Browsing by Author "Poskitt JM"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A cross country analysis of social justice in assessment
    (2017-11-27) Poskitt JM; Adie L; Hayward L
    Social justice is an international concern and evident in education and assessment policies, but is less evident in the enactment of reporting policy and practices. We explore these ruptures in assessment policy through analysis of the assessment documents of three countries, Australia, New Zealand and Scotland. Specifically, we address the social and cultural assumptions that limit opportunities for student and parent voice in reporting processes. Robinson and Taylor’s (2007) four core values of student voice form the conceptual framework. In order to better align assessment, reporting and social justice practices, we draw on notions of spirit and letter of assessment, feedback to create dialogic spaces, and the relationship between formative and summative assessment. Lundy’s (2007) conceptualisation of voice is used to propose ways forward to create a more socially just reporting system. To transform reporting practices, we recommend reconceptualising reporting as communicating, and assessment as progressing learning.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Degree apprenticeships: Is this the future for employer-led partnerships in New Zealand?
    (26/10/2017) Poskitt JM
    Work-ready graduates with practical skills and theoretical knowledge in engineering is essential. Traditionally, potential employees arrive with either theoretical knowledge from University study, or with practical skills learnt ‘on the job’. Yet employers need personnel with theoretical and practical competencies from the outset to undertake project work. To address this, the Tertiary Education Commission initiated a pilot study of Degree Apprenticeships, aimed at investigating how a qualification comprising a nexus of practical and theoretical work could be integrated into the students’ work environment. A number of conditions needed consideration. Only if it was employer-led, endorsed by them and addressed their requirements could the innovation be successful. But given the multiple demands on employer time; different constraints according to the nature of their enterprise; urban-rural location, political and financial complexities; coordinating the innovation could be challenging. This was a four month study with a limited budget. A university-polytechnic team collaborated to facilitate the process. Engineering staff in the Polytechnic sector were invited to provide additional input and contributed pivotal knowledge of tertiary qualification standards to underpin the innovation. The presentation reports the collaborative and facilitative process undertaken. Research interviews were conducted with a small range of employers in purposively sampled urban, regional and rural locations in the North Island. Analysis of the interview data informed the initial draft standard, to which participants were invited to critically discuss and subsequently refine at two collaborative workshops. Balancing academic process and deadlines with the need to be responsive to employer realities created dilemmas, along with the need to manage power differentials in knowledge, experience and political influence. Employer-led learning partnerships are are seen as best practice in developing apprenticeship qualifications, providing there is a spirit of mutual respect, inter-dependence and collaboration across employer, student and tertiary providers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Goodyer, J., Mackay, J., & Poskitt, J. (2017). A pilot study of the Application of Degree Apprenticeships in New Zealand: A focus on Infrastructure Asset Management. A Report for the Tertiary Education Commission. Massey University: Palmerston North.
    (Massey University, 2017-06-29) Poskitt JM; Goodyer J; Mackay J
    Commissioned by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC), through the Engineering-to-Employment (E2E) programme, the research team facilitated a group of engineering employers and Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) representatives to develop a Plot Degree Apprenticeship Standard in Infrastructure Asset Management. The report details the process of an employer-led development of a standard, in an area of impending engineering employee shortage. Recommendations are made for future development of other degree apprenticeship standards.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Learning from moderation of OTJs: The political balancing act.
