NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre

Phase 1 Module 4 Leading FoR 3-6 in your schoolNSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre

Culture FoR 3-6 comprehension

Phase 1 Module 4 Leading FoR 3-6 in your schoolNSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre2

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the traditional Custodians of this Land, where the Aboriginal People have performed age-old ceremonies of storytelling, music, dance and celebration.

We acknowledge and pay respect to the Elders past and present, and we acknowledge those of the future, for they will hold the memories, traditions and hopes of Aboriginal Australians.

We must always remember that under the concrete and asphalt this Land is, was, and always will be traditional Aboriginal Land.

Phase 1 Module 4 Leading FoR 3-6 in your schoolNSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre3

Professional Teaching Standards

Standards addressed at Professional Competence in this workshop include:

1.2.2: Apply research-based, practical and theoretical knowledge of the pedagogies of the content/discipline(s) taught to meet learning needs of students.

6:2:1: Reflect critically on teaching and learning practice to enhance student learning outcomes.

6.2.3: Engage in professional development to extend and refine teaching and learning practices.


Leading Focus on Reading 3-6 in your school program

Module 1

1 x 2hr

Between-module tasks

Module 4

1 x 2hr

Module 3

1 x 2hr

Module 2

1 x 2hr

Leadership FoR and of 3-6 literacy

learning

CultureFoR 3-6

comprehension

Leading FoR 3-6

differentiation

Leading FoR3-6 success


During this session, you will:

• consider the important connections between the school and its culture

• understand the interrelatedness of re-structuring and re-culturing

• describe changes to your school and its culture with supporting evidence

• consider ways to sustain changes to the teaching of comprehension in the school.

Session overview


Making connections


In this school we make plans now, not excuses.

(Dinham, 2008)

Plans not excuses


the school = structures (time, space, roles and responsibilities)

its culture = what counts around here


Culture is the result of messages that are received

about what is really valued. People align their

behaviour to these messages in order to fit in.

Changing culture requires a systematic and

planned change to these messages, whose

sources are behaviour, symbols and systems. (Taylor, cited in Blood & Thorsborne, 2005)

Culture


Organisational culture

Schein (in Timperley, Wiseman & Fung) describes three levels of organisational culture that he likens to an iceberg:

Level 1: Tangible elements(the tip of the iceberg)

Level 2: Values and beliefs(above waterline and partly visible below the waterline)

Level 3: Underlying assumptions(under the water and out of sight)


Culture and structure are interdependent … for

structures to effect change, it is also necessary to

attend to the underlying culture. Culture affects the

structures put in place in a new initiative …

Structures can also, however, influence cultures.(Stoll, 2000)

Culture and structure


Structure and culture

If the timetable does not allow teachers to meet, they

may become worn down and captives of their

schedule – ‘prisoners of time’ (National Education

Commission on Time and Learning, 1994).

Under these circumstances, collaboration becomes

exhausting and contrived – tagged on rather than

integral to ordinary commitments and working

relationships. (Timperley, Wiseman & Fung, 2003)


Structure and culture

Peterson, McCarthey and Elmore (in Timperley, Wiseman & Fung, 2003) found that:

restructuring by itself does not change student learning or teacher practice.


Fullan states that:

We need to support and encourage re-culturing and re-structuring.

Re-culturing = developing new values, beliefs and norms and aligning our actions with these.

Re-structuring = developing roles and structures which enable new cultures to survive.

(Fullan, 1993)

Re-culturing and re-structuring


Re-structuring and re-culturing

According to Stoll & Fink (1996):

Successful schools were able to link their re-structuring

and re-culturing efforts so as to bring about changes

effectively. For example, they adapted timetables,

created new policies, amended roles and

responsibilities, developed clear lines of authority and

responsibility, provided time for people to meet; hired

new staff to ‘fit’ and help steer the changing direction of

the school; and facilitated coordination of the process. (Stoll & Fink, 1996, cited in Timperley, Wiseman & Fung, 2003)


A balanced response

When thinking about change it is worth

considering a balanced response that

incorporates simultaneous change to structure

and culture.


School/culture changes

learning

teachingteaching &

learning

The school and its culture

personalisation

precisionprofessional

learning


How do you know?

Building up statements about change.

Refer back to the changes to your school and its culture.

For each change, turn it into a statement and provide the evidence you have for this statement.

We are now working collaboratively as a team. This is evidenced by our collaborative planning based on student assessment information. An allocation of time to work on the between-module tasks has enabled this to occur.

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Types of evidence

19

Types of evidence

dialogue in stage

planning meetings

timetabling

tracking and monitoring

records

supervision practices

student achievement

school policies

classroom interactions

structure

culture


Re-culturing and re-structuring

20

We are now working collaboratively as a team. This is evidenced by our collaborative planning based on student assessment information.

An allocation of time to work on the between-module tasks has enabled this to occur.

re-culturing

re-structuring


Successful change

… it is important that a sense of urgency remain concerning each student’s literacy success.

Becoming stagnant or sluggish is not an option for educators …

The use of results can keep the focus on preventing reading failure.

(Whitfield & Moore, 2007)


Successful changeCharacteristics of teacher professional learning processes that are likely to improve student outcomes:

• challenging problematic discourses especially around low expectations for students

• providing opportunities to participate in a professional community that was focused on the teaching-achievement relationship

• emphasising how teachers contribute to student learning and well-being

• using assessment to enhance teacher self-regulation

• focusing on the impact of teaching on the student.(Timperley et al, 2008)


Successful change

At the school level, teachers and principals need to ...

collaborate in the delivery of reading instruction with a

model that puts the students first and use data to inform

instruction and improve teaching practices, ... Within

classrooms, teachers must reflect on their instruction

and implement research-based practices that focus on

providing support to promote active student involvement

in high-level cognitive tasks and develop and maintain

high expectations for student learning. (Taylor et al, 2004)


Successful change

The draft principles of Response to Intervention (RTI) outlined by the International Reading Association (2009) include:

• responsive teaching and differentiated instruction

• careful assessment to inform planning and teaching.


Approaches to change

Super tanker Space explorer

Fire fighting Bandwagon

Long-term

Short-term

OpportunitiesThreat aware


AwarenessInformationPersonal

ManagementConsequence

CollaborationRefocusing


Developing a plan to sustain changes to the teaching of comprehension

In this school:

• This is what we value about the teaching of comprehension.

• This is how we teach comprehension.


Reflect on some research-based ways to sustain changes to students and their learning.

Brainstorm factors to consider when planning for sustained changes to the teaching of comprehension in the school.

Reflection


BibliographyBlood, P. & Thorsborne, M. (2005) The challenge of culture change: Embedding restorative practice in schools, Paper presented in Sydney.

Dinham, S.(2008) How to get your school moving and improving, ACER, Melbourne.

Fullan, M. (1993) Change forces: Probing the depths of educational reform, The Falmer Press, London.

PrincePlus <https://detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/PRINCEPlus/>

Stoll, L. School culture (2000) Reprinted from School improvement network’s bulletin, no. 9, Autumn, 1998.

Timperley, H. S., Wiseman, J., Fung, I. (2003) The sustainability of professional development in literacy, Ministry of Education, New Zealand.

Documents

NSW Curriculum and Learning Innovation Centre