Reflective Practice and Changes In Practice

Whakatauki

Ko te whakaaro nui ka rite ki te waina kara, rau i te rau.

Wisdom grows like the kumara vine, leaf by leaf.

Sign up for Mindlab? Are you crazy! There is already a plethora of challenges in the working day without committing more time into your evenings and beyond… These cautionary voices were echoing in my head as I signed up anyway.

First impressions

Herbert was the lecturer who diligently roused us all from our 4.30p.m. somnambulist state.  Challenging our mindsets and dusting out the filing cabinets in the deepest recesses of our brains he had me with ‘epistemology’! I love language, rich vocabulary and words that encompass depth of concept. In that opening few minutes one of my colleagues said that I looked like I had won the lottery. It has long been a sorrow of mine that students and teachers seem to increasingly confine themselves to single syllable words and a negligible enthusiasm for vocabulary exploration. Herbert then went on with ‘axiology’ and ‘ontology’; poetry!

Having captured my mind the challenge then became one of building skills.  In the past few years my learning trajectory with digital technologies has been like that of the New Horizons space probe. Travelling far beyond the ken of my known worlds exploring the possibilities of ‘what lies just beyond’. Mindlab was able to stretch my thinking even further and confirm and consolidate areas of my practice that I was still mulling over.  Mindlab reminded me how far I had already travelled along the path towards 21st pedagogy and it prompted me to think about the ramification for other colleagues who were still working in the 20th century production line educational mindset.

I am an avid reader of science fiction and aware of how quickly fiction is becoming, has become, fact. The exploration in conversations with regard to some technological developments kept me hooked into the Mindlab experience. The clincher was the exploration of augmented reality apps, robotics (that was deep water!), and 21st century learning pedagogies.

Deeper Waters

It is true that those knowledge building experiences were a hook but the reflective practice elements were the fastener. Pursuing ideas around leadership, followership, change and environment, to name a few, was challenging. These explorations supported by excellent course content and provocative questioning made the weekly face to face meetings a highlight in my week. Great was the trepidation when the course work shifted to an online learning forum.

The remainder of the course delivered through the online learning forum continued to utilise excellent materials. The opportunity to engage through webinars and the google+ community gave a level of connectivity that helped keep me centred. On the occasions when I could not participate in a webinar I felt disconnected and discombobulated!

I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration into literature on leadership and learning, connectedness and communities of learners. It was through the google+ community that I received a message from a new collaborator and colleague I had met through he kanohi ki te kanohi sessions in the first 16 weeks.  That message came at a time when I was overwhelmed by life and some unexpected personal tragedy and my trajectory began to plummet. It was an occasion when online connectivity served to motivate me personally and to remind me that we are all interconnected and therefore significant to each other, when we might least expect to be so.

Future Steps

It is true that there were moments when I wondered if I had taken on more than I needed to.  Working full time, fulfilling a multitude of demanding roles within my job, and having a busy life outside of my work place did give me pause. In that moment of pause I recognised how excited the new and further learning had made me. The reignition of a thirst and curiosity for knowledge and debate and critical conversation has been deeply motivating.  I know that my assignments have not been perfect, squashed into moments and rushed through between other demands. However they are completed and their completion was satisfying.

Mindlab has been so inspiring that, despite saying I would step back a bit next year, I have been motivated to sign on for another learning programme.  Poutama Pounamu will be delivered largely online, something that I might previously doubted I could manage. A simplistic explanation of the course is that it is focussing on cultural responsiveness, an area that seemed to connect with me throughout my Mindlab assignments, particularly in the multicultural and international perspectives on education,  Eighteen months from now I will be at the end of that course and I feel confident that I will gained deeper understandings and awareness, utilising skills that were developed through the Mindlab course. So, thank you Herbert… ontology, axiology, and epistemology are all serving me well and I them.

Interdisciplinary Connections

Whakatauki:

Koinei nga whitiki whakairo e kaha ana.

It is the braided threads that are the strongest.

Current Collaborations

Chief Seattle said, “Man does not weave this web of life. He is merely a strand of it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” I think that this is true of professional collaboration. We enrich ourselves when we interact and collaborate with others. The eyes of many on a shared topic or working together to support a colleagues, student or whanau holds great potential, promise and impact.

Through the Kāhui Ako I have seen powerful examples interdisciplinary collaboration. Secondary school teachers working interdepartmentally on common goals such as raising literacy, or with primary school teachers on transition and shared skill sets such as differentiated education. Group Special Education supporting teachers through a deeper understanding of behaviour management, narrative assessment,  and alternative approaches to learning is another example of interdisciplinary collaboration. These represent Andrews’ definition of interdisciplinary collaboration “when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organisational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose” (cited in Berg-Weger & Schneider, 1998). The common purpose being the progress of individuals and cohorts of students within our classrooms, or the development of skills within ourselves and our colleagues to benefit those students.

Focus Interdisciplinary Connection

Increased whanau engagement in student education will require an interdisciplinary connection. The empowerment of whanau, recognition of their cultural histories and rich layers of skill, experience and connection that they share with their children, must be a component of the developing relationship between them, the classroom teacher and the student. Developing the shared goals for the student, wrapping that student around with common language and shared attitudes and values, and supporting both the school and the whanau to meet shared goals is an ideal worth investing in.

A first step might be to enter into a reciprocal conversation with student and whanau and, working from a position of strength,  identify what the student already brings to their learning relationship, and what the whanau can bring to support that learning relationship. The next steps might be to identify the goals each contributor might have for the student.  

As in any action plan identifying the support structures and resources that are currently available or may need to be accessed for family would be a required step. This could also open up an awareness for whanau of the strengths that they already possess in relation to the growth of their child within the concept of hauora, a rich and all encompassing approach within Mātauranga Māori and applicable and enriching for all students.

Relationship: collaboration, connection and conversation deeply rooted within a rich understanding of the culture of each child and their whanau is the way forward for increasing whanau engagement in student education. Ako between whanau, school, and student, acknowledging that each party and their support systems has value and can contribute to the educational outcomes as a reciprocal relationship, this is the key to richer whanau engagement in student education,

Social Media Use In Teaching and Professional Development

Whakatauki:

Ko te hono atu ki etahi atu e hono ana ia tatou ki a tatou ano

Connecting to others connects us to ourselves.

Social Media In Teaching

I grew up when the introduction of a class intercom was a big deal. To teach in a world where individual students could be connected online, through the very ether (or ether net) that surrounds us was an elaboration of science fiction. And now science fiction increasingly becomes passe, science fact.  

Social Media In My Classroom

As Cassidy reiterates, our students are already familiar with digital affordances, therefore it is implicit that this would be a core element of their educational experience.  Social media holds an increasing presence in my classroom and is a conduit for collaboration and connectivity between teachers,  students and whanau.  We share our learning with an authentic audience beyond the boundaries of the physical classroom. Students participate in online learning networks, providing and receiving thoughtful, positive and helpful feedback to and from their peers. In line with current pedagogy such as that espoused in Innovating Pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation report 5  we have also used social media to access experts including artists, conservationists, and historians to introduce validity and authenticity to our learning programmes.

Challenges and Considerations

Social media sites such as youtube and vimeo provide a wealth of information and inspiration for students however there has been a lot of teaching in behind the access and use of these resources. When we initially set up our access to online sites our school was advised to limit student access to online sites.  Our response was to negate that suggestion in favour of engaging with students in discussion about responsible use and cybersmart choices. This allowed students to retain their access to a rich resource. This has been overwhelmingly positive with only a small number of students choosing to misuse this right.  We have then worked with that small group, removing privileges of open access, giving further education, and then slowly reintroducing the responsibility of open access.

Benefits

Having access to experts and exemplars through an online and immediate forum has engaged students at a  deeper and more individualised level. Students have used social media to support and collaborate with each other, to engage with their extended whanau, to teach others and to learn from their peers.

For staff there has been an increased online access to social media and social networks specific to their profession. This has provided opportunity for individualised skill building, deeper content and practice knowledge, and an enhanced sense of connectedness and collegiality. The new Code of Professional responsibility and Standards For The teaching Profession can be seen to promote the adoption of social media through the ‘design for learning’ and ‘learning focused culture’ standards in particular.

