Evidence-Based Learning and Teaching

A Look into Australian Classrooms

Melissa Barnes, Maria Gindidis, Sivanes Phillipson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN:
  9780815355717
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351129343
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Education has become a political, economic and social priority for Australia, with the success of schools (and teachers) being an integral part of the economic and social future of the country. As a result, quality assurance for learning and teaching has become increasingly debated among policy-makers and the broader public, with a call for more evidence, data and standards to ensure that schools and teachers are held accountable for students' learning outcomes.

In response, this book provides a snapshot of the types of evidence and data relating to learning outcomes that are being collected in our classrooms within Australia. The chapters in this book seek to interrogate current views of learning and teaching, beyond what is measured in external assessments that only capture a limited view of student learning outcomes. The chapters explore a range of fundamental topics within education, including positive learning environments, student voice and assessment. They explore and articulate the vital knowledge and skills needed for current and future teachers. In addition, these chapters make clear links between teaching, learning and the theories that frame, shape and inform these learning and teaching processes.

The research presented in this book provides practical and theoretical insights into learning and teaching in early years, primary, secondary and tertiary education.

1 Australian classrooms

Linking theory and practice

Melissa Barnes, Maria Gindidis and Sivanes Phillipson

Introduction

As Australia continues to enjoy economic growth and a high standard of living, the ­government prepares for Australia’s future with an understanding that “a well-performing school system is fundamental to building Australia’s ‘human capital’ and is integral to the nation’s economic and social futures” (AGPC, 2012, p. iii). Teachers and schools, therefore, are an integral function of the economic and social future of a country. In other words, achieving a well performing school system has become a political, economic and social priority for Australia.

As part of this focus around a good school system, quality assurance for learning and teaching continues to be a central debate amongst policy-makers and the public, especially in light of Australia’s standing in the international educational assessment platform. The benchmark for such international assessment is the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an assessment taken by 15-year-olds in 72 countries around the world that measures reading, mathematics and science competencies (OECD, 2017). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which aims to promote policies for the social and economic well-being of people around the world (OECD, 2017), administers PISA and argues that PISA has become “the world’s premier yardstick for evaluating quality, equity and efficiency of school systems” (OECD, 2013, p. 11). This sentiment can be felt within Australia:

Our performance both relative to other countries and in real terms has declined over time and there is a significant gap between our highest and lowest performing students. PISA results indicate there has also been a decline in the number of high performing students in mathematics and reading.

(Australian Government, 2016, p. 1)

Therefore, the Australian Government’s view of the quality and efficiency of the Australian school system is based heavily on measurable data from this international test. Due to the evidence of the decline in high performing students from PISA, it has provoked debates regarding the quality of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs and more specifically the quality of our teachers. Darling-Hammond (2015) argues, “The quality of teaching, most would agree, is signalled by how well students are learning” (p. 132). In a similar vein, the Australian Institute of Teachers and School Leaders (AITSL, 2011) argues that teachers “share a significant responsibility in preparing young people to lead successful and productive lives” and “build on national and international evidence that a teacher’s effectiveness has a powerful impact on students” (p. 1). Not surprisingly, attention has shifted to teachers in how they facilitate learning and student test scores are increasingly being used as a measurement of teacher quality. In other words, to many, the decline in PISA scores signals a decline in teacher quality.

It is, hence, not surprising that Australian education policy is currently dominated by a discourse of data, evidence, quality and standards (Comber, 2013) affecting the way we (teachers, academics, parents, policy-makers, etc.) view education. In response to this trend, this book provides a snapshot of the evidence and data that are being collected in our classrooms within Australia. The chapters in this book seek to interrogate current views of learning and teaching, beyond what is measured in external assessments that capture only a limited view of student learning outcomes.

Outline of the book

This book features classroom-based research in an Australian context by exploring evidence-based learning and teaching practices. This book aims to marry theory and practice through authentic classroom research that addresses issues surrounding current learning and teaching practices. The chapters in this book explore a range of fundamental topics within education, including positive learning environment, student voice and assessment, which touch on the vital knowledge and skills needed for current and future teachers. In addition, these chapters make a clear link between teaching and learning processes and the theories that frame, shape and inform these learning and teaching processes. The studies presented in this book provide insights into learning and teaching in early years, primary, secondary and tertiary education. While most chapters are based on empirical, classroom research, there is a special chapter on Indigenous education, which discusses the historical and political influences which continue to shape Indigenous education, and provides practical steps for teachers, teacher educators and researchers in order to guide classroom-based practices that support a rights-based approach to Indigenous education.

This book is structured into three sections: Understanding learning and learners, Encouraging learning through pedagogy, and Navigating structures and tools.

Section I: Understanding learning and learners

The first section, Understanding learning and learners, showcases studies that focus on how students learn and makes connections between learning and learning theories (e.g., sociocultural theory, communities of practice, whole-brain teaching, inquiry-based learning). Additionally, this section highlights how aspects such as classroom environment, student voice and teacher and parent support enable the learning process.

