Moving forward in 2007 – Chris Smyth
Refining the vision
At the end of term Two 2006, Brian indicated that he would not be returning to the school for 2007 and Chris applied (successfully) for the Acting HOD position.
While preparing his application Chris further developed and refined his vision for the future of the department.
"We see our first priority is as providing opportunities for students to develop, learn and achieve in a wide variety of areas of interest and aptitude. We have made great strides in this area in 2007. We are aiming to continue to develop our courses in order to provide multiple pathways for students in their preparation for tertiary study and potential careers. To do this effectively we need to work more closely with our Transition department, tertiary providers, industry mentors and others who are able to provide support and inspiration to our students.
"A high priority is the implementation of the revised Technology curriculum. We have had a good deal of input in this area as a consequence of our involvement in the Beacon project. Each of our teachers would like to be supported in their professional development towards becoming leading Technology teachers.
"We will continue to actively work together to provide an environment for staff that is stimulating, rewarding and enjoyable.
"Our department has a leading role to play within the school, to develop a sense of community with other departments. This includes continuing leadership in developing programmes and projects that involve integration of different learning areas for the benefit of our students, and, incidentally, in line with the revised curriculum.
"We also see ourselves as having a role to play in passing on some of what we have learned to the wider Technology education community, for example through case studies such as these."
Planning for 2007
Chris spent the 2006-07 summer following his appointment as Acting HOD planning ways of putting in place some of the things to emerge from the Beacon Cluster meetings. He wanted to build on Brian's vision and maintain the momentum of what had been achieved under his leadership over the previous three years.
"What I really appreciated about Brian's leadership was the sense of teamwork, of getting the department working openly, supportively and collaboratively. Brian had a wonderful way of allowing each member of the team to work to their strengths. He involved me in the philosophical overview of what we were doing, and the detail of planning and assessment of many of our programmes and units of work. This is where my interests and abilities lie, along with the individual development of students. Brian also developed an excellent relationship with senior management. As a department, we have gained a lot of credibility through our transparent approach to positive change."
One of his first tasks was to modify the department's vision statement for 2007, as follows:
"We want students to become successful and confident in Technology and Graphics at St Patrick's College. Our goal for the Technology department is to create an environment in which students:
- learn to work independently;
- discover their creative ability;
- become problem solvers;
- strive for excellence;
- become aware that they can make a difference in their world;
- become life-long learners."
"The pursuit of quality teaching and classroom programmes remains a priority this year in the Technology and Graphics Department. We have initiated the use of detailed student profiles with all our classes at the beginning of the year, which are then used to adapt our planned teaching and learning programmes to students' personal strengths, interests, goals and learning styles. We continue to develop the use of varied teaching methods relevant to the particular characteristics of each group of students, with an awareness of individual learning needs.
We continue to strive to improve achievement at all levels, in particular at NCEA level."
The statement emphasises an area Chris believes is key to student success – of teachers understanding their students, and students understanding themselves. This sort of understanding leads to the teacher adapting teaching methods and programme content to best suit student learning needs, he believes.
The improved planning for progression that had taken place at junior levels meant that senior students were ready to tackle relatively complex and demanding projects. In 2007, Chris opened up project work in the senior Technology courses to allow students to select from a diverse range of projects. He did this in close collaboration with John Davidson, who teaches the largest group of senior students (about 25) at Year 11. "While developing strategic plans during 2007, I discussed everything with John so that it wasn't just my ideas driving things," says Chris.
Chris teaches Year 12 and 13 combined, with seven students integrated into the NCEA Level 2 Graphics class in 2007. With a wider choice of projects, students develop their technological knowledge and skills in a context that they are more passionate about, and this has significantly improved their motivation and 'buy-in'.
Collaborative links – school and industry
Chris has an interest in developing collaborative links with other St Patrick's' departments. During his teacher training he developed a cross curricular (NCEA Level 2) film-making unit of work in both Visual Art and Technology, which allowed him to work through the possibilities of this approach. The focus of his Beacon work in 2006 was the creation of a project designed to test ideas and raise awareness in the college of the potential of this type of teaching. During the first four weeks of term One 2006 he outlined a proposal for such a collaborative project to teachers from other departments and gained support from the Religious Education, English and Music Departments, which offered to adapt some of their lessons or make resources available for the project.
Chris had two Year 10 classes use the context of robotics to create two stop-motion animated parables communicating the values of St Patrick's College. The target audience for the films were Year 8 students from the college's feeder schools (and their parents). The key stakeholders included the Rector of St Patrick's and the wider community of the College. Outside experts consulted during the project included teachers from the Religious Education, English, and Music Departments along with Year 12 Graphics students, who designed and made the animation puppets used.
Chris comments that the ambitious exercise was a good example of standing back and seeing where links could be made, before detailed planning began. The result was showcased at a Technology presentation by students from the Beacon Practice Wellington cluster at Parliament on 31 October 2006.
"In 2005 and 2006, I had surveyed all of my students at the beginning of the year. This included such things as their interests, skills, sports, potential career aspirations as well as aspects to do with learning styles – how they prefer to or most effectively learn and study, both at school and at home. For example, whether they prefer to work collaboratively or individually, the environment they work in best (noise levels, music, lighting, sitting at a desk, on a couch or bed, on the floor, etc.). At the beginning of 2007 I provided examples of these to each of the teachers in the department and asked them to use something similar with their own classes."
Chris was also keen to firm up links with a local electronic product developer SurveyLab. The ongoing and highly successful relationship with the company began at the beginning of Brian's time as HOD, and Chris was keen to take it further. See the St Patrick's College/SurveyLab Link.
