1.+Research+Question+and+Theoretical+Framework

Research Question and Theoretical Framework

This research is underpinned by the Constructivist paradigm. Davis and Sumara (2002) refer to subject-centred constructivism as making sense of their own world (p. 413). As it is a theory of //learning//, it cannot provide teachers with advice about what to do, but rather what not to do. However, by providing opportunities for feedback to students on their progress and prompting new ways of thinking through perturbation (trying to prompt new ways of sense-making by interrupting established habits of interpretation), and encouraging students’ reflection by construal (trying to make sense of the sense the learner is making, in order to orient subsequent efforts at perturbation), this project is Constructivist in its approach.

The revised New Zealand Curriculum introduced five Key Competencies. These replaced the Essential Skills of the previous curriculum, but were expanded to include attitudes, values and dispositions. Schools and teachers are encouraged to challenge and support students to develop the Key Competencies in contexts that are increasingly wide-ranging and complex (Ministry of Education, 2007).

In the context of Year 3 and 4 students in a Decile 4 contributing school, this research project aims to investigate:
 * What is the students’ understanding of Managing Self?
 * How can students’ understanding of Managing Self be developed?
 * How can a rubric be developed to challenge and support students who are developing the Managing Self competency?
 * Can a process be developed with students that could be applied to other competencies and/or contexts?