An Introduction to Leadership Styles: Which Style Works Best? Dee Edwards

An Introduction to Leadership Styles: Which Style Works Best?

Dee EdwardsNational Coordinator Learning LanguagesMay 2012

What leadership style do you practice when leading in your department?

Activities:Interview Dance CardLeadership QuotesFocus Question

Command communicates the vision or goal to the best people who can implement it. Management allocates the resources and helps to organise the activities that will make it a reality. Leadership helps to guide, coach, and motivate the people to do their best.Control reduces risks, which in turn makes the process more efficient.The four pillars need to be in harmony with each other. The Four Pillars of an Organisation

Leadership drives the interpersonal aspects of the organisation, such as morale and team spirit.Management deals with the conceptual issues of the organisation, such as planning and organising.Command guides the organisation with well thought-out visions that makes it effective.Control provides structure to the organisation in order to make it more efficient.

The Four Pillars of an Organisation

The four pillars need to be in harmony with each other. When one or more of them is too strong or too weak, the organisation falls out of balance.

The four pillars must consistently be weighed against each other to ensure they are in a proper balance that allows the organisation to achieve its vision.

Determining a person's leadership style is accomplished by measuring the degree that a person likes working with tasks and people.

Focus Question:

If I scored higher in that area, would I be a more effective leader?

Identify a Personal Action Item.

The three major styles of leadership are:

Authoritarian or autocratic Participative or democratic Delegative or Free Reign

Leadership Styles

Authoritarian (Autocratic)I want both of you to .

Participative (Democratic)Lets work together to solve this .

Delegative (Free Reign)You two take care of the problem while I go .

A good leader uses all three styles, depending on what forces are involved: TimeRelationshipsKnowledgeConflictsStress ComplexityAccountability

Forces

In educational settings, the concept of leadership has three particularly important features:It includes both positional and distributed leadership. It views leadership as highly fluid.It sees leadership as embedded in specific tasks and situations.

Educational leadership is about:getting to the core of the business of teaching and learning and increasing the likelihood of having a positive impact on students.causing others to do things that can be expected to improve educational outcomes for students.having an in-depth knowledge of the core business of teaching and learning.

School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why: Best Evidence Synthesis iteration [BES], by Robinson, Hohepa and Lloyd, The University of Auckland, NZ Ministry of Education (2009).

SWOT AnalysisStrengths Factors of your leadership style that are likely to have a positive effect on effective teaching practice leading to successful student outcomes in Learning LanguagesWeaknesses Factors that are likely to have a negative effect on (or be a barrier to) achieving these objectivesOpportunities External Factors that are likely to have a positive effect on achieving or exceeding these objectivesThreats External Factors and conditions that are likely to have a negative effect on achieving these objectives, or making the objectives unachievable.

SWOT AnalysisStrengths the positive attributes that are within your control. What do you do well as a leader in terms of meeting the priority outcomes? What resources do you have? What advantages do you have as a department/school? Weaknesses the factors that are within your control that detract from your ability to achieve the identified outcomes. Which areas might you improve?Opportunities assess the external factors that positively support the success of your leadership in your department in terms of the identified outcomes. What opportunities exist from which you hope to benefit?Threats the factors beyond your control that are also external and which you have no control over. What factors are potential threats to the leadership of your department in terms of achieving the outcomes? A threat is a challenge created by an unfavourable trend or development. What situations might threaten your efforts? Activity: Think, Pair, Share

What principals want from leaders in Learning Languages:

A whole school perspective Demonstrated leadership potential Skills in appraisal and performance Skills in observation and feedback Skills in difficult conversations Potential to be a leader of school-wide learning

Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. Northouse (2007, p3)

Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and experience. Jago, 1982

What would you change about your leadership style when leading your department? What aspects of this session do you plan to include in your departmental PLD?

Ehara taku toa I te toa takitahi engari he toa takini.Reflection

The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) and Learning Languages Dee Edwards May 2012National Co-ordinator Learning Languages

Learning Outcomes

To review the front end statements of the New Zealand Curriculum (2007) and their learning area statements of the eighth essential learning area Learning Languages.

