I. General Information
School Name: ADSS
School District: SD#70 Pacific Rim
Inquiry Team Members: Tasha Gallagher: tgallagher@sd70.bc.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: janderson1@sd70.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)
Curricular Areas Addressed: Language Arts – Literacy, Language Arts – Oral Language, Language Arts – Reading, Social Studies
Focus Addressed: Indigenous understandings (for example, Traditional Knowledge, oral history, reconciliation), Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving), Differentiated instruction, First Peoples Principles of Learning, Flexible learning
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? How can collaborative learning opportunities enhance student engagement in the Grade 8 Humanities classroom? Furthermore, how could large scale literature circles help our students find a good fit book to explore with like-minded peers?
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: How did you use the four key questions as part of the scanning process?
At the beginning of our inquiry, through the use of a Google survey, we asked our students some of the 4 key questions. When students were asked if they could name an adult who believed in their success, 77% answered yes. The next question that we asked was: What are you learning and why is this important? Most learners could identify what they were learning about, however they could not explain the importance.
What did you notice about the experiences of your learners that were most important to your team?
The transition to high school is challenging for many grade 8 learners, and this transition has an impact on learning. As Humanities teachers for numerous years, we have tried different strategies to support our students through this transition. One of the more successful strategies has been granting our students more collaborative opportunities.
How did you use the OECD principles of learning and the First Peoples Principles of Learning in your scanning process?
We noticed that Grade 8s are a diverse bunch of learners, who value the ability to continuously socially engage with one another. When trying different strategies, we witnessed that our students were the most engaged when working collaboratively with one another. Sharing circle was a place where we listened to our students’ voices and learned how to create lessons that highlighted their personal interests.
When Grade 8s are reading, they often fake read and do not know how to select a book of personal interest. We also are aware that many of our students are unable to read independently. We understand that in order for our learners to comprehend and extend their thinking around text, the book must be read out loud to them.
In teaching the content of Grade 8 Social Studies, we acknowledged that the historical perspectives that we were learning generally came from a Eurocentric point of view.
Focus: We wanted to help our Grade 8 learners engage in reading for joy. We thought by offering them book choices and the opportunity to expand who they collaborate with could increase their engagement.
Hunch:
1. Many Grade 8 classes teach in isolation and do not have the opportunity to meet other Grade 8 students.
2. Teachers were trying to find ways to create meaningful reading experiences instead of the status quo silent reading or the single whole class novel study.
3. When we had offered previous experiences to explore content and engage in circle collaboratively, our learners were more curious and eager.
4. When previously offering student choice in learning, there was more accountability and student agency.
New Professional Learning: We explored and synthesized current research in the field of student agency and collaboration. We value the voices of Fullan and Edwards, Safir & Dugan, and Carolyn Roberts, all of whom have contributed to our teaching strategies for this inquiry.
Here is one powerful quote from each of these voices.
“Students prefer to learn with other students and our best teachers are all about using this as a motivator to develop the learning mojo in classes…Dialogue, conversations, and group and individual reflection [become] part of the foundation of our instructional practice” (Fullan & Edwards, 2022, p.44).
“To cultivate student voice, we must first feel a sense of agency as educators. We have to free our minds from the persistent narrative that test scores and even grades tell a legitimate story about our students’ success. We have to free our own learning spirits to be bold and experimental to try pedagogical approaches that feel new, edgy, and perhaps uncomfortable” (Safir & Dugan, 2021, p.107).
“Connecting to students and understanding who they are and how they learn will support your understanding in how you will be able to assess their learning as a process of learning together. Relationships will help support this [work and]…this process will support students in finding their own voice and their own strengths. It allows for students to express themselves in their work. This can include their culture, history, and world view. It can also include their anger, frustration, and their joys” (Roberts, 2023).
To support the learning of our colleagues, we held a collaborative session that outlined the strategies that we would be using for the duration of the novel studies. We also prepared resources for the teachers to use in their classrooms for the unit.
Taking Action: Here are a few of the strategies that we used this year.
Timeline: Students spent intentional time together creating beaded timelines based on the lesson from Suzanne Camp in SD 71. Their timelines validate that First Peoples have inhabited North America for at least 14 000 years. They have used their timelines to add significant events explored in our courses.
