Reflective Entry 7 - Evaluating Impact

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What is the actual impact after the ‘Take Action’ phase?


The first potential impact that we had anticipated was that we would see an increase in student agency which would be shown as increased enjoyment, motivation, purpose and belief in themselves as learners who are able to take control of their own learning. As you can see from the last blog entry where we analysed the data we had collected, the dispositions of the students in the target group had certainly changed from limited agence to increased agency.


The second anticipated impact was that through sharing results with our colleagues this would drive an initiative across other areas of the school. While we have been implementing this inquiry, I have in fact been sharing my journey with my colleagues in my syndicate at least. We have some traction, others have joined in with the actions and we have regularly been discussing what is happening. Other members of the team have used the dispositions rubric as a measure for their own target groups in their classes and the team now have a strong focus on dispositions to increase agency as a part of our team inquiry. The evidence of this was not something that we had considered collecting, however meeting minutes and professional discussions could support this as evidence if required.


A third potential impact was the possibility of the students becoming more dependent on the teacher and I was very aware of this given the age of the students. Interestingly, I did see this happening in the early stages of the inquiry, they came to me ready to go each day and waited for me to organise them, talk them through the same things each day and almost followed a recipe for each session. However, over time and with reduced support (although I was still present) - they showed that they could do more and more by themselves, There is gathered evidence to support this either way as it is not something that we collected at the beginning.


How is the actual impact different from or similar to the anticipated one?
I am really pleased with the results of this inquiry so far. The impacts that were anticipated we shown and were as we had expected. There were no real surprises in the data which leads me to believe that we knew our students well and were responsive to the needs of the students. The evidence supporting the inquiry would suggest that the plan was robust and well-considered and I believe that is because it was underpinned by proven research.


One unexpected impact was the involvement of the wider community. The parents who recently attended interviews all reported that their children were talking about their writing at home more than they had previously, and two of them said they were seeing their children writing at home- which previously they had not noticed.


What is the impact on future inquiry/practice?

Stoll and Temperley’s (2015) research says the pilot scheme for Spiral of Enquiry took around 7 months to complete. This supports my ideas that for true responsive inquiry to take place, time restraints need to be removed. The spiral is never ending and there are so many ways that I could have responded to the students and yet the pressure to keep moving always won. As the Ministry of Education (n.d.) says “ideas ripple out and spirals of inquiry, learning and action become a way of thinking and doing things”. Next time, operating without the Mindlab requirements, I believe I will be far more responsive to the cyclic nature of the spiral.


However, together with my team, this inquiry will have a marked impact on our teaching. The importance of agency is evident and I can see how I can provide that at such a young age. Rather than assume they are not ready for choice - I can see arming them with the skills to make choices and the big picture of what learning looks like, agency does in fact increase.


References:

Ministry of Education (n.d.). Keeping it all going. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leading-learning/Spiral-of-inquiry-leaders-leading-learning/Keeping-it-all-going


Stoll, L., and Temperley, J. (2015). Narrowing the Gap with Spirals of Enquiry: Evaluation of Whole Education’s Pilot. Whole Education, UK. Retrieved from http://thesendhub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/narrowing-the-gap-with-spirals-of-enquiry.pdf

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