To develop some understandings around Inquiry.

Overview

Hipkins, R. (2008). Inquiry Learning and Key Competencies: Perfect Match or Problematic Partners? NZCER:Wellington. Presentation.

The Key CompetenciesActivity: Working in small groups review the statements relevant to one of the Key Competencies on the handout discuss how you can provide conditions that support and challenge the students you work with to develop the key competencies. Be prepared to share with the wider group.

The Key Competencies do not replace knowledge but they can powerfully transform what students can do with it!Hipkins, 2008.

How is the NZC (2007) different?Greater emphasis on broad outcomes

A strong connection between the NZC and the NCEA standards

Acknowledges the importance of effective pedagogy

Developing the lifelong learner

A more participatory view Strengthens connections

Natural Connections exist between learning areas.

Much more than the language!In Learning Languages, students learn to communicate in an additional language, develop their capacity to learn further languages, and to explore different world views in relation to their own.

Key Concepts are the big ideas and understandings that we hope will remain with our students long after they have left school. The key concepts in Learning Languages are:CommunicationIdentity Literacy

http://seniorsecondary.tki.org.nz/Learning-languages/Key-concepts

Communication'An intercultural speaker is someone who can operate their linguistic competence and their sociolinguistic awareness of the relationship between language and the context in which it is used, in order to manage interaction across cultural boundaries, to anticipate misunderstandings caused by differences in values, meanings and beliefs, and thirdly, to cope with the affective as well as cognitive demands and engagement with otherness.'

Byram, M. (1995). Intercultural Competence and Mobility in Multinational Contexts: A European View. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

Identity

'In a dynamic view of culture, cultural competence is seen, therefore as intercultural behaviour. It is the ability to negotiate meaning across cultural boundaries and to establish ones own identity as a user of another language.'

(Kramsch, C. (1993) Language study as border study: Experiencing difference. European Journal of Education, 28(3), pp. 349358.)

Literacy

'Learning languages in a school setting involves developing learners capabilities for both using language and learning language. Learners need to learn how to learn and how to learn a language. Even more important is that they develop higher order thinking skills and that they perceive the important relationship between thought, language and knowledge.'

(Scarino, A. (2000). The Neglected Goals of Language Learning. Babel, 34(3), (Summer 1999-2000), pp. 411.)

The NZC (2007) and Student InquiryLearning to learn

School-based curriculum design

Interconnected nature of learning

A more participatory view of learning Inquiry skills/disposition

Huge range of potential inquiry contexts

Fertile questions often span learning areas

Students active at all stages of inquiry process

Hipkins, R. (2008). Inquiry Learning and Key Competencies: Perfect Match or Problematic Partners? NZCER:Wellington. Presentation.

What is teacher inquiry?

At its most basic, inquiry is a process in which those involved investigate what is working well for student learning and achievement and should be continued, and what is not working well and should be changed.

(Timperley & Parr, 2009)

Timperley, H., Wilson, A., Barrar, H. & Fung, I. (2008) Teacher Professional Learnng and Development: A Best Evidence Iteration. http://educationcounts.edcentre.govt.na/goto/BES

Teacher Inquiry and Knowledge-building Cycleto Promote Valued Student Outcomes

Analysing & InterpretingNCEA DataEric WaardenburgAssessment FacilitatorTeam Solutions

He Whakatauki

He toa takitini taku toa, ehara i te toa takitahi

My achievement was with the support of many, not by working alone

Why do we analyse NCEA data?School-wide assessment?

Requirements for Boards of Trustees?

Teaching as Inquiry?

Why inquire using data?Making a difference to student learning and achievement is a key outcome.

Inquiry using data raises student achievement beyond national expectations. (Timperley & Parr, 2009; Lai et al., 2009)

School-Wide AssessmentSchools need to know what impact their programmes are having on student learning. An important way of getting this information is by collecting and analysing school-wide assessment data. Schools can then use this information as the basis for changes to policies or programmes or changes to teaching practices as well as for reporting to the board of trustees, parents, and the MOE. Assessment information may also be used to compare the relative achievement of different groups of students or to compare the achievement of the schools students against national standards.[NZC, p.40]

Requirements for Boards of TrusteesEach board of trustees, through the principal and staff, is required:>to gather information that is sufficiently comprehensive to enable evaluation of student progress and achievement>to identify students and groups of students who are not achieving....>in consultation with the schools Maori community to develop and make known its plans and targets for improving the achievement of Maori students.[NZC, p.44]

Teaching as InquiryAssessment is integral to the teaching inquiry process because it is the basis for both the focusing inquiry and the learning inquiry.(NZC, 2007, p.40)

Making a difference to student learning and achievement is a key outcome.

Inquiry using data raises student achievement beyond national expectations. (Timperley & Parr, 2009; Lai et al., 2009)

From Data to Evidence

Being a leader in a data-driven world requires a positive orientation to using data and a range of skills and knowledge associated with the conventions of interpreting and using data. We suggest that leading schools in a data rich world requires that teachers:Develop an inquiry habit of mindBecome data literateCreate a culture of inquiry

Leading Schools in a Data Rich WorldLorna Earl and Steven Katz [p.4]

What approach do we take to the analysis of NCEA data?For Level 1, how did this cohort perform compared to cohorts of previous years?

For level 1, how did the cohort perform in their 3rd year of schooling? (What information did we have from this cohort from their Year 9 & 10 achievement data to set our targets?eg. e-asTTle results)http://softwareforlearning.wikispaces.com/Focusing+Inquiry

NZQA website for NCEALiterature on:

Secondary Statistics User ManualGetting the Best from the Statistics A Guide

http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/

The Big PictureWhen doing a self-review of student achievement results, it is advisable to build a picture of the data, starting with the big picture, and then drilling down to the finer details.

The National statistics:What are the level 1,2,3 results for NZ students?What are the level 1,2,3 results for NZ students by your school decile?Your school statistics:What are the level 1,2,3 results for all students in your school?What are the level 1,2,3 results for all students in a like school?(a school with same characteristics, decile, gender(s), locality)

Your subject statistics - Nationally:How did all NZ students perform in this subject?(by unit standard, internal and external achievement standard)How did all NZ students, by your school decile, perform in this subject?Your subject statistics your school:How did all your students taking the subject perform?(by unit standard, internal and external achievement standard)How did the students in the like school perform?

Your subject by unit standards, internal achievement standards, external achievement standardsFor each category of the above:How did all NZ students perform for L1, L2, & L3 (listed separately)How did all NZ students, by your school decile, perform at L1, L2, & L3How did your students perform for L1, L2, & L3 (listed separately)How did the students in the like school perform?

For each level (L1, L2, & L3):How did your students perform for each standard?

Who are the students (for each category of N, A, M, E, DNS, SNA)Is one gender group performing better?Is any one ethnic group performing better?Other questions

Over-emphasis on the Where are students at? at the expense of the What do we change? and What next?Insufficient PCK to diagnose students needs and identify what to changeLeader overly-dominates data discussion i.e., unclear what teachers really know/think because leader does most of the talking

Some Common Problems

asTTle and Learning LanguagesDee Edwards May 2012National Co-ordinator Learning Languages

What is e-asTTle?e-asTTle is an online assessment tool, developed to assess students achievement and progress in reading, mathematics, writing, and in pnui, pngarau and tuhituhi.

Developed primarily for the assessment of students in years 510, but because it tests curriculum levels 2-6 it can be used for students in lower and higher year levels. e-asTTle provides teachers and school leaders with information that can be used to inform learning programmes and to apply teaching practice that maximises individual student learning.

The asTTle Assessment Tool

Provides reliable and valid assessment information for teachers and students to enhance teaching and learning. This supports the shift in understanding of best educational practice from an emphasis on assessment of learning to assessment for learning.

See TKI links for more information on Assessment for Learning.

Tabular Output Report

Curriculum Levels Report

Task-based Languages Teaching


What does Task-based Language Teaching look like in the classroom?What does a student-centred approach look like in a Learning Languages classroom?Focus Questions

Activity:

Write one or two sentences to describe: What is a task?What does a task involve?

Write down (briefly) a task you use in your class.

Share.What is a task?

A task is an activity where:

The target language is used by the learnerFor a communicative purposeIn order to achieve an outcome(Ref: Willis, 1996:23)What do tasks involve?

A primary focus on meaningSome kind of gapReal world processes of language useA clearly defined communicative outcome(Ref: Ellis, 2006)What is a task?

Tasks work best when they inspire the learner to invest mental energy, and to persist even if the task is complex or difficult.(Ref: Van Gorp & Bogaert, p 82, 91)

Evaluate how task-like something is:

Does the activity engage the learners interest?Is there a primary focus on meaning?Is success judged in terms of outcomes?Is completion a priority?Does the activity relate to the real world?(Ref: Willis and Willis, 2007)Figuring a task out.

According to Ellis a task is a task when it:

requires learners to focus predominantly on meaningHas some kind of gap that the learners can close by communicatingRequires learners to construct their own productive language rather than to manipulate language that the teacher providesHas a clearly defined outcome (other than producing correct language)

(Ref: Ministry of Education. (2006). Instructed Second Language Acquisition: Case Studies. Wellington: Learning Media (p. 4).Figuring out a task.

Review the suggested tasks from the first discussion activity Are they tasks? What might need to be changed?

Discuss how is a task different to an activity. Are activities still valid in Languages programmes? When should they be used?

Figuring a task out.Pre task

MotivationPreparationIdeasLanguageModelsInstructions

Main task

pressure

planning

inputPost-task

Reporting / presenting/ exchangingReflectingAttention to formErlam, R. (2010) Task-based Language Teaching in the Spanish Classroom. Presentation

What is different?

PPPTBLTPresentation Grammar FocusPractice Grammar ExercisesProduction Open practise, Focus on meaningPre-task Language focusTask Focus is on meaningPost-task Grammar focus

The most effective way to teach a language is by engaging learners in real language use in the classroom

This is done by designing tasks discussions, problems, games, and so on which require learners to use language for themselves

(Ref: Willis and Willis, 2007)Why Task-based Languages Teaching?

Student Centred-Learning in the Learning Languages Classroom


Employs activities that prepare students for natural, appropriate additional-language use outside the classroom. Much more than grammar drills, word memorisation or repetition.Enable students to function independently in their language use.Effective and culturally appropriate in natural discourse. Error tolerance.A Communicative approach to Language Learning and Teaching

To present real-language models to the students as comprehensible input.To use a limited amount of controlled exercises.To allow students to interact with each other. To emphasise the processes of understanding.To focus more on the students learning.To develop student autonomy.To use more open-ended activities.Teachers Role

To encourage students to be risk-takers in their language use. To provide materials for student-use that represent real, natural language. To develop tasks that reflect authentic situations. To provide feedback that is meaningful to students. To use a variety of hands-on activities that promote language acquisition.Teachers Role

To participate actively in the learning process.To be involved throughout the class time in activities that help them to make meaning of the language being used. To learn by doing in authentic contexts. Take more responsibility for their own learning.Students Role

The teacher:is more of a facilitator than instructor.guides students to manage their activities, and direct their learning.is a member of the class as a participant in the learning process.

The students:are active participants in the learning process.take more responsibility for their own learning.

Summary

At different times, students may work:Alone.Together in pairs or groups.Or interact with the teacher and the whole class.

Students may be teacher-led:Before students work together, their teacher will help them prepare to work .While students are working together.After students have finished working together.

In a Student-Centred Class

When students are working together in the Target Language, they:Talk moreShare their ideasLearn from each otherAre more involvedFeel more secure and less anxiousUse English in a meaningful, realistic wayEnjoy using English to communicate

Ref: Jones, L. (2007). The Student-Centred Classroom. Canterbury University Press:NewYork.

