Week 32 APC - Changes in practice

Activity 8: Changes in my practice - My  Learning Journey

My learning journey on this postgraduate programme has given me insights into reflecting on my practice through different lenses. The perspectives and insights that I have gained by being more reflective in my practice (Osterman & Kottkamp 1993) have constantly changed throughout the programme. As I reflected on one aspect of my practice I would change my thinking again and I would begin another cycle of reflecting. The amount of change from the reflection has not been implemented, as I am still absorbing much of the material of the programme. 

Guiding question - Criteria 7 of the PractisingTeaching Criteria (PTC) in e-learning.

How do I promote a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive learning environment that embraces e-learning and engages learners?

My first key change in practice was embedding and using technology to provide challenging and collaborative learning experiences for students.  I have used digital technologies to encourage students to collaborate and to gain new knowledge.  Prior to Mind Lab learning was largely whole class for content. I have modified sessions by students working in small groups researching and using more a constructivist (Perkins, 1999) approach constructing their knowledge collaboratively. The  Mind Lab programme provided me with the skills and pedagogy to be able to implement this in my sessions. It supports providing a  collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment. 

Guiding question - Criteria 1 of the Practising Teaching Criteria (PTC) in e-learning;

How do I/can I embrace e-learning to establish and develop working relationships with my ākonga, their whānau, and my colleagues to support the learning of those I teach?

The second change was providing 'student voice' opportunities using google slides/surveys. This was a quick and easy option and depending on how robust the questions were the data provided evidence  and sometimes this supported our initial 'hunches'.  Students found these easy to use and the data was easy to find trends.  We also asked our contributing schools' teachers to complete the surveys to provide us with more information. We then implemented changes to our practice and also have made changes to the layout of student learning journals to support students' learning.    As we teach a large number of students and we require a simple but robust process we will continue to use google slides to inform a overall student voice. Following each session we also ask for verbal feedback from our students. I have reflected on this and wondered it this also could be set up digitally to encourage students to provide us with honest feedback. 

My dream for the future:

http://favim.com/image/945510/

My literacy review was on 'flipped learning' and I also based my inquiry on this, so my next goal is to implement this. I have videos of practical techniques that students can view during sessions, but now I am ready to take learning to the next level. Students only have a 2 hour session once a week and many cannot retain knowledge in the sessions from week to week.  My goal is to  set up 'flipped' or 'blended' learning via a website to provide students with information that can be accessed prior to sessions. This would be available during sessions as well to allow more opportunities to understand the content knowledge and practical techniques.  

Since the implement of Huakina Mai we have had professional development around  integration Te Reo into our daily practice. I am sourcing ways of integrating this using digital tools to provide support for correct pronunciation and also to engage students. This could also be integrated into the 'flipped' model above; headings and audio with appropriate phrases and words. 

References

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 fromhttp://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files/RefPract/Osterman_Kottkamp_extract.pdf

Perkins, D. (1998). The Many Faces of Constructivism. Educational Leadership, 57(3), 6

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

Week 31 - APC - Professional Context - Crossing boundaries and disciplines

My Interdisciplinary Map

https://bubbl.us/mindmap

My Near future goals:

Goal one: Student Voice

I use student voice to gain feedback from students to shape future sessions and learning. However, I feel I need to gather more quantitative data to support some more changes in how we deliver our programmes to our students and require more evidence to support these changes. This may be another inquiry!

Goal two: Collaboration

 Following the Mind Lab course, I have included more collaboration during sessions, although largely the sessions are delivered 'participative style'. My goal is to provide more opportunities for students to collaborate around the 'content' learning and to discover their knowledge through  'blended' learning or in class 'flipped learning'.

The benefits and challenges of working in a more interdisciplinary environment:

I am very fortunate being a technology teacher, as it allows for interdisciplinary learning. I teach process and skills and to do this involves combining many disciplines (Mathison & Freeman, 1997). Students have opportunities to transfer knowledge from other curriculum subjects such as maths, literacy, social science, art and science and use this knowledge in an authentic context. The context and briefs provide students with 'real life' contexts allowing for critical thinking, communication, problem solving, creativity and innovation.

All curriculum areas are embedded in the learning. For an example: measurement is used in many of the different areas in technology and where students do not know this is it is learnt in the context. Students are exposed to many new technology terms and design concepts.

Students are provided with opportunities for 'lifelong learning' skills and this is valuable for their future and also to encourage them to pursue their passion to be 'lifelong learners' (Jones, 2009).The relationship between teacher and students is more meaningful (Mathison et al, 1997)  and established because the context is more meaningful and personalised.

