Inquiry question
What were Melanie’s learning needs? What was her inquiry question?
“My learning needs were centred on how to better support teachers to link theory about literacy with what was happening in their classrooms. Every teacher is different, and so is every classroom. So I also needed to learn how to identify the most effective lever for change in a given situation and how to then make best use of it.
The focus for me and my colleagues was our feedback conversations – teachers said they found them very useful, but they were not helping the teachers to become self-regulatory or to integrate theory with practice. Teachers were focusing on changing a particular lesson rather than thinking “What does this mean for my practice in other situations?”
So my inquiry question became: “How do I work with teachers and colleagues to support them towards self-regulatory practice?”
The immediate challenge was how to go about my post-observation conversation with Glenda. Although her modelling had engaged the students and was of very good quality, the students’ responses showed that many of them were unclear about the learning.
Given this, how would I start our conversation? What would the lever for change be for Glenda? And how could I use the lesson as a catalyst for higher-level discussions and deeper learning?
In the past, I would have spent a lot of time analysing this particular lesson to help the teacher “discover” what needed to be improved. What would I do differently this time?”
How does this inquiry question relate to your practice?
Describe a recent situation when you gave a teacher or colleague feedback after an observation.
What was the purpose of the observation and feedback? What was the intended outcome? How did it link to other learning for the teacher or colleague?
What did you do in the conversation? How did you structure it? What role did you play?
Why did you act as you did? How did your actions help you achieve the intended outcome?
How do you know? What evidence do you have?
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