In a Student-Centred Class

What changes would you make to the approaches you use in your learning languages classroom?What aspects of this session do you plan to include in your departmental PLD?Reflection

***The Synergies of the Four Pillars -While all four processes have their place, they are not implemented separately, but rather in concert. *These are not distinct processes, but rather concepts that all leaders perform in order to build and strengthen their organisations.The four pillars overlap, thus they are not separate processes. This blending gives the organisation the ability to focus on opportunities and deal with threats.

**The above sample shows score of 4 in the people section and a score of 6 in the task section. The quad where the two lines intersect is the leadership style, in this case -- Authoritarian section. The ResultsThis chart will give you an idea of your leadership style:Impoverished (1,1 to 4,4): weak on both tasks and people skillsAuthoritarian (people - 1 to 4 and task - 5 to 9): strong on tasks, weak on people skills Socialite (people - 5 to 9 and task 1-4): strong on people skills, weak on tasksTeam Leadership (6,6 to 9,9): strong on both tasks and people skillsMiddle-of-the-Road (5,5): in the middle of the chart, with more experience and skills could display good team leadershipHowever, like any other instrument that attempts to profile a person, you have to take in other factors, such as, how your manager and employees rate you as a leader, do you get your job done, do you take care of your employees, are you helping to grow your organization, etc. You should review the statements in the survey and reflect on the low scores by asking yourself, If I scored higher in that area, would I be a more effective leader? And if the answer is yes, then it should become a personal action item. country club leaders want to be friends with everyoneimpoverish leaders who are afraid they might make wavesthe real leaders who are more concerned with mentoring others so that they become a valued member of the team. If the leader lets one of her peers continue with the incorrect behavior, does this help or hinder the other members of the team? It is best not to picture a leader as a friend, but as a person who is concerned with the growth and welfare of others.

*Leadership style is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people. Kurt Lewin (1939) led a group of researchers to identify different styles of leadership. This early study has been very influential and established three major leadership styles. The three major styles of leadership are (U.S. Army Handbook, 1973): Authoritarian or autocratic Participative or democratic Delegative or Free Reign Although good leaders use all three styles, with one of them normally dominant, bad leaders tend to stick with one style. *This style is used when leaders tell their department what they want done and how they want it accomplished, without getting the advice of their teachers. Some of the appropriate conditions to use it is when you have all the information to solve the problem, you are short on time, and your teachers are highly motivated. Some people tend to think of this style as a vehicle for yelling, using demeaning language, and leading by threats and abusing their power. This is not the authoritarian style, rather it is an abusive, unprofessional style called bossing people around. It has no place in a leader's repertoire. The authoritarian style should normally only be used on rare occasions. If you have the time and want to gain more commitment and motivation from your teachers, then you should use the participative style.

*This style involves the leader including one or more teachers in the decision making process (determining what to do and how to do it). However, the leader maintains the final decision making authority. Using this style is not a sign of weakness, rather it is a sign of strength that your teachers will respect. This is normally used when you have part of the information, and your teachers have other parts. Note that a leader is not expected to know everything this is why you employ knowledgeable and skillful teachers. Using this style is of mutual benefit it allows them to become part of the team and allows you to make better decisions.

*In this style, the leader allows the employees to make the decisions. However, the leader is still responsible for the decisions that are made. This is used when employees are able to analyze the situation and determine what needs to be done and how to do it. You cannot do everything! You must set priorities and delegate certain tasks. This is not a style to use so that you can blame others when things go wrong, rather this is a style to be used when you fully trust and confidence in the people below you. Do not be afraid to use it, however, use it wisely!

*A good leader uses all three styles, depending on what forces are involved between the followers, the leader, and the situation. Some examples include: Using an authoritarian style on a new employee who is just learning the job. The leader is competent and a good coach. The employee is motivated to learn a new skill. The situation is a new environment for the employee. Using a participative style with a team of workers who know their job. The leader knows the problem, but does not have all the information. The employees know their jobs and want to become part of the team. Using a delegative style with a worker who knows more about the job than you. You cannot do everything and the employee needs to take ownership of her job! In addition, this allows you to be at other places, doing other things. Using all three: Telling your employees that a procedure is not working correctly and a new one must be established (authoritarian). Asking for their ideas and input on creating a new procedure (participative). Delegating tasks in order to implement the new procedure (delegative). Forces that influence the style to be used included: How much time is available. Are relationships based on respect and trust or on disrespect? Who has the information you, your employees, or both? How well your employees are trained and how well you know the task. Internal conflicts. Stress levels. Type of task. Is it structured, unstructured, complicated, or simple?

