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Scanlon, F, ETL 411, SS13, Assignment two
The Resource: A Recycling Diary
The recycling diary is a resource which asks year three students to create a diary
that is capable of recording information over a four week period. The students are
able to utilise information processing programs such as Microsoft Word or Excel, or
they can choose to create a diary by hand utilising materials such as cardboard and
paper. Each student is then given a list of 12 recyclable materials which can be
found within their home environment and acts as a guide for the types of materials
that can be recycled.
Their task is to then recycle an item, record which item they have recycled,
what that item can be recycled into (i.e. new product) and then physically recycle that
item in the correct manner before getting a parent/guardian to sign off that they have
completed the process. Students are asked to recycle at least one material per week
for the four week period with an aim of recycling a new material each week. Once
the diary has been signed off by their parent/guardian, the student then brings their
diary to Geography and is rewarded with a star for each item that they have recycled
per week. The diary is then utilised by the student in order to refer to and make use
of when participating in class discussion on the issue of recycling.
Curriculum linkages:
The recycling diary’s relationship to the Australian curriculum is based primarily on
the liberal/progressive orientation to curriculum development (Kemmins, Cole, &
Suggett, 1983). The diary reflects a liberal stance by recognising that “society is
open to (and needing) reconstruction” and that “reconstruction can be achieved only
through the development of its future citizens – and by preparing each and every one
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to participate in its improvement” (Kemmins et al., 1983, p.9). The diary aims to take
this notion of curriculum being the agent of change in improving society through
students beginning to understand the values of care and responsibility with respect
to their environment.
A benefit of the recycling diary is its ability to act as a medium for students to
explore the cross curriculum priority of sustainability (Australian Curriculum,
Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2013). The recycling diary has been
designed to help students develop and appreciate an understanding that the role of
recycling has on our environment. Recognising this statement, the recycling diary is
aimed at creating awareness amongst students where their “actions for a more
sustainable future reflect values of care, respect and responsibility, and require us to
explore and understand environments” (ACARA, 2013, P.274). While the recycling
diary has the added bonus of addressing sustainability within the Australian
curriculum, the diary also attempts to further develop student’s literacy skills.
The overarching aim of the diary is to prompt students into peer discussion within a
geography lesson. Under the Australian curriculum code ACELY1676 and
description ‘interacting with others’; the description seeks students to “listen and
contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas and
negotiate in collaborative situations” (ACARA, 2013, p.26). Part of the recycle diary’s
design is for the diary to be used as a tool that can record information from which a
student can use in order to present ideas and information to their fellow classmates.
Not only does the recycle diary act as a tool to help students to participate in class
discussion, but it gives students room to use their imaginations when creating their
diaries.
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The role of asking students to design their own diary gives the student
flexibility in how they choose to record their information which directly relates to the
Australian curriculums ‘creating texts’ and more specifically literacy curriculum areas
of ACELY1684 and ACELY1685. As the diary’s exact design layout is left to the
student’s imagination and creativity, the diary can help students in developing their
information processing skills if they choose to create a diary on Microsoft Word or
Excel. If however a student prefers to use a more traditional data entry method of
recording their information with a pen or pencil after having designed a diary out of
card or paper, the student can specifically work on writing “using joined letters that
are clearly formed and consistent in size” (ACARA, 2013, p.27). Not only does the
diary aim to address areas of the Australian curriculum but aspects of tactile, written,
and oral multimodal literacy needs are embedded within the diary’s design.
Multimodality:
The use of tactile meaning involves communicating through bodily sensations such
as the feelings of touch and smell (Kalantzis & Cope, 2012). The recycling diary uses
the feelings of touch as it asks students to grasp objects and materials which require
recycling. Materials such as coke cans, cereal boxes and even vegetable products
have different textures and aromas which require us to use and dispose of in
different ways. Using tactile communication in combination with written meaning
involves the student having to record the items and materials that they recycle. As
has been described, students can record using a variety of methods depending on
their diary design, but it is the link between what they have touched to what they
record which is pivotal in the learning experience. The use of written meaning also
provides the student with a source of information that can be readily used to refer to
once class discussion commences in the geography lesson.
