Co-teaching in bi-lingual primary school in Australia
In this unique setting, where each class has a native Japanese and a native English teacher, there were clear goals defined at the commencement of our partnership. Firstly, to illuminate the reasons behind the school’s historically low student engagement data, and secondly, to improve student voice and engagement (one of the school’s strategic priorities).
Pivot was introduced to staff in 2019 following a trial in 2018 and discussions with the school improvement team. The school improvement team worked to link each teacher’s individual professional development goals to shared goals across the school and tied each of these goals in with the school’s annual improvement plan.
When the school results became available, the whole school engaged in a reflective workshop. The leadership team worked together to recognize ‘big picture’ successes and areas for growth throughout the school. The teachers shared their results with their students, asking them what they found interesting about the data and what stands out to them. They also spent time workshopping strategies that teachers and students could implement together to enact change.
Within 12 months, the school was excited to see strong improvements in their data which they directly attributed to introducing Pivot. These improvements include:
- Sense of inclusion increased from 76% to 85%
- Students’ reported effort increased 78 to 85%
- Stimulating learning increased 69% to 82%
- Differentiated learning increased from 76% to 85%
In summary, a representative of the school remarked, “We are spreading the word with our Community of Practice and network, which has a focus on student voice and agency… we think Pivot is brilliant!”
This bilingual English-Japanese school discovered Pivot through their Principal network and decided it was an excellent match for the school’s strategic priorities.
