ICTLT 2014 – School Leaders’ Track

ColloquiumSharing by Mrs Tay Yang Fern, P/Whitley Sec

Embarking on Knowledge Building Pedagogy Leading and Managing Change The role of the 21st Century School Leader

Focus of Sharing

The need for change:◦ The digital divide- students on the wrong side of

the divide◦ Surveys/Studies Outcomes◦ Science is an inquiry-based subject, but the

dominant pedagogy is teacher-directed instructions

◦ Students’ voice in T&L- understand their interests, their questions, their thoughts

◦ Extending learning beyond the classroom

Embarking on Knowledge Building Pedagogy

A student-centric pedagogy- Puts into practice the process of listening, exploring and working with students’ ideas.

Supports the development of 21CC in a total curriculum (namely critical and inventive thinking and communication, collaboration and information skills). It supports inquiry-based learning approaches in science and humanities.

Knowledge Building Pedagogy

Teacher and students actively engages in brainstorming ideas, identifying problem of understanding, researching and connecting evidence to improve ideas, using the language of scientists/historians etc.

Strategies to design the start of the inquiry:a) Problems students genuinely struggle withb) Problems from unknown phenomenonc) Problems students experienced in and out of science lessonsd) Problems from observationse) Problems they are interested in

Teachers gently scaffold students toward their learning goals, and in turn help students feel successful as learners.

In a KB Classroom…

KF is an electronic discussion platform for archiving students’ ideas and to support knowledge building activities in classrooms.

Provides opportunities for continual improvement of ideas, revision, theory refinement

Promotes interaction that makes productive use of diversity through facilities for linking ideas and bringing different combinations of ideas together in different notes and views

Allows for quantitative assessment of knowledge building

Building Knowledge through Knowledge Forum (KF)

Sample KF viewsKnowledge Building in Whitley Secondary School- KF is a space that holds students’ notes on an inquiry topic

Teacher used student’s “problem” to lead class from atmospheric pressure to water pressure by conducting the experiment and getting students to theorize.

Students’ Response on the Two Questions

Student elaborated by explaining how air pressure and gravity causes the water to flow/ not flow, backed with scientific terms– beginning of theorizing…

Students shared interesting videos, links

1. Have a clear vision for what we want to see happen in our school

2. Communicate vision in any form- video, article, talk3. Working with and through teachers- Help teachers see

that the changes are meaningful and intended for the good of the students. Messaging to teachers: a) Highlighting external emerging trends and internal

trends to set the urgent tone b) Having a deep discussion on what students are like

now, looking at emerging trendsc) Setting the stage for a new “breed” of learners

today- understanding the profile of the students d) Focusing on student-centric learning

Leading and Managing Change

Leading and Managing Change4. Remove obstacles and provide support:

a) Acknowledge teachers’ concern- new pedagogy & technology; workload; syllabus coverage

b) Structures- Modular Science Teaching

c) Protected time for professional development and collaboration

d) Walkthrough the journey with teachers

5. Collaborating with others: Getting ETD’s support and establishing contact with as well as support from teachers of Ping Yi Sec (seeing similar profile schools doing it).

6. Form a powerful coalition- form a core group to take off the change

7. Start small - Beginning with Sec 1

8. Celebrate small successes

1. To have a clear vision for what you want to see happen in your school

2. To get your staff to align to the vision & mission

3. To empower the staff- sow the seeds, plant a thought/idea, allow the space and leadership

4. To provide the environment and support for growth and innovation towards student-centric pedagogy

The role of the 21st Century School Leader