Contemporary Teacher Leadership Project Proposal

Project Group Number 3. Tuesday 11am Tutorial Team A

Carissa
Nisreen
Jamie
Ai Lien
Taylor
Emily

Title: The 7/11 Workshops for Personal and Social Capabilities

School: xx

Background:

xxxxxxx School is a co-educational, 7 to 12 public school located in Western Sydney. The school has a
population of 715 students, with 17% of students from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
background. xxxxxx School has a strong focus on quality teaching and learning and aims to support all
students in their academic achievement. A dedicated staff is present throughout the school, ensuring
that classes and programs have been designed to meet the learning needs of all students. Students are
also encouraged to participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities including creative and
performing arts, community service, debating, environmental, leadership, public speaking and sport
(xxxxx High School, n.d.). In consideration of the Mentoring Students Policy, we have established the
7/11 Workshops for Personal and Social Capabilities program whereby year 11 students create
workshops for year 7 students with the aim of improving personal and social capabilities.With this, we
aim to enhance the leadership skills of year 11 students and provide a year 7 students with an
opportunity to develop skills which will support them in being active citizens. Students are not born with
these personal and social skills, they need to be taught. As a school, we need to provide students with
explicit opportunities to develop and practice these skills ( Hammar-Chiriac & Granstrom, 2012). This
workshop program will provide both our year seven and year eleven students the opportunity to
develop these skills across the curriculum.

Scenario:

The workshop program that has been developed for xxx High School has been created to encourage the
development of leadership skills for year 11 students and mainly focuses on assisting year 7 students on
a smooth and successful transition into secondary school. During this transitional period from primary to
secondary school, a childs development will be significantly impacted by changes in their social and
physical environment (Pearson, Haycraft, Johnston & Atkin, 2017). This transition can be daunting for
year 7 students, therefore, this program will allow year 7 students to be guided by year 11 students in
developing personal and social capabilities. Additional to the development of these skills and
capabilities, having a year 11 student who can share experience and advice about secondary school can
assist year 7 students in a successful transition into secondary school.

Product:
The aim of the following program is to develop both year 11 and year 7 students with personal and
social skills. This program will run on a fortnightly basis over the duration of two terms. The sessions will
begin with an introduction to ensure students are aware of the aims and goals of the program.
Throughout the program students will work through activities that focus on the sub elements of the
personal and social capabilities. These include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and
social management. In developing this capability, students will be involved in a range of activities that
enhance communication and collaborative work skills, decision making, conflict resolution and develop
leadership skills (ACARA, n.d).

Measurable Outcomes:

A mixed research method of qualitative and quantitative data will be used. This data will be collected in
the following ways:

Student reflections throughout the program will be reviewed- qualitative

Student evaluation of the program through survey- both year 7 and year 11 students- qualitative
Teacher observations of improved social behaviour in year 7 students in the playground and
classrooms- qualitative
Teacher observations of improved collaborative work in year 7 classes- qualatative
Academic improvement for year 7 students in areas where social and emotional skills are
necessary- quantitative

Evaluating the Program:

Year 7 and 11 classroom teachers as well as teachers on lunch and recess duties will need to meet four
times throughout the program in order to share their observational data with the other teachers. We
will hopefully be able to observe improved personal and social capabilities among our students. If this is
not the case, we will need to make the approporiate modifications to the program.

In order to guage academic improvement, a sample of year 7 history students will be pre-tested on
their empathetic skills as historians. This will be tested again at the halfway mark of the program and at
the end of the program in order to gauge improvement.

Once students have completed the program, we will collect evaluation forms from both year 7 and 11 at
which will enable us to review the success of the program and what modifications can be made for
future programs.
If this program is a success for this first cohort, we may look to introduce a similar system for the year 10
and year 8 cohorts in order to improve personal and social capabilities within the school. Furthermore,
we will look to provide teachers with greater professional development opportunities as to how to
incorporate these skills into their classroom lessons.

