It all Starts Now. Key Change in my Professional Practice.

Coming to the end of my Mindlab journey is bittersweet in many ways. I feel a sense of achievement but also know that this is where I really take what has been learned and continue to grow from here.

What:
There are many things that have stood out over this learning journey, with a culmination of many changes impacting my professional practice, but possibly one of the biggest shifts for me has been the way I view and act out my role as a facilitator of teaching and learning in the classroom. So, (typical to me!) I have chosen to evaluate that change in relation to a combination of one element from the Hack Education (Parsons, Lynch, Han & Thorn. 2017) research- Future Focus, with one of the Ministry of Education (nd) Standards for the Teaching Profession- Learning Focused Culture.

Elaboration of the Learning Focused Culture Standard. Ministry of Education (nd).

Now what: evaluate the identified change

When teachers, or other professionals, critically evaluate their practice the use of a framework can be an effective tool to help identify and facilitate further change. The Cycle of Experiential Learning, recommended by Osterman and Kottkamp (2015, p.70), is what I will use during this evaluation. It is important to note that this process was not as neat or as orderly as it is presented here 😊.

Experiential Cycle stage	Analysis of My role as a facilitator of teaching and learning in the classroom.	Relation to Future Focused concept and Learning Focused Culture Teaching standard
Problem Identification: What was the problem? What drove me to make the change?	In my classroom I had noticed through the introduction of the ITL research (2012) collaboration rubric that although my students were cooperative they were not be being collaborative. If there were no behaviour issues, students were speaking nicely, taking turns and being respectful I had thought they were being collaborative. I was deciding on roles for students to undertake during the learning process also.	In order for quality and effective teaching and learning to take place students were behaving well but being quite passive recipients in their learning. Who was really owning learning? Was there much risk taking going on? Was diversity and the unique contribution all learners bring to the table, really being valued? For learning to be sustainable and future focused students need to be agentic.
Observation and Analysis: What data is gathered? What insights did I gather about the problem that drove change?	Both myself and my awesome trusty colleague worked together to develop collaborative skills in PE and in Inquiry. We took this time to sit back, and once given tasks to students, observed what the students were doing. How were they being collaborative? How was driving the learning? What changes were being made and when? Who were the contributors? Who made decisions that moved learning forward? Who didn’t do these things? Why? This was really insightful and through our observations, surveying students and other formative assessment methods we came to see that students found it very difficult to drive their own learning. They were very careful in not making ‘mistakes’ or putting themselves out there in from of their peers, they were hesitant in making their own way- which we believe is essential and at the heart of learning. During this time as well it became really important to see the supportive and collegial role my colleague and I were providing for each other and undertaking also. Our collaboration was visible and tangible for our students to see.	The concept of preparing students for an unknown future and equipping them with the skills and experiences in which to be risk takers and to drive their own learning became more and more obvious through this stage. Were we really providing learning opportunities in which our students were able to flex their cognitive and skill building muscles? If we didn’t provide these opportunities we ran the risk of maintaining the status quo which we felt would be a disservice to our students. Of huge concern for our students at this time because of their age group (12-13 yrs) was the idea that to be an effective learner is to be vulnerable- many of our students were just not ready for this and this needed to be carefully managed. In creating and maintaining a positive and safe environment for learning children need to feel safe- not just physically but also emotionally. This needed to be catered and planned for.
Abstract Re conceptualisation: What new learning theories or research provides useful background to implement change? What other perspectives be relevant to consider?	During this time we researched and designed learning activities that focused on students developing skills in context. The focus of setting the purpose for learning, the ways in which we all could be effective learners became of paramount importance. We then handed over the decision making process to the students. We could see the integration of the skills, the interactions leading to risk taking, choice making and collaboration in our classes.	An effective learning environment is one in which students are given the opportunity in which to be agentic. Together in our classrooms we were all learners- none of us had ever set up, planned or designed a web based television episode before. Students were reflective and able to identify their own next learning steps- ones that would be relevant and useful to them in the future. We were working with individual strengths but collaborating across classes, digitally. We were reaching out to our community and involving them in the process. We began to see a change in reluctance as students began to take over their learning.
Active Experimentation: What new strategies or ideas you have tried to implement in your practice? What have you learnt from the change/ experience?	What did I learn? I learnt that I didn’t need to direct and take the lead in the classroom; my students were more than capable of doing that for themselves. I had to let the reins go but that it was definitely not a free for all situation. The time effort and structure put in at the start led to the students feeling safe enough to take risks and move their own learning forward. Researching and investigating, design thinking practices and students’ agency over this time period has allowed us to have the confidence to know what we are doing is not just based on a whim or the next faddy thing out in education.	Our next learning step for our new group of students is to now work on establishing design thinking as a delivery method for student learning. We are building on agency, future focus, and creating problem solving, risk takers. All of which need to be fostered in an environment that has learning and growth at its heart. We have lots of opportunities to work with each child and grow their own strengths. We hope that these skills and the experiences they have will equip them for their futures, and that these skills will be sustainable and relevant in these futures as they find and solve problems they may face.

What next:

I want to continue to grow my professional practice. I am really aware of the need to maintain critical reflection and ensure what is happening in the classroom will equip my students for their future and build their learning capacity. I know that I truly value collaborative teaching approaches and see that teacher collaboration is vital in the progression of my teaching and learning programmes. Essentially I have learned that I can not do the thinking for my students, that they have to be given the opportunity to solve their own problems and be the agents of their own learning. I will continue to embed ICT into all my learning but know that this is an area I can really look into more next. I have HEAPS to do! 
I will try my best to continue to grow and I will always be a learner.

References:

ITL Research. (2012). 21CLD Learning Activity Rubrics. Retrieved from https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/ITL-Research

Ministry of Education (nd). Our code, our standards. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards

Osterman, K. F., & Kottkamp, R. B. (2015). Reflective practice for educators : professional development to improve student learning.(2nd ed.) New York: Skyhorse Publishing.

Parsons, D., Lynch, J., Han, B., & Thorn, R. (2017). Hack Education: Crowd Sourcing the future of education in New Zealand. In Spaces and Pedagogy: New Zealand Tertiary Learning and Teaching Conference Proceedings 2017. Auckland, New Zealand: EPress.

Road sign Future [Digital image]. (2017). Retrieved April 2, 2018, from https://pixabay.com/en/roadsign-future-way-sucess-2570954/ 

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy.

Made with Word Cloud. https://www.wordclouds.com/ 

It could be said that being a culturally responsive teaching practitioner would be a given in modern New Zealand schools, but unfortunately, that isn't always the case. To me, being culturally responsive means you respect each child/student you work with as their own unique and able person. You believe in, accept and promote that child's culture and life experience as part of your diverse classroom community.  Gay (2001, p.106) defines culturally responsive pedagogy as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”. 

When I read this I had to stop and really think about the word "conduit". In fact, I needed to look this up to make sure I was on the right waka. A conduit is something that channels, connects or transmits something, so the idea is that for teaching to be effective for the students in your class, their culture needs to be acknowledged and affirmed. This was further punctuated when Irvine, in Teaching Tolerance (2010), stated that culturally responsive teaching is when a teacher takes a student's shared cultural knowledge and experience and makes appropriate linkages between what that student knows, does and understands with examples, comparisons and contrasts. Teachers are described as "cultural translators" or "cultural bridge makers". But to be those translators or bridge makers we need to be highly aware and sensitive to different cultures but also, not blanket students by their ethnicity either. Culture can be as unique and individual as our students themselves.

At the heart of effective teaching and culturally responsive practice as Bishop (Edtalks 2012) and Bishop, Berryman Cavanagh & Teddy (2009) states is relationships. What the teacher then does within their teaching practice and with the relationships, needs to promote and drive student learning and achievement AKA agentic teaching.  See further elaboration in the image below:

Bishop, Berryman Cavanagh & Teddy (p.1, 2009) 

Over the past few years, my school has been part of Ka Hikitia and most recently Kia Eke Panuku. This has been revolutionary in transforming not only culturally responsive practice within our school but most importantly the achievement and success of Māori students within our school. Disparities between Māori and non Māori were statistically insignificant in our last end of year report (in fact our Māori students frequently out performed non Māori in many areas). So while taking part of this programme, this vision- the challenge now is to maintain and grow upon this success- never being complacent with what we have done and continuing to promote achievement for all students.


So what:

Mauri is considered the life force, “a central place in informing Māori, how and why our lives take the forms they do” (Pohatu, 2011, p.1).
Mauri Moe has two levels: first level is inactive state which can be thought of as “being dead” and the second level is proactive potential which can be described as a “sleep” state.
This could be thought of before our school undertook part of the Ka Hikitia initiative. There were varying levels of cultural awareness and focus on Māori success.

Mauri Oho is the state of being proactive, being awaken from the Mauri Moe. 

Initial consultation undertaking in the process of committing and promoting Ka Hikitia within the leadership of our school. This then moved on to voluntary mentorship and shadow coaching for Kia Eke Panuku. Over three years our school had strategic goals and an aim for 100% of all staff to have been involved and gone through at least one cycle of coaching and evaluation. I'm sure it's been a 5 year process and the pre and post data speaks volumes for the success we have had as a school.

Mauri Ora is the state of being actively engaged. 

I wouldn't say we are here just yet (in fact we're a long way off). We need to maintain focus, and continue to grow in our own pedagogy and knowledge. Resting on our laurels would not be beneficial for our school, community or students.

Where to next:

Like I have stated above we have a long way to go and success as Māori is broader than the concept of academic success. I would like to see more links and connection with our local communities. There is a collective responsibility for the success of our ākonga and the more we can take the initial steps to branch outside our classroom walls and invite our community in and use the community classroom the better. In their study of culturally responsive pedagogy in primary science classroom,  Cowie, Otrel-Cass, Glynn & Kara (2011, p.4) recommended that teachers needed to be seen out in the community; "A person who is visible in the community is more likely to be respected as having a commitment to, or investment in, the community (he kanohi kitea)." As educating leaders we need to make those steps, reach out into the unknown, make the invisible, visible for the benefit of all our students.  The resourcing and connections in hands-on, real-life contexts can only serve to enhance the education of our students. We need to continue to grow our curriculum and the way in which we care for and teach our students, engaging and motivating them to succeed.

And finally, as teachers, we need to always look for a way to be cultural bridge-makers for all our students.

References:

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T. & Teddy, L. (2009).Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5),734–742.

Cowie, B., Otrel-Cass, K., Glynn, T., & Kara, H.(2011).Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki. Wellington: Teaching Learning Research Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.tlri.org.nz/sites/default/files/projects/9268_cowie-summaryreport.pdf

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Pohatu, T. W. (2011). Mauri - Rethinking human wellbeing. MAI Review, 3, 1-12. Retrieved from http://www.review.mai.ac.nz/index.php/MR/article/viewFile/380/680

Teaching Tolerance.( 2010, Jun 17).Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTVjJuRaZ8

Connection. Global Trends in Education.

Oh wow! What a topic to blog about!  Which trend to choose?? Something close and personal or something large, global and controversial? I think these global trends are interlinked and can't quite be extrapolated from each other so easily. So instead of focusing on one trend, I have chosen to blog about meeting the demands of these trends and the impact they will have on teaching and learning.

One thing that struck me, right from the very beginning of my Mindlab postgrad journey, delivered WAYYY back in week one, was a re-evaluation and exploration of what the purpose of education was. Gert Biesta, in particular, made me stop and think about how I viewed education. See post one and post two if interested 😊.

In Being at Home in the World- Gert Biesta describes a view on the purpose of education and I wrote: From what I understand, of what he is saying, is that current education system is very 'ego-logical' putting individuals and their wishes and desires at the heart of education- which looking at the bigger picture of society, fuels consumerism, selfishness, domination and difference over others. He went on to say when we focus on individuality and difference in education it can have the undesired effect of isolating and forcing comparison on to our students. This builds up walls and that sometimes, this focus on individuals and identity, and can, in fact, build barriers to learning and lessen our connectedness with each other.
The purpose of education, Biesta proposes is to: Fuel the desire for students to want to live in the world in a grown up way. Grown up, meaning a sustaining, connected member of our world. Where the person isn't the center of the universe but the world is. World Centered education... He poses a serious question: Is what I desire, desirable? This disruptive and powerful question has far-reaching consequences for education and society. 'Education stretches above learning.'

So.. what does this have to do with Global Trends in Education? Well, I think everything- but an interesting paradox emerges. If the goal is for people to live in the world in a grown-up way as described above, does there need to be a shift away from the more individualistic and 'self''centered education system that we currently have or are moving towards? As our world population expands exponentially in the coming years, Pearson (2013) described increased demands on education to meet a wider range of needs, to be easy accessed, highly effective, personable and scaleable. So this would require education en masse yet adaptable and individualistic. To meet this demand technology will have to play a huge role but how does this affect how learning occurs, what learning occurs and what role do teachers play in this? Again the paradox arises.

So what? How does this impact students in the classroom we teach in today?
We may believe that we are far removed from the wider world here in New Zealand but as our students grow into adults they are going to be living in this world with a complexity that we have never had to experience. "In this globalisation and interconnected era, hardly any country can be immuned from the impact of trends..." (National Intelligence Council, 2017; KPMG International, 2014). Population growth, the increased consumerism from an increased middle class, resource scarcity, climate change and the broadening of the gap between rich and poor all need a future force of citizens willing to face these problems and put what Biesta says is 'ego-logical' education and aims aside for the global good. We need to give our students opportunities and learning experiences that will help equip them for this future. 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, innovation, problem solving and flexible thinking and so on, need to be explicitly taught so our students can work with these issues and help meet the demands these issues bring up.

Now what?
The 'what' and 'how' things are learned is no longer solely up to schools. As I have gone through my Mindlab journey, I think 'connection' is at the heart of what our students need and I need to reinforce this a lot more in our learning environment. Connection to people, to our local area, to whanau, culture, to our country, to each other, to the land, across culture, socio-economic status, to the future and to the past. If students are able to act locally and make a difference in the communities they are living in they are also acting globally. I want to make sure I bring that into the classroom.
If we are able to teach in a way that is connected and sustaining, as Gert Biesta describes, then maybe we will prepare our students for this future of great challenge but also of great opportunity. The barriers that stand in our way are ourselves. We need to be more open and risk taking in our teaching, open our classes up to the communities around us and get involved. Get connected. We need to allow our students to have more say and take more direction over the trajectory of their learning- partnerships; prepare students to be able to meet the demands the educational trends will have on their futures.


References:

Abup talks - Gert Biesta - "Being at home in the world". (2015, October 18). Retrieved April 01, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUXSxGD8WmE 

Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Davis, A., Freeman, A., Hall Giesinger, C., and Ananthanarayanan, V. (2017). NMC Horizon Report: 2017 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

[Digital image]. (2015, March 11). Retrieved April 1, 2018, from https://www.upsidelearning.com/blog/index.php/2015/03/11/top-13-elearning-trends-for-2015/

KPMG International. (2014). Future state 2030: the global megatrends shaping governments” [Video]. KPMG International Cooperative: USA. Retrieved from http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/future-state-government/Documents/future-state-2030-v3.pdf

OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en

Pearson. (2013, April 26). Global trends: The world is changing faster than at any time in human history. [Video].Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdZiTQy3g1g

What a Twit! Social Media and its use in the Classroom.

I used to love social media on a personal level (probably a bit too much😜) but have continued to pull back from this way of communication more and more in response to some of the things I was seeing and experiencing online. The increased personal attacks (that I was witnessing), lack of regard for others and general bombardment of advertising made social media for me at times, an unpleasant experience.

BUT... on the flip side, I discovered this amazing world of professional learning communities and have gravitated along this road now.

Just like for me, our students need to learn how to negotiate and navigate this polarising world of social media. That is one of our key roles as educators; helping to prepare our students to become responsible digital citizens so that they can interact and use social media to its fullest whilst being aware of the dangers it can hold as well.

In this post, I want to discuss the impact and potential that can be unlocked through accessing social media platforms on a professional learning level, using Jay and Johnson's (2002) reflective model, and reflect on a positive and negative experience I have had in my own personal learning journey when interacting on Twitter.

Describe:

The professional social media platforms I mainly use are Pinterest (ohhhhh you vortex of time and space), Twitter, Facebook, Google+ community and VLN (Virtual Learning Network). Each provides something different and a way of connecting with other educators on a variety of levels.
Melhuish (2013) describes in her thesis the key principals of effective social learning; learning that is social positioned, co-constructed and one that allows students to have agency over and drive their own learning inquiries. The ways and degrees in which people interact and participate on social media also has an impact. Some are active drivers of learning and discussion whilst others prefer to watch and observe from the periphery. For me, I am more of an active watcher- I get a lot from this and enjoy seeing different views and opinions. I occasionally participate in Edchat or other twitter chats and will freely share ideas and thoughts on google +. I am very selective about what I choose to comment on for a variety of reasons: passion about topic, moderator control or 'tone' on the chat and of course, time.

Compare:
As I have become more confident I have broadened out and commented more and more on different social media platforms. Here I would like to discuss positive and negative aspects I can see when interacting on Twitter.

I only use Twitter as a way of following other educators or education topics. The majority of my twitter experiences have been really positive. I love following new people, especially leaders in their professions that I otherwise would NEVER get to interact with. Having interactions like this is really exciting and pushes my thinking forward. I LEARN so much, get new ideas and as stated above, get to choose what I learn about and how I interact with others. Most moderators are sensitive to their users during chats and can skillfully elicit thoughtful dialogue and challenge participants to think on deeper levels.
On the other hand, we need to be careful that we don't fall into a 'cliche' of thinking too and only sign up or interact in conversation that only reinforces our own ideas. When we challenge or question others it needs to be done in a sensitive way too. Context and tone can often be misconstrued outside of face to face interactions.
One US tweeter I used to follow was a gal who was very tech savvy and I was learning lots of her tweets. One day she posted about assessing creativity and how to go about this. For me, this was quite an arbitrary topic and something that perplexed me so I posted, why would you want to assess creativity? I received quite a bit of backlash from the question and didn't really know what to do after that. I withdrew from the conversation. And here was where the problem lay; two different education systems, with two very different philosophies about teaching and learning. I have been into some American schools and know SOME of the differences in our systems. Instead of addressing our differences and having a really good conversation about assessment and creativity I unfollowed her and didn't participate any further. Did I bite off my nose to spite my face?? Maybe? Were our worlds too far apart?? Maybe? Should I have stayed and expanded on my ideas and thinking further? Maybe?
I did what I did- but that has made me super aware of what I post and need for understanding and appreciation of where someone is coming from when they post. I also need to have the courage to share my ideas though, in a thoughtful and considerate manner too. BUT only on forum, tweets etc that I feel safe. You can't control what others are going to say to you.

Critical reflection:

So what have I learned and where to next?

• As teachers, we need to share these experiences on social media with our students- both the positive and negative in the aims of keeping everyone safe. Social media provides such a rich and wonderful learning opportunity for students and for a teachers' professional development.
• We need to be willing to have professional discussions without attacking- critique instead of criticising.
• We also need to be aware of different perspectives and be aware of others experiences.
• Social media can break down isolating barriers depending on how much you want to get involved in this form of interaction.  You can link to ideas and people that can push and challenge your thinking
• Events that happen in real time serve as a source of rich learning material- something that social media does extremely well- just be careful of potentially 'surprising' things that may come up with un-viewed material too (when sharing with students).

References:
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.

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Ochoa, R. (2009, May 13). Twitter_Good_Bad [Digital image]. Retrieved April 1, 2018, from https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosauraochoa/3528880050

Ummm... can I post this? Influence of Law and Ethics in Practice.

Digital and web-based communication platforms make it so easy to share learning with the whanau and caregivers of the students in our classes. What was once hidden can now be openly celebrated with the wider class community. But how can we keep everyone safe in a digital age and what are our responsibilities as educators to ensure safety for all?

As the exploration and use of digital technologies have evolved, so too has the need for clear guidelines as students, teachers and schools begin to encounter issues that had never occurred before. Online bullying, harmful use of digital images and poor online conduct, in general, highlight a need for digital citizenship practices and the development of laws and guidelines for all involved.

In New Zealand, teachers are governed by a Code of Ethics (Education Council, nd), legislation* and various local school-based policies which help provide and maintain effective and safe learning environments both on and offline. Dealing social/digital media and all the unknown complexities of this form of communication will create times where teachers are confronted with ethical dilemmas in which they need to deal with.

Feeney and Freeman, as quoted on the New Zealand Education Council website (nd) defines an ethical dilemma as "A situation an individual encounters in the workplace for which there is more than one possible solution, each carrying a strong moral justification. A dilemma requires a person to choose between two alternatives, each of which has some benefits but also some costs (Feeney and Freeman, 1999, p.24)."

The dilemma I want to focus on was an issue that occurred over 7 years ago. At the time, cyber-based bullying incidents were quite new and reflecting back now I can see just how much things we have evolved and changed in response to issues surrounding the misuse of these technologies. Using Rolfe, Freshwater and Jasper’s (2001) reflective model, I will discuss an issue that many teachers will have encountered - cyberbullying, but also look back on how as a profession and, in part, society has changed in response to the need to deal with this issue also.

What:
A student and parent came to school after hurtful and degrading comments were sent and posted digitally by another student in my class.

So what:
Students were spoken to separately. As this incident had happened outside of school and school hours there was an unspoken feeling it wasn’t a school issue but we wanted to deal with it anyway. The student who sent the messages lied and denied her actions, even after it was clear what had occurred (it was thoroughly investigated). A meeting was set up with the principal and unfortunately, the family lied about the student's role in the incident too. The dilemma was not just about the student who was hurt during this interaction but also about a perceived lack of awareness and responsibility in hurting someone else. It wasn’t just the student receiving the messages that was being harmed in this situation.

Now what:
Although there was nothing we could do further, the family was clearly made aware of what was going on and had the facts presented to them. The school could only clearly state the guidelines they expected from student behaviour. We didn’t have a school policy concerning this as it was quite new territory. And there were no further issues as the whanau ended up moving to a new town- which was a real shame.

Today, you could say there has been a shift in focus from dealing with incidents after the fact, towards educating students about preventing incidents from happening and how to be positive digital citizens. We now have school policies, the Education Act (1989), has been updated to reflect digital elements of education, other legislative acts have been brought in to ensure safety and awareness on the internet. In my classroom students are encouraged to think about their digital actions, in and out of school and are beginning to become more aware of the legalities involved in digital interactions. Programmes of work have been developed to help students and teachers navigate within this new learning territory. There has been a move from thinking about digital behaviour that occurs ‘outside of school as not being a schools problem. In fact, the Ministry of Education (2016. p27) states “Schools have a responsibility to act…” in such incidents.

What is evident is that school communities and whanau need to work in partnership so that our students are best equipped to be responsible digital citizens of tomorrow. What I most importantly learned from this incident was that we need to take care of  ALL our students, informing and helping them to make good decisions online and to think before they send or post content.


* Harmful Digital Communications Act, 2015. Netsafe.org (2016). Various amendments to the NZ Education Act, 1989, as stated in Ministry of Education (2015).

References:

Education Council New Zealand. (n.d.). Frequently Asked Questions. Retrieved March 24, 2018, from https://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/resources/frequently-asked-questions

Ministry of Education. (2015). Digital technology - Safe and responsible use in schools. Retrieved from http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/School/Managing-and-supporting-students/DigitalTechnologySafeAndResponsibleUseInSchs.pdf

Netsafe.org. (2016). THE HDC Act and Netsafe. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.netsafe.org.nz/hdc-act/

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001) Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Wanted: Digital Citizens [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://digitaljlearning.org/blog/2016/04/19/teaching-responsibility-wild-west-cyberspace

Getting there. (Yes, finally!!!) - Research in Education

Oh wow! I have worked my little brain off this morning.

It was with some trepidation that I started my Week 20 Mindlab work today. The LOOMING question was: how to narrow down and focus on one idea for my teacher inquiry project and the up and coming literature review?
In last week's blog I recorded so many possibilities for my teacher inquiry that my head was spinning. So... after watching all the videos and reading (most of 😇) the readings, in a roundabout way I have come back to two key features I am REALLY interested in exploring and applying in my practice, that I had recorded in last weeks blog:

Design Thinking in education and Learner Agency.

I fell across Core education's website regarding top ten trends in Education for 2016 and 2017 and after a morning of scribbling down ideas and processing my thoughts, am really excited about how I can combine these ideas together to benefit my students and their learning for next year's class.

My beginning scrawlings.

Getting closer!

So why have I chosen to focus on these areas?

During my Mindlab experience for last year, my colleague and I created a learning unit where the students (after a lot of teaching and preparation) created and designed a digital television episode that they shared with our families. In that, I really got to experience students having and taking ownership of their learning, some elements of design thinking, experiencing the 'messiness' of learning and not rescuing students from finding their own solutions to problems.

At the heart, though I would like to explore learner agency more, helping kids have the mindset that it's okay to not have the answers, to fail and to persevere with their learning. I want to look at who really owns learning- who comes up with what is to be learned and why? I want to look at learner engagement over entertainment, as I see a bit of that going on and have probably been guilty of this myself at times. Something one student in my class last year would do was rate the learning going on by it's fun-level. I could have used that as a learning opportunity but want to explore that with my students next year. How can students really use technology and create with it? Collaboration is real and tangible in our classrooms so how can we apply these ideas to a new classroom and continue to grow the collaborative skills in a new group of students

So to me, Design Thinking with its:

• humanistic elements 
• students and teachers learning alongside one another 
• explorations of multiple perspectives and collaboration 
• creating and testing ideas
• problem-solving focus  
• future focus- 21st Century skills

is a great fit. I don't know enough yet but think this will work in beautifully with our school inquiry model. 

So what is my question at this stage?

Please feel free to comment and critique my question:

• How can student/learner agency and engagement be fostered through Design Thinking?

Communities of Practice

Curious minds coming together for a shared purpose, to grow and extend their (and other's) learning, AKA Communities of Practice.

Well, that's my definition of this concept. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, a social anthropologist and an educational researcher and practitioner respectively, were the first to coin this term (Wenger Traynor, 2015).

Wenger (2002) highlights three key elements of a CoP

• Joint enterprise: is a shared domain which is the “collectively developed understanding of what the community is about”. The topic of interest shared by the group. 
• Mutual engagement: the members engage through interactions within the community, building mutual trust in the relationships. The shared activities and interactions members have concern the domain. 
• Shared repertoire: is “the communal resources” that the community of practice produce (Wenger, 2000, p.229). Shared tools, language, and practices of the community etc.

I personally find being involved in CoP's important. Not just for the personal and group growth of knowledge and learning, but for the other aspects as well. Being involved in a mutually respectful team with people who have similar passions helps to motivate and drive the profession (or interest) forward. These sorts of organic groups are vital (in my opinion) for personal satisfaction and the challenge they can provide. There also seems to me, to be a vital element of choice within a CoP which makes the CoP seem more a more authentic group to participate in. The domain is not mandated by 'others' but driven by participants themselves to improve their 'practice'.

My main CoP would center around the Year 8 team members I work with, in my school. We are a very collaborative group and gain a lot from sharing our teaching and learning experiences together. We are led by a very capable leader who helps push and challenge us. We have a group vision based around doing the best we can for our students and who they are as people. Within this CoP and throughout our school other CoP's occur based on interest and need.
So how does teacher inquiry contribute and link learning in our CoP?
By interacting and endeavoring to learn, working together, sharing, researching and discussing we will construct new knowledge and understanding which should work towards improving our practice and the outcomes and benefits for our students.


Issues (or ideas for exploration) in my professional practice:

• As a team, we are always looking for ways to authentically engage our students in their learning. To grow and foster their academic and social growth. 
• Using digital learning tools in more creative ways. 
• Continuing to develop more opportunities for students to create digital content instead of mainly consuming content. 
• Using and applying higher levels of the SAMR model within classroom practices. 
• Helping students understand that mistake and decision making, as well as forging their own learning pathways is a key element to their learning. 
• Improving student autonomy and agency. (Probably a bit broader than the idea above). 
• Developing programmes that employ more problem solving and 21st-century thinking skills for students to engage with.

After sifting through a multitude of ideas (and believe me there were MANY) I have narrowed my inquiry ideas down to the following:


1. How can Augmented Reality be used to enhance student learning and curiosity during inquiry?

2. Can design thinking processes be used to improve student autonomy and agency within the classroom? 

Each of these topics for inquiries can be used to grow the shared understanding and knowledge of our CoP and address some of the issues currently faced. Moving forward from this and applying Kotter's change model (Kotter, 1996), early adopters will also be keen to take on and use what has been found out to help make the technological changes that can help grow our CoP's teaching/knowledge repertoire. This, in turn, should help equip students with more if the 21st-century learning skills (Lichtman, 2013) and fulfill the expectations of the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007) that have been highlighted as being so important for students have and use in their futures. There will be both short and long term benefits.


What will we need to be aware of in a CoP?

• Time limitations- teachers are busy people and making an inquiry a priority can be challenging. 
• Researching and inquiring broadly (thanks lit review!). At times CoP's could be in danger of being 'blinkered' because those involved often think and act similarly, (Hodkinson and Hodkinson, 2004), we (or I) will need to stop and check in for academic rigor in the work done and the knowledge grown. 
• Critiquing work, highlighting potential biases and expanding perspectives. 

References:

Hodkinson, P., & Hodkinson, H. (2004). A Constructive Critique of Communities of Practice: Moving Beyond Lave and Wenger. (Seminar Paper). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from Oval Research 2004 website: http://hdl.voced.edu.au/10707/18014

Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Kotter, J. (1996). Leading Change. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press.

Lichtman, G. (2013). What 60 Schools Can Tell Us About Teaching 21st Century Skills: Grant Lichtman at TEDxDenverTeachers [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZEZTyxSl3g

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/

Puzzle [Digital Image]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/phcommunities/resourcekit/intro/cop_approach.html

Too Many Choices [Digital image]. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2017, from http://awordywoman.com/1102/

Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization,7(2), 225-246.

Wenger-Trayner, E., & Wenger-Trayner, B. (2015). Introduction to communities of practice. Retrieved December 04, 2017, from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/