Case Study:
Case study of teacher CRP action research project
Teacher: Merridy
School: Ngutu College
Learning Area: Classroom Teacher
Year level: 4-6
Context
Ngutu College is in its 4th year of operation after opening in 2021 with the aim of doing schooling differently through the seamless infusion of Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing alongside western curriculum knowledge. The overarching philosophy of Ngutu builds upon young people’s funds of knowledge and builds upon the individuality of all young people.
It is located in the Western suburbs of Adelaide as an independent, non-denominational, socially-just college currently operating from Kindy to year 10, with the expansion to year 12 by 2026. Currently, there are 234 young people enrolled, with 104 young people identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. In addition to the large cohort of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people, 20% of Ngutu staff also identify as Aboriginal.
Merridy has been teaching for 3 years, and is teaching a year 4-6 cohort. Within her classroom, 40% of children identify as Aboriginal and have a ADHD diagnosis, 35% of children have an ASD diagnosis. 20% of children have PTSD, 15% have dyslexia, 10% have a processing diagnosis, mental health conditions and in the process of getting a diagnosis. 37% identify as male, 45% identify as female and 13% as non-binary. Merridy works with 2 co-educators (both part-time, equivalent to one full time co-educator) within the Wardli/Classroom. Merridy engaged the whole student cohort in the action research redesign but identified 5 students to focus on.
The pedagogical challenge
After reflecting on her Wardli/Classroom and in discussions with the Ngutu professional learning community, she identified her pedagogical challenges as:
- Engage students in opportunities to be speakers and listeners by providing provocations around young people’s life worlds
- Develop social skills that honour a reciprocal, dialogic process between student-student and student-teacher
Theoretical Basis
Santoro reading (2009)
“Much research suggests that in general, teachers are not well prepared to teach students whose cultural values and beliefs are different from the mainstream” (p. 34). I remember this quote sticking out to me as a provocation for my pedagogical core needing to change. I resonated with the fact that I needed to focus on the “three broad and interconnected areas; knowledge of pedagogy and practise, knowledge of students and knowledge of self” (p. 34)
“In order to develop culturally relevant materials teachers must know what is culturally relevant to their students and must recognise when existing curriculum fails to build on or acknowledge the cultural knowledge students bring to their learning” (p. 39). This quote really connected with me and the concept of activating children’s lifeworlds and how I can connect our learning to the children.
“What is needed in teacher education are opportunities for knowledge about ‘the other’ to be developed in conjunction with knowledge of self” (p. 41)
“Critical reflection, a skill long argued by many scholars as vital for teachers in general” (p. 41). This quote showed me the importance of critical reflection and this shaped the majority of my project.
The following quote highlighted the importance for me to take time and reflect on my identity and how this impacts my pedagogy: “Teacher education may be forced to take up ‘quick fix solutions’ for preparing culturally responsive teachers that will simply focus on ‘ethnic others’ (p. 43).
Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995):
“Knowledge is not static; it is shared, recycled, and constructed” (p. 481). This gave me the inspiration to facilitate more frequent yarning circles where children could share and construct their knowledge as a community.
From workshops with Mikayla and Irabinna:
“Connecting their talents to the curriculum (capture, validate, build and bridge). Capture their talents. Start with something they know and what they bring.”
Links to the five key ideas
Merridy prioritised relationship building through opportunities to become speakers and listeners through opportunities to:
- engage with life worlds
- performing learning to an audience
- experience positive cultural identities
The action research question
How will children researching their own lifeworlds improve listening during small group work?
Doing the action research
Merridy wanted to explore the concept of yarning circles to engage students in speaking and listening practices. In consultation with Ngutu College Elder in residence, it was decided that he would visit the wardli/classroom and explicitly teach the formal processes for a yarning circle and the respective expectations. All students sat together on the floor, on chairs or bean bags but all facing each other. Half way through the project, Merridy included some sensory and visual enhancements such as the cracking of a fire to support the yarning circle process. In dialogue with the young people Merridy developed some key themes that would form as the focus questions for the weekly yarning circles. These were: food, families and where everyone is from. Through these key themes children were given weekly research questions that they could explore with themselves and their families that would form the focus for the yarning circle. Some examples of the questions are below:
- What’s a celebration that’s important to your family?
- What’s a special food story?
- What’s a food that sparks a memory?
- What’s a funny food story?
- Where are you from?
Other changes that Merridy did throughout the project included a shift in wardli/classroom furniture. This included following a young person’s suggestion to move the couch so that there could be more space to host the yarning circle.
Merridy said: ‘I have the confidence to see that something isn’t working, to stop and ask the children what they think … My affect changed throughout the process and I became more aware of how my life outside of school was affecting my affect in the classroom. I was recognising my emotions more readily and responding to the children’s affect more too. Throughout the process the children and I became more open with each other and how we were feeling.’
Student quotes
“At the start of the year people in Kurraka didn’t listen. It was hard to speak in front of the group because people were talking. Now that still happens sometimes, but when it’s not it’s really calm and relaxing. People listen to each other now.”
The broader picture
Ngutu College was established with clear intentions to ensure schooling could be culturally informed, authentically child-centred and equitable. Merridy’s engagement with Culturally Responsive Pedagogies was guided by the action research pedagogical redesign process. It has directly influenced the school vision, by engaging in practitioner inquiry that enhanced Merridy’s skill set to work towards becoming culturally informed, authentically child-centred and equitable and supports.
Conclusions
- I learnt to see that we all need to feel heard, connected, seen and valued. This can only happen if we are listened to. So moving forward, when the affect in my space is one where people aren’t heard – I need to change my practise.
- The room feels like a home now, its calm, we all belong. I feel as though my relationships have strengthened. When I reflect on how far this group have come it fills my heart with so much pride and joy.
- I feel excited that I can reflect and grow.
- It was a stretch/emotional rollercoaster – where change isn’t instant or permanent. The affect of each person is different every single day. We have complex lives, and I’ve observed that we speak about our emotions more freely now.
- I liked the action research because now when I see a problem I have the language and the process to research my own practise. I feel empowered that reflection can now turn into action.
- I now see myself as a researcher of my own practise. I have the confidence to see that something isn’t working, to stop and ask the children what they think.
- I now have a better understanding of what data is, it is more than digits and rankings. It is more than seeing results. For example, Focus Child 1 now stays in class almost 100% of the time. That is success, he may not be sharing more with the group, but he is sharing with me because our relationship has strengthened. This is data too.
- Giving the children a voice and power over their space, for example in the changes to our classroom architecture.
- Yarning circles help the children to come together as a group, it’s a time where I hand over control of the day’s plans, because we may sit and chat for 15 minutes or almost an hour.
- I’ve always believed everyone deserves to be heard, but I wasn’t enacting it in a powerful way. Yarning circles gave me an authentic way of doing this.