*What makes a person want to follow a leader? People want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. *Educational leadership is important. The big message from this BES is that the closer educational leaders get to the core business of teaching and learning, the more likely they are to have a positive impact on students. The dimensions provide a guide to the kinds of leadership that are linked to positive student outcomes. By explaining how and why each dimension contributes to such outcomes, we aim to put educational leaders in the position where they are able to use them effectively in their own settings. The BES describes some of the leadership knowledge, skills, and dispositions that underpin the identified leadership dimensions.Effective educational leadership requires in-depth knowledge of the core business of teaching and learning. It also requires detailed knowledge of the importance of effective schoolhome connections and how to foster them when the educational cultures of school and home are different.While educational expertise is a necessary condition for effective leadership, it is not sufficient; leaders must also build trust relationships if they are to engender and sustain improvements in teaching and learning. Leaders who show regard for others and treat them with respect, and are seen by them as competent and having integrity, are trusted. Such leaders can foster the levels of inquiry, risk-taking, and collaborative effort that school improvement requires.Leadership rather than leaders is what is needed. This is because it is unrealistic to expect any one leader to possess all the KSDs to a high level. What is reasonable to expect is that all New Zealand schools can access these capabilities either from inside or outside their school. This has implications for leadership development and assessment and for the development of tools to support leaders in this challenging work.Research on educational leadership has been more concerned with relationships between the adults in a school community than with the impact of leadership on student outcomes. This impact could be increased by more closely integrating leadership theories and practice with the evidence concerning effective teaching and learning.

*SWOTAs a middle leader What evidence would you expect to see? How will this make a difference to students?learning and achievement?**The TaskWorking individually, complete the SWOT Analysis showing your perspective of your leadership in your department in terms of meeting the MoE priority outcomes.

Share your analysis with a partner before forming a group of 4 to collate the analysis data and share with the workshop participants.

The implicationsThe internal strengths and weaknesses, compared to the external opportunities and threats, can offer additional insight into the condition and potential of the business. How can you use the strengths to better take advantage of the opportunities ahead and minimize the harm that threats may introduce if they become a reality? How can weaknesses be minimized or eliminated? The true value of the SWOT analysis is in bringing this information together, to assess the most promising opportunities, and the most crucial issues.

Here are some questions to be explored:StrengthsWhat am I good at? What do others think I am good at? What do I enjoy doing? What areas am I competent in that are not just subject specific? (Think in wider terms of emotional and social intelligence too.) What subjects do I get good marks in? Are there particular learning styles that I lean towards?WeaknessesAre there any specific subjects, skills or areas that I am weaker in (including multiple intelligences and emotional literacy)? Do I have any specific learning difficulties, eg dyslexia? (Write a break-down with specific key words of three areas that are most challenging for the student - don't try to fit in too many.)OpportunitiesHow can I use my strengths to overcome my weakness? What strategies could I devise or use to appeal to my strengths and compensate for my weaknesses. What motivates me? How could I (or my teacher) make small adjustments to help me learn more effectively?

ThreatsWhat makes me feel uncomfortable in class? What hinders me or stops me from learning? What de-motivates me?

Consider how important a weakness is and how practical it would be to do something about it.***My strength is not mine alone but that of the multiudes.

***The NZCs vision, principles, values and key competencies need to be part of teaching and learning programmes.The Vision represents what we want for our young people in this case we want them to be confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners of languages.The Principles embody beliefs about what is important and desirable in school curriculum they should underpin all school decision-making. put students at the centre of teaching and learningrequire students to experience a curriculum thatengages and challenges themis forward-looking and inclusiveaffirms New Zealands unique identityAlthough The Principles and The Values are similar they have different functions: The Principles relate to how curriculum is formalised in a school and are particularly relevant to the processes of planning, prioritising, and review. The Values are part of the everyday curriculum encouraged, modelled, and explored. The Values are deeply held beliefs about what is important or desirable and are expressed through the ways in which people think and act it is by holding these values and acting on them that we are able to live together and thrive.

