EDUC 4206 Professional Experience 4: Teacher as Inquirer

Professional Inquiry Project Proposal

Pre-service Teacher: Melissa Hylan ID no.: 110137261

Context (237 words)

Description of placement context. Include here only those details which are necessary to provide the reader with an overview of your setting ie.
size of school/class; socio-economic factors in the community, nature of class(es), etc. Do not mention the name of your site.

My placement school is a public Primary School that has a student population of 389 from
Reception to Year 7, consisting of 187 boys and 202 girls. There are 26 members of staff.
(Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority 2018).

The classroom is a composite year 5/6 class with 29 children. Three students are on Negotiated
Education Plans, with one receiving SSO support. There is one fulltime teacher in this classroom,
however she works closely with another year 5/6 teacher in the subjects of Maths and Science.

The school has a strong focus on Maths for 2018, focusing on the Big Ideas in Number and Trust
the Count. Subject content is aligned with the Australian Curriculum, with specialist subjects in
Physical Education, The Arts and Indonesian. The School focus is on ‘Positive Education’ with the
4 key values; Respect, Honesty, Responsibility and Fairness.

The School setting is located in a metropolitan location with a population of 4,740 (GeoIndex
2018). 94.7% of the population speak English at home, additional languages of the community
are German, Italian, Greek, Dutch and Spanish (GeoIndex 2018). The socio-economic raw score
for this suburb is 1000.28, which is an advantage in socio-economic measures, unemployment is
5.9% (GeoIndex 2018).

The index for educational disadvantage places this school at an Index 6. (Department for
Education and Child Development 2018). 4% of the student population are Indigenous and 1%
have a language background other than English.

Plan (854 words)

Overall focus of your inquiry and related AITSL Standard.
Rationale: Why have you chosen the particular focus? This will be based on your “Pre-service self review” against the national standards
& knowledge of your context. Explain how you went about deciding your focus.
How does the literature support your focus? Include at least four references– include a balance of journal and book references if possible.

After completing my preservice self-review and reflection on my third year professional placement
I have identified that I require more practice in questioning students within the classroom.

My focus:
How can I utilise effective questioning in report writing during literacy lessons to engage students
in the learning content?

This focus relates to AITSL Standards

2.1; Content and teaching strategies of the teaching area.
2.5 Literacy and numeracy strategies.
3.5 Use effective classroom communication.
(Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) 2017).

Literature suggests that ‘effective questioning can support students’ curiosity and active
engagement with learning because they are able to express their thinking from various viewpoints’
(Baker et. al 2014, p. 63). The way in which teachers implement questioning into their lesson
requires careful consideration. ‘Teachers can plan effective questions to ask as they prepare
lesson’ (Student Achievement Division 2011). In order to achieve this teachers should have a
sound knowledge of the content that they are teaching. During literacy teaching of report writing,
the teacher should understand structure and the purpose of reports and the learning outcomes to
be achieved by students.

During the planning process the planning of questions should consider the students, the setting,
the purpose of the question and where the placement of the questions will occur Cengage et.al
(2015). Thinking about the way in which students may respond to questions will allow teachers to
brainstorm ways in which to answer these and how to build on their responses with effective
questions that draw upon students prior knowledge, curiosity and own contexts. They should be
relevant to the content area and appropriate for the age of the students (Cengage et.al 2015). The
use of effective ‘questioning should strengthen learning and encourage high-level thinking while
also allowing students to express themselves (Baker et. al 2015, p. 163).

There are two main types of questions that a teacher may utilise within the classroom context.
These are closed (convergent) questions and open-ended (divergent) questions. The decision on
which type of question to be asked will vary depending on the information needed or the purpose
of the question. Closed questions that require one word responses may be necessary in order to
gain a specific answer required, however these types of questions should be minimised where
possible as they are static and often do not promote discussion.
Teachers should aim to utilise open ended questions in order to provide ‘opportunities for learners
to explain what they are thinking or doing’ (Ground-water Smith et.al 2011, p. 229). Open-ended
questions are ‘more effective in engaging people more genuinely in the learning process’ (Ground-
water Smith et.al 2011, p. 229).

Fusco 2012 (as cited in Baker et. al 2014, p. 64) outlines a 7 step process for effective questioning;
1. Plan a question;
2. Ask a question;
3. Allow for pauses after the question is asked, which is defined as wait time;
4. Listen to student generated response;
5. Evaluate the student’s response;
6. Ask a follow up question and
7. Plan the next questions based on students’ answers.

