this emphasis on ecological sustainability as a teaching and learning issue (Gruenewald, 2003),

Teaching and learning in the supervision of Maori doctoral students

He Rautaki mo te Akoranga Kairangi is a series of resources for Māori doctoral students and their supervisors. These resources are derived from the Teaching and Learning in the Supervision of Māori Doctoral Students project, funded by the TLRI (No. 9250) in 2007-2008. The research team comprised Elizabeth McKinley and Barbara Grant (The University of Auckland), Sue Middleton (Waikato University), Kathie Irwin (Te Puni Kokiri) and Les Williams (Nga Pae o te Maramatanga). He Rautaki mo te Akoranga Kairangi 1. The nature of doctoral supervision One bit of advice an experienced colleague gave me which is very valuable: ‘Be friendly but not familiar.’ Even though the Māori version of friendly is

Teachers Learning Mathematics: Professional development research

Introduction The issue of mathematical knowledge of teachers has been documented in New Zealand for 80 years, but no effective long-term solution has been found; indeed, the situation has worsened. For example, the 2004 New Zealand Ministry of Education Teacher Census (Ministry of Education, 2005) showed that 25 percent of secondary school mathematics teachers had no university mathematics qualification—a rise from 21 percent in 1977. This one-year research study, undertaken in 2007, aimed to investigate the development of teachers’ own mathematical knowledge for teaching. Seven secondary teachers used action research methodology to investigate, develop and evaluate some aspect of their mathematical knowledge, completing two cycles over the year. In addition, the

Investigating the relationship between whole-school approaches to education for sustainability and student learning. A summary

Education for sustainability (EfS) has been rapidly growing in New Zealand schools, bringing with it an interest in whole-school approaches to develop EfS and a focus on action competence as a means to understand student learning in this field. It is currently UNESCO’s decade of education for sustainable development, which calls for “a new vision of education that seeks to empower people of all ages to assume responsibility for creating a sustainable future” (UNESCO, 2002). Education for sustainability (EfS) fits with such a vision in that it expands on environmental education to include social, economic, political and cultural perspectives, as well as a focus on global equity in the use

Training on the job: How do home-based co-ordinators support educators to notice, recognise, and respond?

1. Aims, objectives, and research questions The aim of this research was: To investigate how home-based co-ordinators support educators[1] to notice, recognise, and respond to children’s learning. The research objectives were to: investigate co-ordinators’ practice document educators’ understanding of children’s learning discover how (a) impacts upon (b). There were three research questions: What are co-ordinators doing to support educators to notice, recognise, and respond to children’s learning? What changes are evident in educators’ practice as a result of what co-ordinators do? What factors seem to be important in this process? Background New Zealand home-based childcare services, as with all services within the early childhood sector, must meet certain requirements set out

Together is better? Primary students’ and teachers’ experiences of collaborative learning online

This project undertook to research the use of the Learning Activity Management System (LAMS) online learning environment to teach a collaborative unit involving three classes in two primary schools. There has been much research on collaborative learning at various levels of the school sector (e.g., Brown & Thomson, 2000; Holloway, 2003; Holmes, 2003; Holzer, 2004; Lourdusamy, Myint, & Sipusic, 2003; Peel & Shortland, 2004; Whatley & Bell, 2003). However, the use of online environments for collaborative work is a new and largely under-researched area for primary school teachers, as most studies in this area have involved the secondary or tertiary sector (Chih-Hsiung & Correy, 2003; Hakkinen, 2003; Hron & Friedrich, 2003;

Te reo tataitai: Developing rich mathematical language in Māori immersion classrooms

1. Aims, objectives, and research questions Kō ta te rangatira kai he kōrero As described in the whakatauaki (proverb) above, language is the food of chiefs because fluency in it provides access to and control of learning. Khisty and Chval (2002) summarised the effect of this by stating, “[i]n essence, those with power are literate or in control of a discourse” (p. 167). Although Māori students who attend Māori immersion programmes do better than those attending mainstream schooling, generally they do not perform as well as other students in mathematics (Anthony & Walshaw, 2006 forthcoming). One of the reasons for this may be the difficulties Māori students have with the mathematics

TLRI Mathematics Enhancement Project: Professional Development Research

1. Introduction The research project on professional development reported here was conducted within the context of the Mathematics Enhancement Project. The Mathematics Enhancement Project involves the Mathematics Education Unit of the Department of Mathematics, University of Auckland, working with senior mathematics teachers in low decile secondary schools in the Manukau region. It was the result of a needs analysis conducted in 1999–2000 and is an ongoing development and research endeavour that aims to enhance mathematics achievement at a time when students are making the transition from secondary school to tertiary education. The project works at the student level, at the teacher level, and at the school and parent community level. The

Teachers developing as researchers: teachers investigate their use of questions in mathematics

1. Introduction In this research project, a group of teachers developed their research capability through their investigation of the use of questioning to facilitate students’ learning in mathematics. Eight teacher researchers worked in partnership with two research team leaders to analyse their own practice in order to identify aspects of questioning behaviour. During this one-year project, the teacher researchers had significant input into the shape and direction of the research. It was intended that this research project would build understanding by adding the teachers’ perspectives of the strengths and weaknesses of current pedagogical practice to the existing body of research. The project was closely aligned with the following principles of the

Early algebraic thinking: links to numeracy

1. Introduction Many students struggle with introductory algebra and teachers have little to guide them in assisting students to learn this important component of high school mathematics. Little is known about the effect of students’ numeracy on the learning of early algebra, or about the strategies that students use to solve equations. There is widespread agreement that algebra is not easily understood by many students. The Cockcroft Report in the United Kingdom highlighted the fact that algebra is a source of considerable confusion and negative attitudes among pupils (Cockcroft, 1982), while the title of Brekke’s (2001) paper, “School Algebra: Primarily Manipulations of Empty Symbols on a Piece of Paper?”, sums up

Addressing the needs of transient students: A collaborative approach to enhance teaching and learning in an area school

Note for readers This report uses the terms “transience” or “transient” to describe families and students who have changed schools frequently. Gilbert (2005) noted that the term transient is the most commonly used term in New Zealand, but there is no “official” nationally agreed definition of what this term means in educational contexts. She also noted that the term has negative connotations. In this report, we have used this term for ease of communication, but are aware that the continual use of the term may contribute to the exclusion of students through a process of negative labelling and categorisation. We ask the reader to be aware of this issue. 1. Background,

Investigating responses to diversity in a secondary environment

Aims, objectives and research questions Introduction Linwood College is an urban, co-educational, decile 2 school with a roll of 880 students from Years 9–13. Its student population is diverse in many ways: culture, race, academic ability, attitude to schooling, home socioeconomic status, personality and personal interests, and ability to cope with instructional English. In terms of ethnicity, the students are predominantly European New Zealanders, Mäori, and Pasifika. The school also has international students from Asia, South and North America, Africa, and Europe. The college delivers a broad curriculum, inline with national requirements, and caters for students across the academic and social spectra. In its strategic vision and its policy statements the

Making sense of learning at secondary school: an exploration by teachers with students

1. Introduction Focus of the project Within New Zealand in recent years there has been a growing sense of dissatisfaction with current secondary school structures and processes. While teachers, students, parents, and politicians seem variously (although, it must be said, quite differently) disenchanted with many current secondary school practices, most of what is reported in the media is built on idiosyncratic experience and anecdote, not on evidence-based research. Now, more than ever, there is a critical need for New Zealand-based evidence of how teachers’ pedagogical practices are related to student engagement in learning and thus student achievement within New Zealand secondary schools. There is a growing body of international research and