Does the use of a podcast facilitate feedback/reflection

to improve the pronouciation of Maori Language.

Intended Outcome
“ Whangia ka tupu, ka puawai” That which is nurtured,
blossoms and grows”

Children will record their mihi onto a podcast, listen to it,

make changes and then respond to their own and others mihi
providing feedback and next learning step information.

Background
I am interested in building children’s learning power and have
a keen interest in Maori language. In 2009 the school year
began with myths around Papatuanuku and Ranginui. Children
completed a korowai (cloak) with the concept of tenei korowai (this korowai) cloaking
them in confidence to move on with their language learning. Within the cloak were the
atua (gods) and within the cloak our whakapapa (our family) to give us guidance,
strength and confidence. Also at the beginning of 2009 I also established a language
nest within the classroom where children are practicing hearing, speaking reading and
writing maori language. In term two some children presented their korowai, and mihi
at the Regional Hui Ako held at Tahuna Intermediate.

Implementation of the Action Plan:

During term one an integrated story telling and art unit was
taught around Ranginui and Papatuanuku. The korowai were
painted and the children began researching mihi for
presentation at the Regional Hui Ako. Oral presentations of
mihi were performed. The Language Nest was established.

During term two there was an increased focus on reflection.

Reflection skills were introduced and modelled across
different curriculum contexts. Children were given more
opportunities to learn Reo through interactive websites like
Toku Reo and also from audio powerpoints from Lauana
Thomas a Resource Teacher of Maori. The reflection process generally included what
are you going to do? How is it going? What do you need to do next?

During term three children recorded their mihi on to podcast, reflected on their own
mihi and the mihi of two others. Mihi were uploaded onto the podbean site established
as a class.

Lisa Switalla Action Research

 Does the use of a podcast facilitate feedback/reflection
to improve the pronouciation of Maori Language.
Literature Review
“Reflection involves getting people to talk about their own
learning experiences.” (Koliba C.)
Reflection is a tool for the classroom that is often under-
utilised and probably not completely understood by teachers
and learners. Yet it is a powerful tool for students to take
control of their learning across a range of contexts such as
goal setting, using reflection tools such as graphic organisers,
self and peer assessing. Yet often learners are not reflecting
fully. Often learners are asked to reflect on their learning,
teachers find that often their reflections lack depth and self
awareness. This is often why learners write surface answers
without any real understanding of their achievements. It is important that children
understand the purpose of what you are trying to achieve and that reflection skills are
explicitly taught. Establishing a learning culture within the classroom that encourages
and teaches children how to learn. This includes a common understanding and language
of learning.

Pam Hook (2009) states that “ICT can make a difference, its how we use it, learning
needs to be multi-structural, relational and extend learning experiences so children can
learn how to learn.”
As classroom teachers try to think of things from a strengths focus. There is the
need to continue to develop an everyday language of reflection, self monitoring,
persistence, listening, practice and personal responsibility so a class of learners are
consistently thinking about what we have to put into action? What worked and Why?
What didn’t? and therefore What we will do next?

Graham M. & Osborne V (2008) outline the following rules for action research.
1. Each person has the right and opportunity for reflection.
2. Every idea has value and can contribute to learning.
3. Individual contributions are recognised.
4. Students are responsible for their own learning.

Evaluation
“Reflection is a never ending clarifying process, a reflective
spiral where you think of new opportunities, refine our
language and learning and implement changes” (Lord 2008)
This research has determined that good modelling (from the
teacher, podcast, te reo sites) coupled with opportunities to
practice (eg talk, listen, reading, writing and games) and
reflect upon our learning does improve pronunciation.

Lisa Switalla Action Research

 Does the use of a podcast facilitate feedback/reflection
to improve the pronouciation of Maori Language.
Evaluation continued
Benefits for the children include children being responsible
for their own learning, children are able to recognise their
next learning step, children are actively involved within the
learning process and became more independent and self-
motivated as the year progressed.

