Belmore South Public School Belmore South PS June 2011
Belmore South Public School
Belmore South PS June 2011
Goals:
To have teachers taking responsibility for their own work so that they will be directing their own professional learning towards developing knowledge and skills.
Improved teacher practice and motivation will see students engaged in their own learning with improved quality of students work and learning outcomes.
Belmore South PS June 2011
Guiding Principles
We learn to do the work by doing the work, reflecting on the work and critiquing the work
Separate the person from the practice Learning is an individual and collective
activity Trust enhances individual and collective
learning Learning enhances individual and
collective efficacyBelmore South PS June 2011
Prerequisite for CWT at the
Organisational Level Strong well informed leadership Teachers working in teams External and internal support
professional development Coherent curriculum School improvement plan
Belmore South PS June 2011
But there is more to it . . . What is happening at the classroom
level? What is the level and kind of work
the students are doing in the classrooms?
How are the beliefs and understandings of the adults who are working with the students constraining their learning?
Belmore South PS June 2011
A CWT focuses on the Instructional
Core “ In its simplest terms, the instructional core is composed of the teacher and the student in the presence of content
. . . a focus on the instructional core grounds school improvement in the actual interactions between teachers, students and content in the learning environment”. Instructional Rounds in Education: A Network Approach to improving Teaching and Learning, 2009 City et al
Belmore South PS June 2011
Student
Content
Teacher
7 Principles of the Instructional Core
1 Increases in student learning occur only as the consequence of improvements in the level of content, teachers knowledge and skill and student engagement.
2 If you change any single element of the instructional core you have to change the other two.
3 If you can’t see it in the core it is not there.
4 Task predicts performance.
5 The real accountability system is in the
tasks that students are asked to do.
Belmore South PS June 2011
7 Principles continued
6 We learn to do the work by doing the work not by telling other people to do the work, not by having done the work at some time in the past by ourselves or others.
7 Description before analysis, analysis before prediction, prediction before evaluation.
From: City et al 2009Belmore South PS June 2011
A CWT is a . . .
quick, research-based-focused way to collect data means of focusing on best practices snapshot of what’s happening in the school method for analysing patterns and trends in
teaching and learning structure for improving student learning and
increasing student achievement decision making device used to inform
professional development planning. tool for increasing school-wide reflective practice way to begin talking with teachers about we can
all work towards improve the instructional program
Belmore South PS June 2011
A CWT is not a . . .
way of documenting teacher appraisalsand formal observations
tool for informal teacher observations device for collecting information about
individual teachers reflection on teachers that uses
evaluative or judgmental language
Belmore South PS June 2011
Planning with a Focus
In this phase the leadership team identified a focus to guide the walkthroughs. The school’s priority area is Reading.
Beginning with a clear focus ensures the CWT is purposeful, meaningful and focused.
The focus for our first rounds of CWT’s wasProblematic knowledge.
The focus for our second round of CWT’s is Connectedness.
Belmore South PS June 2011
The CWT Process
1 Planning the Focus – Executive and Staff2 Administration of dates, team members
and expectations - facilitators3 Conducting the CWT – CWT Teams4 Collecting and Analysing the data for
trends and patterns and developing a presentation for whole staff – CWT Teams
5 Reflection by whole staff led by CWT Teams
Belmore South PS June 2011
Connecting to Metaphors
Belmore South PS June 2011
Exploring our Focus
This is a vital part of the process . . . Develop a common language. Bring perceptions of the focus into
alignment. Understand what the focus “Looks,
sounds and feels like . . .” in a classroom.
Develop strategies that support the implementation of the focus into classroom practice.
Belmore South PS June 2011
Collecting Data
The data that is collected should only be in relation to the identified focus. There is NO JUDGEMENT to be made. The CWT only deals with what is OBSERVABLE.
There are 4 questions to guide this: What is the teacher doing? What are the students doing? What is the task? Does the classroom environment
support the learning focus?
Belmore South PS June 2011
What is the Teacher doing?What are the instructionalstrategies being used? modelling, scaffolding, sharing examples of good work and poor
work, questioning, listening using Visible Thinking Routines do the strategies relate to the CWT focus? what grouping formats are obvious?
