Additional reflection:
When I had to consider an inquiry topic for my students I looked at something that was not only a problem in my class, but rather a country-wide problem, the concern over the low level of engagement and achievement in boys’ writing. My challenge was to raise the level of engagement and accountability in their learning using digital tools.
I had recognised a problem that needed solving and my personal challenge as a leader was to approach it in such a way that my pupils realised that we are all working towards a shared vision.
When I asked my students how they felt about their attitude towards writing, these were some of the responses:
“we don't like writing long stories”
“ Reading is easier because you have words in front of you and you merely have to read them whereas when it came to writing you have to find the right words and put them together to get a piece of writing that is really good.”
“ We like to talk about our experiences, but don’t feel excited about writing it.”
The student voice helped me modify my pedagogy. Teaching as Inquiry is an approach to teaching in which we as teachers continuously inquire into the impact of our teaching actions on student learning, and make informed changes to improve our teaching practice so as to enhance student learning.
I had to look at the way I was actually conducting my writing lessons and see how we could make changes to actually suit the needs of my students. I identified this action as leading from a situational leadership approach where I was making decisions based on the situation that I've found my students to be in. I looked at several ways of actually increasing the vocabulary knowledge.To begin with I looked at the vocabulary results from the PAT test and was surprised at the number of words my students had never come across before. I certainly had my work cut out for me, ie. the challenge of increasing their vocabulary knowledge. I felt that rather than simplifying the vocabulary, I should amplify the language by exposing new words to them in different contexts, and in this way they would increase their vocabulary.
It was clear to me that the way I taught reading and writing in the past would have to change drastically if I wanted accelerated progress for my students.
I learned a very interesting principle in my TESSOL study called spaced repetition which involved the exposure to material over a spaced out period of time and I thought it should now be an integral part of my pedagogy.
I also drew from their strengths of using digital devices by getting them to write stories using Google presentation.They collected images, put them into Google presentation and thereafter used screencastify to make a slideshow with their own voice. Although this process was very annoying to them having to start over and over again several times, they benefitted greatly by repeating and using interesting vocabulary in context. At the end of the presentation they had a piece of work which was really impressive and it gave the boys a great feeling of accomplishment at producing interesting digital content which could be shared on their blogs.
Let's consider what worked for my priority group of boys? These boys were engaging very well in the lesson , something which was not happening before. Further, they seemed happier in the lesson and were fully engaged in the task at all times and each day they would tell me that they were enjoying writing sessions.
I also saw a lot of value in using student data to enable my students to become more informed learners. After every test, students analysed their final result and compared it with their expected level. Taking ownership for their learning was the motivation to do better. I could feel that my students were driven for success and were therefore taking responsibility for their own learning. So I can assume that transformational leadership was a major driving force for change.
Students could proudly and confidently talk to parents, management or even the ERO about their achievement level and their next learning steps. When it came to making a movie for our class to be shown on the big screen at HOYTS cinema in Sylvia Park, it was quite clear that the boys wanted to show off their success in the movie.
Was that change in my pedagogy worth it? I would emphatically say yes and would I replicate my pedagogy this year? For sure, and that didn't just benefit the boys alone, but rather the whole class.
Transactional leadership is also known as managerial leadership and this focuses on the role of supervision, organization, and group performance. Leaders who implement this style focus on specific tasks and use rewards and punishments to motivate followers. In my class there was scope for the use of this type of leadership together with transformational leadership. While students were self motivated and driven, I still needed to keep a track of day to day tasks that students needed to do, and ensured they got it done, even if it meant rewarding them with free time.
When I consider what didn't work I cannot really find much that didn't work because there was so much of positive spin off from this program, but if there was anything I would do differently, it would be to consider alternative uses of programs like screencastify because the free version has restrictions.
Leadership researchers White and Hodgson suggest that truly effective leadership is not just about the qualities of the leader, it is about striking the right balance between behaviors, needs, and context. Good leaders are able to assess the needs of their followers, take stock of the situation, and then adjust their behaviors accordingly. I do feel that I duly considered students needs and adjusted my pedagogy accordingly.
Situational theories propose that leaders choose the best course of action based upon situational variables. I feel that in this change, my leadership demonstrates the application of situational leadership.