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The final multimodal aspect that is focused on through the use of the recycling diary
is that of oral meaning. Kalantzis and Cope inform us that oral meaning involves
communication through speech and one’s ability to listen (2012). While the recycling
diary aims to provide the platform to engage students in class discussion, its real
asset is that of creating dialect within the student’s home. The introduction of a
recycling homework task involves the student interacting with their families/carers.
Student’s may be required to ask a sibling or parent about a particular material that
they intend to recycle which also prompts discussion around the concepts of
recycling within the home.
Theories of learning and pedagogical influences:
Understanding where students’ abilities lie with reference to their cognitive
development was crucial for designing the recycling diary. Specifically, the recycling
diaries theoretical foundations are built upon Piaget’s concrete operational stage of
development (Marsh, 2004). According to Marsh, the concrete operational stage is
where students between the ages of 7-11 “are typically tied to personal experience”
and if “they can partake in activities with concrete objects they can produce all kinds
of thinking” (2004, p. 19). The recycling diary aims to get students to interact with
material objects therefore engaging them in the processes of thinking in relation to
the environment and the potential impact that recycling can have on their world.
As was alluded to earlier, the liberal/progressive orientation to curriculum is
also linked with the learning theory of Piaget. This is demonstrated through the
student engaging in learning through interaction as evidenced by Piaget’s focus on
the utilisation of concrete objects and materials (Kemmins et al. 1983). While the
relationship between curriculum orientation and learning theory is important in the
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recycling diary’s design, the diary’s effectiveness as a teaching resource is only as
good as the pedagogical practices used to implement it.
The association between pedagogy and learning theory is best introduced by
Kalantzsis & Cope as a “process of weaving backwards and forwards across and
between different ways of knowing” (2012, p. 358). Kalantzsis and Cope refer to a
concept called the ‘knowledge processes’ (2012). One aspect of the ‘knowledge
processes’ that guides the pedagogical practice behind the recycling diary is that of
experiencing (Kalantzsis & Cope, 2012). Experiencing refers to students bringing in
their own experiences and ways of communicating which enable both individual and
collective reflection (Kalantzsis & Cope, 2012). The second aspect to experiencing is
‘the new’ where “learners are immersed in new situations or information, observing
or taking part in something that is new or unfamiliar” (Kalantzsis & Cope, 2012, p.
357).
Linking the new and the old therefore leads a teacher to design resources
which weave “between school learning and the practical out-of-school experiences”
of students. (Kalantzsis & Cope, 2012, p.359). The recycling diary aims to connect
the school, home and environment through the practical experience of recycling. Not
only is the recycling diary designed so that students weave between different modes
and ways of knowing, the design also attempts to be intentional with its focus on
literacy and geography.
The Department for Education and Child Development (DECD) highlight the
need for teachers to have a deep understanding of pedagogy that maximises the
engagement of their students (2012). Reflecting this understanding is the need for
teachers to show intent by being “clear about what they want their students to learn
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and the best ways to help them learn this” (DECD, 2012, p. 3). The recycling diary’s
design aims to utilise tactile, oral and written forms of meaning in order for the
students to learn about their environment and more specifically the action of
recycling. Further adding to the understanding of pedagogy is the process of
reviewing teaching practices and their impact on student learning.
The South Australian Teaching for Effective Learning Framework guide
(DECS) suggests that “pedagogy is improved through the continual process of
questioning, review and redesign” (2010, p.13). The influence of review on positive
teaching practices is unquestionable and only results in more effective teaching and
learning experiences for the student. The process of review and redesign is best
facilitated through peer discussion and further professional development (DECS,
2012). Not only does the process of review allow for small or significant changes to
the diary, but promotes the teacher to be able to be responsive to their students’
needs and further develops advanced pedagogical practice.
DECD suggest that teachers need to be able to “respond to learner needs”
and be able to demonstrate consistency through ensuring pedagogy “enables all
learners to engage with and achieve the intended outcome” (2012, p. 3). The
concept of recognising learner needs and enabling all learners to achieve lies at the
crossroads of pedagogy and classroom diversity.
Diversity and Assessment
To understand how the recycling diary attempts to address the issue of classroom
diversity we must first understand what we mean by diversity. Kalantzsis and Cope
inform us that a diverse classroom may consist of students for whom English is a
second language, students with different age and subsequent ability levels,
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differences in sex, gender and race, the geographical location of a familial system
right through to the socioeconomic background from which a child is raised (2012).
