Changes in my practice

Postgrad Reflection & Outlook

"We do not learn from experience...,

we learn from reflecting on experience." (John Dewey)

The good, the bad and the ugly

34 weeks ... , now it seems like last week. Time has past so quickly and I'm wondering if I made the most of it. Perhaps not 100% but then again I know from reflection that I find it very hard to settle for second best.

A definite highlight was the close collaboration with my teaching colleague from Arahoe Primary, wouldn't have been the same without a study buddy. And wasn't it all about that, digital & collaborative practice in context. More collaboration that's what I want, develop these networks, connect to like minded educators and share expertise, effective practice.

It is somehow sad that such a promising progressive field of study is caught up in the traditional way of doing teaching and learning. I mean sitting through these lectures, covering topic related material, completely unrelated to my teaching practice, where was differentiation & engagement? Look around you throughout the lectures, how many of us were completely disengaged. I hoped for more.

Opinions, I have mine, everyone else has their own. Sharing personal views and stories is fine, that's how you create relationships but repeatedly, I'm not so sure. It definitely put me off, more than once I was ready to leave to make a statement that I completely disagree. While I'm reflecting about my postgrad certificate, I was missing the practical parts, the application into practice. This was always very short and lacked the connection. 

In hindsight this wasn't the postgrad study for me, next time I'll make sure I find out more from people who did it before I commit to anything. 

On the positive side is the feeling of being able to complete it - proud of myself. Going through with it during the transition to a new school, which isn't at all supportive of postgrad study while in full-time employment give me great satisfaction in my ability to accomplish something. Furthermore I've honed in my research skills and was able to retrieve numerous interesting articles. A skill set that will be beneficial for my future endeavours.

Outlook

I don't know about my colleagues but for me one thing is clear, change takes time. Therefore I honestly admit there are only incremental changes to my practice. Where possible I include elements but there far more important areas of my practice that need addressing than the content of this course, for example student agency. I take great pride in my teaching philosophy to establish a mutual, collaborative and respectful learning environment and I am very sceptical how digital tools are offering a solution to achieve this.

 Te Tangata, Te Tangata, Te Tangata! 

Effective and respectful collaboration and communication across cultures and ethnicities is my goal. For the future I want to achieve a purposeful and meaningful integration of digital tools into learning and teaching. Finding like minded people, who are on the same journey and learn alongside them would be my dream.

Interdisciplinary collaboration

My Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Reflection

Looking at my map and comparing it to other fellow colleagues it becomes clear that I can't settle for one potential growth goal. As an immigrant and fairly new teacher I lack the extensive network that other colleagues have. A major obstacle, as I have mentioned earlier in one of my blogposts and one of the key findings from my literature review, is finding the time, in which way ever, to collaborate. Personally I'm still not satisfied with the connections and collaborations I have engaged in my current school. Teachers there have so many ideas, passion and knowledge to share but we have barely found the time to scratch at the surface. 

Image Credit: Pete Reynolds and Gary Stager

Many Schools still see the world through a prescribed lens, time and time again the same mistakes are getting repeated. Whole staff development, instead of differentiation, who cares about my engagement? I could go on and on but what would it change.

Future potential networking goals

One of my future goals is being more involved in online networks. Using these online channels looking after personal connections and deepen the collaboration or at least share good practice and stay in the loop with developments here, in the States and in Germany.

Secondly, having a new position next year it will be crucial to enhance the interdisciplinary collaboration with outside agencies to bring additional expertise into the school. My challenge will be to establish these connections and then engage and use them to create curriculum overarching idea generation and planning. One area this needs to happen is the planning, outfitting and running of a school TV station and radio. Members of the staff have connections with school community members who are working in the industry, my job is to bring them in to support the process and listen to their expertise.

My role will be to bring together these outside experts, school management, ICT professional development provider and our own systems administrator to collaborate, plan and create a road map for the project. In a second stage I will contact my network to find out where similar projects are running in schools to research their experiences and interdisciplinary curriculum integration.

Online Social Networks - widening the horizon?

Online Social Networks - widening the horizon?

I like to begin my blog post with a quote from my favourite german author Manfred Spitzer, researching the impacts of digital tools on the human brain. He said in regards to the internet revolution, "never before in the history of the human race has there been more lying, cheating and misleading then now" (translated from the german original). 

It is typical that the Social Media For Kids https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2rOekhi20E clip start with exactly this, a warning, be careful. It is symptomatic, way to many of us are in a state of obliviousness around the use of digital tools and media. Convenience with credit cards, tap and go, Apple pay and others, we're so used to it that we don't question it any more. How did it all happen? It is like the picture of the frog sitting in a pot, if you raise the temperature just slowly enough, the frog won't jump out. I'm a primary teacher, online social media for my age group, no thank you. Social learning happens with real people not with an digital avatar.

My online networking experience

The truth is in my practice I have barely touched online social networking so far. I follow a selected few educators on twitter to stay in touch what is happening but haven't engaged in online conversation. I can only underline what is stated in Melhuish's Master thesis, I would consider my contributions as white noise in the endless ocean of superficial information that is shared around on the internet. On page 31 is an interesting remark "Access to information does not automatically create knowledge and understanding." In the same thesis it says, "learning is social" and I'm trying to maximise my face-to-face time with my colleagues at school, building real relationships to enhance collaboration among us educators. It is hard enough to find the time to engage in meaningful and effective communication with my colleagues, I haven't found the time yet to be active online.

Benefits of online networks

"The most valuable resource that all teachers have is each other. Without collaboration our growth is limited to our own perspectives." Robert John Meehan. 

In light of this quote I can see the benefits of online networking because it is always available and the connectivity is limitless. I more or less get daily tweets from the selected few I'm following. Most of the time it is not connected to my practice and irrelevant but every now and then a tweet it provides insights and stimulates curiosity and new learning for me, that's why I'll keep using it.

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrived on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han.

Spitzer, M. (2015). Cyberkrank. Droemer Verlag, Muenchen.

Legal and Ethical Contexts

Ethical dilemma

So far I haven't encountered a ethical dilemma of the kind that was shared in the example videos but I am aware of problems like these that colleagues had to face here in New Zealand. I am very critical towards social media and couldn't disagree more with the views of some people. Hence I decided for myself that I won't participate, not because I think it is all bad, it has huge benefits in terms of staying in touch with friends overseas but the drawbacks outweigh the advantages for me. My former principal encouraged every staff member to be on facebook but I declined. In terms of these extreme scenarios it is the ultimate prevention tool not to use social media but then I would never post anything like it. For me I like to separate work and private life. I haven't faced any ethical dilemmas in a digital context yet because I am not mixing the two, ever. Following the Code of Ethics for Registered Teachers is a very straight forward, kind of common sense with you adopt this simple rule.

A future dilemma that I identify for my practice is, that I have to educate young people to be critical thinkers and to engage with social media in a meaningful and responsible way without having an in depth understanding of the tools and mechanics. I am going to lack the experience and knowledge to have insights and to respond appropriately to students questions and problems. The only incident I had in my practice so far involving digital media, which posed an issue with breaching the privacy policy of my school was blogging. As a blogging novice and self-directed learner I wasn't aware of the privacy/ commenting settings of blogger. It would have been possible for anyone to leave vicious, inappropriate comments on my class blog, which in turn could have been discovered by students and whanau.

Recommendation for Schools

In my current primary school the leadership team in collaboration with the ICT lead teachers decided to address some of the ethical and privacy related issues by making sure teachers select appropriate tools when sharing and presenting students photos or work. Selecting a blogging tool like Seesaw provides teachers with a safe tool to communicate with students and whanau and easily control who has access. In this online environment students and parents alike can safely learn and practice to share their learning and provide feedback. The teacher has control over what is shared and can use it as a teaching tool, explaining and modelling how this works. The teacher invites whanau and shares the purpose of the students blog and only provides families with access. For me it was only a matter of time until the industry would responded with software like Seesaw because of the growing concerns around cyber safety and breaches of privacy settings, intentionally or unintentionally. 

Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Paper presented at the IIPE Conference, Brisbane.

https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGQbLSEPN5w

https://vimeo.com/49804201

Cultural Responsive Pedagogy

Cultural Responsive Pedagogy

Interesting survey!? Personally I would have liked a different format, one where I am not self assessing my cultural intelligence, instead respond to a described scenario, which in return determines my cultural responsiveness. Anyway Culture is an interesting thing. Having a slightly different culture to the dominating pakeha, of english decent population, I found myself quite often challenged by the question how to explain german culture. I think this is exactly what is meant by the invisible, intangible elements of cultural identity. It is hard to explain but nevertheless I know and feel the differences that are there in the day to day interactions.

As an immigrant of choice, I have the mindset that it is my duty to make sure I understand and learn the ways of the land, to fit in as well as to demonstrate my willingness to contribute to society. I also believe that it is very unfortunate for my culture that we have completely lost the connection to the myths, legends and traditions of our ancestors. Furthermore my people are detached from their spirit and the land, something that many indigenous people still poses, a connection to earth. All this taken into account makes me cultural responsive and aware.

Thinking critically, and have been teaching Maori children for 6 years in Auckland, I have to point out that I haven't seen any evidence of Maori learners are any different in terms of what they bring to the classroom in regards to their cultural knowledge or experiences. It is sad that with ongoing urbanisation and separation of the whanau bonds, cultural traditions, knowledge and experience is being lost but this is happening all around the globe to many indigenous people from the Indians of the Amazon rainforest to the Inuit of the Artic Circle.

I have seen, how my young Maori colleague at Pomaria School introduced his students in his Te Reo immersion class to old Maori treats like catching Tuna and smoking it. For most of his students that was the first time they learnt about it. We can not just assume out of the fact that the enrolment form identifies a student as Maori that they bring all the things to the classroom we associate with this culture. It is much more complex than this. For example I have a student in my class this year of Maori descent, who is interested to go to an extension class to learn Te Reo, were the parents intervened and stopped the student from attending. 

In my own practice I'm aware of the differences, I have travelled to the Pacific Islands, didn't stay in a resort and tried to mix and mingle with the real people where possible. I have even considered to teach in Samoa for a while. Being interested in, aware of and acknowledging the differences as something positive is helping me to be cultural responsive.

Having said all that I think it is a complete disaster that the same is happening in New Zealand what has happened in the U.S.A. or Australia where indigenous people account for huge portion of the prison population. I completely agree with Prof. Bishop and other researchers that educational success is key to break with this vicious circle.

My current school is addressing this with a school charter that highlights cultural diversity by valuing relationships between whanau and school and reflecting the cultures and values of the community. Furthermore the Treaty of Waitangi is one of the guiding principles of the school charter. Underlining these are the guiding values which include relationships, based on mutual respect and trust, and diversity, of culture, interests and ability. To further strengthen Maori achieving as Maori, the strategic plan involves the creation of Maori parents focus group to ensure they have a voice is school decision making. Taking into account that only 8% of the school's pupils are of Maori descent, Arahoe school demonstrates a strong commitment to value and strengthen the bicultural identity of New Zealand.

Having a strong Maori teacher in our syndicate ensures we're consistently challenged to reflect on how we can integrate a Te Reo and a Maori perspective to our planning, teaching and pedagogy. we have identified huge gaps and determined and motivated to engage in professional development.

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., et al.(2011).Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki. Wellington: Teaching Learning Research Initiative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTVjJuRaZ8

Contemporary Issues or Trends

Into the unknown ...

Listening to and reading about predictions for the future always makes me smile. I have an advantage, I have some life experience and lived for quite a while on the other side of the globe in a different country. Somehow has this educational system made me very critical and taught me to think for myself and not believe everything I hear and see, no matter how important the people are who are sharing it. There's always an agenda.

The Contemporary Issue or Trend 

First of all I don't see the point in this fortune telling about what the future holds. Especially if they (National Intelligence Council) claim that the world wide poverty rate will decrease. I mean, you can hear the opposite every week in national television, not only in New Zealand in Germany, too. All I hear is that the gap between the rich and the poor is opening and not closing. The middle class might be growing but so is the class of the impoverished. In India 1 million young people will join the labour force every year for the next 20 years (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im5SwtapHl), to do what? Millions of people in huge parts of India live today the way we have lived more than hundred years ago. They won't be dreaming about to become an entrepreneur, don't they. If you have the time, look up an National Geographic article about India's ship wrecking coast, where huge oil tankers and cargo ships are just driven onto the beach. There they lay and being salvaged under unbelievable working conditions and enormous environmental damage. I believe one of the biggest issues is the continuing trend to ask for everlasting economic growth, based on ongoing consumption. Achievable only if production costs are being lowered in order to maintain profitable, hence automatisation with humans or robots. Reducing manual labour or simplifying it to a degree that no specific education is required, result minimum wages.

Future Focus in my view

As a teenager, back in the 90's I was active in the green/anti nuclear movement in Germany, learning about deforestation and alternative energy solution. I remember Chernobyl, 1986 (reactor meltdown in Ukraine) and believe or not it took another nuclear catastrophic event in Fukujima before Germany decided to shut down all it's own nuclear power plants by 2020. It only took 34 years to achieve this break through.

Where am I going with this you might ask. I believe all teachers in the developed world should spend more time educating young people to become more responsible and sustainable in the way we exploit our planet's resources. One of the three 'key results' from the ERO report states that teachers are yet to fully understand the permissive nature and intent of the NZC (Education Review Office, 2012). Doesn't that key finding open up endless opportunities to bring this problem to the forefront of teaching and learning? Wouldn't it be great to bring together the kiwi ingenuity and mentality to an area that will greatly determine the future of the planet and create and secure jobs for decades to come. New Zealand has everything sun, wind, water, oceans and great people.

Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds (National Intelligence Council, 2012).

Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools (Education Review Office, 2012).

Future State 2030 - Global Megatrends

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im5SwtapHl8

School culture - a personal view

Reflections on 'School Culture'

Talking about culture is always uncomfortable for me but then again it may be because my culture is often described as being very 'correct' and 'prescribed'. Anyway, I really liked the analogy in Stoll's article, describing 'culture' as a screen or lens through which we see the world with our own eyes. I believe that is very much so and explains why so many people are o.k. with something and others think it is outrageous, e.g 'plastic bags for free in supermarkets'. My culture is shaped through my upbringing in Germany and on top of that I was raised by my grandparents. That really has changed the way I see the world.

New Lynn's social fabric

Looking at New Lynn's urban plan from 2010 is a reflection of the schools cultural composition. Over the past decade New Lynn has established itself as a gateway for new immigrants from all parts of the Pacific and Asia. The New Lynn caucus has with 32 percent the highest amount of people with an Asian background in all of West Auckland and features the lowest percentage of Maori and Europeans. The urban plan predicts the trend to continue that there will be considerable growth in the migration from people with Asian or Pacific Island ethnicities into the area with further decline in the numbers of Europeans. The Social Deprivation Index for New Lynn sits on a band from 7-9 which indicates higher levels of deprivation. Income levels in New Lynn are rather low when compared with the regional average, only 11 % of people in the caucus earn more than $50,000, with an averaged median of $20,880. The statistical facts are only in parts represented by our school population. Students are coming form wide range of cultures but there still is predominantly a European majority. 

School Culture

School culture of the School seems to me being the driving force behind this because no other school in the close vicinity had such a role growth in the past years. The school is a school of choice for most of the European residents in the area which could have enrolled the children in schools that are much closer to their homes. It is a compliment to the school leadership that they managed to create this image to the community and have attracted so many enrolments.

My view from the inside is, 'say and do' certain things and you will attract a wanted response. In other words, I think the school has done a great job to upgrade its visual appearance and creating a 'feeling' of openness and forward thinking.

In terms of school culture I struggle to identify what defines and drives it. Like I said above, it seems to me that management is doing very well to give the school the 'feel good' vibe, doing and saying everything that ticks the boxes in the parents books. For me it is a show, do we really need a 25 metre pool to teach our students how to swim?

Using Hargreaves 'Typology of School Culture' (Hargreaves, 1995), I see the school's best fit as Anomic, lack of social cohesion and low social control. In Stoll and Fink's (1996) Typology the school qualifies as 'Cruising', which I believe is a very fitting description, I have been cruising for a while now and I don't like it. Why don't I like it, well there a number of implications that come with a cruising state. First no drive to achieve anything, the word explains it 'cruising', not accelerating, not braking, just cruising. Picture one of the great American Highways, dead straight as far as you can see, all you can think of is boredom or self-driving car to soak in the scenery, if there is one.

Stoll's view is that 'school culture' is very important but in regards to school improvement is also one of the most neglected concepts (Stoll 1998). That is exactly the case were I teach from my point of view. I have so far only once witnessed how school leadership has made an attempt to create something like a sense of belonging or connectedness within the staff. Unfortunately it left not only myself wondering "what was that all about." I know the difference because I was so fortunate to work with a principal over number of years who possesses the knowledge and competence to understand the importance of changing school culture. Not everybody agreed but there was a clear pathway ahead. In hindsight I would go back and recommend more community engagement from teaching staff to get more involvement and 'buy-in" but no comparison to my current school.

In summary the main issue for me is being exposed to this, I should speak up but to what end, to completely alienate myself, better not. These are the realities in schools, I heard other stories during the mindlab course that made me shiver. It is true what they say about leadership ...

References

http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/abtcnl/pp/pdf/2010/newlynnurbanplan/1-socioeconomic.pdf

Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_NvhlcusQ