Mindlab Reflections

Week 32: Changes in Practice and Future Plans

30/3/2018

This week I am going to reflect on a change in my practice using Rolfe’s (2001) model of reflection and the Cycle of Experiential Learning, recommended by Osterman and Kottkamp (2015, p.70)

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

In a New Zealand education context the Ministry of Education (nd.) has a set criteria for Standards for the Teaching Profession. Of the 6 standards, Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership, Professional Learning, Professional Relationships, Learning-focused Culture, Design for Learning and Teaching. I feel I have had the most growth relating to the standard of

Professional learning - Use inquiry, collaborative problem-solving and professional
learning to improve professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement
of all learners.

Specifically my key change relates to the depth and quality of my reflective practise.

Step 2 (Now what): Evaluate the identified change

Stage 1: Problem identification

Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) contrast the traditional approach of professional development by outside experts delivering workshops for schools with a reflective practice model. They suggest the traditional approach results in knowledge acquisition whereas reflective practice can lead to change in behaviors via self-awareness.

I feel have always been a reflective practitioner but while completing this course came to the realisation that outwardly, in a digital sense (online) I merely 'list' what has happened rather than critique, question and analyse.

Scales (2013) states
"The most inadequate reflections are those which merely describe what happened in a teaching and learning session. On its own, this is of no value. But it is a start."

Stage 2: Observation and analysis

During the Mindlab course, I gathered data through critical reflections on this blog and through discussions with colleagues as well as engaging in the Google+ forum and through social networking platforms (Twitter and Facebook groups). While gathering this data I began to realise that some of my previous reflections were not backed up with any research or depth, they were in fact very superficial.

Stage 3: Abstract re conceptualization

While researching and reading about reflective practices I came across the work of Donald SchoÈn (1983) cited in Scales (2013), who developed the notions of reflection in action and reflection on action. I particularly like this way of thinking about reflection as it's about 'thinking on your feet' and adapting a lesson to best suit the situation, yet it still considers the reflective process after the fact when you actually have time to 'mull it over'.
See Figure 1.2 below.

Stage 4: Active experimentation

I have began to incorporate the above reflective model into both the planning of my Makerspace lessons and into the reflection time afterwards, both personal and online. This has had a two fold effect, adding depth to the quality of my lessons and building teacher capacity (which is my goal) of those than interact with my Makerspace blog, in turn I am also building valuable relationships through this community of learners.

Step 3 (What next) Share your next plan(s) regarding your future professional development or your future practice.

In the future I would like to continue to explore the Maker Movement in more depth as this course has afforded me the opportunity to now have the research and understanding to back up the implementation of this movement across our Kura. With the new understanding of what is quality reflective practise I will be able to make a greater impact on both our learners and the educators who follow my blog.

After being prompted by the Week 31: Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness task I have also began a Te Reo Level 2 Certificate to enhance my knowledge of Te Reo and tikanga Maori.

As I constantly strive to grow my professional practise I am left reflecting on the statement by Scales (2013)
"Finally, and most importantly, reflective practice is the key to improvement. If we don't think about, analyse and evaluate our professional practice we cannot improve."

References:

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators. California. Corwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files.

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

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

Scales, P. (2013). Teaching in the lifelong learning sector. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press.

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Week 31: Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

11/3/2018

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This week I will consider and reflect on indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice.

Step one (what)
Culturally responsive pedagogy is a student-centered approach to teaching in which the students’ unique cultural beliefs and strengths are identified and nurtured to promote a sense of self worth. While ensuring the learner identifies with their cultural 'place' in the world, this has a two fold effect by not only raising the child's 'mana' but also raising student achievement. I resonate with the research by Gay (2001, p.106) who states that culturally responsive pedagogy is defined by “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”. When an educator is able to harness what the student relates to through their own cultural identity and connect it to what is being taught the learner feels valued and the learning is more meaningful to them.

I believe quality teaching and learning for ALL hinges on relationships. Bishop (2009) discusses the importance of whakawhanaungatanga and whanaungatanga; that is, the process of establishing relationships and the quality of the relationships that are established. Hattie (2003) also concluded that it is not socio-economic differences that have the greatest impact on Maori students achievement. He suggests that "the evidence is pointing more to the relationships between teachers and Maori students as the major issue" (p.7)

I will consider how my kura's practice has been informed by indigenous knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy in two areas: Vision, mission and core values and School-wide Activities.

