Team Teaching Action Research Forest Hill College

FHC Strategic Plan “To inspire passionate, positive and curious learners” Values: Connect, Explore & Aspire Growth mindset Quality teaching Positive relationships

School Context We have developed two team-taught integrated subjects in years 7 and 8 in which all students in the year level work together with a team of teachers. The Year 7 program (Leonardo) integrates the traditional disciplines of The Humanities, The Arts (Visual and Performing) and Technologies. The Year 8 program (Galileo; which is based on STEAM) integrates Science, Visual Communication and Technologies.

How does team-teaching facilitate the development of independent learning skills for students?

Student Based Evidence Students from both year levels report high engagement when they get choice “you do stuff you’re actually interested in”. They believe they have high expectations placed on them to be organised, which they see as helping them in preparing for later years “it’s your job to learn”. Skills in organisation, team-work skills and their skills with technology, which were goals of the introduction of the new curriculum. Students report they like an approach of a balanced mix of teacher-centred skill development and student-chosen inquiry Students report that they are expected to solve problems without teacher direction and that the more open nature of the projects allows students to develop these skills.

Student Based Evidence Improved research skills, both through explicit teaching and by working through problems themselves. Many report that they enjoy having multiple teachers with a variety of expertise to ask questions of; they get to choose the teacher they most connect with “you get to experience how different teachers teach”. Students also report that being able to work with students across multiple classes is a benefit in helping build their collaboration skills.

Teacher Based Evidence Teachers have suggested that there is a link between the nature of the team-teaching program and the improvement in student outcomes in those soft (communication, team working, adaptability, problem solving, critical observation, conflict resolution) skills we are aiming to improve. Having teachers of differing areas of expertise working together allows students to see connections across discipline areas. The nature of the team-teaching environment has allowed for more time to spent on smaller groups of students with specific learning needs while other students work within the larger `group and there is an indication that students’ ability to demonstrate higher-order thinking skills has improved due to this. There is also an observation that gifted students have benefitted from the more open environment as they are not being ‘held back’ by the rest of the class as may have been the case in the traditional model of 1:25. Teachers report that they have benefitted from seeing others teach and having exposure to different areas of expertise

Challenges A downside of integrating the traditional disciplines, students report, is that some have difficulty articulating the specific discipline learning that is taking place in an integrated project. A consistent theme from the student feedback we have sought from students, is that the explicit teaching of the skills required to work effectively in the programs is inconsistent across the two years. Students have also reported consistently, that some students are taking the opportunity to slip under the radar and find it easier to waste time when in the larger team-taught environment. There is also a potential issue in students lacking challenge when being allowed to make their own choices about what they are investigating, as they self-select easier topics Some students with specific needs have found the open environment stressful- less certainty, direction and routine is particularly of issue for students with autism and similar conditions.

Challenges Having time to meet to plan effectively is a constant issue that has not yet been resolved in a way that is sustainable.   Job sharing has also been a complicating factor this year, with some teachers only working in the team-teaching environment on a part-time basis. Limitations of our Online Learning Management System and giving all teachers access to the assessment and reporting module, which leads to double handling of student data. The risk of burn out is a real one, particularly for those who expend energy when working with others

Findings We believe we have evidence indicating the following: Team-teaching has facilitated the development of students’ independent learning skills (particularly collaboration and research skills) in a way that would be more difficult in a traditional 1:25 classroom Team-teaching allows for more flexibility in the way we approach curriculum and pedagogy- which has the potential improve student outcomes when used effectively The collaborative approach has been professionally beneficial to those in the teaching teams It is important for all teachers to have ownership and have their unique skills valued in teams It is important that ‘hygiene’ and logistical factors are solved in order to concentrate more on student learning

FINDINGS We have also noticed some areas we would like to improve: We have not yet mastered the explicit teaching of the independent learning skills We have an issue with some students avoiding work or challenge We need a better approach to feedback and assessment- with the aim to have students take on more of the responsibility for this As a school, we need to investigate better ways to facilitate collaborative planning for teachers involved, whether this be through the meeting schedule or some other fashion We would like some further objective and diagnostic assessment tools to provide data we can use to assess the programs in more depth We would like to make learning more visible for students- knowing what they are learning and why (this may be achieved through student self-assessment) We want to spend more time thinking about the learning spaces we use to best facilitate student learning (quiet spaces, access to resources/power etc.) We would like to define a model of exemplary team-teaching

WHERE to next? Investigate and implement a new approach to assessment and feedback in the two programs, with student responsibility for demonstrating learning as a key component. We are experimenting with Microsoft Class Notebook (OneNote) as a possible technology to assist with this. Development of a sustainable collaborative planning model - again we are investigating how we use the meeting schedule and technology to assist. A professional learning program for teachers entering the teams is going to be essential ensuring they are sustainable into the future. Develop our own model: use of learning space and build up our own learning skills Students have suggested, as an improvement, having zones through the learning environment, particularly a quiet zone, so they can avoid distractions.