The disadvantages to this style of learning is that students have not experienced this in their 'home classroom' and some students find it very challenging when they come to technology.  They are unable to transfer some knowledge that they already know because it is not 'maths' time and struggle because they are learning in a different context. They are used to learning their knowledge in silo blocks of learning; numeracy and literacy. This can take time to teach and sometimes can delay the learning other important content knowledge (Jones 2006). Students are at many different levels and this information is not always available prior and can disadvantage students' success and support required.


References

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI, 7(26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai

Lacoe Edu (2014, Oct 24) Interdisciplinary Learning [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA564RIlhME

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: This review of literature of interdisciplinary studies can help you explore more about the interdisciplinary approach used by teachers in their class.

Week 30 - Activity 6: 'Using social online networks in teaching and/or professional development'

What is Social Media?

According  Seaman & Tinti-Kane (2013) the debate at Pearson was whether YouTube was social media.  They discussed that it allows for posting, sharing and commenting, but is it just gaining new content for the user? 

Wikipedia's definition: "Social media are computer-mediated tools that allow people companies and other organisations to create, share or exchange information, career interest, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

It seems to be quite loose in what defines social media and generally when there is sharing and communication about content it is considered to be social media.

What social media platform do you feel best supports engagement with your professional development? Why? I personally use the 'Pinterest'  and  for someone that is creative it is very addictive! It is easy to navigate and search for ideas and follow colleagues for their saved ideas. I have set up boards that can be shared to colleagues and for specific content. We have started to use it when we plan from the saved pins (YouTube videos, Slide share, blogs, websites, pictures, etc). 

Create your own titles for boards

Inside one board

According to Silius, Miilumaki, Hutamaki, Tebest, Merilainen & Pohjolainen (2010)  it is important to have easy access to information and to share friends with similar interests to maintain engagement and motivation.  Engagement and motivation using social media is the driving force behind the user's preferred social media platform. User's will frequent social media sites when they are engaged with the community, content and navigation. 

My favorite: Pinterest came in at number 5 this year (2016) and of course Facebook number 1. 

View the Top 15 see: http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites

How do/would you use social media to enhance your professional development? Why?

I believe a range of social media allows connectivity and opportunities for 'knowledge' and collaboration with local and global colleagues. Blogs and social media including Twitter provide 'knowledge' to support and develop our learning. Social media allows for communication and in real time, anywhere and anytime of the day. This allows communication to other parts of the world including platforms such as Skype. 

Our perspectives and 'knowledge' through collaboration can extend and grow with the advantage of technology. It allows for professional development and growth. The resources and availability of knowledge using technology and social media provides multiple alternatives and ideas.  

  

I also agree with Melhuish (2013) that teachers need to review the models that they currently use for professional development and consider other options that are available using tools such as social media. 

Using the google+ community during this course has allowed participants to view and contribute in a friendly, but informative manner sharing different perspectives to gain new knowledge. 

Melhuish also discusses using a network (social media) as a 'taonga' (treasure) because the advantages provide us with valuable experiences to use within our practice. 

References:

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrived on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han...

Seaman, J., & Tinti-Kane, H. (2013). Social media for teaching and learning. Retrieved from http://www.pearsonlearningsolutions.com/assets/downloads/reports/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-2013-report.pdf#view=FitH,0

Silius, K., Miilumäki, T., Huhtamäki, J., Tebest, T., Meriläinen, J. & Pohjolainen, S.(2010). Students’ motivations for social media enhanced studying and learning. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 2(1), 54-67. Retrieved from http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/article/view/55/39

Week 29 - APC - Influence of Law and Ethics on Professional Practice

Legal and ethical issues in my practice
The influences of social media and access to the internet within my professional practice scares me a little. We build positive relationships with students, whanau, and the community. We believe we have good communication and that our community of practice understands our obligations around ethics. This is not always the case.  There are different perspectives and views of what is acceptable when sharing personal information, especially when sharing it globally. I have a facebook account, but rarely use it for fear that what I content I post may be construed not appropriate for a teacher. I feel that as a teacher we are very 'visual' and need to be appropriate at all times. This can be challenging especially when you are not in a teaching context, outside of school hours and one of your own children is playing up in a public place! Who is watching? Judgments are made on how well you deal with the situation!

Influences that support law and ethics on professional practice:

We are bound by the Teaching Standards and also the Code of Ethics to guide us.

• Autonomy to treat people with rights that are to be honoured and defended
• Justice to share power and prevent the abuse of power
• Responsible care to do good and minimise harm to others
• Truth to be honest with others and self.

We  have school policies under our strategic plan that clearly outline what we are required to do to protect our students and fulfill our obligations.

