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Term 3, 2009

AIS school-based action learning project: Pedagogy

The Association of Independent Schools (AIS) awarded twelve teacher librarians Australian funded AGQTP grants to explore Guided Inquiry as a process for pedagogical change.  Alinda Sheerman, teacher librarian at Broughton Anglican School, shares her experience with us.   We thank the AIS for their permission to share this project with ASLA (NSW).

 
To collaborate on a project with eleven other like-minded teacher librarians presented an opportunity to investigate and gather evidence to support the learning and teaching process of Guided Inquiry as a way of bringing  about pedagogical change.  The grants were used to help us attend seminars, fund time to work on our projects and access support from the Association of Independent Schools NSW.

The group met on a number of occasions.  We pooled our resources, allowing us to have personal tuition from Dr Ross Todd who presented us with the research base for his pedagogy, and, after some wonderful teaching sessions, inspired us all to just DO it!  
 
Through our GIresearchers wiki, ably coordinated by Lee Fitzgerald, Dr Todd guided us through our research journey.  We shared learning scaffolds and ideas; discussed our analyses and shared our reports.  Researching as a community toward a shared goal made the journey so much richer.
 
Rationale for study
At Broughton, after observation of assessments, student activities, and student attitudes to learning, as well as discussions with executive and teaching staff, we knew a pedagogical change was evident.  

In considering the Y and Z Generations’ learning styles, coupled with the critical integration of Web 2.0 learning technologies into teaching and learning, we identified several areas in which we could improve our students’ response to learning as well as our teaching practice.
 
Firstly, and in particularly, we needed to guide our students away from transportation of information, made even easier with digital learning technologies, toward transformation of information into new knowledge.  
 
Acknowledging that transporting information has been an issue for decades, not helped by the way assessments were written, we recognised that the time had come to get into the trenches and get working—Students constructing their knowledge  was the door we wished to unlock.

Into the action
It is important in action research to consider your personal/ professional goals and then act!
I was passionate about Guided Inquiry after the foregrounding I received through participation in Dr Todd’s workshops.  I was also encouraged by the action research approach, having been a member of ASLA (NSW) CAR-TL and the nurturing experience it provided me.
 
My focus for this research was to investigate whether Guided Inquiry was engaging students in learning and changing the way students used information to develop deep knowledge.  Plagiarism, at various levels, continued to be an issue with our students and Guided Inquiry promised a different level of engagement, encouraging students to enthusiastically create their own body of knowledge and share it with others.  I was also keen to take full advantage of the social software in which to develop a culture of shared learning experiences.
 
Initially, discussion was held at the executive level to determine the direction we would take to bring about pedagogical change.  It was decided our goal would be to collaboratively plan and teach a Guided Inquiry unit of work, initially with one Year 7 class.  
 
Using a wiki for shared learning, we would closely monitor how our students were gathering, using and sharing resources, information and ideas.   We felt that we would observe in the students what Todd described as transformation of information to knowledge.  If we were right, then we would present this unit of work as an exemplar of good practice within our school and thus emphasise the need to change our pedagogy towards a more constructivist paradigm.
 
Staff training and research
Foregrounding in the Guided Inquiry process is vital—reading, attending workshops, sharing ideas with others who have trialled the process.  For me, I was privileged to have been a part of so many vibrant groups such as CAR-TL, GIresearchers  and the Guided Inquiry Ning.  It was important, therefore, that the teacher I was working with was given similar support.  He read Kuhlthau’s Guided Inquiry, attended a Guided Inquiry Seminar, as well as read several of the articles published by Dr Todd.  

Without this foregrounding, the planning of the unit of work, including the interventions, would not have had the energy and creativity that we both experienced.     
 
Keeping our Broughton community informed about the project was an important strategic move.   Teacher discussions centred on the need for pedagogical change.
This was supported by evidence of ingrained practice of students’ transferring information, with little new knowledge being formed.  

Implementation
After initial training in the use of wikis, the students were required to answer their first Guided Inquiry SLIM Toolkit questionnaire by which we gained information about their interest and knowledge level.  Students were then immersed in the topic through videos and books, eventually selecting an area of interest.  At that point, they composed a higher order question for themselves. Differentiation was achieved through student choice of topic area, level of question composed, and mode of presentation.  Information was initially stored and organised on the class wiki; each student having his / her own page.
 
