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Studious staff: New research by Scots teachers in outdoor learning, motivation in sport, and the pedagogy of jazz

20/5/2022

 
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We often talk about curiosity as a virtue to cultivate in young people. We want them to explore, to wonder, to question. And rightly so. But as we learnt from our 2017 Clark Fellow, Professor David Smith, ‘curiositas’, understood in the great classical and Christian traditions, isn’t a virtue at all. It’s a vice. It’s our natural desire to know, turned into a self-focused pursuit of knowledge, to sound smart, to win the day. What you really want is ‘studiositas’, the virtue of paying attention, of asking questions with a love for understanding, and debating ideas with a love for people. (And that’s what we all mean by curiosity in the end, isn’t it?)

Schools should be places where kids learn, yes, but also where we all pursue ‘higher learning’ — where, whatever our age or experience, we seek to become better students, to become intellectually virtuous. In last week’s newsletter we shared the research of Dr Caroline Basckin, Preparatory School Learning Enrichment Teacher, in advancing teachers’ understanding of literacy for students with disabilities. This week we highlight three teachers who are moving knowledge forward through their research degrees, and modeling ‘studiositas’ for our boys.

Mr Jeff Mann, Coordinator of Student Experience, is completing his PhD at Western Sydney University exploring the benefits of outdoor learning experiences for mid-adolescent boys. Hear more about his journey in this short video. Mr Mann recently published a systematic review of research into outdoor learning in the journal Frontiers in Public Health. He led a global team of researchers, including well-known educator Pasi Sahlberg, to screen over 17,000 journal articles and fully read 150 targeted papers to identify what the research says in this field. You can read his article, ‘Getting Out of the Classroom and Into Nature: A Systematic Review of Nature-Specific Outdoor Learning on School Children's Learning and Development’, by clicking here. 

Mr Brent Wilsmore, Preparatory School Sportsmaster, is undertaking a PhD at Wollongong University investigating how school sport programs affect students’ motivation, performance and well-being. Despite the ubiquity of school sport, this is, surprisingly, a largely unstudied area. This research promises to better understand and shape the experience of thousands of students, well beyond Scots. Mr Wilsmore is soon to commence his study of all boys from Years 3 to 12 at the College, using Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory to explore boys’ sense of autonomy, mastery and relatedness in their sporting activities. 

Mr Eric Hutchens, who joined us in Term 1 as a Senior School Music Teacher, recently undertook and passed the oral examination of his Master of Philosophy Thesis at UNSW. This requires researchers to discuss their thesis with their examiners, responding to critiques and demonstrating their mastery of the topic. Mr Hutchens’s research thesis was entitled ‘Unaccompanied Double Bass in Jazz Composition and Performance: A Case Study of Three Works by John Patitucci'. He looked at the influences on influential jazz composer Patitucci, deduced from transcribing and analysing many of his works. Mr Hutchens also drew conclusions about how music teachers can think pedagogically about their work with students.

Congratulations to these and other staff seeking to advance knowledge and model for our students the virtue of studiositas!


Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning

Higher learning: Dr Caroline Basckin’s PhD on evidence-based practice in teaching literacy

13/5/2022

 
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When The Scots College was founded in 1893, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales, the Right Reverend James Smith White, said that its teachers would be those who had ‘won the highest honours in the university’, were well-acquainted with teaching boys, and viewed teaching as ‘a work of faith, a labour of love, and a patience of hope’. That calling to ‘higher learning continues to be seen every day in the inspiring work of staff across the College who show up every day to give boys the finest preparation for life.

​This week we honour the achievement of one of our long-serving staff, Preparatory School Learning Enrichment Teacher Dr Caroline Basckin, who has just won ‘the highest honour’ in the university by being awarded her PhD from the University of New South Wales. 


Dr Basckin’s doctoral dissertation was entitled ‘Literacy instruction for students with disability: An analysis of teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and use of evidence-based practices’. In her research with Year 3 teachers across 8 Sydney independent schools, Caroline explored what teachers did to teach literacy to students with disabilities and how they described the basis for their practice. She was struck by the amount of evidence-based practice she observed, matched with a low level of knowledge about that evidence base. Teachers also felt ill-equipped to understand the complex needs of students, and lacking in time to collaboratively plan for well-differentiated teaching. 

She provided three recommendations to school leaders:
  • Ongoing high-quality professional development grounded in the current academic research
  • Develop an online database or library of EBP resources
  • Training and support for teachers and learning support staff to develop and deliver effective co-teaching models in literacy instruction
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Dr Basckin has published several articles from her research, including as lead author on a systematic review of teacher beliefs about evidence-based practice in the prestigious International Journal of Educational Research.

Please feel free to contact Dr Basckin to find out more about her research findings.

We look forward to drawing on Dr Basckin’s experience and research as we continue to prepare for the John Cunningham Student Centre, bringing together all the support boys need to develop into fine young men. 

Congratulations again to Dr Basckin on this significant achievement!

Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning


Exploring the impact of technology on boys' learning relationships

3/5/2022

 
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the importance of technology in all our lives, not least in how we learn. While online classes still continue for some boys in isolation, it’s easy to forget just how important Zoom, Stile and Schoolbox were for all boys, teachers and families for much of the past two years. The question we must now ask ourselves is how we can best use technology to support boys’ learning, how it can be an aid rather than a hindrance in fostering great relationships with their peers and teachers.

This week all parents and carers of boys in Years 5 to 12 received an invitation to participate in a research study we are conducting with the International Boys’ Schools Coalition (IBSC). This major study aims to help boys' schools including Scots better understand the impact of technology choices on boys' learning and the quality of relationships in classes. ​

We have been closely involved in the development of the study since its inception in 2019 through the IBSC Research Committee, which our Principal Dr Ian PM Lambert chairs and on which Dr Caitlin Munday and Dr Hugh Chilton serve. The project commenced with a literature review by University College London’s Knowledge Lab in 2020-21 (see a podcast and webinar discussing the findings). 

This study connects to research conducted by our own staff. Mr Nicholas Tester, Director of Strings, has been part of the IBSC’s rigorous action practitioner research program across 2020 and 2021, supported by Mr Jeff Mann, Coordinator of Student Experience. Mr Tester’s project is entitled 'Sir, not another piece of technology!' An examination of whether the use of e-portfolios in classroom music facilitates Year 8 boys to construct their own learning pathways'. He will present his findings at the IBSC Annual Conference in Dallas in June. 

In 2021 Mrs Penny Ryder, Preparatory School Master Teacher, and I worked with a group of Year 5 boys to explore how their peers use technology. The boys developed a survey in conjunction with boys in the United States and Canada, and presented their findings to one another — by Zoom, of course! Read more about that project here.

Announcing the Character Leaders in Education National Symposium 2022

10/3/2022

 
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In partnership with The Scots College, The University of Notre Dame Australia and a School for tomorrow., we are excited to announce the Character Leaders in Education National Symposium 2022.

Building on years of research and engagement with schools around Australia and globally, the Symposium will bring Principals and leaders of character education in conversation with world-class researchers, including Harvard's Nancy Hill (President of the Society for Research in Child Development), and philosopher Professor Christian Miller (one of the world’s most prolific character education researchers).

Featuring more than 9 masterclasses, an exclusive symposium dinner, and profiles of leading character education work in Australian schools, this is a unique opportunity to think and network at the cutting edge of research and practice in human formation and explore being part of some exciting projects.

With 60 places available, and tickets selling quickly, register now to avoid missing out!

26-27 May 2022
Sydney, Australia

Find out more and register now at www.characterleaders.net

AARE Conference Presentation on 'Research-Invested Schools'

3/12/2021

 
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“...teachers and principals are cast as technicians who have the technical skills to implement the ideas of others but not the professional expertise to engage in the exciting task of theorizing and designing curriculum” Reid, A. (2019) Changing Australian Education.

Research-Invested Schools (of which there are over 30 in Australia) are challenging this story in new and compelling ways.

Dr Caitlin Munday and I enjoyed presenting on this yesterday at the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) Conference with Prof Peter Twining, Prof Allyson Holbrook, and Dr Carl Leonard (University of Newcastle).

We will soon publish short pieces on Research-Invested Schools in Teacher ACER magazine and EduResearch Matters (the blog of Australian Association for Research in Education). And we look forward to some exciting research and collaboration among research-invested schools in the year ahead.

See below our abstract:
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It is no longer especially novel to think of schools as sites of research, or to hear calls for teachers to be ‘research-engaged’ or ‘research-informed’ professionals. The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers require all teachers to ‘structure teaching programs using research and collegial advice about how students learn’, and ‘engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities’. It is well recognised that practitioner research is an effective way to enhance professional learning and cultivate a climate of experimentation and review.  In addition, Government-backed education research institutes devoted to influencing policy and practice have proliferated in recent years, among them the Education Endowment Foundation in the UK, the What Works Clearinghouse in the US, and the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. The Gonski 2.0 Report recommended creating a national evidence and research institute, and with $50 million of federal seed funding, the Australian research education Organisation launched early in 2021, while the Q Project located at Monash University seeks to understand the use of evidence in Australian schools. Alongside these top-down approaches, a bottom-up movement is also in evidence as schools increasingly strive to embed ‘research-informed practice’ as a key part of their professional learning and improvement agendas. In the last 7 years, more than 30 Australian schools have either established a research centre or institute of some description or appointed a ‘research lead’ to explicitly focus on research. This paper seeks to distinguish the characteristics of this group of what we have termed ‘research-invested’ schools, where research engagement and the professional growth research skills development and knowledge creation affords become embedded in school goals and institutional identity. The paper traces the growth of this phenomenon and how research-invested schools have evolved within the increasingly fluid landscape of research development and training in Australia.

