Transcript Involvement Action Research - Education Effectiveness

Action Research Project:
Enhancing Involvement
Network Group
• Jane Morgan:
Craigcefnparc Primary
• Julie McElroy:
Glyncollen Primary
• Alison Evans:
Manselton Primary
Gender Differences
Aim: To look at gender differences:
• teacher led activities
• child initiated activities
Background to my school
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Small, rural school.
83 on roll including Nursery
Year 1 / 2 class: 15 morning (4 Y2, 11 Y1)
Reception join in the afternoon (23 total)
Throughout the school there is a higher ratio of boys
so we are aware of gender issues.
• In my class there is more even split (7 girls, 8 boys).
Why I chose to research gender
difference.
• The school has a higher ratio of boys to girls.
• I had observed that the boys had highly
stereotypical roles in class.
• Boys engaged mainly in construction and
computer activities to the exclusion of other
learning areas.
• Boys generally needed more encouragement to
stay on tasks.
Background to motivation for research
choice.
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On Wednesday afternoons children
have free choice – they are able to do
whatever they want within reason in
the areas within the classroom (eg
creative, roleplay, computers, carpet
area, construction).
I observed that during these free
choice sessions that boys were mainly
choosing computers and construction.
I observed that during free choice
sessions the girls were mainly
choosing roleplay and creative areas.
There was very little interaction
between girls and boys during the free
choice sessions.
Plan for child initiated activities
• Observe children during
free choice sessions.
• Make changes.
• Observe children.
• Reflect.
• Refine and improve on
earlier changes.
What I did….
• Reorganised range of
activities in free choice
sessions. Removed
activities previously
favoured by boys to
encourage more interaction
with other creative areas.
• The girls were able to
choose between the
computers and table top
activities.
Observations
• Children used the more
directed choice of activities
but were reluctant.
• The levels of involvement
were lower than before
when they had free choice
of all activities.
• Motivation decreased and
they were less enthusiastic
about this session.
Teacher Led Activities
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I observed them during Numeracy
sessions.
The boys showed more involvement
during the mental maths warm up
sessions which included the quick fire
round questions. The girls were less
involved and more reticent to
participate.
Girls and boys like hands on activities
using equipment such as multiblocks,
the whiteboards, number fans and the
interactive whiteboard.
Girls were more inclined to answer
when using the practical equipment.
The way forward….
To increase the level of involvement during:
• Teacher Led - I intend to always use some
form of practical equipment during the mental
maths warm up.
• Child Initiated – I intend to allow children to
choose any activity during free choice
sessions.
Enhancing Involvement in a Nursery Class
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Nursery class - 31 children (13 girls / 18 boys) – aged 4 years (moving to
Reception next Sept). Teacher in second year of teaching. Setting still
very much under development (moving towards Foundation Phase).
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Initial motivation stemmed from an explosion of daily fighting games
influenced by films and TV programmes (especially Power Rangers).
Observations showed the game was played mainly by core group of 6
boys but game sometimes involved more children including one or two
girls too.
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Small guns were being made from the construction toys (lego and
sticklebricks). Observed chasing, aggression and enactment of shooting
people. Little language used. Some children upset by pretend violence
especially those not playing and getting caught up in it. Games resulted
in lots of daily accidents also spilling over into squabbles and real
fighting! A parent approached me with concern that one child was
reluctant to come to school due to a ‘fighting game’ (the child was a
‘player’ of the fighting games).
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Discussed with Nursery team (3 TA’s). Spent many weeks using
different tactics in effort to discourage the games (whole class
discussions, circle time discussions, reward system for not playing,
game ‘spotters’ encouraged to tell on players, taking away of
construction ‘gun’ toys, talked to parents about watching of the
programme – all said their child did not watch).
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Some children got clever, started to pretend to be playing other ‘nicer’
games and that the ‘guns’ were ‘flowers’ even though it was the same
game in reality!
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Something had to be done! Looked at what was happening and where.
Observations showed that my continuous provision areas were being
used for other purposes (to play the fighting game!). Used the Laevers
Scale to observe activity in my areas on a daily basis over a week.
Other adults also recorded their observations on post-its in an
observation book. Results showed that involvement observed my areas
was around Level 2 and 3 (frequently interrupted activity and mainly
continuous activity) with some Level 4 on times (continuous activity with
intense moments). Decided my areas needed some change.
Plan of Action
1.
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6.
7.
Identify two areas currently not working to engage
children.