Collaborative learning took place as students interacted with each other, sharing ideas and linking to each other’s pages.  They prepared a common knowledge base and learnt to constructively criticise through performing two peer reviews on allocated wiki pages – praising, asking questions and suggesting improvements to each other.
 
Achievements
Engagement in learning and transformation of information was confirmed by the administering of the SLIM toolkit reflection sheets.  Analysis of these reflections confirmed that there was a marked increase in new knowledge being created.  The analysis also gave clear evidence of the positive effect of obtaining information at point of need.  
It is also worth mentioning that the wiki provided an excellent tool for sharing and creating knowledge.  Out of this experience, and through sharing it with a wider audience, colleagues have begun implementing this social technology as a valid learning and teaching tool in which to begin Guided Inquiry units with their classes.

The next cycle
In 2009, Guided Inquiry began again as we look to improve on our experience and extend it to incorporate all classes in Year 7, and five teachers.  Once again we have an AGQTP grant as part of the AIS School Based Action Learning Project.  It will, again, be implemented using a team teaching approach between teacher librarian and class teacher, collaborating at all stages of the Guided Inquiry process.  
 
The full project can be viewed at http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddfv5mv6_2cttfjjd3&invite=1488388287

 
Alinda is Head of Information Services at Broughton Anglican College (Menangle Park, NSW), a Prep—12 school with over 1000 students.  Initially a primary teacher, Alinda has worked in school libraries for 19 years.  Her enthusiasm for pedagogical change, initiated through the school library, began through her studies for her MAppSci (TeachLib) with Charles Sturt University.  
 
 

Issue 2 2009

The What, why, who and how of advocacy - a layperson's guide

Sharon McGuinness - ASLA NSW Vice President Advocacy

Understanding advocacy

Advocacy can be viewed as the dissemination of information intended to influence behaviour, opinion and decisions regarding particular issues. It may also be described as building partnerships, which encourages others to act for and with you, turning quiet support into informed action.

Today, teacher librarians, school libraries and advocacy share a close relationship. As teacher librarians, we advocate for our profession and school libraries. Our message to the community and decision makers must be both clear and consistent:

1. A qualified teacher librarian and a well resourced school library have a positive impact on student literacy and academic achievement.
2. School libraries require adequate funding in order to be well placed to support the curriculum and satisfy the leisure reading needs of its’ students.
3. The best learning outcomes occur when the classroom teacher plans and teaches in collaboration with the teacher librarian.

The need to advocate; to influence the behaviour, opinions and decisions of those in power — is even more important to our profession today, as teacher librarians across Australia stand on shaky ground.

While countless studies both in Australia [Lonsdale Report, 2003] and internationally [School Libraries Work, 2008] have proven the link between a well resourced school library, a professionally qualified teacher librarian and student academic achievement, school libraries across Australia are being devalued. 

Anecdotal evidence tells us that in WA government schools, no teacher librarians are appointed to primary schools.;In Victoria and the ACT, school libraries may or may not have a teacher deployed in the library. If teachers are appointed to run school libraries, they do not necessarily need to have the relevant qualification. 

Teacher librarians in several states also report instances where colleagues have been replaced by library technicians due to inadequate staffing budgets. 

Indeed, Adelaide High School teacher librarian, Sue Spence [2002], conducted a survey of teacher librarians and school libraries in South Australia and found that of the 303 respondents, 109 did not employ a professionally qualified teacher librarian. 

How much has changed in seven years? 

Teacher librarians throughout Australia consistently report, through their regional groups, of the continual need for in house advocacy, to inform both executive and teaching staff of the role and value of a teacher librarian to a school’s learning and teaching programs.

And the answer is all stakeholders—not just teacher librarians! Everyone who has a relationship with the school library can advocate by responding to issues which have an impact on school libraries and the profession of teacher librarianship. While some may argue that it is already recognised that schools need libraries, I would argue that there is little understanding as to why they are so important.

There appeared little argument when Kevin Rudd announced that within his $42 billion stimulus package that he would ensure every primary school within Australia would have a school library building. While this is a positive step, it was a prime opportunity to advocate that a building alone does not make a library. The building itself will not improve the learning outcomes of its students, but a qualified teacher librarian collaborating with the classroom teacher, managing a well resourced library, will.

