Changes in my practice - Always Learning...

32 weeks ago I was sitting in this small room on Walker Street, the rain was pounding on the plastic roof making one hell of din, with five of my teaching colleagues and a number people I’d never met before. Herbert began to talk about Epistemology and Education using words I’d had never heard before, let alone know what they meant. What had I got myself into? Was it too late to pull out? How am I going to get through the next 31 weeks?

Thankfully I choose not to pull out. I am even more thankful I had completed with three awesome and supportive members of my year ⅚ team. After talking to them we found we were all in the same boat. It made me feel less like a moron and decided to embrace the challenge. I think the process has made us stronger as a team and has allowed us to put into practice some of the things we have learnt not only through the course content but our assignments.

The assignments were a juggle and the workload did become crazy, especially around report time, but looking back it was worth it. Working collaboratively with assignments allowed us to reflect and delve deeper into our practice and make changes within our classroom. Osterman & Kottkamp (1993) suggests that reflective practice is a means by which practitioners can develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of their performance. Which then creates, an awareness towards opportunities for professional growth and development.

Recently I was being a appraised my principal, who did the Mindlab course too. I looked at our focuses for this year in regards to the PTC’s and I began filling out the evidence, with Mindlab appearing frequently.  This led me to thinking about the two changes in my own research informed practice in relation to the Practising Teacher Criteria (PTC).

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

Mindlab has contributed to my ongoing professional learning and development. It has made me aware of literature that is available and number of trends in regards to the modern teaching practices. Prior to doing Mindlab I didn’t always know why we were teaching children this way, it was just what everyone else was doing. Mindlab has allowed me to understand the theory, research and evidence behind it all. This was highlighted in my lit review on games based learning. It made me really think about the purpose of a game and how I need to be selective when choosing games to help with children’s learning.

Criteria 12: Use critical inquiry and problem-solving effectively in their professional practice.

Mindlab allowed me to be familiar with the spiral of inquiry. Previously at school we had used the teacher as inquiry model. I personally prefered the teacher as inquiry model because it felt natural, it was about noticing things, using my intuition and developing a hunch. It is all the things we do as good teachers anyway. I also like it because it places the learner and their family at the centre of the inquiry. It gives us the opportunity to work collaboratively with our colleagues and other professionals and reevaluate our beliefs and practices in a safe and non-judgemental way. This was highlighted during the reflective portfolio on trying to increase student knowledge of sight words by engaging them through game-based learning, this in turn helping them to write independently.

My next professional development dream is to develop and refine my leadership skills.

This relates to:

Criteria 5: Show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning.

Learning about different leadership styles and theories was helpful in my role as a year ⅚ leader and E-leader. By learning about the different leadership styles I am learning to decide which style would be best suit for people I want to inspire. I am an early adopter when it comes to digital technology and collaborative practice in the classroom I need to understand and recognise people I am leading won’t always be passionate about it as me. They need to want to get on board rather than be forced on board.

So I am writing my final few sentences after 32 weeks. Am I glad I did this course? Bloody oath I am, especially with the new digital curriculum that was introduced this week. It has been hard! It’s been hard to get a home, study and work balance. But I have learnt a great deal and it has put me in good stead to prepare children to have skills to be 21st Century Learners.

References:

Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/

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.

Crossing Boundaries - The potential to grow

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).

When we bring professionals together Thomas (2011) says cross pollination happens. We work with each other to learn new ways of teaching and learning. To do this we need to have a shared language that allows us to communicate very well between disciplines (Thomas, 2011).

Below is a map which demonstrates my current and potential interdisciplinary professional connections.

Being school with a number children that are coming from poverty, we have a lot of connections from a range of outside agencies including Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki, Social Workers in Schools, Learning Support and RTLB. They ‘specialise’’ in their area. This is mainly around the area of student well being. We aim to work with them to problem solve for the better of the children we work with. The problem isn’t always solved and their way of doing it isn’t always successful but we have made that connection.