Circle: Friday circle was established in our classes in September as a means to foster student voice, class community, and collaboration.
Novel Study: All participating grade 8 Humanities classes took part in a grade-wide novel study. In the theatre, students were presented with their novel choices and selected their top three. They spent the next month collaborating with a new group of students and teacher. Their culminating learning demonstration was to work in groups to create a trailer for their book; we gathered together at the end for a viewing party in the theatre to enjoy all of their fantastic work.
Checking: To gather student voice around learning during the collaborative Novel Study experience, we created a follow-up Google form and had students anonymously answer a few questions. We selected three questions to share, highlighting the positive feedback our students were able to express.
Was the novel study experience worthwhile? Explain your answer.
“I think it was worthwhile because we learned different strategies from a different teacher.”-Grade 8 student, 2024
“I would say yes, it was fun and cool to have different people to talk to and a different teacher.”-Grade 8 student, 2024
“Yes, it was worthwhile because I was able to read a good book and share my ideas with others.”-Grade 8 student, 2024
Did you feel that working with different Grade 8 students created new connections for going into Grade 9?
“Yes, I think so because I met new grade 8s, so I think when I go up to grade 9, I will be able to communicate.”-Grade 8 student, 2024
“Yes, now for my new classes next year I have already meet most of my grade, so I will feel comfortable with the class.“ -Grade 8 student, 2024
“It was a good chance to make different friends and find a community where you are doing the same things and almost liking the same things.”-Grade 8 student, 2024
Did you feel that you were more engaged with your Humanities 8 work during this novel study experience? Explain.
“Yes, because I had to come up with ideas and share them with the group and listen and to other‘s ideas and then see how they would work.“-Grade 8 student, 2024
“Yes, because I didn’t have to worry about other projects at the same time and I was able to focus just on this. Also, the book was very interesting and cool to read.“-Grade 8 student, 2024
“Yes, I was more engaged because I liked that we were working in groups and I liked working with a different teacher for this project.” -Grade 8 student, 2024
We also gathered the voices of participating teachers. The first voice: “I think the Novel Study was fantastic, it was so nice to meet new students and have a break from certain individuals 7 months into the year. Overall, I think it was very successful! I am definitely “in” next year. I will also be giving students an option to demonstrate their learning in Social Studies via video this Term. It was nice to be pushed to create videos, I have wanted to incorporate video creation into Humanities for some time but was terrified. It was nice to have the push.”-Humanities 8 teacher, 2024
The second voice: This collaborative novel study was a tremendous success. The ability for students to choose a novel based on their own interests helps to enhance student buy-in and promotes critical and reflective thinking. Furthermore, the exchange of students between teachers and the ability of teachers to also collaborate together helps to re-invigorate the learning environment substantially. ”-Humanities 8 teacher, 2024
Reflections/Advice: As Grade 8 teachers, we have sat with the realization that before learning can happen a strong foundation in connection and belonging must occur first. Our year of learning (with collaboration in mind) gave us the vehicle to first focus on classroom belonging (first semester), then grade wide belonging (second semester). When we teach with connection and belonging at the centre, academic achievement follows suit. When we learn about the individuals we are teaching through circle, we can apply these understandings to the design of our lessons, which naturally allows for differentiated instruction with a scaffold of learning approach. Our learning opportunities became more open-ended, granting students the ability to display their understanding in creative ways. If students are at school, then they are feeling successful, which increases their academic achievement.
Sharing circle has played an integral role in our classrooms. This has been a space where all sorts of topics can be spoken about. The circle continues to be a place where the well-being of our students can be at the center, recognizing the importance of getting to know each other on a personal level.
Our vision for Humanities 8 keeps evolving. We want to continue to offer collaborative learning opportunities that excite our students and teachers. This year as a pilot project, our four classes will be completing a final research project that allows them to choose a society. This work will be showcased during a parent night where students will be invited to celebrate their learning with their families. Students will also choose an artifact that highlights their year of learning in grade 8. These will be labelled and displayed during the parent evening.
To continue our spiral of learning, we would also like to see the entire second semester of Humanities 8 become more collaborative in nature, allowing students to use their voice to guide learning and work with other teachers to build their individual skills as learners.