Step 2: (now what)
Our school's vision encapsulates a 'Know me before you teach me' philosophy and our core values reflect the commitment to ensure Maori students reach their full potential. Tane Bennett (Deputy Principal) best sums this up in the video link below when he states "the culture of the child can not enter the classroom until it enters the consciousness of the teacher". This video also shares our school wide delivery of Te Reo via our Radio Station, where every learner regardless of ethnicity is taught to speak Te Reo from the day they start school, this programme has been recognised nationally.

Using Milne’s presentation (CORE Education, 2017) and action continuum as a reflective tool I would place our kura between the green and red stages by which “indigenous and culturally centred structures and practises are embedded but still colonial” and where Maori achieving as Maori is normalised. I believe our leadership, policy and pedagogy sits strongly embedded in the red stage but in reality several teachers are held back by their fluency of Te Reo and their understandings of Tikanga, where it is often easier to slip back into the “Pakeha comfort zone”.

Step 3 (What next)
We currently have 12 teachers, including myself who are committed to completing our level 2 certificate in Te Reo so this is going someway to addressing the confidence of teachers to ensure Te Reo is normalised across the kura.

I do feel though that while focussing on our Maori students we may be doing other ethnicities a disservice, we still need to challenge our "white definitions and structures" in terms of how we teach and acknowledge other ethnicities In past years we have had a 'cultural week' where we acknowledge Pacifica or our Indian community but I feel this is tokenism, we need to ensure we cater for these students to the same level as our Pakeha and Maori students. Perhaps it is time our radio station evolves to become multi national?

References
Bishop, R., et al., Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Maori students in New Zealand, Teaching and Teacher Education (2009), doi:10.1016/j.tate.2009.01.009

Hattie, J. (2003). New Zealand education snapshot. Paper presented at the Knowledge Wave 2003: The leadership forum, Auckland.

CORE Education.(2017, 17 October). Dr Ann Milne, Colouring in the white spaces: Reclaiming cultural identity in whitestream schools.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cTvi5qxqp4&feature=em-subs_digest

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Week 30: The Broader professional context - Contemporary trend in New Zealand or internationally

10/3/2018

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This week I am going to reflect on a contemporary trend in both New Zealand and Internationally and use Rolfe’s (2001) model of reflection as a scaffold.

Since 2007 I have followed CORE Education's research and innovation 'Ten Trends'
"Each year, CORE Education’s experienced staff of researchers, educators, and digital technology experts pool their expertise and combine their understanding and evidence of the ways that digital technologies are influencing all aspects of education. The result is CORE’s list of the ten trends that are expected to make a growing impact upon education in New Zealand in the coming year."

I will use the 2018 Ten Trends model to direct and support my reflection.

Step 1 (What): Currently the trend 'STEM' captivates my attention. There is currently rapid growing interest in programmes targeting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM), which focus on educators and others looking at preparing students for jobs in the future. I facilitate a dedicated Makerspace where STEM/STEAM - Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics is at the core of student learning. The science purists tend to frown on the arts being embedded but I believe all of these disciplines draw on design as well as creative concepts and the arts should sit seamlessly with them. I also run our Makerspace differently as the challenges and passion projects are ignited by the use of a picture book, my initial research into the maker movement found significant negative critique relating to the growth of making and demise of reading and literacy skills so I developed a way of fostering and nurturing both.

Step 2 (So What): As stated within the Ten Trends resource "The critical thing about STEM education is that it is intended to be an interdisciplinary curriculum. Rather than teach these four disciplines as separate and discrete subjects, STEM integrates into “interdependent” learning units based on real-world applications". In a Makerspace the lines often blur within a challenge station, for example I run 4 or 5 challenge stations in every session, where the students choose their station but rather than these just being standalone Science, Technology, Engineering, Art or Maths, they may in fact be a Science station with an Art infusion or an Engineering station where building and mathematics play an integral role.

See below for an example of a Science experiment adapted to produce stunning pieces of Art that while producing, students not only learnt the concept of 'change and reaction' but also took it to another level by gaining an awareness and understanding that art is a process of exploring ideas and using a variety of skills, techniques and media while persevering to create a quality finished product for an audience to appreciate.

