Activity 8, Week 32: Key Change in my Practice

Wow! 32 weeks of MindLab is coming to an end...

Again, using Rolfe et. al's (2001) model of reflection I will reflect on a key change I have made in my teaching practice since beginning my MindLab journey.

What?

Over the duration of the MindLab course, I have made significant changes to my 'Professional Learning;' a standard in the Ministry of Education's Standards for the Teaching Profession (n.d.). Descriptors for this Standard are outlined below. 

Ministry of Education (n.d., p.18).

So What? 

Stage 1

Before I began this MindLab course, I had little understanding of Teaching as Inquiry. I did reflect on my teaching practice but only on a very surface level. I did not see the purpose of inquiry as I now do. I saw it as a thing 'I had to do' and although I did change my practice as a result of inquiry, it was not as purposeful as it could have been. A change to deeper reflection, using literature, and an understanding of 'Spiral of Inquiry' needed to be made so that my teacher inquiry and therefore my teaching practice was informed by research and enhanced teaching and learning.

Stage 2

I was forced to critically reflect on my teaching practice during the course of MindLab, through formal blog reflections and discussions with colleagues during the first 16 weeks. In my teaching practice, I identified that I had become 'used to' the status quo. My classroom programme was becoming the same old, and in particular I had little understanding of Teaching as Inquiry. In carefully reflecting on what was going on, and delving into relevant literature through this course, I now have a deeper understanding of the teacher inquiry process at our school. As a Team Leader, I now have a bank of new learning in this area that I am beginning to support my team with as they carry out their teacher inquiries. 

Stage 3 

The collaborative nature of this course meant that my beliefs about teaching practice were questioned and feedback was given. New learning around the Spiral of Inquiry model (Timperley, Kaser & Halbert, 2014) for Teacher Inquiry changed my thoughts on the purpose of inquiry and allowed me to understand our school's new teacher inquiry framework. It was important that I critically evaluated the Teaching as Inquiry model in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) so I was able to understand how the Spiral of Inquiry model differed from what I was used to and allowed me to justify why we follow the Spiral of Inquiry model at our school. 

Stage 4 

This year, as a new Team Leader, I am now experimenting with the Spiral of Inquiry model to support teacher's understanding of our Team Inquiry and their Teacher Inquiries. I have presented the team with some of my new professional learning and in particular key questions to ask yourself at each stage of the model, so that they can seek clarity. Although we now know that we follow the Spiral of Inquiry Framework, we have never been presented with professional learning of the model. 

Now What?

Last year, with my Teaching Inquiry, I fell into a pit where I was lost in what inquiry was and how it supported teaching and learning. With professional learning, I have now come out the other side of the pit with a deeper understanding. My next steps are to make visible the Spiral of Inquiry Framework in Team Meetings and appraisal meetings with my team so that they are also developing deeper understandings of what Teaching as Inquiry is at our school and how it will impact on their teaching practice. 

References:

Ministry of Education (n.d.). Our code, our standards. Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards

Ministry of Education (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media Ltd.

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Timperley, H., Kaser, L. & Halbert, L. (2014). A framework for transforming learning in schools: Innovation and the spiral of inquiry. Melbourne, Australia: Centre for Strategic Education.

Activity 7, Week 31: Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness in My Practice

Using Rolfe et. al's (2001) model of reflection, I will reflect on these two contexts within my practice:

1. Learning Activities
2. Planning and Assessment

What?
Indigenous Knowledge can be defined as a culture's knowledge system, developed and upheld by them, not by colonisation. In the classroom setting, indigenous knowledge can be explored within culturally responsive pedagogy; "using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”(Gay, 2001, p.106). This statement resonates with me. I believe that the most effective teaching and learning happens when cultures are supported and strengths and skills of the students in the class are identified, understood and used to promote engagement and therefore, achievement (Richards, Brown & Forde, 2004).

So What?
Our primary school has been 'dipping into' learning activities that sit within the mauri oho state, where we are beginning to be pro-active in developing our cultural responsive pedagogy (Pohatu, 2011). Using tikanga concept of tuakana/teina we have begun buddy reading programmes and developed this into activities where younger children are supported by older in using digital technologies. Kapa Haka is a further learning activity that has been developed to include all children at our school and now we are beginning to address tikanga involved in Kapa Haka, using the skills and strengths of Ngai Tahu in our community.

