Spring 2015
FOCUS ON THE LEARNER PROFILE
THOUGHTFUL INQUIRERS
Guest speakers support inquiry
Students in Year 3 have been inquiring into the transdisciplinary theme “How we express ourselves.” People from our Discovery College community were invited to speak to the students and share the particular ways in which they expressed themselves across a range of art forms. The central idea for this inquiry was: People express their appreciation of nature through the arts. The guest speakers gave the students the opportunity to inquire more deeply into various topics, by asking questions of these experts. Hearing from these individuals directly provided a unique way for students to practice their inquiry. They also provided an opportunity for students to reflect on the entire learner profile throughout the process. One of the presenters, Mr Jamie Coote, spoke to the students about how he uses photography to capture images of leafy sea dragons in their natural environment and how he uses these images to create awareness, attract attention and promote the need to protect these delicate, beautiful, rare and precious creatures. At the end of the presentation the students reflected on what they had learned and understood from the session. They connected their understandings to all of the learner profile attributes and also started make plans for how they will continue to develop these attributes through their unit of inquiry. Students noted that they displayed traits of an inquirer by asking many questions about nature and using the internet to learn more. They also noted how being good inquirers can support other attributes of the learner profile. For example, the students reflected that they were open-minded by listening to what other students thought and not just focusing on their own opinion, and communicators when they shared their thinking with Mr Coote and the class. We are grateful to the many experts in our community who share their expertise with our students to support their learning. These types of experiences help students put their skills into action and reflect upon the attributes they can demonstrate. Catriona Tuimaka Year 3 Teacher
COURAGEOUS ACTION
Drama showcase
In the last few months, Year 11 students have been devising their own plays that incorporate the ideas of naturalistic theatre. In creating these performances, students had to have courage in developing characters and a story that would reproduce reality as far as possible. This final unit for drama would see all the students perform their pieces on stage as an evening performance, demonstrating their understanding of the material and their prowess in performance. Using ideas from the theatre practitioner Stanislavski and film director Mike Leigh, they focused exclusively on subjects that were contemporary and used every-day speech in real time. Often many of the ideas that came in preparing these pieces came directly from using improvisational exercises as a way of creating a story and defining characters. The challenge lay in preparing a piece of drama that was not only original but had a plot and characters that were fully researched. Often the issues raised created great scenes of power struggles and deceit set against the back drop of the kitchen or roadside. Every student had the sole responsibility of directing a scene. In doing this they used Stanislavski’s system to make sure their characters knew their given circumstances: What are their motives? What background do they have? How well do they react to others? This type of teamwork gave the students the opportunity to work together toward a common goal. Certainly they had to be willing at times to step out of their comfort zone, communicate with their peers, and explore a dramatic style that may have been unfamiliar to them. They displayed tenacity and courage by putting forth their new ideas and performing them for the audience. For a lot of these students, this was the last time they would be performing on stage, adding tension and excitement into getting the piece right and playing their roles truthfully. Miranda O’Brien Drama Teacher
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THOUGHTFUL INQUIRERS