Syllabus Outcomes:

Personal and Social Capabilities are a General Capability within the Australian Curriculum (ACARA, 2016).
Part of the difficulty however, is in ensuring this program can run without compromising curriculum
content for students. The program will be run fortnightly across different year 7 classrooms. As these
skills are general capabilities, all stage four learning areas allow scope for these skills to be developed
within their curriculum. The year 11 students creating the workshops will determine (in collaboration
with the stage four teachers) which content area they will refer to in their workshops. However, as an
example, the following outcomes and major concepts from the following stage 4 (year 7) curriculum
areas will benefited from this program:

History:
Outcomes:
HT4-3 describes and assesses the motives and actions of past individuals and groups in the context of
past societies.
HT4-7 identifies and describes different contexts, perspectives and interpretations of the past
Concepts:
Perspective: different perspectives of participants in a particular historical context
Empathetic Understanding: the actions, attitudes and motives of people in the context of the past.
Contestability: historical sources, events or issues may be interpreted differently by historians
Skills:
Perspectives and Interpretations: Identify and describe different perspectives of participants in a
particular historical context.
Empathetic Understanding: interpret history through the actions, attitudes and motives of people in the
context of the past.
Explanation and Communication: Select and use a range of communication forms to communicate
effectively about the past.

Drama:
Outcomes:
4.1.1 Identifies and explores the elements of drama to develop belief and clarity in character, role,
situation and action.
4.1.4 Explores a range of ways to structure dramatic work in collaboration with others.
4.3.3 Describes the contribution of individuals and groups in drama using relevant drama terminology.
Concepts:
Appreciating Drama
Skills:
Elements of drama: role and character

PDHPE:
Outcomes:
4.1 Describes and analyses the influences on a sense of self
4.2 identifies and selects strategies that enhance their ability to cope and feel supported
4.3 Describes the qualities of positive relationships and strategies to address the abuse of power.
4.11 Selects and uses communication skills and strategies clearly and coherently in a range of new and
challenging situations.
4.13 Demonstrates cooperation and support of others in social, recreational and other group contexts.
4.16 Clarifies the source and nature of problems and draws on personal skills and support networks to
resolve them.
Skills:
Communicate effectively
Interact positively with others in groups and teams
Solve problems creatively

Timeline:

T2 W2 T2 W4 T2 W6 T2 W8 T2 W10 T3 W2 T3 W4 T3 W6 T3 W8T3 W10

W1:
Introductory
Week

W2: Personal
Awareness

W3: Personal
Awareness

W4: Personal
Management
 W5: Personal
Management

W6: Social
Awareness

W7: Social
Awareness

W8: Social
Management

W9: Social
Management

W10:
Conclusion
and
Evaluations

References

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). (2016). General Capabilities.
Retrieved from http://www.acara.edu.au/curriculum/general-capabilities

Australian Curriculum. (2017). Personal and social capabilities. Retrieved from

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/general-capabilities/personal-and-
social-capability

Hammar-Chiriac, E.,& Granstrom, K. (2012). Teachers leadership and students experience of group
work. Teachers and Teaching, 18(3), 345-363.

NSW Department of Education. ( 2014). Mentoring students policy. Retrieved from

https://education.nsw.gov.au/policy-library/policies/mentoring-students-policy?refid=285835
NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). (2012). Drama K-10 NSW Syllabus. Retrieved from
http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-areas/creative-
arts/drama%207%E2%80%9310

NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). (2015). History K-10 NSW Syllabus. Retrieved from
https://syllabus.nesa.nsw.edu.au/hsie/history-k10/

NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). (2003). PDHPE 7-10 Syllabus. Retrieved from
http://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/portal/nesa/k-10/learning-areas/pdhpe/pdhpe-7-10

Pearson, N., Haycraft, E., Johnston, J. P., & Atkin, A. J. (2017). Sedentary behaviour across the primary-
secondary school transition: A systematic review. Preventive Medicine, 94, 40-47.
doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.11.010