Expressions of Interest

Call for expressions of interest from NSW DEC schools or community of school groups:

2015 – Future Pedagogies Project

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SCOPE

The Future Pedagogies project explores how educators develop, employ and evaluate pedagogies to meet the evolving needs of their school communities. The project examines the relationship between pedagogical change and evidence-based practice. Participants apply issues in current research to identify pedagogy-related problems in their school context and develop a strong evidential base to work through solutions and effect meaningful change. The project considers the nature of pedagogical change in the context of the realities contemporary schools face, including the implementation of national teaching standards and Australian Curriculum, the impact of technology and the pressures of high stakes testing.

[ilink style=”download” url=”http://macict.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/MacICT_EOI_FuturePedagogiesProject.pdf”]Download Flyer[/ilink]

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

This project explores the following research questions:

  1. What are the skills that enable teachers to employ pedagogies suited to the specific learners and learning context?
  2. How can schools develop and draw on a common language for pedagogy to establish successful learning outcomes?
  3. What are the necessary elements of pedagogical fluency and how can these be developed?
  4. What role can contemporary technologies play in employing pedagogies for current and future learning needs?
“There is no one single effective teaching method or strategy. Teachers need to be proficient in many teaching practices and, more importantly, be able to assess their impact on students and adapt their teaching practices to assist students if they are not responding or engaged” – (NSW Government, “Great Teaching, Inspired Learning,” p. 6)

PARTICIPATION

Future Pedagogies is a collective case study of pedagogies in NSW government schools. Employing both qualitative and quantitative research methods, a team from Macquarie ICT Innovations Centre will work with the principal and a small team of leaders from each school involved. Your participation in this project includes:

  • completion by the principal of the Expression of Interest Questionnaire and involvement in ONE Adobe Connect focus group session;
  • the six successful primary and high schools will receive a grant of $5000 to support participation in the project;
  • attendance by the principal and team at THREE face-to-face workshop days, where professional learning and opportunities to network and share best practice are provided;
  • development and implementation of school pedagogy plans to formalise an approach in terms of strategic goals and use of allocated funds; and
  • ONE school visit and focus group interview with participants.

BENEFITS

Future Pedagogies aims to assist principals and school leaders in developing the pedagogical fluency of their teachers. By encouraging school communities to identify contextual constraints and professional learning needs, explore current pedagogy-related research and share best practice within and between school communities, the project seeks to realise a wide range of benefits:

  • Teachers and school leaders – benefit from the identification of factors that lead to pedagogical change, with targeted professional learning based on research findings that relevant to each school’s context.
  • Students – benefit from the “flow on” effect of pedagogical fluency, with teachers better able to employ a wider range of pedagogical approaches to more effectively meet individual student needs.
  • Schools and communities – participants’ school communities benefit from PL that is developed specifically for their school context, while other school communities learn from this process and have findings and resources to support their own development.

Each school is invited to express their interest in being part of this project and successful schools will receive funding to support teachers’ professional learning. The planned implementation timeframe will be the first two terms of 2015.

“The push factor is that school is increasingly boring for students and alienating for teachers. The pull factor is that the exploding and alluring digital world is irresistible, but not necessarily productive in its raw form. The push-pull dynamic makes it inevitable that disruptive changes will occur… with more radical change in the next five years than has occurred in the past fifty years” – (Michael Fullan, “The New Pedagogy: Teachers and Students as Learning Partners,” p. 23).

The Expressions of interest (EOI) Questionnaire includes a series of short and longer-answer questions where principals are asked to:

  1. rate a series of items that reflect a range of pedagogical approaches and common school support structures;
  2. describe pedagogy in their school context; and
  3. identify one significant challenge for developing effective pedagogies in their school community and brief discussion of how they plan to respond to this challenge through their participation in the project.

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Closing date for submission of EOI: Friday 21st November, 5pm.

Link to EOI Questionnaire: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/futurepedagogies

For more information, please contact Cathie Howe (MacICT Centre Manager) at catherine.howe@det.nsw.edu.au or on 9850 4310.

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