Changes in Practice

I have thoroughly enjoyed my MindLab journey that has taken place over the past 32 weeks. One highlight for me was being able to connect, share and learn from other passionate colleagues and educators. The first 16 weeks of face to face sessions were extremely valuable and I gained so much from being an active participant in this group. I value the networks and friendships that I have been able to create. The input from secondary school teachers reaffirmed all the hard work and professional development that my school has undertaken over the last several years around collaboration. It also made me acknowledge the journey that the New Zealand Education system has ahead of us to put our early childhood, primary, secondary and tertiary levels of schooling on the same page to develop consistency and greater opportunities for our learners.

Two key changes I have made in my own practice:

One of the key changes I have made to my practice is around fostering student agency in the classroom. The following image clearly identifies the progressive levels of student agency in inquiry in the class and this is an image I have referred to several times as I plan learning experiences in my classroom.

Mackenzie, (2011). 

The second key change I have made is the ability to delve deeper into the key competencies and further unpack the skills needed for 21st century learners. The following research conducted by ITL Research has guided my thinking and planning and is a document that I have shared with several colleagues. (http://www.itlresearch.com/images/stories/reports/21cld%20learning%20activity%20rubrics%202012.pdf)

My next challenges...

The course content focused on Leadership theories and styles certainly opened my eyes up to new ways of thinking and understanding leaders who I have been influenced by. I was able to see leadership through a new lens and begin to identify aspects of leadership styles that resonate with me. I feel I have many qualities that would make me a great leader and I will call on this newly learned knowledge and research as I further develop as a leader in my school.

References:

Mackenzie, T. (2011) Types of Student Inquiry. Retrieved March 24, 2017 from: https://www.edutopia.org/article/bringing-inquiry-based-learning-into-your-class-trevor-mackenzie

Crossing Boundaries and Creating Connectedness

Broughton (2017) recently published an article titled In-utero anxiety from Christchurch earthquakes showing up at school. She discusses how schools and parents in Christchurch are noticing higher levels of anxiety, stress and specific learning needs as a result of the Christchurch earthquakes. Over my 6 year teaching career I have certainly noticed a significant increase in children and the complexity of their needs since the earthquakes. As a result of this, I have been forced to seek expert advice from outside agencies in order to support the growing demand of diverse learners in my class. Working collaboratively with others has certainly increased my own professional knowledge and understanding as well as the outcomes for my learners. Andrews (1990) defines interdisciplinary collaboration as occurring "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 diagram below identifies the current outside agencies and specialists I am currently liaising with in order to meet the needs of all children in my class.

Created at Bubbl.us

As a primary school teacher I teach all disciplines throughout the day. We think carefully when planning and aim to integrate learning across as many curriculum areas as possible in order to create more effective and rich learning opportunities for our students. For example, a science unit on space would be integrated into many areas such as inquiry, mathematics, reading, writing and art. I believe this is something primary teachers do really well as we have the freedom to manipulate the daily timetable. I feel that this approach to teaching and learning can provide students with opportunities to think deeper, see purpose for learning and increase their wonderings and questioning. I have seen real success with integration like this in the class. I found the Ross Institute video (Ross Institute, 2015) a really interesting look at how this model could work in a secondary setting. Mathison and Freeman (1997) state interdisciplinarity seeks to combine two or more disciplines to enhance learning while still keeping each area distinct. I think this would work well in our currently ‘siloed’ secondary system as each subject is still taught as a subject while following the systems thinking model of the Ross Learning System (2015).

References:

Berg-Weger, M., &. Schneider, F. D. (1998). Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 34, 97-107.

Broughton, C. (2017). In-utero anxiety from Christchurch earthquakes showing up at school. Retrieved From: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/90619094/inutero-anxiety-from-christchurch-earthquakes-showing-up-at-school

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:

Ross Institute. (2015, July 5). Ross Spiral Curriculum: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Science. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHZhkB0FJik