Activity Ten - My Postgraduate Learning Journey and Plan for the Future

When I first signed up for the course I had in mind what I wanted to achieve. I applied for the course to focus on the digital aspect. After 32 weeks, I have gained a lot more. I have been challenged to look at my teaching practices, my strengths as a learner and how I can support my class better with their learning. Throughout this course I have become a more reflective practitioner and this has benefited my students.

Professional Relationships and Professional Values

Criteria 1 and Criteria 2

By finding out about each student's likes and dislikes I have been able to incorporate this into their learning. (Activity Nine). 

Through LDC2 I realised the importance of using student voice and not just dictating. From then I altered my teaching style to gain more feedback from students about what and how they wanted to learn.

Criteria 3

I have been focussing on how to incorporate blended learning (p4.3) into my class. My literature review researched how to support Māori learners in the classroom and it is important for their cultural to be respected and supported. 

By upskilling myself and incorporating the Māori language in my teaching I have demonstrated commitment to the bicultural partnership in Aotearoa. I have explained how this relates to criteria 3, 9 and 10 in activity nine. 

Criteria 4  

This has been achieved through the context of the course. I have developed into a more reflective practitioner as I have developed my practice: Activity Two. I have extended my use of social media by using Facebook groups Google+ to research and develop my professional learning. Activity Five and Seven.

Criteria 5

My school recognises leadership as team leaders and management and I do not have any leadership role at present. LDC1 helped me realise the difference between a leader and a management and how I am a leader in my classroom. 

Professional Knowledge in Practice

Criteria 6, Criteria 8 and Criteria 9

LDC2 and DCL2 explain programmes that I have implemented and their successes and failures. DCL3 explains my journey and how I planned it. I have incorporated the use of student choice into my practice. I use Google Sites to aid their choice and provide online learning experiences for them to develop skills. This has helped my students learn at their own pace and take responsibility for their own learning.

Criteria 7

I have increased ways for children to work collaboratively though using classblogs and google apps. By providing opportunities for collaboration children are supportive of each other as learners and they encourage each other to extend themselves. See activity two and seven. In order to ensure it was truly a supportive environment children need to understand their role as digital citizens.

Criteria 10 See Criteria 3.

Criteria 11

I have used google forms to collect information and student voice. Blogs, Google Apps and Google Sites are used to engage with the community and as a learning management system.

Criteria 12 

All my assignments and above examples have been a result of my inquiry. R&C3 is a specific example of an inquiry.

Future Goals

 - To work effectively within the bicultural context of Aotearoa. (10)

- To understand and promote the needs and well-being of all ākonga. (2)

Criteria 10 is a future goal for me. As explained in activity nine, I am only at the beginning of my journey and I would like to develop this further. I would like to consolidate what I have learned from the course focusing purely on my students without the pressure of managing school workload around study time. My second goal would be focused around criteria 1 and 2 ensuring I really understand my class as people and learners for all students. I have chosen this as it relates to my school strategic plan and will ensure the practices I want to consolidate are relevant for my new class with different learning needs.
Overall I have learnt so much from completing this course and look forward to continuing my journey by embedding all that I have learnt.  In the future I would like the opportunity to complete further study.

Activity Nine - Evaluations of the Cultural Responsiveness in Practice

My Knowledge

Having trained in the UK arriving in NZ, my knowledge of Maori and Pasifika students was non-existent. Over the years I have enrolled in Te Reo classes which taught some language but what I got most from it, is the understanding of the culture. The schools I have worked in have been predominately pakeha with several British teachers. I have been involved with several PD sessions increasing my knowledge and pedagogy for teaching these student. I have developed some language skills. When I teach Maori to my class, I am always open that I am learning along with them too. It is an area I am still developing.

Gay (2000 as quoted in 'intime') defines culturally responsive teaching as using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and performance styles of diverse students to make learning more appropriate and effective for them. 

Last year I had a Tongan student in my class. I saw first-hand how important it was for me to be culturally responsive in order to engage her in her learning. Providing writing experiences, texts and Math examples that related to her culture she could relate to the learning more and this resulted in accelerated progress measured by National Standards. By enabling her to share about her culture, it valued her strengths in Art and Music and helped develop friendships with her classmates. They also had a better understanding of her culture. This year I have been ensuring I have been valuing the cultures of my current class and I have been incorporating Maori culture into the classroom as well as the language so all children gain a better awareness. I am still at the beginning of this journey and still have lots to learn.

School-Wide Activities

My school believes in ensuring all students and their culture are promoted and valued. Several school-wide activities are available for students to participate in and learn.

 -  Kapa Haka. Our school has a popular junior and senior kapa haka. Maori students are encouraged to be part of the group.