Teachers as Experts, Not Technicians

19/11/2021

 
PictureScots teachers undertaking higher degrees (Masters and PhDs) by research share their progress at the recent termly ‘PhD coffee club’.


​In the past week, you may have noticed two long-running education debates resurfacing on the lips of politicians and the pages of the popular press, raising questions about how to best ‘do school’. Their concern involves both what students are taught (the curriculum) and how they are taught (the pedagogy). The first is about teaching history, and specifically the approach teachers should take in addressing western civilisation’s good and bad aspects. Please read a very fine analysis from Dr David Hastie, one of our key lecturers in the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney here.


The second is about teaching reading, and whether this is best done through phonics (systematically teaching words through their composite sounds and parts) versus whole-language teaching (teaching words in the context of sentences). There are many other debates in education – some new, some very old. Yet what is common to most debates is the subtext that to fix education, we need to be told ‘what works’ by academics and policymakers out there, beyond the school, and be held accountable for implementing it. It is as though teachers are fundamentally technicians, and if we can just refine their technique, then of course good outcomes will follow.


At Scots, we want to challenge this notion that teachers are merely technicians who ‘deliver the curriculum’ and reclaim a regard for their experience and expertise in the noble vocation of human formation. We have outstanding teachers at Scots who do not just deliver the curriculum but debate it; who do not just implement a pedagogy but adapt it to their context. Moreover, we are encouraging teachers to not only consume knowledge produced elsewhere, but to play their part in creating it through original research.


One aspect of this vision for reinventing the professional regard of teachers is encouraging further engagement in research. All our teachers are, to some degree, engaged in research through our Teaching for Character Program. In the program, teams design, implement and evaluate a new approach to teaching that deliberately develops one of our graduate qualities, such as creativity or service. Read more about it here. Over the years we have also seen a small number of staff undertake higher degrees by research (Masters and PhDs) connected to and supported by the College. This is a long and hard journey, but one that transforms the way teachers think about themselves and their roles as leaders in educational thought and practice.


This week our staff ‘PhD coffee club’ met online to share progress on various research projects. We celebrated the newly-minted PhD of Learning Enrichment Teacher, Dr Caroline Basckin, whose thesis explored ‘Evidence-based practices for students with special educational needs’. Coordinator of Student Experience, Mr Jeff Mann, shared his current focus on leading a global team to write a systematic review of research in outdoor education. Visual Arts Teacher, Mr Michael Whittington, reflected on a paper he is writing for his PhD about how COVID-19 has reshaped blended learning in the visual arts. Director of Cricket, Mr Greg Clarence, shared the exciting news of his submission to commence a PhD at The University of Notre Dame Australia, exploring how character can best be formed through sport. And Technology and Applied Studies Teacher, Ms Yogi Sewani, is at the point of inviting parents from the College to participate in her master’s research about cultural influences on parental perspectives of learning support – a project comparing Taiwanese and Australian parents. Read more about their projects and those of other staff here.


In October, we held a gathering of over 25 leaders in such schools around Australia to explore this phenomenon of schools taking ownership of building a research culture. Next week, I will be co-presenting a paper at the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference entitled Accelerating Evolution? The rise of research-invested schools, in concert with my Scots colleague Dr Caitlin Munday (who also serves as Director of the Teaching Schools Alliance Sydney) and our partners at The University of Newcastle, Professors Peter Twining and Professor Allyson Holbrook.


Read more about our approach to research here. We look forward to sharing more, in the coming weeks, about how Scots is leading the way in repositioning schools – and teachers – as research leaders, not just passive consumers.

Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning


Scots named among most innovative schools in Australia

10/11/2021

 
‘The Educator's’ 5-Star Innovative Schools list for 2021 has included in the top 30 (of 150 schools), The Scots College. This acknowledges the work of our inspiring staff at all campuses. 

Here's what they said:

The Scots College is one of Australia’s oldest and most respected Presbyterian boys’ schools, located in Sydney, that defends the honourable traditions, adventures and learning of boys. We exist to inspire boys to learn, lead and serve as they strive for excellence together.


The Scots College is committed to grow Scots boys who are ready for a future yet to be imagined. Scots boys are offered programs designed to inspire them to strive to their full potential and equip them for the world of tomorrow. The heart of the Scots’ innovation engine is the Patribus Initiative model – building expert communities of knowledge practice and formation in five key areas: character and care; experiential education; design thinking and creativity; mind, body and spirit; and entrepreneurship and social leadership. Beyond its outstanding academic, sporting and co-curricular results, Scots is changing the way education happens.