    (21/11/2016) Poskitt JM
    Internationally, attention to educational accountability sharpened during the Global Financial Crisis period, with a political need for student achievement data. International achievement testing strongly influenced educational policy globally (Volante, 2016) and in New Zealand (Poskitt, 2016a). “Advocates of standards-based reform argue that large-scale assessment programs provide valuable and necessary information to assist in the revision of national evaluation systems, curriculum standards, and performance targets” (Volante, 2016, p.3). Worldwide testing programs provide international and intra-national comparative data on student achievement at particular student ages, but they do not capture achievement across all year levels of compulsory schooling. Limited sampling size and the need for international comparability in content means the tests have reduced validity for local contextual purposes. To address the need for localised student achievement data across the primary school years, New Zealand implemented National Standards (NS) in 2010. The intention of NS was also to avoid risks of narrowing the curriculum and ‘teaching to the test’ by developing NS that were broad in description, linked to New Zealand Curriculum levels and utilized teachers’ professional judgments (Poskitt, 2016b). At the heart of the NS policy are overall teacher judgments (OTJs). Primary teachers are required to make standards judgments for each of their students in reading, writing and mathematics based on a range of achievement information. Schools vary in the ‘evidence’ they use and their interpretations of it. Social moderation is intended to assist the dependability of the OTJs. “This practice involves teachers expressing their interpretations of assessment criteria and standards with the aim of reaching agreement on the award of a standard” (Klenowski & Wyatt-Smith, 2014, p.74), and thereby increase the validity and reliability of teachers’ subsequent judgements. Little is known about the moderation processes used by New Zealand teachers. In what ways do teachers express their interpretations of assessment criteria and standards? What influences their judgments in moderation meetings? This paper examines the moderation conversations of teachers involved in a school cluster professional development initiative on student writing. Political influences are evident in relation to the power of: teacher knowledge and expectations, seniority (by age and designation), reference points used and limited resourcing. Unless resources are invested in ongoing professional learning for moderation, dependability of OTJs will be undermined. The resultant risk is political influences will usurp teacher involvement in assessment and rely primarily on international achievement tests for monitoring the health of NZ’s education system.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Making subject choices: Influences on adolescents' decision making
    (Adolescent Success, 2016) Poskitt JM; Bonney I
    Middle Years students are required to make critical educational decisions with respect to subject choices. These decisions occur in adolescence - a period of intense identity formation, strong emotions, living in the moment and peer affiliation - characteristics which may affect decision making. Subject choices either broaden or narrow future pathways, so what influences adolescent student decisionmaking? A case study research investigation at one middle school involved teachers, students and their parents/caregivers through the use of questionnaires, interviews and document analysis to reveal various influences. Significant others (family, friends, older students and subject teachers), website sources and course information booklets were among the most frequently cited influences, although there were gender, ethnic and year-level variations. Structural issues related to school resourcing and timetabling affected some students’ choices. Of concern was inadequate awareness of: subject information, subjects required for entry to particular tertiary courses or career options, how to access information or who to approach. The school careers’ advisor was rarely sought, and subject teachers sometimes had little knowledge of progression in their field or career options. Implications arise from the study about effective ways to support adolescents in making appropriate subject choices.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    New Zealand teachers' overall teacher judgments (OTJs): Equivocal or unequivocal?
    (New Zealand Council for Educational Research, 1/03/2012) Poskitt JM; Mitchell K
    Central to New Zealand National Standards is the concept of overall teacher judgments (OTJs). This paper examines the concepts of OTJs and standards through international literature and experiences of a sample of New Zealand teachers in 2010. Standards contain expectations – what is, what could be, and what might be desirable – implicit degrees of performance. Teacher capacity to judge current and future performance is important. With multiple opportunities to gather pertinent information, teachers are best placed to make valid (unequivocal) judgments on student achievement when they have shared understandings of standards. Because standards are comprised of multiple criteria, not all of which are evident in samples of student achievement, teacher understanding of standards develops through professional conversations and moderation processes. In 2010 New Zealand teachers had mixed (equivocal) understandings of National Standards, applied them in different ways and had minimal experience of moderation processes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Pacific heritage student views about effective teaching and learning
    (Massey University Institute of Education and Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour Association, 15/06/2016) Poskitt JM; Knight de-Blois L; Kearney, AC
