Week 21

My original inquiry question developed in previous weeks task was;

• How can I inspire and lead teachers to implement change in their practice through the use of Seesaw? 

I had in depth discussion with my MindLab CoP group and worked through the inquiry working template below to revise my question. My question continued to develop as I did some initial research and identified that the key area that I wanted to focus on is leading change in my junior syndicate.


Inquiry question(s) working template

Turning your inquiry topic(s) into an break-down inquiry question

Turning a break-down inquiry question to an initial teacher inquiry question

Turning the initial teacher inquiry question into an initial literature review question

From working through this process, I think that the literature review question that I would like to focus on is

• How does leading teachers in a new digital initiative affect teachers daily practice in the junior syndicate?

I would love to know what others think of this question

Week 20

What do you immediately identify as some of the greatest areas of need for your students?

• Behaviour 
• Learning links and engagement between school and home - students not doing home learning, parents busy and not knowing what students are learning 
• 21st skills to develop learning skills 
• Using digital tools to complete tasks and learning, constantly off the set task. 
• Roll out of Seesaw - new strategy for other teachers that I am eager to implement. 

What is one thing you can do differently in the classroom/in your practice today that could address that need?

• Engagement through digital tools 
• Seesaw 
• Set technology lessons to develop skills with set criteria (could link with Seesaw using activities) 
• Leadership for Seesaw across the junior school 

Reflective Questions for thought

• I would like to improve collaboration with whanau? 
• I am really curious about leading change with colleagues? 
• I think using the devices for a set task/activity would really make a difference? 
• I would like to change how devices are used across the junior school? 
• What would happen to my students’ learning if I did used Seesaw more to not just share learning experiences but complete tasks? 
• How can I implement Seesaw across the junior school? 
• How can I improve leading other colleagues with change? 

Integrating the Principles of Kaupapa Maori Research into my Teacher Inquiry.

“Whānau - the extended family structure principle. The whānau and the practice of whanaungatanga (family connectedness) is an integral part of Māori identity and culture. The cultural values, customs and practices that organise around the whānau and collective responsibility are a necessary part of Māori survival and achievement. There are many examples where the principle of whānau and whānaungatanga come to the foreground as a necessary ingredient for Māori education, Māori health, Māori justice and Māori prosperity.”


http://www.katoa.net.nz/kaupapa-maori

Week 19 - Community of Practice Activity 3

Potential inquiry topics

• How can I lead a collaborative inquiry to support teachers in improving CoL targets? 
• How can I inspire and lead teachers to implement change in their practice through the use of Seesaw? 

Reflection

I am part of a few CoP’s such as my junior syndicate team, school Professional Learning Communities (PLC), Communities of Learning (CoL) leaders, and MindLab study group. Wenger, McDermott & Snyder (2002), defines CoP’s as “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interaction on an ongoing basis” (p.4). My MindLab CoP is a group that is a joint enterprise as we are like minded teaching professionals who are focused on using what we are learning to create change in our own practice and within our schools. We have developed mutual engagement through support each other throughout our MindLab journey, building a trusting and reflective culture through our own supportive learning community. We also have a shared repertoire through in depth discussion and sharing our communal resources to support each other's learning and professional practice. As all members of the MindLab CoP have similar passions we are driven by a love of learning and wanting to develop professionally, particularly with digital teaching and leadership.

My MindLab CoP had some feedback towards the wording of the inquiry questions which I changed to make them more specific, measurable and purposeful. This discussion also altered the focus to leadership theories as this is a main focus for my professional development. Robinson (2009) supports this with his discussion of the use of the diffusion adopters. Although the collaborative inquiry impacts some of the MindLab CoP they commented that they can not impact on the decision making or have much influence or input into this inquiry. 

One member of the MindLab CoP works at a different school and has been using Seesaw for over a year, across different year groups. Therefore we would be able to support each other by promoting further learning through Seesaw and sharing ideas of how we can support learning with their collaboration and blended learning, through uploading everything into Seesaw, using the blended learning approach. Smythe (n.d) supports this by discussing research that shows that blending traditional education approaches with digital can increase engagement, improve learning outcomes and give students greater satisfaction. Webster (2012) also states that “technology in the hands of our students means that the classroom walls become almost theoretical; no longer would each room need to contain them and their learning, they would have access to everything and everyone that could possibly help them along in their learning journey.”

My CoL CoP suggested that my collaborative inquiry question has the power to have valued impact on students and the teachers that I lead with the new collaborative inquiry approach. “Collaborative inquiry provides a structure for educators to lead and learn together productively” (Donohoo & Velasco, 2016, p.3). However they did comment that we have limited time constraints and deadlines with set release days that may impact on my professional learning progress in this area.

Although both inquiries are based on leading change, my MindLab CoP is more supportive, invested and collaborative with resources to support my learning and development. My CoL CoP is heavily restricted by time and deadlines. Due to this reflection, I now want to focus on the Seesaw inquiry as my MindLab CoP will be able to contribute and support my learning and I will be able to contribute to their inquiries in a similar way. 

References

Donohoo, J., & Velasco, M. (2016). The transformative power of collaborative inquiry (p. 3). Thousand Oaks, United States: SAGE Publications Inc.

Jay, J.K. and Johnson, K.L. (2002). Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 18, 73-85.

Smythe, M. (n.d). Blended learning: A transformative process? Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. Retrieved from https://akoaotearoa.ac.nz/download/ng/file/group-3740/smythe---blended-learning-a-transformative-process.pdf

Robinson, L. (2009). A summary of Diffusion of Innovations. Changeology. Retrieved from http://www.enablingchange.com.au/Summary_Diffusion...

Webster, A. (2012). Beyond the classroom walls: breaking down barriers with technology. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2012/sep/10/technology-schools-breaking-down-barriers

Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating communities of practice. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.

Week 18 - Applied Practice Reflective Activity 2

Theme 2 - New views of equity, diversity and inclusivity discussed
using Gibbs reflective model (Finlay, 2009).

Description

I have changed my teaching pedagogy from what I have learnt through my mindlab journey. This years cohort of diverse students present with a range of fine motor abilities as well as attitudes towards learning. I have adapted my practice to be more inclusive, through social groups with learners that have different needs, moving beyond differentiated groups in the core subjects to making differentiated groups and individual learning for all learners across the curriculum as well as facilitating learning through a servant leadership approach.

Feelings

I felt that a big shift towards the wider view of equity, diversity and inclusivity discussed in Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins (2012), came during reflection and realising that what may work for one class may/will not work for another diverse class. I felt that I could adapt what had worked well last year to meet this years learner needs. However this years class is very unlike last years. Coming to this realisation made me feel deflated that such a successful 2017 could not be repeated in a similar way. It brought to mind Albert Einstein’s quote

This influenced how I reflected and changed my practice to develop my current students skills to work in a diverse 21st century community. Allowing inclusivity through engaging them in a 21st century model that they otherwise wouldn’t have been included.

Evaluation

I found it difficult to change how the task was achieved, especially when it was for one student in particular. My team leader and I discussed the need to meet the diverse needs of my class across the curriculum. Bolstad et al (2012) agrees with this approach, sharing an example that states “we openly discuss the situation for each child and recognise that programmes, expectations and routines will be different for different children. While many of these children have significant challenges, they also have significant skills that others do not” (p28-29). Changing my approach to the task contributed to greater learning and an enhanced level of skills whilst also engaging all of my diverse learners.

Analysis

My lack of knowledge of my students as learners created an issue in an initial art lesson which escalated to everyone, including myself, dreading art lessons. Absolum (2006) suggests “learning-focused relationships are about using the considerable potential in the relationship between teacher and student to maximise the student’s engagement”. Although this is always a focus of my practice, particularly at the beginning of the year, understanding my students across the curriculum is an area for improvement. By adapting my approach and changing my teaching pedagogy to a more inclusive and diverse model I have shifted the focus to “produce clades, life-long, independent learners with the capacity to live, work and prosper in a whole range of as yet unknown new environments” (Bolstad et al, 2012, p.26).

Conclusion

My practice has positively changed in my postgraduate journey. I can adapt and change my teaching pedagogy to best meet the needs of my learners, through developing strong learning focused relationships whilst fostering equity, diversity and inclusivity.

Action plan

“Rather, the future-focused education literature suggests we need to adopt a much more complex view of knowledge, one that incorporates knowing, doing and being. Alongside this we need to rethink our ideas about how our learning systems are organised, resourced and supported” (Bolstad et al, 2012, p.2). I could also alter the task and offer a variety of tools that could be used to complete the same task. This could be achieved by setting the task as a problem that the students need to solve and it is up to them how they solve it or present the outcome. I will continue to approach art (and all curriculum areas) with diversity and a range of tools to accommodate the needs of my diverse learners.

References

Absolum, M. (2006). Clarity in the classroom. Auckland: Hodder Education.

Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching — a New Zealand perspective. Report prepared for the Ministry of Education. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Finlay, L. (2009). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/sites/www.open.ac.uk.opencetl/files/files/ecms/web-content/Finlay-(2008)-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf