Professional Context-Crossing Boundaries and Making Connections Activity 5: Professional Connection Map

Choose two goal(s) for extending your professional connections. Then discuss the benefits and challenges of working in a more interdisciplinary environment.

• Goal 1: Cross-sector collaboration (Primary and Early Childhood)

A collaborative cross-sector relationship with our local ECEs would support learners and their families transitioning to our school at five years old. Research shows that this collaborative partnership is a key factor in leading to a successful transition.

Benefits:

Working in a more interdisciplinary environment would provide us with a better understanding of where learners are on their learning journey when they begin at school and there could be continuity of curriculum. Cross-sector partnerships could lead to innovative initiatives. When working together, there is an increased probability of tackling social challenges and educating families/whanau/caregivers.

Challenges:

But the collaborative endeavour of bridging the gap and building a cross-sector partnership is not without its’ challenges. A high level of transparency is required from each side of the partnership, ensuring an agreement on common objectives and expectations leading to trust and equity between partners. Organisations need systems and a culture that fosters and grows collaboration, and may need to overcome traditional and fixed mindsets to encourage risk taking and innovation. Partnership takes work and consideration of the other partner.

For me, a challenge is that I am not a direct stakeholder as I do not teach a New Entrant class. The challenge for me is to show my school colleagues the research around collaborative cross-sector partnerships and how it positively enhances a successful transition to school. I have already begun open dialogues last year with some of the ECEs within our school zone. I now need to support the New Entrant teachers to continue these discussions and start making times for both parties to meet.

• Goal 2: Increased and continued communication with Parents/Whanau/Caregivers

Parental involvement can make a significant improvement to student achievement and wellbeing.

The development of positive home-school relationships is the first step in creating a successful home-school partnership.

Benefits:

Two-way communication allows teachers to understand factors impacting learners lives. In a mutual and respectful home-school relationship, both parties see education as being a joint venture between school and family. A home-school partnership is respectful of Te Noho Kotahitanga. If embedded in the teacher’s practice, a strong home-school partnership would ensure families felt they could approach the teacher about issues, and vice versa.

Challenges:

In order to provide continued communication with families, the teacher would need high levels of creativity and commitment in order to remember to set time aside to communicate with parents/whanau/caregivers. Teachers would need a range of approaches to connect with different families.  

My challenge is to ensure each learner’s family feels valued by me. I need to regularly contact families and make it a commitment. It is easy to rely on email addresses, as I find this the easiest way to communicate, but need to find other ways to communicate especially with families where English is a second language. I need to make a greater effort to reach out to those families who I do not see and chat to at drop-off and pick-up times, and those families that do not attend Parent Teacher meetings.

• Choose two professional connections you have in your map. Evaluate their impact on your practice and professional community.

Local Early Childhood Centres

Connecting with some of the Early Childhood Centres (ECEs) within our school zone has helped me to grow as a leader and a teacher-researcher. Taking on the responsibility of bridging the gap between our primary school and the ECEs and building those first connections helped me to become an agent of change at my school. As I am not a New Entrant teacher, I along with my colleague, now have the opportunity to lead the ‘hand-over’ of this cross-sector partnering to our capable New Entrant teachers.

Twitter

I love learning and I learn like a sponge. Twitter is the best PLD as it is tailored to my needs. Following experienced educators has widened my boundaries of knowledge and helped me to further see teachers and myself as professionals. I read a lot on Twitter. My next learning step is to participate and contribute to discussions.

References:

Bull, A., Brooking, K., & Campbell, R. (2008). Successful home-school partnerships. Ministry of Education. Retrieved from http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/884_Successful_Home-School_Partnership-v2.pdf

Professional Context - the community Activity 4: Your Professional Community

Wenger states that “communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly.”  I am part of many groups at my primary school. I am in a Classroom Planning Team (CPT) - a group of teachers who teach at a similar level to myself. I am the leader of the Performing Arts team of teachers, and a member of the Creating Meaning team.

The article goes on to say that “the definition allows for, but does not assume, intentionality: learning can be the reason the community comes together…”  When the groups you find yourself in are not self organising teams, sometimes it helps to remember that the learners and their learning is the reason the community comes together.

• What is the purpose and function of your practice? In what ways do you cater for the community of your practice?

The purpose and function of my practice is underpinned by the Vision from the New Zealand Curriculum:

I cater for the community of my practice by demonstrating that I too am learning to be a confident, connected (participating and contributing with those in my professional connection map), actively involved lifelong learner (Mindlab, professional reading). I model this vision in myself and my class and I begin the journey of becoming lifelong learners together.

I provide opportunities for learners to lead their peers and this helps to build confidence. Planning collaborative activities with peers and teachers from other classes builds connections. This could be extended to other schools and to experts that learners may contact.

Modelling a love of learning, fostering a growth mindset, valuing questions over answers and encouraging curiosity helps to develop lifelong learners.

• What are the core values that underpin your profession? Evaluate your practice with regard to these values.

The values that are outlined in The New Zealand Curriculum are:

• Excellence
• Innovation, Inquiry and Curiosity
• Diversity
• Equity
• Community and Participation
• Ecological Sustainability
• Integrity
• Respect

I value questions over answers and am concerned that children are losing their natural sense of curiosity. I encourage inquiry in the classroom and use Project Based Learning (PBL) to give learners opportunities to ask questions and inquire.

Creating a class culture that values Equity and Diversity is of utmost importance to me. I work in a very multicultural school and through teaching about diversity in celebrations, we become respectful of one another. All learners have different learning needs. I see each student as an individual and plan according to their needs. In this way, learning is equitable and accessible by all.

My next step would be to think about how to demonstrate the importance of ecological sustainability, and to foster a class community that is aware of the need to care and look after our environment, and takes the necessary steps to play our part in this stewardship.

• What changes are occurring in the context of your profession? How do you think you or your community of practice should address them?

A part of how our school is structured has changed. Teachers in my school are now members in a Classroom Planning Team (CPT) with colleagues who teach at similar levels. Even though the  name suggests we meet to plan, as a group of colleagues should address what we want the purpose of the group to be. To be a community of practice, we would each need to share what our own expectations of the group, and be characterised by a shared purpose. Wenger states that some organisations use communities of practice to improve performance. For this to occur, there would need to be a high level of trust in the community of practice for teachers to feel open to reflecting critically on their own practice.

Wider in my profession, many classes are embracing student-led learning or self-directed learning where the learner takes greater responsibility for their own learning. This style of ‘learning to learn’ has many benefits from self confidence, perseverance, accountability and initiative. I think my CPT community of practice should discuss our ideas about moving from teacher-led to student-led learning, raise concerns and look for solutions. I think we should take a risk and begin to let our learners take a greater responsibility for their own learning. Even though we have Year 2 and 3 students, young learners can be empowered to make responsible choices for their learning. They just require scaffolding and multiple opportunities to practice.

References:

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Learning Media: Wellington. Retrieved from

http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Vision

Wenger-trayner.com. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice | Wenger-Trayner. Retrieved from

http://wenger-trayner.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/07-Brief-introduction-to-communities-of-practice.pdf.

Reflective Practice Activity 3: Responses to Finlay’s (2008) article

Finlay (2008) states that reflective practice often “involves examining assumptions of everyday practice.” In a context where the phrase “this is the way we have always done it” is often used to justify lack of innovation, there is a need for me to critically examine why I feel change is necessary.

The article recognises that for busy professionals under increasingly more time pressures, “reflective practice is all too easily applied in bland, mechanical, unthinking ways,” (Finlay, 2008). I find my own reflections fall into this category often and I need to value and see the merit in setting aside time to reflect critically. Writing my reflections will help with this goal.

Innovation comes from discomfort and dissatisfaction for the status quo. Atkins and Murphy (1993 in Finlay, 2008) determine that there are three stages to the reflective process: an “awareness of uncomfortable feelings and thoughts” (aligned with Schon’s experience of surprise, puzzlement or confusion), “critical analysis of feelings and knowledge” and finally, the “development of a new perspective”. It is having the courage to critically examine these uncomfortable feelings and thoughts with the view to possible alteration of practice.

Brookfield’s (1995) ‘stance and dance’ is in agreement with Schon, and Atkins and Murphy. The article states a “reflective teacher’s stance towards teaching is one of inquiry and being open to further investigation.” The dance involves “experimentation and risk towards modifying practice.” As I further develop a growth mindset the more I begin to enjoy the dance and look forward to it. Teachers and schools are risk averse and taking risks takes courage and determination in doing the best for our learners.   

• Are you using any model of reflection? Is there any model that you would like to adopt? Explain why you find it suitable.

In reflecting on my own reflective practice, I have come to the conclusion that my reflections are haphazard and not critical enough. I don’t follow a model of reflection and because of this, my reflections tend to be surface-level.

Models of Reflection from the Finlay (2008) article

Ghaye and Lillyman (1997, in Finlay, 2008) identified five different types of reflective models: structured, hierarchical, iterative, synthetic and holistic.

While Quinn (1988, 2000) believes all models involve three underlying processes (retrospection, self-evaluation and reorientation), each model ranges in level of prescription, explanation, criticality and reflexivity.

With this in mind, I need a model that will encourage me to think critically on my practice, be evidence based and provide support for me to follow through on changes needed. A prescriptive model would provide great scaffolding to begin with.

Models	What is it?	Will this model work for me?
Gibbs Reflective Cycle Retrieved from	Idea being “theory and practice enrich each other in an never-ending circle.” Originally conceived as ‘debriefing sequence’.	Possibly. I like that it is cyclical and there are leading questions to guide reflection. A disadvantage would be that it is good in retrospect but would it push me forward to make change?
Jay and Johnson	Three dimensions: descriptive, comparative and critical reflection.	I like the comparative section where I could look at different perspectives.
Boud, Keogh and Walker	Three stage model. First, reflect on an experience, second stage attends to feelings. The final stage is re-evaluation of the experience  by looking at association, integration, validation and appropriation.	I don’t think this model will have enough scaffolding for me if I am just beginning to use a reflective model.
Johns Model of Structured Reflection	Based on five questions which help you to break down your experience and reflect on the process and outcomes.	A very detailed model of reflection that would support me, but it may be too prescriptive in nature. One for me to look into though.

Finlay (2008) reminds us that there are many models, but any model used “blindly or unthinkingly, can render practice more mechanical and externally subscribed.” In choosing a model, I read wider than Finlay’s (2008) article.

While further researching reflection models, I found Rolfe et al (2001) proposed a framework that uses Borton’s (1970) developmental model. With three cue words: What? So What? Now What?

  Retrieved from

While used in nursing, I like that this model is cyclical in nature and is simple and easy to remember. Online there are readily available supplementary questions that would help to guide my reflections. I could and would use this model in the classroom with learners. This model would be a good first step.

References:

Finlay, L. (2009) Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file/ecms/web-content/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf

Reflective Practice Activity 2: ​​Metacognitive reflection on learning and practice

Two of the five Key Competencies that I have developed the most over the last 24 weeks are Thinking and Relating to Others.

Before beginning learning at the Mindlab, I would have considered myself a reflective practitioner. However, over the last 24 weeks not only has my Thinking moved from my school context to my own practice, my thinking and reflections have deepened and become more examining and critical. In thinking about my learners from previous years, one concern I have always had is that I have never taught my learners to think deeply. Not only do I want to teach my learners to think critically, I too want to continue my life-long learning and deepen my thinking through metacognition.

I am by nature a shy introvert. I initially felt very nervous about Relating to Others I did not know. I believe that ‘collaboration’ is a concept too easily bandied about, without a true understanding of what it means and its differences to co-operation. True collaboration is hard, whether it is with people you know or not. Having the opportunity to collaborate on assignments has been such a blessing. I have learnt so much through discussion. We challenged each other to go beyond what we thought we could do and what was expected. We brought out the best in each other.

In order to me to share my ideas I need to have a safe and respectful environment. Establishing a culture of trust where you can be vulnerable to taking risks and potentially making mistakes is crucial, just as soil is to a growing plant. My learners need this environment also. In my classroom this year, I will be proactive in ensuring that all learners feel safe to take risks with their learning and that more taking is valued, as is learning from our mistakes - mine included.  

Two key changes in my practice are:

• seeking and valuing student voice, giving choice and leading to student-led learning
• teaching reflective thinking to learners and providing space for learners to reflect on their learning

Through the vehicle of Project Based Learning, I have been able to allow learners the opportunity to problem solve and lead their own learning in order to learn new knowledge and skills, then apply what they have learnt. Student choice leads to student voice and providing options for learners to take greater responsibility for their own learning puts them in the driver’s seat and they have more ownership over their own learning journey.

My next goal is to look into Assessment for Learning, and ensuring there is clarity around the learning, and that learning and thinking is visible in our classroom.

Reflective Practice Activity 1:​​Create reflective journal

Have you ever been stretched so far in your own learning that you were sure that you’d snap?

Image reference

That’s how I felt many times along the journey of study at the Mindlab by Unitec. While studying for a Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice (Digital and Collaborative), my pedagogy has changed, refined and assumptions have been challenged.

This blog provides a space for me to reflect on my learning.

I openly admit to being a learning addict - I learn like a sponge. I’m a thoughtful, risk-taking, limit-pushing teacher. I am comfortable being uncomfortable in my learning and teaching. I teach Year 3 and have taught in the middle school area of primary school for most of my career. I love their sense of humour. And it helps that they love mine!