**The Key Competencies will prepare students for ongoing learning and working and contributing to their communities.

*In SummaryTheres greater emphasis on broad outcomes to give schools flexibility in designing their curriculum.Theres a strong connection between the NZC and the NCEA standards you cant look at one without looking at the other.The NZC acknowledges the importance of pedagogy and that how students learn is just as important as what they learn - developing an identity as a lifelong learner and a greater emphasis on developing student autonomyA more participatory view of learning knowledge is not enough, students need to be able to do things with their learning going further that the curriculumIt strengthens connections between learning and partnerships in schools and learning at home and in the wider community.Learning Languages should make use of the natural connections that exist between learning areas.

**Learning another language, students:extend their linguistic and cultural knowledgediscover new ways of thinking and doingdevelop the ability to interact appropriately with speakers of other languagesanticipate and respond to misunderstandings caused by differences in values, meanings, and beliefsnegotiate meaning across cultural boundaries.

*Learning another language, students:explore, reflect on, and appreciate different world views and values in relation to their ownaccess new concepts and ideasestablish their own identity as a user of another language.*Learning another language, students:develop their capacity to learn and use languagestrengthen understanding of their own linguistic and cultural backgrounds through connections and comparisonsapply the visual, linguistic, and cognitive strategies learned in a first language to a new languagedecode and make meaning of different text typesapply and adapt language conventions to create meaning in a range of text types and media.***Teaching Inquiry What strategies are most likely to help my students learn?Learning Inquiry What happened as a result of the teaching and what are the implications for future teaching?Focusing inquiry - What is important and worth spending time on given where my students are at?

Teachers inquiring into own knowledge and skills How have we contributed to existing student outcomes?What do we already know that we can use to promote improved outcomes for students?What do we need to learn and do to promote these outcomes?What sources of evidence / knowledge can we utilise?

*Adapted from Timperley et al.s (2007) Teacher inquiry and knowledge-building cycle to promote valued student outcomes diagram, to represent an effective model of curriculum implementation. This cyclic model represents the findings of Naysmiths study, that the development of curriculum is an ongoing process, not something that will ever be completed.

Assessment is not a single event it pervades all aspects of the cycleIdentifying what students need to learnIdentifying what teachers need to learnChecking impact of changes to practice

Teachers can use data to improve teaching practice in ways that work for studentsRequires Curriculum-relevant assessments All layers of the system to know their learnersDevelopment of the beliefs, knowledge and skills needed for each to enact their responsibility throughout the system

**asTTle was first developed by Auckland UniServices in 2000 as a CD-ROM package that enabled teachers to create and analyse literacy and numeracy tests for curriculum levels 26. Since then, improved versions have been developed and launched. e-asTTle is part of this ongoing improvement and development.

**From Years 1 to 10, a student takes two years to progress through one curriculum level.A students progress needs to be measured throughout the two year period within a curriculum level.In e-asTTle the measure within a curriculum level is termed a sub-level. They are:Basic (B)Proficient (P)Advanced (A)In order to keep a student on track, or to accelerate a student, a minimum target should be set of two sub-levels per year.*Group Learning Pathways Report*****Real world processes are those where the students elect their own linguistic resources to perform the task.****A task must fulfil all the criteria mentioned previouslyAn activity can be any exercise, game, etc, and does not need to fulfil the criteria of the taskActivities often occur in the pre-task or post-task stages of the lesson*Pre-Taskmotivate studentsmake sure they understand the topicactivate relevant schemataallow students to recall or ask for useful words, phrasesget ideas flowinggive students instructions for the tasksMain TaskParameters that can be adjusted+/- pressure+/- planning+/- inputPost Taskplanning and giving a report of the task reflecting, then repeating the task with other partnerscomparing with recordings of same task done by others form focused study, noting useful words, phrases, grammatical patternslearners recording themselves summarising or repeating the task; transcribing one minutes worth of their interaction reflecting and evaluating on the process, writing feed-back.How to make time for tasks in class?Devote class time to activities that give experience of real language in use, experience that learners might not get outside class, especially spontaneous and planned spoken interaction. Outside classSome text book activities are best done at the learners own pace set these for homework, to be checked quickly at start of next lesson. For example, learners can:prepare topic and task related vocabulary at home prior to the task,do form-focused exercises (grammar, vocabulary) for homework,do the listening / reading and follow up activities in their own time.Encourage independent vocabulary learning and out of class projects and surveys.

