Curriculum+Content

Evidence of my professional accomplishments as they relate to:

Curriculum Content

I love being a History teacher. I remember saying to my husband when I first started teaching how great it was that I got to teach the ‘coolest’ subject.

I believe teaching history brings to life the best of what we are. The stories we encounter in history, even the most tragic, contain elements of great courage, beauty and dignity. I bring students to these stories and let them decide, ‘is this what happened?’, ‘why might someone choose to do this?’. This is the basic skill of making sense of the past.

In my teaching career I have taught a range of subjects such as Society and Culture, Studies of Religion, Commerce, Geography and English. I have also taught each stage of the Junior History program as well as Ancient History. Modern History is my passion and I believe I have demonstrated a level of expertise in this area, as shown in the following examples.

Professional Learning Community

I am currently the facilitator of the Modern History Teachers Professional Learning Community (PLC) for the Inner West Region CEO. I have attached the evaluation, resources and evaluations in the appendix.

In this capacity I am challenged to be a leader in my area of teaching. My approach to facilitating our Modern History PLC is based upon my philosophy of teaching in that I seek to build a community of learners. In this case the learners are teachers of History who voluntarily meet in the evenings to share and develop their teaching of this subject. My role involves working with the group members, setting the agenda to meet everyone’s needs, sourcing thought provoking resources and materials to support the discussion and learning, keeping the group on track and ensuring that everything that is shared is of the highest standard and meets Board of Studies (BOS) requirements. My most recent PLC meeting was held was held on the 12th of May. Included in this PLC was a presentation from Apple on the role of ICT in Senior classes. I felt this was important as often teachers are reluctant to move away from ‘chalk and talk’ teaching with their senior classes. The presenter was able to demonstrate the opportunities students have to explore and present primary sources. This is an important aspect of learning source analysis skills as it provides students with opportunities to model and shares their own research. I have included a sample of some of the ICT elements I regularly include in my teaching in the Pedagogy section of this portfolio.

We also discussed the changes to the core section of the HSC, which now will include objective response questions. This discussion led to teachers agreeing to share their Preliminary course assessments and a planned group marking exercise at the next meeting.

There was also a lengthy discussion of the National Curriculum. As a group we decided that we would investigate the changes and at our next meeting create a response to the document to be sent to ACARA. I invited a teacher who had been involved in the writing of the new Stage 6 curriculum to discuss the changes. I believe the greatest success of the PLC was my ability to provide the group with a professional, well resourced and highly relevant opportunity to develop their teaching, based upon my knowledge of the curriculum content. I have included in the appendix the agenda, professional reading, activities and the evaluations.

The best aspect of teaching history is developing student’s strengths in contesting established knowledge and allowing them the freedom to develop skills that make this credible.

At the heart of the study of history is the need to understand the big questions such as, ‘How do we know something?’, ‘What is the nature of truth?’ and ‘How is knowledge constructed?’. I am a firm believer that students in all stages should be exposed to these questions and develop critical thinking skills that allow them to question and credential stories from the past. The continuum of learning represented in the Stage 4 and 5 course challenges students to assess primary source information and determine its usefulness for the understanding of the past.

HSC Marking

My experience as a HSC marker in 2008 and 2009 contributed significantly to my teaching of Modern History. It has challenged me to develop a deep understanding of how to apply the skills of analysis and the usefulness of sources. I found that marking HSC papers allowed me to work collaboratively with a variety of colleagues’ peer marking processes and to consider a variety of possible responses and how they could be credentialed. I have included the Markers Reference from marking in 2009 in the Appendix.

Interestingly, this experience has also had a significant impact on how I teach junior history in terms of fully developing a student’s ability to assess sources. This is demonstrated in my choice, in 2008, to focus on these skills in writing the differentiated assessment for the Year 7 ‘What is History?’ unit. This unit was developed as part of my involvement in writing the Differentiated Assessment policy paper for CEO Sydney. I was selected as the secondary differentiation specialist for the inner west region. There were six teachers working with two external experts from the University of NSW. I worked throughout 2008 and 2009 with this group and whilst I have been a keen contributor I have also gained further specialist knowledge through my involvement.

The Year 7 task differentiated the Stage 4 outcomes and provided learning opportunities for students with diverse learning needs. The assessment for learning activity is part of the Mandatory Stage 4 syllabus, Topic 1: ‘What is History?’ Students learnt about the skills needed to undertake the process of historical inquiry. They were challenged to respond to key questions regarding how historians work and what evidence they collect. Students then presented their findings in a suitcase that included all the items a historian would require. Considering this was an introductory Year 7 unit in a subject new to them, the student’s presentations were of a very high standard and reflected a deep understanding of the work historians did. I have attached photos from the lesson to illustrate the sort of elements students included.

This was a highly successful unit as it stimulated student’s interest and enjoyment of exploring the process of historical investigation. It assisted in developing a critical and creative understanding of the nature of history. The aim was also to enable them to participate as active and informed citizens through a deep understanding of the construction of knowledge. I have included some of the students work in the appendices. It shows a highly developed understanding of the role of the historian and the nature of the work historians do. Students worked collaboratively in ability groups. During this activity I had another teacher ask to come and observe as she was keen to learn how a class might function with such a task.

