In Term 3, my team looked at the ways to transform the way we learn, offer new experiences and create new opportunities for our students to boost their engagement and improve their learning outcomes.
As GTS has been exploring the role of student agency, we decided to use our new (or refreshed) learning in our classes and introduced Maths matrices and Choice boards in literacy and maths.
When we take students through the curriculum without involving them, we act as learner managers instead of learner empowerers and we miss the opportunity to let students find their own way. That's why we tried to involve our students by getting their input on how they’d like to demonstrate what they’ve learned. For example, students work with their buddies to practise one of the areas to achieve what's required. Sharing with them what exactly they need to do in order to move up the levels (or stages) showed us a simple way to channel students' learning. Young people are highly competitive and goal-driven. We enjoyed watching them choosing not just a busy activity during their independent learning time but something that will help them achieve their desired goals.
John Hattie, author and educational researcher of influences and effect sizes related to student achievement, states student efficacy has a .92 effect size on student learning (Visibile Learning 2019). Student efficacy is the understanding that pupils believe they can achieve a complex goal or outcome.
Targeting student agency, we planned and allowed for student involvement in the creation of our choice boards - this helped increase their ownership and follow-through.