Below is an excerpt from part of the cyber safety agreement:
"Any photographs of students, or examples of their work, published online must meet the school's guidelines for publishing student information. This includes checking that parents have given consent (at time of enrollment) for their child's image or work to be published, and obtaining the child's permission to use their work. "

Parents often forget what they have signed and do not understand the ramifications or even the potential for information sharing about their children. If we intend to set up a school blog or classroom blog and share images or student information in a global context, then parents should be reminded if they are happy for this information to be shared. The parents and families do not always update with new information or change their sharing of information guidelines. Schools need to have regular contact with parents to check if they have all the necessary information to ensure that privacy issues are not breached.

However, if I was developing a new initiative I would review the PPTA toolkit (2016) and contact parents before posting information. As the above states "at time of enrollment" and as I mentioned earlier a lot may have changed for and parents may have forgotten the consent.

My other concern is that once the information is posted who has access to it and what can they do with it? I feel students are still vulnerable and maybe we need to be creative in how we use their information, so that they are more protected. I try to take photos so that not all their face is totally visible, but they can be seen in the activity.

Students do not need to provide all their personal information and I have experienced some excellent cyber safety courses run by NZ Police (The KOS programme). Many students are not aware that they should not have a facebook account until they are 13 years old and many are using social media without guidance or support to ensure that they are safe. Parents and teachers should experience the same social media that students are using to support them and understand the dynamics of the particular tool.

http://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/kos-cybersafety.pdf

Here is the link for the above pamplet from NZ police
http://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/kos-cybersafety.pdf  and also lots of information to support online safety http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/email-and-internet-safety/online-child-safety

http://www.vln.school.nz/discussion/view/702465?orderby=latest

References

https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/graduating-teacher-

https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/about-code-of-ethics

http://www.police.govt.nz/advice/personal-and-community-advice/school-portal/resources/successful-relationships/kos-info-teachers

PPTA (2016) Education Change management toolkit. From http://ppta.org.nz/resources/publication-list/2460-change-management

Week 28 - APC - Indigenous knowledge & Cultural responsiveness

https://www.huntsbury-preschool.org.nz/curriculum/

Learning Activities:

Professor Bishop discusses providing a 'context' that is appropriate for the learners and ensure that there are positive relationships with students before learning can happen. Students need to feel comfortable in their learning environment and because we only teach our students for a couple of hours each week we provide activities that develop relationships within the 'team'.

 'Circle time' is used at the beginning and at the end of the session and provides students with opportunities to share their ideas about their learning. This also provides the teacher feedback which can be used to shape further sessions and learning. Students are offered choices within the programmes and activities, which provides them with ownership of their learning and intrinsic motivation. 

Students are encouraged to support each other and work together as a 'team'. This gives students opportunities to support each other in their learning and gain skills in communication, collaboration and problem solving. 

Professor Bishop also discussed the importance of having high expectations of students. I believe this is important for students to reach their full potential and students need to be able to 'believe in themselves'. Often low achieving students have low self esteem and providing them with learning success gives them a great boost and opens the door to more learning opportunities. It sometimes a matter of moving their 'mind set' and providing encouragement to do this. 

Planning and assessment: 

Savagea, Hindleb, Meyerc, Hyndsa, Penetitob, & Sleeterd, (2011) state "As teachers invest in learning through relationships with their students, they might then take responsibility for learning to shift their pedagogy in ways that benefit students academically as well as socially and emotionally."

The above statement relates, as I feel we have been developing relationships with students, however further development to encourage student achievement is the next step. 

From the implementation of Huakina Mai in 2015. We have focused on developing positive relationships with the students and their families. We are now moving forward to improving pedagogy to increase student achievement.  We are collaborating with our teaching and our planning to develop ideas around how to provide success for students. Student feedback and opportunities for them to co-construct their learning to provide more student ownership. We differentiate sessions to support low achieving students and this is often discussed in our meetings to share our knowledge and gain ideas. 

We have sought advice and professional development on assessment methods to support student achievement and to provide purposeful feedback during programmes to students. We are developing assessment that provides regular  feedback and is easily accessed by students. 

Students will have opportunities to increase their level of achievement and understand clearly what they will need to do to achieve this. Students that require more support will then be  identified and provided alternative learning methods to increase their level of achievement. 

Circle time activities link for teens:
http://www.kidspeakconsulting.com/blog/circletimeforbigkidsteambuildingwithteensin5easysteps

References:

Savagea,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: (Available to download from Unitec Library) This is a report evaluates Maori student experiences in the NZ classroom whose teachers underwent Te Kotahitanga trainings. The authors discuss the implications for teachers to when implementing the Te Kotahitanga to address the culturally responsiveness in their practice.

