Action Research Raft Model Coping With Change The Journey of Transition

Action Research: RAFT Model, Coping with Change The Journey of Transition 1
Action Research: RAFT Model, Coping with Change The Journey of Transition

--
Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership
and Postsecondary Education
University of Northern Iowa
--
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirement for the
Master of Arts in Education
--
by
Savio DMello
Glenda Forgie
Nikhil Dandekar
The American School of Bombay
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
October 24, 2014
--
Tammy Gregersen



Students at the American School of Bombay are of a very transient nature. There is a
constant influx of kids and there are also quite a few of them who leave in a very short span of
time. The transition phase of students leaving has been the hardest part especially since they are
so accustomed to their learning environment and peers. We wanted to understand how we could
provide assistance in dealing with students who are of a transient nature and how we could help
them by providing the support and understanding of adapting to a new environment and culture.

Area of Focus
The purpose of this study is to describe the experiences of students entering the Grade 1
level and determine how we could as educators be proactive in understanding their needs as they
leave or transition to a new environment. Gathering of data will help us plan better and approach
their transition with more reliable information generated through a survey. The data would be
collected based on observations between the teacher and the student, which would be the Third
Culture Kid (TCK) for this research.

Dealing with transition: Our focus is to understand how students are transitioned into the
new environment, how do they deal with transition moving from one culture to another. What it
means to blend into the culture that the child now has to get accustomed to and what it means to
leave behind more than a memory. Especially third culture kids who go through a lot of
emotional stress and challenges when they are transitioning between cultures. Having a helping
hand, a mentor is what makes TCKs take with them what is important for them so that their
journey is not incomplete.


Choosing the right mentor is very important at this stage and more than any element it is
important to build a relationship of trust and confidence in the child that is passing through this
phase. Students at younger ages particularly need more attention. Adults need to be aware of the
different stages that affect the child. Quite often the child is not necessarily disturbed in their
new environment as they may not have settled in. While on some other instances children who
have passed more than six months in a given culture can get deeply rooted and a sudden
departure may bring about a lot of emotional conflict and stress for the child as they get
connected with the environment and people around them. Understanding this transition becomes
important and hence is a key factor in determining how well they can get accustomed to change.
The RAFT Model is key to helping educators cope and understand how they can be valuable in
the transition of TCKs.

Reconciliation: Pollock states Reconciliation includes both the need to forgive and to be
forgiven. How that happens may vary among cultures. When news first breaks out of the
movement to another place or the transition that is going to take place, most students find
themselves in a state of conflict. It is best to deal with this stage by reminding the children to
focus on the relationships that matter and resolve any conflict that would hold them back
emotionally.

Affirmation: Being human, it is important to maintain relationships and to acknowledge
them is of utmost importance. Parents, students and teachers are in part a small family and the
students feel at home most often at school or in the community that surrounds them. Mostly, as


Pollock explains, it is important to respect each one in the culture. Students at ASB not only
affirm the relations they have with their fellow students and teachers but it also builds on
strengthening these relations for future contact.

Farewells: The hardest part of the process of transition should also be the celebrated one,
so that it helps students know what they have come to value. It is equally important to attach
some significance to the aspect of farewell. It is also important to choose the right timing so that
there is bonding with the students and everyone can find the right time to express their
memorable moments they had with the person leaving.

Think Destination: The last part is to give the student leaving a sense of understanding
what they are going to be a part of in the new culture. We believe that the best way is to show a
movie, watch a documentary and speak of the beautiful aspects of what the student would
experience moving into the new culture. Sharing this information is vital as it helps the student
understand that the process of moving into a different culture brings to them something that they
can look forward to and adjust quickly.
Understanding and implementing the RAFT strategy can help educators and students
build a comfort zone when they are transitioning. Teachers can be more proactive in creating a
harmonious learning environment and students benefit from becoming culturally aware global
citizens. In the end this research aims to help the teacher and student relationship alike to be a
memorable journey that will have a positive impact on their life.

