Paroa's school journey on the ICT PD contract

1. eBEST Cluster Presentation
November 16th
, 2009
Te Haerenga o Te Mahi Pakirehua
ki Te Kura o Te Pāroa
Pāroa School’s Journey to Inquiry
Learning

2. Whāia te mātauranga
hei oranga mō koutou.
“Seek after learning for the sake of your well-being.”
(Rt. Rev. Manuhuia Bennett)

3. 2008 – “Old School”
The Teacher-Centred Model
• Social Studies – Ngatiawatanga
• Science
• Health/PE
These subjects filled
in the gaps left by
numeracy and
literacy.
ICT was a subject in
and of itself.

4. “Shift Happens”
We are currently preparing students for jobs that
don’t yet exist...
using technologies that haven’t been invented...
in order to solve problems we don’t know even
know are problems yet.
As soon as our staff saw the “Did You Know?” video
that Lyn showed us at the beginning of the year, we
knew we were in trouble... How were we going to cope
with this?

5. Palmerston North
The answer (and the true catalyst for Pāroa School)
came on the Palmerston North Trip.
Up to that point, the
theories of people like
Bloom and Fogarty,
and the thinking
tools and strategies of
Tony Ryan and Jamie
McKenzie were
interesting, but out of
context.

6. What Did Inquiry Look Like?
When we saw what Inquiry Learning really looked
like/sounded like/felt like in the classroom, and heard
the students of those schools sharing their
experiences, we knew that it was our responsibility to
provide this for our tamariki.

7. Pāroa Steps Out
Upon our return to Pāroa, the
school’s ICT Lead Team
tried to convey what we had
seen and heard, but it just
didn’t work. A paradigm
shift of this scale was too
large for three people to
carry. We needed whole-
school buy-in, and in order
to get it, we had to give the
rest of our staff the
opportunity to experience
what we had seen and
heard.

8. How and Where?
Our solution was to take a Teacher-Only Day and bring
our entire teaching staff to schools that modelled the
implementation that we were hoping to achieve at
our kura.
We were reminded of two schools that had been visited
in 2007: Red Beach School and Viscount School.
These two were chosen because they represented very
different environments with very different Inquiry
models, but with equally impressive outcomes for
their tauira.

9. Red Beach School
Our first stop in Auckland was Red Beach School, and
that visit has had a lasting impact on the staff of Pāroa
School.
Vision
Values
Principles
Model: Get It, Sort It, Use It

10. Viscount School
While perhaps not as inspiring in terms of
implementation, Viscount School showed us that
Inquiry Learning would work for our tamariki too.
Vision: BEST (Better Every Single Time)
Model: Topic – Context – Situation
(Each stage broken down further
into a total of 11 steps)

11. Inquiry Learning 1.0
Upon returning from our haerenga, we set about
creating an Inquiry Model for Pāroa School. We
really liked the simplicity of the Red Beach model, but
knew that ours had to reflect the culture of our kura.
It was here that we ran into our first obstacle.
How would “Get It, Sort It, Use It” translate into our
Rumaki classrooms? How did that model relate to a
traditional method of problem-solving?
Some consultation, some passionate debate, and a few
tears later:

12. Te Ohonga Ake
Awakening
Te Aranga Ake
Awareness
TeMohiotangaKnowing
Te Maramatanga
Wisdom
TeKōkiritanga
Action
Te Hurihuringa
Reflection

13. Term 1, 2009
So... we had a model, but what to do with it?
How could we best introduce this model to our staff
without inciting fear and rioting?
Our solution was the creation of a toolbox of Thinking
Tools and Strategies which would support the model
and streamline implementation.

14. Teachers Thinking Strategies & Tools ICTs Outcomes
ž The computer is used on a daily basis for
modelling and administration
Understandings of: Developing skills: Word
ž Teacher and student files are stored in a
systematic way.
Fogarty's Intellects Digital camera Paint
ž Thinking tools & ICTs are introduced,
understood and used across the school.
Use of Fogarty's Intellects in planning and student
activities
Data projector Umajin
ž ICTs are used for planning, assessment,
presenting and reporting
Developing student understandings of the levels of
Fogarty's
Wikis/Blogs Movie Maker
ž Thinking and ICT cultures are developed in the
classroom
Graphic Organisers (as below) School network Audactity
ž Teachers are skilled in using the ICTs and
software used by students (below)
Thinkers Keys MUSAC Classroom Manager Photo Story 3
De Bono’s Hats e-asTTle Photo Filtre
Habits of Mind Internet PowerPoint
Questioning Outlook Google Docs
Students Fogarty's Intellect Graphic
Organisers
Thinkers Keys De Bono’s Hats Questioning Habits of Mind ICTs
Input Process Output Mainstream Rumaki
Junior
List Compare
Evaluate Sorting Square Alphabet White Who, What, Where, When,
Which, How?
Who, What, Where, When,
Which, How?
Persisting Digital camera
Name Contrast
Imagine PMI What If Red Open and Closed questions Past, Present, Future tenses
when asking questions
Managing Impulsivity Paint
Count Sort Predict Y Chart Brainstorming green How? (pehea) Wonderment & awe Creating and Saving
Recite Sequence
If/Then T Chart
Gathering data through
all senses
Comic Life
Reason Finding humour Word
Middle
+ + + + + + + + Striving for accuracy Data projector
Identify Inference
Generalise Bubble maps Question Yellow 7 Servants: include Why? 7 Servants: include Why? Questioning PowerPoint
Describe Classify
Judge KWHL Reverse Black Fat and Skinny questions Fat and Skinny questions Listening with … PhotoStory 3
Select Infer
Forecast Cause and effect Commonality Question Matrix Question Matrix Working with others Umajin
Match Distinguish
Flow chart Photo Filtre
Venn Diagram Outlook
Senior
+ + + + + + + + Thinking about thinking Internet search
Scan Analyse
Apply a
Principle
Tree Alternative Blue Question Matrix Question Matrix Think flexibly Movie Maker
Define Synthesise
Hypothesise Tournament
prioritiser
Interpretation Create and innovate Audacity
Observe
Make
Analogies
Speculate SWOT BAR Use past knowledge Wiki / Blog
Idealise Mind Map Prediction Google Docs

15. With these tools in place, classroom teachers were
tasked with introducing the graphic organisers
specified for their levels.

16. Term 2, 2009
With a preliminary model and thinking toolbox in
place, the next step was to give it all a test-drive.
A Gardening Unit that had been drafted at the end of
Term 1 was implemented collaboratively across all
levels of the school throughout Term 2.
Each week, we met as a staff to go through the next
week’s mahi and answer any questions that arose.
The next week, we would review the previous work’s
week and move on to the next step.

17. Our Māra
While the timeframe extended well into Term 3 (as we
had underestimated the duration of the immersion
stage), overall results and feedback from students, staff
and whānau were far beyond our expectations!

18. Term 3, 2009
In spite of the positive response generated by the
Garden Unit, we didn’t feel that our teachers were
prepared to take on their own independent inquiries.
Further scaffolding was required.
Following the lead of
Allandale and some of the
other cluster schools, we
decided to expand our
Inquiry Model and
Thinking Toolbox into a
full resource folder.

19. Our Teacher Resource
The result was a comprehensive teacher resource folder,
outlining the stages of the Inquiry Model (slightly
modified following our trial in Term 2), and providing
scaffolding for the strategies outlined, and giving
examples of the graphic organisers laid out in the
Thinking Toolbox.
Before this resource was presented to the staff,
however, it had to be translated for use in our Rumaki
classrooms. By the fourth week of Term 3, the
resource folder was ready to go!

20. Term 4, 2009
And so, armed as they were
with experience and a big
fat folder full of resources,
the ICT Lead Teachers of
Pāroa School gave our staff
a kaupapa: Tama-Nui-te-
Rā, and assisted them in
the development of their
own classroom inquiries.

21. Tama-Nui-te-Rā
And once again, the staff of
Pāroa School have risen to
meet the challenge! The
innovation of our kaiako and
the amazing whakaaro of our
tamariki have led to some
outstanding learning
happening here at our kura.
Some staff have even asked
that their appraisals focus on
Inquiry implementation in
their classrooms!

22. Shouting It Out!
As with any school-wide initiative, it is vital that the
community get involved! Most recently, we have shared
the importance of Inquiry Learning in Pāroa School’s
curriculum with our whānau.

23. Where to from here?
So what does 2010 hold for the development of Inquiry
Learning at Pāroa School?
1. School Charter goals;
2. Inquiry Leader designation and
job description;
3. Appraisal expectations;
4. Community involvement;
5. Critical Review of the Model and
Toolbox;
6. Continued participation in the
eBEST cluster!

24. The mind is not a vessel to
be filled, but a fire to be
ignited.
(Plutarch)