    Teachers often worry about how to optimise learning for students of Pācific heritage. To address the concern this study sought views of junior secondary school students of Pācific heritage about what enhanced their learning. An innovative approach was trialled in focus group interviews which involved four Samoan teenagers as research assistants alongside the researcher to draw out participants’ views about what helped them to learn. Data analysis led to the identification of four themes: engaging teacher behaviour, lessons stimulating learning, positive student-centred relationships, and teachers respecting students’ culture(s). For Pācific students, successful learning involves: inclusion of Pācific mores and values; sufficient depth and clarity of explanation to ensure students understand new concepts; encouragement; varied and practical learning activities; and strong, respectful relationships between teachers and learners.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Transforming professional learning and practice in assessment: The triple H framework. Invited keynote address
    (27/06/2016) Poskitt JM
    Every teacher wants to be an effective educator - having positive relationships with, and enabling, students to become enthusiastic and capable learners. Teaching is demanding of the whole person – particularly the heart (being an inclusive, caring, enthusiastic and ethical person; passionate about learners and learning), the head (such as knowledge of the theory of pedagogy, curriculum and content knowledge, assessment, human development etc.), and the hands (being a highly skilled practitioner). These three determinants: the head, heart and hands are integral components, the author argues, of the triple H framework for effective, holistic professional learning. Successful professional learning needs to encompass and nourish all three determinants (head, heart and hands) for teachers. This triad notion might also be applied at the education system level by strengthening and connecting parallel components. The system heart (being the students/schools and their communities), the system hand (being PD facilitators; colleagues) and the system head (government, Ministry of Education, policy makers; researchers), all interdependently linked. We return to system aspects later in the paper. It is important to acknowledge that while all educators have much in common (for starters, each having a head, heart and most having hands; and wanting the best for their students) they have individual personalities and come from varied cultural, educational and professional backgrounds. Moreover, educators work in a variety of contexts, and typically in less than ideal professional learning circumstances particularly in relation to available time, resources and competing expectations. Professional learning (PL) is complex, yet because students deserve the best possible education, PL needs to respond to different contexts and circumstances. What is professional learning? Professional development (PD) was the previous term used. PD was conceptualised in accordance with the prevailing views about learning: transmission approaches from experts to teachers – manifested in attendance at one-off workshops or courses outside of the school. Sometimes these courses made a difference (if the timing of them and their topics happened to meet the content or pedagogical needs of the teacher). However, knowledge gained from such opportunities rarely translated into sustained classroom practice. PD was often: short term, done ‘to us by others’, characterised by individual one-off courses, one size fits all, and oriented towards improving skills and procedural knowledge (Easton, 2008). No time was allocated for reflection and feedback. Teachers were isolated since other colleagues were not privy to the same knowledge and experiences. Relentless pressure from the day to day realities of the classroom and few opportunities to re-visit professional ideas meant when difficulties were encountered in implementation, or teachers were exposed to the next wave of ideas, the new skill or notions were abandoned. With the influence of socio-cultural perspectives about learning and other societal changes the term changed to professional learning (PL). Professional learning (PL) views the teacher as a learner with their own values, beliefs and content needs; capable of self-ownership and ongoing responsibility for their learning; and, in accordance with adult learning principles, needing a balance between individual and collaborative learning. Knowledge is viewed as dynamic, iterative, co-constructed in response to cultural and contextualised interactions – hence PL is largely school-based. Deeper learning necessitates extended time and opportunities to learn (Timperley et al., 2007). Developing from a novice to an expert (teacher) requires movement from reliance on procedural rules and routines to a theorised and principled-based, integrated competency. Expert competency encompasses a holistic view, and capability in being responsive, flexible and fluid in solving problems. Informing and deepening professional’s educational values and beliefs requires commitment and inevitably challenges individual’s identity and professional motivation (Timperley et al., 2007, p.13). This is why I argue deep, effective professional learning for teachers needs a head, heart and hands framework. Both the head and the heart are essential for life; so it may be arbitrary as to which determinant on which to focus first. Adults differ as to whether they need to be cognitively or emotionally triggered to engage with ideas, but to grapple deeply with ideas requires both cognitive and emotional engagement. Initial attention is often gained from emotional connections so the heart PL elements will be explored first. This paper examines three questions through the proposed triple H framework: • What does the research literature reveal about effective professional learning in assessment? • What impact does PL have on professional practice? • What are the implications at policy, system, school and teacher level?
