Applied Practice in Context - Activity 10

Summarising My Postgraduate Learning Journey

I began this journey in July 2015.  Initially I was drawn to the digital content and opportunities to explore other ways that I could include technology within my own practice.   Little did I know how the following 32 weeks would stretch me in multiples ways as I uncovered how I lead, teach and reflect.

Having been left with more than a plate of 'food for thought' at the end of this road, I will need to carefully pick the next route in my learning journey.

Practising Teacher Criteria in eLearning

How does my current practice in eLearning relate to the 12 criteria as illustrated on the Ministry of Education's enabling eLearning website?  The following are three examples of where I feel I have best met the criteria:

1.  Professional relationships and professional values

• Criteria 2:  Demonstrate commitment to promoting the well-being of ākonga.

How do I use eLearning effectively to actively promote the well-being of all ākonga/learners for who I am responsible?   

Creating positive digital citizens was a learning objective that I undertook with my Year 5&6 learners in 2015.  One of the ways that I did this in an authentic learning environment, was to sign my class up to KidsedchatNZ. This weekly 'chat' on Twitter provided my students with opportunities to read and write online, in a safe environment.  They learned how to respond to questions in an appropriate manner (and with only 140 characters), as well as how to protect their identity by not using full names or including any personal information, e.g. address.

KidsedchatNZ is a fantastic way to build an understanding around digital citizenship.  My students not only established some online relationships, but they also began to understand the power of online communication and how it's so important to think and reread before pushing the 'tweet' button.

2.  Professional relationships and professional values

• Criteria 4:  Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

Prior to enrolling with Mind Lab's Postgraduate certificate, I was a member of several groups on the Virtual Learning Network (VLN) and regularly posted and joined in with discussions on Twitter. These were important online arenas for learning from, contributing to and supporting others with regards to not only eLearning, but education in general.   I began to form online relationships with other educators who had similar needs and together we gathered answers to our questions.  

This online professional learning and development increased once my Postgraduate journey began.  I have joined more online communities through Google+ and also added several new blogs to my 'reading' list - some global and others belong to fellow Postgraduate educators.   In addition to these sources, I have also been made aware of online learning areas, e.g. Blendspace, which can be a 'go to' if I require ideas to support my learners.

In addition to these online spaces, I feel that I have demonstrate commitment to my own professional development and learning by independently enrolling and continuing my personal growth through The Mind Lab Postgraduate programme.

3.  Professional knowledge in practice

• Criteria 8:  Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn.

During the process of completing my DCL1 assignment, I gained answers as to why some of my students were not feeling very positive about writing.   By gathering student voice and having them complete a survey, I had a better understanding as to how my ākonga/students learn - and how they would like to learn.

After completing this assignment, I made changes to my practice so that these students could take more ownership for their learning.   They were able to have a greater choice about what they were writing, so long as they were demonstrating an understanding of the learning intention, e.g. language features and genre.   Some of the boys wanted video coverage for writing motivation, so we shared videos of interest, talked about what we saw and heard.  This lead to a brainstorm of vocabulary and excitement about writing that had not previously existed within these students.  

This change in practice proved to be very powerful.  Getting student voice enabled me to understand how they learn.  It is definitely something that I will continue to do with all ākonga.

Areas of Improvement

The following are two examples of where I feel that I need to improve on:

1.  Professional relationships and professional values

• Criteria 1:  Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of all ākonga.

The guiding question here is - how do I embrace eLearning to establish and develop working relationships with my ākonga, their whānau, and my colleagues to support the learning of those I teach?

I am currently in a Year 1&2 learning environment where technology is limited, but steadily growing - and so too is the capability of these young learners.   While they are not using digital tools in the same way as my previous Year 5&6 learners had been, they are able to take photos, record voice and video. These are used widely to capture learning which is then uploaded to their individual blogs.   

So, while evidence of learning is currently included in our day-to-day practice, I feel that there is a lot of room for improvement in relationships with the Learners' whānau.   Many of the Learners come from homes where English is not their first language.  This leads me to question whether the current methods of communication, e.g. email and SignMe, are appropriate.  Can the parents/caregivers access these messages that are in English?   

