Week 29 Professional Online Social Networks

Step 1 (Descriptive stage):

Before completing activity I was under the impression that I was using limited amounts of social media platforms for teaching or professional development.   After reflecting on what I put down on the survey it looks like social media is having a bigger influence on teaching and learning and professional development. 

I believe that social media is currently having a bigger impact on my Professional development because of my role as assistant Principal overlooking school wide professional development.

I am currently using the following social media platforms for professional development;

• Facebook
• Blogger
• Google+ communities
• Youtube
• Ted talks
• Vimeo
• Google sites, doc and slide
• Snapchat

Step 2 (Comparative stage): 
When comparing the social media forums that I use compared to my peers I am consistent with my choices.  The one platform that was popular that I don’t currently use is twitter.   This has been something I have been pondering for a while whether or not to join twitter.  My fear is that twitter could be another time waster, where you spend a lot of time looking through content that's not helpful.

Christina Zimmer makes this interesting statement about Twitter from an educator's perspective.

“Using Twitter can be an overwhelming experience for some educators, but the time investment in learning how it works pays huge dividends. There is no better platform for networking with other teachers” Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J. (2015)


Step 3 (critical reflection):

I believe there are a lot of positive implications using social media for professional development, including networking, problem solving, finding resources,recommendations from other professionals.  Essentially it connects us with educators not just locally but also nationally and internationally.

I will continue to use social media when looking to enhance professional development opportunities.   I may also join Twitter  and see if it pays huge dividends as suggested by Christina Zimmer.

Reference

Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J. (2015). What connected educators do differently. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com Created from unitec on 2018-05-30 20:30:22.

Week 32 Key Change in my Professional Practice

Step 1 (What): Identify one key change in your professional practice

The one key change that I will continue to focus on is ‘Collaboration’.   Why?  I don't have a choice.   In 18 months time we will be moving into our new learning spaces that are designed to promote collaborative practices.  As a primary trained teacher who has worked collaboratively with another teacher for 4 years, you might think that this would be an easy challenge.  But my context has significantly changed.  I no longer work in a primary school and I am assistant principal of a high school Year 7-13.  This in itself adds multiple levels of complication.

Step 2 (Now what): Evaluate the identified change

I will use the Cycle of Experiential Learning, is recommended by Osterman and Kottkamp, to evaluate the change.

Stage 1: Problem identification
We are moving into new learning spaces designed for significant changes to how we deliver the curriculum in Yr 7-10.   Teacher will not be able to work in silos or use single cell philosophies as the spaces are not designed for this.  The teachers who are currently working in Year 7 & 8 area lot more comfortable about this than there secondary school colleagues.

Stage 2: Observation and analysis
Since starting this new position in October 2018 I have collected data in the form of student voice through surveys and interviews about how effective the current delivery of the curriculum is going, and the well being of the students.  I have also gathered how effective relationships have been developed amongst teachers and students.  All data indicates that we need to improve engagement and the way that we deliver the curriculum.  Teachers also need to develop stronger relationships with their students with a focus on learning.

I have have also collected a significant amount of data around reading achievement.  This has identified a need to change how we teach literacy also.
We need to desilotise teaching in the secondary school.  The curriculum needs a complete shake up and we need to focus on contextual learning across the curriculum.   To do this using a secondary school timetable will be difficult, but it can be done if teachers a working collaboratively.

Stage 3: Abstract re conceptualisation
Change must start from where the thinking of each individual teacher not from where we want to get to.  For us it is important to make small strategic changes that will help and support us to direction we need to head. 
Last week I took 6 Head of Departments to Gisbon to visit Campion College.  Amongst those 6 were some ‘black hat’ teachers resistant or reluctant to change.  This was an opportunity to see with their own eyes what effective collaboration and context curriculum looks like.  This was a great experience for all of us and challenged all of our thoughts and ideas of the direction we are taking.  Most importantly our black hat teacher were on board with where we were heading.

Step 3 (What next) Share your next plan(s) regarding your future professional development or your future practice.
I am in a situation where we have to continue to move forward with unpacking collaborative teaching and curriculum development.   This is extremely exciting.  My next steps is to consult with our curriculum review team about strategic changes we need to make this year and next year to bridge the gap to where we want to get to.

I want to explore more schools that are using similar models and I also want to expose more staff to what we have already seen at Camion College.  Empower the early adopters to change and put supports in place for those who are reluctant to change

Week 31 Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness in my Practice

Step 1 (What): What is your understanding of indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness and what are the two of the areas mentioned above that you want to focus on for discussion?

I am extremely lucky to have worked in community that is extremely culturally diverse for the past decade.  I have seen at first hand the negative impact deficit theorising can have on a school culture and I have also seen  the positive impact that culturally responsive practices can have on a school community.
I believe our school vision ‘A centre of Creative Excellence’ does promote culturally responsive practices. As do our values of Commitment, Achievement Respect and Resilience.  I do believe that we need to improve our communication methods within our community.

Step 2 (So what): Evaluate your practice or your school practice in light of one of the following frameworks or use another one that you are familiar with.

Someone once asked me when you walk into your school or classroom does it reflect the culture of the teacher of the students?   I thought this was a great question and made me really think about my personal experience in the classroom and now that I am in senior management the school.
Our school is currently being rebuilt and we have just moved into stage 1 which includes student service, administration and learning commons.    The question that is on top for me is how do we ensure these space celebrate the cultural diversity of all our students and our community.
I personally believe that we are currently working in the purple area moving towards the green.  There are some aspects that we do really well.  We have a Year 7 & 8 Bilingual class, Strong Kapa Haka and Pasifika groups.  We have celebration evenings each year for our Māori, Pasifika and Filipino communities.  We identify Iwi at prize givings. 

 Step 3 (What next) What might you or your school need to consider or take action on to move up to the next level of cultural responsiveness? What are the next steps?

There is definitely a need to make improvements with how we communicate with our community.  We need to engage and consult with our Māori, Pasifika and Filipino communities much more effectively and start the conversation with what are your expectations of us as a school?   What can we do better and how can we support your whānau?
We are currently at developing a Pasifika parent support group.  The aim of this group will be to engage with our pasifika community and grow stronger links with them in our community.  We would provide information evenings around student achievement, NCEA, university scholarships, careers etc.
Other ways we need to improve is having consultations on neutral ground and utilising local rugby clubrooms to hold these and consult with them when a good time would be for this.
Our biggest hurdle I believe is that as a school, how can we create an environment where it is cool to be Māori?  We currently have a lot of Māori students who do not identify themselves as Māori.

Reference

Milne, B.A. (2013). Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools. (Doctoral Thesis, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10289/7868

Week 30 - Contemporary Trends in New Zealand or Internationally.

Step 1 (What): Identify one trend that is most relevant to your practice. 

The current trend that is most relevant to my practice is the impact on digital learning.  Whether we like it or not as educators when our students walk into our classrooms we are competing with Youtube, Netflix, Playstation, Fortnight and multiple other high engaging digital platforms.   If we do not compete with these in the classroom the our students will become disengaged. 

Embracing digital technologies and the affordances of digital technologies in the classroom has significant positive impacts to the students learning from, improving student agency, personalised learning, visible teaching and learning, realtime feedforward and feedback and the ability to create more authentic context with an authentic world wide audience.

I have been on a journey for the past 4 years developing a 1:1 digital curriculum.  This topic is most definitely relevant to my practice.

Step 2 (So What): Analyze how the identified trend impacts global and New Zealand education.

‘The workplace has changed in fundamental ways.

Unfortunately, our education system is not preparing

students for this changing work environment.’ Daggett, B. (2014)

As educators we need to ask ourselves this question.  Is our education system preparing our students for the future?  The students in our classrooms are digital natives.  They have access to multiple forms of digital technologies and can access information and knowledge at their fingertips.   So if we are still insisting on delivering a knowledge based curriculum where we see our role as educators as pouring knowledge into vessels and assessing on what knowledge they have retained , we are doing a disservice to them.   We are not preparing them for the future.

In my context the affordances of digital technologies has eliminated some of the socio economic barriers that children in low decile schools face.  With access to a digital device they now have global access and the ability to experience learning in different context.  It caters to different learning styles and promotes collaboration.

Digital learning has had the most significant influence on my teaching and learning philosophy.  My focus has moved from teaching knowledge full of keep busy tasks to learning how to learn, creating and sharing. 

Step 3 (Now What): Critique and evaluate practice in the context of different audiences (local, national and/or international) and their perspectives.

How has this trend been addressed by local, national or global educational organisations?
Digital learning continues to grow exponentially in education globally, nationally and locally. 
In my context  my school is part of the Manaiakalani outreach programme.  We are working collaboratively with 6 other schools under the Uru Mānuka cluster.  The entire local community is benefiting from the use of digital learning with significant gains in student achievement across the cluster in writing, greater than the national average.

Nationally the Manaiakalani is expanding significantly throughout New Zealand which is allowing more students to have access to digital technologies and a framework of learning the accelerate student achievement.

Globally game based learning, apps and other affordances of digital technologies are being developed refined and improved which have a significant impact of how students learn.

What limitations/barriers/opportunities might impact the adoption of this trend for other educators across NZ?

The limitations for digital technologies is the cost of them and also the willingness of the educator to upskill or adapt their pedagogy.
There are limitless opportunities for educators to collaborate, network be exposed to best practice within New Zealand or globally.

What changes might need to be adopted in your context?

To continue to research best practice pedagogy and not rely on status quo.  There is always room for growth.  As a leader it’s also important to ensure teachers feel supported in this area and understand why we are doing what we are doing.
How might the curriculum be delivered to equip the students with adequate competencies to cope with or adapt to the trend?
We have developed a graduate profile which focuses on the key competencies.   The front half of the curriculum is more important to us than the back half. 

Reference

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

Week 28. Legal and Ethical Contexts in my Digital Practice

Activity 4

I will be reflecting on my ethical dilemma using Rolfe et al.’s (2001) model of reflection.

What?
My ethical dilemma that I will be reflecting on involved a student who posted an inappropriate video of themselves on the their facebook page.  This was done at home and not during school hours.  It was brought to my attention when a group of concerned students approached me to tell me that this video was being shared amongst students and they were concerned about the students wellbeing.

The information that I was given from these students about the details of the video were a major concern to me as it involved nudity.  Our school policy states that police must be informed about this so they can take over the investigation.   I made contact with our community police officer who promptly came into school to talk to the student involved in the video.   Home was also contacted and asked to come into school to discuss this matter.

As a school our first priority was the students health and safety and making sure that there were going to be supports put in place to assist her and her family to remove the video off facebook.
This is why the Police were involved.  They have better systems and networks to deal with this situation, but it also keeps us as teachers  safe, so we would not be exposed to the content of the video.

The police were able to remove the original video off Facebook, but unfortunately copies had been made and people were continuing to upload the video.   The police did a further investigation and came back to school with some concerns.   A couple of students had commented on the post asking the student to post more videos.   Because the student in the video is under the age of 16 this matter had to be taken very seriously and the students could  be charged for this.  The Police needed to interview these students.

As a school we contacted the families of the students and arranged a time for the police to speak to the students with the support of the family member.  This was an extremely big wake up call from these students who hadn’t quite understood the implications of what they had done.

As a school it was also important that we were also looking out for the health and safety of the students who were being questioned by the Police.

The outcome for these students was a stern warning from the police and a big lesson learnt.  This was a terrible situation as it had the potential to be serious convictions for the students who commented and an extremely dangerous situation for the student involved in the video.

So what?

This model highlights that the context, forces, and decision-making processes impact individuals or groups facing ethical dilemmas. There are five main parts to the model (Ehrich et al., 2011).

• The critical incident, which triggers the ethical dilemma.
• A set of competing forces, each of which impacts on decision-making from its own particular bias.
• The individual’s values, beliefs, and ethical orientations in relation to the dilemma.
• The choice, which could be no action or the action taken formally or informally, internally or externally.
• The action (or non-action) can create particular types of implications for the individual, organisation and the community, and from which new incidents or dilemmas can arise.

Reflecting on this model, I am confident that I made the correct decisions when working through this dilemma. This is a great example of knowing your school policies and sticking to them.   The reason why we hand these situations over to the police is that it keeps everyone safe including the staff involved.
This was an extremely sensitive situation for all involved, and communication was the key to satisfy all stakeholders involved including students, staff, whānau, police and the principal.

Now what?
After this experience we review our cell phone policies for Yr 7 and 8 students.  We made changes to this policy which restrict the use of cell phones from 8:30 - 3:00pm.
This has been extremely successful and fully supported by our community. 

So far this year I have dealt with 1 phone related issue in Yr 7 & 8, compared to the 5-6 issues a week I was dealing with last year.   We have also addressed having a positive digital footprint in our Cyber smarts programme.

Reference

Ehrich L.C., Kimber M., Millwater J. & Cranston N. (2011) Ethical Dilemmas: A Model to Understand Teacher Practice, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice: Vol 17(2); pp 173-185 DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2011.539794

Week 19: Contribution of Teacher Inquiry Topics to my Communities of Practice

Descriptive

My two inquiry topics.

The two inquiry topics that I have chosen are ‘Implementing digital technology in the classroom, and ‘Developing a growth Mindset’  (Carol Dweck).

During my reflection on ‘The role of current emerging technologies’ I found myself referencing the SAMR model a lot.   I think that this is an area that I want to inquire into and unpack with the teachers in the Year 7 & 8 team.

Developing a growth Mindset is also of huge interest to me.  The children that I work with really struggle in this area. They are afraid of failure and often disengage from learning when they find it to hard.

My Communities of practice

• School Staff
• Senior Leadership Team
• Year 7 & 8 Team
• Professional Learning Group (aligned to my TAI)
• Uru Manuka
• The Mindlab

Comparative

Implementing digital technology in the classroom

My Community view

To ensure that teachers and students are getting the biggest impact from the affordances of digital technologies they need to understand the SAMR model and ensure that they are creating learning opportunities that are ‘modification and redefinition’ on the SAMR scale.  We don’t want chromebooks being used as a really expensive textbook.

Research

“At this level (Redefinition) we see dramatic improvements in student outcomes.  This is the level at which students who were failing are now successful and the students who were already successful are going places you’ve never seen students go before.” Ruben Puentedura

Growth Mindset

My Community view

That all children in the right environment and support networks has the ability learn.   They need to understand what the learning process is and strategies to use when they are in the learning pit and finding learning difficult.

Research

Empirical studies have revealed that growth mindset has positive effects on student motivation and academic performance (Dweck, C. 2009)(Blackwell, L.S. 2007)

“Recent research has also shown that mindset is related to student outcomes and behaviors including academic achievement, engagement, and willingness to attempt new challenges.”(Vedder-Weiss, 2013) (Yeager, D.S.; Dweck, C.S. 2012)

Critical Reflection

I am pleased that I have chosen two inquiry topics that I can see will have a positive impact on what I am already doing.  This will complement and strengthen my Professional Learning Group and Teacher as Inquiry.

Because I can see real purpose to both of these topics and see how they can connect, this will give me motivation to research and gain a better understanding of both of these areas.  

Week 18: My reflections on the role of current and emerging technologies

Describe - What Happened?

Using the affordances of digital technologies has been a major focus for my teaching practice over the past 4 years and continues to be a focuss. In my new role as assistant principal I have to essentially start from scratch in terms of growing knowledge of effective pedagogy that is supported by the affordances of digital technologies.  The classrooms are all 1:1, all teachers are using sites to deliver the curriculum and to promote visible teaching and learning.

However there is room for improvement and an opportunity to look at the SAMR model in depth would be helpful for the team.

Feelings - What were you thinking about?

We have an outstanding platform to work off.  The children expect a digital curriculum. The teachers are all enthusiastic about working in a digital classroom, and we are resourced to improve and grow teachers understanding of delivering Learn, Create, Share.  So I am happy with where we are and have a clear idea where we need to head.

Evaluation - What was good and bad about the experience?

In most cases the children are engaged and the teachers are enthusiastic. It’s about keeping the momentum going in the right direction.  By looking at the SAMR model and unpacking what that looks like in each teachers context will help them grow professional. It will enable them to reflect on their own practice and question whether or not they are using the affordances of digital technologies effectively

Analysis - What sense can you make of the situation?

