Week 32- Activity 8: Key change in my professional practice

Step 1 (What):

These 32 weeks journey at Mind lab has been like a roller coaster ride with lots of  fun, challenges, amazement and of course the hard work. Being a full time teacher, undoubtedly there had been pressures of keeping up with the readings and doing the assignments, but at the end, it was all worth it . This course has enabled me to step out of my comfort zone and try new things for the benefit of my learners. Also engaging  and getting support from my Mind lab peers especially during the times when I got stuck with the assignment has made me to reflect upon how my learners feel when they find the tasks challenging and difficult.

One of the key change in my professional practice that I will evaluate in this blog entry is the ‘learning focused culture’ that comes out from the Standards for the Teaching Profession (Ministry of Education, 2017).

Step 2 (Now what):

I will be using , The Cycle of Experimental learning Model, suggested by Osterman and KottKamp (2015, p.70) to explain broadly the change in my practice.

Stage 1: Problem identification

While doing this course, I realised how much teacher centered was my approach. Students were too much reliant on me to keep them on the task. They lacked the  motivation, engagement and self managing skills.

Stage 2: Observation and analysis

Through classroom observations and video analysis, I noticed that I was controlling students learning, behaviour and designing of the learning tasks. Also there was lack of student engagement and motivation as the tasks that was given to student would just keep them hooked in for max. 5-10 minutes and then they would disengage. I also noticed that students were highly motivated and excited to work on digital tools.

Stage 3: Abstract re conceptualization

In week 14, I learnt about the necessity of  student voice and student agency in today’s classroom. McDaniel (2012, p.346) notes that “giving students the sense that they have control and the power to affect their own learning is one of the great challenges of contemporary education”.

This learning has led me to change the culture of the classroom into more student centered where the  students are given the locus of control of their learning.

Stage 4: Active experimentation

Through student voice I came to know about for example what topics were my students interested to write about and designed the learning tasks accordingly that could bring engagement. Also taking into note that how enthusiastic were my students to work on iPads, I implemented blended learning where students used the digital tools for reading and writing. Although it’s still at the very beginning stage. But this approach will help students to lead their learning at their own pace.

Step 3 (What next)

In future, I would like to explore more about the see saw app. and design my own lesson plans and videos to successfully incorporate blended learning into my classroom.  There would be a purpose for each learning task and it would be linked to the different curriculum areas. Also with the use of this app. I am planning to introduce blogging to my students next year as it will open up the boundaries and  provide my students with more authentic audience from all around the world who will give real feedback. In the meantime, I will consolidate all the learning that I have learnt through this course and continue to implement it into my classroom.

REFERENCES:.

Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators : professional development to improve student learning.(2nd ed.) New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Lindgren, R., & McDaniel, R. (2012). Transforming Online Learning through Narrative and Student Agency. Educational Technology & Society, 15(4), 344–355.

Ministry of Education (2017). Our code, our standards. Retrieved from

https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards

Week 31- Activity 7- INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE AND CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS IN MY PRACTICE

Using Rolfe’s model of reflection:

Step 1 (What):

Culture is central to learning. I believe that it not only helps in facilitating communication, but also shaping the thinking process of groups or individuals. A pedagogy where there is cultural disconnect often leads to poor  self concepts, academic outcomes or behaviour problems for ethnic minorities. New Zealand being a home for many different cultures and ethnic groups, therefore, a pedagogy that is culturally responsive is fundamental. Gay (2001, p.106) defines, culturally responsive pedagogy as“using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”. It’s reflected in knowledge about cultural diversity, the culturally integrated content in the curriculum, the development of the learning community, the ability to communicate with culturally diverse students and culturally responsive delivery of instruction.

According to Bishop (2012) and also the research from the Te Kotahitanga project (2001) suggests that, it is the agentic teachers who are the key of making difference to the Maori students. These teachers creates learning context  where the Maori students can bring themselves, their experiences, their own cultural understandings to the learning conversation.

I will consider how my school practice has been informed by indigenous knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy in two areas :

·      Vision, mission and core values

·      School-wide activities

.Step 2 (So what):

Vision, mission and core values

Our school has a clear vision of our school whakatauki/ motto,  ‘Whakapono kia koe’ meaning ‘believe in yourself’’ to prepare our students to be successful learners. Every letter of ‘WHAKAPONO’  represents our school value.

                        SCHOOL VALUES

               

These values are taught in the classrooms and is also embedded in our school culture.

Our school population mainly consists of Maori and Pasifika students. The school curriculum strongly affirms the identity of Maori and Pasifika learners. Our Maori and Samoan bilingual units demonstrate our school strong commitment to biculturalism and bilingual education. He Pua Mai i Rangiatea provides a cultural setting where students are immersed in te reo Māori me ona tikanga. Students take pride in the recognition and acknowledgement of Māori values and tikanga. They proudly participate at school pōwhiri, with senior students leading whaikōrero, waiata and haka. The Samoan units similarly affirm students’ home languages and cultural identity. Parents actively contribute to the school’s curriculum and frequently visit classrooms to support their children’s learning.

School-wide activities

We also have minority students from other culture and our school celebrates different language weeks to appreciate and value these cultures. But Milne (2017) argues that cultural identity is not a thing that needs to be celebrated on certain occasions such as cultural weeks, rather teachers and school should embrace student cultural identity at every opportunity throughout curriculum and learning activities, school policies and events.

Using Pohatu’s (2011) Mauri model , I would place my school’s vision, mission and values at the Mauri Ora  (highly motivated and committed) whereas the school wide activities is at Mauri Oho ( has begun to participate and engage).

Step 3 (What next):

I think that other cultures and ethnicities should be acknowledged and valued the same way as we do it  for our Maori and pasifika students. We can develop our culturally responsive pedagogy further by not  just limiting ourselves  to celebrating  only different language weeks,  but also incorporating these cultures into everyday teaching practices and learning activities. Reflecting on what Milne (2017) mentioned in ‘colouring in the white spaces’,  we as the mainstream teachers need to change the colours of the space, so that the space fits the children and they don’t have to constantly adjust to fit in. This will help to nurture and sustain the cultural identity of the students.

REFERENCES:

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T. & Teddy, L. (2009).Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5),734–742.

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

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

Milne, A.(2017).Coloring in the white spaces: reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.

Pohatu, T. W. (2011). Mauri - Rethinking human wellbeing. MAI Review, 3, 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.review.mai.ac.nz/index. php/MR/article/v...

ACTIVITY 6-The Broader Professional Context

Using Rolfe’s model of reflection

“Investing in education technology is no longer an option, but a necessity….students unable to navigate through a complex digital landscape will no longer be able to participate fully in economic, social and cultural life around them” Andreas Schleicher OECD Education Director.

STEP 1- (WHAT)

In the rapidly evolving global economy one of the most potential disruptive emerging trend is the  ‘Impact of digital learning’ (Daggett, B., 2014). This trend  captivates my attention the most as most of our students are digital natives or net-generation. According to Prensky (2001a, p. 1), Digital Natives had “spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, video games, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age”. Therefore, as educators it is important to make learning relevant for our students by embracing  the power of technology. This year through Mind Lab, I learnt about blended learning and hence got the motivation to implement this new way of teaching into my classroom. The ipads are the main tool that my students use during blended learning. I believe I am still at the very beginning stage, but can already see the enthusiasm and success in my students learning.

STEP 2- (SO WHAT)

As majority of the teachers in our school were doing Mind lab this year,  Blended learning was one of the aspect of digital learning that most of the teachers at our school implemented into their classrooms.  This new approach has been gaining popularity in recent years because it’s a combination of e-Learning and traditional class. According to Kelley & Gorham (2009), one of the advantages of this approach is that the teacher’s presence in the face to face sessions lessens psychological distance between them and the learners and leads to greater learning. Also it offers pedagogical richness, access to knowledge, social interaction and personal agency  (Osguthorpe, R. T., & Graham, C. R. ,2003 ).  This approach also presents some challenges. One of the barriers adopting this approach is  the increased time commitment necessary to develop and administer this  new way of teaching and learning. Teachers fear that they will need to do lot of rework, such as making and designing new lesson plans. According to Sharim and Khalif (2010), a lack in computer skills causes failure in e-learning and blended learning.  However, the pros of this approach outweighs it’s cons.

STEP 3- (NOW WHAT)

The schools that will flourish in this new environment will be the one that embrace digital learning and willing to disrupt their traditional delivery systems by creating a new hybrid. They will embrace the best of both systems (Daggett, B., 2014). Our school has begin to create 21^st century learning environment by slowly equipping the classrooms with the digital devices and encouraging teachers  to take on courses like Mind Lab or professional development that will help them to successfully integrate technology into the classrooms. Our school is also running programmes like ‘computers in home’ to help our parents/local community to learn the basic computer skills, access to internet and emails. Also at the end of the programmes some families are given free computers. The main aim of this programme is to help parents get more involved into their child’s learning. We need to change our thinking that just allowing students to use digital devices is not enough to improve their learning outcomes. We as teachers need to understand how and why will the classroom change before implementing a digital device programme and what their role will be.

References:

Daggett, B. (2014). Addressing Current and Future Challenges in Education. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/2014MSC_AddressingCurrentandFutureChallenges.pdf

Kelley, D. H. & Gorham, J. (2009) Effects of immediacy on recall of information. Communication Education, 37(3), 198–207.

Osguthorpe, R. T., & Graham, C. R. (2003). Blended learning systems: Definitions and

directions. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 4(3), 227-234.

Prenksy, M. (2001a). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5). http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20- %20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf

Shraim, K., & Khlaif, Z. N. (2010). An e-learning approach to secondary education in Palestine: opportunities and challenges. Information Technology for Development, 16(3), 159–173.