Action Research Objectives


Our research is aimed at understanding information gathered through surveying the
students and help create awareness to peer educators with information that they can use to help
students transition to ASB and also out of ASB. The information can be used as a knowledge
base to help educators understand how to deal with situations during transitions and be a good
mentor for students in their cultural journey.

Defining the Problem
Students who are leaving often go through fluctuating emotions that range from
reluctance to leave to anxious to be gone to excitement for the new stage. They can flip flop
between these extremes multiple times or feel a confusing mix of emotions all at one time.
Knowing that this is normal is helpful for them and for those around them. During the entering
stage its particularly important to understand that feeling sad, even depressed, is normal and
may last for 4-6 months before feeling settled in again.

The blues that hit during the entering stage come from everything being so strange and
different, as well as from sadness over obvious and hidden losses. There is so much to gain from
living as global nomads, but its important to acknowledge the inherent losses as well.
Researchers of Third Culture Kids (children who grow up in a different culture than their
parents culture) say that these children go through more loss by the age of 18 than most people
go through in their entire lives. Even our long-term students are impacted because they
experience the classmates and teachers who come and go every year.


After witnessing the emotions of students leaving last academic year, we conclude
through our learning that the RAFT model made perfect sense on how to guide them through
their onward journey. We however wanted to have more concrete data as to what actually goes
on in their minds at this stage. Since most students display different behavioural tendencies. We
wanted to create a platform, that will help us understand students better and aid them with a
smooth transition while also generating a better learning experience for us to deal with situations
in the future through better preparation.

Data Collection

Step 1 (Week1)
A sample size of 10 first grade students identified as transitioning kids were surveyed.
The survey consisted of questions that encompassed students understanding of what they felt
when they transitioned into the new culture. Earlier students who had been in a similar situation
were contacted to identify how their responses could be different from a post experience scenario
to a new experience scenario. Teachers were also interviewed to see how they dealt with the
students being interviewed and what their opinions were about it.

Step 2 (Week2)
Post any cultural or group classroom event, qualitative observation were done to see how
students reacted towards an awareness of settling into a new culture. If there were any changes in
their behavioral pattern, that information was gathered to observe and understand the reason. A


one to one brief chat with the student helped the adult to make better interventions for future use
or assist in using the RAFT model.

Step 3 (Week3)
Gather data and analyze it for further understanding. Data was then shared with the peers
at the grade level to assist in building a successful RAFT model. Identities were assigned on who
could share information with the parent in helping the child transition. Small cultural activities
that also helped in directing students to identify themselves with the foreign culture were held.
An initiative to sustain the emotion and bring out the positive aspect of coexisting was seen as an
intervention by the teacher when necessary. This helped celebrate as well as participate in the
emotional moments of the child.

Intervention/Innovation

Week One:
The students at this stage of intervention undergo a challenge of departing from their
current environment that is culturally a home for them. Since visuals appeal to children, as much
as any other informative media that is available, we will begin addressing the children by
showing visuals and information from their culture/traditional setting. This will help us identify
their connection they place with their culture. Along side this, reading books that are culturally
relevant to the students understanding would help in guiding them by providing information. An
environment like this would cause for students to display emotions and one of the objectives is to
help them in their transitional journey by providing a mentor. Doing so would help students


understand how we can successfully help them to be respectful of their friends, their
surroundings and how to cherish those memories so that they can demonstrate positive outcomes
when applied in the future. A questionnaire will help gather the data at this stage with any other
observations that will provide insights into the childrens life as it happens in the classroom.

Week Two:
Once observations are done, the teachers and mentors will meet to provide any
observations that could be used to fine tune the research and make sure that the mentors would
be well informed to take-on future decisions.

Week Three:
Analyse the data and create a report that will help teachers use this as a base line RAFT
model for future interventions. A formal report will help provide information for teachers to use
in further interventions when teachers need to deal with transitions.

