Last year I blogged about writing developmentally. Here is the link to the post.
The other place to find more information about my journey is an article in NCER special edition of SET, Learning through play and games.
I am part of a team in an Innovate learning environment, Year 1 to 6 learning together. We have spaces for dramatic play, art, construction, maker space, outside, quiet spaces, regulation and kai (food). We staff spaces and we have our own Puna Ako, 'home group' who we get to know really well. We work on one shared timetable and are really good at innovating and collaborating.
The purpose of this blog is to discuss our new initiative for helping Akonga to learn to read and write.
We have been using Foundation skills, written by us, for over a year now. Here is a good explanation of why. We worked out a few key skills that were really important to have prior to beginning to learn to read and write, things like oral language, body movement and telling stories (see link above). What happens when Ākonga have finished their foundation skills and are ready to move to the next developmental stage?
Literacy Lab is recognizing and providing opportunities to learn to read and write in a way that works for our learners. However, we didn't just want to teach the skill of literacy, we wanted to acknowledge the relationship dispositional learning has to learning anything.
Dispositional learning like academic learning requires time to learn new skills. The front end of our NZC doesn't have a timeframe or an age where you have to learn a disposition by. That's because even as adults, we never master dispositions. We are always learning and sometimes, even as adults we have meltdowns, and sometimes, we are able to be calm and collected. Learning to be a self-determined learner develops over time. In the same way, we learn to read, we learn to behave and self-regulate and make decisions for ourselves. The relationship between dispositions and learning academics needs a very different response in how it is developed in Primary Schools. Dispositions are learnt through having a choice.
Real choice means some failure. One of Peter Grey's 6 conditions for self-directed learning is that the child is responsible for their education. You can't pretend to give choice and then take it away or take control. Self-directed learning is the most important part of the way we host our literacy lab. What I observe in our Literacy Lab for most Ākonga is that they are keen to learn and love coming. It really is a joy to be in the space. As a teacher I don't have to drive them or push them, I work with them. It is a true experience of Ako.
How did Literacy Lab come about and how does it work?
I know a lot of schools withdraw groups of Ākonga for a teacher-directed reading lesson. Nothing wrong with this and actually that is where we began. We asked two kaiako to teach reading by withdrawing students for a few blocks throughout the week, during term 1 this year, while the rest of the team lead spaces and made the most of learner-directed play by supporting within the play and running workshops for extending ideas.
However, this intervention didn't have enough impact. We reflected and brainstormed. This time we came up with an idea we call Literacy Lab. The main idea is to use the self-directed dispositions of our Akonga and their extraordinary self-confidence to learn new things to drive learning to read and write at the next stage. We also discovered that writing comes before reading so the two need to be linked.
How does Literacy Lab work?
Those Akonga who had completed the foundation stage, attend a well-resourced lab to learn to write and read, three times a week for 90 minutes.
What kaiako support is there? We have a team of 4 Kaiako and a couple of kaiawhina (teacher aides).
How many learners? We had 50 learners to begin with.
How do they know what to learn?
Each ākonga has a goal sheet. Prior to starting, we assessed and identified the letters and sounds they needed to learn, plus sight words, reading level and a writing goal. These goals are written in a book. A tote tray with books at their level, pencil and paper gives opportunity for self-direction.
Ākonga arrive and choose a task.
Kaiako take different roles within the lab.
Opportunities
1. Reading - listening to Ākonga.
2. Writing - The teacher takes an explicit session by asking Akonga to write words/sentences down that they say orally. Skills of listening to words and recording sounds are learned.
3. Worksheets (letter and word), or similar, depending on what is asked for by the Akonga. Asking Akonga what sound they are writing or helping them form the letters correctly.
4. When the learners have completed 3 tasks, they finish their session by using the reading eggs app on ipads. Reading eggs is an app that can be accessed at school and at home. It progresses the learner along at their own pace. My skills as a teacher are best used to support the complex and nuanced areas of learning. An ipad app does a great job of the drill and practice type learning.
The importance of Writing
This photo shows our thinking around stages of writing which we developed from our time working alongside Heather McQuillian. Practically it records what Kaiako will be doing to support writing at each stage both in Literacy Lab and akoako (spaces).
What happened with the learning? So far I have this data completed.
After our first term, a number of Akonga had reached Green level in reading and had cracked the code, we placed them in a group together and worked on next steps. Term 4 saw our Green readers move again and we focused on further comprehension skills, separating again so we had three groups. New Ākonga began. We had a flow-through effect.
Here is an example of progress made over two terms.
Questions
1. What if a child doesn't make progress? We notice this and find another way of teaching literacy that suits them. That can be a change in the books we use. We have PM books but we are also loving the new decodable books. We use an adapted Davis Clay method. We help them by finding something that suits them. I have to say though that most Ākonga have made progress. Some faster than others as you would expect. We will get some assessed to see if they are learners with Dyslexia and provide support. And if all else fails, learning isn't dependent on being able to physically read and write, we have other technology that can do that for us. If we try everything and it doesn't work then technology is where we will head to support learning.
2. What if a child won't go to Literacy Lab?
This happens for sure. Some don't want to go as it is hard work and they are struggling with the having to fail concept that all learning includes. Or there is some other learning they want to access in the Hapori. There are many reasons and our job as kaiako is to have a conversation to find out why and then support this to happen. Systems can help here. Knowing where Ākonga are and where they need to be to learn, making sure they are learning in Zone of proximal development. These things are not easy and take skill as a team to get right.
3. Do they make accelerated progress when they begin to learn to read and write formally at the developmentally right time? I don't know yet. They certainly make progress. They seem to get the hang of the skill of decoding really quickly and then just get on with learning to read and write. The thing is literacy lab is dropping in the skills needed, where our akoako or spaces, provide an opportunity to practice in a transdisciplinary way.
4. Do you feel like you have this all sorted and everything is working well?
No, I don't but isn't that teaching? As in all learning environments, we see things we could be doing better. We are pleased to teach Ākonga in a way that honors them as individuals and allows them to drive their learning. The most important thing we do as educators is to notice, recognize and respond. Getting better at the things in our akoako (spaces) and our labs is a work in progress. Being free to iterate on our journey as a team is so important. Collaboration is the key because we all notice different things and together we design learning.
The last two years have been a really exciting journey. It has been wonderful to see Ākonga learn in a successful environment, driving their own learning. Every growth moment, we celebrate with them, they don't have to compare themselves to others or feel like they are not meeting someone's expectations. They just continue to learn. Because of this, they are still positive, they don't know they are behind, or infront, or wrong or even right. They just enjoy learning.
We are trying things differently. Why? Things were not working in the past the way they were. Probably the biggest idea is that we notice Akonga and allow them to set the pace of their learning. We don't start formal literacy learning when they begin school, we work on foundation skills for as long as is needed. Does that mean we don't read and write when they begin school? No. We read heaps of books, they write in many meaningful ways, it is just not uniform, it is unique. Even when Akonga do move on to learning literacy like you would see at a regular kura, our method is different. We don't think kaiako need to teach writing and reading explicitly for Akonga to learn as the only method. Some yes, but not all. We provide provocations, we inspire, we model, we provide pens, paper, devices, authentic contexts. Some Akonga just learn themselves! We shouldn't be surprised. Students learn loads of stuff by themselves. Sure in a supported environment. Think of babies, who teaches them to crawl? Think of adults who leave school and then much later get a degree! I am proud that our Akonga are on the most part given agency. I am so grateful to be working and learning alongside such an amazing and passionate team of Kaimahi at Haeata Community Campus. So proud of our work!
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