The focus section of this issue of set is a collection of articles that discuss various aspects of key competency development in the early primary school years. These articles were selected from a wider collection first published in a special edition of Early Childhood Folio.
set 2012: no. 1
publisher:
NZCER Press
SET2012_1
2012
NZCER Press
NZD$29.95 includes GST
publisher:
NZCER Press
Key competencies are a major focus in the latest issue of set. There is an exploration of how culture and context influence the way the key competencies are interpreted; how the key competencies can sit alongside subject-related learning; and a case study of one young student’s co-constructed learning pathway. Other articles discuss integrating ethics into primary school science, the development of statistical numeracy in primary schools and a close-up look at the instructional leadership of secondary school principals. Plus our regular features and a new section, Q&A, in which a researcher answers a question from a classroom teacher.
| Product code | Product title | Price | Quantity |
|---|---|---|---|
| SET2012_1 | SET 2012, ISSUE 1 | $29.95 |
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Contents
2
Educational leadership practices
A lot of emphasis is currently placed on the need for principals to be instructional leaders or leaders of learning. In the study of the instructional leadership of secondary principals reported in this article, the authors argue that instructional leadership can be both direct and indirect. Direct instructional leadership is focused on the quality of teacher practice itself, whereas indirect instructional leadership creates the conditions for good teaching. Indirect instructional leadership is particularly important for secondary principals because much of the direct leadership is carried out by deputies and heads of department. The authors found that, when looking at the achievement results of the school as a whole, different instructional leadership behaviours predicted high performance and improvement.
9
Maths education
A key way students develop their statistical understanding at primary school level is by undertaking data-rich investigations. This article suggests scaffolding students through a statistical enquiry cycle in which students define the problem, plan the investigation, collect and analyse the data, draw conclusions and communicate their findings. It gives examples of primary school students successfully planning investigations, collecting and graphing their own data and drawing statistical inferences from it, using tasks from the Assessment Resource Banks.
17
Science education
Ethics is a valuable way to approach science in primary school because grappling with ethical issues engages students. Focusing on ethics encourages students to extend their understanding of scientific concepts as it is essential to have a sound grasp of the science in order to meaningfully evaluate different positions. For teachers looking to enhance their practice in this area, the ethics-in-science planning tool presented in this article might be a useful resource to consider. The tool supports teachers to think through and develop a detailed lesson sequence for teaching ethics in science.
26
Science education
There’s a lot that primary school teachers can do to help develop their students’ science learning. This article sets out straightforward possibilities, including encouraging students to observe the world and talk about their ideas. It argues that there’s a need for students to learn about some topics in depth and play the "whole game" of science.
29
Curriculum and assessment
This article considers the delicate positioning of social studies in a context of curriculum integration. The common primary school practice of integrating social studies as part of a wider inquiry may inadvertently challenge the integrity of the discipline. The article outlines a vignette of a civic engagement inquiry by a new entrant and Years 1/2 class as an example of the authors’ efforts to balance competing forces that simultaneously conserve and disturb social studies’ disciplinary boundaries in a context of curriculum integration.
35
Key competencies
This article explores the shift from "essential skills" to "key competencies" in the school curriculum. Drawing on information gathered from teacher interviews and observations at a New Zealand primary school, this article suggests that culture and context strongly shape and influence the interpretation of key competencies. The authors develop a metaphor—te tuangi—to theorise the relationship between a learner (akonga) and a teacher (kaiako) in a cultural and social context.
42
Assessment, Key competencies, Literacy, Maths education
In this article, Yvonne, a junior school teacher, describes how she decided to explore how key competencies could be integrated into the daily programme, and assessed, without creating extra workload for teachers. The article outlines how, with support from Keryn and Sue, Yvonne developed a way in which she could document the learning of key competencies and the learning of the subject-related learning areas at the same time. She recognises that the two go together like "clasped hands with the fingers entwined", and this leads her to "split-screen" pedagogy and analysis of the learning. Examples are included, and responses from parent interviews are added.
49
Key competencies
Two teachers research the documentation, continuity and complexity of key competencies in their combined new entrant, Year 1 and Year 2 classroom. They wanted to find ways to make the continuity visible without losing the complex interconnection of three aspects: key competencies, subjects and topics of interest. They saw the value of analysing case studies, and began to describe them as co-constructed pathways of learning. This article sets out the case study for one of the children, Kaleb, analysing the learning using four dimensions of strength.
56
Special education, Student well-being
There seems to be an increase in children entering school with globally delayed development, including poor gross and fine motor skills. What ways are there to increase these students’ skills so they are able to access more activities?
61
Assessment, Curriculum and assessment
In the last edition of Assessment News (Part 1 of this “quick guide”), we looked at how measurement error limits the precision of test scores. In this edition of Assessment News we examine how another source of error—sampling error—affects how we can use test results for a group. For example, we need to consider sampling error if we want to use the test results to make judgements about the general effectiveness of the teaching and learning programme the group was involved in.