All of the previous elements plus many more make up the diversity that teachers
face when having to design a specific task and or resource for their classroom.
Thankfully, ACARA have understood the principle of diversity when designing the
recent introduction of the Australian curriculum R-12 (2013).
ACARA state that “Teachers will use the Australian Curriculum to develop
teaching and learning programs that build on students interests, strengths, goals and
learning needs, and address the cognitive, affective, physical, social, and aesthetic
needs of all students” (2013, p.4). ACARA aims to address the diversity within the
Australian education system through recognising “that the needs and interests of
students will vary, and that schools and teachers will plan from the curriculum in
ways that respond to those needs and interests” (2013, p.5).
It is clear that the issue of diversity is a continual and ever-changing concept
for schools though it would appear that ACARA sets the curriculum agenda from
which schools can utilise in their own flexible and engaging methods. The reflection
of flexibility is resonated throughout the design of the recycling diary as it addresses
different ways of acquiring knowledge, utilises collaborative work between students,
incorporates understandings of cognitive development and is dictated by the
student’s imagination and creativity when creating their diary. While the recycling
diary’s design incorporates classroom diversity into its design, assessing a student’s
literacy skills is another component of the diary which makes it an effective teaching
resource.
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Earlier the paper highlighted some key areas of the Australian curriculum for
which the recycling diary specifically targets. For example ACELY1676; “Listen to
and contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas and
negotiate in collaborative situations” (ACARA, 2013, p.26). Kalantzsis and Cope
suggest that we can assess students through formative ways which can help to
provide information to students, parents, teachers and school systems on the
development and progress of their education (2012).
The concept of formative assessment is used in the recycling diary as the
diary can provide information to the teacher over a four week period which then
allows feedback to be given to the student regarding the quality of their work and
ways in which they can improve (DECD, 2012). Further, formative assessment can
be used to facilitate student learning “through dialogue and self and peer
assessment” (DECD, 2012, p.2). The diary enables students to engage with each
other therefore allowing teachers to guide positive discussion on students evaluating
each other’s work as a collective.
The link between assessment and the Australian curriculum is further
evidenced by the diary’s ability to provide a learning resource which is at the
crossroads of national year 3 literacy requirements and students engaging in
collaborative learning. Reflecting the former, ACARA states that by the end of year 3,
“Students create a range of texts for familiar and unfamiliar audiences. They
contribute actively to class and group discussions, asking questions, providing useful
feedback and making presentations” (2013, p. 29). The diary enables students to
participate in classroom discussion and create their own text suitable for the
recording of information. The diary can then be assessed by the classroom teacher
over the four weeks as a single activity or as a part of a lesson or unit of work. The
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latter would be the suggested method of utilising the recycling diary as its design
parameters would ideally fit within a geographical unit of work.
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Reference List:
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). The Australian
Curriculum Learning Areas English and Geography. Retrieved from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Download/F10.
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2013). Student
Diversity and the Australian Curriculum, Advice for principals, schools and
teachers.
ACARA,
Sydney,
NSW.
Retrieved
from
http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/StudentDiversity/Pdf/StudentDiversity.
Department for Education and Child Development Literacy Secretariat. (2012).
Engaging and Exploring Assessment in Literacy Resource paper. Retrieved
from
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/literacy/pages/Programs/Resources/?reFlag=1.
Department for Education and Child Development Literacy Secretariat. (2012).
Engaging and Exploring Effective literacy teaching. Resource paper.
Retrieved
from
http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/literacy/pages/Programs/Resources/?reFlag=1.
Department of Education and Children’s Services. (2010). South Australian Teaching
for Effective Learning Framework guide. Lane Print and Post, South Australia.
Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (2012). Literacies. Melbourne: Cambridge University
Press.
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Kemmis, S., Cole, P., and Suggett, D., (1983). Orientations to Curriculum.
Orientations to curriculum and transition: towards the socially-critical school.
Victorian Institute of Secondary Education.
Marsh, C.J. (2004). How Student’s Develop and Learn. Becoming a Teacher. (3rd
ed.). French Forest, NSW, Pearson Education.
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