What was important, given where Hama’s students were at?
This is a bilingual Year 9 class with a wide range of abilities in English, and a variety of literacy skills. This lesson occurred in Term 3, in a class where there has been a writing programme throughout the year. Hama wants his students to achieve success as Māori. In order to do this, he uses strategies that allow him to co-construct the learning with the students. Students are actively involved in leading the learning where possible.
What evidence did Hama draw on?
Te Kotahitanga’s focus on culturally responsive pedagogy is the underlying factor in all practice for the bilingual unit. A large part of this teaching philosophy is the recognition of each individual within the group. In addition, the English department has a particular understanding of teaching and learning writing that has been developed through the Collins Writing programme.The students range from Level 2 to Level 5 in e-asTTle Reading. Hama did not want to focus on this in his teaching but rather used an Achieved/Merit/Excellence rubric to set high expectations for all students in the class and to allow them to set their own goals for their writing.
Video clip: High expectations and goal setting
What evidence did Hama draw on from his own practice or that of his colleagues?
The bilingual unit sits between the Māori department and other subject departments and functions as a cohesive unit. Therefore there is a commonality of practice across all the subjects. This allows for a much greater transfer of knowledge and content across subjects than is usual for secondary students. It also means that Hama has a deeper knowledge of his students in other subjects and beyond the classroom.
Hama's class - teaching inquiry
Published on: 26 Oct 2012
The Effective Teaching Profile consists of six elements.