Gutschlag, A.(2007). Some implications of the Te Kotahitanga model of teacher positioning. New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, 4(1), 3-10. Retrieved from http://www.teacherswork.ac.nz/journal/volume4_issue1/gutschlag.pdf. In this paper, the author critiques the implications of Te Kotahitanga’s ‘teacher positioning model’ and suggests an alternative power relationship between teachers and Maori students.

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

Week 27 - APC - Broader Professional Context

Activity 3: 'Contemporary issues or trends in New Zealand or internationally'

Technology and global trends are changing, but our education system is not keeping up with these changes.  Sir Ken Robinson discusses that we still teach in very structured environments in 'batches' of students and the question is 'why'? Standardisation of the education system affects how students learn by not viewing the student with individual learning needs.

The standardised testing and framework  impacts on teaching practice and how we teach our students (The RSA, 2010). The implementation of National Standards restricts the opportunities of the curriculum document - where the curriculum document allows for flexibility.  Individual learning plans and individual assessment allows purposeful learning based on students learning needs. I often differentiate during sessions to ensure learners are able to have success. The Education Review Office suggests that we need to focus on 'student centred learning'. Last year, our school introduced a positive behaviour programme: 'Huakina Mai' (see week 26 blog) that focuses on partnerships with the school, students and whᾱnau, supports relationships and learning experiences that meet students needs. In our technology team and with consultation from our contributing schools we have strong collaboration to support our students.

https://propelsteps.wordpress.com/about/our-story/critiques-on-indian-educational-system/education-system-cartoon/

Another challenge with our education system is lack of funds or access for digital technologies;  even though digital technologies are developing globally at great advances they are not always available to all students in schools. Many students own their own device, so opportunities for students to bring their own devices to schools (BYOD) has allowed more access.

The future global trends students require a new range of skills to be able to have a chance in the competitive global market. The demands of the global trends (National intelligence council, 2012) where students will be faced with many issues around sustainability, cyber safety, world views, climate change and policy makers.

During technology sessions our aim is to do our best by teaching some skills for the future: developing positive and design mindsets, collaboration, problem solving, innovation and communication skills. These skills are taught during sessions through the various practical experiences. The practical experiences are the merely the platform to teach these skills and I really not sure whether the actual practical skills will be valuable for the future? Students also have opportunities to share their ideas with each other to learn that there are different ideas and ways of experiencing learning (divergent thinking).


'Circle time' sharing has also provides opportunities for students to share their ideas and sometimes it will be an alternative subject, which allows students to provide their 'global' view. Students responses often surprise me with their knowledge, interest and understanding on such subjects and the fact that they have very strong opinions and views.


References

Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools. Retrieved 18 May 2016, fromhttp://www.ero.govt.nz/About-Us/News-Media-Releases2/The-three-most-pressing-issues-for-N

National intelligence council.(2012). Global trends: Alternative Worlds. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved fromhttps://globaltrends2030.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/global-trends-2030-november2012.pdf

The RSA.(2010, Oct 14). RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U.

Shonkoff's Three Cultures - Scientific research vs policy makers?

Scientific research vs policy makers?

Shonkoff (2000) discusses child development research in regards to science, policy and practice:
Science - Scientists dissect data with a quest for knowledge - new research and what they do not know.
Policy - this is influenced by social and selected knowledge or data is used to form decisions or agendas.
Practice - scientific knowledge and data is influenced by policy. Practitioners are keen to act on research, where policymakers prefer it to be simple and scientists would rather reflect.

In practice we have opportunities to research such as scientists but are bound by policies. Shonkoff (2000) discusses human rights of the parent and the child and privacy issues, which impact on the way we carry out our research practices. This also may not provide the best outcomes for our students by not having all the information that we require. Policies protect us but may also affect and reduce opportunities to provide innovation outcomes. Shonkoff (2000) also mentions that incomplete information  impacts on guiding policy.

Ethical guidelines for educational research to protect participants includes their rights and privacy, the responsibilities to the researchers and the policymakers. The document is elaborate and sets out the guidelines and rights to withdraw.   https://www.bera.ac.uk/researchers-resources/resources-for-researchers

Where policy has been implemented it is important for this to be consistent and be assessed over time (Shonkoff 2000). This is true to be effective and for changes to be made for the desired outcomes.

A blend of the three: science, policy and practice allows a multi perspective approach and this is important in a complex subject such as child development.

 http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/irpweb/initiatives/trainedu/igrfp/readings05/Shonkoff2000.pdf)

https://www.bera.ac.uk/researchers-resources/resources-for-researchers

https://www.bera.ac.uk/researchers-resources/resources-for-researchers