Week 32: Changes in Practice

Week 32: Changes in Practice

'Titiro whakamuri, kokiri whakamua'

'Look back and reflect, so you can move forward’

What a journey. I did not know what I was fully getting myself into when signing up for this course nearly a year ago. I must admit it has not always been smooth sailing but the finish line is near. The whole experience has been incredibly inspiring as the course has made me think critically about my learners, my teaching and my school. I am grateful for the connections I have made along the way. During the first 16 weeks I interacted with many other teachers during class time. Here we had a number of thought provoking discussions, spoke about coursework, asked for advice and talked about inspiring, innovative programmes that we were running in our own classrooms. I loved the collaboration and shared passion for future learning. Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) sum up what it was like for me during the final 16 weeks of the course as they describe reflective practice has being "a challenging, demanding, and often trying process that is most successful as a collaborative effort." The online component was extremely challenging and demanding as you had to be accountable for your own learning. I found myself often thinking I need to get this done for school, but I need to work on my assignment or listen to that webinar. It was far too easy to opt out and do it another day. But I was lucky enough to have a small collaborative team that meet up regularly to make sure we were all meeting the deadlines. This level of collaboration definitely supported me through the second half of the course.

Key Changes

Throughout my 32 week learning journey I feel I have made numerous connections to all of the 12 Practising Teacher Criteria's (PTC) in e-learning. I feel many of these have informed my teaching, but there are two that have made significant impacts and changes to my practice.

The first major change links in with Criteria 5: Show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning.

Key indicators:

• Actively contribute to the professional learning community.
• Undertake areas of responsibility effectively

I have recently been asked to help support digital technology at my school and have assisted the leadership team in creating a student digital technology agreement. I have been able to critically look at the way my school has been approaching digital technology and show new ideas, information and activities that could work for my school. Next term I am running digital workshops to help upskill my colleagues after school to support their digital use in the classroom. I feel it is due to this course that I now have the confidence to lead others. On a personal level I have spent time reflecting on my own leadership as I am trying to be as collaborative as I can with my colleagues and this year I have implemented a growth mindset approach in my classroom which has stemmed from one of the classes when we look at the work from Carol Dweck.

The second major change links in with Criteria 6 : Conceptualise, plan, and implement an appropriate learning programme

Key indicators:

• Articulate clearly the aims of their teaching, give sound professional reasons for adopting these aims, and implement them in their practice.
• Through their planning and teaching, demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of relevant content, disciplines, and curriculum documents.

Throughout the course there was this constant reminder that we are the teachers of our future. What we teach our students will prepare them the future, for the unknown and hopefully provide them with the skills to survive in this ever-evolving world. It was through this reflective thinking that I realised I need to make changes to ensure my learning programme meets the needs of my 21st century learners. Next term I am going to experiment with running a range of workshops with students writing their own time table, while focusing on learner agency. Through my teacher led inquiry and other assignments I have gathered information that has also led me to carry on and justify why I run the #NZreadaloud and how it benefits my learners as well as linking in with key 21st century skills such as collaboration, creativity and connected learning. It is through this course that I have been pushed and challenged to make my learning programmes as meaningful and engaging as possible.

The next journey…

As teachers we never stop learning and through this experience it has become clear that it is just as important that we surround ourselves with others who share the same values and vision. Those recent blog tasks have challenged me to take a deeper look at my interactions. These posts in particular have made me realise that my current school is not a good fit for me as a collaborative, tech savvy, future thinking teacher.

My passion for learning and challenging myself has only grown with this course. Study wise I am currently looking into applying for a Postgraduate Diploma of Applied Practice or a Masters of Applied Practice.

Reference

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.

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

Week 31 - Crossing Boundaries / My Interdisciplinary Connection Map

Connections

Sometimes as a teacher it is very easy to stick with what you know and not branch out of your own personal bubble. But to be honest what student wants to learn the same way, units and go to activities their older sister experienced 5 years ago. For me interdisciplinary connections are a huge part of teaching, learning and professional development for any teacher. It is vital we connect, collaborate and integrate as much network knowledge as possible.

But how strong our own interdisciplinary connections?

The Ministry of Education (2007) had a vision for interdisciplinary connections to flow freely within our education system as they state “All learning should make use of the natural connections that exist between learning areas and that link learning areas to the values and key competencies.” Perhaps this was short lived, due to National Standards and the emphasis shifted to lifting and assessing achievement in 3 sole core subjects; math, reading and writing. Some may say this shift hindered the way many teachers integrated and interacted with the curriculum.

Personally I feel over the short time I have been teaching I have developed and sustained an number of interdisciplinary connections through my own education, teaching practice, professional development and through the relationships I have made outside of teaching. My own interdisciplinary map below identifies many of these.

 

Reflection

I feel each year these connections grow and help support, guide and ignite my teaching in many areas that benefit my students in my class. Many of the connections above are happening every day and are ingrained in my everyday practice, but at times these connections could branch out and support more than just my class and myself. I would like to see my own teaching programme become more integrated and use experts regularly to enhance teaching and learning for all. I am also planning to develop and take a lead in Pasifika matters at my school, therefore I would like to develop community connections with the Pasifika families and the wider school community.  

It is fascinating to look at the Ross Institute in America and learn about how it functions. A curriculum that is a true spiral of interconnected knowledge and learning. A curriculum that prides itself in the integration of subjects and building strong network knowledge while seeing students take control of their own learning. I like that they have experts on hand to support learning on a daily basis (Ross Institute, 2015).

Recently I have watched my students steer their own learning. Due to a novel from the #NZreadaloud my students became intrigued by nuclear testing and from here they inquired more about it and then they reached out to a local scientist who came into class to teach and show them about nuclear testing through experiments and meaningful discussions. The students regarded this experience as one of the ‘BEST DAYS EVER’ and after learning about the Ross Institute I thought to myself ‘Why is this experience such a once off for my students?’ This has made me seriously rethink what I am doing in my classroom and is something I need to look at in the near future. How can I make these rich learning experiences happen on a more regular basis? How can I connect with experts in a range of fields. We have a student volunteer army project coming up that the students will run, so I will be thinking of ways for the students to again be steering their own projects and learning, while looking at experts to support this.

Another goal for the near future links to nurturing the relationship between Pasifika learners, Pasifika parents and families with schools and teachers. At my current school the connection between these could be seen as non existent, hence why it is not seen above in my interdisciplinary map. My aim is grow this connection that will hopefully have long term benefits for my school, the Pasifika learners, their families and our whole entire community. Currently around New Zealand educators are getting together to discuss the cultural competencies for Tapasa which are currently under review - I went to the Dunedin meeting recently which is Step 1 of making connections. From here the Ministry are wanting parents and teachers to complete a survey on the current framework. Therefore over the next week I need to contact all the Pasifika families and talk to them about Tapasa and asking if they will complete a survey. Step 2: I will be putting in the school calendar when Tonga Language Week is as well as Cook Islands Māori language week as these are coming up in Term 3. We will look to celebrate these cultures and get experts in (making connections with families and wider community members). In Term 4 I have spoken to the Principal about running a Fono for all Pasifika parents and families, but I will need to do a lot of communicating with parents - finding out their views and get feedback on how they feel their child's culture and learning is being supported at school. I am passionate about Pasifika learning and McDonagh (2011) sums up my own beliefs of if nothing is done incredible opportunities will be lost.

It is through connections, through strong, positive connections that opportunities for learning are endless.

References

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum.  Retrieved fromhttp://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/content/download/1108/11989/file/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum.pdf.

Ross Institute. (2015, July 5). Ross Spiral Curriculum: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Science. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHZhkB0FJik

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