[Nick] Here at Urangan, our #1 focus is always on teaching and learning.
[Mitch] So intentional collaboration has really given our faculty an opportunity to
ensure that our units are fully aligned to the Australian Curriculum.
[Kurt] Intentional collaboration has not only improved teacher pedagogical
practice but it's improved student outcomes.
[Regan] Today we are following up with Urangan State High School to see how an experienced
teaching team use the power of collaborative inquiry in refining their pedagogical approach.
[Kurt]
So at Urangan State High School we have a curriculum and pedagogical
implementation process that we call the CAPIP.
[Nick] We were then able to bring along a
couple of extra faculties and have them trial the process.
The whole way along we were open to taking feedback from those teachers
and refining the process.
Once we'd refined a process that we're pretty confident would deliver that curriculum clarity
and also that sharing of pedagogical expertise, we were able to upscale across the school.
[Kurt] The Maths faculty got on board halfway through 2020 and we've built on that process ever
since then and we've seen some really big growth in the Maths faculty with our teaching practice.
[Nick] In terms of our curriculum and pedagogical implementation process
we have a really structured set of meetings that our teachers work through.
[Kurt] So we'd have a curriculum meeting, a pedagogy meeting,
a collaborative assessment of student work, and then we would do a review meeting.
Step #1 - Do we all have clarity around what we're going to be teaching in our classrooms?
And that happens before the unit is taught.
So the second meeting we then do was our pedagogy meeting.
So now that we know what we're teaching, the big bit now is how do we deliver it in the classroom.
So at the end of our pedagogy meeting, what we do is we come up with an agreed-upon pedagogical
approach in the classroom that we all agree that we're going to be implementing in our classrooms,
so that when we come back for the third meeting which is
our collaborative assessment of student work that we can reflect on what worked,
what didn't work, and what else we need to do before the unit's over.
[Andrew] Where the power in the CAPIP process came in was the
collaborative assessment of student work meetings.
[Kurt] So in our review meeting we get teachers to calibrate their marking.
[Mitch] So that we know that teacher judgment is consistent across the faculty.
[Andrew] When teachers meet collaboratively,
these students are the focus of all the teachers in the team whether they teach them or not
allowing for a shared responsibility and accountability of results.
[Mitch] So intentional collaboration has really given our faculty an opportunity to
ensure that our units are fully aligned to the Australian Curriculum.
[Michael] In the Maths department, intentional collaboration has really allowed us to get a
clear and concise message out to all students in all year levels and all math strands.
And at the same time learn from experienced teachers, and mentor beginning teachers.
[Danni] So when I think about how CAPIP supports me as a teacher, I think about how I have that
time to really think about how to target explicitly for the students in my class.
I know my curriculum, I know what I need to teach.
I can now focus my time on how to teach that well, to ensure outcomes for students.
[Anthony] When you've got experienced teachers and beginning teachers coming together and
really debating as to what is the right way.
You could have two different methods of teaching and still come out with the same growth.
I think the greatest pattern is sharing
how we teach -growing our toolkit- but I suppose the unique story in Science is the fact that
we've taken on those key messages of building capacity... building leaders.
[Nick] In terms of upskilling our Heads of Department and facilitators,
we've actually created a two-part training package.
We've actually used a whole lot of resources from the department.
[Renee] So in the Science faculty I've been able to step up to become a CAPIP facilitator
and enable the intentional collaboration to happen and student outcomes to improve.
[Danni] I think the outcomes for teachers that I work with, is in their confidence.
[Nick] In terms of our teachers - any of our teachers who've been involved in that process, 83%
of them have actually reported back to us that they've seen a big improvement
in their knowledge of the Australian Curriculum, and we've had almost 70%
actually indicate that their classroom pedagogy has improved in that time.
[Andrew] Data's informed practice at Urangan State
High School through the CAPIP in a number of different ways.
We first have collected and collated staff feedback data on every teaching team that's
been through the cycle to help refine and correct and improve on our processes.
The other measure of data that we look at -and
ultimately what we judge ourselves on- is an increase in student attainment.
[Anthony] Not only we are comparable in how we assess, and our judgments...
it's the 'Aha!' moment when those students were down here and we've lifted them up.
And then going to the data wall, and the evidence is seeing the faces of the students move,
and the conversations of teachers talking about our students.
And for me -you know- it's making evidence or data real.
[Andrew] We've seen measurable improvement in students obtaining a 'C' result or better
in all of our Learning areas, but in particular in Year 7 English and Maths.
As the CAPIP is being grown and scaled up school-wide we're starting to see
an improvement in 'A' data across the school.
[Nick] In terms of advice for other schools,
there's probably four things they need to consider.
Firstly, making sure there's a clear purpose.
Secondly, it's developing some protocols for your meetings that
are going to engage staff and also build trust.
Thirdly, it's around making sure your facilitators and Heads of Department or any
staff who are going to run these meetings, really have a clear idea and are trained.
And finally, it's using an inquiry approach, and be willing to take feedback
and modify the process along the way as needed.
[Kurt] Intentional collaboration has not only improved teacher pedagogical
practice but it's improved student outcomes.
[Regan] Today we have seen the power of a whole school approach to pedagogical practices.
The Intentional Collaboration website,
built on our system-wide narrative to drive school improvement.
To find out more visit the Learning Place.