PRACTICE - Key change in Reflective Practice

Kimihia te matauranga - Seek knowledge

The journey of learning should never end. That is what we sell to our students and expect them to push themselves to be better and grow. Mindlab afforded me the opportunity to learn and grow in my own practice and self. Initially I thought I would come away with ICT tools to better my delivery in class but found much more. Reflecting and leading have become major growth elements of my journey and I am thankful for the tools that Mindlab has provided. When buttoning down on a specific improvement for this final reflection there were many changes to my practice and pedagogy so this in itself was a challenge.

Activity 8: Key change in my professional practice

Step 1 (What): Identify one key change in your professional practice

• Learning-focused culture - Develop a culture that is focused on learning, and is characterised by respect, inclusion, empathy, collaboration and safety. 

Collaboration - identified in the code of standards and the Hack Education Research Project (2016) as a tool that children will need in the future and, I have found, is transferable to all curriculum areas. This ability to work together was a challenge for the pupils in my class who are at a very egocentric stage of life. They have challenges arising form the Canterbury earthquakes that are varying in their extent. 

With the collaborative process I have identified and used many tools that support implementation in the class. The act of collaboration has seen the rise of tuakana teina relationships between the students. Strengths possessed by individuals are shared and repaid in kind. Children were initially challenged identifying these skills but showed they found value in focusing on strengths and finding peers to support challenges.

Step 2 (Now what): Evaluate the identified change

Problem Identification

Children performing below national standards were targetted by the teacher. Time and perception of the pupils but dampers on their progress and they seemed to come up in every cycle with similar problems. This raises the question if doing what you've always done will give you what you've always got or what is the reality. Osterman and Kottkamp (2015) suggest reasons for a change in practice, and would a change work. I felt the need to change for the benefit of these pupils without hampering others who were succeeding by stealing time or resource.


Observation and analysis

Use of previous and current assessment supported my assumption of these children continuing to struggle, these included PAT testing, STAR tests, running records, GloSS and e-asTTle. Having previously taught these children also gave credence to my anecdotal notes and observations. This prior knowledge of the learners gave me good insights into the strengths that could be shared amongst the group.

Abstract re conceptualization

Set up in a number of ways in the class through curriculum  I will focus specifically on changes made in math program. The outcomes I hoped for may not have measured across all students as successful. We need to consider interventions trailed previously and build on these or disregard depending on success.
The target children had taken part in a Maths intervention based around acceleration (ALiM). These pupils were able to express what they were learning and question when they didn't understand and became a good base for focus and model for feedback to the class. They were sought after buddies although they didn't always understand new concepts they displayed a positive attitude and 'had a go'.

Active experimentation

I chose to work with a neighbouring teacher. We grouped both classes, focusing on a multilevel approach. The children identified individual strengths in Math at the initial stage. The delivery was pitched at the higher end of strategy and knowledge. Time was set in the session for peer discussion and collaboration. Children were encouraged to support and look for support where needed. 

A positive off side to this was freeing up of teacher to target those children who may be challenged by the freedom this agency provided. Supporting these children to stay on task and come up with educated theory relating to problems was pleasing.

The cycle with the neighbour teacher involved a 2 week rotation where each teacher had a mandate around specific focus and delivery. When based in one room the focus was on ubiquitous problem solving tasks, again focused at the more able students and games. The other room was set for more curriculum based strategies and use of technology to support learning in the form of basic fact drills and study ladder.

The children were more focused and engaged. The major assessments are yet to happen but reporting and anecdotally improvements have been shown. Interestingly in interviews the majority of children expressed a dislike for the system showing a ingrown need to be led and spoon-fed. Hopefully, with persistence they will see and respond to the benefits of using this approach. 

Bolstad, R. & MacDonald,J.(2016). An analysis of participant blogs supplemented by teacher interviews. Wellington: New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Corwin Press, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.itslifejimbutn otasweknowit.org.uk/files

Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators: professional development to improve student learning.(2nd ed.) New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Ministry of Education. (2017). Our code, our standards. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards   

Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

Whakataukī

Toitū te kupu, toitū te mana, toitū te whenua

Without language, without mana, without land, the essence of being Māori would be lost

MIHI   

Kia ora, Ko te mihi tuatahi ki te atua tena koe.