Benefits for the teacher include shifting the responsibility for

learning from the teacher to the learner, feedback given
helps the teacher identify progress and areas to focus
teaching. The link between learner and teacher perceptions
of thinking and understanding becomes closer aligned. There
is an increased focus on learning being cyclic, ongoing and having some repetition so
learners can build on existing knowledge.

Children’s responses: “Reflection – sharing good news is good for us. It has a positive
effect, increases satisfaction and our sense of wellbeing. (Kamins + Dweck 1999) Many
of the children made instant changes to their pod casting if they made an error, or
after they had listened to their pod cast. Examples of changes include rerecording
mispronunciations, re recording if the volume was low, editing out silences etc… These
changes occurred instantly and became part of the podcasting process. I often found
that the children had a limited skills bank to draw on when reflecting on their own and
others podcast. Many of the comments fall into the category of passive constructive
eg I like the …… it sounds good…… I can hear them well etc… Children were able to
make more active constructive comments when scaffolded by a teacher. This is an area
that as a class we need to work on more so we have more resilience, skills and
reflective ability to manage this. The children were better at determining their own
next step more than their peers.

Future Considerations include:

Establishing a class culture that values reflection by
1. Establishing a common shared language of reflection.
2. Providing regular time to think as individuals and as a
group.
3. Link reflection to a social communicative approach.

Continue to explicitly teach reflection skills and self-

monitoring strategies by as a class discussing
1. What is the purpose of reflection?
2. What skills do I need to be good at reflecting?
3. What is effective reflection?

Lisa Switalla Action Research

 Does the use of a podcast facilitate feedback/reflection
to improve the pronouciation of Maori Language.
Future Considerations continued
Spend some time working on the types of reflective
responses children make about their own and others in
relation to the work by Kamin and Dweck (1999)

Possible ways to increase children using active constructive

comments include
1. Continuing to build children’s learning power.
2. Highlight strategies children are using so they learn
what works, they learn what they can try in the
future.
3. Change the focus to one of effort and strategy so it
promotes mastery type behaviours.

Establish transference
1. By using reflection across contexts.
2. Combine with building learning power so reflecting becomes more of an intrinsic
process.
3. Providing time to think
4. Find ways to reach those children who are above and beyond the cohort.

In Conclusion:
Podcasting is a great tool for increasing children’s ability to
reflect upon a piece of new language learning. Podcasting
coupled with modelling, practice and the explicit teaching of
reflection skills has increased the children’s ability to reflect
upon their own and others learning.
Establishing a class culture that values reflection and shares
a common understanding and language of learning has a large
influence on how successful reflection can be within a group
of learners.

Lisa Switalla Action Research

Biblography:

http://www.koreromaori.co.nz/

http://tking.podomatic.com/

http://studentvoice.podbean.com/

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8037077/blogsforselfreview

Butler, K. ( 2009) Speaking Their Language. District Administration Vol. 45. Number, 2.
28-30, 32-33.

Graham, M. & Osborne, V. (2008) Student Reflection Action Research Project.

Kamins + Dweck (1999) Penn Resilence Programme.

Hui Chin Lin + Shih Chieh Chien Paul (2009) An Investigation into Effectiveness of Peer
Feedback. Journal of Applied Foreign Languages Fortune Institute of technology Vol, 3.
June 2009. 79-87

Laiken M.E. (2002) Managing the Action/Reflection Polarity Through Dialogue: A Path
To Transformative Learning. Nall Working Paper. No 53.

Lee M.J.W, McLoughlin C. and Chan A (2007) Talk the Talk: Learner Generated
Podcasts as catalysts for knowledge creation. British Journal of Educational
Technology. Vol. 39 Issue 3, pages 501-521

Lord, G. (2009) Podcasting Communities and Second Language Pronunciation. Foreign

Language Annals, Vol, 41 Issue 2, 364-379.

Penick J.E. (2000) The Rationale Paper: Structured Reflection for Teachers. Opinion
Papers p 2-16

Shindler J etal (2003) Sharing the Data along with the Responsibility: Examining an
Analytic Scale-based Model for Assessing School Climate. American Educational
Research Association.

Thomas Lauana (2009) Taylor Made Maori Resources

Lisa Switalla Action Research