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SiMERR Summit
Ways to
improve educational outcomes
in rural and regional
Tasmania
10am - 4pm on Wednesday 4th June 2008
Sir Raymond
Ferrall Centre, UTAS, Newnham Drive, Launceston
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Discussion Group Ideas
John Kenny: The group that I led
considered the issue of engaging students in learning and came to the
conclusion that Teachers were central to any moves to improve the
curriculum. So professional learning for teachers, to support them and build
their confidence was seen as essential to bringing about sustainable change.
It
was commented that effective professional learning has also to be
contextual, meaning in that it should relate to what teachers actually do
and should occur close to and relate to their working environment.
Teachers also were seen central to acceptance of educational change by the
broader community. It was felt that teachers have a valuable role as
conduits or an interface explain and introducing change to parents and
adapting central innovations to suit their local communities.
It
was also felt by the group that adequate resources must be provided, and
that early interventions would be more likely to be effective in bringing
about improvements.
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Jaci Brown: We discussed professional
learning, the lack of it, the need for it and how to get more. Teachers
pointed out that they would like to do more but really don't have any spare
time. Their school holidays and weekends should not be used for PLs. Often
they were already doing work on the weekends and in the holidays. They
suggested that if they had an administrative assistant they would have more
time for PLs. For example someone who is not a teacher to do playground duty
and photocopying.
But
who would fund the PLs? Business representatives pointed out that they
needed clear proof that the PLs would be effective. Our conclusion - Could
the universities encourage business to run PLs by showing them research that
demonstrates the effectiveness and outcomes of PLs?
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Andrew Fluck: My group was keen on the
idea of industry providing professional learning for teachers.
People from commence and industry know a lot about their businesses. They
know a great deal about the science behind products, and how market research
shapes what they do. Teachers often want to tap into this expertise, but are
limited to the scope of their personal networks and their ideas of what
local industry might be able to offer.
To
bring these two groups together, the groups suggested that ICT be used to
bring commitments and desires into alignment. Industry partners might list
what they are prepared to provide on a web-based bulletin board. For
instance, a firm might offer to provide 3 one-hour talks on measuring soil
salinity within a 40km radius of Smithton in a year. Similarly, a school
might request an expert in some area of agricultural science and commit 3
teachers for an hour to receive training in the subject.
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Kerry Howells:
In our group there were two big ideas that
were discussed with much passion and enthusiasm.
The
first was the need to promote greater quality in the kinds of
partnerships we have in the future. Of particular interest is partnerships
that are invested in for the long-term (not just the life of a short grant),
those that involve both public and private schools, and involve the
community at all levels.
The
other idea that provoked much discussion in our group was the notion that
greater use of FaceBook would be an innovative and effective way of
achieving improved professional learning for teachers. The reasons proposed
were that it is gaining increasing popularity amongst younger teachers and
is thought to be the leading communication network of the future. Other
advantages discussed were that this would assist with breaking down silos
and the isolation that can occur because of distance and shortages of time.
It also has the potential to break down barriers in regards to Face Book
would provide a common meeting point for teachers to share ideas, network,
communicate, be connected, but it could also be a space where professional
development could occur. This technology would hold great appeal to younger
teachers and would also be a way of involving wider cross-sections of the
community including parents, student representatives, and government and
business representatives– all of who may not be able to “drive” to a
particular location at a particular time.
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Noleine Fitzallen: Recruiting and retaining teachers in rural and
regional schools was the focus of our discussions. Many ideas were put
forward that were based on the need to develop partnerships between local
councils and communities, local businesses, and individuals. A holistic
approach was favoured over individual projects and initiatives. Some main
points were:
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Representation from local councils
identified that councils could contribute to attracting teachers by
taking on a marketing role, which would promote the benefits of a rural
lifestyle and highlight unique aspects for their particular rural
communities.
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The opportunities for businesses to
contribute as providers of professional learning and ongoing support for
teachers were also identified. This could allow teachers to develop
expertise in areas directly related to the local regions.
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It was suggested that teachers could
connect with businesses by visiting workplaces and engaging in a
dialogue about knowledge, skills, and training required to assist in
developing career pathways for students.
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Mentoring was suggested as a way of
supporting teachers in rural communities. This would assist teachers to
feel part of the community and identify more readily with the needs of
the community.
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Denise Neal:
Our group focussed on the need for
sustainable programs/initiatives and the need to look to future directions
which build real community, business, education and industry collaboration
in a sustainable and ongoing way. This includes systemic change and focus
which goes beyond the life of a government and looks at issues in the long
term, recognising that real change takes time.
We
also discussed some of the issues around how we might innovatively support
schools in engaging in projects and professional learning; these included
the possibility of closer links with undergraduates and the possibility of
employing more teachers in schools to support professional learning.
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Helen Brown:
Building capacity - In order to build capacity we need to draw on
resources such as existing infrastructure in a community, recognise that
there are many within a community that we do not traditionally readily
associate with schools who are part of networks we do not know about and
therefore are great sources of different perspectives, have knowledge about
different resources that may be available etc. (this concurs with the
networking literature and strong and weak ties).
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Contact Sue
Stack at Susan.Stack@utas.edu.au
if you would like to propose a project.
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Science,
Information and Communication Technology and Mathematics Education for Rural
and Regional Australia |
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Please send comments about this web-site to:
Andrew.Fluck@utas.edu.au
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