The Place of the SOLO (Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome) Model in Enhancing Rural Teachers’ Instructional Decision Making

• In Event: Roundtable Session 32
  In Roundtable Session: The Centrality of Learning to Students’ Welfare in Rural Schools in Australia, Canada, and Korea

Abstract

This paper reports on the underlying theory base and implications for practice of two large-scale research projects carried out in rural and regional schools in Australia by teams of academics associated with the SiMERR National Centre. The research was a collaborative effort with funding provided by the Australian Research Council and the Australian Quality Teacher Project. The two longitudinal investigations ran for a two-year and three-year period with the Catholic Schools Office in the Diocese of Armidale, Australia and the New South Wales Department of Education and Communities, respectively.
Schools report numerous ways of addressing student welfare issues. In Australia, programs directed at improving student well-being include those that provide a sustaining breakfast for students in need; incorporate behaviour management, personal organisation and leadership courses into the school day; and offer targeted excursions. These and similar programs take a variety of forms depending on the school and community context. Importantly, however, student well-being can also be addressed through students achieving success in acquiring school subject expertise. In these instances, the instructional techniques that underpin success include a teaching focus incorporating high expectations for student learning, and the establishment over time of a healthy level of trust between students and teachers (Paterson, Graham & Stevens, 2007). Thus, student well-being is enhanced if instructional programs establish both appropriate conditions for learning and students’ readiness for specific academic development.
These ideas are particularly relevant to students in rural Australia. In Australia, students in rural and regional areas do not achieve as highly as their metropolitan peers, particularly in mathematics and science (Thomson, & De Bortoli, 2008; Thomson, De Bortoli, Nicholas, Hillman & Buckley, 2011). While there is a growing body of research evidence around issues that impact on student underachievement in rural schools, there are limited data relating explicitly to how this situation might be addressed.
The purpose of the research, then, was to investigate the actions of teachers applying developmental-based assessment techniques in their classrooms. Both projects aimed at empowering teachers to develop and use theoretically-based knowledge about learning to improve their teaching in ways that best fit their knowledge bases, their teaching styles and beliefs, and their students’ needs. Teachers were required to assess the quality of students’ learning and use the information obtained to inform appropriate teaching initiatives. Such teaching potentially enhances students’ wellbeing and academic achievement.
The driving philosophy of the projects was that more appropriate instructional decision making occurs when teachers understand not only what knowledge their students posses, but the nature of that knowledge, and where it is most appropriate for instruction to proceed in order to build upon students’ understanding at that particular point in time. This presentation will: (i) describe the background to the projects and rationale of the research; (ii) explore the theoretical framework, referred to the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) model; and (iii) discuss some findings and implications associated with the use of the SOLO model by teachers.

Author

• John E. Pegg, University of New England