The proposed intervention is to identify student engagement during the process of
transition. Their engagement will help us understand how they reflect and understand how the
transition will impact them when they come in to the new surrounding or depart from it. What
they need to have are four takeaways that the RAFT model also exemplifies. Reconciliation with
their peers; Affirmation of relationships with friends and people they trust that will help them be
remembered in the future; Farewells that will be cherished and; Transitions that need to be
handled well. This intervention will help educators bring them closer to understand how to deal
with transitions in a transient population. The information could be useful in building lesson


plans that are more culturally relevant. Educators could then use the RAFT model at times when
they need to provide evidence in dealing with situations that will help then make decisions
around student behaviors at the time of transition.

Membership of the Action Research Group (Stakeholders)
The stakeholders would be the classroom teachers, technology staff that would help in
providing support and are part of this action research group.

Negotiations and Communications to be Undertaken
As far as possible the communications will be held with the Counselor, other peers and
the parents.

Timeline
The intervention should occur over the course of 3 weeks.

Planning
Week One:
Design the questionnaire that will have relevant questions to aid the data collection.
a. Selectively analyze videos that will be culturally relevant to the students leaving from resources
that we have access to.
b. Identify behavioral traits in the students through observation.
c. Teachers interview students by completing the questionnaire that will capture students thoughts
through gathering information that will be relevant to the transitional phase. Being an emotional

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outcome, we will identify amongst the teachers who could be a mentor should the situation need
someone to be in that position.

Week Two:
a. Any observations that will take place will be a guiding path for the mentors and also be useful in
gathering additional data that will help in finalizing a report that is more accurate for future
understanding.

Week Three:
a. The report will serve as the basis for the RAFT model formalization. It will also help teachers to
smoothen the transition by focusing on creating a model that will enable students to have
positive experiences that will be valuable for their future.
b. The data can then be used by other educators to make sure that these transitional interventions do
not have a negative impact on the students educational journey as they transition to other
cultures as well. The final objective is to have the students be able to reflect on their past but not
have any bitter remembrances of it.

Resources
1. Discovery Education Videos, Safari Montage Video Library & Youtube where necessary.
2. Since we have access to reading resources through the virtual library at school we can use
resources that can help the stakeholder team gain any knowledge that will help with the research.
3. Google Docs will be used to collect the data, and analyze further.
4. A quiet space to take the interviews while gathering information through the questionnaire.

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5. Video the sessions or else audio recordings of the intervention
6. Meeting with the mentors to gather qualitative data that could be generated.

Data Collection
Source Data: Data collection will be qualitative, as we believe that the diversity of culture
cannot be simply captured with numerical data. It is best for the mentor or teacher to observe and
share any information that they will gather when they interact with the students. The data should
be collected close to the students entry or departure so that their awareness is well observed. The
questionnaire that will be used encompasses the information that we can use for mentors to
prepare themselves to understand student behavior. The premise can be during or after a
classroom lesson or after displaying the videos or reading in the classroom.

Analytical Report: This observational data will then be qualitatively reviewed by Glenda,
Nikhil and Savio to formulate our opinions and views that we get from the reflections shared by
student data collected via the questionnaire. This data will be reported in a formal way for
teachers and mentors to view and process and incorporate in their lesson plans or conversations
they have with parents and students.

Data Analysis and Interpretation
The observational data from the questionnaire indicates that the group of students
interviewed is at a very young and dependent age (6-7 years). Their dependency solely relies on
the people and surroundings they interact with on a daily basis, such as family members, friends
and teachers at school and their personal belongings. Their age and dependency does not really

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allow them to explore the country or city they live in and for this very reason their immediate
surroundings and people around them matter to them the most. Therefore this can be a deciding
factor for their emotional feelings while they transition to a new environment.

