A hypothesis is a tentative answer to your research question that has not yet been tested.
My hypotheses about the aspects of teaching that are most likely to shift student learning are shown in the visual below. These hypotheses have been generated from evidence about the students combined with evidence about the learning environment.
Ell And Darragh, F. D. L. (2021, November 1). Teaching and learning mathematics at primary school. The Education Hub. https://theeducationhub.org.nz/teaching-and-learning-mathematics-at-primary-school/
I connected with a lot of the information in this article, particularly the last section about engagement.
An important idea that studies have shown to impact students’ mathematics engagement and progress is mathematics learner identity. Mathematics learner identity describes the relationships students form with mathematics and how they see themselves as a learner of mathematics.
The Agency and wellbeing data shows that my target group has a lower perception of themselves as learners than their peers. My next step is to deliberately help build their view of themselves as capable of learning mathematics, even if it is hard; and to value learning mathematics, showing them the relevance it has in their lives.
I am going to focus on these things when connecting mathematics concepts and skills together with my learners attitudes, prior knowledge and thinking:
Talk: this includes teacher talk and students talk. It is important to discuss thinking, explaining and justifying their ideas. If I explicitly model and teach them a framework of how to break down mathematical tasks/language, then they will be able to understand and solve maths problems.
Tasks: To promote engagement and powerful learning, the tasks teachers choose should show that mathematics is also for solving puzzles and problems, working things out and making connections. This term I have been working with an external Maths PLD facilitator around designing these ‘open, low floor - high ceiling tasks’. Everyone can make a start because the entry point is easy, and students can take the mathematics as far as they like. The purpose of using these types of problems is so all learners feel success, hence building their confidence and resilience when learning mathematics.
Howley-Rouse, A. (2021, November 7). Five research-derived themes to consider when teaching maths. The Education Hub. https://theeducationhub.org.nz/five-research-derived-themes-to-consider-when-teaching-maths/
This video specifically talks about how the BES pedagogy accelerates progress in mathematics education and supports student collaboration and wellbeing. There were many points that made me think of my inquiry, especially hearing the student’s voices.
Learner A voice = I like it this way because we can communicate with each other and work and talk together to find out everything.
Learner B voice = If we don’t get something we will be able to get help and we’ll be able to explain what we don’t know and we’ll get help from that which is quite good.’
Learner C voice = It’s good to let other people have a go and not just yourself, it’s not always you get it right, you can use other people’s ideas to get the question right and it’s alright if it’s wrong because you know what you’ve got to learn next time.
Looking at my target learners' voices, they feel okay about their maths learning and are aware that sometimes it is tricky. However, I am wanting to fill their ‘toolbelt’ with what can help them with problem solving. e.g. a process and visuals to help them solve maths problems. I would love to see my target group's voice at the end of the year emulate the above student voice from the video.
My end goal is that my learners find mathematics enjoyable and relevant. One comment in this video caught my attention when a teacher talked about using meaningful contexts for the problems, specifically what students do at home.
This reading helped me form hypotheses about aspects of teaching that might contribute to current patterns of learning.
In my previous blog posts, I have detailed a rich profile of students’ learning through the collection of data.
The academic readings that have helped me form hypotheses are outlined in the following blog posts:
Anthony, G. and Walshaw, M. (2009). Effective Pedagogy in Mathematics. Educational Practices Series, no. 19. Brussels: International Bureau of Education.
Effective teachers shape mathematical language by modelling appropriate terms and communicating their meaning in ways that students understand.
This reading confirmed I need to be breaking down the content so my learners can understand the problem. My next step is to build a framework for how learners can unpack a mathematical task/problem. For example, at Stonefields School we have a school language called the Learning Process, which teaches thinking skills to help them in their learning.
Students learn the meaning of mathematical language through explicit “telling” and through modelling... The teacher should model and use specialised mathematical language in ways that let students grasp it easily.
My next teacher act is to deliberately teach and model the use of the learning process thinking skills. By connecting the thinking skills to visuals, this will help learners know how to access them and use them when they are in the learning pit/stuck in their learning.
When reading this information, I was reflecting on how I can bring the Manaiakalani pedagogy of Learn, Create, Share the forefront of my inquiry focus.
As we learn the mathematical content we are also learning a process for learning.
Create artefacts/resources to share what we have learnt.
Share these to support others in their learning.
Share three pieces of academic or professional reading and explain how they and other sources helped you form hypotheses about aspects of teaching that might contribute to current patterns of learning.
ERO: Keeping children engaged and achieving in writing: Teaching approaches and strategies that work.
This reading features strategies and approaches that were observed in 40 primary schools across New Zealand where achievement in writing had been accelerated. These are the aspects that stood out to me:
Students were active partners in designing their learning plans; they were supported to monitor their own progress; knew what they needed to learn next, and were able to provide feedback about the teaching actions that worked for them.
A balance of informal writing opportunities and more formal writing instruction. During play-based learning, children often independently chose to write lists, menus, books.
Pre-writing activity/ Prior knowledge -- writing down their keywords, learners ask questions, read a book, write down more keywords. They were then asked to think of a sentence that included some of the interesting words and tell their neighbour their sentence.
Parents and whānau were formally invited to be part of the process and were involved in workshops to develop home activities and frequent, regular three-way conferencing in which teachers emphasised progress and success.
Teachers involved most parents in setting goals and agreeing on the next learning steps with their child. Collaboratively analysed children’s writing samples. A shared understanding of the writing progressions helped children and teachers know about individuals’ writing achievement, progress, and next steps.
My takeaways from this reading are:
Creating opportunities for learners to be part of designing what they learn. This will increase their ownership and will support them in articulating what their strengths are and what their next steps are in writing.
My learners are able to think, draw and talk about detailed ideas. This can further be developed by giving them ‘independent writing’ time. Growing their love for writing and allowing them to see themselves as writers is important.
Reflection: I feel there is a missing piece in my hypotheses about involving whānau in their child's learning, specifically writing. I want to strengthen whānau engagement through involving them in their child's learning in writing. Having three-way conversations (learner, parent/s, and teacher) to talk about the students' writing and giving whānau tools to help their child’s writing at home.
If I involve whānau when giving and receiving feedback about their child’s writing, will writing achievement lift?
If I provide whānau with strategies and resources of how they can help at home, will writing achievement lift?
1. Share your findings about the nature and extent of the student challenge. Make sure it is clear what evidence from your inquiry supports each finding.
2. Explain how some of the data you have used to build a profile of the students’ learning will be used as baseline data at the end of the year.