Scots staff are invited to be part of a dynamic learning community through our extensive professional learning programs directed by The Scots College Research Office. These include: ‘Teaching for Character’ program, the Master Teacher Mentoring Program, our Leadership Program, a capstone service learning experience (such as co-teaching in a school in Vanuatu), bespoke cohort-based coursework and research degree pathways in partnership with leading universities, and exposure to leading education thinkers from Australia and around the world.

Thinking about character education in boys' schools

30/4/2020

 
Our critical friend, Dr Phil Cummins, shares some of the findings from a major International Boys' Schools Coalition research project on the nature of character education in schools for boys, of which Scots was a key participant.

Character Education at Scots from The Scots College on Vimeo.

Why ‘the system’ doesn’t work for boys: ScotsIdeas with character and relationships expert Dr Rob Loe

16/3/2020

 
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The popular ScotsIdeas program of ‘compelling conversations in education’ is back for 2020 with more engaging, relevant and thoughtful voices to help you bring out the best in boys. On 24 February, a sold-out audience of parents and staff enjoyed a compelling conversation about the science and character of relationships in schools.

Dr Rob Loe, former teacher, senior leader and leading academic in the measurement and management of human relationships as CEO of the Relationships Foundation, spoke lucidly about why relationships matter and why we don’t understand them as well as we should. In an age obsessed with social networks, he called for schools and families to invest in ‘relational networks’. ‘Relationships are not about how well you like people, but how well you know them,’ and the foundation for flourishing individuals, communities and nations.

How can we build deeper relational networks in schools? Drawing on ground-breaking research with tens of thousands of school students, teachers and parents around the world, he showed the protective impact of good relationships, and how great schools invest seriously in creating belonging. Four key strategies for improving relationships in schools included:
  1. Developing students’ awareness of unity over diversity
  2. Exploit synchrony, those routines and habits that enculturate, such as uniforms, chapel and assembly
  3. Create healthy competition among teams and not individuals
  4. Instil in students an awe for something larger than themselves

See below for a full recording of Dr Loe's talk.

Why 'the system' doesn't work for boys | ScotsIdeas with Dr Robert Loe | February 2020 from The Scots College on Vimeo.

Scots hosts boys' educators from around the world for experiential learning conference

31/7/2018

 
Over the first two weeks of the July school holidays, the College was involved in running and attending major conferences of the International Boys’ Schools Coalition. The IBSC brings together over 280 schools around the world to share research and practice in the educating of boys. The Principal has, for some years, been a Trustee of the IBSC, and since July 2017 has chaired its Research Committee (which also involves Scots Research staff Dr Hugh Chilton and Dr Caitlin Munday). As of July 2018, the Principal was elected the IBSC’s Vice-President  for Australasia, further cementing the desire for the College, in the words of our vision statement, to be ‘recognised globally as a leading, caring school for boys’.

IBSC Annual Conference

The 25th IBSC Annual Conference took place at The Southport School on the Gold Coast 8-11 July. It featured over 600 delegates from some 14 countries. Taking advantage of the proximity of this year’s conference and the opportunity to expose our staff to the world, we sent a delegation of 43 staff, selected from across our campuses and from executive, teaching and support teams. Scots staff gave 6 presentations, including a Featured Speaker session on research and innovation in boys’ schools in conjunction with Eton College and St Christopher’s School. Science Teacher Nick Little won the Action Research Award, the top in his global cohort, for his year-long study of how boys learn in our Graeme Clark Centre activity-based learning environments. He has since been asked to speak on the topic at a major conference in Melbourne. Staff who attended the program were effusive in their reflections on the ideas and inspiration this gave them for their work at the College. 
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IBSC Pre-Conference Adventures: ‘Ventures and Adventures in the Real World: Educating boys experientially’
As a boost to the Annual Conference and an opportunity to show delegates the College’s programs and the Australian environment, we organised a 3-day experiential learning program at Glengarry, Bannockburn and Bellevue Hill. We had around 60 delegates from leading schools in the US, UK, Canada, South Africa, India, China and Peru. They engaged in a range of activities and sessions built around our experiential approach to teaching and learning, as well as our 5 Patribus Initiatives. Leading thinkers spoke to the guests, such as Jason Pellegrino, Old Boy and MD of Google Australia/New Zealand, on entrepreneurship, and Prof Kees Dorst (UTS) on design thinking and creativity. A highlights video of the conference can be seen here. This program provided a unique opportunity to share and build on the world-class work of our staff, and provide a new model of professional learning for future IBSC conferences. One attendee had this to say about Scots: 

“Not only is your school outstanding, but the way you present yourselves to the outside world, especially those of us from outside Australia, is a genuine inspiration.”
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