This is the second post of my Problem of Practice (PoP) that focuses on the second mode of design thinking. The purpose of this post is to define an actionable problem statement by considering what I know and what I discovered in the findings represented in my empathy report.
The below are a series of 3 activities that you can use to spark your thinking to reach a specific problem statement and in turn work towards an effective solution.
5 Whys?
My Problem is:
The majority of my students are L2 learners who face challenges to understand given tasks, which are theoretical and text-heavy as prescribed in the current science curriculum.
Why do second language learners face challenges to understand tasks prescribed in the current science curriculum?
Response 1: The science content is mostly theoretical based and is text-heavy which contains many long and new English words.
Why are teachers using resources/science content that is above the level of students?
Response 2: The textbook is the main resource and teachers are evaluated upon completion of the material in the textbook as this is what students are tested on.
Why is no differentiated, supplemental material created to support students and teach the contents of the textbook in an alternative manner?
Response 3: The science curriculum is completely packed and teachers' main challenge is lack of time and resources. This barrier resorts to 'teaching to the test' methods.
Why don't coordinators and administrators find modern teaching strategies to support teachers in meeting the needs of second language learners, which is the majority of the student population?
Response 4: The blame is usually passed on to the English department in which they are required to find ways in which to fill the students' learning gaps.
Why don't science teachers support each other in unpacking the material and teaching science content in an inquiry and student-centered environment?
Response 5 (my root cause): The lack of support, motivation and professional development amongst staff leads to one size fits all teaching, rather than facilitating connections and integrating content through application and ‘doing’.
Why-How Laddering
Point of View (POV) Framework
I met a class of 25 students in a grade 6 science classroom for 45 minutes.
I was surprised to notice how students chose to highlight concepts in their textbooks. Some only highlighted the sentences that contained bold terms while others practically highlighted the full text. When I asked students why they did this they responded because everything will be on the test.
I wonder if this means that students lack the skills to extract important information from the text or perhaps memorizing is the way they were taught to overcome their language barrier. I now believe it is a combination of both.
It would be game-changing to let students highlight the least amount of words that explain the main objective of the text. If this was possible that that would truly mean they understand the text.
Throughout my career, I have been mainly teaching second language learners in different countries in the MENA region. The majority of students are English Language Learners who find theoretical concepts difficult to understand and therefore they often lack the ability to make connections across units and subjects. As a teacher, I have faced the dilemma of students being bombarded with theoretical concepts as per the curriculum, and hence I was always at risk of losing my students’ interest either because they didn’t understand or were overwhelmed by the concepts presented to them. It is essential to find ways to reduce the language barriers in order for students' mindset to shift from memorizing to understanding how to apply newly required knowledge. If a student can recall information, it does not mean that he or she understands the concept. In addition, students find difficulty in answering theoretical based standardized questions that they cannot relate to any practical situation in their real lives. I believe it is important to create learning experiences where students make meaningful connections and apply previously introduced concepts to everyday cases rather than solving drill tasks and repetitive practice problems. That being said, my problem statement in this learning environment is that the majority of English Language Learners resort to rote memorization because they lack the reading comprehension skills to understand the theoretical and text-heavy science textbooks.