Case Study:

Rose’s Parent and school community CRP action research project

Teacher: Rosemarie Donnelly
School: Gold Creek School
Learning area: Primary
Year level: P/K

Context

Gold Creek School is a preschool to year 10 International Baccalaureate (IB) World School in Nichols ACT. The school has a junior campus and a senior campus. The junior campus implements the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP).

My role at Gold Creek School is the executive teacher for Preschool and Kindergarten. I directly support 10 teachers and 190 students.

I graduated from University of Tasmania in 2005. I have been employed since then in Tasmanian and ACT government schools as a classroom teacher. I am currently employed in an acting School Leader C role.

The pedagogical challenge

Key idea: Culture is an asset for learning.

I had noticed a disconnect between culture at home and at school. I knew that families were speaking rich and diverse languages at home. I wanted to encourage and deepen the connection between home and school.

As a classroom teacher time and time again when meeting with families I would encourage students to continue to learn their home language alongside formal language learning in the Australian Curriculum.

Theoretical Basis

‘Guidelines for preparing culturally responsive teachers for Alaska’s schools’ (Alaska Native Knowledge Network 1999)

Links to the five key ideas

Strongly connected
Positive cultural identity

The action research question

How does creating a safe space that celebrates cultural diversity strengthen the relationships between parents and the school community.

Doing the action research

I started a street library. This was a weekly session on Tuesday mornings from 8:30 to 8:45. Due to limited resources this was in the outside corridor near kindergarten. This was the area where most families waited before the school bell. I provided mats and a selection of quality picture books. This included Indigenous texts and bilingual texts. I checked in with families to let them know what I was doing and to listen and connect. It valued their contribution to the school.

Initially I sourced books from our library however I am slowly building up the school’s collection of books which connect with the current group of children. As part of getting to know the families, I asked where the best place to source these books are from. The street library was advertised on Facebook and our school assembly. I enlisted my previous students now in year 3 to help me with set up and I observed that these students would bring friends with them and there would be multi-ages connecting and sharing texts.

I interviewed families and connected with families in the outdoor space. I chatted to them about the action research project. Through these discussions I was able to find out more about their home languages and discover where the best place is to buy books in their language. It was a valuable opportunity to connect with a wide range of families in a relaxed informal environment.

I took photos of families and children sharing and connecting and I kept a journal to document my noticing and wonderings. Though my observations it was evident that the street library is more successful in term 4 when the weather is more pleasant.

The broader picture

Gold Creek School Improvement Priority 1: Increase students’ connection to community through building school pride. Targets or measures by the end of 2026 we will achieve: Students will experience a strong sense of belonging and pride in the school and be committed to purposeful and successful learning.

Gold Creek School will continue to strengthen being an inclusive space, with a high level of cultural integrity where diversity is embraced, students are valued for who they are, and the school community is a welcome and valued partner in student learning.

International Baccalaureate (IB) programming model. International Mindedness is understanding, respecting and valuing different cultures. It helps students embrace diversity and realize that different perspectives have a great deal to offer.

Conclusions

Enhanced my professional practice. It fed my professional soul. I was fortunate to meet amazing colleagues and have the opportunity to be part of this program to have robust converations, the opportunity to practice what we learned and then at the end to present my findings allowed me to stretch my thinking rather than being engaged in narrow literacy or numeracy focus.
Opportunity to engage in rich discussion within a supportive network within ACT Education Directorate and the University of Canberra.
Using aspects of CRP in my school by leading PLT with my preschool and kindergarten teachers. I embedded strategies that I learned with my colleague teachers, and it supported our program to have authentic links and to cater for a much larger cohort of children by ensuring that there was the opportunity for deep connection in our learning we offered our students and to be guided by them. This provided teachers with the scaffold neccessary to try out different approaches to reflect on aspects we would like to change and to celebrate the success that we have. A future focus for me and my team is the opportunity for authentic activism for our students and our teachers and what that may look like in the early years.
Building a culture of engagement with families.
Supported me to have a deeper understanding of my own cultural identity.