In terms of the differentiation of assessment, the task has extension outcomes that have a matrix attached. Students are therefore able to work beyond the Stage 4 outcomes and be recognised for this in the reporting. There were a small group of students who were able to demonstrate knowledge and skills at the extension level. The task was incorporated as part of a paper presented at the Iowa Gifted Education Conference on Differentiated Assessment (see Appendix)

In November 2009 the NSW Board of Studies School Certificate paper asked students to identify alternative sources to the one presented that would be useful for an historian studying a particular event in history. The paper highlights the need to consider the teaching of source analysis and the requirements of the syllabus to prepare all students with the skill of assessing and critically evaluating sources. However, this question, as it required higher order abstract thinking and hypothesis skills, would have discriminated between the average and gifted students.

Development of connected tasks across Stage 4, 5 and 6

The continuum of learning represented in the NSW Secondary Stage 4 to Stage 6 NSW History syllabi pinpoints the development of the skill of undertaking historical inquiry. The following outcomes are identified in the Stage 4 & 5 syllabus:

• identifies the meaning, purpose and context of historical sources • draws conclusions about the usefulness of sources as evidence in an inquiry • identifies different contexts, perspectives and interpretations of the past (BOS History).

Implicit within these outcomes is the expectation that students have a clear understanding of the role of perspective, are able to assess reliability and address the subsequent usefulness of the source for historians studying specific questions. Balancing and connecting these components requires the development of considerable cognitive skill, and exposure to a range of opportunities to understand and develop expertise in sources assessment.

Further to assessing these three areas students are expected to be able to communicate the role and impact of historical contexts in the creation of historical sources. For the learner these key skills then become the foundation of developing a deeper understanding of the ontological (what is the nature of truth) and epistemological (how can we know something) issues involved in the construction of history.

It is my contention that the development of understanding of the nature of history and key questions of how we know and what is truth are essential in teaching History from Year 7 onwards. In my classes I seek to have students are more likely to “find that history is a living and changing construct, a fascinating revelation, an idea which they are happy to pursue in greater depth.” (BOS History Extension 2005) These tasks allow student to engage in systematic learning, training and practising high level critical and creative thinking skills. Task 1 Stage 4 Task

This task specifically meets the needs of the gifted learner as it allows students to elaborate on a variety of concepts and make significant connections with them. The collaborative process involved in the group tasks further develops student’s ability to resolve conflicting ideas, form consensus and consider major systems of thought. Throughout the task students are introduced to the discipline of the history, its reliance on source materials and as a consequence the construction of knowledge. Students are able to then to deconstruct this process using a combination of both the Williams and Maker models.

For example students were asked to respond to the following question; ‘What personal characteristics might you need as an historian?’. This question allows the student to consider the social and emotional dimension of practitioner within the discipline and allows gifted learners to elaborate on what the key skills of historical inquiry are. The connection made between hypothesis on one hand and understanding of the necessary personal attributes on the other, provide students with the opportunity to express their understanding.

Further opportunities are offered through the Williams Model analogy questions and the attribute listing tasks. The need for students to identify possible systems within the field of historical enquiry is based upon the Maker model of content modification dealing specifically with abstraction. Included in this task were opportunities for students to undertake extension activities. I have included a copy of the assessment task I wrote for the Year group and some samples of student’s work that demonstrate the level of engagement and the design of knowledge for different audiences. I have included some images of student work in my Appendix to demonstrate their response to this task. Working with students to avoid plagiarism

Plagiarism is largely a symptom of the access and quality of information available on the Internet. In many ways this generation of learners, outside of school, regularly plagiarise ideas and each other’s work as part of their socialising online. There is a general recognised shift away from the 20th century notion of copyrights and intellectual property. In response to the questions; ‘how do we encourage students to make the most of this wealth of information, become savvy in their assessment of quality resources and scaffold the synthesis of information from other sources?’, I have been using a variety of techniques to support students as they develop these skills.

I developed an electronic grid, which allowed students to break down some of the steps involved in researching and writing. I have attached the grid for reference in the appendix. This grid was then taken up for use as a whole school practice. I felt it was a simple yet effective step in supporting Stage 4 students develops their ability to put in their own words information they had found on the web. As mentioned the grid involved breaking down the steps more sophisticated students take in responding to assessment questions. The grid is made available to students through the CEO ‘myclasses’ pages for each subject. Firstly students are required to write/type in their focus question. They are then required to cut and paste the text from the Internet that they feel answers part of or their entire question. This acknowledges that all learners draw from other sources of information and that this is positive rather than something to be hidden. Students are then required to make bold the key facts or historical detail within the text. The next box provides space for students to write in their own words their response to the question incorporating the historical detail. They then hand the grid in with their assessment task demonstrating their achievement of the BOS outcome to ‘locate, select and organise relevant information from a number of sources, including ICT, to conduct basic historical research’.

I have had a number of students tell me that they use the grid all the time and it really helps. When students find a website that provides beautifully written answers to their questions, how they can make use of the information without plagiarising can be daunting. The grid has proved highly successful and although simple it demonstrates a deep and critical understanding of the curriculum outcomes.

The second example is the website profiler. This comes from my work with the Australian Government Quality Teaching Project (AGQTP) in 2007. I came across this graphic organiser on a website called Thinkport and adapted the grid to suit my needs. It has been used successfully in my classes to develop the skill of historical research in a way that takes into account our knowledge age and the need to evaluate internet and web based sources. Each box challenges students to critically examine the construction of the site and its usefulness in historical research. I teach the use of the grid and then have students access the grid on the myclasses website. The BOS requires students develop this as a specific skill within the 7-10 History course.

“Historical research and communication processes include Information Communication Technologies (ICT) such as evaluating internet and web-based sources and using technologies for historical research.”

There are a number of examples of units of work I have developed that are featured in other areas of this portfolio that demonstrate my thorough and critical understanding of the curriculum. The examples above seek to not only apply this knowledge but also have application in my teaching practice.