How you would engage teamwork for transformative learning

“Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly.” Ecclesiastes 4:12

The challenges faced by teachers are too great to be faced alone. We must work together as we seek for transformative learning in the classroom. To address some of these challenges, school-wide programmes have been developed by schools or by government agencies to tackle issues including poor literacy (the Literacy Project), Maori underachievement (Te Kotahitanga) and bad behaviour (Positive Behaviour for Learning).

My experience of such programmes is limited to the efforts of the science department at Onslow College to raise scientific literacy amongst their students. Scientific literacy is not the same as English literacy due to their different terminology, writing styles and purposes for writing. Thus, although general literacy strategies will help to some degree, scientific literacy will require specific training. Hitchcock (n.d.) identifies many such literacy skills under the four main areas of scientific literacy: speaking, listening, reading and writing.
 
Scientific thinking and literacy of all Year 9 and 10 students was recently assessed using the Science: Thinking with evidence (STWE) tests (NZCER, 2010). Knowledge of current student literacy is necessary before you are able to effectively improve literacy. Such school-wide testing requires teamwork to co-ordinate and to process all the information gathered. I was able to help by marking several classes tests.

To help facilitate the focus on literacy, the science department introduced a research project as the major assessment for a Yr10 unit on variation and reproduction. As part of the assessment process, students were taught how to collect, process, summarise and report scientific information. Introducing a new assessment like this required regular consultation, feedback and collaboration amongst teachers whose classes were taking part in the assessment. My AT and I together brainstormed about how to teach and model the literacy skills. I prepared resources that she could then use and at the end I gave feedback on the process to my AT and the learning area leader (LAL). During these discussions the LAL also made me aware of resources available for teaching and assessing literacy: http://literacyonline.tki.org.nz/Literacy-Online/Teacher-needs/Teacher-Resource-Exchange/Secondary-Literacy
http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/

My AT was particularly passionate about literacy, regularly requiring students to write essays on the topics they were learning about. She carefully scaffolds essay writing through discussion, brainstorming and the use of templates that have questions to help them begin, keywords to include and linking words that can be used. She modelled for me how to teach literacy skills in science.

Literacy is just one of the areas where transformative learning is taking place. None of this would be possible, however, without the supportive leadership from the senior management and, more importantly, the LALs. Implementation of such programmes requires the collaboration amongst teachers to develop and implement new resources, strategies and assessments. I can play my part by enthusiastically engaging in the programmes and by sharing my ideas and resources with my colleagues. In that we can sharpen each other, as iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17).

Hitchcock, D. (n.d.) Literacy demands in Science. Retrieved from
      http://literacyonline.tki.org.nz/Literacy-Online/Teacher-needs/Teacher-
      Resource-Exchange/Secondary-Literacy

NZCER. (2010). Science: Thinking with evidence. Retrieved from 
      http://www.nzcer.org.nz/tests/science-thinking-evidence-2010