Once questions are planned teachers need to be aware of the way in which they pose their
questions using both verbal and non-verbal communication. Communication should be fluent,
clear and concise in order to minimise confusion or misunderstanding (Cengage et.al 2015). The
placement of questions is also important in order to develop student understanding. Providing
adequate wait time in order to allow students time to construct their answers is also essential to
allow students a chance to participate. Literature suggests that ‘the effects of wait time are positive
and when teachers wait as little as 3 to 5 seconds both the quantity and quality of students
responses improve’ (Fusco & Wilen, cited in Baker et.al 2014, p. 69). Literature also suggests
that by ‘asking the question, looking around the room, and providing students with the opportunity
to consider the issue, you can create greater interest and anticipation, thereby increasing
attending behavior’ (Jones 2011, p. 115).

Student questioning can be utilised in many ways. Teachers may utilise questions at the beginning
of a lesson to find out prior knowledge of students, clarify understandings of students, encourage
students to think more in depth about a topic and promote students ability to construct meaning
from their understandings. Teachers can also utilise questions that students ask as a guide to
whether they are being understood and whether the content and expectations are clear.
Questioning can be implemented to the whole class or to individual students. Using groups or
pairs for brainstorming responses to questions ‘can lead to greater dialogue between students,
greater collaboration and learning, the generation of more ideas and the recognition that each
child’s experiences are valuable’ (Ground-water Smith 2011 et. al, p. 81).
The literature reflects that effective questioning is important within the classroom. The
development of these questions begins during the planning phase and continues throughout the
teaching and learning phase. Questioning is used by the teacher to engage students and as a
reflection tool of their own teaching. Through using open-ended questioning in the correct context,
appropriate language and timely manner teachers can extend students thinking and
understanding.

Action (188 words)

An exact description of what you are going to change in your practice/behaviour throughout your placement.
An exact description of when you are going to collect data each week during your normal teaching (identify times & a subject area)

In order to change my practice I am going to use my knowledge of subject content to plan

questions that are linked to learning outcomes. I will utilise divergent (open-ended) questions
where ever possible to encourage a variety of responses and limit convergent (closed) questions
where possible.
When asking questions to the class I will utilise whole class or individual student questions. I will
ensure that I provide adequate wait time after posing a question before asking for a response.
There are several strategies that I will implement in order to encourage student participation and
enable all students to have a say. Firstly I will utilise ‘Think, Pair, Share’ where appropriate and
the strategy of posing a question for the students to discuss in their table groups and then have
one member of the table report back to the group.
Overall I will consider the way in which I ask the questions, in regards to my presentation, the
language used, the tone pitch and pace of the way I deliver the questions.
I will collect this data over four fifty minute literacy lessons per week for three weeks.

Observation ( 403 words)

How will you collect data? Choose techniques most suited to your strategy and situation. Explain your monitoring techniques. Why have you
chosen the particular techniques? Include at least one reference to action research literature.
How will you record your data? Your monitoring process should aim to include at least three observation techniques to ensure triangulation. (ie.
Questionnaire, Supervising Teacher feedback, frequency chart etc). Include data collection proformas as an appendix.

I will utilise three methods of data collection, these will be personal reflection, teacher observation
and student reflection.

Personal reflection: I will utilise a journal to record reflections on my teaching of the twelve
literacy lessons. In this journal I will record what happened in the lesson, how I felt during and at
the end of it. I will record reflections on the questions I used, the questions that arose from students
and the way I was able to answer these questions to build student understanding or if I was not
able to. I will also record areas in which I feel I can improve on the next lesson, including ideas for
more questions.

Teacher Observation: During my literacy teaching I will ask my mentor teacher to record
observations of my questioning. She will provide an ‘objective view of my (sic) teaching practices
and gather information that I (sic) might not be able to gather’ (Killen 2015, p. 115). I will ask her
to focus on my use of whole class and individual questioning and using strategies like group
questioning and ‘think, pair, share’. I will ask for feedback on the effectiveness of my questions
for engagement and developing understandings. I will also ask her to make comment on my verbal
communication and use of wait time. I will also be looking for feedback on areas for an
improvement. (Appendix A)

Student reflection: I will utilise student reflection throughout my lessons, to guide my teaching,
as Ciardiello (1998, p. 212) explains that questioning is ‘a comprehension-monitoring and
regulating process. It serves as a form of self-checking to assess if material is understood’.
Killen (2015, p. 113) suggests that ‘specific feedback gained immediately after a teaching episode
is usually more accurate and useful than generalised feedback gained at the end of a long period’
Therefore at the end of each lesson I will utilise questions to gain feedback on my teaching again
by using thumbs up for good, sideways for not too sure and thumbs down for could be better. The
questions I will ask will seek to answer my questions of: Was the learning content clear? (This will
cover direct questions related to writing reports), Did you find the questioning easy to understand?
Are there any more questions that you would have like to asked? Whilst this will be an activity that
the students complete physically I will record their responses. (Appendix B).

