Key research evidence

When Adrienne Alton-Lee concludes (in the Quality Teaching BES, 2003) that “Quality teaching … is the most influential point of leverage on student outcomes” (p.2), she elucidates this by suggesting that effective teachers:

• have high achievement expectations and focus on high achievement by students
• establish and maintain a learning community that is caring, inclusive, and cohesive
• create links for students between school and other contexts in which students are socialised
• are responsive to students’ cognitive needs through their strategic use of teaching and organisational strategies
• give students sufficient time and opportunity to learn
• engage students constructively in goal-oriented assessment
• ensure that curriculum goals, learning resources, task designs, and class and school practices are effectively aligned
• provide sufficient scaffolds and appropriate feedback for students
• encourage students to become self-motivated, reflective, metacognitive and self-regulated learners.

John Hattie, in his study of the attributes of expert teachers, states that, “Expert teachers … build climates where error is welcomed, where student questioning is high, where engagement is the norm, and where students can gain reputations as effective learners” (Hattie, 2002, p. 12). He also states that, “Expert teachers are more likely [than experienced teachers] to set challenging rather than ‘do your best’ goals, they set challenging and not merely time consuming activities, they invite students to engage rather than copy, and they aim to encourage students to share commitment to these challenging goals” (ibid., p. 14).

Through their Te Kotahitanga work, Russell Bishop and his colleagues have developed a profile of what an effective teacher ‘looks like’, especially a teacher who excels in being culturally responsive with Māori students. Their profile of such a teacher is underpinned by two key elements. The teacher:

• explicitly rejects deficit theorising as a means of explaining Māori student engagement and achievement levels
• actively accepts a professional responsibility for bringing about change in Māori student engagement and achievement levels.

In addition, the effective teacher of Māori students:

• cares for students as culturally located individuals (Manaakitanga)
• has high expectations for student achievement and cares about learning outcomes (Mana motuhake)
• is able to create and manage a secure and outcome-oriented learning environment (Ngā whakapiringatanga)
• is able to engage in a range of effective teaching interactions with Māori students as Māori (Wananga)
• is able to promote other interactions (especially learner-learner interactions) that facilitate learning (Ako)
• monitors and reflects upon progress and achievement, and uses this information to promote further progress and achievement (Kotahitanga).

Through their Culturally Responsive Pedagogy of Relations, Bishop et al. communicate their conclusions about the beliefs, knowledge, practices, and personal dispositions that effective teachers of Māori students have or demonstrate. They suggest that an effective classroom for Māori students is one in which:

[P]ower is shared between self-determining individuals within non-dominating relations of interdependence; where culture counts; where learning is interactive, dialogic and spirals; where participants are connected to one another through the establishment of a common vision for what constitutes excellent in educational outcomes …

http://tekotahitanga.tki.org.nz/About/The-Development-of-Te-Kotahitanga/History-of-the-Project, p. 3

There are particular challenges in engaging Māori students fully and meaningfully in the learning process. For example, in their study of important principles that underpin effective teaching and learning for Māori students, Bishop and Glynn list, amongst other principles:

• learners are able to be co-inquirers, ie., raisers of questions and evaluators of questions and answers;
• learning is active, problem-based, integrated and holistic;
• learning and teaching positions are reciprocal and knowledge is co-created;
• young peoples’ sense-making processes and knowledges are validated and developed in collaboration with others;
• teachers and learners interact and exchange roles;
• motivation is intrinsic to the collaborative achievement of tasks and to the
  co-construction of meaning;
• understandings are gained in real-life (or close to real-life) situations. (Bishop and Glynn, 2000, p.5).

Acting on these principles is essential if Māori students are to feel truly valued and to engage fully and meaningfully in classroom learning activities. The teacher “does not have to be the fountain of all knowledge, but rather a partner in the ‘conversation’ of learning” (p. 4).

Many researchers emphasise the importance of teachers using students’ prior knowledge and local community contexts meaningfully, within the teaching and learning process, to enhance student engagement in learning, especially through thoughtful selection of learning topics and contexts. They also point to opportunities for family/whānau and iwi engagement to be enhanced when learning topics and contexts are selected thoughtfully.

When discussing (in the Quality Teaching BES) how effective teachers optimise students’ educational opportunities, Alton-Lee states that they “respect and affirm [students’] cultural identity” (p. vii). This means that:

• Relevance is made transparent to students.
• Cultural practices at school are made transparent and taught.
• Ways of taking meaning from text, discourse, numbers, or experience are made explicit.
• Quality teaching recognises and builds on students’ prior experiences and knowledge.
• New information is linked to student experiences.
• Student diversity is utilised effectively as a pedagogical resource. (Alton-Lee, 2003, p. vii).

Māori Students: Schools Making a Difference states it succinctly. “Good practice schools … support Māori students by creating an environment where students can feel proud of being Māori” (Education Review Office, 2002, p. 1). If students do not make links with what interests them and what they already know, it is difficult for them to engage meaningfully in their learning.

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