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Valuing partnerships in assessment: Building sustainable professional learning
    (21/09/2016) Poskitt JM
    Assessment for learning (AfL) approaches are claimed to have improved student learning and achievement (e.g., Black & Wiliam, 1998). Extensive research has been conducted, including comparative studies with high student achievement effect sizes (Wiliam, 2010), to indicate the impact of AfL strategies (Laveault & Allal, 2016b). These improvements in the definitions and understanding of AfL have stimulated interest in wider implementation of AfL across many nations (Wyle & Lyons, 2015). However, while there have been considerable successes in some classrooms and schools, attempts at more widespread AfL have been thwarted. Influential factors are thought to be variable understandings of AfL (Laveault & Allal, 2016a), assessment literacies (Willis, Adie, & Klenowski, 2013), the policy making environment, insufficient professional development and the process of implementation (Laveault & Allal, 2016b). Another pivotal concern is the policy maker and policy user divide. “Policy-makers seek to convey precise meanings of educational policies, [while] parents, school leaders and teachers may experience and construe the policies in other ways,” (Ratnam & Tan, 2015, p.63). Given these multi-faceted factors and the distance between policy makers and policy users, it is not surprising that AfL policies often ‘fall over’ at the school level. Carless (2005) proposed an exploratory framework of three levels affecting AfL implementation in schools. Level 1 related to the personal domain (teacher knowledge and beliefs), level two to the micro level (local school influences) and level three to macro level forces external to the school, such as government reforms. Carless (2005) argued teachers need sufficient depth of AfL understanding and aligned values to implement it. Required also is a school context conductive to professional change and an external environment of supportive academics and teacher educators. Other influential factors include government policy and impact of high stakes testing. This paper takes the Carless framework further by proposing mechanisms for active partnerships across and between the levels. Active learning partnerships are necessary to connect and inform the three levels. And thereby strengthen links between the policy enactors (school level), the policy influencers (level 2 – researchers, unions) and policy makers (level 3) in order to bridge the gap between policy formation and policy implementation. These connections are dynamic and require ongoing attention if AfL (and associated professional learning) is to be centre stage and sustained. The paper is structured into three sections. Firstly a literature review examines educational policy formation, the context of AfL implementation, challenges associated with teacher change, principles of effective professional learning and partnerships. Secondly a national example is described of across level and inter-level partnerships in AfL. Thirdly arguments are made to strengthen these partnership processes and connections in order to align professional learning intent and sustained use of AfL policy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    What young adolescents think about effective pedagogy and technology use
    (Adolescent Success, 2016-05) Poskitt JM
    A New Zealand comparative case study investigated the impact of technological device use in literacy, over a three month period, for Year (Grade) 4-6 and Year 7-8 students. In school A (Year 4-6 students) data were gathered from two pairs of control matched classes, one of each pair of classes using technological devices; in school B (Year 7-8 students) comparisons were made pre and post technology use. In both schools, pre and post- standardised achievement data were analysed, along with classroom observations, student and teacher interview data. Whilst significant progress was made in student achievement, when compared with national average point score shifts (author, in press), of particular interest in this article are young adolescent students’ views about effective pedagogy and technology use. For adolescents, availability of devices made learning more: fun, time efficient, accessible outside of school hours; and enhanced their research and presentation of learning. At times, friends and classmates helped by sharing information and new ideas, but frequent talking and distractions hindered learning. However, the pedagogical actions of teachers (particularly explicit, focused teaching of literacy and technology knowledge strategies) and provision of choices, varied and active learning opportunities were perceived to make the greatest difference to student learning.