Also, evidence suggests that the Learners' blogs are not being viewed by their parents/caregivers. Each time a Narrative Assessment is posted to their blog (a minimum of 12 times per year), an email is sent home with notification and a link attached.  Yet the blog's page views indicate that the blogs are not being viewed.   This is something that I would like to get rectified.   The question is... how?

2.   Professional knowledge in practice

• Criteria 6:  Conceptualise, plan, and implement an appropriate learning programme.

My fellow colleagues and I have identified that our planned learning is not meeting the needs of all 87 Learners in our learning habitat.   Reasons for this are due to limited understanding of English, varied cultural backgrounds and possibly also due to an unreadiness for learning.  

An area that I would like to explore in the immediate future is how eLearning can support and extend what I am trying to achieve when planning programmes of work for groups and individuals.

What eLearning tools are they currently using?  What are their needs and what are they capable of using independently or collaboratively?     

I am considering using QR codes and teaching videos to support independent learning.  In addition to this, I am interested in finding out more about 'design' learning and how this could be incorporated with 'play-based' learning to support our young Learners who have limited english vocabulary and to also ease the transition from the New Entrants learning habitat which predominantly follows that play-based learning model.

There are many questions to be answered and research to be explored before we can implement an appropriate learning programme, but I am excited about being an agent of change.  21st century learning is quite different to that which I experienced as a student and I'm delighted to be a part of it.

Applied Practice in Context - Activity 9

Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness

This week's topic has made me question our curriculum, what I plan for learning and the subject matter that I cover.   Have I been enabling opportunities to engage with indigenous knowledge and is my practice including culturally responsive pedagogy?

Colonialism vs Cultural Responsiveness

Colonialism brought an education system to New Zealand that made it difficult to include any alternative cultural ways and beliefs.  The spoken language within the school grounds was to be English.   Indigenous knowledge and culture was ignored and forbidden - to the extent that children were punished for speaking in te reo (Wikipedia, 2016).

Since the 1970's, our education system has slowly been moving away from the apron strings of an english education system.  I consider myself to be receptive of other cultures and practices.  During my childhood, I lived in South Auckland and attended schools that were a melting pot of Māori, Polynesian, Asian and European students.  Since leaving school, I have travelled extensively and prior to teaching, I worked within a company that required me to travel regularly to China.  However, I have come to realise that having knowledge of another culture does not mean that I am being culturally responsive.

I respect cultural beliefs, e.g. no sitting on tables, touching of heads or expecting eye contact from all students. Te reo is used in the classroom, posters sharing language and cultural events are displayed on the wall, we play games from different cultures and read legends - but I'm now understanding that this doesn't mean that I am fully engaging with culturally responsive pedagogy.  As Mike Hogan mentions in his video, I need to "stop doing the surface stuff."  I'm still the one planning and organising what is being recognised and understood, rather than inviting the students and community to share their knowledge.

Gonzalez et al (2005) suggest that the,

 "key elements of culturally responsive pedagogy positions students and their communities as having funds of knowledge and expertise directly related to their lived experiences."

Planning often includes an inquiry or pathway to support student understanding of our environment and the world around us.   It was interesting to view Vicky Tauli-Corpuz's video, 'Understanding Indigenous Worldviews' and to hear about the tension between modern scientists versus cultural traditional knowledge.  Are we looking for new answers to environmental problems when instead, we should be looking to the past and exploring the practices of indigenous people?

Current Practice

How do I and my school address cultural responsiveness in practice?

School-wide Activities

My school is in its second year of operation.  We are what has been labelled as an 'Innovative Learning Environment' where the learning takes place in open-plan and flexible learning spaces.  The current role is sitting at 260 Learners and is rapidly growing as a result of the housing growth in the surrounding area. 

The inclusion of culturally responsive practice is still in its developing stage.  Our school logo is made up of koru shaped pieces which reflect our four vision principles.