For me the biggest potential for interdisciplinary professional connections is with teachers and Leaders in our Linwood Community of Learners (Tamai). The MOE defines COL’s as groups of kura/schools that come together, along with their communities, to raise achievement for all tamariki and young people by sharing expertise in teaching and learning (ako), and supporting each other (Retrieved from MOE, Communities of Learning Guide for Schools and Kura)

The good thing with the COL is we tend to have similar children and whanau with similar backgrounds. The Tamai COL also includes the local secondary school which will support stronger transitions into, between, and out of primary.

Currently our Tamai COL is in the process of setting up. They have a appointed a lead principal and have currently got the achievement challenge being reviewed by the MOE in Wellington. They also have advertised and interviewed for cross school positions with only a small number of people applying for these positions. In order for the COL to be success the conceptional model for interdisciplinary collaboration needs to be in place (to the right) (retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration)

The three facets that are needed for the Tamai COL to be successful include workplace conditions, qualities/attitudes and common goals. The below (retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration) breaks the three areas into specifics.

.

When I come to critically thinking about the benefits and challenges of interdisciplinary practice in relation to the Tamai COL. I think a PMI is the best way to think about it. These aren’t just my thought but ones of colleagues and MOE.

A Community of Learning will work with the students, parents, families, whānau, iwi and other communities within its catchment, as the support and involvement of these groups is essential for the Community of Learning to progress towards its goals (Retrieved from MOE, Communities of Learning Guide for Schools and Kura) McDonagh (2011) suggests If we don’t come together incredible opportunities will be lost.

The COL and interdisciplinary collaboration has potential to improve teachers practice and outcome for tamariki. However, all the right conditions need to be put in place for it to be successful.

References

ACRLog. (2015). A Conceptual Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Retrieved from http://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration

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

MOE. (2017 July) Communities of Learning Guide for Schools and Kura. Retreived from https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Investing-in-Educational-Success/Communities-of-Schools/Communities-of-Learning-Guide-for-Schools-and-Kura-web-enabled.pdf  

ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA

Professional Online Social Networks, Effectively Communicating and Collaborating for the better of our Learners

Social network sites offered a way for, often geographically-separated, people to connect with and learn from others who were previously inaccessible cited Melhuish (2013). This sums up the way I use social media in a teaching context.

When I think about social media in my a teaching context I tend to look at it in two contexts. One being the way I use it to change and help my own teaching practice and secondly as a way to foster collaboration and communication in my classroom.

Social Media Helping My Teacher Practise

For me I am a member of number of social media outlets. For teaching context I use twitter, facebook, and this year started using google plus through my Mindlab studies.

I used twitter a lot during Ulearn 2016. By using simple hashtags I was able to get a quick understanding of people's thoughts during keynote speakers. Limiting characters allowed for the ‘good stuff’ to be shared. It also gave me twitter handles for influential people in education to follow on twitter.

The social network I use the most is the NZ Teachers (Primary) page on facebook. I believe it is so popular (27,692 members) because it wasn’t a stand alone online community that required teachers to log in, read and contribute. It was successful because most people already have a facebook account and because you could be on facebook for personal uses but have the ability to see through your personal newsfeed something that might be of interest on the NZ Teachers (Primary). For me the bonus is I have the ability to then share relevant articles and information with my teaching colleagues instantly through a team facebook messenger group.

When I first went on the page I was what Melhuish (2013) termed as, a lurker. I read people’s post, used and modified their resources, but didn’t contribute. As I become more comfortable with the format and gaining an understanding of how it was working, I began to contribute more and more. I particularly found this page helpful during my assignments as part of Mindlab and for assisting me with my teacher inquiries.

Melhish (2013) states social media network pages, can enable collaboration, connectivity, openness and information sharing, as well as providing platforms to generate new knowledge, co-ordinate resources and participation, and access diverse perspectives. The NZ Teachers (Primary) does this so well. Teachers from all over New Zealand contribute to help New Zealand Teachers and their practice.

However, Greenhow (2011), argues that social network sites can in fact be not so good and lack quality control,  have poorly thought through ideas, issues related to privacy, identity, message control and management of information overflow. As professionals we just need to make professional judgements on what we take or don’t take from social media.

Social Media to foster collaboration and communication in our classroom.

I also use social media in the classroom through a class blog, youtube and a twitter account.

The blog and youtube account provides an outlet for my class to share their learning and collaborate on a bigger scale. We also created a blog for sharing across three schools in our Linwood Cluster. We wrote a blog on it here: http://chched.blogspot.co.nz/2015/10/inter-school-collaboration.html

Social media can bring learning to life by summoning up different times, spaces, characters and possibilities (cited p12 Innovative Pedagogy report). This quote supports the way we use our class twitter account. It allows us to follow, contact, question, share what we been learning with a number of celebrities, MP’s and organisations instantly. Previously this would have been near impossible to have done before social media. Through twitter we had a visit from an Australian TV presenter after boys in my class contacted him through our twitter account. They were in the process of opening a fitness course they had designed and asked if he could open while he was in Christchurch. He turned up and helped open it, along with some Vodafone Warriors Players.

By having a class twitter account it allows us to not only allow children to share their learning to make their learning purposeful, but it teaches children the power of social media and how to use it safely and responsibly.

References

Greenhow, C. (2011). Online social networks and learning. On the Horizon,

19(1), 4–12. doi:10.1108/10748121111107663

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

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

Influence of Law and Ethics, the Physical World as well as the Cyber World

http://marketingland.com/library/channel/social-media-marketing 

Teachers are held in high regard. We are seen as role models and our actions both positive and negative,  in and out of school can have a big impact on both our students, their whanau, school community, and our colleagues. Additionally, with advances in technology and greater access to social media, the challenges educators are likely to encounter have increased in recent years (Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educator: Facilitator’s Guide)

I think it would be safe to say that most people including teachers have a facebook account and/or other social media accounts. Our profiles are becoming easier to find through google searches.

Stafford explains humans have a deeply curious nature and we love to know the answers to things, even if there's no obvious benefit.  This is even more true with the online world and social media. We are all guilty of ‘facebook stalking’, searching a person's name and looking through their profile to learn more about them. Sounds creepy but I know all people reading this have done it at least once! If we as teachers are doing this you can guarantee the parents of children in our class or school are doing the same. So as teachers we need to be aware that our online posts through social media can cause ethical dilemmas.

The Draft Code Of Ethics for Certified Teachers put out by the NZ Teachers Council states, we as teachers will maintain public trust and confidence in the teaching profession by:

Retrieved from: https://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/

• Demonstrating a high standard of professional and personal behaviour
• Engaging in professional, respectful and collaborative relationships.. 
• Engaging in relationships with them (parents/caregivers/whanau) that are professional and respectful

Examples of not doing this include:

• Communicating to or about colleagues in a disrespectful, aggressive or inappropriate manner (including on social media) 
• Disclosing personal information about them (parents/caregivers/whanau) in public places or on social media
• Sharing inappropriate information on social media. 

By doing any of the above can have a number of consequences for the teachers including: disciplinary action, loss of teacher registration and/or job loss.

Hall 2001 recommends a number of things to ask yourself  before deciding what you ought to do when confronted with an ethical problem.This can be applied to social media context.

1. What is the problem?
2. Who are the main stakeholders with interests in the problem, and what are their interests? 
3. Which stakeholder should be given priority? Why?.
4. What restrictions are there to your actions?  
5. Which courses of action are possible?
6. Can you identify precedent cases that are similar to this one?
7. Which courses of action are least acceptable? Why?
8. Which course of action will you follow? Why? 
9. How should the course of action be implemented? 

Recently we did a lesson on cyber safety in our class. We posted a sign on our school facebook page saying ‘Our year ⅚ is doing a lesson on how a photo can travel on the internet, please like and share’. The sign went viral! While it showed our children how a photo can go viral with over a million views and 12,000 comments; it reminded us  as teachers to constantly check our facebook profile is secure. An email come to our principal via the USA saying we needed to practice what we preach. It stated personal information on not only our principal but all teachers in our year ⅚ team. It made us realise our facebook account wasn’t as secure as we thought it was. While there weren’t any inappropriate photos or comments it still gave a us a nasty fright.

