Professional learning and action research: Early career teachers reflect on their practice

Abstract

Three early career primary school teachers shared their perceptions of changes in their teaching of mathematics 8–18 months after their participation in an action research project. Comparing data collected throughout the lifetime of the project with analyses of participants’ reflections written in response to three open-ended questions posed months later indicated sustained shifts in specific elements of their planning and implementation of mathematics lessons. These included: maintaining a clear mathematical focus for each lesson; using questions effectively throughout the lesson; and providing quality activities and tasks. Teachers attributed changes to both their own individualistic focus attended to during the project, and to three contextual factors at the school level.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Overview of process and set of protocols for the Self-Analysis Professional Portfolio (SAPP)

Self-Analysis Professional Portfolio (SAPP)

A Self-Analysis Professional Portfolio (SAPP) will comprise three folders compiled over time giving evidence of reflections on a specific aspect of your practice, plus a fourth folder which will have a reflective summary of the material you have compiled in the first three folders.

The first three folders will each include a completed template composed of reflective commentaries, short video clips of your own classroom, and may also contain samples of students’ work, digital photos, and other material you choose to include. Each of these folders will represent a snapshot of your thoughts and actions about your chosen area of interest. This will occur at three points throughout the year; once each at the start, middle and end.

In early November, teachers will complete the fourth and final summary folder, which contains an important Before and After chart. There are also a number of short questions. With these devices, we have tried to develop a short and easy template for you to summarise the information gathered in the earlier three folders. This will represent your perceptions of the changes in one aspect of your teaching of mathematics over the duration of your SAPP.

The following pages outline the crucial files which we have devised to guide you through this process.

The first three templates

We have copied here the second of the three templates that we envisage you using during SAPP. These templates are very similar to each other.

In the actual second template, the following colours are used to emphasise some issues:

• The red type at the top suggests that you might like to choose to use a digital audio file to record your thoughts rather than type into the template.

• The [blue] type gives some explanation of why we have included certain items and / or suggestions on how you might respond.

• The yellow highlight identifies the key bit of data gathering we think makes this exercise different to other data collection techniques. Hence, although we suggest you might like to collect some data by scanning student work, etc, the one thing we want you to do is for you to take some video snippets of what is happening in your classroom.

In the following copy, we use purple text to indicate some possible responses.

SAPP template 2 – MID-PROJECT ENTRY

The following template is written assuming that you will complete it by typing in your responses and please note that dot points are acceptable. However, you may choose to complete your responses verbally by making a digital recording and saving that audio file into this folder.

Name:

Date:

Aspect of teaching

Identify an aspect of your teaching practice which you wish to work on.

Consider the suggested emphases on teaching practice below and choose one. Tick one of them.

(This is probably what you ticked in Template1, but you might have changed your mind).

Particular emphasis on teaching practice related to:

□ Effective and appropriate use of learning technologies (ICT)

□ Effective questioning techniques

□ Working mathematically

□ Assessment practices

□ Rich learning tasks

□ Contextualize learning and make connections across areas of learning

□ Other teacher's choice

Teaching practice focus

The above aims might not capture the specificity of what you wish to work on in your teaching.

Restate the above aim in your own words so that you are clear about what you wish to address and the emphases you wish to give.

I wish to focus on …

Example 1

If you had ticked the 1^st dot point in the Table above, you might want to say the following in your own words:

I wish to focus on the uses of ICT for teaching and/or learning in my mathematics lessons.

Or

Example 2

If ticking the 6th dot point

Restated in own words: I wish to focus on helping students to see the mathematics within everyday contexts and across areas of learning.

Is this the same focus you had originally as written in Template 1? If so just copy and paste. BUT you might wish to change the wording that you used in Template 1? There is no correct response here but we’d like to know if you have a change in focus, why have you changed?

Fleshing out what you will do

You’ll do the following over about a week. The key is to select a lesson(s) in which you’ll do the digital recording (point 3), and work back and forward from that time.

• 1. Describe what you currently do in this area. Write a short summary (200–400 words). Be specific and give examples. [This might change after your reflections on the first entry, but if not just copy and paste]

• 2. Consider and respond in a couple of sentences each to the following questions: [Again this might change from your first entry, or if not just copy and paste]

  • a. How and/or what are you aiming to change in your current teaching practice?

  • b. What do you think you might do to fulfill this aim/goal or wish?

• 3. Digitally record two/three episodes (60 second snapshots of classroom practice) as evidence of how and what you are doing in your teaching in this area. [We think this is the key data collection activity which will help you think creatively about what you are presently doing in your teaching, and give you ideas about what you might do.]

• 4. There are two other things which might help you think about your digital video recording:

  • a. Scan three student work samples, with your own brief annotations, to show current activity in this area.

  • b. Scan related planning from your work program with highlighted key sections which show current activity in this area.

• 5. Reflect on your digital video recording (and the student work samples and highlights in your work program if you did these), and write three sentences or so of reflection on points 1 and 2 again in light of your data.

Recording your files and deliberations

Save all of these files in a folder, labeled SAPP2 on the memory stick provided.

Checklist for: SAPP2 folder for MID-PROJECT Entry
Yes / no	SAPP template entry noting changes in your teaching practice completed
Yes / no	Video clips work in Windows Media Player
Yes / no	Student work samples with brief annotations included (if you did these)
Yes / no	Highlighted excerpts from planning saved (if you did these)
Yes / no	SAPP2 folder created on memory stick and all files saved in it

The fourth summary template

In this template, after you have collected three sets of data on an issue of teaching which you want to reflect on, we have tried to give guidance on how to bring it all together.

Before and After Chart – NOVEMBER

Name:

Date:

Aspect of teaching

Restate aspect of teaching practice you have focused on

Throughout this project, I specifically focused on the following teaching practices: (Copy and paste from the table in Template 3 the project aim you chose.)

Teaching practice focus

Reflect back to what you wrote in your own words on your ‘focus for your teaching’.

What change(s) of focus, if any, have been important to you? Why did you make this change(s)?

Analysis and summary

Complete the Before and After chart

In the following chart, identify one or two changes in your teaching.

Summarise using the data from SAPP what you had been doing and what you are doing now.

My goal was to…

Before SAPP1 I would …

After SAPP3 I am …

Give evidence and indicate from which folder SAPP1, SAPP2 or SAPP3

Link to an experience shared by SAPP members or other factor?

Significance of outcome/achievement for you

As a result of your participation in this project describe two highlights:

1.

2.

Describe all of the factors that led to these positive outcomes.

Describe any factors that prevented you from achieving your goal.

What could be done to mitigate these blocking factors?

What advice would you offer others undertaking the SAPP project in the future?

Please check that you have saved all your files on the memory stick supplied and made a back up copy elsewhere. Then give the memory stick to the ACU research team when you join us for the SAPP celebration mid-November!