Advocacy action

Firstly, ensure that you and the library are valued resources in the school.

We must respond to the curriculum needs of the teaching staff, increasing the collection through knowledge of locating virtual resources while also being able to obtain items not held by our own libraries by establishing partnerships with local public and surrounding school libraries.

Ensure you are the first one that staff ask ‘Where can I find....’

We can provide active advice regarding information literacy, literacy and the array of web 2.0 tools and beyond to the school community at staff meetings, information sessions for new parents and via the school website or school newsletter.

We can keep the school community informed regarding the teacher librarian’s program and its relationship to student learning using the same avenues as above. 

We can be innovative users of technology, assisting staff in how to integrate ICT into their teaching.

Being confident in our knowledge of information literacy, of our ability to resource the best tools with which to teach and learn and knowing that the school library has an impact on student academic achievement can

Building partnerships with teaching staff and leading the way in developing enhanced learning opportunities creates knowledge and understanding of the important role that the library and a qualified teacher librarian play in the

Find out the email addresses of your state and federal members of parliament, and write to them, particularly in response to issues currently in the news which are relevant to school libraries. 

Recently, several teacher librarians wrote to a federal senator after a question was raised in parliament regarding teacher librarian training. As a result, a dialogue has now been established with this senator and has led to an enhanced understanding, knowledge and support of the important role of a teacher librarian and the school library. Writing to the editor of the local, state and national newspapers and being published, ensures a wide audience and assists in the dissemination of information about issues affecting the profession. 

Respond to current education issues via feedback forums and blogs. Identify the journalists and editors who are responsible for education issues and respond to their pieces. Similarly, writing articles in newspapers and relevant journals, particularly those whose audience may include school principals, can also achieve significant results in raising awareness.    

Publicise your library events and activities.   Write a press release. Using the school newsletter, website or library page to inform the school community places a focus on the teacher librarian and the significance of the program.

Make presentations at staff meetings, P&C meetings and at conferences—delivering the message that school libraries and a qualified teacher librarian make a difference to students and their lifelong learning. Advocacy for our profession is not the realm of those few who may hold a position on a committee. Teacher librarianship
is our profession, therefore advocating the importance of school libraries in the first instance, is our responsibility.

References
Lonsdale, M 2003, Impact of school libraries on student achievement: a review of the research, A report for the Australian School Libraries Association, ACER, Melbourne.     www.asla.org.au/research/summary.htm

School Libraries Work! 2008, Scholastic http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/s/slw3_2008.pdf

Spence, S 2002, Survey highlights major problem with library staffing, AEU Journal, 

Issue 1 2009

Issue 3, 2008

So Gross! So Feral! So Sick! So Feisty! So Mawter!

Jeni Mawter

Jeni Mawter is a well known writer who keeps kids in laughter [and indeed, the adults]. With an MA in Children’s Literature, Jeni is a master at humour, perhaps one of the hardest genres to write. In this article, she shares some sobering thoughts about both writing and appreciating humour.

Humour in literature for young learners is often given the moniker of bum humour. Our culture tends to dismiss humorous literature as lightweight and unworthy, thus effectively taking a critical process and denigrating it. Humorous texts are not easy to write but when a humorous text makes it, you can bet that critical and creative thinking are part of its success. We can agree that thinking involves inquiry, osing problems, acquiring and questioning information, thinking about possibilities, making decisions and forming judgments, justifying conclusions, reflecting on and refining ideas, seeing and valuing other perspectives, ethical reasoning, becoming aware of human existence, imagination and creativity, innovation and risk‐taking. As well, being able to show and value enterprise and innovation and being able to engage and respond to the world is crucial for human existence.

These attributes form the matrix of a clever and successful humorous text – texts that are worthy of being included in the language arts curriculum. Humour requires us to be flexible in our thinking and it often requires us to think deeply in order to unpack the message and to engage in a perspective that is often alternative points of view. We must compare facts with other alternatives, observe and interpret, use logic and reason to imply, value and judge (or not judge). As well, we have to cope with contradictions, predict what may happen and develop options.

The critical thinking seen in humour means that minds have to be open to change (based on extra information, opinions, facts or reasoning) even when faced with conflicting information.