Our school hasn’t just gone down the road of; ‘that simply introducing new ICT tools and infrastructure into schools will trigger beneficial and meaningful educational change’.  We have implemented these four strategies to support educational ICT developments: providing enabling tools and infrastructure; providing inspiring ideas and opportunities to connect ideas; enhancing capability; and supporting innovation.

A chromebook isn’t the silver bullet to solve all problems, its the pedagogy that is supported by the technology that has the greatest impact on student achievement.

Conclusion - What else could have you done?

Although I think I have a good idea about how technology is being used in the classroom, I need to dig a little deeper.  By knowing and understanding what each individual teacher is doing in terms of using the affordances of digital technologies to support Learn, Create, Share, I will have a better ability to provide support in key areas and grow leadership within the team to support others.

Action Plan - If it arose again what would you do?

Is there effective use of digital technologies in the Year 7 & 8 team?  Yes absolutely, but it could be better. I am really keen to unpack the SAMR model with the team and get them to reflect on their teaching practice when teaching in a digital curriculum.

Week 17: Activity 1: My Reflective Practice

Descriptive

What is happening?

Over the past few years I have become a reflective practitioner.  The two main reason why I have developed this skill, is because I was involved in two important initiatives at my previous school which would lead to school wide change.  The first initiative was running a collaborative classroom (team teaching) and the other initiative was creating a digital classroom with 1:1 devices. Because I was leading these initiatives it was important to reflect on what was working, what wasn’t working and what we need to do to make it successful.  I found that putting some of these reflections on a blog was very useful.

The majority of my reflection was introspective thinking, but due to the nature of the initiatives there was also Intersubjective reflection, especially when team teaching.  I find that real time reflection when team teaching was very effective, whether that be teacher to teacher or teacher to student. I find collecting student voice as powerful tool and use this in my reflection.

I feel that currently I mainly use reflection-on-action rather reflection–in-action, but I am much more comfortable not at reflection in action.   

Is this working and for whom?

In my previous role this was working well for me, but also for the others involved in the initiatives.  I have found that in my new role I am less reflective and my blog has been dormant for a while now.

If I am wanting to implement change in my current position then it is important that I get back to being a reflective practitioner.

How am I feeling?

I was happy about my reflective practise, but after this task it has made me realise that I may have lost my way in this area.  I need to get back to being more proactive in this area. By recording my ideas it makes me think about what it is I am trying to achieve, what worked, what didn’t and what are my next steps.   

What do I not understand?

When do I have the time?  How can I manage this to make it sustainable?  What comes off the pile for this to go on the pile and stay there?

Comparative

How do other people involved or indirectly involved describe what is happening?

Zeichner and Liston’s Five Levels of Reflection survey tells me that I use the following levels of reflection;

• Rapid reflection
• Repair
• Review
• Retheorizing and reformulating

Brookfield (1995) tells me that I use both the ‘Dance and Stance’ characteristics in critical reflection.

Quinn (1988, 2000) tells me that I use

• retrospection
• self-evaluation

How does research contribute to an understanding of this matter?

I have never done any research about reflective practices before, so what it does do is paints a picture of how I reflect.   I also think that there are so many different theories that one could get consumed by all of the different theories and become confused or overwhelmed.  At the end of the day if you are reflecting it is better that not.

How can I improve what is not working?

I need to find one model that I am comfortable at using and that makes sense to my context.  I need to get back to blogging more and make sure that the right people are seeing my reflections so they are able to contribute to them.

Critical Reflection

What are the implications of the matter when viewed from these alternative perspectives?

The implications from this reflection is that now I am no longer team teaching and in a non contact management role, I have lost the person who I spent a lot of time reflecting with on a day to day bases.  It is important that I connect or reconnect with a professional partner to get back to being a reflective practitioner.

How does this reflective process inform and renew my perspective?

This has been a good wake up call for me and renewed the importance of being a reflective practitioner.  For me in my new role this is really important if I want to be an effective leader of change. By sharing my reflections it gives others the opportunity to give their perspective about any of the issues or problems that I have come across, which could help solve these.  By sharing my reflections it may also help others who are faced with similar challenges.