• In Chapter 2, Jill Cheeseman, a mathematics educator, reflects on her observations of children in early primary classrooms and the role of the classroom in encouraging children to be curious learners of mathematics.

• Megan Adams, in Chapter 3, explores learning, teaching and assessment of mathematics with five-year-olds using Vygotsky’s cultural–historical theory.

• In Chapter 4, Melissa Barnes presents findings of her action research study which ­experimented with the use of an educational social media tool, Edmodo, to encourage language development among Japanese students studying in a high school in Sydney.

• Maria Gindidis, in Chapter 5, applies a brain-based learning approach to explore how secondary teachers view language learning processes.

• Chapter 6 considers the influence of technologies on learning, identity formation and the rights of the child in the 21st century by using a sociocultural framework. Damien Lyons explores the meaningful use of technology in the classroom while keeping children safe.

• In Chapter 7, Deborah Moore gives “voice” to the young children in early childhood ­settings by exploring two case studies that highlight the value and important role of imaginative “hidden” play in children’s lives.

• Chapter 8, the final chapter in this section, by Sarika Kewalramani, Sivanes Phillipson and Nish Belford, uses Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory to investigate immigrant students’ perspectives on the career counselling process in secondary school. This chapter argues for the important role of parent–school partnerships to help better support students’ educational decisions and academic trajectories.

Section II: Encouraging learning through pedagogy

The second section, Encouraging learning through pedagogy, highlights classroom-based research that experiments with the use of a variety of teaching practices, approaches and strategies to encourage learning in the classroom.

• Chapter 9, by Julie Rimes, David Gilkes and Lou Thorpe, explores features of classroom experiences of young children in relation to the theory and practice of the Reggio Emilia Educational Project. This chapter argues that the role of active listening creates environments where children are active protagonists of their growth and development processes.

• In the following chapter, Peter Sellings explores how formative assessment can be used to determine whether or not students have made theory–practice connections. This study examines student-generated representations created by Year 10 science students and discusses how an assessment rubric can be used to determine students’ level of understanding and inform future learning and teaching.

• Also emphasising the powerful role of assessment, Anna Fletcher, in Chapter 11, provides examples from her study in a Northern Territory primary school to describe and explore Assessment as Learning (AaL) and Self-Regulated Learning (SRL).

• In Chapter 12, Kitty Janssen, Justen O’Connor and Sivanes Phillipson discover how Year 7 students respond to group work. They reflect on the pedagogy of group work and the implications for student learning.

• In Chapter 13, Narelle Wood explores the concept of creativity and creative thinking by analysing a Year 9 English lesson. She interrogates the “creative moments” that occur in this narrative and that may have otherwise gone unrecognised if defined by common definitions of creativity.

• For the final chapter of this section, Chapter 14, Amber McLeod unpacks the use of digital technologies, and the theories underpinning them, to explore their pedagogical worth and how they promote student learning.

Section III: Navigating structures and tools

In the book’s final section, Navigating structures and tools, structures such as policy and curriculum frameworks are drawn upon to explore their role in shaping learning and teaching in Australia. In addition, classroom-based studies that explore the use of inter-professional collaborations and teacher reflection as a tool to enhance learning and teaching practices are presented in this final section.

• Chapter 15, by Melissa Barnes, Deborah Moore and Sylvia Almeida, explores the implementation of a policy initiative aimed to prioritise Education for Sustainability (EfS) through the use of a smart meter program aimed to provide educational benefits and prioritise sustainability across content areas.

• In Chapter 16, Lauren Armstrong, Corine Rivalland and Hilary Monk present key curriculum changes within the Australian context, providing excerpts from the field, to explore the influence of curriculum reform. They write this chapter from an early years perspective.

• In Chapter 17, Peter Anderson and Zane Ma Rhea explore the current education policy landscape around Indigenous education and discuss how teachers, teacher educators and researchers can develop a rights-based approach to curriculum development and pedagogical practice in the First Nations education space.

• Jane McCormack and Michelle Smith-Tamaray, in Chapter 18, explore collaboration with a focus on supporting children’s language and communication needs in the preschool and primary years. They argue that research into collaboration, and collaboration itself, can inform learning and teaching.

• Chapter 19, by Louise Jenkins and Renée Crawford, discusses the use of action research as a research method for reflective teacher practice and for an evidence base for effective learning and teaching.

• The final chapter in this section, by Nish Belford, also focuses on reflective practice but explores reflection on pedagogies of practice in art education. She draws from two art educators’ reflections and explores how their experiences open up the possibilities for art educators to merge their personal interests and professional work to empower their own artistic practice.

The conclusion chapter of this book, Chapter 21, by Melissa Barnes, Sivanes Phillipson and Maria Gindidis, discusses the key themes and implications present in the studies discussed in the book.

Conclusion

This book is designed to highlight the power of classroom-based research as a tool for understanding learning and learners, encouraging learnin...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• Foreword: The importance of evidence inteaching and learning
• Preface
• Contributors
• 1 Australian classrooms
• SECTION I Understanding learning and learners
• SECTION II Encouraging learning through pedagogy
• SECTION III Navigating structures and tools
• Index