Humorous texts have various levels of complexity so that as students move through the curriculum they can explore texts of increasing complexity and variety (from picture books to novels, plays, film, television programs, comics, graphics through to conversation).

Both Costa and Kallick (2000, 2001) recognize that an appreciation of humour is a vital component to finding solutions using the ‘Habits of Mind’ approach.

A final word! Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) was perhaps the first to recognise that tragedy is not superior to comedy ‐ that they are of equal importance:

Humour is the only test of gravity and gravity of
humour; for a subject which will not bear raillery is
suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious

Issue 1 2008

Student-designed rubrics for purposeful assessment

Jennie Bales

Rubrics are a valid form of assessment especially when students are actively engaged in designing their own rubrics for self-assessment.  They can be a means in aiding students to construct their own learning pathways and to set meaningful and purposeful goals for future learning.  Jennie Bales, Teacher Librarian of the Year 2006, offers some thoughts on student developed rubrics.  A fuller paper can be accessed at Bales, J 2006, ‘Student-designed rubrics for purposeful assessment’, Visions of learning: ASLA online II conference proceedings, ASLA.

Formative assessment and the rubric

Authentic assessment is becoming increasingly recognised as an effective means to assess students’ capabilities and understandings and provide different and significant information to add to a teacher’s assessment toolkit.  More traditional summative assessment, in the form of standardised and classroom-based testing, focusses on measuring what students recognize and recall, often with their knowledge being applied in isolation or out of context.

 Formative assessment focusses on students using their knowledge to perform effectively, hence the assessment focusses on the ability to apply knowledge and skills rather than measure the actual knowledge and skills gained.  From this perspective, authentic assessment supports current trends in Australian education of which the promotion of deep thinking and problem solving are foremost. 

 One strategy that supports authentic assessment and the development of deep thinking and problem solving is the rubric. 

A rubric is a type of scoring guide that identifies specific areas of performance and differentiates between levels of development in those performance areas.

 Rubrics provide a formalised structure to guide subjective assessment as they provide a means to measure gradual progress in students’ learning.  They can be used as an authentic assessment tool for:

 · evaluating student learning and attainment of outcomes

· identifying and clarifying specific performance expectations and providing attainment goals for student aspiration

 They should be clear, easy to use and understand.  The included criteria need to align with identified goals. 

 Three areas of content need to be included in a rubric:

 · outcomes or identified learning goals,

· rating range or scale and

· indicators of achievement as evidence.

Rose (2006-1995 para. 3) argues that rubrics can become powerful motivational tools when they are shared with students prior to commencing a project or assignment.  Clarke (1998 p.10) believes that sharing learning intentions with students ensures that every pupil is focussed on the purpose of the task and that it encourages pupil involvement and comment on their own learning.  Rubric assessments developed prior to, or in the early stages, of a learning task provide clearly articulated criteria for students to aspire to and work towards.  As Clarke (1998 p.47) notes:

Without the ‘secret’ knowledge of the learning intention … children have been deprived of information which will not only enable them to carry out the task more effectively, they have also been denied the opportunity to self-evaluate, communicate this to the teacher, set targets for themselves and get to understand their own learning needs: in other work words, to think intelligently about their own learning, rather than ‘finding’ out what the teacher wants, and doing it.

Self-evaluation

The importance of inviting children to create success criteria involves them still further in their own learning.  They are being asked, effectively, to link the learning intention with the task instructions.  They then have to decide how the two are synthesised to create success criteria – a much more challenging learning experience than simply being given the information (Clarke 2001, p.22). 

A further enabling action, building on from the clear articulation of learning goals in the rubric, is to ensure that not only do students have access to assessment information early in a project but also have the opportunity to self-evaluate their progress.

A highly effective strategy to ensure
that students:

a)      understand the task

b)     understand the learning goals and

c)      understand the form of assessment and the language used

is for them to construct their own rubric for self-evaluation.  If they know the purpose of the task, in terms of learning and how it will be carried out, they have a context for developing successful criteria.

Teacher librarians can be powerful partners in helping students to design their own rubrics.  Through identifying criteria based on an information skills/research process, students can be encouraged to design a rating system based on levels of achievement. 

For example, the students might complete one outcome by adding examples of evidence /indicators for ‘Define the topic’ (limit evidence/indicators to two or three examples).  Experience has shown that students find it easier to start at

the ‘average’ or ‘satisfactory’ level and

then identify evidence above and below that standard.

A reflection

Educators need to be confident in their own design and application of rubrics as part of their assessment toolkit before embarking on a process that fully involves students at the construction stages.  Students who have been exposed to rubrics generated by their class teachers will be better able to contextualise their understandings in the development of an assessment rubric.  A collaborative approach ensures that all students have an active part in their own assessment and are fully aware of the set of standards they need to work towards. 

There are a number of quality websites that offer examples of rubrics to adapt in all curriculum areas as well as software that also allows a teacher to input the information and then automatically generate a rubric.

The bibliography provides a starting point for further exploration of the use of rubrics as part of the student assessment.

JB

References

Clarke, S 1998, Targeting assessment in the primary classroom, Hodder &Stoughton, London.

Clarke, S 2001, Unlocking formative assessment: Practical strategies for enhancing pupils’ learning in the primary classroom, Hodder & Stoughton, London.

Rose, M 2006-1995, ‘Make room for rubrics’, in Teachers’ timely topics, Scholastic, viewed 22 January 2006, <http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/assessment/roomforubrics.htm>

Bibliography

‘Ideas and rubrics’ 2000, in Instructional Internet, Chicago Public Schools, viewed 22 January 2006, <http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/ideas_and_rubrics.html>.

Rubistar 2006-2000, in 4teachers, University of Kansas, viewed 22 January 2006, <http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php>.

Schrock, K. 1995-2006, ‘Teacher helpers: Assessment and rubric information’, in Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Educators, Discovery Education, viewed 22 January 2006, <http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/assess.html>.

Stone.web: ‘Automating authentic assessment with rubrics’ 2001, in Stone.web, Stone Middle School, viewed 22 January 2006,

<http://stone.web.brevard.k12.fl.us/html/comprubric.html#Recommendations>.

Issue 4 2007

With or without leave – Setting up for research at the outset

Dr Susan Boyce's  study was based in professional practice during her time at Caulfield Grammar School, Melbourne. Recently retired from her position with the School of Education, Faculty of Education at Deakin University, Susan shares her journey as a researcher - a story that is warm, knowing and encouraging

Undertaking research at post-graduate level, whilst working full time, particularly as a teacher, may well seem a daunting task, but it is something I managed to do - without taking leave. This is a personal story, and it might sound rather smug, but bear with me, the story is short and the moral may be useful.

I’m not pretending that life was not a grind for a lot of the time during my courses of study. Of course, postgraduate study at the level of Master and Doctoral degrees cannot be achieved without dedication, discipline and putting in the hours – which is what I did – at night, weekends and throughout most of the school holidays. But what I should confess is the private pleasure I experienced in recapturing my concentration in the process. Isn’t it true that constant interruption of thought is the very essence of parenthood, of classroom teaching and especially of library work? Whilst I claim to have exerted dedication and self-discipline, perhaps I should also admit to an obsessive, preoccupied immersion and the satisfying intensity of orchestrating and negotiating my way through the intricacies of a very large problem-solving project, in my own, uninterrupted realm of deep thought. I should explain that I returned to study at a very favourable time of my life and within a very propitious set of circumstances, which, together, benefited the quality of both the study and the experience. 

My four children had all become reasonably independent with lives of their own, my partner had taken up rowing and I had the benefit of almost two decades of professional experience during a period of great social and cultural change. 

Study and academic research gave me the opportunity and where-with-all to make sense of these changes, opening sight lines in and around the future. But that wasn’t all. Because my workplace was my data pool, life there suddenly became hyper-interesting.  It wasn’t just that I was wallowing, more often drowning, in data-rich whirlpool of culture, politics and power (integral to a study of communications and technologies), I also came to realise that I was developing a split identity.

As librarian and a member of the school community, I was an insider but as an academic researcher, bringing critical self-reflexive awareness to my inquiry, I was simultaneously an outsider. With this dual means of being ‘in the know’, my loyalty hovered perilously around the paradox of sometimes being complicit in the very situations under critique. 

But this is what made life so interesting, and surely it is this very ambiguity that marks the post-modern researcher – immersed as an actor in the daily particulars of institutional life on the one hand and involved in a critical re-thinking about the institution on the other.

Diplomacy in practitioner research

Which brings me now to the more prosaic politics and diplomacy of in-house research. 

Bear in mind that your colleagues may not necessarily share your interest in, or conviction about, the benefits of your research. Remember that you are ploughing their field as well as your own. Tread carefully.

Keep your Principal informed about your processes as well as your progress. As manager of the estate, he/she may perceive your research as having all the potential of a public audit. Clarify, early in the piece, whether study leave could be an option at a later stage. After all, the Principal, responsible for the smooth running of the estate, employed you for a particular purpose and may be sensitive about sanctioning your absence and creating a precedent.

In retrospect, I have to smile at the heady breathlessness of covering all contingencies and I wonder why my family never told me to get a life. Perhaps they could see that I was beyond redemption. Would it have helped if I had taken leave, taken a break to hasten the work along, or at least to get a perspective on myself? I don’t think so. The truth is, I loved it. I couldn’t bear to stay away.

So, the moral of my story is this. If you are going to embark on a research project that will be as time-consuming and demanding as a Master or Doctoral degree should be, set it up so that it will be an experience you can enjoy, so that the rewards might be found in the process as much as in the final relief of a satisfying completion. Check that your circumstances and timing will allow you to make the most of this adventurous opportunity.

Don’t lose heart, nurture that little flame of enthusiasm and courage, and if you need to take leave – ask for it.

SB

Issue 3 2007

Web 2.0 - What’s going on?

Judy O’Connell is the John H Lee Memorial Award Winner for 2007. Judy won this prestigious award for the innovative work she has done within the Parramatta Diocese in bringing teaching and executive teams together with students in gainfully using the power of Web 2.0. Her following article examines the power of Web 2.0.

Issue 2 2007

PLUG IN - LISTEN TO LEARN

• Listening can provide an extra literacy for all students, increasing their understanding of subject content material (see study by Boyle 2003).
• Listening meets the needs of the 30% of students who have been identified as auditory learners (Dunn & Dunn 1993 in Chen 2004) and use of audio content therefore demonstrates teacher respect for differing learning styles.
• Listening is an especially effective learning tool for boys.  While girls’ recall is not hampered by the mode of content presentation, boys’ recall after listening and after reading aloud is better than their recall after silent reading; also, boys’ recall after listening was as least as good as girls’ (Johnson 1982).  
• Listening is a way to enjoy both fiction and non-fiction content when unable to read print such as when commuting or exercising.  Adult audio fans are generally avid readers who listen when they could not otherwise be reading (Aron 1992); the two activities fill different needs and those who do both often cannot remember later whether they read a particular book or listened to it (Varley 2002).

•  Listening can increase motivation.  Audiobooks provide a taster of fluent reading by removing the difficulty that poor readers have in moving beyond the mechanics of reading to the enjoyment of the action of the story (Allen 2000).  Audiobooks can also enable students to experience success in reading (Beers 1998).  Remember that for older beginning readers, the memory of past struggles in reading is hard to overcome (Baskin & Harris 1995).  
• Listening can overcome text complexity.  Audiobooks can bridge the gap between reading and listening vocabulary, allowing students access to age appropriate literature which would otherwise be beyond their reading ability (Baskin & Harris 1995).  By facilitating access to the content of books, audiobooks enable students to participate in classroom discussions with their peers, an important step in their learning (Beers 1998).  Even able readers are challenged at times by such features as unfamiliar names or words and complicated sentence or narrative structure in books.  Many textual features (such as accented speech, tone, sarcasm and humour) are enhanced through audio rendition, bringing greater comprehension (Baskin and Harris 1995).  
• Listening can improve reading strategies. Reading aloud to children is seen as a single most important activity for building knowledge required to become a reader (Anderson et al. 1985, in Beers 1998).  To older students, listening while reading offers the opportunity to hear fluent reading modelled and to practice reading both independently and often.

Listening as a learning and teaching strategy
Teachers in general have reservations about using audiobooks which appear to stem from several perceptions (Cox 1996):

•  the seeming passivity of the act,
•  the perceived interpretive nature of audiobooks, and
•  teacher unfamiliarity with medium.