In the foundation year of 2015, the school reached out to the Nga Tai iwi on the Umupuia Marae in order to make connections with the people and the land where the school is positioned.  Our eBoT and SLT met with members of the iwi in consultation for the opening, names of our spaces and to learn appropriate waiata.   We have a 'hui' twice a week to welcome new Learners and there are several cultural groups that run during the day and after school, e.g. kapahaka, desi dance, sign language and mandarin classes.

Our school's demographic make-up is unique with its large proportion of Chinese 26% and Indian 25% Learners.  We also have a number of Learners from the Kelston Deaf School who attend each day to learn within our learning habitats.  This opens up many opportunities to look at our culturally responsive practice and ensure that we are identifying and including the cultural background of all Learners as well as communicating effectively with the parents, caregivers and whānau to seek their expertise and involvement in their child's education.

Learning Activities

According to the Code of Ethics for Certified Teachers, I have a commitment to the parents/guardians and family/whānau of learners to involve them in the decision-making about the care and education of their children.   This activity encouraged me to step back and view how I have been planning for the learning in the past, as well as within my current learning environment.    Am I using a cultural lens?

My currently learning environment is a large open space that I share with three other Learning Coaches to support 87 Learners.   We are in discussion at the moment as we reflect on how we are meeting - or not meeting, the learning outcomes as planned.   Some systems and procedures are not being as effective as they should be and so our planning will be changing to make a difference.   This will be an ideal opportunity to consider involving the parent/whānau in the learning by inviting them to a meeting to share up-and-coming learning so that they may have a chance to contribute.  We could follow this up with another meeting to share and celebrate the learning journey and learning outcomes.

Enabling the contribution of indigenous people to assist culturally responsive practice is now on my radar.  I'm looking forward to seeing where this takes me and my Learners.

References

Gonzalez N., Moll L., Amanti C., (2005). Funds of knowledge: Theorising practices in households, communities and classrooms.  Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum

Hogan, M., (2016).  Culturally responsive practice in a mainstream school EDtalks. Edtalks.org. Retrieved 22 March 2016, from http://edtalks.org/video/mike-hogan-culturally-responsive-practice-mainstream-school

Tauli-Corpuz, V., (2012).  Understanding Indigenous worldviews. YouTube. Retrieved 22 March 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjGPR41zhk

Wikipedia (2016).  Education in New Zealand. Retrieved 22 March 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_New_Zealand

Applied Practice in Context - Activity 8

Legal Contexts and Digital Identities

Up until recently, I have been a teacher within the community in which I live.   This was a fantastic position while my young children were at primary/intermediate age, because throughout working full time, I could also play an active role in their daily life at school - attending sporting activities, participating in their learning experiences, watching their assembly items and sharing moments of celebration.   This seemed an idilic situation, however, as time passed and social media usage increased, I began to feel it become increasingly difficult to keep my private digital identity separate from my professional one.

Facebook

I have had a Facebook account since 2006.  Initially it was a place to share photos with family and close friends.  Over time my list of friends grew although I have always been mindful of whom I accept or request as a 'friend' - especially if they too lived in the same community and had children that attended my school.  As a teacher in a small community, I already felt that my private life was merging with my professional one, so it was only natural to want to do the most that I could to protect my privacy, and that of my family.

Unfortunately, this 'privacy' has slowly disintegrated over time.  An example was when a 'friend' posted photos of myself at a party which were viewable by not only parents of students who were 'friends' of the party host, but also their children as they had Facebook accounts too. Although there was nothing wrong with the photos in general (they were of me dancing at the party), I did feel that my private life had been invaded - my private digital identity had been exposed.

Webwise.ie suggest teachers check their privacy settings when using social media, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Instagram.   They also suggest that profile photos should be generic and holiday photos should be set to private.   My main reason for having a Facebook account is to share photos with family and friends, so instead of setting these to 'private', I have them set as viewable by family and friends only - not public.   Profile photos, on the other hand, can only be set as 'public' so I am cautious about which ones I use for my profile picture.

An additional security measure suggested by Webwise.ie is to prevent search engines linking to a profile by editing the search engine options in privacy settings.  This is a useful strategy because it's interesting to see what pops up when you type your name into a search engine.

Digital Footprint

Many online accounts will add details to your digital footprint.  The first time I typed in my name on a search, I was shocked to see how much was linked to my name.

Screenshot taken 16 March 2016

Although there was nothing to be ashamed of, it was disturbing to see how much was visible to the world.   I was also concerned to see that many of the items were linked to learning that I had done with students from previous years.   I began to wonder how these students will feel in years to come... to know that their learning is visible to the public through something that I had created in previous years.  Has their digital footprint been created through my own doing?   Fortunately, I have only used their first names (standard precaution when being a digital citizen), but it is frightening to see how open our lives are once we engage with an online environment.

Type your name online - what will you find?

References

Privacy, F. (2015). Facebook for Teachers: 11 Tips for Protecting your Privacy.Webwise. Retrieved 15 March 2016, from http://www.webwise.ie/teachers/facebook-for-teachers/

Applied Practice in Context - Activity 7

Social Media in Teaching and Professional Development

In this blog post I will share my views on social media and its use in teaching and in professional development. 

Global Connectivity

Our classroom walls or the school gate are no longer the boundaries for access to professional development or support.  Technology has opened the school gates; enabling connectivity with anyone around the world.  The ability to connect with other educators is not limited to within New Zealand, but also internationally and this has played a huge part in who I am and what I do within my practice.
I can create my own PD and tailor it to meet my needs and interests which is not always fulfilled through my school's professional learning journey.  Through the internet, I can connect with other educators around the world; sharing ideas and join in with discussions.  This has enabled me to ask questions and support others with their own wonderings.  It has also brought about challenges - ideas that conflict with my own beliefs and encourage me to question my own practice. 

I have been a member of Twitter since April 2012.  During this time I have been able to be actively involved in online conversations about educational issues and ideas that were previously unavailable to me.   My network of professional colleagues has increase substantially and I connect with many of these followers on a regular basis

More recently, I have joined several groups on Facebook that are connected to education, e.g. NZ Teachers (Primary), Learning Through Play and NZ Teachers - New Entrant to Year 2.  I have found these groups to be invaluable for ideas and information about what other teachers are achieving within their learning environments.

Another online community that has supported my own personal growth has been the Virtual Learning Network (VLN).  I can select the groups that I would like to join - follow current discussions, look back on previous discussions and start-up a new discussion.  I have also had the opportunity to participate in webinars about BYOD, 21st Century Libraries and Modern Learning Environments.

Connected Learning

As Kathy Cassidy mentioned, children today are born into a digital world and their learning becomes authentic when they are connecting with others.  What could be better than real life reading and writing on a blog or Twitter?  I feel that as an educator, it is important that we support these young people to be savvy online users - aware of the implications when the tools are used inappropriately, but also aware of the positive benefits from learning online, e.g. current global issues, connecting with experts and instant feedback (gaming programmes).

In the past five years, I have used a range of social media within my class and I have found that it has provided my students with opportunities that they could not have attained without connecting online. Through Twitter, we have participated in Kidsedchatnz (http://kidsedchatnz.blogspot.co.nz/) - an online chat session held fortnightly where students can answer set questions and respond to each other's answers.   Involvement in these chat sessions has enabled me to support my students with online behaviour in a safe and positive environment.   It has also provided us with an authentic geography learning opportunity to learn where the 'tweets' are coming from.

Due to the age of my learners, we have not used Facebook as a medium for online connectivity.  However, I can see its benefits within secondary-aged students.   The ability to form closed groups where discussions can take place and media uploaded could be a fantastic online learning environment.

Social Media - Yes or No?

I feel that social media has provided myself and my students with a range of learning opportunities that would not have been available through any other context.   Like most things, social media does have it's negative points, and can be damaging if not used correctly.  But we are in the profession of education and as educators, it is our role to coach and support our learners to use the tools correctly so that they can obtain the best results possible.

References

Cassidy, K. (2013). Using Social Media in the Classroom. YouTube. Retrieved 3 March 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZStaz8Rno