Observe children in these areas using the Ferre
Leavers
Involvement Scale to assess
effectiveness.
Ask the children about the areas (likes, wishes).
Reflect on what I have found.
Reorganise the areas with aims i) to enable children
to become more engaged with area, and ii) in time
be able to access area independently.
Observe, reflect, make any changes.
With time repeat whole process with all continuous
provision areas.
Then I asked the children:
1.
What do you enjoy most in the Nursery?
Top Five
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Bikes: 5 girls / 4 boys
Art, Craft, creative : 4 girls
Sand, water: 4 boys / 1 girl
Roleplay areas: 3 girls / 1 boy
Train Track: 2 boys
Reflection
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Boys not using/enjoying the Roleplay area (house with usual
domestic items). Must make more appealing to them.
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Boys not enjoying/using the creative area (painting, junk
modelling, cut and paste) preferring instead the sand and
water.
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Both boys and girls love the bikes and outdoor play.
2. What would you like in the Nursery?
Top Five Wishes
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More dolls – 4 girls
A trampoline – 1 girl /2 boys (fighter)
Power rangers toys - 3 boys (fighters)
Change house roleplay areas - 3 girls
More outdoors equipment (slides, balls, hula hoop) – 2 girls / 1 boy
Reflection
• Roleplay areas not inspiring high level of independent play or
learning.
• Roleplay areas need regular change, more than one area to meet
all interests of both boys and girls and to include more challenging
equipment and materials.
• 3 boys really love Power Rangers!
• Girls really love playing dolls!
• Need to think about enhancing/changing outdoor play – buying
some new equipment and introducing some new activities.
The old creative area
* uninviting
* unorganised
* uninspiring
* children not using independently
The new creative area
All materials made more accessible to children at all times and changed
regularly.
Projects have included making a wall for Humpty, a Beanstalk, models
of vehicles and a giant (all were optional to join in and all activities in
the area attracted the ‘fighters’).
Observations show involvement of Levels 4/5 on Leavers Scale.
Our old House area –
Now Glyncollen Travel Agency
(inspired by the children talking about journeys).
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Amazingly all the fighting boys love it (were
the first to play!). The children now:
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* Roleplay the customer – select a brochure
and choose the holiday, provide the travel
agent with their holiday information (what
holiday, where going, when going, how
travelling, who going), pay for the holiday with
a credit card including typing in their pin
number, plan what they are packing in their
suitcase etc.
•
*Roleplay the travel agent: ask the customer
questions as above and type that information
into the computer, book the plane seat(s) on
the computer, phone the hotel to check
availability, give the customer the price, take
the payment via credit card, give the customer
a receipt and tickets, even use appropriate
language (hi how can I help you! etc).
•
All observations indicate involvement is higher
at Levels 4/5 on the Laevers Scale.
• The children wanted to visit a travel agency but it
was felt that the class of 31 children might be too
big so we asked a local travel agent to visit us and
give a talk about what happens there.
Next: The old ‘construction’ area
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Uninspiring, under used.
children not using independently
Area currently being developed
by the children (they want a Bob
the Builder Fix It Shop). They
have chosen what goes in the Fix
It Shop.
Girls are using the tools from
the Fix It Shop to fix bikes and
scooters.
3 previous fighters love this
area!
Level 4/5 on Leavers
involvement scale observed plus
much singing of the Bob the
Builder song!
•Observed children: taking/making phone calls to
customers re broken toys and
• phoning for more helpers to fix the toys.
Overall Reflections
• Boys were particularly attracted to the new areas
(these included all the boys who liked to play the
fighting games). Revisited roleplay areas each day.
• Observations showed that in one week the fighting
games were only played by (the same) 2 boys on a
regular basis.
• Observations showed that the children are playing
and using the areas independently every day (once
shown their way around it).
• Plan to carry out the same process with all continuous
provision areas in Nursery (observe, ask children,
reflect, implement change etc).
• Also very keen to do something with measuring /
improving wellbeing too (probably September 08).
Action Research into the levels of
involvement.
• Aim: To monitor the levels of
involvement during –
• Teacher led activities
• Child initiated activities - through
the use of the ‘choice board’
Action research – Involvement
Background
• Year 2 class
• 30 children in the class – 21
boys and 9 girls
• 1 child with a statement
• 1 ‘B’ Band and 4 ‘A’ band
children
• Range of ability
• Very small classroom on the
second floor of the school –
limited room for learning
areas
• Lively, enthusiastic class
Action Research – Involvement
Reasons for choice of monitoring
• We were already using the
choice board in the class
• As a class they generally
needed encouragement to
stay on task during activities
• I wanted to monitor the
extended involvement of
certain members of the class
• I also wanted to monitor the
involvement of the class
during a range of different
activities.
