Student Voice: Literacy Dispositions

In my last post, I discussed how an understanding of my students' learner identities is crucial for effective teaching and learning. During the lockdown, I collected evidence of how taking into account their learner identities (e.g. personal identities, cultural and social backgrounds, academic performance and learning preferences) helps improve motivation and enhance students' learning outcomes. This confirmed that my hunch about coherence in putting my students at the very centre of their learning and making their learning experiences authentic is crucial for their engagement and achievements and it makes a big difference in their learning outcomes.

As one of my inquiry next steps, I asked my students to complete a questionnaire about their literacy dispositions. It required my students to think critically about their own learning, self-evaluate and self-reflect. It was not very easy for my year 2 and 3 students. In the beginning, they said it was very hard and they were not sure. However, with my prompts, they started to talk about their learning in small groups sharing their ideas. It was very interesting to observe them making the first steps in thinking about their learning! After the small group discussions, I asked them to complete the questionnaire. Most of the year 3's students became very excited to express their thought and even asked if they could help younger learners with their forms. To keep the results and data truthful, all the students were asked to complete the survey independently. 

My preliminary findings showed:

• differences in students' personal interests (as expected)
• 53% students would prefer to create their own stories over recounts, reports and poems (was a surprise for me)
• girls like reading more than boys (as expected)
• the vast majority said that shared brainstorming helps them in writing (73%)
• 40% of students found that doing 'hands-on' activities help them understand topics better
• 53% use vocabulary displayed around the class to support their learning
• the vast majority identified that they need help with an understanding of unfamiliar words

Analyzing their answers and referring back to my own findings drawn from the formative and summative assessments, I finalised my teaching focus to accelerate my students in literacy: vocabulary (H-F, word building and meaning), increasing their general knowledge and comprehensive strategies. 

My next step is to make a hypothesis and do literature research to best advance my teaching practice and make an informed decision about tools and approaches that I need to implement in order to improve my students' achievements.