This section of the case study will briefly explain the following crucial points of the UWS Fair Go Project:

• The Research – Student Engagement in Low SES Schools
• The Results – A Framework for Student Engagement
• The Fair Go Project – Implementing the Student Engagement Framework
• Scaling the Fair Go Project – Mentoring of Early Career Teachers

The Research – Student Engagement in Low SES Schools

The FGP started in 2000 as a joint undertaking between a team of researchers from the University of Western Sydney (School of Education) and the NSW Department of Education and Training (Priority Schools Programs[i]).

The FGP has had three phases of research, all of which are informing its continuing work:

1. ‘The Fair Go Project’: developing a criteria to identify teachers having a positive impact on engaging students from low SES backgrounds. This research covered early (pre-school to Year 4), middle (Years 5 to Years 8), and senior (Years 9 to Years 12). The research involved university researchers, teachers, and school students in a variety of rural and urban contexts. This initial research developed the student engagement framework.
2. ‘Teachers For a Fair Go’: Intensive case study research into classroom pedagogies of 30 “exemplary” teachers of students in low SES communities.
3. ‘Fair Go Bridges’ (current phase): Scaling the classroom pedagogies to 24 low SES schools in SW Sydney.

The FGP research was focused on two forms of student engagement:

• Small ‘e’ engagement: student engagement in classroom learning experiences (short term outcomes).
• Big ‘E’ engagement: a more enduring form of student engagement with learning and the value of education (long term impacts).

The Results – A Framework for Student Engagement

There were 3 main points that influenced the understanding of effective student engagement in low SES schools. These were:

A. 5 common messages impeding student engagement

This research found that there are five common messages impeding students’ engagement with education in low SES schools:

1. Knowledge – restricted access to powerful knowledge
2. Ability – feelings of not being able to achieve and a spiral of low expectations
3. Control – struggles over student behaviour and classroom compliance
4. Place – attributing poor education performance to a student’s postcode
5. Voice – little or no contribution by the students to their own learning process

The FGP research has referred to these 5 messages as ‘discourses of power’. Improving levels of student engagement with education is a way of overcoming these 5 messages. This is the aim of the FGP.

B.    Engaging students in low SES schools

The research found that great teachers in low SES schools were using consistent practices to engage their students. These consisted of 3 interrelated learning experiences, as shown in the table below:

C.    Engaging students and teachers in low SES schools

The research concluded that in order to have engaged students, it’s essential to have engaged teachers. To achieve this, the research has identified several key elements to enable teacher (and subsequently student) engagement. This includes teacher engagement both within the classroom and the school. This will ensure that the teacher feels like an ‘insider’ within both the classroom and the school.

As depicted in the figure below, the ‘Insider Classroom’ and the ‘Insider School’ are interrelated elements that improve teacher engagement.

Figure 1.

Insider Classroom (outer circle)

• Teacher inclusive conversations: Teachers have purposeful conversations with students, building an honest and genuine rapport;
• Teacher feedback: Teachers provide regular and focused feedback to students;
• Student self-assessment: Teachers give regular opportunities for students to reflect individually upon their learning;
• Student community of reflection: Teachers regularly facilitate group reflection for students to reflect upon their learning as a class.

Insider School (inner circle)

• Mentoring and collegial feedback: Classroom observation, appraisal and feedback is dispensed to teachers from a qualified mentor or colleague;
• Professional self–assessment: Teachers undergo regular reflection and self-assessment of their teaching practice;
• Collegial talk: Teachers are engaged with a supportive professional network within the school.
• Professional discourse: Teachers have a professional and honest relationship with school leadership staff.

The Fair Go Project – Implementing the Student Engagement Framework

The UWS FGP team works directly with teachers to implement the student engagement framework. All of the teachers involved are from low SES government schools in the South Western/Western suburbs of Sydney. The majority of teachers involved in the FGP are classified as early career teachers.

The image below shows the year-long process of the FGP, followed by a brief explanation:

Figure 2.

1. 5 messages specific to low SES students:

The aim of the FGP is to overcome the 5 messages of deficit through student engagement with education. These 5 messages are the starting point for all activities within the FGP. They are recognised as being the key barriers to student engagement in low SES schools, both in the classroom and with education in general.

2. Identify:

The NSW Department of Education & Training and the UWS Faculty of Education have identified 24 low schools in SW Sydney to apply the pedagogy.

Once teachers have been identified and accept their involvement in the FGP, they are then partnered with a mentor. All mentors have been previously involved and trained by the FGP, and are from a different school

3. 2 day training:

The 2 day intensive training session held at the UWS campus held at the beginning of the academic year covers the following points:

• The evidence of the pedagogy framework;
• Examples of how the pedagogy framework is applied and its impact on student engagement;
• Explanations and examples of high cognitive, high affective, and high operative learning;
• Time for the teacher and the mentor to create an individual project using these student engagement tools;
• Opportunities to share, listen, and receive feedback on student engagement projects.

4. Implement:

Following the training, individual projects are then implemented and measured in one select class. The projects are developed to overcome an identified issue preventing student engagement in their class. For instance: improving parental engagement; the use of technology in the classroom; or student self-reflection. The teachers are given 14 days per year to account for planning, training, and feedback sessions

5. Appraisal & Feedback:

Teachers receive a variety of methods of appraisal and feedback from both the mentor and the UWS FGP team. These methods include:

• Classroom observation and feedback;
• Peer observation;
• Professional reflection with the coach and UWS FGP team;
• Self-assessment and reflection through data-based feedback
• Student and teacher interviews.

As the mentors and the UWS FGP are external to the school, all appraisal and feedback is independent and confidential.

6. Final presentation:

At the end of the academic year, all participating FGP teachers, mentors, and school leaders come together for 1 day to observe presentations by the FGP teachers. The intention of this is to create a community of practice, sharing solutions and challenges of student engagement among practitioners.

It is also at this point that the FGP teachers are invited to become mentors for the next identified cohort of FGP teachers.

7. Improved student engagement with education:

All of these student engagement activities are directed towards overcoming the 5 common messages lowering outcomes in low SES schools.

Scaling the Fair Go Project – Coaching & Mentoring of Early Career Teachers

The latest iteration of the UWS FGP is referred to as ‘Fair Go Bridges’ (Bridges). The Bridges phase is focused on scaling the pedagogy through coaching & mentoring in low SES schools in south-western Sydney. The participating teachers receive coaching from the UWS FGP Team and mentoring from teachers previously involved in the FGP. The Bridges program is being coordinated over 3 years from 2012-2014, as displayed in Figure 3 below:

Figure 3.

The first phase was selecting 8 of the original FGP teachers as mentors, and partnering them with an early career teacher (1^st Cohort of Teachers).

After one year in the FGP, this 1^st Cohort of Teachers then becomes the mentors for the 2^nd Cohort of Teachers. This again involves mentoring 8 early career teachers at other local low SES schools.

Following this model, the Bridges program will be working with 24 schools by 2014. The Bridges program is currently in its second year of a three year program.

The teachers involved in the Bridges program are allocated 14 days per year to participate in the program. Over these 14 days teachers participate in classroom observation, group evaluations, and professional training sessions on pedagogy and action research methodology.

Canley Vale High School

‘By engaging in the Fair Go Project and engaging in the principles of the MeE framework, I’ve been able to really engage with my students.’ – Alex Fogden

As the teaching profession gradually includes more professional feedback in the classroom, often feedback isn’t gathered from those who are most familiar with the teacher – the students.

The student voice is central to The FGP and has been critical to the development of Alex Fogden’s teaching practice. Alex is a secondary humanities teacher at Canley Vale High School and now in her fourth year of practice.

