Week 32: Reflective Practice and Changes in Practice

Reflective practice as defined by Osterman & Kottkamp (1993) is a “means by which practitioners can develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their performance, an awareness that creates opportunities for professional growth and development.”

When I reflect on my journey with Mindlab this year I have mixed emotions. I was never one for study and found it difficult to manage my time effectively to get the results I wanted. After walking in for the first session I looked around the room and found myself amongst experienced teachers, some of which taught me at college. The best part of this journey was the support from our Mindlab Taupo group and having the ability to bounce ideas off the other three teachers from my school who decided to give Mindlab a crack as well. I soon got into the swing of things and found myself reflecting on my teaching and how I can refine my practice to meet the needs of my students.

The Practicing Teaching Criterion I endeavour to reflect on is criteria 4 & 7.

Criteria 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice

Mindlab has reignited my motivation to continue to be a life-long learner – something I believe as teachers are extremely important. Being involved with other educators within Taupo has set up effective communication where we can continue to support each other in our teaching journeys. Social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ will allow me to keep up to date with relevant teaching strategies and practice. I look forward to continuing to extend myself professionally and taking on exciting and challenging opportunities should they present themselves in the future.  

Criteria 7: Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment

It is important for students to develop effective teacher/student relationships to be able to make learning gains within the classroom. Using the 21st-century skills and the growth mindset vs. fixed mindset ideas have helped me develop my classroom programme to create more effective learners. Also learning that collaboration is more about sharing has been huge learning for me as an educator.

Next dream

I want to continue to work on myself as a leader within my school. I want to challenge myself and take on opportunities that will allow me to engage in further learning. I want to support others with their challenges and inspire my students to be motivated in their learning. Further study has always been something I have looked at doing so who knows I could be a sucker for more punishment yet.

References

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files/RefPract/Osterman_Kottkamp_extract.pdf

Week 31: Interdisciplinary Collaboration

“Interdisciplinary teaching differs from discipline- and field-based teaching in that it does not necessarily carve out spaces for each individual subject area, and instead, connects content and consciously identifies the relationships between these subjects.” (Coffey, n.d). Whilst creating this interdisciplinary connection map it became extremely apparent that teachers use a range of sources, people and expertise to help students learn. The term ‘It takes a village to bring up a child’ comes to mind when reflecting on what I have outlined on my map.

A focus point for interdisciplinary connections I have seen as an area to be improved on would be the connections between year levels and technologies. More collaboration on programmes is necessary to create 21st-century learners and problem solvers. It is important to create a school curriculum based on the ideas that are fresh and relevant each year to engage our students. Including the technology teachers into our programmes will make the learning experiences real-life and personalized. As Andrews (1990) defines interdisciplinary collaboration as occurring "when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organizational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose" (cited in Berg-Weger &. Schneider, 1998).

How would we do this?

Our staff would need to meet to formulate the planning, decision making and goal setting for the overall curriculum. From here there would need to be by in from all staff members involved to make sure this idea functions effectively. Teachers would meet weekly to track how the programme is going. Student voice collection would also be helpful to formulate next steps and further planning. Constant teacher reflection is a must. The idea is for our students to get the most from their learning over core curriculum areas in an engaging and motivating way.

Why is this important?

It encourages our students to take an invested interested in their learning. It also gives them opportunities to investigate personal interests. Students can show their strengths and can communicate their findings to small or large groups of people. Allowing for goal setting and monitoring these as they progress through their chosen idea.

As the Ministry of Education (2007) states we must create students “who will be confident, connected, actively involved, and lifelong learners.” Integrating an interdisciplinary way of teaching into our classroom programme is the way of the future.

References

Berg-Weger, M., &. Schneider, F. D. (1998). Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 34, 97-107.

Coffey, H. (n.d). Interdisciplinary Teaching. Retrieved from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/5196

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum

Week 30: Social Media in Teaching and Professional Development

 “Social media make it possible to involve and draw on the experience of people around the world.” (Sharples et al., 2016)

Social Media in the Classroom

My use of social media varies from personal to professional use. I use Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram for personal use. This is mainly to keep up to date and communicate with friends and family who live all over the world. Professionally, I use Facebook, Twitter and the education app Seesaw in my classroom. These are used for professional development, sharing of resources and communicating with parents on classroom tasks, just to name a few.

The benefits to using social media in the classroom include giving the students the opportunity to engage in discussions and collaborate outside of the classroom walls. They feel empowered when others from outside their ‘communities’ take interest in what they are doing and learning. As Abe & Jordan (2013) state “The use of social media encourages students to interact with one another and may increase engagement and interest in the course content.”

The challenges we face with the use of social media in the classroom are teaching our students the difference between factual and false information. Giving the students the power to form their own opinions on issues rather than following that of others. Spending too much time communicating via a digital device and not maintaining conversational skills they may need in the future. Social media can also form a distraction for some students from other areas of academic needs. Teacher knowledge of specific social media is also a challenge. Altenbach (2016) talks about teaching being an evolving career and that responsibility lies with the teachers to make themselves more knowledgeable when it comes to technology and the strategies that come with it.

Social Media in Professional Development

The use of social media for professional development has developed throughout my Mindlab journey. As a ‘new’ teacher to the profession, it is often seen more beneficial to observe and watch those teachers around you to gain some insight and ideas around teaching pedagogy. However, throughout this course, I have found Twitter to be an awesome place of learning especially making connections with Edutopia and Mindshift. These twitter accounts post education-related articles etc. regularly and although they are short reads, you gain valuable information about teaching practice from them.

The challenges that have arisen from the use of social media is the time taken engaging in twitter feeds. As stated above it can become a form of distraction to areas of the profession that value your time more. Although it is learning, it is extremely important to manage the time spent reading and engaging in social media.

Social media has a place in the New Zealand education however, it is important to keep a balance between digital and physical.

References

Abe, P. & Jordan, N. A. (2013). Integrating Social Media Into the Classroom Curriculum. About Campus, 18: 16–20.

Altenbach, C. (2016). Social Media in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1665&context=ehd_theses

Sharples, M., de Roock, R., Ferguson, R., Gaved, M., Herodotou, C., Koh, E., Kukulska-Hulme, A., Looi, C-K, McAndrew, P., Rienties, B., Weller, M., Wong, L. H. (2016). Innovating Pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation Report 5. Milton Keynes: The Open University. Retrieved from http://proxima.iet.open.ac.uk/public/innovating_pedagogy_2016.pdf

Week 29: Influence of Law and Ethics

Figure 1. Social media map infographic. (Education Council, n.d.)

A potential ethical dilemma that could take place within the teaching practice is the use of social networking sites. As social networking has become a way of life it is easy for people to share with the world what is happening on a day to day basis in their life. It is extremely important that as a figure in the public eye we monitor what we are putting, liking, sharing on our social networking sites. Along with these, we need to be mindful of those we are including in our space.

Although, I have thankfully never had an issue involving my career with the use of a social networking site. I would imagine there would be many issues amongst the teaching profession should teachers not take the right steps to protect themselves. I know of teachers who happily add ex-pupils and whanau to their personal accounts and others who keep their accounts private. This, of course, is a personal choice and one that teachers shouldn’t take lightly.

The Code of Professional Responsibility has been created to “set out the high standards of ethical behaviour expected of all members of the teaching profession. To provide learners, their families and whanau, their communities and the public with trust and confidence in teachers and the profession. To honour teaching as a profession of high trust and integrity.” (Education Council, 2017) It is important for teachers to reflect on the idea stated above when making decisions over what they do terms of their behaviour physically and digitally.  The value that reflects this idea also relates to our professional code, that value is ‘Pono.’ This means to act in ways that show fairness, honesty and integrity whilst also being ethical.

Hall (2001) has outlined a range of strategies and leading questions to follow when dealing with ethical dilemmas from identifying stakeholders to what courses of action may need to be taken. It is important for schools to outline a step by step process for dealing with these.  

It is important to remember that as teachers we consider role models in our communities and just by our title we need to be careful what we involve ourselves in especially online. I take my role as a teacher extremely seriously and are constantly reflect on my actions and how they may affect my career. As expressed by Allan (2008) teachers work publicly rather than privately and are required to be accountable for their actions to the public.

