Tag Archives: thinking

Understanding the ‘cryptic assessment task’: The English Language Proficiency problem.

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This week I attended a presentation at Monash University about English Language Proficiency (ELP) at university level. I recently secured a casual position at the University as a Conversational English Programs Facilitator, so this event was timely and very relevant and I’m glad to have received an invitation.

I’m very excited about this position and hope to make a difference and assist as best I can with academic and conversational English in particular, for our international students at Monash. The Senior Manager, Marta Skrbis, at Conversational English Programs provided some details regarding numbers: there are currently over 580 000 international students studying in Australia and it is expected that by 2020 Australia will be hosting 1 million students from overseas countries. At Monash in 2015 there are almost 24000 international students, that’s close to 40% of total enrolments! WOW!

Are you getting the picture as to why ELP is on the agenda and should remain on the agenda? People think that just because students are enrolled at university level they automatically have proficiency (competency) in English. The presentation covered many important elements but at the top of my agenda for the sake of this post remaining at an acceptable word count I would like to focus on ‘cryptic assessment tasks’ (as one audience member described them). You see the questions that got my attention, thanks to one of three speakers, Dr Rowena Harper, were thought provoking:

  1. Is English the problem?
  2. Is it students who are struggling?
dictionary entry

dictionary entry

As a secondary school teacher I have to say that university is not the only place one can find ‘cryptic assessment tasks’. Over the years I have come across some extraordinary tasks that have been distributed to students and that have successfully extended them as learners. They have been creative, challenging and even fun to do. Other tasks have been successfully differentiated to meet individual learners’ needs, some even modified effectively. And yes there is a difference.

So what are ‘cryptic assessment tasks’?  They are such that what is asked of the student is not clear cut. It may contain words the student cannot decipher -I don’t mean that they can’t look it up in the dictionary for definition- I mean they cannot apply the ‘skill’ it requires of them because they have not yet been taught how.

Take for example this task: Summarise the main points in the following article and reflect on the message it is trying to relay to the reader.

Okay let’s highlight the key words:

Summarise the main points in the following article and reflect on the message it is trying to relay to the reader.

So these are the VERBS -the actions the student must undertake in order to be successful in realising the task objective. Let’s take SUMMARISE  – what does that mean? Sorry, I didn’t finish the thought -What does it mean to one who is not proficient in English? (Please note: This is not only those students with an additional language, or those born overseas, or recent arrivals but also those who were born here). You see one major factor that came out of the presentation was that ELP is for ALL students. Another important aspect is that ELP is really about COMMUNICATION PROFICIENCY – spoken and written.

Here are the first three hits on google using the words ‘definition summarise’:

1. give a brief statement of the main points of (something),

2. to make a summary of; state or express in a concise form,

3. using your own words to shorten a piece of text so that it includes only the essential information.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/

Now to the next verb: REFLECT. For this definition I’m going to use part of Rowena’s slide from the presentation. In this context,

Reflect def

It also has very little to do with a mirror.

Lithograph by M. C. Escher, 1935

Lithograph by M. C. Escher, 1935

And lastly, RELAY.

passing the baton

passing the baton

Now, if the student had some experience of athletics or swimming then he or she might think it means taking turns with a team of people but did you also know that a relay is an electrically operated switch? Of course, in this case we mean it to be communicate, tell, share… or maybe it means analyse, synthesise, evaluate? Does the student know which and how?

Let’s return to the original task: Summarise the main points in the following article and reflect on the message it is trying to relay to the reader.

Let me ask you this: As the teacher, what would you do first?

Read the article to the class?

Have students take turns to read aloud?

Have them read it silently?

Set the task for homework?

Set up some sort of collaborative task for them?

What?

Let me tell you what I would do first as the teacher;  I would make sure they understand what it means to summarise, reflect and relay, in THIS context. I would provide examples and begin the discussion.

The task can wait.

Your thoughts…?

Thanks for reading 🙂

A week’s reflections: teaching & learning.

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I had a really great day at uni today. My colleague PhD students and I attended yet another couple of Friday workshops come info sessions to do with our work as researchers – or should I say our learning -it’s not really work when I think about it. There are three of us who are tight, who studied the post grad in ed research together in 2013 and then moved onto a PhD. My colleagues are now full time students which means they will be up for confirmation this year, one has only a few more weeks to be ready. All three of our PhD research topics are extensions of our minor thesis from two years ago but with a more detailed approach which to me only exposes our love and interest in the topics and our wish to delve deeper and to know more. We have accomplished much over the last four weeks and learned so much about ourselves and each other as research students and I think we all have some desire to grow more and even see ourselves as academics – well at least I do to some extent, but I want to also continue to be an educator and learner.

I also started a new job this week. The next two terms will see me working four days a week at a Catholic secondary school as a Peer Support Leader. I get to work, and learn, with the Education Support Department and also have a role to do with peer support – which is peer appraisal but not peer appraisal because it’s a dirty term in schools, so we don’t use the latter term in case teachers think they are being judged.

Well, I have news – we are judged. We are judged all the time every minute of the day while at school and even when we are not. The sooner we realise this, the better it will be and the sooner we can get on with the teaching and learning our students are entitled to, and deserve. It seems to me that some of us could do with a reflective exercise where we take a step back and have a real hard look at ourselves from the perspective of others. Now I’m not one to give a damn about what others think but I really feel that sometimes it’s a good idea to take time out and just watch, listen and learn.

That’s pretty much what I have been doing for the first four day week in my new position. As you know, if you read my blog regularly, I am an avid follower of twitter chats, and have written on some of my favourites in other posts. I always learn much on these chats and have picked up so many images and ideas that I gladly share with others. Tonight’s #BFC530 chat was no exception and thanks to @2learnthink I picked up this little gem.Screen Shot 2015-04-17 at 10.28.48 PM I really think that not only should it be pinned to every classroom door but posted at every school gate. “In this SCHOOL, everyone is a student and everyone is a teacher.”

There is also another image I have picked up along the way and used many times and one that I have been thinking about all week as I have been watching, listening and learning. This one I think speaks volumes, both positively and negatively.

doing_itPositive because there are those among us who are getting on with it and negative in the fact that we have to say it. Really sometimes we just have to get out of the way and let others get on with it. It’s not about power, or at least it shouldn’t be, it’s about EMPOWERMENT, taking responsibility, allowing failure so as to learn. By this I don’t mean catastrophic failure – surely it is our responsibility to be there to ensure this doesn’t happen, but I mean allow risk taking, with scaffold, supports and sensible direction to enable learning, to enable others to model and experiment and then allow for reflection  – action – re-plan – reflection – action – re-plan. Sometimes we just need someone, many times in fact, we just need someone to shut up and listen.listen We don’t always want, or even need, them to solve the problem or take any action but simply, LISTEN. There’s been a lot of that this week.

And…what have I learned this week?

I’ve learnt that the minute we think we’ve solved all the issues and problems is the same minute we stop learning, taking risks, reflecting and working for the benefit of our future – our children.Do-a-great-job-no-matter

1/2 a dozen new acronyms for the ATAR

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It’s ATAR season! The Australian Tertiary Admission Rank received by every student who sat their final exams this year. It’s also what we sometimes term the silly season. So here’s my take on the ATAR…6 other acronyms we could use…

silly season

1. ATAR: Apprehensively Tested And Ranked

We’ve all heard it before; “your ATAR doesn’t define you”, but for those students who last month sat the VCE and HSC exams in order to get an ATAR in the hope of securing a university offer; it does define them if only for a few short days. Last week all those students received their ATAR, their rank and file within the system that will make or break their next step. It’s a pity that many are so distraught by it all and I’m not just talking about those who get what is defined as a low ATAR. I’ve seen emotion drench them, consume them at the moment that text message arrives or the moment they log into that screen to see that number. Some will cheer, some will scream with glee, many others will cry mainly from relief that finally they know their magic number. Twelve or thirteen years of teaching and learning for this one moment in time; will it matter in 12 months, 5 years or 10? I daresay, it won’t even matter tomorrow. The day the universities make their offers, then it will matter for a minute as once again we log into those screens to see what they will allow us to study, as if they know what’s best.

2. ATAR: A Thorny Achievement Ranking

No matter what the ATAR in essence it is a RANK. Students are ranked in comparison to what other students achieved. Some will be pulled up others will be stretched down, some on the high, others on the low because quite simply that bell curve needs to be just right!Bell-Curve

3. ATAR: Ability To Acknowledge Rank?

 I really need students to understand that the ATAR is a RANK not a reflection of their ability. It all depends on where everyone else is ranked and in that you have no control.

tests_cartoon

4. ATAR: Acknowledge The Awesome Results!

 Instead, reflect on your hard work – well if you truly did do the hard work that is. If not then you pretty much deserved what you ranked – I’m pulling no punches here. So, if you did work to the best of your ability then use this experience as a ‘growth’ mindset activity. Learn from this and get out there and triumph! You can watch more about mindset here.

5. ATAR: Announce Triumph, Accommodate Reality

 I decided that this article reflects what I need to say here;

http://monash.edu.au/news/show/so-you-didnt-get-a-great-atar-its-not-the-end-of-the-world

 6. ATAR: A Terrific Achievement; Really…

 Considering we teachers spend so much time planning and facilitating the most interesting classes we can conjure up, well most of us do; it’s no wonder we manage to keep students in school a lot longer. We try to offer lots of different pathways to suit individual needs right up until that last-minute when reality demands that anyone thinking about going onto university must sit exams in every subject in order to gain an ATAR  – a RANK – so that universities can decide who they will and will not allow into their institutions to complete further studies – as if a rank could possibly reflect the true abilities, passions and convictions of a 17-18 year old student. As if a rank could accurately predict what this young person will become, will achieve and will contribute to society over their lifetime. And anyway, for years now we have been telling them that they will not be ‘a career __________ ‘(fill in this blank yourself), but rather, change their career path a multitude of times. In my opinion, it’s no use ranking them because in many cases they will get the undergraduate degree, then in 3-5 years they will once again rethink where they’d like to go next. These students think in nanoseconds, jump from one thing to another, like video games and their thirst for the now, right NOW. In fact, we need to treat this rank as a stepping-stone. What would I like to do next? What am I passionate about?

To all students out there; don’t let that RANK stop you, you worked hard now get out there and make a difference! AND, don’t forget we’ll be right behind you when you need support and encouragement – even if you don’t ask for it!

Pilgrims_cartoon

See you out in the real world!

Thanks for reading 🙂

“This is not how our teacher does it!”

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Good Morning Folks,

The other day I had the privilege of delivering the  Keynote address at the TLN CRT Conference. I have to say I was rather nervous at first but once I put my hands on that lectern it was all over and off I went. I really love doing what I do and I love meeting and speaking with educators, sharing ideas and anecdotes about teaching and learning. During my Positive Classrooms workshops, at the same conference, there were many ideas thrown around that I hope participants might try the next time they are in the classroom. My favourite idea was the alphabet game where the first person chooses a word – say –  learning, the next person must then say a word beginning with the last letter of the previous word – growth – and so it goes until everyone has had a turn. We then tried it using only words relevant to the topic at hand, and while this was rather difficult it is an excellent way to really challenge the students and stay on topic. It might also be useful as a revision or prior / post knowledge game.

Many thanks to all those who participated on the day. Remember that each child is taught by a CRT for almost 2 years of their 13 years at school. We can make a BIG difference to their lives, make sure it’s a positive one!

Lastly…for those who would like to know how the “I failed preps” story ends please click here

tigerinjunglebookThanks for reading 🙂