 -  Cultural picnic. Each year we hold a cultural picnic where each child learns about a culture of their choice. Families come together to watch student performances and share kai that celebrates the cultures children have been learning about.

 -  Kai club and Pacific Eats. This is in response to the community. Maori and Pasifica children and their families come together to share food and cultural experiences.
 - Homework club to support Maori and Pasifika students.
 - Speech contests in Mandarin, Te Reo and Korean. Students have been encouraged and supported to entering speech contests valuing their native language and for those learning the languages too.
 - MBS news. Our school news station which shares learning and cultural experiences that are happening at our school.

Communication Methods

Brown refers to various research when discussing the importance of constant communication with parents. It is not just attending events at schools but finding out about what is important to them for their child's education and progress. My school has built relationships with Maori and Pasifika families. They are invited to share their views and cultural knowledge on ways the school can support their children. We have also widened this further to bring in communication from other nationalities represented at our school. This is through our international community group. Both groups provide a parent voice as to how they perceive school and how we can further support them. It also helps communicate about things we believe parents are aware of and aren't and it bridges a gap when there is a language barrier. 

Activity Eight - Legal Contexts and Digital Identities

Ethical Dilemma - Privacy

Teachers and schools need to adhere to the privacy act. Dalziel refers in her book to how schools can react responsible regarding matters of privacy. She refers to appropriate storage of information and who has access to it. Through social media there is now a wider platform where personal information can be shared. 

"Social media can provide a window into a school/centre so that ideas and information can be shared and exchanged all the time."

As a teacher, it is important to be ethical about sharing this information and ensure that students know what and how to share personal information. In my own practice, I ensure that when I post online or children post on class blogs, information is only a first name and no other personal information is shared.
This links with ensuring that children are responsible digital citizens and engaging children with cyber-safety and implementing internet safety agreements goes further to ensuring that schools 'protect the confidentiality of information about learners' as stated by the Education Council's code of ethics. 

Potential Issues

The code of ethics also refers that teachers not only have a commitment to learners but they also have a commitment to parents. Teachers need to work in partnership with the parent community ensuring that their privacy is respected. As the use of social media is increasing in schools, not all parents may wish to be their child to be involved in social media. Currently my class have been making videos to share learning and upload it onto the blog so it could be shared with each other and their parents. The most efficient way was to do this was via YouTube. One child commented that he wasn't allowed to be on YouTube. Once I knew this, I had to act on it even though internet-use agreements had been signed given permission.

Resolution

The first item I have been reflecting on is: the wording of my schools agreements. With ever-changing technology is the wording sufficient for the purpose class teachers are using social media? It is not practical to update agreements for every new development. However what I can do is when using a new tool, consult the children and their parents for feedback. This reflection has also led to the need to visit this policy myself and evaluate it against my classroom practice to ensure I act ethically according to it and the parent community.
Regarding the video there are several options:
 -  I can ensure the video privacy settings are strict so only parents with the link can view it.
 -  The child in question will not be involved in any video work in future and find an alternative method for their learning. This is difficult to manage in a class and is not fair on the child as he may feel that he is treated differently.
 -  I can incorporate the use of avatars and puppet pals into video activities so students are no longer in videos just voices. This would respect the privacy of the students according to the parent's wishes.
 -  One thing I cannot do is ignore this child's comment and publish it regardless. This links back to the code of ethics about how teachers have a moral obligation to ensuring that children are shown how to act responsibly by teaching and modelling positive actions.
This issue has highlighted how important it is to respect children's privacy and parent wishes and I will be revisiting policies and ensuring I am more transparent with the class and parent community about the use of social media.

Activity Seven - Social Media

Original image from Education Council: http://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz .
Edited with text boxes to show sites I use.

The Education council site states social media can be an effective tool for engagement and communication. The site that impacts most on my professional development is Facebook as I am a member of various professional development sites. It is the most accessible and it is easy to find education related posts. This enhances my knowledge by seeing what the current topics for NZ teachers are (NZ teachers group). I have gained insights into teaching practices and ideas for my classroom (literacy shed and writing book pages). Art and displays are an area I need to work on and some posts show me how I can develop these skills. I use pinterest as well to gain ideas and resources. As part of this Mindlab course I have been using Wikipedia and blogging to research and record my reflections.

In the classroom, some aspects benefit teaching and learning. I have introduced Google Drive to my class. They have been using the various apps and facilities to aid their learning. It has encouraged collaboration and links with home and school communities. Blogging is integrated in my class. It as a showcase of our learning for parents and the community. It is also used as a learning tool. As children became more confident we started quadblogging to see what other schools did. This led to them wanting individual blogs. Over the last six months they have been using these to show what they have been learning and commenting on each other's work with feedback and feed-forward.

One of the biggest challenges for the classroom has been moderating comments to make sure they are appropriate. At first I used the approval system on blogger. This helped but when children got their own blogs, the workload was too big. I worked with the children to encourage them to take responsibility for their own blogs and friends comments. 

An E-safety by the Australian government refers to risks of social networking as: "Anonymity, sharing too much information, not protecting your personal information and treating online friends as real friends." My school ran a cybersafety course based on Hector's world which tackled these issues. We discussed not sharing personal details. The key messages that the class took away was that comments last and to be careful signing up for sites. 

A Schoolzone report stated that teachers involved in the report thought social media is primary schools was not appropriate. However they feel it is necessary to demonstrate the importance of using social media safely and securely. As discussed above I believe social media does have a place in primary school but not all social media is appropriate, e.g. facebook for those under 13. Regarding demonstrating the importance of using social media safely, surely this is best done through active practice. If children are not using social media in schools, then it is very difficult to understand the risks. 

A personal challenge with social media is keeping a work-life balance. During the holidays there was a constant stream of messages from teachers. Checking Facebook late at night, posts from other teachers enter my feed seeking help or advice.  I found interesting posts that made me reflect on my practice and how I adopt the current discussion/idea into my practice at the same time realising that I was working again. I need to be mindful of how social media can blur my professional and personal life together too much and ensure that I do get the opportunity to 'wind down' and 'switch-off'.

Activity Six - Contemporary Issues in Global Education

Trend One - Assessment in Education
Edglossary refers to assessment as being a "wide variety of methods that educators use, evaluate, measure, and document the ... learning process and skill acquisition of students." TKI states that assessment, teaching and learning are interlinked. By evaluating and documenting learning, it can inform teachers and students of where to next. A key aspect is to use a wide variety of methods and draw the information from a range of sources. In my experience testing students can have 'a bad day' or get nervous and it does not show a true reflection of what they can do.
However with the introduction of National Standards becomes the fear of standardised testing. Edutopia refers to "students needing to think critically, analyze and to make inferences" and that changes assessment ensuring that teachers take a more active role in judging whether students use these skills. From my experience of teaching in the UK and research (point 9 and 10) seeing children aged 7 performing SATs have placed pressures on teachers and weeks of learning time dedicated to preparing for tests. This is not a good example of assessment for learning. Completing PATs in NZ I have done one test at the start of the year which provides a way to evaluate the learning process for students as stated in Edglossary. It is useful as it informs my teaching and students learning.
Unfortunately I have no ability to change the role of assessment in NZ schools and whether or not the introduction of National Standards will lead to standarised testing. What I can do is ensure that I use assessment effectively in my current practice by using a wide variety of methods. It can be very easy to rely on the gloss test or running records but there are many more ways to assess. 

Conferencing and discussions are great examples I use that lend to children being able to think critically. I can continue to use assessment to lead my teaching, but I need to improve on getting students more involved in this process through peer assessment.

Trend Two - Personalised Learning
E-learning TKI discusses how, as educators, we need to be future focussed. One element is personalised learning. This is described as students understanding how they learn and driving it themselves. "Student learning needs, interests, and capability determine the pace of learning." If students own and determine their learning, it will have more of an impact. Wilson's Sabbatical Report describes how personalised learning is not just a NZ trend but also a world-wide trend. The report quotes The Ministry of Education stating that students are more engaged in a two-way learning process. Futurelab have created a learning contract which states what learners can expect from a personalised learning environment. To develop this effectively into my practice, I would first need to ensure my students have the skills. I, along with other teachers in my school, have started allowing for student choice with their learning. However to critically engage with the process, it is not yet as something that can be developed in a year but rather something I will continue to build on next year. Wilson's report stated that they had some challenges aligning personalised learning with their school vision. In order for me to maximise the benefit of personalised learning, I need to ensure it aligns with the philosophies of my school and develop my practice at a rate that is supported by the school. This is so my class and I have access to the resources and longer-lasting practices can developed.

Activity Five - Professional Connections Map

Interdisciplinary... is an organizational unit that crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions emerge. (Wikipedia, 2015)

From looking at my professional connections map, there are individual strands and I need to think deeper to see the links for my practice. The definition from Wikipedia explains that boundaries are crossed as new needs emerge. I reflected further on the relevance to my current practice and the current issues in my community (Post 4), using blended learning in the classroom. Through blended learning and online communities, there have been more opportunities to move away from traditional teaching methods and create links with others, thus widening my experiences beyond my classroom and school community. This has made me a more informed teacher.

