Veronica Morcom

The Australian government funded the West Australian project ‘Reporting Values to Parents’ as part of ‘The Values in Action Schools Project’ (2009). The two aims of the qualitative study were to develop a common values language supported by observable behaviours and an appreciation that values education is fundamental to schooling. Teachers used an action research process to create authentic values activities and involve parents in the assessment process. Parents shifted their perspectives to ratify teachers’ role to teach values explicitly. Students experienced a deeper sense of connection and belonging at school. Educators can adapt the activities in this paper to infuse values into their teaching. Future research is warranted to support and retain preservice teachers by examining the ‘hidden curriculum’ and personal biases to create inclusive classrooms. All students have a right to access an education that reflects their interests and values and teachers need urgent support for this quest.

This longitudinal qualitative research is framed within a sociocultural perspective and examines experienced teachers and their mentor as they changed their practice. The data, sourced from three teacher focus groups, email correspondence and the mentor's reflections are analysed using Rogoff's personal, interpersonal and institutional/community planes. This small-scale study gives insights into the complex nature of professional learning, particularly when teachers are challenging the status quo which creates tensions that need to be addressed. Teachers had real concerns about time to teach the curriculum and complete the research activities. They worried about ‘fitting in’ with colleagues and parent perceptions. A collaborative self-development framework is advocated as a culturally appropriate way of for teachers to continue to learn during their careers, encourage risk taking and innovation.

A sociocultural view of learning positions teachers as mediators who teach a curriculum that reflects what is valued by society. In this paper it is proposed that a specific focus on mediating relational agency to support collaboration further builds teacher and student capacity for learning. Relational agency is a two-way process, to become responsive so you can both receive and give support to peers. Peer interaction supports the development of communication, social and emotional competencies required for effective collaborative learning. The aim of this paper is to reflect how evidenced based social practices promoted relational agency in a collaborative classroom. These social practices can be adapted by other teachers interested in this approach with their students. The data are drawn from three linked, consecutive year-long projects conducted by the teacher/researcher with her students and teacher/colleagues whom she mentored. Rogoff's analytical planes provide a framework to analyse the qualitative data. The findings are presented as four case studies related to bullying, conflict resolution, student leadership and teacher mentoring that illustrate relational agency in action. Further research is necessary to understand how to support teachers for 21st century learning, within the context of traditional schools where the status quo is well established.

Peers create one of the most significant contexts for developing prosocial values. This paper reports on a yearlong study of thirty one year 4/5 students where antisocial values were deep-seated. The aim of this qualitative research was to examine how to reduce antisocial behaviour and promote peer collaboration. The notion of whole-class scaffolding was applied to use the collective knowledge of the peer group and develop mutual respect to reduce antisocial behaviour. Social and reflective practices included: the Daily Social Circle; Weekly Class Meetings; student reflection logs and interviews and parent surveys. Two themes generated from the findings examine how students changed from ‘antisocial behaviour’ to ‘developing mutual respect’ through explicit values education. The findings suggest that whole-class scaffolding of peer collaboration was effective when values education was linked to students’ collective needs, supported by targeted social and reflective practices. This research contributes to our understanding of operational values education.

A sociocultural perspective (Vygotsky, 1978) framed the qualitative study, to understand how to create 'shared affective spaces' as an enabling factor to scaffold within the zone of proximal development (ZPD). Social and emotional learning is conceptualised as a social concept, focusing on the collective knowledge of the peer group. The longitudinal study was conducted with thirty-one students 9-10 years of age in a composite Year 4/5 classroom. There were 17 students in the Year 5 cohort drawn from sixty students distributed across four similar classes to cope with volume of antisocial behaviour. The teacher/researcher implemented sociocultural strategies such as the weekly class meetings to scaffold students to make connections with their emotions and the impact of bullying behaviour on the perpetrators and victims. Rogoff's (1995) analytical planes frame the discussion of students' participation and the case study of Lindsay, a Year 5 student who was a bully. Lindsay's journey exemplifies the positive outcomes for teacher scaffolding of understandings about making friends and prosocial behaviour to reduce bullying, using holistic classroom practices that made explicit the affective aspects of learning. Future research is required to develop teachers' expertise in understanding the scaffolding process to enlist students' emotions as an enabling factor.

This qualitative study examines the social practices of two elementary classrooms to elucidate scaffolding students’ social and emotional learning through values education. The conceptual model is based on Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural theory and the related notions of zone of proximal development (ZPD) and assisted learning. Rogoff's (1995) community, interpersonal and personal planes frame the data analysis. In the findings the teacher/researcher examines social practices that promoted a student centred approach to developing participative decision making and collaborative skills. This research contributes to understanding the critical role of emotions and relationships, where primacy is given to the affective dimensions of learning. More research is needed to develop teachers' expertise to address student's social and emotional needs though scaffolding within the ZPD.

The development of an inclusive community is underpinned by values that support an appreciation of diversity. This paper is based on a larger research project, ‘student leadership in a primary classroom’, which developed different ways for students to interact with each other. The focus not only promoted full student participation in classroom activities but also benefited students such as Mary and Lesley, who had intellectual disabilities, because they were included too. Mary and Lesley attended an Educational Support Unit (ESU) in the morning and returned to their mainstream classroom in the afternoons. The teacher/researcher scaffolded collaborative values explicitly through the social practices of the daily social circle and the weekly class meeting, which provided authentic learning opportunities for students to discuss values. Students developed leadership skills based on inclusive values that were modelled by the teacher. Transcripts from video recordings of classroom activities, teacher observations, as well as student and parent interviews conducted throughout the year provided evidence that students also reflected on their personal values. As a result, Mary and Lesley's movement between their ESU class and the mainstream class each day was seamless because they were welcomed in both contexts and their participation was encouraged, appreciated and validated.

This paper is based on a year long research project that examined changes in participation of 31 students in a Year 4/5 classroom, where bullying was occurring. The teacher (first author and researcher) facilitated authentic learning opportunities to make the social practices explicit during weekly class meetings. A socio cultural perspective and an action research process framed this qualitative study. Data sources included school behaviour records, sociograms, semi-structured interviews, teacher observations and students' reflection logs. Rogoff's planes provided the analytical framework to examine how to scaffold a collaborative community of practice. The case studies of two students, Denis and Nathan, provide exemplars of how the teacher scaffolded students' social understandings within small social groups through collaborative leadership opportunities and values education. Results spanning the school year indicated that Nathan, like many of his peers, developed confidence to make new friends and become more assertive. Although Denis took longer to adopt pro-social goals, by the end of the school year, he refrained from bullying Nathan. The significance of this research supports recent findings that a focus on the social dynamics of the classroom can bring about positive change in student behaviour.

This paper examines how the process of scaffolding students to solve their social issues developed mature participation for both the teacher and students. A sociocultural perspective framed the research as the underlying assumption is that students learn from each other, mediated by the teacher or more capable peers. The study provides evidence that teachers play a significant role in mediating positive relationships amongst peers, which in this case, sustained the teacher's motivation to engage in the challenging and at times exhausting process. The teacher used weekly class meetings to negotiate with students how to share 'power' and model democratic decision-making. The 'bottom-up' approach of this research, links not only to teacher motivation but contributes to much needed research on how teachers can effectively cater for the diversity of students in their class, through their professional learning and development.