There is no Abilities only Status....

DMIC: Thinking about Status

Ability Grouping

What does this do for children's achievement and mathematical dispositions?
I does not work either if we mix them all up and pop them into their own groups. We need to understand how children work together and what status is. This means status is coming from outside the classroom and affecting what happens in the classroom. This has a lot to do with competence. Other children need to see all children in the class as capable and worth listening to.

"You are valued. You have things to say that are unique to you. You are worth listening to." This should be the mantra of every classroom.

The following ideas are direct notes from Jodi Hunter's second to last DMIC course presentation to teachers.

Create learning intentions that have to do with explaining thinking and not just mathematical strategy.
Today we are learning to share by agreeing and disagreeing using the magic word 'because'. To initiate this you could create a problem to check to see whether or not children could agree and disagree and can say why. This could be a completed problem with a wrong answer.

Always check that everyone has the same information, is listening and ready with their thinking.

Junior children may not always be able to read the numbers so it is important to discuss this verbally and check with partners to make sure things have been heard.

Uses of grouping - positioning and repositioning children -
Grouping means assigning children higher or lower status with your ( the teacher's) words and contexts. The numeracy project advocated for students to be grouped with similar students. We need to stop thinking about students as a stage 4 or a stage 6 child. It is simply indicative of a strategy used to solve something at a particular point in time. As adults we are not stage 1 adults because we use stage 1 strategies.

When National Standards was used in classes children were hearing a lot of 'belows', 'ats' and 'aboves'.  This clarified a status view. Internationally NZ has one of the most stratified systems in the world. Stratification is negatively related to overall achievement.

In uniform groups there is less opportunity for students to use and practice multiple strengths. They are less likely to provide diverse strategies and thinking processes.

But why challenge the status quo? Research has come out to say that children who are in mixed ability groups have more of a growth mindset than those in ability groups. How children are taught in these grouping systems also has an effect on their dispositions and mindsets.

Fixed mindset: Intelligence is status.


Teaching children a 'unit' about fixed and growth mindset makes no difference to their mindset but the words, beliefs and pedagogy we use in the classroom does.

Complex Instruction
Complex instruction has three key principles which are group worthy tasks, meaning that no one child can solve the problem by themselves. They need each other through applying instructional strategies, multiple strategies and status and accountability.



Maybe there is no such thing as ability ... maybe what we are talking about is status.
Usually high ability children are high status children. They have simply had many opportunities to share their ideas, be listened to and questioned on their thinking.
This concept shows up low achievers results as a group problem and a relational problem rather than an individual problem.

Assigning competence - what you will find is that the child who disengages with the group has tried to say something and no one has listened and therefore he or she disengages. Everyone misses out when children are not participating and sharing their ideas.

Think about children as having low status instead of being low ability or low achievers. How do we give children status? How do we raise their understanding of themselves?

You can actually get rid of status.
Status is local and changes within settings and contexts. Value multiple strengths. Status in the classroom reflects that of society. To assign competence, feedback needs to be quality and specific.

Put your phone or laptop near a group and record what is happening in a group. What are they actually talking about in a group? Who has the status?

Ask the status questions: What makes someone good at mathematics?

Tips to re-engage non-participators:

• Ask low risk questions in private conversations in groups. ( "You might think this is difficult but I want you to be the best mathematician you can be.") 
• Use ice-block sticks - at the end of this session you need to have repeated three things (three ice-block sticks) 
• Get the child to respond in a group not in front of the class.