Raising Maori and Pasifika Achievement in

Geography

Jane EvansSocial Sciences Facilitator Team SolutionsSeptember 2014

About Me:

Programme:

General •What do the stats tell us about ethnicity?•What do students say?•Course design•Being culturally responsive•Literacy strategies•Teaching and assessment strategiesSpecific Strategies that work

Discussion

What is the present situation for these students?

This was the situation in 2012

• At all levels internals get better grades than externals• The gap between Maori and European averages 14% for internals and

21% for externals• Pasifika are 2% lower than Maori for internals and 12% lower for

externals• Less than 50% of Pasifika students were gaining achievement in

externals

By 2013 this was:

Which means that the difference was:

• The gap between Maori and European now averages 12.1% (was 14%) for internals and 17% (was 21%) for externals

• Pasifika have overtaken Maori in 2 internals and the gap is only 3% (was 12%) lower for externals

• More than 50% of Pasifika students are now gaining achievement in externals

• Students do best in the 1.6 internal and the 1.4 external

Compare this to our sister subject History:

History Standards are comparable to Geography in Internals but are doing far better in externals.Pasifika students do better than Maori at History (other way in geography). The gap between Maori and European is the same (both 12%) for internals while for externals it is 20% for History and 17% for Geography.

So What conclusions can we draw from this?

• There has been a big improvement in Maori and Pasifika Achievement between 2012 and 2013

• This is especially the case for externals and for Pasifika students. It shows they can do it!

• However, a gap still exists between Maori and Pasifika and European students. There is room for improvement.

What are the reasons for this:

• External papers are better laid out for our students

• We have adopted better teaching techniques in the classroom

• Everyone is doing a great job!

What do students enjoy about geography?• It is fun• We enjoy it• I like geography - it makes me think.• We like learning about other places and

countries, natural environments and disasters.• It helps if topics are relevant to us especially

for internals. We like to learn about development and anything based in the Pacific.

What students say hinders their learning of geography

•The natural environment topic is difficult as science based. But we enjoy learning about it which helps. It is just difficult to understand.•Skills is also difficult as little details count and gets irritating.•Geography is not seen as being as important as Maths and English to do well in. Many concentrate on these instead.•Geography has a lot of content to learn which is difficult compared to some other subjects. However, it helps to learn it if it is interesting. We like to learn about what is happening in the world.•There is too much reading and I don’t always get it.

What do teachers do to help you learn?• A teacher that takes things slowly and explains it well• Playing games – especially if they have food prizes!• Using stickers especially the smelly ones to put in our books. We

feel rewarded!• Teacher that helps with writing – giving lots of practice and

feedback.• A teacher that gives you key words to use in writing or shows

lots of good examples so we know what good work looks like• A teacher who encourages self learning. Not all the time but so

we can learn ourselves at home – we need guidance on how to do this.

• A teacher who is always encouraging us and is engaged with us and wanting to share their passion

Course Design

• Students need a minimum of 14 credits for Level 1 and 16 for Level 2 to ensure they gain their certificate

• Think about your mix of internal and externals

• At Level 1 you can gain a maximum of 16 credits internally. At Level 2 it is 14 plus the 2.8 GIS of 4.

You do need to consider:

• Having a well rounded geography course – some physical and cultural geography

• Scaffolding to the needs of Level 2 and 3

• Are there alternative course standards you can use? Earth Science? Agriculture and Science? Environment for sustainability?

Discussion

• How many AS and credits do you offer in your course at each level?

• What externals do you do?

• What externals do your students do well in?

• Is there anything you can change?

What externals are best to drop?

• Level 1 – Population

• Level 2 – Natural Landscapes

• Level 3 – Skills or Natural Processes

What do the stats show?

This shows that:For Maori and Pasifika the 1.7 Global is the most popular internalFor Maori Skills is the most popular externalFor Pasifika 1.1 ENE is the most popular externalPopulation is the least popular external of all ethnicities.

Being culturally Responsive

• http://tekotahitanga.tki.org.nz/Videos/Interviews/Changing-Maori-educational-experiences

Cultural Responsiveness

• Show care for students – Maori as Maori and Pasifika students from the individual cultures they are from

• Create a learning context that allows students to bring their culture into the classroom

• Build on relationships and trust so they are happy to question

• Use effective range of strategies to meet the needs of the students

• Uses evidence of student performance to guide teaching

• Engage whanau / communities/ family in the learning

Know Your Students

You need to install some confidence in students

•Complete internals early on

•Start with an internal they can do well in – spend time on this.

•Keep praising the good stuff!!

•Choose contexts and topics of interest you can build on.

•Offer reassessment opportunities

Literacy Strategies

• Get use to the words – play the games. Crosswords / Wordfinds / matching pairs

• Focus on subject specific words – word of the day / glossary of terms

• Show you tube clips of geographic interest and apply the concepts to it on a regular basis

Reading Strategies

• Ensure they are exposed to some challenge

• Teach them how we read

• Make sure they can persevere when they hit roadblocks

• Get them to pre –read text to identify words they do not know first

• Use strategies to encourage deeper investigation of text eg 3 Level guides, important and less important etc

Writing Strategies

Make writing part of your everyday learning – ie feedback at end of lesson

Model a good (achievable) answer

Scaffold writing close to key words to paragraph/essay plans using a writing frame to providing introduction to doing on own.

Start as a group or pair and then move to the individual.– get them to work in pairs and mark each others work

Different Ways of Teaching and Learning• Start with oral and kinesthetic – we all best learn this

way. Use manipulatives where you can.

• Group work – set it up so they gain confidence and learn from each other. http://pasifika.tki.org.nz/Media-gallery/Effective-teaching-for-Pasifika-students/Collaborative-Learning

• Gain feedback early on to gauge success

• Aim for differentiated learning

Assessment

Assess when students are ready

Break assessment into chunks – assessment fits into the learning not at the end.

Set up writing frames and discussion groups to scaffold into this.

For the Externals:

• Put in place good revision programmes

• Encourage students to do the exam especially those with a chance of endorsements.