Reflection (342 words)

What will you be looking for when you analyse your data?
How will you interpret your data (ie make sense of the patterns)?
Who else might be involved? How? Name your critical friend as at least one of the people who will be involved
Explain how you will use your analysis to inform your practice in the following action stage (ie. next data collection time).
Include at least one relevant reference about the importance of reflection.

When analysing the data collected, I will compare my reflections of each lesson with the feedback
that I have recorded from the students after each of these lessons. Comparing personal written
reflections about a lesson with those of students, enables educators ‘to check the extent to which
your assumptions about your teaching compare with the reality seen by your students’ (Killen
2015, p.113). With this information I will be able to determine whether my assumptions on my
questioning was effective or not. Asking students that have responded with the ‘unsure’ or ‘thumbs
down’ about why they have answered like this will give me direct feedback on areas that I need
to take further steps in order to improve. I can investigate improvement areas needed through
further research into teaching/ questioning strategies and through conversations with experienced
educators.

Using the feedback from my mentor teacher, I too can compare these with my own assumptions
made in my personal journal, in order to identify areas for improvement. During this reflection
process I will be able to ask her for ways in which I can improve.

Throughout my reflection process I will be looking for evidence on how I implemented my

questioning and whether my communication skills of delivery, listening, and responding were
appropriate to the response of students (Ground-water Smith et. al, 2011). I will aim to identify
that I am using open-ended questions that identifies student’s prior knowledge, and builds upon
their understandings of the form and functions in report writing. I will also be looking for evidence
in how my questioning challenges and extends, that I have provided enough wait time for
answering questions and that I have provided adequate opportunities for all students to have a
chance to answer questions individually and as part of a group.

My critical friend during my reflection process will be Lauren. Lauren is my classroom teacher
where I am an SSO.

This reflection will inform my future practice by providing me with more concise focus areas to
improve on within my future critical reflective practice.
References
Include all references (min. of 6) using the Harvard referencing system.

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), My School, viewed 27

July 2018,
< https://www.myschool.edu.au/>.

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) 2017, Australian Professional
Standards for Teachers, viewed 27 July 2018,
<https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards>.

Baker, AH, Chair, KS, Evanshen, P, Geiken, R & Isbell, R 2014, ‘An exploratory critical study of
questioning strategies posed by early childhood teachers during literacy blocks’, ProQuest LLC.

Cengage, LA, Barker, K, Nosworthy, M, Humphries, J, & Sinclair, C 2015, Learning for
Teaching, Teaching for Learning with Student Resource Access 12 Months, Cengage Learning
Australia, Melbourne.

Ciardiello, AV 1998, Did You Ask a Good Question Today? Alternative Cognitive and
Metacognitive Strategies, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 210-219.

Department for Education and Child Development 2018, Index of Educational Disadvantage by
School, Government of South Australia, viewed 27 July 2018,
<https://www.education.sa.gov.au/sites/g/files/net691/f/index-of-educational-disadvantage-by-
school-2018.pdf>.

GeoIndex Australia 2018, Gawler East SA, West Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, viewed 27 July
2018,
<www.geoindex.com.au/suburb/gawler-east>.

Groundwater-Smith, S, Ewing, R & Le Cornu, R, 2011, Teaching Challenges and Dilemmas, 4th
edn, Cengage Learning Australia, Australia.

Jones, V, 2011, Practical Classroom Management, Pearson.

Killen, R 2015, Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from Research and Practice, Cengage,
Melbourne.

Students Achievement Division 2011, Asking Effective Questions, Provoking student thinking/
deepening conceptual understanding in the mathematics classroom, edition 21, Capacity
Building Series, Ontario.
Appendix A

Teacher Observation

Observing Whole Class Individual Open ended Group/ Think pair

Tally questioning Questioning Questions share questioning

Effectiveness of Questioning Strategies?

Students engagement noticeable or not?

Are effective questions being asked? Do they challenge students thinking, understandings and
misconceptions?

Do questions build upon students answers?

Is the presentation of questions appropriate? (tone, pitch, speed, language used)

Is adequate wait time given for students to respond?

Areas for improvement?

Appendix B

Student Observation

Lesson Question Asked Thumbs Thumbs Thumb Why Sideways/ Down

(and content) Up sideways s down
(How (How (How
many?) many?) many?)
1

10

11

12