What happened
Teacher initiated activities
1. Philosophy lesson
2. Making ‘worry dolls’ following EI work in
Circle Time
3. Drawing own fairy tale characters – relating
to story ‘Once upon a Time’
What happened
Child initiated activities
1. Creating resources for a new role play area
2. Promoting a book for Book Week
3. My Body / Myself
Action Research Findings
Child initiated activities
• The overall theme was given to
the children and they came up
with things they would like to do
relating to this.
• The choices were then written on
the individual boards, with a
number indicating how many
could reasonably partake in each
activity.
• The children then placed their
name cards on the activity they
want to participate in.
• Although the children had choice
they were still restricted to limited
space thus limited resources. They
also could not include outdoor
activities as there was no
supervision
Plan for the Action Research
• Focus on three children
• Child A Statement – visual, speech
and language, physical and general
learning needs – 1:1 support 20 hours
a week
• Child B capable pupil, came from
another school, difficulty listening on
the carpet, constantly fidgeting, easily
distracted,
• Child C EAL pupil, some learning
needs, requires instructions repeating,
finds it difficult to maintain
concentration during class work
• These children will be observed
during 6 separate sessions – 3 teacher
led and 3 child initiated.
• Each child’s involvement will be
observed over the session and more
intensely for a shorter period of time.
• Involvement scales will be used from
the course.
Overall findings – focus group
Teacher
Led
Activity
1
Teacher
Led
Activity
2
Teacher
Led
Activity
3
Child
Initiated
Activity
1
Child
Initiated
Activity
2
Child
Initiated
Activity
3
Child
A
2
4
4
4
2
3/4
Child
B
3/4
4
2
2
3
4/5
Child
C
2/3
4
3/4
4
4
3/4
Pupil
Overall findings – focus group
• Looking at the scales for involvement the scales of
involvement are very similar
• The type of activity is very important to the involvement
• The teacher led activities I chose to use involved lots of key
skills and an element of creativity, if I had chosen more
mundane activities these results might have been very
different.
• All focus group children scored relatively highly on both
teacher led and child initiated, higher scores than they would
have with certain activities during the school day.
• The creative activities were more successful, each child
showed high levels of engagement
• The choice board was very successful in engaging the children
and they certainly responded to the element of choice and
autonomy.
Overall findings with class
involvement
What did I learn?
• As a class the child initiated activities were more successful in engaging the
children.
• The children worked more collaboratively during child initiated activities
• How inventive and creative my class were when give the chance
• How the size of the classroom can hinder the success of child initiated
activities
• Children’s disposition and motivation is greater when they have an input
and say into what they are doing
• Resources and adult support is needed for more purposeful learning
• Children will remain on task for longer when they have a say in what they
do
• Teacher led activities can be very positive regarding child involvement
depending on the task.
Where do I go from here!
• Continue to use the choice board with the children
deciding the activities
• Develop the use of the choice board – next year. Use
it every day with a mixture of teacher led and child
initiated activities
• Make a greater effort to bring a more creative element
into activities.
• Make a concerted effort to increase the children’s
involvement in more activities during the school day
• Get a bigger classroom!
Network Group Findings
• In all research the level of involvement was higher in the
majority of children when they were given a greater element of
choice.
• Boys and girls prefer certain activities according to their
gender (both Nursery and Yr1/2).
• However, this was not so prevalent when the children were
working out of doors (eg Forest Schools). Not only was the
level of involvement high but girls and boys had higher
interaction together.
• The greater the element of creativity the greater the
involvement (in both teacher led and child initiated activities).
• The younger children responded well to more parameters
during roleplay.
Network Group Conclusions
Challenges to children’s involvement:
• effective learning areas depends on size of classroom,
• regular change of focus in learning areas,
• resources, time, LSA support,
• effectively incorporating the philosophy of the Foundation Phase
and the restrictions of the National Curriculum in YR1/2.
Positives:
• The fact that we are able to have the freedom to carry out a small
scale piece of research on children’s dispositions to learning and
involvement, and have time to discuss and reflect with others from
completely different schools has been extremely beneficial.
• Spotlight is now on children’s learning (rather than on teacher’s
teaching) and this emphasis is a crucial factor in increasing the
wellbeing and involvement and future success of every child.