Reflective entry 2: Discuss how the research topic addresses the context of different audiences and their perspectives.

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory (Härkönen, 2001) is a framework that connects a child to five levels of external influence or ecosystems. Bronfenbrenner advocated that each of these ecological systems inevitably interact with and influence each other in all aspects of a child’s life. This is similar to Brookfield’s (2017) belief that classrooms are influenced by the structures and forces present in the wider society.



Wikimedia Commons. (2020). Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Theory of Development.jpg. Retrieved from: 
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bronfenbrenner%27s_Ecological_Theory_of_Development_(English).jpg

I will focus on the microsystem (direct environment), mesosystem (connections) and the exosystem (indirect environment) operating around my learners as a group, rather than as individual students. This will mean looking at the perspectives of the learners, their whānau, the school, and the connections my research topic may have to theory at a national and global level.

Local audience - Students - microsystem (direct environment)

The students are year 1/2 and have previously had me as their full-time teacher in 2019. This year I am teaching the class one day a week. The class is small and made up of 12 students, 6 boys and 6 girls. The students are mostly pakeha, with 2 identifying as Māori. The students have high levels of digital fluency, having used iPads as a learning tool for the past 1.5 years. Some of the students struggle with working in collaborative settings and end up dominating group learning opportunities, whilst others remain passive followers. When surveyed, the students did not have a clear understanding of what critical thinking and collaboration were and have seldom heard those words spoken nor explained to them. This presents an exciting opportunity to support learners from the beginning of their critical thinking (knowledge construction) and collaboration journeys.

Local audience - Whānau - microsystem (direct environment), mesosystem (connections)

Whānau currently have no knowledge of this proposed research topic, however, they could be able to provide unique experiences and support towards its development. Until now, I had overlooked whānau as a key stakeholder in this research topic and as such would like to explore how to engage whānau with the learning opportunities surrounding critical thinking (knowledge construction) and collaboration. This could include making the research topic focus and new learning visible, or by providing learning activities to be undertaken in the home. Google (2019) has identified that guardians want to be more involved in their child's education, which is mirrored by our whānau, and that technology can be used as a tool to achieve this.


















Google. (2019). Future of the classroom: emerging trends in K-12 education: global edition. http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/future_of_the_classroom_emerging_trends_in_k12_education.pdf

The realisation that whānau are an important stakeholder and audience within this research has highlighted the need for me to adapt my research focus to include whānau as an audience to collaborate with, rather than just communicate with. This desire will be further explored through the development of my research questions.

Local and national audience - Colleagues and personal experience - mesosystem (connections) and exosystem (indirect environment).

Our cluster of schools is currently working through and unpacking the concept of T-Shaped literacy, and the development of critical thinking. Teachers are being supported to trial initiatives in their classrooms that connect to this kaupapa. My team leader and senior leadership team are interested in the findings of this research topic as it aligns with the school and cluster priorities. Personally, I am excited by this research topic, having little experience explicitly teaching critical thinking (knowledge construction) and collaboration.

National audience - Theory - mesosystem (connections) and exosystem (indirect environment).

The task of building students' critical thinking through knowledge construction relates specifically to the New Zealand Curriculum Key Competency of Thinking which is defined as “Thinking as using creative, critical, and metacognitive processes to make sense of information, experiences, and ideas.” (Ministry of Education, 2007). Collaboration is intrinsically linked with Participating and Contributing, a “capacity to contribute appropriately as a group member, to make connections with others, and to create opportunities for others in the group.” (Ministry of Education, 2007).

Global audience - Theory - mesosystem (connections) and exosystem (indirect environment).

I considered the ITL Research 21st Century Learning Design Rubrics (ITL Research, 2012) as a perspective to consider framing my research topic. Through this, I discovered that in order to make my learning activities more collaborative, I need to ensure learners are able to work interdependently, with shared responsibility for the outcome of the task and are able to make substantive decisions together about the content, process or product. To ensure my learning activities provide for knowledge construction, I need to: ensure that the main effort of specific learning tasks is knowledge construction; ensure that the learners are given the opportunity to apply a concept to new material and then check whether there has been conceptual understanding; and provide opportunities for learners to apply their knowledge or make connections across the curriculum (ITL Research, 2012).

By undertaking this scanning exercise and considering the perspectives of different audiences, I believe that there is an authentic and genuine need for this research topic to be undertaken.

References

Brookfield, S. D. (2017). Becoming a critically reflective teacher. John Wiley & Sons. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/themindlab/detail.action?docID=4790372

Google. (2019). Future of the classroom: emerging trends in K-12 education: global edition. http://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/future_of_the_classroom_emerging_trends_in_k12_education.pdf

Härkönen, U. (2001). The Bronfenbrenner ecological systems theory of human development. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3d4f/99b537bdd5b18745fdef084dc34b71978ffd.pdf

ITL Research. (2012). 21CLD Learning Activity Rubrics. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/34212053/21CLD_Learning_Activity_Rubrics

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved from: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum