PRACTICE - Changes in Practice

Activity 8: Changes in my practice

Rolfe's (2001) model

What?

In the reflective practice model, the link between theory and practice is explicit. A teacher’s personal experience and ideas about practice are considered to be as important as theory when reflecting using this model.

Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) expressed the fact that the reflective practice model can lead to change in behaviors via self-awareness. The 2 key ideas necessary to develop reflective practice are; 1. to develop an awareness of our habits and how our assumptions shape our actions and 2. that we think about our effective our actions are to our intentions.  

Studying with Mind Lab has been a journey of continuous challenge and reflection of my own practice and the practice of my organisation. It has been difficult at times as this has been my first significant venture back into academia after almost 20 years at the chalkface. I am not a keen academic but have relished the opportunities to share and collaborate with like minded people and loved the discussions and challenges in our class. I feel like we had an amazing group of people who participated and contributed enthusiastically and without fear.

So what?

My initial goals were to learn about new trends in digital technologies and bring back some cool toys and ideas to use in my classroom. With all the mind-blowing discussions in our classes I felt my practice and mindset shift from day 1. Although I have brought many cool toys and ideas for digital integration back to my class, Mind Lab has been so much more than this. It has challenged my whole pedagogy and I feel my practice is now far more research and evidence based.

Key changes:

Developing a Growth Mindset - This was something that my class dearly needed as they have a negative picture of themselves as learners. Adding the simple word ‘yet’ to their vocabulary when discussing what they ‘can’t do’, it changed their whole picture of themselves. I now see more perseverance when tasks are difficult and they are building resilience so that they now see being in ‘the Learning Pit’ as something to be celebrated.

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21st Century Skills - This has been a major focus in my classroom and through our school as part of my leadership role. Collaboration and connectedness with others, in our school, the wider community, nationally and internationally has become a part of my professional life and my classroom programme. I have tried to encourage my students to see the world as their classroom and not be confined by our 4 walls.

Research and continuous learning - Through my Mind Lab studies I have developed a thirst for knowledge and developing my practice. I have joined the VLN and other Social media based teacher groups. I have made the time to become more connected with a network of teachers and educational professionals from around the world which is something I didn’t prioritise beforehand. This is something that I will continue as part of my practice and pedagogy.

Now what?

Future professional development will be based on the Practising Teacher Criteria (PTC) in e-learning.

Criteria 6: How can e-learning support and extend what I am trying to achieve when planning programmes of work for groups and individuals?

I will continue this journey both in my classroom and with my staff, looking at effective pedagogy in e-learning and best practice in using digital technologies to tailor learning programmes to the strengths and needs of ākonga. Also to help inform planning and teaching.

Criteria 7: How do I promote a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive learning environment that embraces e-learning and engages learners?

I will continue to develop digital citizens in my classroom and create a collaborative learning environment that caters for all learners. I will be using Seesaw to communicate and connect with whanau.

References

Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/

Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (1993). Reflective practice for educators. Newbury Park, CA: Corwin Press.

PRACTICE - Professional Context - Crossing Boundaries

In my practice, I found that within my organisation staff members bring different strengths to the classrooms but it was difficult for me to think of how I could move from an integrated style programme to interdisciplinary. And what was the difference?

The Dictionary states integration as - an act or instance of combining into an integral whole. Interdisciplinary is involving two or more academic disciplines. The key difference being one merges the disciplines together while the other has the disciplines working side by side.

My COLLAB co-teacher and I currently run a very structured programme with some integration where possible but I would like to move to a more interdisciplinary approach. We are on the same page with this as we believe that students will benefit greatly from this approach.

After watching the video  “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Science” , I was inspired and excited about the potential of this style of teaching and learning. It looked motivating and engaging for students and teachers alike.

The potential interdisciplinary connection that I would like to explore is Working with experts via the Internet. We are looking at Environmental Education and would like to add a Physics and IT components to a real world, problem solving inquiry. I would like to try to build a network of experts that we can call on via Skype or video link of some kind so that we can share knowledge and work together to answer questions or solve problems. I would also like to connect with other schools/teachers/students who are currently pursuing a similar line of study.

I can see many benefits for both students and teachers. Youngblood (2007) explains that the principles of interdisciplinary techniques will encourage discovery and innovation.

Students and their teachers will advance in critical thinking, communication, creativity, pedagogy, and essential academia with the use interdisciplinary techniques.Youngblood (2007)

Howard Gardner (1983) states that students bring multiple forms of intelligence to the learning process. As a result, given that students are diverse in their learning styles, backgrounds, interests, experiences, talents, and values, he believes that drawing on a broad range of frameworks and methodologies will enhance student engagement, and thus learning. Interdisciplinary instruction opens academic conversations to ideas from a range of disciplines so all students should be able to relate and contribute to the dialogue. Thus, the likelihood of connecting with all students in the classroom is enhanced by interdisciplinary learning.

With all methodologies there come challenges. According to Relan & Kimpston, 1991; Brophy & Alleman, 1991; Gibbons, 1979; Klein, 1992; Wicklein & Schell, 1995,  educators are jumping on the bandwagon without adequately questioning the why it is they are making this change in practice or taking the time to shape a coherent approach to interdisciplinarity.

Interdisciplinary curricula is time consuming and takes collaborative team work to create, which can seem like a hard and exhausting disadvantage, especially if not supported by Senior Management. Time is a major factor in successful collaboration ventures.

I believe that being able to work and think in an Interdisciplinary way is a vital for our students and teachers. After all...The world is interdisciplinary!

References

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI7 (26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai

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:

What is Interdisciplinary Teaching?. (2017). Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching. Retrieved 2 July 2017, from https://serc.carleton.edu/econ/interdisciplinary/what.html

Youngblood, Dawn, 2007. “Interdisciplinary Studies and the Bridging Disciplines: A Matter of Process.” Journal of Research Practice, v.3, i.2.http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=EJ800366.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/interdisciplinary?s=t