Visit my Makerspace reflective blog, Whare Waihanga for more authentic examples
http://www.takpmakerspace.co.nz/blog

This integration into 'interdependent' learning units changes the way that teachers have previously looked at the curriculum which was subjects in isolation, this will pose a challenge to many teachers. Those that grasped the previous trend of curriculum integration, as discussed by Fraser and Deane (2010), will be better equipped for this change.

Step 3 (Now What): Although the Maker movement and STEM and STEAM appear to be just taking hold in Aotearoa, when reviewing Dale Dougherty’s (widely considered the father of the maker movement) timeline it has clearly been established and embraced across the United States of America much earlier (see diagram below).

Roffey, Sverko and Therien (2016) on both their website and the accompanying guide go into depth with practical support and strategies for educators embarking on the journey of developing and implementing a Makerspace and the concepts of STEM and STEAM.

The newly introduced Digital Technologies Curriculum (2017) will go someway to addressing the infusion of technology into the classroom but I believe this still needs to be adapted to address this trend. It is important that educators in New Zealand working with and in environments fostering STEM and STEAM share their knowledge, experiences and resources to better equip our own teachers and as a result better prepare our students for their futures.

References

Core Education. Ten Trends 2018. Retrieved 11 March, 2018. http://core-ed.org/research-and-innovation/ten-trends/2017/

Fraser, D., & Deane, P. (2010). Making a difference: Agents of change through curriculum integration. set: Research Information for Teachers, 3, 10–14.

Jamieson, P. (2017). Whare Waihanga - Makerspace. Website http://www.takpmakerspace.co.nz/blog

Minstry of Education. (2017). Digital Technologies. Retrieved 11 March, 2018. https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/consultations/DT-consultation/DTCP1701-Digital-Technologies-Hangarau-Matihiko-ENG.pdf

Roffey, Sverko and Therien (2016). The Making of a Makerspace: Pedagogical and Physical Transformations of teaching and Learning. Retrieved, 4 February, 2018. http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/uploads/4/1/6/4/41640463/makerspace_for_education_curriculum_guide.pdf

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001) Critical Reflection Model. Retrieved from: https://my.cumbria.ac.uk/media/MyCumbria/Documents/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf

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Week 29: professional online social networks

3/3/2018

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For the purpose of this reflection I will be using Gibbs' Reflective Model, as cited in Dye (2011, p. 230). This model has some similarities with the Teaching-as-Inquiry model from the Ministry of Education (2009).

Description

I have used social media tools extensively in my teaching practise and as a professional development tool, this includes a range of blogging platforms (Class Blogmeister, Blogger, Weebly and Wordpress) as well as Facebook and Twitter. Twitter has become my social media tool of choice for professional development.

Feelings

Over the years I have built up a meaningful collaborative network with ground breaking and innovative educators and I find that the power of hashtags throughout global conferences and events that many of these educators keynote at, enables me to 'attend' virtually and to have an insight into the content shared and this provides new learning opportunities for me. I feel connected and can comment and contribute even though I am remotely situated. This feature could benefit teaching and learning across Aotearoa as our geographical position is no longer a barrier to accessing high quality professional learning and rigorous critique and conversation. Twitter also provides me with an insight into global trends and technological advances.

Evaluation

In the “Using Social Media in the Classroom” (2013) video, Kathy Cassidy shared how she uses social media in a classroom. I particularly related to her comments about Twitter and how this platform enabled her learners to consider what was the same and what was different about classrooms around the globe. I wonder how many teachers have considered using Social media as a way to teach empathy?

Analysis

I have used blogging platforms for sharing students work and progress and as a platform to share my professional practice but have only used Twitter as a professional sharing and development tool, never with students. I hold my global relationships formed through Twitter in such high regard and see them as essential for me to keep at the forefront of education and when considering this and the impact this tool has had on students in classes such as Kathy's I would like to introduce this to our staff as a way to broaden our students perspectives, to build relationships and to encourage global connections.

Conclusion

When embedding new tools and moving through an ever evolving digital landscape I realise that I have become proficient at using the tools myself and in many chances es take them for granted but as my role inn schools has changed and I have moved into a management role I have missed the step of sharing and transferring these powerful tools onto our tamariki. I now have the ability to build teacher capacity and to empower our teachers to take on this challenge.

Action Plan

I am aware very few of our staff use Twitter for their own professional practice. Also knowing our staff I would introduce a video such as Kathy's as this shows how social media can have a direct impact on student outcomes and with our every increasing workloads and demands on our time I can see many of our teachers using Twitter in class to improve student outcomes rather than in their own time to improve their own, which is somewhat of a contradiction.

References

Dye, V. (2011) ‘Reflection, Reflection, Reflection. I’m thinking all the time, why do I need a theory or model of reflection?’, in McGregor, D. and Cartwright, L. (ed.) Developing Reflective Practice: A guide for beginning teachers. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill Education (pp. 217-234).

Ministry of Education.(2009). Teaching as Inquiry. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Case-studies/Teachers-as-learners-Inquiry/Teaching-as-inquiry

Tvoparents. (2013, May 21). Using Social Media in the Classroom.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZStaz8Rno

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Week 28 - influence of law and ethics in practice

24/2/2018

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This week I am going to analyse an ethical dilemma in my practice using Rolfe’s (2001) model of reflection and Erlich et.al. (2011) ethical decision making model.

Step 1: (What) - I have two social media persona's - both personal and professional. Many of my friends are in education and there are blurred lines between the two. I have now noticed that parents of our tamariki are connecting with both my professional group Facebook page and my Makerspace website and blog which I post on everyday. To date I have had only positive comments, feedback and interaction but I have wonderings around how this sits ethically.

Ehrich et al. (2011) presents an ethical decision-making model (Figure 1) that helps to explain decision-making processes when teaching professionals encounter ethical dilemmas.

Step 2: (So What): When critically evaluating this dilemma using Ehrich's (2011) model, I was able to analyse this incident through more than one lens. I needed to consider Professional Ethics - Education Council (2017). What does the teacher's code of practice state? I also looked at it through the lens of Public Interest. What would the other parents and whanau think? I needed to consider the Institutional Context eg. what would other do so after having conversations with colleagues I was directed to the Education Council's (2018) guide for Teachers and Social media. I then questioned whether having a professional 'friendship' on Social Media was an acceptable platform.

Step 3: (Now What): To support the Education Council's (2018) guide for Teachers and Social Media there is also a website available at: https://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/ which has a series of thought provoking videos with scenarios and question prompts, these would be very useful in our staff meetings especially with growing numbers of millennial who see social media as an integral part of their being. I particularly related to this quote which I felt would make online interactions more transparent.

"Engaging in ongoing discussions with colleagues can help when you are unsure whether you should share, reuse or respond to content. Talking to colleagues about your activity on social media platforms means you aren’t acting in isolation and exposing yourself to a potential ethical dilemma."

I plan to use my own ethical dilemma as a ignitor for conversation around this topic and to bring the resources discussed to our teachers attention. I would also like to host a parent/whanau hui to set clear guidelines for our community as to how we intend to use social media.

References

Education Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards. Retrieved 10 March, 2018 from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf

Education Council (2017) Retrieved 11 March, 2018. https://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/guidelines/commitment-profession

Education Council (2018). Guide to Teachers and Social media. Retrieved 11 March, 2018 from: https://www.educationcouncil.org.nz/content/teachers-and-social-media

Ehrich, L. C. , Kimber M., Millwater, J. & Cranston, N. (2011). Ethical dilemmas: a model to understand teacher practice, Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice, 17:2, 173-185, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2011.539794

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001) Critical Reflection Model. Retrieved from: https://my.cumbria.ac.uk/media/MyCumbria/Documents/ReflectiveModelRolfe.pdf

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Week 19: Communities of practice

3/12/2017

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According to Knox (2009), a community of practice is defined as a group of people who share a passion, this community then creates, expands, exchanges ideas and develops together. Wegner (2011) expands on this by reinforcing that these groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do, learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. Wenger, McDermott, & Snyder (2002) adds further to this that it is when this group of individuals partake in a communal activity and create a shared identity that they become even more successful.

I currently have several CoP which can be inter-connecting and that impact on my professional practise;

My school community, which in this case is my teaching colleagues rather than whanau, the E-learning team I am a part of, which is focused on both innovation and sustainability, the ADE (Apple Distinguished Educators) global community, which is leading and impacting on those using Apple devices, and Social Networking communities (such as Facebook and Twitter), where I am part of focussed interest groups. Each of these CoP have 3 key areas as defined by Knox (2009) a Community, which is built on relationships, a Domain which is the shared inquiry involving key issues and the Practice which is the body of knowledge or resources generated within it. The inter-connection of my CoPs is when Community collides for example two members of staff are also ADE’s but our Domains are often parallel rather than connected as we inquire into different areas, our Practice may be stored in a shared area and drawn on by others but sits in seperate pods. When relating this to the garden analogy of Knox (2009) we are all gardeners with the goal of feeding the community but may all plant or choose to tend to different crops.

When reflecting on possible teaching as inquiry topics I would like to focus on “Growing and sustaining a Maker Culture beyond a dedicated Makerspace” and “Moving from a 1:1 digital school environment to a 1:1 home school partnership”.

I chose “Growing and sustaining a Maker Culture beyond a dedicated Makerspace” as I currently facilitate a dedicated Makerspace (with a current goal to build teacher capacity) and my future goal is to see the maker space culture infused into every classroom where curiosity, creativity and innovation is encouraged throughout everyday and that I step back from my current role to see teachers, students and community using the Makerspace as more of a ‘drop in centre’ to support learner driven projects. For the purpose of this inquiry I would pose my wonderings to and draw on the global experiences of my ADE community.

I chose “Moving from a 1:1 digital school environment to a 1:1 home school partnership”as in our current 1:1 iPad environment, where our devices are school provided, students have access to the technology only during their school day. I would like to inquire into how the devices could go home each day to support flipped learning and strengthen home school partnerships. For the purpose of this inquiry I would first look to New Zealand schools that may have done similar initiatives (although they are more likely to be BYOD rather than school provided so I may need to think differently). The research within the 2020 Communications Trust report “Schools as digital community hubs” (2014) could be a starting point when considering connectivity needs. No point sending devices home if homes don’t have internet access! I would begin by utilising the CoP across social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

These two topics closely align to our school’s strategic plan and direction in relation to engaging community to work collaboratively to enhance student outcomes and hauora.

References
Communications Trust (2014). Schools as Digital Community Hubs, A report on governance, technology and commercial options.

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

Wenger, E. (2011). STEP Leadership Workshop. University of Oregon, October, (2011) (6).

Wenger, E., McDermott, R., & Snyder, W. (2002). Cultivating Communities of Practice: A Guide to Managing Knowledge. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Press.

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Week 18: A Change in My Practice Towards Future-oriented Learning and Teaching

25/11/2017

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The six themes of 21st Century Learning outlined in “Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective” (Bolstad, Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R., 2012) align with the learning in the MindLab postgraduate course
The themes in that report are :
   •   Theme 1: Personalising learning - a shift away from the one size fits all model of education
   •   Theme 2: New views of equity, diversity and inclusivity
   •   Theme 3: A curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learning capacity - the new view of knowledge as something to be created (compared with the old view of knowledge as content, concepts or skills to be passed on)
   •   Theme 4: "Changing the script": Rethinking learners' and teachers' roles - Learners and teachers work together in a "knowledge-building learning environment"
   •   Theme 5: A culture of continuous learning for teachers and educational leaders
   •   Theme 6: New kinds of partnerships and relationships: Schools no longer siloed from the community - knowledge-building activities in authentic contexts; learning connected to the community, experts etc.; gain buy-in from wider community of educational shifts.
   •   Subtheme 1: The role of current and emerging technologies
   •   Subtheme 2: Role of collaborative practices.

Through my ongoing research and reflection prompted by the Mindlab course, in particular the positive impact of ‘flipped learning’ discussed in the ‘Digital & Collaborative Learning in Context’ paper, I now have a renewed urgency and drive in developing our school as a networked community hub. This directly relates to Theme 6; New kinds of partnerships and relationships: Schools no longer siloed from the community. We are a 1:1 iPad school and having community wifi would enable us to embed flipped learning as a part of our teaching and learning programmes. It would also enable us to be better equipped for community projects where authentic learning contexts can connect us to local experts and initiatives. These projects are currently bound by the conflicts of a school timetable as our school owned devices do not go home with students and many of our families do not have access to the internet at home other than through 3g on their phones.

When considering current literature that supports my thinking, I drew on the experiences discussed in the 2020 Communications Trust report “Schools as digital community hubs” (2014) which summarises the experiences of eight community wireless initiatives and draws lessons that other communities can consider and learn from when embarking on similar projects. The report provides 10 steps to success: third party facilitator, engagement of school, clear objectives, capital funding assistance, commercial partners, N4L interface, co-siting agreements, landowner agreements, impact of switching internet providers and ongoing local support.

I have not fully implemented this change directly as yet but have provided the research and shared my thinking with our Principal and Board of Trustees chairperson. Initial discussions have taken place with local council and community wifi providers. We have now added this future oriented thinking to our strategic plan and I hope to meet with the BOT before the end of the year to put SMART goals, Turkay (2004), in place to map out our next steps.

References:
Bolstad, Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R., 2012. Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective.

Communications Trust (2014). Schools as Digital Community Hubs, A report on governance, technology and commercial options.

Turkay, S. (2014). Setting Goals: Who, Why, How?

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Week 17: Critically evaluate your reflective practice.

16/11/2017

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I consider myself a highly reflective practitioner. I reflect daily, more than daily... infact when time allows I reflect on experiences or outcomes when they are taking place and constantly make changes to my practice in response.

According to a survey cited in Finlay (2008, pg.4), there are five levels of reflection: Rapid, Repair, Review, Research, and Retheorizing and reformulating.

I feel that I have experienced each of these levels:
   •   Rapid reflection - by making 'just in time' changes to my practice;
   •   Repair reflection - by making changes on the go to improve outcomes (foresight rather than hindsight) when responding to teachers or students needs;
   •   Review reflection - I am constantly involved with this level of reflection as a mentor for 6 teachers as part of their TIC (Teacher Improvement Cycle)
   •   Research reflection - through my Teaching as Inquiry process, where I read research, collect data, and compare my practice to relevant research, over a sustained period. Informed changes are then applied to my practice and shared with my colleagues locally and globally through the Apple Distinguished Educators Network.
   •   Retheorizing and reformulating – I feel I have done this level the least but are now addressing this through the Mindlab course.

I am a very visual learner and after watching this weeks video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoI67VeE3ds&feature=youtu.be ‘the penny dropped’, I may be a reflective practitioner but I am definitely not a highly successful online reflective practitioner!

I have reflected regularly online (monthly in a public forum for an ADE reflective journal, which can be viewed within this website) while watching the reflective video I made the connect with the ‘seeing in the context of other learning’ as my current reflective process is almost in an isolated month by month diary where nothing interconnects and the reality is each month intertwines with the before and the after yet I am not capturing this.

After reading Finlay’s article I realise I am merely being ‘descriptive’ and alluding to my self-awareness and critical thinking online, I do it, I just don’t articulate it publicly. I am left wondering, is it necessary for me to share it publicly and for what purpose, appreciating that in the short term this current blogging reflective process is for a post graduate assignment. But in the long term, who’s it for…..the ‘so what’ which is mentioned in the reflective writing video.

I found, Gibbs (1988), diagram useful when considering the cyclic nature of reflection and I feel it would be useful to move me from my current style of descriptive blogging when I end up merely stating what has happened, by following more of an inquiry process when I write I would delve deeper.

This diagram aligns with the MOE’s Teaching as Inquiry Model http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Case-studies/Teachers-as-learners-Inquiry/Teaching-as-inquiry
which as NZ educators we are all familiar with. I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of using this before?

I certainly have some work to do on the online component of my reflecting but are left thinking wondering if the online forum is the best place, I think an old school journal may work better for me.

References:

Ministry of Education.(2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

Finlay, L (2008). Reflecting on 'Reflective practice'. Accessed online: http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/resources/pbpl-resources/finlay-l-2008-reflecting-reflective-practice-pbpl-paper-52

Gibbs, G (1988) Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. Oxford: Further Education Unit, Oxford Polytechnic.

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