Belmore South PS June 2011
What is the Learner doing? What are the students doing? Are the students able to verbalise what they are doing? Is the task the students are doing the one
the teacher asked them to do? What kinds of materials are they using? Is the level of student work stage
appropriate? Is the work challenging? How engaged are the students?
Belmore South PS June 2011
What is the Task?
Identify the learning goal Are the learning goals evident to the
student? Do the learning goals meet stage level
outcomes? How are the students engaging with the
task? The instructional task is the work the
students are asked to do, not what the teachers think they are asking the students to do.
Belmore South PS June 2011
What elements of the Learning Environment support the Task?
Belmore South PS June 2011
Learning to see unlearning to judge When educators visit classrooms they
have an idea of what they want to see based on their past experiences and what they know of effective classrooms.
By contrast during CWT’s there is a need to suspend judgement and gather evidence.
The discipline of description is the core practice on which CWT’s are based.
Belmore South PS June 2011
To support the process …
It is necessary to decide: what is observable in advance how the observation will be
undertaken how to discuss what is seen
Belmore South PS June 2011
Analysing data
The emphasis is on patterns and trends in the instructional program rather than on what is happening in the individual learning environments.
Look for patterns and trends that are of concern and those that should be celebrated.
Belmore South PS June 2011
Reflecting on the Data
The Reflective Process “maps the linkages between thinking, action and student learning”. Reflective practice to Improve Schools (2006) York-Barr et al. P.9
TPL models reflection and thinking about classroom practice using Visible Thinking Routines
Belmore South PS June 2011
Reflection protocols
The reflection is structured around the these questions:
1.What do you see?2.What do you think about it?3.What does this mean?4.What do we do now? / Where to
next?
Belmore South PS June 2011
Doing the CWT’s
CWT’s are timetabled throughout the year.
Our schedule is 6 in a year with 1 in Term 1 and Term 4 and 2 in Term 2 & 3
Staff know the day and date of their CWT from the beginning of the year.
Belmore South PS June 2011
A typical CWT Day timetable Begins at 8.00 am with a briefing session CWT Teams are facilitated by either our HAT or
our AP/Curriculum 2 teams of 4 operate with a visiting executive in
each. CWT’s begin at 9.30am and continue until 1.00 pm 2 to 3 CWT teams meet to debrief , to discuss
patterns and trends observed around the elements of the focus.
The CWT teams develop a presentation for their colleagues and tasks to promote reflection on their findings.
Belmore South PS June 2011
CWT Learning Spaces protocol 4 to 7 minutes in each learning environment ,
stay within the agreed time limit as this honours the process with the teacher
Use time to look around at key elements CWT is focusing on
Take the picture do not become part of it (also take photos/video as a record)
Talk to students as appropriate Do not do any writing or recording while in the
room Recording is done outside of the learning
environment.Belmore South PS June 2011
Key Insights
Suspension of judgement is essential Identification of cause and effect relationships
is embedded in the process There is a a need to challenge each other to
produce the evidence – taking us out of the realms of being nice to a culture of challenge
Avoid commenting on what is not seen in the classroom
Describe evidence but become discerning about what is worth noting.
Belmore South PS June 2011
Implications for practice Much practice to develop skills to
become focussed non-judgemental observers
Subtle evidence needs to collected to support observations
A common language and shared understanding needs to be developed
Need for common processes, protocols and language around observations
Belmore South PS June 2011
Further implications . . . Important to develop proforma for
note taking and collecting evidence as a basis for feedback and discussions
Time needs to be allocated for CWT’s to become embedded
Protocols will support the development of a culture of “challenge” (show me the evidence)
Belmore South PS June 2011
Launching a Network
Considerations: Practice focussing on practice Setting expectations and norms to
support a culture of trust, problem solving and continuous improvement
Skills of feedback and reflection Action Planning for improvement in
practice
Belmore South PS June 2011
Whereto next . . .
Developing a different proforma for data collection
Presenting quantitative and qualitative evidence of trends and patterns
Developing Action Plans based on trends and patterns
Belmore South PS June 2011