In the last post, I posed a number of questions for our consideration--some of them pertaining to student voice (below).
Today, we continue to surface examples where change--real change--can be inspired and driven by student voice.
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In recent years, we’ve been hearing about and espousing the importance of having and enacting a growth mindset. A growth mindset, according to Dweck (2006) is based on the belief that intelligence is not fixed...that each person can move beyond their current level of skill through hard work and determination. Developing this mindset goes beyond belief: it manifests in how we respond to challenges and setbacks.
Getting ‘there’...towards success...requires that students have a clear understanding of the criteria for success; contribute to their construction; and have opportunities to putting them into action. Equally- important and coincident with their use is the opportunity to receive descriptive feedback from teachers and peers and to engage in self-assessment against these criteria. With ongoing, descriptive feedback, students are better able to monitor their progress towards learning goals--making adjustments, accordingly, and subsequently, are positioning themselves to setting new goals (Growing Success, 2010).
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In early December (2018), Chris Harrison (@MrCHarrison) and I engaged the #MTBoS (MathTwitterBlogosphere; image, below) in ideating strategies that would support one of his students. This student--very high-achieving in Mathematics--was struggling with responding to performance setbacks.
Beyond the #MTBoS, as colleagues both from the Upper Canada DSB, we began to generate ideas of how we could leverage collaborative problem solving to supporting the development of his student’s non-cognitive skills--in particular, resiliency. The anticipated result is to support the student in being better equipped to responding to performance setbacks. As mentioned in the introduction, this type of work is grounded in inquiry and is best framed using a monitoring process known as a Cycle of Inquiry (Ideas into Action, 2013). Cycles of Inquiry are broken down into four, key phases: Plan, Act, Assess, and Reflect.
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As this blog is a means for readers to network and gradually change the context for how they teach and learn, we all benefit by drawing nearer to the perspectives shared here and shared beyond with our professional learning networks.
I am more than happy to collaborate with you and make our learning visible, here, in this blog and across Flipping the Focus' social media platforms, as well as your own.
Contact Flipping the Focus to see how we can work together towards achieving your goals.
Chris Stewart, OCT
Education Lead, Flipping the Focus, (c) 2018
Tough, P. (2012). How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character. London: Arrow Books.
Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation and Reporting in Ontario’s Schools: Grades 1 to 12. (2010). Toronto: Ministry of Education.
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). Ideas Into Action: For School and System Leaders (Bulletin #5 - Using Data: Transforming Potential into Practice). Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/leadership/ideasintoactionbulletin5.pdf
Ontario Ministry of Education. (2016, May). Ontario's Well-Being Strategy: Discussion Paper. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/about/WBDiscussionDocument.pdf
Ontario Ministry of Education, Literacy & Numeracy Secretariat. (2013). Student Voice: Transforming Relationships (34th ed., Capacity Building Series, pp. 1-8).
Stewart, C. (2018a, February 13). Students as Researchers [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://flippingthefocus.weebly.com/blog/category/students-as-researchers
Stewart, C. (2018b, March 2). Creating Conditions for Occasioning Thinking & Supporting Student Well-Being in Mathematics Classrooms [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://flippingthefocus.weebly.com/blog/creating-conditions-for-occasioning-thinking-supporting-student-well-being-in-mathematics-classrooms