And so the end....for now. I did it my way!

The past 32 weeks have been both challenging and interesting. I have really enjoyed doing academic study again and stretching my mind to new thinking. I feel invigorated and set to expand my thinking further.

I must say that it would have been a VERY hard "row to hoe" without the support of my two colleagues that I worked collaboratively with. Working full time in an extremely busy job in addition to postgraduate study is a big ask for anyone. I certainly wouldn't recommend doing the course by yourself and have noticed those that have, have really struggled with extension upon extension. Working together we managed to "drag" each other along to keep up to date.

I have always been a very reflective practitioner, constantly trying to refine and improve what I do. Sometimes I think this has been to my detriment as I can spend too much time researching ideas and maybe get a little lost in too many ideas in a quest for perfection. I feel more focused as a result of this professional development and able to focus on evidence based practices rather than a million and one ideas. 

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

The biggest shift for me is including evidence based research into my practice. I now reflect on a number on inquires done over the past few years and believe that these could have been done more effectively using a range of good research rather than the odd random research article. Sources of research were never queried and on reflection I now wonder if these were very robust. 

I really enjoyed the literature review (mad I know) mostly, I think, because it taught me what a literature review was and how to critique research and use this evidence for classroom based decisions. I feel much more aware of how research will influence my practice. I feel like I am a "bigger picture" person now and able to reflect on many different aspects within teaching and am more confident talking about these. 

Criteria 5: Show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning. Professional knowledge in practice.

Gaining a better understanding of the differing types of leadership styles and theories was another informative area of learning for me. Having lead a major professional development programme over the past two years it was interesting analysing my leadership strengths. I could be known to be a "pacesetter" having conscientiousness, drive to achieve and initiative - unfortunately this is a style which does not necessarily have great outcomes. It has made me reflect on what other strengths I have and how these might apply these to leadership roles I hold. I am now more focused on the strengths I have within visionary and democratic styles of leadership. 

Next dream........to gain my ACET (Advanced Classroom Expert Teacher) recognition and to study in a collaborative way toward gaining a Diploma in Education. Topics I am interested in are distributed leadership, culturally inclusive practices in a mainstream school and motivating diverse learners. 

Interdisciplinary Approaches, The New Curriculum of "their" Future?

I found this week’s topic rather interesting. As a Primary School Teacher who is required to teach across the curriculum it can be challenging to teach in areas that may not be your area of expertise or interest. Our school is becoming more collaborative with teacher planning and I see the positive benefits of this in easing teacher workload but also in designing learning which has more of an interdisciplinary approach where teachers can bring their own areas of expertise.

In Mathison and Freeman’s (1997) literature review they identify many positive aspects from three different (but in many ways very similar) approaches. An interdisciplinary, integrated and integrative studies approach. Many positive outcomes have been identified in a multitude of studies. These include better outcomes for students, such as, developing an increased understanding retention, application of general concepts, better overall comprehension, better decision making, increased motivation, being more creative and so it goes on. 

This seems nothing new to Primary Trained teachers, however, I think sometimes we still get caught into teaching subjects in isolation due the assessment requirements and the complexity of assessment record keeping.

These three models also purport benefits for teachers, which include, better overall integration of new and rapidly changing information with increased time efficiency and better collegiality and support between teachers and wider comprehension of the connections between disciplines.

Potential problems are identified by Jacobs (1989) who calls “the 'potpourri problem' where courses become a sampling of a little bit of this and a little bit of that without an overall, coherent structure or scope. The general consensus is that the choice of a theme or activity should promote "progress towards significant educational goals, not merely because it cuts across subject-matter lines" (Brophy & Alleman 1991, p. 66). There is, however, little agreement on which activities are fruitful for the pursuit of which educational goals.”

This is what I fear, a bit of this, a bit of that…..and maybe not enough of “that”…….but I also wonder if curriculum coverage is that important. Knowledge is at our finger tips, is it really that important that a child has knowledge that could not is couldn’t? As we have Literacy Learning Progressions thrust upon us with everything broken down to the nth degree this seems to depart somewhat from what an interdisciplinary approach and the goal of reaching significant educational goals.

Ross' Spiral Curriculum on further investigation is particularly interesting and something I will pursue further. How many times have your read we are education children for their future not ours? I believe mapping of a curriculum in this way is very innovative and I can see a huge potential benefit for both students and teachers. 

Mathison,S.. & Freeman, M.(1997). The logic of interdisciplinary studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1997. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf

Being kind is ALWAYS right!

Social Media in my Teaching and Professional Practice. 

I use social media as a form of professional development, in particular, the NZ Primary Teachers Facebook page. I have gleaned many different ideas from there and find it useful for finding out what other schools are doing, giving or receiving advice on various matters about teaching, generally not about children, but more about teaching practice. I suppose one downfall of this is that ideas are not necessarily grounded in research but I think we all value our colleagues practices to varying degrees and take what we believe to be effective practice and leave what we don't. It is often valuable to get a new perspective and to try something new. .

I find it interesting the amount of people that do ask specifically about situations with children or difficult situations they might find themselves in with colleagues or management. I don't believe that this should be a forum for this type of talk but it seems some do. Maybe they don't feel they have the support or anyone within their school they are able to talk with, or maybe it is having a sense of collegiality that they think they will find within a group of teachers.

The other thing I find interesting about this page is the sheer stupidity of some people in regard to tolerance toward others, at times, I have questioned how some of these people are teachers as they seem to almost be trolling, the old adage "If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all" springs to mind!

Having undertaken the study with the Mindlab I have enjoyed connecting with Professionals on Google + to discuss all sorts of aspects in teaching. During the course of our study I have far preferred the Face to Face lessons supported by online content over just the online component. Social media has certain supported my professional learning.

Children in my classroom have personal school blogs (which the school is the administrator of) to showcase their learning, these take the place of previous paper portfolios. Blogs give children the opportunity to showcase their learning in ways that are not possible such as video, voice recording and slideshows they have created.

The children also have Google accounts where they have the facility to comment to one another. Children must be taught safe practices on the internet, although our accounts that children use are managed by the school, it is still imperative that we teach safety on the internet, as it will not be long before many of these children are teens using Instagram, Facebook, Messenger and what ever else may have been invented. I think we all need to give more thought to the safety and vulnerability of youngsters on the internet.

Sacked for being you?

I recall reading and seeing this in the media. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1354515/Teacher-sacked-posting-picture-holding-glass-wine-mug-beer-Facebook.html

A young teacher who lost her job because she had posted a photograph of herself on social media. Take a look at the photographs as a matter of interest. You will be surprised. There is no bleary eyed, skimpily dressed woman in a night of debauchery, rather, a lovely sweet looking girl on holiday in her break with a glass of alcohol!!! A parent had found access to her "high privacy setting" Facebook page and noted a swear word and forwarded this and photos to the Headmaster. 

One wonders if that parent was unhappy with her as a teacher and sort to discredit her. It is quite unbelievable to me that this could have even happened, the loss of job that is. To be honest, if I had an employer that was that hung up over perfectly normal photos I wouldn't want to work for them anyway. The question is, has she be unjustifiable dismissed? I believe so. 

It is situations like this and many others which as a teacher get you thinking, thinking about your own online presence and that which you create for the children in your care. We teach cyber-safety at my school to young children but my question is, how much do they truly understand of the evils of this world?  

For many years we taught "stranger danger" and children STILL got into strangers cars. That scares me! Television programmes like "Catfish" where people make fake profiles and have online relationships with others who are so far removed from what the purport to be is really scary. Children are so gullible and it is our job to do our utmost to protect them. 

All children from 7 years old upwards at my school have Google accounts, have their own blogs, have a classroom blog and are subjects of our school facebook page and School Website. Wow! That is certainly a big online presence when you are so young. I am now beginning to wonder if I teach enough cybersafty and revisit this often enough with children. It might be timely with new ethical guidelines which come into force for teachers in the very near future. See below...

CODE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

I am a very regular user of Facebook, and although I don't post many pictures of myself (they are usually of me travelling), I do however often post "funny" jokes about being a teacher or about life. I do wonder what might happen if a parent managed to access my FB page took offence to something I might have posted. An example follows: 



A teacher friend tagged me in a post and therefore this picture appears on my page, all in good jest I say....but does everyone think that? Does it imply I hit people if offended or annoyed? Does it imply I am easily aggravated? I don't think so....but others have different opinions.  

I would be horrified if someone made a complaint about my online presence. I believe I have good moral standards. Hall (2001), discusses a set of questions that when faced with an ethical dilemma help to guide the process of making an ethical decision. In his document (see link below) there is a great scenario given regarding a school camp situation. What I liked about the scenario given was that it was very realistic, it is well worth a read. 


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

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

Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

Making a difference

Russell Bishop believes that it is agentic teachers who are fully supported that make a difference. These teachers don't deficit theorise and don't draw on deficit theories as explanations for lack of achievement. They work collaboratively and cooperatively with others shift pedagogy and initiate change. These agentic teachers care and support Maori achievement. The pedagogy they use promotes interactions for Maori that provides feedback/feedforward. They ensure learners understand where they need to go. 

In reading Savage et al work "Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student experiences across the curriculum", the words “authentic caring” REALLY speak to me. Often it is not just knowing about a students academic data but so much more. Taking responsibility to shift ones own pedagogy shows a deeper caring relationship in trying to adapt to the way others culture may be influenced over your dominate culture. 

It is about knowing, a child has moved house and is having trouble settling, it is about knowing that a child lives with Nanny and Koro, it is about knowing what their family likes to do together and what they value….it is about knowing and caring. Making the school environment make sense to children and making it one they can thrive in is so important. Student–teacher relationships help improve student outcomes (Cornelius-White, 2007).

School Wide Activities

This is something at our school I believe is quite responsive to culture, we have a weekly Kapa Haka group which is attended by many Maori and non Maori students. The Whanau Roopu is a group of interested Maori parents who get together twice a term, along with a staff representative and discuss all things Maori at our school. This group is highly regarded and consults with the school closely. Our school also has a very large proportion of other cultures including Filipino, Pasifika and Indian. Each of these groups run to a much lesser degree. This is something that the school may be able to help with and improve cultural responsiveness to these other cultures. 

Planning and Assessment

This is something I believe our school is trying very hard to improve, tracking priority learners more closely and trying new teaching methods to improve achievement. I believe there is still room for improvement and possibly we need to look more closely at more culturally responsive planning and also ensuring children are aware of their next learning steps and what they are trying to achieve. We probably need to look at some research based case studies around successful achievement. 

Questions such as those from Te Toi Tupu's Pasifika: Participation, Engagement, Achievement" tool are highly likely to assist our school moving forward. A simple question we could ask ourselves is how our school curriculum reflects content from a variety of cultures and ethnic groups? 



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

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

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

Trends Facing New Zealand Education

A trend...what is a trend by definition? As defined by my best friend Mr Google "a general direction in which something is developing or changing"

The world around us is ever evolving and changing, trends in fashion come and go, however I would call the Internet a revolution, not a trend. A revolution of communication, of contentedness like human beings have never had before. We are after all in the 21st Century and the New Zealand Curriculum requires us to teach 21st Century skills.

Technology, as identified by the National Council and OCED is moving at a rapid rate, it has changed the way we communicate and the way we learn. It is incredible to think we are teaching students skills for jobs that may not even exist. Knowledge is no longer the all being, all seeing of the mighty. Knowledge is at our finger tips. It is not the first time in human history were a revolution of change has changed the course of the workforce. 

The industrial revolution took place in the 18th and 19th centuries. Rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban. Manufacturing was often done in people’s homes. They used hand tools or very basic machinery. The industrial revolution sparked mass production and factories with specialised equipment. Jobs were lost to the revolution and the poor and working class suffered, however many benefited from the variety of goods available and some prospered. 

As I see it, I wonder how life has changed in the 21st Century in this regard? Small businesses are no longer able to trade due to global online trading with companies such as Ali express and Amazon. Job losses to automation are happening, but again, as with the Industrial revolution it seems to be those in low or unskilled jobs that these are affecting. 

What therefore is the educators role in this grand problem? How do I give every child in my classroom those 21st century skills they will all require? I am interested to find new ways, new ideas....as knowledge is no longer the currency but skills, does this make us all on a more equitable platform? I wonder...

Is it possible for our education system, policy makers and Governments to keep up with this fast technological society? Do we need to be overly concerned with job losses when we do not know what job gains there will be? 

It appears at this point in time that the 21st century skills of collaboration, adaptability and problem solving are those which speak to me most. They are becoming an increasingly more important part of our curriculum as rapid change happens. 

Image retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/03/21st-century-skills-future-jobs-students/

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 (this publication can be read online by following its DOI’s hyperlink)