Social media can be great but we do need to be careful about what we post, what can be seen, and who has access to it. Teaching is a small world and the consequences using social media inappropriately could have serious ramifications.

References:

Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program.(2012) Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educator: Facilitator’s Guide. Retrieved from http://www.ctteam.org/df/resources/Module5_Manual.pdf

Education Council. (n.d). The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards.pdf

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

Stafford, T (2012)/ Why we are Curious. Retreived from: http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120618-why-are-we-so-curious

Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

Gay (2010) defines culturally responsive pedagogy as teaching ‘to and through [students’] personal and cultural strengths, their intellectual capabilities, and their prior accomplishments’ (p. 26) and as premised on ‘close interactions among ethnic identity, cultural background, and student achievement’ (p. 27). 

Bishop raised the disparities that exist between the indigenous Maori and New Zealand Europeans. He explains that it is a common trend amongst indigenous cultures globally and impacts countries economically, socially and politically. He also suggests that there is a common theory that Maori are underachieving because it's their fault or it’s genetic, which is absolutely not the case. Maori are an educable group of people.


So it is important as educators we show cultural responsive pedagogy in order for not only Maori succeed in education and life but all cultural groups within our school. Bishop suggests that teachers who who have agency, have high expectations, provide feedback/feed forward, reject deficit thinking, understand themselves and create a learning context where young Maori can bring their own understanding to learning conversations. Ladson-Billings, G. (1994) like Bishop have seven key aspects to culturally responsive teaching that are very closely aligned. They include:

1. Positive perspectives on parents and families
2. Communication of high expectations
3. Learning within the context of culture
4. Student-centered instruction
5. Culturally mediated instruction
6. Reshaping the curriculum
7. Teacher as facilitator

When we have that level of engagement by Maori learners it can bring improved attendance, achievement, engagement and further engagement (Bishop, 2012). Teachers aren’t enough, they require support from within the school, in time and energy and professional development. Saying that, the video ‘Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy’ suggests teachers do need to consider that students are not mere representatives of a cultural ethnic group and first and foremost they’re individual students who have individual needs and interests. 

The school I am from a school is very culturally diverse with 27% of children identifying themselves as Maori, 22% Pacific, 9% Asian, Pākehā 40% and other cultures 2 %.

The vision and valued outcomes defined by our school for all children are to 'achieve success through learning’ and demonstrate respect, resilience, curiosity and caring. Our school encourages children to aim high, persevere and succeed, while making a positive contribution to the world. Children also develop the attributes of a ‘Linwood Learner’ which include being self managers, actively involved and learning together (ERO, 2016). We do this through:

• Maori Language Extension
• Kapa Haka Groups and Beginner Kapa Haka groups
• Regular opportunities to perform in our community
  
• Whole school Maori Waiata 
• Samoan Language and Culture Groups
• Fijian Indian Dance Group
• Cultural Day 
• Celebration of Achievement Nights (Share Pacific and Maori Data)
• Management Unit for Maori/Pacific and another for ESOL
• Whole school celebrations
• Deliberate choice of curriculum that reflects that school community

As well as that, as a school we build strong relationships with children/whanau, provide a safe environment for learning, we have high expectations, and don't allow deficit thinking into our teaching.

ERO review 2016 accurately states, that teachers value the language, culture and identity of Māori children. Teachers are actively building their own understanding of culturally responsive practices and providing increased opportunities for Māori children to participate in, and learn about their culture. Leaders and teachers use learning information very effectively to remove barriers to learning, meet diverse needs and promote children’s wellbeing, progress and achievement.

Our ERO report from 2016 review sums up how Maori and other ethnicities are achieving due to the culturally responsive pedagogy running through Linwood Ave School.  It states: 

• Many Māori children are achieving at or above their school peers. Pacific children are doing well in literacy with slightly lower levels of achievement in mathematics. 
• The school effectively responds to Māori children whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Leaders and teachers have very high expectations that Māori, and all children, will achieve. School data shows three quarters of those who were below the National Standards in mathematics and writing accelerated their progress during the first half of 2016.
• School structures such as `houses’ and `buddy classes’ are designed to support students to make connections across the school. Tuakana Teina, older children helping younger ones, contributes to their sense of belonging within the school.

Me and My school survey completed by Year 4-6 children in 2016 stated that 90% felt their culture was valued and respected by the school. This leads into the area of improvement for our school. We need to focus on the 3% that strongly disagreed and the 7% that disagreed with this statement. What made them feel this way? What was the dominant group that felt this way? How can we make their culture feel valued and respected? 

It's important we don't lose what has been achieved over the past few years. But build on, to make things better for all learners from different backgrounds.


References:

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.

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

Linwood Avenue School ERO Report (23 August, 2016).Retrieved from http://www.ero.govt.nz/review-reports/linwood-avenue-school-23-08-2016/

Savage,C, Hindleb, R., Meyerc,L., Hyndsa,A., Penetitob, W. & Sleeterd, C.(2011) Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student experiences across the curriculum .Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 183–198: (Available to download from Unitec Library)

Teaching Tolerance.( 2010, Jun 17). Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTVjJuRaZ8

Trend influencing education in New Zealand or internationally - The digital divide...

Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. suggests one of the major trends is that technology is accelerating progress but causing discontinuities. It also suggests that the divide between the ones who embrace the technological advancements and benefit from the advancements and those who not is getting wider.

A digital divide according to a Standford University refers to ones access to computers and the internet. They explain that American's access to computers and the internet increases rapidly every year, but the divide also continues to even more. A number of factors contribute to this which include: age, education, income and race.

But why does it matter if children or people aren't picking up devices or aren't familiar with

them. Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US.  states

'ICT are poised to transform a widening array of work practices and the way people live and communicate'. The reality is like it or not computers, internet and being digital are part of our everyday lives now and in the future. Technological advancements have increased rapidly over the past few years and this is even going to get quicker and more advanced.

So how is this going to impact education? As educators with have a obligation to teach child the necessary skills in order to survive in the digital world to prevent the widening gap. This means keeping up to date with the latest technologies and integrating them into our curriculum on a daily basis. The MOE acknowledges this too and have created a draft vision for a classroom for the year 2025. Lifelong Learners in a Connected World states that education in 2025 will be 'highly connected, interdependent education system that equips students with the skills for the future, fosters students’ identity, language and culture, and prepares students to participate as successful citizens in the 21st century.' Technology will a driving force though this.

So what problems do see?

There are a number of problems or obstacles that prevent integrating digital technologies into a classroom programme and it comes back to the digital divide. 

1. Age and Education - A number of people on staff are great teachers, they have done a great job for many years. However, they find it difficult to understand or get to grips with technology and become reluctant to use it in class. Applications and operating systems are always updating and changing, many older teachers or teachers with little or no experience with digital technologies get frustrated by that and again become reluctant to use in the classroom. Age isn't always a problem as their are a number of 'older' teachers who embrace digital technologies and use it well in the classroom.
2. Income  - Resourcing and funding for such digital technologies can be an be an expensive game especially which it isn't a priority in a school. It can become a cost burden on families who already have big expenses associated with schools (uniform/trips). 

So what has my school done to help our children with digital technologies and prepare for a digital world.

• Provide education programmes on keeping children safe using digital technologies
• Seek funding to pay for Chromebooks for all year 5/6 children to use at school
• Provide a number of Ipads for each class
• Allowing a healthy budget for digital technologies
• Professional development on using digital technologies in the class (often 1:1)
• E-leaders who can help with an problems

These aren't always perfect solutions, but they are a step in the right direction to prepare our teachers and then prepare our children for the digital world and prevent a widening digital divide.

References

KPMG Australia. (2014, May 22). Future State 2030 - Global Megatrends.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im5SwtapHl8

MOE (2015) Retrieved from https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Initiatives/Lifelonglearners.pdf 

National Intelligence Council. (2017). Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved from https://www.dni.gov/files/images/globalTrends/documents/GT-Main-Report.pdf

Digital divide. Stanford Retrieved fromhttp://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/1999-00/digital-divide/start.html