Students engaged in interdisciplinary learning often find the content more exciting and relevant, especially if teachers can connect the disciplines not only to each other but also to the past and present in a way that relates to students' lives. (Jacobs, 2015)

This quote explains the benefits for students but the same information can be said for teachers who engage in interdisciplinary communities. Teachers engaging with other communities can see other practices that are relevant. Through collaboration, it also can create an enthusiasm which Jacobs explains would not happen in isolation. There are benefits of belonging to an online community such as facebook and the Mindlab discussion group because I get to see how other schools are responding to similar issues. It also gives me ideas and links to resources  that I can use in my daily teaching practice. It is important to learn from others.  As new themes are emerging in my school, it is possible to see some examples but it would be more relevant to learn from others that have these practices more embedded. Through online conversations, images and videos it is been possible to see examples of blended learning and the challenge is how I can apply this to my own teaching as well as adhering to my schools vision. 

Carroll (2009) describes that learning in communities is an important way we can learn through participation with others. He says that "formal education cannot prepare people for a world that changes rapidly and continually." By engaging with learning communities students and teachers have the opportunity to engage in a wider society. The schools I have worked in have been predominantly one culture; in Birmingham, predominantly Muslim; South Auckland, predominantly Maori and my current school predominantly Pakeha. For the children in these schools it is important for them to engage with other learning communities to gain a better sense of the world we live in. This year, my team have re-established links with Orakei Marae working on the local environment. It has allowed my class to engage with a different culture and they have learned of practices and protocols relating to planting and Maori culture. I have undertaken Maori language courses and school PD, however being a kinesthetic learner, the connection with Orakei Marae has been an effective way to strengthen my own knowledge and practices. 

From the map, it can be seen that the largest and most relevant community I engage with is my school. Previously I have needed to engage with outside agencies but this isn't relevant for my current class. I successfully connect with online communities which is important to keep up with current issues and trends. Orakei Marae is a community connection I would like to continue with to help myself and my future students by making learning relevant using the local community. 

References not linked in text.

Wikipedia,. (2015). Interdisciplinarity. Retrieved 6 October 2015, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdisciplinarity

Activity Four - My Professional Community

Stakeholders of my professional community

Students are the key motivation for what I teach based on their learning needs. Parents play an important role in developing that through home/school relationships. Teachers, Management and the board are also communities I work with.

The concept of community of practice is influencing theory and practice in many domains. Wenger-trayner.com. (2015).

Students and parents can help develop theory and practice although they are not an influencing community. The stakeholders that would be my main community of practice would be teachers and my school. This is in different forms. My year group team (of 5) influence theory and practice. Through meetings and informal conversations we share current practice and observe one another to see current practice. Our school also has professional learning communities. These are directly related to accelerating learning for target students who are a bigger priority.

Technologies such as the Internet have extended the reach of our interactions. Wenger-trayner.com. (2015).

I am a member of various online communities. A Facebook group and the Mindlab community have helped me gain insight to current issues and extending my classroom practice through a wider range of ideas and resources.

Current issues and challenges in my community

A focus for my school community is modern learning environments (MLE). My school is trialling this in some classrooms. The trial is needed due to structure and teachers pedagogy. I believe that having an interest and understanding is important to success.  

The Ministry of Education states MLEs offer opportunities for collaboration and shared inquiries. Some classes have already adopted self-directed learning practices. This hasn't been filtered from management but individual teachers have taken ownership based on current research.  The disadvantage is some children in the school do not have the opportunity to be a child-directed environment and in some classes it is working more effectively than others. It is important we continue to share these practices especially amongst each year group. 
Osborne (2013) describes the features of MLEs:

• Flexibility
• Openness - traditionally fewer walls with a common learning hub.
• Access to resources - such as technology

 This definition offers challenges to our single cell classrooms. Some of our newer classrooms can open doors in order to share resources but they are still working as individual classrooms. The next step would be for teachers to collaborate and children to be able to free flow in a flexible environment. New Entrants will be used to this so the challenge is, are teachers able and prepared to teach like this? Another challenge would be the reaction of the parent community, some still don't understand flexible grouping. However, as management are keeping parents informed about practices and sharing research, this will help them to understand and join our journey.

Our building structure is not set up for what Osborne (2013) refers to as 'openness' with a common learning hub and breakout areas. However the ministry article provides research on transforming single cells into MLEs.  I have been adopting these practices by trying to create more space and the opportunity to self-direct and work collaboratively. Children have responded well but I have learnt that some of my younger boys have not been ready for self-direction and I have needed to alter my style to give them more support. Also I have learnt the need for clear expectations and routines in place. Not being confident in teaching writing, my flexible student directed programme wasn't successful and so I am still trialling ways to allow flexibility. Ideally in the future I would like to have more conferencing sessions that teacher directed learning intentions.

References not linked in the text

Wenger-trayner.com. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice | Wenger-Trayner. Retrieved from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/