Alex first became involved in The FGP at the beginning of 2012 following an invitation from a senior colleague, Nancy Morvillo, to join the Fair Go Bridges mentoring phase of the project. Nancy is the Head Teacher of Creative and Performing Arts at Canley Vale HS, and has been involved with The FGP since 2009. In conjunction with The FGP team, Nancy mentored Alex to improve student engagement in a Year 9 History class and to implement the MeE Framework.

The key focus of Alex’s individual project was to improve student engagement by gathering and responding to organised student feedback. This involved student surveys, student interviews, and classroom discussions. Alex discussed how the framework moved her focus from behaviour management to student engagement:

 ‘Just because you’ve got quiet kids doesn’t mean they’re engaged… The Framework that I use from the Fair Go Project has been excellent for student engagement.’

Nancy was equally impressed by the learning outcomes Alex was achieving by applying principles of the MeE Framework:

‘I was really surprised with what the students thought of the lessons; what they learnt, what they thought was effective, and what they didn’t like.’

Nancy discussed that she has now adopted the MeE Framework within her own faculty, with teachers not involved with The FGP. The anecdotal results have also been positive in these classrooms.

A crucial element of the success of The FGP is the time allocation given to teachers to be involved. Both Nancy and Alex agreed that the 14 days allocated to teachers is a significant feature of the program. By designating time towards mentoring, coaching, and reflection, it allows the participating teachers to invest in their own professional development. For early career teachers, this planning time is particularly critical to ensure quality feedback can be considered and then applied.

Alex discussed the value of receiving cross-faculty and external support as part of The FGP. This support complemented the mentoring she received within her own faculty, and allowed Alex to feel comfortable within the profession, after four years of teaching:

‘This has been the first year that I’ve sat somewhat comfortably and felt that I’m really getting the swing of things.’ 

In the next iteration of The FGP, Alex now applies these student engagement skills and mentors another early career teacher from Chester Hill High School. Alex describes this process as being equally as beneficial to her professional development as the process of being mentored by Nancy.

Finally, Alex attributes her involvement with The FGP, coupled with the support she has received at Canley Vale HS, as a prominent reason for remaining within the profession:

‘If I hadn’t been involved with the UWS Fair Go Project, I don’t know if I’d still be teaching.’

Hampden Park Primary School

Reflection is an essential part of learning. It allows students to create meaning out of the process they’re engaged in and enables learners to relate new material to prior knowledge. This both improves the understanding of the discipline and enhances the learner’s meta-cognitive awareness (i.e. being aware of one’s individual learning process).

Brooke Newton, a Year 1 teacher in her second year of practice at Hampden Park PS, implements student reflection practices in her classroom as part of The FGP. At the conclusion of every school day, Brooke facilitates 15 minutes student reflection with her class. This involves the Year 1 class identifying whether they’ve learnt particular content by selecting animated facial expressions and discussing their learning. As part of verbalising the learning process, Brooke instigates verbal reflection by providing students with a series of ‘sentence starters’, such as: ‘I feel proud of myself because I learnt…’

Brooke also incorporates reflection practices to allow students to monitor whether they have learnt effectively. This is supported by a learning criterion, where the students are able to identify standards that they have or have not met. The students then communicate these outcomes to Brooke, either verbally or through visual aids, allowing Brooke to maintain a regular understanding of her students’ progress. It has also meant that students have become increasingly independent in their learning process:

‘I’ve found that the students are able to self-regulate their own learning… The ability of my students to be able to talk about their learning, self-regulate, and become independent in their learning has been a great outcome.’

While Brooke is still early in her career, she is clearly a leader within the school, opening her classroom to share successful practices with colleagues. Other Hampden Park colleagues have adopted similar teaching practices to those that Brooke has implemented:

‘The more people have heard about my practices, the more other teachers come and observe my classrooms.’

The FGP team have been instrumental in assisting Brooke to design and implement this student reflection project. Participation has greatly improved Brooke’s professional practice:

‘The Fair Go Project has given me a whole new world of knowledge and being observed so regularly is something you don’t always have an opportunity to do.’

Brooke also feels grateful to have taken part in the FGP at the beginning of her career:

 ‘As I’m in the early stages of my teaching career, I feel that I’m quite flexible in my approach and that I’m creating good habits.’

Finally, Brooke is now mentoring Joanna Huynh from Chullora Primary as part of the next stage in The FGP. Brooke is finding great value in the mentoring process:

‘It’s been really exciting to mentor within the Fair Go Project… and it’s helped me reflect upon my own ability to professionally communicate…It’s definitely built my leadership capacity.’

Chullora Public School

‘The Fair Go Project really helped me to understand what I stood for as a teacher.’ – Dan Sprange

Exposure to exceptional practice and access to professional networks are effective methods of professional development. The FGP recognises the importance of these methods to the teaching profession and has included them as part of the Fair Go Bridges phase of the program.

Joanna Huynh is a graduate Year 1/2 teacher at Chullora Primary School and is mentored by Brooke Newton at Hampden Park PS (see previous case study) as part of The FGP. Having been trained under The FGP last year, Brooke performs classroom observations and provides guidance to Joanna regarding her individual project. This has been highly valued by Joanna:

‘As a teacher, I grow with reflection and I grow with feedback, so it’s been great to have Brooke as my mentor.’

Joanna’s project is based on integrating Edmodo into the classroom, so that students can share resources and better engage with parents. Joanna described:

‘This project has allowed parents to become aware of what their students are learning every day.’

Further to the desired outcome of parental engagement, the intention is to improve the level of personalised learning for the students.

The Chullora PS Deputy Principal, Dan Sprange, has been involved with The FGP for several years, mentoring Brooke Newton last year and performing action-research with The FGP team in earlier stages of the project. Dan appreciates the value that The FGP provides through its networks:

‘It’s pretty hard to knock back ideas from teachers who are working in low SES schools, who are having success, and can show you evidence of that success… teachers listen to teachers.’

Joanna recently presented her project and her applications of the MeE Framework to a group of teachers from South Western Sydney at a local TeachMeet. Many of the teachers who attended the TeachMeet were connected to The FGP.

Lansvale Public School

A common issue in low SES schools is engaging parents in their child’s learning. While education is often highly valued, maintaining engagement with their child’s learning progress, however, is regarded as a core challenge for teachers.

An inspiring example of effective parental engagement is a project run by Monica Cheung as part of The FGP. Monica, an early career teacher from Lansvale Public School in Sydney’s South West, has been running a project targeted at increasing parental engagement for her Year 1/2 composite class to improve learning at home.

Part of this project has involved creating an online platform (through Weebly) where Monica is able to post learning objectives, project details, and any class announcements to be communicated directly to the parents. This has improved the interaction with the students’ parents and the transparency of what is being achieved in the classroom. As a result, parents have become more engaged with their child’s learning and the students are continuing at home what they learnt at school.

‘I don’t see it as a project; it’s a teaching practice… Taking part in The Fair Go Project has changed the way I see my class and the way I approach teaching.’

Monica also conducted a focus group to receive feedback from parents, which was overtly positive. Due to this shift from behaviour management to student engagement, parents have become accustomed to the practices and creating an environment on shared expectations.

Assistant Principal at Lansvale Public School, Kim Fraser, has mentored Monica since coming to the school and has observed other teachers implement similar practices in their classrooms as a result of Monica’s work with The FGP:

 ‘A lot of what Monica has done as part of the Fair Go Project is starting to be embedded throughout the school.’

Monica is now mentoring another early career teacher at a local school as part of The FGP.

1. Specialist Coaching: Early career teachers receive guidance from qualified and external coaches on improving their practice;
2. Mentoring: Early career teachers are mentored by peers from other local schools, which builds a community of practice;
3. Observation, appraisal and feedback: Early career teachers receive a variety of appraisal and feedback methods, and from different sources;
4. Clinical Practice Training: Early career teachers are taught evidence-based methods of teaching, pedagogy, and evaluative tools to improve their practice.