This year first grade teachers felt like their new students had transitioned to ASB
expectations and first grade routines relatively smoothly. They felt that the structures and
procedures in place to support new students transitions were effective. At the beginning of the
year they focus on building a classroom community through the Responsive Classroom approach
which is inclusive of all students. They used a lot of great multicultural literature during Read
Alouds to teach the themes of building community, finding commonalities and respecting
differences, feeling special and unique, discussing and identifying values and adjusting to school.
They also noted that the Counselor plays an important role in supporting new students by
providing grade level luncheons and 1:1 support for students who need additional support in
coping with transition.

First grade students entering the American School of Bombay, Mumbai, India felt a mix
of emotions, from excited, happy, scared, nervous to being confused in their new learning and
living environment. Most of them felt these mixed emotions in connection to their transition to
either a new school or new house. Some of them missed their nannies, toys, friends from their
previous schools while some of them were worried about doing well in Math or even felt happy
about the food at school. Not surprisingly, most of these experiences and concerns were related
to their school, whether from the past or in regard to their present school situation. Keeping these

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factors in mind we have included the following action plan to best support students needs as
they leave or transition to a new environment.

Action Plan
Based on the data, teachers and families need to work closely together to ensure each
child transitions comfortably. The Counselor plays a critical role in coordinating and planning a
smooth transition for students by connecting the school and family. One way to do this is
through a mentorship program such as an Ambassador Program. This program is an opportunity
for students to learn more about the natural process of change and how to manage transitions
effectively. The Counselor sends a letter to parents inviting students who have been at the school
for 2-3 years to serve as ambassadors to support departing and entering students at the end and
beginning of the year, respectfully. The student ambassadors are trained to support transitioning
students in their grade level and to share what they have learned with their classmates. One
recommendation is teachers need to follow up on this by encouraging and fostering opportunities
for ambassadors within their classrooms to share their knowledge and experience with new
students and returning peers.

Another effective transition strategy is at the end of the year the Counselor and teachers
work together to plan and implement lessons that teach about transition through the concept of
change. They use an adapted version of Pollacks RAFT model (Leaving Well/Staying Well:
Build a Raft) to teach this concept and differentiate the lessons according to the age level of the
students. Together, they teach students that its important to resolve any disputes or clear up any
misunderstandings with people before they leave or before a friend or teacher leaves.

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Reconciliation (Saying Sorry, Fixing Problems) - Even if they plan to never see this
person again, this process frees up emotional energy so that they are prepared to manage
the intensity of entering a new place and/or forming new relationships with friends and
teachers.
Affirmation (Saying Thank You, Appreciation) - They also teach them that its also
important to affirm or say thank you to those who have supported you, to say goodbye
properly and to research your next phase/place.
Farewell (Saying Goodbye and Celebrating) - Even for the students who are entering
the next grade level here at ASB, its important to close out the year well in order to start
with a clean slate for next year.
Think Next Steps (Staying Touch, Making New Friends) - They encourage the children
to think about goals for the new school year and how they want to prepare themselves for
meeting new challenges.

Departing and returning first grade students discuss and write a story about key changes
in their lives followed by letters to each other saying goodbye, thank you and their hopes for
each other as they transition to second grade in either a new school or at ASB. As a
recommendation, we feel that although this model has been used to address students transition
concerns at the end of the year, it would also be beneficial to use at the beginning of the school
year too. The Counselor holds parent coffee meetings to conduct workshops about transition,
specifically about the Ambassador Program and RAFT model.

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At this point of time, ASB has prototyped sections of this action plan and not consistently
across the school. Based on the research and findings from this paper it is necessary for all Third
Culture Kids transitioning to be supported in a school-wide system with structures and
procedures in place that are understood and consistently followed through. From our cohorts
action research in the area of TCKs, a recommendation would be to consolidate our groups
plans to create a school-wide system for successful transition as transitioning from one grade to
the next or from one school to another is always fraught with emotions at any age.

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Reference

Pollock, D. C. & Van Reken, R.E. (2009). Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among
Worlds. Nicholas Brealey Publishing: Boston, MA.

Action Research Raft Model Coping With Change The Journey of Transition

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