There is still a way to walk before we are mauri ora and are actively engaged in cultural responsive pedagogy (Pohatu, 2011). Individual teachers drive these learning activities, rather than a whole school approach, although that is how it is intended in regards to Kapa Haka. This is because of those teachers' strengths and skills, rather than promoting those of the students and developing whole staff understandings.

Learning activities of course lie within planning and assessment. An area we are developing as we implement a new integrated inquiry framework. Currently, there is little to no aspect of culturally responsive pedagogy within this. We are in a mauri moe state where we are 'asleep' and focusing on a new planning and assessment format without drawing on our children's cultures and skills as we plan (Pohatu, 2011). A goal for our school is to integrate tikanga Maori within this framework, once we have our heads around new planning and assessment formats and how the inquiry framework works in the classroom.

Now What?
Goals for our school, moving towards culturally responsive pedagogy, would be to upskill our staff in what it means to be culturally responsive in teaching and learning and then begin to integrate this new learning meaningfully into our teaching practice. We are all at different stages of Pohatu's (2011) framework and need to develop a shared understanding of what culturally responsive pedagogy looks like at our school.

References:

Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116.

Pohatu, T. W. (2011). Mauri - Rethinking human wellbeing. MAI Review, 3, 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.review.mai.ac.nz/index.php/MR/article/viewFile/380/680

Richards, H. V., Brown, A. F., & Forde, T. B. (2006). Addressing diversity in schools: Culturally
responsive pedagogy (practitioner brief series). Tempe, AZ: National Center for Culturally
Responsive Educational Systems.

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., & Jasper, M. (2001).  Models of Critical Reflection' In Critical Reflection 

for Nursing and the Helping Professions. Basingstoke: Palgrave

Activity 6, Week 30: Contemporary Trend in New Zealand or Internationally

An international trend that captivates my attention is the accelerated rates in which technology is growing (National Intelligence Council, 2017). Hence, one reason why I enrolled in the MindLab Post Graduate Certificate. Using Rolfe et. al's (2001) model of reflection I will look deeper into the impacts of technology growth in the education sector.

What?
I use technology every day, both in my profession and personally. With respect to digital technology, the internet is everywhere now; it is easily accessible and transportable and I heavily rely on technology to get through my day and do my job. New and improved digital technologies are constantly emerging; where would I be without it? New technologies bring new opportunities (OECD, 2016) and empowers not only individuals but groups as well (National Intelligence Council, 2017).
In my teaching practice, I rarely use digital technologies. Instead I use them to plan, create and bring to life my lessons. The children in my class are not using digital technologies as we have a lack of tools at our school. But this is changing - how can I build my students' capacities to keep up with the acceleration of technology?

So What?
Research shows that since 2009, the number of activities that are being performed on the internet at once has increased by 16% (OECD, 2016). There has also been a substantial increase of people shopping online (OECD, 2016). This means across the world, people are using the internet to access a range of media at once and are using the internet to carry out daily tasks more and more. In particular, the acceleration of digital technologies means they way we communicate with others, our work practices and ultimately how we live is widening (National Intelligence Council, 2017).

Although there are many benefits of an acceleration in technology there are also risks. It poses security risks (National Intelligence Council, 2017) and therefore online safety risks for children in the classroom. There are risks around cyber bullying, increasing the social divide and the argument that digital technology is reducing face to face communication (OECD, 2016).
A challenge I face as a teacher is how do I equip my students with the skills to keep up with a rapidly changing world? How do we ensure we use digital technology to benefit our students' learning, rather than expose them to the risks it carries? Schools need clear policies and procedures to combat risks and teachers need to be upskilled in how to develop their students' 21st Century skills in order to keep up with the trend. This is something I am beginning to do as I use my learning from the MindLab course to guide teaching and learning in my classroom.

Now What? 
The New Zealand education sector is attempting to keep up with the trend of accelerating technology by adding Digital Technology as a key learning area to our New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2017). This is in draft form, but supports teachers to teach digital technology skills which will support students to keep up with this trend.
One limitation however, is that with an acceleration in technology is happening so fast that as teachers, we may not be able to keep up with the trend because of how fast it is moving. Learning how to use digital tools is not enough. We will need to understand the core skills students need and teach them to our tamariki.

References:

Ministry of Education. (2017). Draft for Consultation: Digital Technologies Hangarau Matihiko. Wellington, New Zealand: Learning Media Ltd. 

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

OECD (2016). Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. and Jasper, M. (2001). Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Activity 5, Week 29: Using social online networks in teaching or professional development

Where the pedagogy is successful, social

media can give learners reliable and interesting

content, as well as opportunities to access

expert advice, to encounter challenges, to

defend their views and to amend their ideas

in the face of criticism.

"Social media can bring learning to life by summoning up different times, spaces, characters , and possibilities" (Sharples, de Roock, Ferguson, Gaved, Herodotou, Koh, Kukulska-Hulme, Looi,C-K, McAndrew, Rienties, Weller, Wong, 2016, p.12).

Using Jay and Johnson's (2002) reflective model, I will explore using online social networks in teaching and professional development.

Step 1: Descriptive Stage

For me, I did not ever think about using social networking as a means in which to develop my teaching practice until I began this MindLab course. It had never crossed my mind. However, as I have delved into online networks through MindLab, my interest in how they are used in the classroom and professionally for me as a teacher has grown.

Retrieved from https://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/what-social-media

I have begun to harness these characteristics of social media in my teaching and professional development:

• Twitter - to access, share and discuss context related topics with peers in the education sector.
• Class Dojo - to share content and discussions with families of the children in my class. It is an accessible online platform in which parents, students and myself can access 24/7.
• Blogger - to share and discuss context specific ideas and learning with peers. 
• Online teacher resource sites such as Pinterest where teaching resources can be shared, reused and accessed by all 24/7.

Stage 2: Comparative Stage

Sharples et al. (2016) suggest that social networks in the classroom can increase "...creativity, collaboration, communication and sharing of resources" (p.12). This is reinforced by the New Zealand Education Council (n.d.) who explain that social media enhances communication between a range of people.

Therefore, social networking in the classroom would provide a means of teaching collaboration and communication skills (Sharples et al., 2016) to children in a relevant and meaningful way for them as 21st Century learners. However, with this comes implications.
A challenge is online safety and privacy for children. To combat this, schools need secure policies around children's safety and presence online and teachers need a clear understanding of these. Parents also need to be informed about what is happening in the classroom and the purposes for using online media networks to enhance teaching and learning. In a recent parent survey at our school, many parents were concerned with the use of digital technology and internet use for their children. This would help alleviate some of their concerns.

An challenge in using online networks for professional development is using it for a purpose. I have become 'lost' in using social networking sites for professional development as I have not thought about the benefits of using it (Education Council, 2012). I have perhaps become quite casual in how I use these social networks for professional development, not looking at reputable, theory based ideas (Melhuish, 2013).

Stage 3: Critical Reflection

I now see social networking as a useful tool in accessing professional development and supporting teaching and learning in my classroom. However, it is important that I do not fall into the 'trap' of using it for the sake of it, but rather continuing to look critically at the benefits of using social networking and being clear about the purpose for it. This will also allow for greater understandings by parents when these ideas are communicated with them. It will be something that will need to be carefully and systematically be brought into the school. 

References:

Education Council. (2012). Establishing safeguards.[video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49216520

Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on reflective practice. The Open University. 

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 04 May, 2015 from https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/8482

NZ Education Council. (n.d.). What is social media . Retrieved June 16, 2017 from https://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/what-social-media

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

Activity 4, Week 28: Influence of Law & Ethics in Practice

What:

Because I teach in a city very close to my home town and many parents of the school are similar to my age, I have mutual friends with parents on social media, especially Facebook. In this environment, it is no surprise that I have been presented with an online ethical dilemma. 

Is it ethical to interact or converse with students' parents via your personal Facebook page? I had an experience where a father of a child in my class found me and messaged me on Facebook to discuss a behaviour incident that had happened that day. The father worked early in the morning and late into the night and it was difficult for him to be contacted via the phone. When I received this, I immediately felt that my professional image as a teacher had been jeopardised as my personal online life could be accessed in my professional word (Connecticut's Teacher Eduction and Mentoring Program, 2012).

So What:

As teachers in New Zealand, we adhere to a Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession (Education Council, 2017). Like many occupations, we hold a trusted position in society (Education Council, 2017). I would want to be assured that my doctor upheld a set of professional values, just as I am sure the parents in my class would like me to as a teacher. 

I chose to use Hall's (2001) questions to guide me through a decision making process of the above ethical dilemma. 

• Main stakeholder's and their interests: parents and whānau, school senior management and teachers are all stakeholders in this situation. Their professional reputation within the community is effected.
• Restrictions to my actions: A component of our Code of Ethics is 'whanaungatanga;' that teachers need to form positive working relationships with whānau (Education Council, 2017). They state that teachers need to engage "in ethical and professional relationships with learners that respect professional boundaries" (Education Council, 2017, p.10). I do not believe that conversing with parents using a personal Facebook profile fits this statement. 
• Possible actions and implementation: A solution is to ensure that all staff using Facebook have strong security options for their personal profiles, restricting whānau and student access. This could be difficult to manage. Another would be that all online communication with whānau is through a school Facebook page controlled by senior management, or via school emails, and parents are made aware of this. There would need to be a system put in place for this to again avoid ethical dilemmas for the person controlling the page. A further option would be that the school developed a policy for teacher's use of personal social media accounts in their professional lives.

Now What:

In response to this incident, I did not respond to the father's message, consulted senior staff that it had happened, changed my Facebook privacy settings and as a result, phoned the father to discuss his son's behaviour incident. I did not discuss the dilemma of contacting me via Facebook but perhaps I should have offered other means of online contact such as my school email. 

Upon reflecting on the above questions, I believe the best solution would be a school policy where teacher's use of personal social media accounts are not to be used for interactions with whānau and school owned means of social media are to be used instead. Within this, there would also be a school protocol to follow should whānau use teacher's social media accounts as a point of contact.This would ensure that there is a shared understanding of what it means to be ethical via social media. In doing this, staff professionalism would be protected and in turn result in effective teaching practice for the staff at the school (Education Council, 2017). 

References:

Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program. (2012). Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educators: Facilitator’s Guide: Understanding the Code of Professional Responsibility for Educators. Connecticut, US: Author. Retrieved from https://www.ctteam.org/df/resources/Module5_Manual.pdf

Education Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards.Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf

Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. In IIPE Conference, Brisbane. 

Activity 3: Contribution of Teacher Inquiry Topics to my Communities of Practice

I am finding this a difficult concept to reflect on....perhaps because I know little about Communities of Practice and I've struggled with teacher inquiry this year - creating an inquiry that 'gets the most bang for buck,' but here are my thoughts...

Something that came up a lot in our recent parent surveys at school was the use of digital communication to involve parents in their child's education. This is something relevant at the moment, with programmes like 'seesaw' or 'dojo' and is something I would love to inquire into. Something like.... 'how do digital communication tools impact on parents' involvement in their child's learning?'

One 'issue' I have is my working relationships with whanau, especially as a New Entrant teacher. I ring parents, write notes to them or text them on our school phone, but never about their child's learning; always a message about behaviour or a reminder. We all know that positive home-school relationships and productive partnerships strengthen children's learning and success, especially for Maori (Ministry of Education, 2013). Is digital communication the more effective means? Will using digital communication tools to share children's learning enhance achievement?

Linked to is parents, staff and children's understandings of the use of digital technology as a tool for learning. Another inquiry... although I'm not sure how to word it. Also in our recent survey, many parents said they did not want nor see the need for children to use digital technology at primary school. This is a big issue for me as I become the lead teacher for digital technology next year. Do parents understand the purpose for digital technology? In a school with little digital tools and little use of what we do have, how do I support staff and families to see the importance of digital technology in learning as I have from this course?

As Sweeney (2015) discusses, we have set up Communities of Practice within our school this year, by setting up teaching teams of similar year levels, rather than syndicates. Each team has an inquiry (as well as individual inquiries that contribute the team inquiry). I think what is missing though is that we do not 'nurture the group' (Knox, 2009). I believe we still work on our own. Knox (2009) says that CoP is about what matters for the members, and ultimately for our children; that CoP need a sense of identity, which again is missing from our team.

Because these inquiry topics are coming from our community voice, I hope that by making time to work collaboratively with my team, and perhaps developing a team inquiry in these areas, we can create that identity and a shared domain of our practice (Wegner, 2000). With effective collaboration, this will benefit all (Sweeney, 2015). I have truely valued working collaboratively on the course thus far and have learned so much more I believe, than if I did it on my own. Sharing or leading my team in these inquiries will also support their knowledge and understanding of digital technology as a tool for learning.

References:

Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Ministry of Education. (2013). Ka Hikitia: Accelerating Success 2013-2017.  Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education.

Sweeney, R. (2015). Building collaborative Teaching as Inquiry teams using spiral of Inquiry. Retrieved from http://blog.core-ed.org/blog/2015/06/building-collaborative-teaching-as-inquiry-teams-using-spirals-of-inquiry.html

Wenger, E.(2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.

Activity 2: A Change in My Practice Towards Future-oriented Learning and Teaching

Change... 

This is something our school is currently undergoing; a change towards integrated curriculum through inquiry. This year I have been a part of a lead team of teachers who have been involved in PLD around integrated curriculum. We have begun supporting all staff in this change with the intention to roll out our framework next year. 

Thus, after looking at this week's reading I have chosen to reflect more deeply on...

Theme 3: a curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learning capacity

Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins (2012) talk about 21st Century skills as already happening, not a vision for our future. I tend to agree, but rather than 'already happening' I think they are present in our school, but not yet explicitly taught to prepare our young children for the unknown future. To me, key competencies are a direct link to developing learning capacity.

Currently at our school, we mostly teach content knowledge, especially in our 'Topic.' For example, what makes an insect an insect in our learning around insects in our Term 1 topic this year. Thinking and Managing Self are key competencies in our school curriculum, we plan for and attempt to teach key competencies but I believe in my teaching, I give more weighting to content. Why? How important is it that children know what makes an insect an insect? How does that support them in their future? 

There is a shift in our school's thinking around what is knowledge and the idea of explicitly teaching key competencies and dispositions or skills in our new inquiry framework alongside content. The ideas around 21st Century skills in Mind Lab, triggered deeper understandings for me about the relevance of key competencies and dispositions and their purpose or importance in teaching and learning. These ideas helped me to make sense of our new inquiry framework and planning template.

An example of our integrated inquiry planning template with content, key competencies and skills clearly defined - Trudy Francis C21 Learning Ltd, 2017.

Earlier in my teaching career at my current school, we underwent PLD around the use of key competencies in writing with the same facilitator taking our current PLD - Trudy Francis. This is a step in the direction of developing learning capacity. Instead of a focus on content in writing, I changed my practice to include ideas like persisting to edit writing or taking a risk to share writing and accept feedback. A lot of my writing 'content' was based on writing about persistence or risk taking and then applying it to the writing process. This was a huge shift in my practice towards future-oriented teaching and learning and the change in student voice, student participation and students seeing themselves as writers with a voice were huge! Not only did I see children begin to use the language of key competencies, but their success in writing increased too. I am unclear why this was... did children develop the skills that enabled them to become better writers? If so, when children's learning capacity is developed through skills or key competencies, they are more successful. 

We already have the knowledge and understanding of 21st century knowledge. It's there; it's a part of our talk, a part of some of our planning, a part of our professional development, and a part of our writing programmes but it's still hiding. It's not visible, children do not explicitly understand the skills/dispositions or how to use them. Coaching staff next year in this change is my chance to greater develop my understandings in developing children's learning capacities and also support staff to change their practice in doing this.

Bring it on!

Reference:
Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching — a New Zealand perspective. Report prepared for the Ministry of Educationve. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Francis, T. (2009). C21 Learning Ltd. Retrieved from http://www.c21learning.com/cms/page.php?view=home_page