Forming my Hypothesis - High Leverage Practices and Mathematical Discourse - #11

The review of the evidence-based research literature (please refer to my previous posts) made me reflect on my own teaching practice and think about what can I do to improve my learners' outcomes across the curriculum with a closer focus on Maths.

My hypothesis is that the high leverage practices and mathematical discourse can improve students' critical, cognitive and metacognitive thinking, develop their key competencies, maths knowledge and skills, and contribute to their better achievements across the curriculum.

 

Learning from Literature on Discourse - #10

One of the leading resources for discourse is Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn (Chapin, O’Connor, and Anderson 2009).  

This resource and others highlight five teaching practices associated with improving the quality of discourse in the classroom.

Five Teaching Practices for Improving the Quality of Discourse in Mathematics Classrooms

1) Talk moves that engage students in discourse,

2) The art of questioning,

3) Using student thinking to propel discussions,

4) Setting up a supportive environment, and

5) Orchestrating the discourse. 

The research shows that problem-solving, reasoning and proof, communication, connections, and representation–can be seen in action in a discourse-rich mathematics community as students interact, question one another and convey their understanding. 

Many educators and researchers think that classroom talk has the power to improve both students’ learning and ability to reason. Another benefit to 

When the talk is used intensively in classes, students may get a richer sense of what words and phrases mean and of when to use them. Their control of complex grammar also improves, in speaking and in reading. 

Over time, talk improves students’ social skills and ability to be patient and cooperative with others.

There are some limitations and it is not a "magic wand' that can solve all the problems; however, it is definitely a great tool that should be utilized in our classrooms.

Professional Reading to form a Hypothesis - #9

Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All 

by National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, February 1, 2024 

Eight High-Leverage Instructional Practices

• Establish mathematics goals to focus learning

• Implement tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving

• Use and connect mathematical representations

• Facilitate meaningful mathematical discourse

• Pose purposeful questions

• Build procedural fluency from conceptual understanding

• Support productive struggle in learning mathematics

• Elicit and use evidence of student thinking

This read was unpacking specific teaching practices, that are essential for high-quality mathematics education for all students.

Reflecting on my teaching practice and learning from the article, I confirmed that implementing Talk Moves, Number Talk and Problem solving are powerful tools of an effective maths programme. Another example of the HLP is a balance of group and mixed ability teaching in various learning situations.

This read resonated with my belief in the importance to explicitly focus on developing a Growth mindset and changing students' negative beliefs about 'being bad in maths' and developing critical thinking and achievement across the curriculum.

Literature Review: Quality Teaching for Diverse Students - #8

I've been looking for a good read about quality teaching and the best evidence-based and proven practices in New Zealand and came across the following report:

Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis 

by Adrienne Alton-Lee (2003)

(‘This report is one of a series of best evidence syntheses commissioned by the Ministry of Education. It is part of a commitment to strengthen the evidence base that informs education policy and practice in New Zealand. It aims to contribute to an ongoing evidence-based discourse amongst policymakers, educators and researchers.’)

It was an interesting read as it confirmed my thinking in a way that ‘quality teaching can optimise outcomes for diverse learners across the curriculum, and throughout Schooling.’ 

The research identified some practical areas of how to improve the quality of teaching that can be summarised and aligned with the High-Leverage Practices that Manaiakalani schools have been focusing on.

I decided to benchmark my teaching practice against some of the research-based characteristics of quality teaching to reflect on and identify areas for improvement.

Quality teaching promotes learning orientations and student self-regulation

- I use student voice to allow my student to take ownership of their learning and create student-driven content.

Teaching promotes metacognitive strategy use (e.g. mental strategies in numeracy) by all students.

- I use Number talk, choral counting and problem-solving in maths that require a lot of thinking, and Integrated learning that allows my students to apply their new knowledge in real-life situations.

Teaching scaffolds reciprocal or alternating tuakana teina roles in student groups, or interactive work.

- I use mixed ability groups and drama to provide opportunities for tuakana teina learning.

Teaching promotes sustained thoughtfulness (e.g. through questioning approaches, wait-time, and the provision of opportunities for application and invention).

- I use Talk Moves across the curriculum.

Teaching promotes critical thinking.

- My programme includes a lot of questioning, information analysis, compare and contrast tasks, and Learn-Create-Share projects.

Teaching makes transparent to students the links between strategic effort and accomplishment. - Just a recent example. My students worked on a play. I recorded their first attempt, then we watched it and discussed how we could improve their performance. The students came up with great ideas and continued to work on their play. Finally, we recorded it again and evaluated it. My students were very proud of their effort and the result.

It was a good exercise as this will help me continue to refine my own practice and support my team in their teaching journey.