Ko Kai Tahu toku iwi

Ko Nick Gray toku ingoa

No Otepoti ahau

Kia ora,

I believe that every child is entitled to a quality education and that, as the classroom teacher, I have a responsibility to ensure that the needs of the individual are met.
These needs must be met in a caring and stimulating environment, which inspires trust, respect and a life long love for learning with the focus firmly on the child.

This ideal is ultimately my goal as a teacher in New Zealand.
Identify as Maori and growing up this was a challenge for me to recognise in a classroom situation.
In my school days it wasn't acknowledged and as I was estranged from the Maori element of my whanau from the age of 12 this became distant and foreign to me.
The later introduction of higher education through the Christchurch College of Education and the University of Canterbury allowed me to realise this history and make-up of my identity.
It reinvigorated the pride I had and allowed me to pursue this element of myself. Having had a youth where was unfashionable to be Maori I understand we have a long way to go.

Maori success has been a strong focus for me in my career and giving me opportunities to lead in my school role.Empowering students and whanau at my school too grow the awareness of issues and improve results.
To initially engage the community and Maori whanau we and talk meetings where we discussed Maori success as Maori compared these and in our school there was much correlation between the wider community and  Maori.
We did this with informal and formal meetings involving kai and it was initially successful.
To grow the engagement of whanau used the community themselves focusing on their skills such as having meetings involving weaving and culminating in a hangi.

Issues arising from these meetings included the visual representation of Maori in the school and the overall use of te reo in the classroom.  
This group became a focal point at the school and children and parents were proud to be a part of it.
It's sole purpose was to raise awareness and embrace the skills culture and heritage of community members identifying  as Maori.

This group gave rise to the Maori voice represented in the school.  
Milne, (Core Education, 2017) gave recommendations is two ways that we could get this voice from our community.
I feel the initial implementation of the farmer group catered to this in a successful way.
It needs to continue to grow and teachers need to reflect on their own use and teaching of Maori in their classrooms.

Whilst it is never been an issue to take time for funds to grow this group it is evident that sometimes this culture doesn't correlate with the predominantly pakeha makeup of the staff and community.  
Continuing this group has proved challenging as strong leadership from appearance is important and has moved on to other roles or left the school.
Recreating the initial buzz from the group continues to be a challenge and one that often gets overlooked with the supposed importance of other issues.

Teachers are aware that this is a challenge as I am aware that it is a challenge for them. I took a to do this they have been offered courses and completed courses in the use of to.do in the classroom. Others have been included in the leadership group around Maori issues and cultural  responsivity Insuring that more than one person addressing national concerns around around Maori success as Maori.

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T. & Teddy, L. (2009).Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5),734–742.

CORE Education.(2017, 17 October). Dr Ann Milne, Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cTvi5qxqp4&feature=em-subs_digest

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

Milne, B.A. (2013). Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. (Doctoral Thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/7868

Milne, A.(2017).Coloring in the white spaces: reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

Practice - Trends Influencing NZ or Internationally

Activity 6: Contemporary trends in New Zealand or internationally 

Create a reflective entry where first you analyse a trend that is influencing or shaping NZ or international education that is relevant to your practice. Then, critique and evaluate your practice in the context of different audiences (local, national and/or international) and their perspectives. Your reflection should be based on a reflective model of your choice.

• What trend captivates your attention? Why?
• What relevance does the trend have to your practice?

1. Impact of digital learning

The impact of digital learning and subsequent explanation is something that piques my interest as a teacher and a parent. I am aware of the access children have as my own children seem to be able to find things that, while asinine to me, engage, entertain and educate them. 

With the amount of time spent on devices by the majority of children in my class I feel strongly that they are digital natives (Dagget, B. 2014) This is never more evident than when students are given the opportunity to use new tools and quickly find success. The children engage more readily and output is increased. 

With new innovations come new challenges. Planning and implementing using these tools creates the need for time of self exploration. As a facilitator I need to be aware of what the capabilities of the tool are and balance this with the skills of my class. The use of video and gaming creates heated discussion in the class as the children seem unaware that this is what is engaging them despite evidence (conversations, debates) showing this to be the case. They have a perception of school and home being different and fully expect to be writing and drawing at school and on devices at home.

Step 2 (So What): 

• What does the statistical data or resource reveal about the identified trend?
• What do you see as the key challenges and/or opportunities this trend poses to your practice or context?
• How might this trend impact your teaching context and others across New Zealand?

Statistics internationally show that texting has grown to 63% in my middle school class. Anecdotal evidence supports this with the majority of children being able to express and explain what this is and showing an awareness that they have and will use this communication tool now and in the future.

While a minority of my class post videos, (3 have youtube accounts) all watch and engage with videos. When sharing footage with the class I need to be aware of the comment thread as the children are quick to point out what has been said. The game fortnight is the latest craze showing the engagement with online games where they can communicate with fellow players. This can become obsessive with those playing talking about little else.  

Ensuring students have skills to keep themselves safe becomes of primary importance when these trends are taken into consideration. Cybersafety programmes need to be implemented and focused on before any online participation happens. This is generally overlooked at home so is very important at school

Children need to also realise that a balance is important and must build relationship skills in a face to face context. Understanding that these skills are transferable and online relationships and traditional relationships need the same care is essential as they have more and more opportunities to build online connections.

Step 3 (Now What):

implications for my practice really focus on the needs of my children as they grow up in this new digital world. They need to have skills that will keep them safe in this environment. This will only come through explicit teaching of these skills. With the involvement of the manaia Killarney outreach program at New Brighton Catholic this gives us many tools to do this. This is a problem that has been identified across the country and the world.

The program an explicit teaching of cyber safety also needs to include opportunities for the children to interact and view interactions. They need to be aware that their engagement with their peers online is  real and needs to be treated as if it were a face-to-face interaction. They need to consider when they post things if it is something that they would post or say in real life.

In saying this the children need opportunities to grow in this world. It is a balancing act to make sure that they are involved in a digital world but are safe in a digital world.

Daggett, B. (2014). Addressing Current and Future Challenges in Education. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/2014 MSC_AddressingCurrentandFutureChallenges.pdf

OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_ edu-2016-en Daggett, B. (2014). Addressing Current and Future Challenges in Education. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/2014MSC_AddressingCurrentandFutu reChallenges.pdf

Rolfe et al.’s (2001) Reflective Model. Retrieved fromhttps://my.cumbria.ac.uk/media/MyCumbria/Documents/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf

PRACTICE - professional online networks

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

Step 1 (Descriptive stage): Briefly describe how social media is being used in your teaching OR in your professional development. You only need to focus on either teaching or PD.

Filling in this social media tool survey will help you to focus on which social media tools you have used and and whether you have used them in your teaching practice and/or professional development. The survey is based on the Conversation Prism,a visual map of the social media landscape that Solis (2018) originally created in 2008 and has furthercontinued to updated since.

We suggest you start your reflective entry by briefly describing your current use of social media in teaching or professional development relating to the tools and their purposes as suggested in the survey. You might find it useful to refer back to the class notes and resources from Week 9, when we looked at Personal Learning Networks and Personal Learning Environments. The next steps will help you to reflect on what you’d like to do differently.

Since 2006 I have been a bandwagon jumper for all things technology. Initially in my teaching I put my laptop in the cupboard and was intimidated by the value technology could add to my practice. Thankfully I was employed by a innovative principal in a small school where my peers were reluctant to embrace. My new attitude of embracing the tech was rewarded with leadership and opportunities to advance my own, and others practice in the school. Initially we focused on apple programs, using ipods and ipads.

Over the years I have used QR codes, blogs, Padlet, Twiducate, Facebook and other tools to enhance my program and engage learners. When completing the social media survey it became apparent that I had wide reaching use over the years but need to revisit some of the tools I use.

With a focus on social media I currently have access to several Macbooks for use in the class. These are dated but still allow internet access. I manage a class blog where the children post their work. Parents are encouraged to access this but seldom do. Several individuals have personal blogs. These are viewed more often by whanau and having blogs for all would enhance this outlet. The class has a personal Facebook site which is attached to the school Facebook page. This is private and parents were invited through email to be a part of it.

Step 2 : Comparative stage

It appears that I have merely dipped my toe into the water of what is available to use and how I can use tools that I already use. The engagement of children will be enhanced by the involvement and feedback of peers, whanau and the wider community.

WIthin our school community I have peers who are currently using 1-1 devices in their classroom. I feel this is an advantage but not the be all end all. I still have access to devices that can connect. encouraging children to post and share these at home will have a knock on effect showing parents that if they stay in touch they will have an insight into their children's learning. They will also see that their children respond to feedback positively.

While tools like twitter seem to be big internationally in my experience our community is yet to embrace this relying and tuning into facebook. Despite the value of Twitter in discussion of practice and the class without community buy in the stream would become irrelevant to the children with no connection. The Facebook option is well and good for the adults in our community but the children are to young to engage this media. This however is shown in "Embracing Social Media" (Magette, 2014) to be valuable when updated and posted on regularly.

Step 3 (critical reflection): Given these various perspectives and the implications, use the following questions to guide your thoughts:

• What are the implications for using social media in teaching or professional development?
• In what ways does this reflective process inform and change your perspective?

Despite having experience using a number of social media tools I need to ensure they are used more effectively to enhance the children's learning. Focusing on how the parents and community engage with media will support this. The current Facebook page is used sporadically and needs to be addressed. Using videos and posting regularly will ensure this becomes a talking point for the whanau in my room. This will give value to the media. Providing children with an outlet using blogger and ensuring parents have links to these will also add value to their posts. With this the children will need to hone their social media safety skills and this will a focus in the class.

Magette, K. (2014). Embracing social media : a practical guide to manage risk and leverage opportunity. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.(Available in Unitec library).

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/bitstr eam/han…

Seaman, J., & Tinti-Kane, H. (2013). Social media for teaching and learning. Babson Survey Research Group. Retrieved from http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-2013-report.pdf

Influence of Law and Ethics in Practice

Week 28: Activity 4: Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice

WHAT: This is an ethical dilemma I have faced recently relating to social media and its use in the school.

I was tasked with creating a Facebook page for the school. This was an outlet to communicate with the school community and share successes experienced by the children while at school. The brief included several pages which were deemed models. I communicated with one of these schools administrator who expressed concern with the way some parents had communicated on the page and some of the language used. Though not obscene these examples were very opinionated and negative towards the school. There was also the fact that images published on the net become accessible to all.

This created doubt that it could be a positive outlet to involve our community and I was considering putting the task in the hard basket. I liaised with neighbouring school who had an established page and directives to use the page. They suggested ways to avoid comment problems using the sites own security tools. Using advice and counsel with senior staff I created a page.

SO WHAT:

The site was set up 

The page would be accessible to all and monitored in this by administrators.

Initially the staff were assigned the ability to post. 

I reassessed this and assigned minimal administrators who would have access to the page. They would be tasked with posting content and ensuring children were monitored as per the school privacy policies.

Considerations were made in the initial set up with many words and phrases blocked including profanity, names and standard basic sight words. All comments were to be cleared by an administrator before being posted so I felt this alleviated the issue of negative comments. Through careful monitoring I have yet to find negative comments but it is comforting to have this safeguard in place.

Parents sign a release when they enrol and annually to allow use of images involving their children. These are carefully considered when posting any pictures. Having a smaller group of administrators keeps a tight lid on this.

Now what

The solutions set up in step 2 were carefully considered. The problem of human error is countered with having few administrators yet having more than one to ensure nothing unwanted slips through.

The site gives an outlet to celebrate success within the school context. This creates opportunities to identify all children's success and promote this to our wider community showing a commitment to learners. 

The nature of our digitally savvy world gives us a clear link to parents with the Facebook page. It has already proven to be an engaging medium to share success showing a commitment to engage whanau. The considerations in setting up and monitoring the page have ensured the site is respectful and diverse.

Ehrich, L. C. , Kimber M., Millwater, J. & Cranston, N. (2011). Ethical dilemmas: a model to understand teacher practice, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 17:2, 173-185, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2011.539794

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

Rolfe et al.’s (2001) Reflective Model. Retrieved from https://my.cumbria.ac.uk/media/MyCumbria/Documents/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf