Networking: from early childhood years to retirement

From their early years of life, most children interact together, play together, talk with each other, show curiosity about what is happening in their immediate built and natural environments, and work at tasks together, whether they be formal or informal. Watch a group of children using construction materials, constructing an intricate system of roads, land and water forms in a sandpit, sharing toys, ‘reading’ picture books and constantly using their imagination to enrich their learning. Children naturally share ideas, ask numerous wondering ‘what if ?’ questions and learn by interacting and sharing ideas – key components of networking and collaboration. Why should this process be any different for adults, including those engaged in teaching in our education systems?

Networking and collaboration are emphasised in the current Education Queensland Science Education Strategy and particularly in the support for the implementation of the Primary Connections primary science program.

The DETA Curriculum Division is conducting a three-year project for the implementation of Primary Connections, as a major element of the Science Education Strategy. The Science Education Strategy focuses on enriching science education at all levels of schooling from the early childhood years to senior secondary studies, through the provision of effective and meaningful professional learning programs and the development of sustainable networks and partnerships.

Primary Connections is a well-researched primary science program developed with Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (formerly Department of Education, Science and Training, DEST) funding in response to the DEST–commissioned Goodrum, Hackling and Rennie report, The Status and Quality of Teaching and Learning of Science in Australian Schools (2001). The Primary Connections program has been developed by the Australian Academy of Science with a reference group representative of all sectors and jurisdictions in education in Australia, in both science and literacy.

Two of the main elements of Primary Connections are the development and use of cooperative learning strategies and the use of the 5Es Teaching/Learning model, where learners interact with each other to share and develop new understandings or to consolidate and extend their current understandings in science.

Cooperative learning is dominant in Primary Connections, with students working collaboratively in teams of two (younger year levels) and teams of three (from year four upwards). Students have well-defined roles and their teachers teach and model team skills. Within their teams, students work and talk with each other, and each team’s designated speaker can approach other teams or the teacher, for assistance and clarification. Teams eventually come together as a whole class to share findings, develop new ideas and reflect on learning.

Within the 5Es Teaching/Learning model, students engage with a topic in science, collaboratively explore and then in the explain phase are supported in developing explanations based on their observations. In the elaborate phase, students use what they have discovered to design and carry out investigations to further consolidate their understandings in science. The evaluate phase provides opportunities for students to reflect on their learning by talking, sharing and showing their learning in diverse ways. Each phase emphasises students interacting and collaborating.

In addition to using the print and electronic resources that are an integral part of Primary Connections, teachers in Education Queensland schools are urged to move beyond the available resources, to develop new units of work based on the 5Es teaching/learning model, re-shape existing units of work to suit the needs of their school communities and to share what they produce, with colleagues at school, cluster and regional levels.

Teachers are also encouraged to venture beyond their classrooms to network in using resources, including both personnel and local environments, to enhance teaching programs. Resources may include guest speakers visiting schools, community people providing workshops for students, excursion venues, on-line discussions for students, data-gathering about special features of the local environment to share with schools elsewhere in Australia and the world, and community involvement in special events such as science fairs. Parents can provide a wealth of information about community resources and can network further within their own professional communities to involve other community members in programs in both the school and the wider community.

The successful implementation of Primary Connections in EQ schools relies extensively on networking and collaboration at school, district, regional and state level. Funding is allocated to regions for the provision of Primary Connections professional learning programs best suited to the needs of the regions and aligned with system priorities and perspectives. Each region has a team of accredited Primary Connections facilitators who work collaboratively with the region’s Professional Development Coordinator whose role is to coordinate professional development for staff in the region.

Within the geographical expanse of Queensland there are ten regions covering an expanse  ranging from the islands in the Torres Strait (some of which are closer to Papua/New Guinea than the Australian mainland) to the Gold Coast on the Queensland/New South Wales border. Queensland spans an approximate distance of 2100 kilometres from north to south and 1500 kilometres from east to west at its widest point.

Planning interactive equipment-based professional learning programs in such a vast area can require taking into consideration time and the distances to be travelled to attend events, working in with flight schedules from outback areas to main centres, and complying with baggage restrictions on light aircraft.

As effective professional development should be ongoing with follow-up sessions instead of one-off attendance at professional learning programs, developing sustainable networking opportunities for ongoing dialogues, teacher professional growth and sharing ideas, is a crucial element in the planning and provision of successful Primary Connections professional learning programs.

The implementation of Primary Connections began in mid-2006 with two professional learning programs collaboratively organised by the Australian Academy of Science and the Curriculum Division. Approximately 200 people were selected to attend. After the two-day intensive Primary Connections professional learning program, participants were expected to implement a Primary Connections unit in their class and to provide Primary Connections professional development for the staff at their schools.

Feedback collected six months after the initial program showed that all participants had worked with colleagues in their schools in implementing Primary Connections units, and re-shaping the teaching of science. In addition, some participants had presented information sessions and worked with teachers in adjacent schools and occasionally had provided workshops at regional and state events.

As a follow-up to the initial professional learning programs, the Curriculum Division Senior Education Officer (Science) decided to organise and fund follow-up workshops with the title of ‘Celebrate, Communicate and Continue the professional journey’. The original idea for a follow-up workshop came from a south-west Queensland district where the curriculum support staff realised the value of teachers coming together to share experiences and network, and organised a recall day. Central Office was able to offer funding to facilitate teachers’ attendance at the initial workshop organised by the district. Some participants drove a round trip of 570 kilometres to attend the one-day workshop.

Further one-day follow-up workshops were held very successfully in three major regional centres and in Brisbane. The ‘Celebrate, Communicate and Continue’ program included time for teachers to present to the whole group about how they had been able to implement Primary Connections and to show work samples and presentations about their journey with the program. Participants then engaged in further learning by participating in an investigation workshop presented by Primary Connections facilitators and spent the afternoon participating in an interactive workshop that took participants through each of the stages of the 5Es on a topic not yet included in Primary Connections. Opportunity was provided for teachers to network and to meet key science personnel from their regions

In addition to providing structured opportunities for teachers to work collaboratively and to network, the workshops were an opportunity for the Senior Education Officer to identify people who showed the potential to upskill to facilitator status. Watching teachers in action presenting and reflecting about their achievements, is an authentic way of selecting people (in conjunction with region input), for facilitator status as potential facilitators are required to have a comprehensive understanding of the Primary Connections program, first-hand experience of working with students, and the ability to work effectively and collaboratively with other adults.

All Primary Connections workshops are based on the principles underpinning Primary Connections hence teachers work collaboratively in groups, to develop a thorough understanding of the special features of Primary Connections including the 5Es Teaching /Learning model. In workshops, facilitators make the phases of the 5Es and principles of Primary Connections explicit to participants by modelling exemplary practice.  Teachers are then expected to take what they have experienced, including cooperative learning strategies, back to their classes and colleagues. In the professional learning programs, teachers also experience strategies designed to develop students’ confidence in working collaboratively to share and offer ideas.

Some regions factor in follow-up workshops as part of the Primary Connections professional learning programs with the expectations that in the period between the initial program and the follow-up program, teachers will teach a Primary Connections unit then use the 5Es Teaching/Learning model to design and write a unit of work to share with the program’s participants. Excellent units of work are emerging from this process and are made available electronically to teachers within the region.

Other regions have regular cluster meetings to provide opportunities for participants to share and engage in further professional learning, and the meetings include workshops provided by individuals or community groups. One district’s program includes sessions about using ICTs with Primary Connections, Conducting Science Fairs, a Waterwise workshop and Using the 5Es in new units of work.

Collaboration and networking are essential for the professional growth of the Primary Connections Professional Learning Facilitators. Opportunities funded by Central Office, are made available for facilitators to come together to learn about developments and new initiatives in Primary Connections at the national level, as well as system priorities and perspectives that need to be incorporated in Primary Connections professional learning programs. In addition, Queensland facilitators have access to a Primary Connections Discussion List where they can share ideas and post questions and requests.

At the national level, facilitators have the opportunity to network with each other as contact details of all facilitators from all sectors and jurisdictions are available on the password-accessible section of the Academy of Science Primary Connections website.

The electronic discussion list administered by the Senior Education Officer, is open to anyone with an interest in primary science and is used as a way of disseminating information, with contributions about primary science, resources and other events, being posted by members. Earlier this year, information about a competition that related extremely well to one of the published Primary Connections units, and organised by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries was disseminated through the list. This means of communication resulted in an increase in the number of teachers registering classes to participate in the competition. Recent posts on the discussion list have included information for teachers about the prestigious Peter Doherty awards, while other posts have resulted in teachers obtaining posters from an educational institution in the United States, participating in a NASA project, and sharing information about local resources.

As well as structured opportunities for networking and collaboration, the benefits of informal networking and collaborating should not be under-estimated and it may be the informal chat while having coffee with a colleague, or talking while waiting for a flight to a regional centre that provide the opportunity for people to share ideas and learn. Similarly, a structured professional learning program may provide additional opportunities for people to talk informally and share ideas about various aspects of teaching.

In all levels of schooling, from early childhood to senior secondary, teachers benefit from each other and the community beyond the school boundary by talking, working, walking and learning together to enhance both the quality of the programs that are offered to students and to  educators’ for their own professional growth. Networking and collaboration overcome the challenges of both distance and time, and lead to productive partnerships at all levels.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ms Chris Purdie is Senior Education Officer (Science) in the Curriculum Branch at the Department of Education, Training and the Arts, in Queensland, Australia.

 

Go to top of page     Go to online discussion