*Recently been a move towards using TBLT in the NZ Language classroom. This is quite a different philosophy to the PPP (Presentation, Practice and Production) approach to communicative language teaching that most teachers use.

****Communicative Language Teaching employs activities that prepare students for natural, appropriate additional-language use outside the classroom. Language learning and teaching using communicative pedagogy must be viewed as much more than grammar drills and word memorisation or repetition. The goal is to enable students to function easily by themselves without their teachers. Students need to learn what language is effective and culturally appropriate in natural discourse. Errors in second language learning are a natural part of learning and students can work together to detect and correct their errors with teacher supervision.

*The teachers role is not to control and dominate the classroom but to present real-language models to the students as comprehensible input, use a limited amount of controlled exercises so that students gain confidence, and then allow students to interact with each other by using language for natural communicative functions. The processes of understanding are emphasised more in student-centred approaches and there is more focus on the students learning than the teachers teaching. Student autonomy is developed by encouraging them to ask questions and by making them engage in their own learning processes. Although students should be given choices about their learning, these may be contained within parameters.Teachers should use more open-ended activities (Ellis - gap) where there is more than one possible solution to any situation. *Students should be allowed to take risks with their language to promote the development of oral and written fluency. Materials used by the students should represent real, natural language, not artificially constructed textbook language that presents patterns unfamiliar to a native speaker. The learner tasks should reflect authentic situations. Feedback should be meaningful to the students and should first focus on how well the students did on the communicative aspects of the task and then on the forms used by the student. The teacher should no longer deliver large chunks of language for students to learn, but rather use a variety of hands-on activities to promote language acquisition.

*In student-centred classrooms, students should be encouraged to participate actively in the learning process and not sitting passively and quietly taking notes. Involving students throughout the class time in activities helps them to make meaning of the language being used. Students learn by doing in authentic contexts. Active learning processes are more memorable and relevant for students and bring language alive. Student-centred learning puts more responsibility on the students for their own learning.

*Summary - Student-centred learning puts more responsibility on the students for their own learning.The teachers role is more that of a facilitator than instructorThe students are active participants in the learning processThe teacher helps to guide the students, manage their activities, and direct their learning. Being a teacher means helping people to learn and, in a student-centered class, the teacher is a member of the class as a participant in the learning process.

*In a student-centered class, at different times, students may be working alone, in pairs, or in groups:Working alone, preparing ideas or making notes before a discussion, doing a listening task, or doing a short written taskWorking together in pairs or groups, comparing and discussing their answers, or reading and reacting to one anothers written work and suggesting improvementsWorking together in discussions or in role-plays, sharing ideas, opinions, and experiencesInteracting with the teacher and the whole class, asking questions or brainstorming ideasAlso in a student-centered class, students may be teacher-led:Before students work together, their teacher will help them prepare to work together with explanations and pronunciation practice.While students are working together, their teacher will be available to give advice and encouragement.After theyve finished working together, and the class is reassembled, their teacher will give them feedback, offer suggestions and advice, make corrections, and answer questions.

*When students are working together in the Target Language, theyTalk moreShare their ideasLearn from each otherAre more involvedFeel more secure and less anxiousUse English in a meaningful, realistic wayEnjoy using English to communicateBut some of them mayFeel nervous, embarrassed, or tongue-tiedSpeak English and make a lot of mistakesSpeak in their native language, not in EnglishNot enjoy working together*

Documents

An Introduction to Leadership Styles: Which Style Works Best? Dee Edwards