Concerns

Our greatest concerns around student misuse of social media have arisen through irresponsible or unsupervised use in the home. Parents have often looked to the school to resolve online issues that have arisen through sites such as ‘Kik’, ‘Snapchat’, ‘Google Hangouts’, ‘Youtube’,manifold chat rooms available through online game sites … It is staggering at times how little parents are aware of what sites their children are connected to, who they are connected to through those sites, and the legalities of those connections.  

Parent education has been an aspect of our digital classroom development. We still struggle to engage all whanau in parent sessions however perhaps we are misinterpreting the need.  We may be trying to  impose on them in an area that they do not actually feel they need help or support. The online issues that arise for their children within their home may be seen as either the responsibility of the school or not seen as important at all. This can sometimes mean that when a line is crossed parents and whanau may not seek support because they feel a sense of failure to have ‘allowed’ a situation to escalate. Situations, as we know in the classroom only too well, don’t always ‘escalate’, sometimes they just implode or transpire.

Steps Ahead

To date the use of social media within my classroom and my kura has been surrounded by safeguards; discussion, limited filtering, staff and student knowledge and skill development. We have been open and aware of the possibilities, both pitfalls and positives, because this is a time of exploration for us. Maintaining an awareness and an alertness, maximising opportunities for teaching and learning through social media, maintaining a culturally responsive perspective, and keeping pace with the changing social media forums will be future challenges for us.

Current issues in my professional context

Current issues in my professional context

Whakatauki:

He waka eke noa

A canoe which we are all in with no exception.

Socioeconomic status of my community

The school in which I primarily work has the Decile Rating 8.  In Aotearoa /New Zealand decile ratings are based on census data for households with school-aged children within each school’s catchment area. The information is formulated against income, occupations and education of parents, how many people per household and parents on an assisted income.

I am interested in the shift towards a risk index for funding rather than a decile rating as we currently rely on school organisations like the Parent Teacher Association (P.T.A.) to provide extra resourcing. The risk index currently being proposed by the government will provide for the student needs within the school. The decile rating is often not indicative of the real picture of needs within a school. It does not take into account families with ORS or high needs students, the level of household debt prevalent in many of our homes, or the shift in employment or income that can happen within the five year interval of a census.

School Community

Our school is under a Ministry imposed enrolment scheme. This means that when our roll reaches a particular number then only children who live within our school zone, or who have siblings currently enrolled at our school,  are permitted to enrol. This creates some difficult parent conversations at times as we are considered a desirable school to attend.

Our school community has a strong history of support for the school with a proactive P.T.A. and effective Board of Trustees. Parents readily involve themselves with extra curricular activities and class excursions. Every year we hold a Grandparents Day that is attended by extended whanau from beyond our immediate community. We hold a community hangi every second year that is attended by the majority of families and in the alternate year we have an evening picnic/ barbeque and games night. We want, and strive for, an engaged relationship with our community.

We have stable staffing and this provides a strength within the school. Our Principal is a proponent of lifelong learning and this applies to staff as well as to students.  An area in here that I think could be developed further is in encouraging and engaging our parents and whanau as lifelong learners.

Our student cohort is at the centre of everything we strive for. We believe that we are all in this together and that we are all striving for success. This is evident in the student voice collected throughout the year as part of our appraisal process. Students vocalise their learning goals, personal, cultural and academic. We also recognise that some of our students and their families have many material advantages that others do not. Part of our work is around building a sense of equity and a social conscience.

Organisational Culture

I believe that the norms described by Stoll (1998 ) are embedded within the culture of our school but we work constantly to maintain this. We hold high expectations of ourselves as teaching professionals and of our students. We seek to build relationships first and to educate the children in both academic areas and the key competencies. We have had two consecutive Education Review Office (E.R.O.) reports resulting in a five year review cycle.

Each week we hold professional learning community meetings focussing on developing our understanding and application of curriculum, teaching as inquiry, and curriculum review. As a staff and school community we are always aiming for improvement. There is a consistent cycle of review in curriculum and of teaching and learning programmes.

We believe strongly in the biculturalism of Aotearoa/New Zealand and provide a range of opportunities for Māori students and all students to develop in te reo and tikanga Māori.  This includes all staff and students being expected to be able introduce themselves with their pepeha or mihimihi, language development classes (He Kakano) and kapa haka, the development of key units from a Māori perspective, and an expectation that students and staff will use and respond to basic classroom commands and greetings, and include basic te reo within their written work.

