Week 29 - Influence of Law and Ethics on Professional Practice.

This week's blog is about identifying an ethical dilemma in my own practice linked to digital or online access or activity. 

I have spent the last week considering my personal and professional ethics and instigated a conversation with a Principal about what would they expect in a particular scenario. 

We discussed how education in New Zealand has become considerably different to even ten years ago with the huge impact Facebook has had on society. Many people are connected through this social media and this can create many issues for a wide range of professionals. We have Facebook pages for many reasons some of which are to connect with family, friends or to share activities and resources with fellow professionals. Ensuring you are protected from public access and securing yourself as a teacher is important. This led to a discussion on the risks some younger teaching staff, newly registered teachers or more senior teachers with limited knowledge may unknowingly put themselves into. 

Hall (2001) speaks about teachers 'knowing their decisions are more likely to be publicly challenged and publicised than they were in the past.' This is something strong mentoring programmes such as tutor teachers, associate teachers and mentors must explain and support the guidance of any teacher beginning or returning to the profession. It is also an important guideline for all staff to discuss and be aware of and consequences set out. 

Part of this discussion with the principal was around what would they expect as the leader in a school setting to happen should a staff member discover or be made aware of something that was online and considered either illegal or immoral. I found this an interesting and honest reflection of my own personal and professional ethics as the expectation is to take the knowledge to a leader for them to have a conversation about with the person concerned. 

I believe if a staff member has an honest and open relationship with the leaders in a school setting, the expectation would be to follow all of the guidelines and adhere to the Code of Ethics for Certified Teachers set by the New Zealand Teachers Council.

The Code of Ethics clearly states in point three, teachers have a commitment to society. They will strive to teach and model those positive values which are widely accepted in society.  This code also clearly says as the last point of commitment to the profession that teachers will strive to speak out if the behaviour of a colleague is seriously in breach of the Code of Conduct. This is probably the most important point in the document guiding teachers to follow the previous points ensure teachers are committed and striving to the highest attainment of the highest standards of the profession of all learners. 

References:

Education Council. (nd). Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0

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. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Developing-leaders/What-Ought-I-to-Do-All-Things-Considered-An-Approach-to-the-Exploration-of-Ethical-Problems-by-Teachers

Week 28 - Indigenous knowledge & Cultural responsiveness

Living in a bicultural country with multicultural diversity requires open mindedness and basic understanding of many cultures. Developing caring and interactive relationships with a wide range of cultures is an important and relevant issue in an evolving cultural climate. Understanding and learning about Māori culture is important for all New Zealanders. This shows respect and Manaakitanga (caring) towards our indigenous people. History shows us European settlers and immigrants did not show respect for the Māori in the 1860's with the influx of Pakeha to New Zealand. There was a major decline in te reo Māori and in tikanga. 

Prior to that, Māori language was learned and used by Pakeha adults and children with fluency as they assimilated into evolving communities. With the large numbers of immigrants from Great Britain and other European countries, people did not understand that the Māori language was the main form of expression and crucial for the indigenous people of New Zealand in keeping their identity and preserving their pride. This led to Māori language being discouraged and the people were left floating in a sea of Pakeha language, ideals and values. 

Today we understand the importance of all people being proud of who they are, where they come from and what they have to offer. We are responsible as educators to make decisions in partnership with our communities on how we deliver, what we deliver, where we deliver and to accept our learners, have experience and knowledge to share and teach too. Bishop (2012) identifies educational disparities having an impact on our country and as a society we need to understand and address these disparities. He also states the educational achievement gap between Māori and non-Māori as accumulated economic, social and academic deficits. 
Ensuring Māori students learning needs and approaches are respected is significant in classroom programming at our school. We consciously look for opportunities for all students to take leadership and teaching roles while staff support these students or learn alongside the students. We are also mindful of core values in the planning and delivery phases of our curriculum and learning activities.

Our school-wide planning documentation is currently under review and we are ensuring we address Whānaungatanga, Ako, Manaakitanga, Tangata Whenuatanga and Wānanga in all areas. Embracing and making conscious decisions about these important values is an area we are beginning to feel connected to and consider on daily basis. We are developing documentation to support  a programme, belief, philosophy and ethos at our school to show and celebrate our student achievement which interestingly has been for some time, higher in our Pasifika and Māori students. Our current concern is addressing social and economic cultures in our community and encourage and support continued relationships and positive communication with all cultures. We as a staff use, and consider Tātaiako (2011) cultural competencies. We think about and consider our own personal values and beliefs and how our relationships with students and our community can be developed, as well as learning new customs and languages.

References:

Bishop, R. (2012, September 23). A Culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. 

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

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T., & Teddy, L. (2007). Te Kõtahitanga Phase 3 Whānaungatanga: Establishing a Cultural Responsive Pedagogy of Relations in Mainstream Secondary School Classrooms. Report to the Ministry of Education. 

Retrieved on 6 June 2016 from: 

https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/series/9977/9454

Ministry of Education (2011). Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners. Ministry of Education. Wellington.

Week 27 - Contemporary issues in New Zealand education

Two contemporary issues influencing New Zealand and international education are 'student-centred learning' and 'standardised testing'. 

The NMC Horizon Report (Johnson et al., 2015) discusses 6 key trends in education over the next five years. Two major trends  are 'Shift from Students as Consumers to Creators' as a mid-term impact and 'Rethinking How Schools Work'. 

The report explains students around the country and the world are experiencing a shift from traditional classroom environments. Instead of students consuming and regurgitating information and content, students are beginning to explore and create their own personalised learning. This transformation has been helped by the increased use and knowledge of digital technologies, social media and social networking. Students following their own pathways are showing an increased motivation and higher engagement while empowering students to share and teach others known skills and knowledge. Sharing and teaching peers develops and encourages collaboration skills and leads to improved communication skills through explanations, questioning and creating deeper thinking. This particular trend supports the growth and knowledge of educators to build their own digital and collaborative skills in order to facilitate their learning. 
It is important to note Education Review Office (2012) identify student-centred learning as an issue to be addressed for priority learners in New Zealand. ERO reports that most successful schools are providing an environment that identifies and builds on students strengths and interests in addition to their learning needs. Stakeholders in schools have an agreed understanding to provide learning programmes to meet the all needs of their students in enriched and supportive environments.

Understanding how to change from a traditional and perceived authoritarian model to a learning environment which honours students as partners in learning as Mahuika, Berryman and Bishop (2011) assert, is the biggest challenge. Teaching staff are in confusion with their own philosophies and accountability to the Ministry of Education for assessment data versus implementing a student centred learning environment. Finding ways to teach the necessary communication skills and language to students from a diverse range of cultures to empower them to become partners in their learning is daunting. This also raises another key issue within student-centred learning. Many Pasifika and Asian cultures find the concept of students communicating their interests, strengths and desires to teachers and having these openly discussed is challenging to the traditional model of teachers holding an authoritarian and professional mana. Teachers for so many years have been thought of as the key to knowledge, hold the power, and rule over the learning environment. Parents, caregivers, whānau have experienced education in New Zealand and in other countries where the teacher is the professional leader and students are sent to school to consume knowledge by sitting, listening, recreating and reproducing. The time is coming for the New Zealand education system to be lead by example and not told by authorities with second hand knowledge and experience one thing and expectations are another.

The second issue facing education in New Zealand is directly linked to my first issue, standardised testing. In the eight years I have been teaching I have never thought PAT testing, STAR testing or any other paper delivered testing is valid, reliable or best practice. This bastion of historical assessment shows only that some students can sit for a long period of time, read questions and on a good day answer appropriately. These standardised tests do not show or tell the true facts about the learner. I have had young children feel they are failing early in the year with poor results shown when in fact they had problems reading the words and understanding the language used. They have been given similar problems or questions at a later stage and provided in-depth or appropriate responses to show their understanding.
If schools were to be focused on student-centred learning and effectively responding to students needs, interests, strengths, passions and learning needs, we would certainly not be able to assess students using standardised testing.
I recently watched and read about a young New Zealand 15 year old school girl who had made a series of documentaries about the ocean. She had a passion and was encouraged and supported by her father to follow this passion. After she had created a ten series dvd collection she was told by her high school media studies teacher that this did not go towards her NCEA assessments. To me this is the most absurd and ridiculous result for someone who spent hours researching, filming, creating and sharing experiences and knowledge for her to be given all credits for the necessary subjects, or for connecting her achievements to relevant subject credits. This issue can also be applied to university studies across the globe also being cross-credited. Doctors and lawyers practising in other countries should be allowed to practise in New Zealand with a support programme in place to facilitate and provide guidance to our culture, laws and common practises.

I now think I will need to put some of these reflections into my day to day practice in the classroom and consider the implications of relevant and purposeful assessment to show learning in progress. 

References:

Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools. Retrieved 23 May 2016, from http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/evaluation-at-a-glance-priority-learners-in-new-zealand-schools/

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. 

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

Mahuika, R., Berryman, M., & Bishop, R. Issues of culture and assessment in New Zealand Education Pertaining to Māori Students. Assessment Matters 3, p.186.

National intelligence council. (2012). Global trends: Alternative Worlds. National Intelligence Council: USA. Retrieved from https://globaltrends2030.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/global-trends-2030-november2012.pdf

Week 26 - My Professional Community

According to Stoll (1998), 'school culture is defined as three dimensions, relationships among the members, the structure of the organisation including the physical environment and the management system and the learning nature.'

Stoll (1998) also says identifying and understanding what our current school culture looks like, feels like and how it influences our collective behaviours is the starting point for improving our school environment. The history of the school from initiation through to this point in time has shaped the impression we, as staff, and we, as a community feel towards the environment. We are constantly reminded of socio-economic backgrounds contributing to our school community and the expected behaviours, successes and influences these play on our learners. National policies to education, health and housing contribute to our school culture and the support we receive to deliver effective learning programmes. Our school has been, and continues to be the back bone of the community and changes in our contributing clientele remains cyclic.

A key challenge we are currently facing, as are many Christchurch schools, is the forecast of rebuilding our physical buildings and rebuilding to meet Modern Learning Practices. The challenge in reality is to the staff philosophies. We as a staff are involved in discussions around trends in education and how these may impact on our culture, our community and how to manage these.

My professional community is currently in discussions around how Modern Learning Environments operate and what support is needed for school staff to understand them, parent information sharing, student competencies development and learning opportunities. We are strong believers in everyone having strengths and having something to offer in this process. Participating in discussions and professional development to support and encourage our students learning and questioning our philosophies, cultures and understanding is important. We are also developing collaborative teaching and learning experiences in a basic and fundamental level. This continues to be an area of development and with the continued help from Grow Waitaha, we will build an evolved idea of our school values in partnership. 

It is important to note the MacNeil, Prater and Busch (2009) state that strong school cultures have better motivated teachers. Highly motivated teachers have greater success in terms of student performance and student outcomes. School principals seeking to improve student performance should focus on improving the school's culture by getting the relationships right between themselves, their teachers, students and parents. p.77



References:

MacNeil, Angus J.; Prater, Doris L.; Busch, Steve (2009). The Effects of School Culture and Climate on Student Achievement. International Journal of Leadership in Education, v12 n1 p73-84 Jan 2009

from http://donnieholland.wiki.westga.edu/file/view/school%20culture%20climate%20%26%20achievement.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

Interesting Readings for a reflection

I have decided to add some readings I have found recently for future reference.
Sometimes these readings promote immediate questions or ponderings and I like to take some time to process and re-read and make some connections for myself.

Through Learning is Well-being:
http://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/2322/Whole-1.pdf?sequence=1

Childrens Participation: Roger Hart
https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/childrens_participation.pdf

Communities of Practice: Wenger, E. (2000)
http://stjamesschoolbermondsey.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2.-Wenger-E-2000-Social-theory-of-learning.pdf

Week 25 - My Community of Practice

I am a Y3/4 teacher in Christchurch. I have been teaching for eight years and love what I do. Over the last six months I have been working towards a Post Graduate Certificate in Applied Practice (Digital and Collaborative Learning). Learning about digital tools to support learning and collaborative approaches has allowed me to explore and experiment within my practice. Part of this process has also allowed for the reading and discussion of research both old and new. This has encouraged debate, questions, knowledge sharing and collaborative study with like minded professionals. We have supported and engaged with one another along and with technology allowing for us as teachers to return to learning while doing. 

As part of our Applied Practice it is important to identify and define my professional and community of practice. 

What is a Community of Practice?

A community of practice (CoP) is a group of learners sharing their knowledge, experience and understanding. Wenger (2000) states that "by participating in these 'communities of practice' is essential to our learning. It is at the very core of what makes us human beings capable of meaningful knowing.' p.229

Being part of a CoP is participating, connecting and collaborating socially in our personal learning journey. We are passionate about education and willing to further our knowledge and build on our practice. Wenger, McDermott & Snyder (2002) defined communities of practice as 'groups of people who share a concern or a passion or about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interaction on an ongoing basis'. (p.4)

Who are my Community of Practice?

My CoP is my colleagues in our school, colleagues also studying this course and fellow teachers in online forums. Like-minded professionals passionate about providing the best opportunities in education for our life-long learners. 

Key Theorists that underpin my practice

Understanding what is important to my practice provides me with reminders of why I want to teach and how I want to teach. Sometimes daily practice becomes difficult with tight timetables, outside forces and general school business impacting on my philosophy creates friction. Making sure I follow my true belief's in a changing climate gives me hope for the future of our learners and my CoP feeds my passion to teach experientially. I feel a strong alliance to the four theorists outlined above and over the next twelve months I will have courage and follow my early philosophy and understanding rather than push myself to conform to the philosophy of others. 

References:

Wenger, E. (2000). Communities of Practice and Social Learning Systems. "Organization 7.2 (2000): 225-246.

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

Enlightening moments

Over the last six months my journey through my Post Graduate Certificate in Digital and Collaborative learning and Applied Practice has created many questions, many opportunities and many moments of madness.
Study and working full time is not a particularly easy task however, doable.
I have spent many hours chasing my tail trying to finish assessment tasks, late nights, pouring over research, thinking about implications for my teaching practice, my students and my philosophy.
The journey is now on the last stretch of a marathon and I am more informed and to a degree, more motivated to independently read research.
My next few blogs will be my Applied Practice assessment and therefore topic related. Enjoy.