In my first placement in a Catholic all-boy's DEIS school in Limerick, I had one or two students in particular with undetermined learning difficulties who appeared to struggle with self-confidence. This was documented in our Brookfield lens reflections and SEN screencast, linked and embedded here below.

My following action research project completed in my second placement, in a mixed community school in Shannon, was inspired by this experience as I believe student self-efficacy (confidence in one's ability) is a vital element to develop on in many subjects, and in particular in Art, Craft, and Design so that students can feel confident to engage and explore new ideas and create innovative projects utilising their own and their peers insights on life and society. To try to encourage the growth of their self-efficacy, I attempted to utilise various types of formative self- and peer-assessment and feedback.

I mo chéad socrúchán i scoil DEIS Caitliceach uile-bhuachaillí i Luimneach, bhí mac léinn nó dhó agam go háirithe le deacrachtaí foghlama neamhchinnte a raibh an chuma orthu go raibh siad ag streachailt le féinmhuinín. Rinneadh é seo a dhoiciméadú inár n-athmhachnaimh lionsa Brookfield agus sa chraoladh scáileáin SEN, atá nasctha agus leabaithe anseo thíos.

Spreag an taithí seo an tionscadal taighde gníomhaíochta seo a leanas a críochnaíodh le mo dhara socrúchán, i bpobalscoil mheasctha sa tSionainn, mar creidim gur gné ríthábhachtach í féinéifeachtúlacht an dalta (muinín as a gcumas) le forbairt uirthi in go leor ábhar, agus i go háirithe in Ealaín, Ceardaíocht, agus Dearadh ionas gur féidir le mic léinn a mhothú muiníneach chun dul i ngleic le smaointe nua agus iad a iniúchadh agus tionscadail nuálacha a chruthú ag baint úsáide as a gcuid léargais féin agus a bpiaraí ar an saol agus ar an tsochaí. Chun iarracht a dhéanamh fás a gcuid féinéifeachtúlachta a spreagadh, rinne mé iarracht cineálacha éagsúla féinmheasúnaithe agus piarmheasúnaithe agus aiseolais a úsáid. 

My research findings somewhat diverged from the original intent, however they still resulted in some interesting insights into self- and peer-assessment, collaborative activities, and the school and classroom environment.

I found that students felt most comfortable in environments where they had their own personal space but also had access to people they knew and trusted.

Many of the international students who were on Erasmus programmes or had recently moved to Ireland liked to sit together and appeared to make friends quickly. Some still seemed to struggle with confidence a bit more than others at times.

Some students' insecurities were evident in their anxiety or shyness, while others tended to act-out more and disrupt the classroom to distract from their work. I observed both of these archetypes of students reacted very well to collaborative group activities with a "hand-on" / kinetic element problem-solving task, such as matching words with definitions to revise and learn new terms for Visual Studies (Art History / Critical and Contextual Studies), explaining other student's work after they talked to each other about their concepts, and discussing and writing peer-reviews of each others work. I found that having these kinds of interactive activities distracted students from their personal issues and allowed them to focus and engage on the task at hand.

Most students also preferred peer-assessment and feedback methods as some were concerned the self-feedback could be too biased or they would not feel confident enough in their own work to start off with. The students also benefited most from feedback that was physically and visually recorded rather than only discussed verbally as they tended to forget the advice within everything else going on in their lives and other school subjects.

Bhí torthaí mo thaighde beagán difriúil ón rún bunaidh, ach bhí léargais suimiúla fós mar thoradh orthu ar fhéinmheasúnú agus piarmheasúnú, ar ghníomhaíochtaí comhoibríocha, agus ar thimpeallacht na scoile agus an tseomra ranga.

Fuair ​​​​mé amach gur bhraith na mic léinn an-chompordach i dtimpeallachtaí ina raibh a spás pearsanta féin acu ach go raibh rochtain acu freisin ar dhaoine a raibh aithne acu orthu agus a raibh muinín acu astu.

Ba thaitin le go leor de na mic léinn idirnáisiúnta a bhí ar chláir Erasmus nó a d’aistrigh go hÉirinn le déanaí suí le chéile agus bhí an chuma orthu go ndearna siad cairde go tapa. Bhí an chuma ar roinnt daoine go raibh siad ag streachailt le muinín beagán níos mó ná daoine eile uaireanta.

Ba léir go raibh neamhchinnteacht scoláirí áirithe ina n-imní nó ina gcúthail, agus bhí claonadh ag scoláirí eile níos mó aisteoireachta a dhéanamh agus cur isteach ar an seomra ranga chun tarraingt óna gcuid oibre. Thug mé faoi deara gur fhreagair an dá sheandálaíocht seo daltaí go han-mhaith le gníomhaíochtaí comhoibritheacha grúpa le tasc réitithe fadhbanna “láimhe” / cinéiteach, mar fhocail a mheaitseáil le sainmhínithe chun téarmaí nua a athbhreithniú agus a fhoghlaim don Staidéar Amharc (Stair na hEalaíne / Criticiúil agus Staidéar Comhthéacsúil), ag míniú obair scoláirí eile tar éis dóibh labhairt lena chéile faoina gcoincheapa, agus piar-athbhreithnithe ar obair a chéile a phlé agus a scríobh. Fuair ​​mé amach gur tharraing na gníomhaíochtaí idirghníomhacha seo aird na mac léinn ar a gcuid fadhbanna pearsanta agus gur thug sé deis dóibh díriú agus dul i ngleic leis an tasc a bhí idir lámha acu.

B’fhearr le formhór na mac léinn modhanna piarmheasúnaithe agus aiseolais freisin mar go raibh imní ar roinnt acu go bhféadfadh an féin-aiseolas a bheith ró-chlaonta nó nach mbraithfidís muiníneach go leor ina gcuid oibre féin ar dtús. Ba mhó an tairbhe a bhain na scoláirí as aiseolas a taifeadadh go fisiciúil agus go físiúil seachas é a phlé ó bhéal amháin mar ba ghnách leo dearmad a dhéanamh ar an gcomhairle i ngach rud eile a bhí ar siúl ina saol agus in ábhair scoile eile.

During my second placement and conducting this research project, my outlook on my own teaching philosophy has progressed beyond solely the focus on inclusion, to consolidate on three main goals: encouraging independence, instilling a passion for learning, and creating a sense of community and ability to collaborate on problem-solving. Within these aims, I am still developing my ability to differentiate and include all students, and have attended CPD sessions on teaching autistic students and students with Dyslexia, for example. 

Le linn mo dhara socrúchán agus an tionscadal taighde seo á stiúradh, chuaigh mo dhearcadh ar m’fhealsúnacht teagaisc féin chun cinn níos faide ná an fócas ar chuimsiú amháin, chun comhdhlúthú ar thrí phríomhsprioc: neamhspleáchas a spreagadh, paisean don fhoghlaim a chothú, agus braistint pobail agus cumas a chruthú. chun comhoibriú ar réiteach fadhbanna. Laistigh de na haidhmeanna seo, tá mé fós ag forbairt mo chumas chun idirdhealú a dhéanamh agus gach mac léinn a chuimsiú, agus d’fhreastail mé ar sheisiúin FGL ar mhúineadh do mhic léinn uathacha agus do mhic léinn a bhfuil Disléicse orthu, mar shampla.