At no time do we ever feel that we have ‘arrived’. Every student and their whanau brings with them an ever changing kaleidoscope of need, expectation, and next steps.

References:

School Deciles Sourced from http://www.education.govt.nz/school/running-a-school/resourcing/operational-funding/school-decile-ratings/

Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture

My practice within the community

My practice within the community

Whakatauki:

Titiro whakamuri, kokiri whakamua

Look backward and reflect so you can move forward

Change Agent or Changed Agent?

When considering Etienne Wenger’s social definition of learning, the morphology of social competence and personal experiences, there is a strong sense of the organic nature of a community of practice. When I considered that tension between social competence and personal experiences it was like a ‘chicken and egg’ argument about becoming ourselves… I was this professional and then through interaction within my community of practice I became this professional. Would I have changed or evolved without that interaction? Was my interaction complicit in the change the community wrought in me or did I create the change within my community? This thinking is a Gordian Knot!

Community Of Practice

I am a member of the Mawhera Kahui Ako community of practice. To date this is a collaboration of thirteen schools, eleven primary and two secondary. We are working together to accelerate the progress of all students within our Kahui Ako, with particular emphasis on literacy for boys. All Kahui Ako teachers have shared in a professional development for literacy, boys education, and cultural responsiveness. These events happened over a range of venues including our newly opened local marae. There are Kahui Ako meetings for lead teachers and principals at least twice a term. I participate in these as one of the across schools teachers. I would like to see within school teachers attending also. As a way of developing this link I have initiated meetings for all across and within school teachers out of school hours. This has been necessary because of the difficulty in our region for accessing relief teachers.

Three Modes Of Belonging

Wenger's three modes of belonging; engagement, imagination, and alignment feel familiar to me. I agree that there needs to be a balance of all three for a community of practice to thrive. I recognise the frustration that people can feel with someone who sits in the imagination (reflection) mode when action needs to be taken, but action without consideration or vision may be ill advised. As part of the Kahui Ako the mode of alignment resonated with me. Working in a reciprocal, collaborative way towards higher goals that sit outside of an individual’s actions but to which the individual’s contribution counts underpins our kahui Ako beliefs.

Practitioners And Participants

Communities of practice within education are not new however the variance in their performance or construction and outcomes is vast. I know that within our own Kahui Ako of thirteen schools this has been the case.  There is room for variance and diversity and as Stoll, L. (1998) points out it is not the cultural differences within a school that matter but the leadership and the mindsets of those working within the organisation. A community of practice can easily become a collection of non-practitioners. I work in number of roles, site specific, colleague specific; a leader and a facilitator within our Kahui Ako, an active member who strongly believes in the goals of our community of practice, and a newcomer too, to the world of connectivity online that would serve us well as a vehicle for supporting each other, prompting each other and sharing best practice.

IN-quiry And Inquiring

Robust inquiry within a community of practice would account for the three dimensions Wenger discusses: Enterprise, Mutuality, and Repertoire. Collegial relationships that demonstrate high trust, allow difficult conversations, provide mutual support and critical review and reflective feedback can engender the desire to continue to learn at all levels of practice. Review and evaluative feedback within a community of practice, being open to scrutiny from outside as well looking closely at evidence based practice is crucial to a successful and progressive community of practice. I sense a few familiar words in here: collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, relationships, mutual respect, learning, problem solving, and underpinning it all... inquiry!

Alive And Living

Developing a community of practice as a living entity requires a commitment from leadership and membership. Having common goals, such as those in our Kahui Ako is a key.  Maintaining interest and momentum requires more than just goals, those far away horizon destinations. Building in short term learning projects or events, developing internal leadership that capitalises on the breadth of skill and knowledge within a community, these are elements that allow a community to thrive.

Sustainability

Sustainability of a community includes the curation of the artefacts developed throughout that communities lifetime. What records are important to maintain?  What format or medium should these be in? Who takes responsibility for mapping the developments? Who curates the artefacts? Questions I am pondering myself as I look to the end of our first round of roles within our Kahui Ako and the handing over of the baton!

References:

Stoll, L. (1998). School culture (School Improvement Network’s Bulletin, 9). London: Institute of Education, University of London.

Wenger, E.(2000).Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), p225-246

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