Teaching As Inquiry: Student Voice

To kick off my MIT-2018 inquiry and the Teaching As Inquiry cycle for 2018, I have explored learner attitude to Maths to gain student voice through oral language. The result is Room 11's movie contribution to Pt England School's daily news network, PENN, for Term 1 in which learners share what they like about Maths, with a few examples of when they use Maths outside school.


While listening to these Year 4 and 5 learners share their ideas and thinking about why they like Maths, I was struck by the common words and themes of "cool" and "fun". While their genuinely positive attitude was evident and heart-warming, many learners found it difficult to expand upon their one word or short phrase answers to articulate their thinking further. Through questioning, scaffolding and some paired or small group discussion, some learners were able to add to their ideas to share the "because" part of their thinking.

What does this mean for my inquiries for 2018?

• Using the structure of the Talk Moves for oral language to create a safe and positive environment in which learners focus on ideas, thinking and friendly argumentation.
• Ongoing oral language activities to allow all learners to feel more confident sharing their thinking with others.
• Activities to build student capacity to use the language of Maths.
• Oral language and Maths problems that strengthen student understandings of the connections between Maths at school, home and in the real world.