References

Education Council. (n.d). The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards

Education Council. (n.d). Social media map infographic. Retrieved from https://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/

Hall, A. (2008). Professional Responsibility and Teacher Ethics. In C. McGee & D. Frasers. The Professional Practice of Teaching. (3^rd ed., pp. 221-244)

Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Paper presented at the IIPE Conference, Brisbane. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Developing-leaders/What-Ought-I-to-Do-All-Things-Considered-An-Approach-to-the-Exploration-of-Ethical-Problems-by-Teachers

Week 28: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

Lynch (2012) states that “culturally responsive pedagogy is a student-centred approach to teaching in which the students’ unique cultural strengths are identified and nurtured to promote student achievement and a sense of well-being about the student’s cultural place in the world.” This also links to Ladson-Billings (1994) ideas as they refer to culturally responsive teaching as a pedagogy that understands the importance of including students' cultural positions in all aspects of their own learning. They also list some characteristics that should be shown in culturally responsive teaching. These include positive perspectives on parents and families, communication of high expectations and student-centred instruction. Only being in the professional six years I have found my cultural responsiveness has developed through experience and being exposed to a range of situations. As with any experience and situation, there is always learning to be had.

One area of cultural responsiveness I feel our teaching staff work well in is having the relationships with our students and whanau. Many of us commit to coaching or managing a sports teams. This gives the teachers the opportunity to form relationships with those students not necessarily in their classroom and gives the students the opportunity to form a relationship with a teacher in the school that they can trust and have meaningful discussions with should they need to. As Cowie, Otrel-Cass, Glynn and Kara (2011) state “Teachers need to be seen out in the community by the students and families. A person who is visible in the community is more likely to be respected as having a commitment to, or investment in, the community (he kanohi kitea).” The school has an ‘open door’ policy where parents are welcome to take an active role in our school community. They are also encouraged to come along to sporting, cultural and academic events that the school takes part in.

Another area our cultural responsiveness that has been an area of focus for our school is creating a curriculum and resources reflective of the diverse cultural needs we have in our school. As we have a prominent number of Maori students we have worked on including Te Reo Maori as weekly competitions. This also gives our Maori students the opportunity to feel empowered and teach others their language, heritage and culture. As reflected in Cowie et al. (2011) “for many students from Maori and Pasifika backgrounds, teaching other students younger or less skilled than themselves offers a culturally authentic opportunity to show and share what they have learnt.” We also include a whole week learning a different language each day which involved various quizzes, activities, competitions and a dress-up day.

“Genuine, productive relationships among teachers and their Māori students, whānau, iwi and wider communities are vital foundations for effective teaching and learning.” (Ministry of Education, 2011)

Figure 1. Tataiako Competencies. (Ministry of Education, 2011, p.3)

References

Cowie, B., Otrel-Cass, K., Glynn, T., & Kara, H., et al. (2011). Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki. Wellington: Teaching Learning Research Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.tlri.org.nz/sites/default/files/projects/9268_cowie-summaryreport.pdf

Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishing Co.

Lynch, M. (2012). What Is Culturally Responsive Pedagogy?. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-lynch-edd/culturally-responsive-pedagogy_b_1147364.html

Ministry of Education. (2011). Tataiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners. Ministry of Education. Wellington.

Week 27: Contemporary Trends

'Trend' as stated in the week 27 webinar notes is a term which refers to the statistically observable change or general orientation of a general movement (Visser & Gagnon, 2005). The trend I have chosen to look at due to its relevance to my current teaching practice is 'Technology advancements and risks.'

Analyse the trend

"New technologies have change the way we communicate, work and even socialise." (OECD, 2016) With the advancements in technologies happening on a day to day basis we must prepare our students for a world that we potentially have no idea what will look like in the next ten years. A scary thought. Giving our students access to these technologies is extremely important for their growth as 21st century learners however, with this growth comes risk. The biggest risks involving our students at this stage are cyber-attacks mainly, cyber bullying.  Students see these technologies as a part of their daily routine. As stated in the article written by the OECD (2016) is discusses the number of Facebook and YouTube users being over a billion with 1 billion Facebook users access information in a single day.

How does this trend link to my practice?

Three years ago, my school implemented in one-to-one laptop programme. Along with this innovation came many hours of preparing our staff for setting up adequate programmes that would set up our students to become effective 'digital citizens.' OECD (2016) states “As adolescents and children are the most frequent users of online services and social networks, schools and teachers are increasingly faced with the challenges of educating and guiding students through the advantages and disadvantages of the virtual world.” This programme included cyber-bullying, password protection and online predators - just to name a few. These areas are an active part of our school programme. As new apps/programmes/social media become available it is important to keep our program up to date to meet the needs of our students. This trend also fits in well with our age group as they begin to feel the pressures from their peers to conform to the norms of today.

As teachers it is paramount we teach the students of today how to be effective cyber citizens. We cannot shy away from this issue anymore.

Figure 1. Trends Shaping Education 2016. (OECD, 2016, p.99)

References

OECD. (2016). Trends Shaping Education 2016. OECD Publishing, Paris.

Visser, L., & Gagnon, K. (2005). Defining “Trends” and “Issues” in Distance Education. Conversation with Donald Paul Ely Y.     Visser, L. Visser, M. Simonson & R. Amirault (Eds. de la serie), Trends and Issues in Distance Education. International Perspectives, pp.83-89

Week 26: Current issues in my professional context

Taupo Intermediate School has a decile rating of 6. Our ethnicity makeup includes Pākehā 55%, Māori 35%, Pacific 2%, Other European 3%, Asian 2%, South East Asian 2% and Other 1%. Being the only intermediate school in Taupo we have a large cohort of students from contributing schools from urban and rural regions. Our major contributors include Tauhara Primary, Waipahihi Primary, Taupo Primary and Wairakei Primary with students coming from a range of other schools. This, I believe, has a strong effect on our decile rating as we have such a diverse range of students from different cultural backgrounds. Our school has a willingness to give to those from these diverse backgrounds by providing food, health care through a Nurse, counselling through REAL, financial support for camps and trips along with positive role models and relationships with the teachers that teach them on a day to day basis. 

The professional environment in our school has gone through a series of changes in staffing this year. This has changed the climate and culture within our professional environment.  As stated in my previous blog we have embarked on a digital learning - in our third year of implementing a one-to-one laptop programme in our school. This required staff to up skill on their digital knowledge and be effective learners themselves. 

Although many of the staff believe this showed collaboration of our staff, after reading the article by Stoll (1998), Hargreaves (1994) has outlined teaching cultures we have within our school. Hargreaves (1994) talks about Contrived Collegiality - this is where teachers’ have collaborative working relationships, however, these are compulsory imposed with fixed times for collaboration such as planning meetings. On reflection, our school has a compulsory staff meeting followed by a team meeting generally going over what has been discussed at the meeting. It also may cover administration type tasks. Time for staff to use these meetings for resourceful engagement in meaningful professional development would be beneficial. The other culture which has become more prevalent this year is Balkanisation - this is where "teachers are neither isolated nor work as a whole school. Smaller collaborative groups form, for example within secondary school departments, between infant and junior teachers, and class teachers and resource support teachers." Due to the business of our staff, we tend to communicate with those within our teams and others who teach the way we do rather than working effectively and consistently as a staff. Although, this may seem to limit the amount of work done, in my opinion, creates more work especially for those who take on leadership positions in that group environment. It also creates a less diversity in our teaching.  Although, these areas outlined here are areas we are working on improving and I believe we have made positive steps to better the culture within our school. 

I enjoyed reading the 'Norms of Improving Schools' (Stoll & Fink, 1996) as I think these are ten easy steps schools can take to improve the culture currently in place in the school. This would also require strong leadership that can drive these norms and a staff that can all work together to a common goal. The steps we as a school need to work on are - collegiality, risk-taking, support, mutual respect, openness and celebration and humour. 

There is a need for positive areas of growth in all schools. As Stoll (1998) states "Real improvement cannot come from anywhere other than within schools themselves, and “within” is a complex web of values and beliefs, norms, social and power relationships and emotions."

References
Hargreaves, A. (1994). Changing teachers, changing times: Teachers’ work and culture in the postmodern age. London: Cassell

Stoll, L., & Fink, D. (1996). Changing our schools: Linking school effectiveness and school improvement. Buckingham: Open University Press

Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture