Activity 8 - Changes in my practice

The 32 week journey

The journey through the mindlab programme has certianly been an experience.  It has been both enlightening and at times frustrating but above all else it has moved me outside my comfort zone. This alone has caused me to think in different ways and apply this in the classroom and enhance my pedagogical techniques.  The course has definately met the registered teacher criteria 4 "Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice" but more importantly has lead to research based changes to my teaching.  It has given me both the confidence and skill to deliver an appropriate learning programme to my learners.

One of the interesting aspects of the course is how my reflective practice model has changed. Previously it was probably was more about reflection but it is now moved towards the reflective practice described by Ostermann (1993) as challenging, demanding and often trying process. It has also become more collaborative with fellow colleagues and involved many discussions. 

Changes in my Practice

The biggest change to my practice has been the incorporation of technology in the classroom.  Its not that I did not use it before but it is how I apply the technology and it certainly has become more a ubiquitous in the classroom.  Indeed one of my classes has become paperless, gone is the teacher standing at the front and the workbook exercises instead we use an approach that embraces an entirely digital format.

The advantages have been the students working at their own pace, 24/7 feedback model (students often seem to do work outside my waking hours!) and more student engagement. Two of the major disadvantages however is the technology issues as often I cannot solve these and also the major investment of time to plan and implement the material onto the various platforms.  This is a major drawback as I have five classes and only have time to ultimately do this with one class due to excessive administration and reporting required of teachers (that's for another blog). However with the collaboration of colleagues we hope to be able to conceptualise, plan and implement an appropriate learning programme (as set out in registered teacher criteria 6).

Future Aspirations

To be honest I have more aspirations and plans than I could possible implement it is now just a matter of prioritising them in order of importance.  Currently the school is undergoing huge change and with the Innovative Learning environment due to open Term 2 of 2017, and hopefully ,as a result of this we can change how the school operates from the school heirarchy to the timetable (which is essentially the same as it was 100 years ago) to provide an environment and pedagogy that is suitable for 21st century learners.  I am definately looking forward to being a part of this.

Finally

I would particularly like to thank Marian, Janet and Gretchen for all the shared experiences and support over the past 32 weeks as I am not sure I could have done it without you.  Also I would like to thank all the fellow mindlabbers who have shared their thoughts and engaged with the collaborative tasks we have been involved in as you have made the journey both enjoyable and memorable.


References
Osterman, K. & Kottcamp, R. (1993). Reflective Practice for Educators. Californa:Cornwin Press.  Retrieved on 18th March, 2017 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files.

Ministry of Education(nd). Practicing teacher criteria and e-learning. Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/

Activity 7 - Crossing boundaries & Creating Connections

What is interdisciplinary Learning

This was defined by as "inquiries that draw on two or more disciplines which lead to an integration of disciplinary insights (Haynes 2002, p17).  Typically the students work in groups and observing various points of view with the aim of bringing them together for a common goal.  To my understanding a good example of this is how NASA and ESA work.  They have a goal to launch satellites or probes into space this requires an interdisciplinary approach from various area of Science and Engineering to bring their expertise and collaborate towards a common goal to achieve success. This approach would help the students make connections in their learning and not see them as isolated areas which do not intersect.  It would also give the students insight to different views and methods to problem solving as the old saying goes "there's is more than one way to skin a cat".

My Interdisciplinary Map

Barriers to the Interdisciplinary Learning

Rather than encourage an interdisciplinary approach current structures and hierarchies in secondary schools inhibit it.  Indeed we are arranged in traditional subject areas such as English, Science and Mathematics.  All the functions and reporting are based around this structure. Indeed many of the problems listed by Jones 2009 such as lack of time for collaboration, status conflicts and the faculty nature are prevalent in our school.  This is further inhibited in senior school with the NCEA standards which are very much subject orientated.

Future Focus for interdisciplinary connections

The idea of the Ross Spiral Curriculum (3) is in its essence a great idea and I would relish the chance to work in such away.  Indeed prior to training to be a teacher my projects in industry always required a interdisciplinary approach where each area of the company was represented typically this was sales, marketing, production and logistics.  Often this lead to the phrase “oh, I had not thought of that!” as different view points where express.  I would love to seen this approach adopted in schools as it would definitely increase the students empathic horizon (4).

As a Science teacher I see some huge possibilities to develop interdisciplinary approaches. Exploration of the history of science or the geopolitical landscape and the space race.  More modern issues could be explored such a climate change, a truely interdisciplinary issue, the economics of plastics and pollution or the meeting the needs of increasing energy demands of 21st century.  However my future focus would be on connecting science and history as this would probably fit into to the current NCEA structure more readily in the short term.

Haynes, Carolyn, 2002. Innovations in Interdisciplinary Teaching, West port, CT, American Council on Education ORYX Press.

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI7 (26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai

Ross Institute. (2015, July 5). Ross Spiral Curriculum: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Science. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHZhkB0FJik

ThomasMcDonaghGroup. ( 2011, May 13). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA

Using social online networks in teaching and professional development

Using social online networks in teaching and professional development 

Current Use of Social Media

I first started to use the internet in the early nineties during my PhD studies it was early days and coloured photographs were rare and webpages were mostly text. It was the heady days of word 3.1 and windows 95 was still yet to make its mark.  However it was useful to contact other experts to discuss results and possible next steps.  Move on 20 years and we now have plethora of social media platforms with a multitude of companies vying for their share of the market.

I have always used the internet, school capabilities allowing, in my classroom and have adopted digital technologies where appropriate to enhance the students learning.  Over term 4 last year I became paperless, using teacher dashboard,with one of my classes which proved both a learning experience for both me and the students.  I have continued this exercise with one of my NCEA classes this year, it will interesting to see the results of this come November and the external assessments.

Personally I use social media such as Pininterest, great for ideas and I have evened pinned the odd thing.  I have used You tube as both as consumer and creator in and out of the classroom. This is great for showing video of experiments we are not not longer able to do in the laboratory due to health and safety regulations.  Also the students have uploaded video of their explanations and enactments of various scientific principles.   Although I have both a facebook and twitter account I have not tried to use it in classroom or educational setting.  As mentioned in the establishing safeguards video (1) I have yet to find a purpose or a learning outcome that would enhance the students experience that would be worth the effort and time to establish a class facebook page or twitter account.

The Paradox of Choice

In past decade there has been an explosion of products and platforms available for us as educators to use.  For classroom management of information in our school we have moodle, google classroom and teacher dashboard.  In creating work should I use windows or google products and which of the almost endless apps we have for andriod and ios should I use or encourage the student to use. The amount of choice for digital and social media we have access creates a large amount of stress. Which is best? Have I made the right choice?  Indeed this was summed up in the book "The paradox of choice" (2) where the idea is that "we have too many choices, too many decisions, too little time to do what is really important". I highly recommend reading this book although its about consumerism there are many parallels that could be applied to current teaching methods. 

Where am I at?

With the fast paced changes that our happening in education and in our school I seem to have to run faster to stand still like I am at the gym and each year the speed of the treadmill is increasing eventually I'll fall a get shot off the back. However despite that I endeavour to add more technology into my teaching and I certainly find my interaction with the students is not longerconfined to school hours.  Feedback often happens outside school hours via collaborative software and the internet. Indeed I'll continue to strive and adapt my pedagogy to motivate and inspire the students attitude towards science.  Vitual reality explosions anybody?

(1) Education council. (2012). Establishing safeguards. (2) Paradox of Choice, Harper Perennial 2004 (ISBN 0060005688)

Law & Ethics contexts in my digital practice.

Law & Ethics contexts in my digital practice


Alan Hall raises some interesting points in his paper titled "What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers".  The paper used a case study at Camp Hoha (p7) but to be honest is a rather simplistic and a dated problem.  I have just returned from camp and school policy states that no alcohol is to be consumed on camp but either students or adults.
The classroom has changed and definitely expanded beyond the four walls of 20 years ago. Indeed my interaction with students has moved from only during to school time but all the time and any time.  At our school all the teachers have a gmail account that is available for both parents and students to use as a way to contact us and us them.  This provides both a great way to communicate and provides a paper trail for this communication.  Essential in today's political educational climate.

However the area of most concern is the use of digital technologies and the subsequent school policies to adequately protect both teachers and students.  The publication by netsafe provides a reasonably comprehensive guide covering the ethics and legal obligations involved in using technology in school.

One of the interesting points when talking about ethics and digital practice is the differing beliefs and attitudes held by the teachers, parents and students.  Some teachers are facebook friends with student while others are not but their does not seem to be a school policy that comprehensibly sets out the ethics or law in this situation.

My personal ethics in dealing with technology.

Last year a speaker arrived at school from www.simulate2educate.co.nz named John Parsons he was both engaging and informative.  In fact so powerful was his message that the school policy on digital media was changed a day later.  If you get the chance I highly recommend that you attend one of his personal development sessions, they are excellent both as a teacher and a parent of preteen children.  As a result I developed a personal ethics code regarding digital technology and the various stakeholders that I deal with as a professional teacher.  I openly discuss these with the students and parents.

These ethics involve social media, communication methods and digital imaginary.  However it does seem due the the highly fluidic nature of modern teaching practices each teacher has to develop their own moral and ethical code along side the school and governmental policies which are constantly evolving.  The key here is communication between all of the stakeholders on a regular basis


Hall, A. (2001, April). 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://www.netsafe.org.nz/advice/education/

http://www.simulate2educate.co.nz/

Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness in my Practice

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

The idea of developing a Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in my classroom has been an interesting and somewhat frustrating journey. The idea of Culturally Responsive pedagogy as defined by Bishop (2011) is an excellent and somewhat essential ingredient to engaging learners by the use a relevant context where they can bring their own cultural experiences and beliefs with the aim of improving achievement.  

Why I have I found this frustrating?

I arrived in New Zealand in 2006 to train as Science teacher with my specialty being Chemistry & Physics and during my training struggled with many of the Maori words especially the student names.  This translated in the classroom too much laughter where the students had to keep repeating their names until I could pronounce it in the correct way.  I still struggle with the rolling r's.  The next frustration I found was I had very little guidance on how to make my teaching or lessons more culturally responsive there is very little out there on this topic and as an immigrant to this country I feel I need more help than most.

NCEA and Cultural Responsive Pedagogy

As a Physics teacher my teaching load is often 40-60% senior Physics classes with the emphasis on ensuring the student pass the external standards at the end of the year. The major point to note here is that all the concepts are based on the physics and while some cultural context can be used it’s very limited and I have yet to see it employed in the assessment papers other than loosely linked to some context and unfortunately I do not have the cultural expertise to marry the two.

What has been interesting?

One of the challenges I have faced is in how to embed Cultural Responsive Pedagogy into my teaching.  In part of this has been achieved by sharing of resources and talks with my community of learning. Also a major influence has been the students themselves.  Indeed it is the students who have taught me the most like: counting, naming the Planets and understanding of native floura and fauna.  I have endeavoured to add this where possible to a culturally responsive practice.  Personally one of the most important principles I have used in my teaching is the one of Ako, the culturally preferred pedagogy principle as

defined by (Keown, P., Parker, L., & Tiakiwai, S,  2005). The principle of Ako becomes particularly relevant because knowledge construction should not just be confined to the student it should be considered a journey where both the student and teacher embark on learning together. Bishop, Berryman, Tiakiwa and Richardson (2003) saw that the most important influence on Maori student’s educational achievement was the quality of the in class face-to-face relationships and interactions between teachers and Maori students. Indeed over the past ten years I have learned a considerable amount about their cultural diversity from the students directly, probably more than any personal development I have attended, and will continue to adapt and improve wherever possible.

Bishop, R. (2011). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. In The Professional Practice of Teaching (pp. 185-204). Cengage Learning.

Keown, P., Parker, L., & Tiakiwai, S. (2005). Values in the New Zealand curriculum: A literature review on values in the curriculum. Report for the Ministry of Education, New Zealand by the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research, School of Education, The University of Waikato. New Zealand

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Tiakiwai, S., and Richardson, C. (2003). Te Kotahitanga: The Experiences of Year 9 and 10 Māori Students in Mainstream Classrooms. Wellington: Ministry of Education. www.minedu.govt.nz/goto/tekotahitanga

Is the Bunsen burner Dead?

Broader Professional Context - Is Bunsen burner dead?

In recent years many developed countries such as USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand have been concerned with science education and the falling numbers moving from secondary to tertiary education in the areas of science. (1)
According to the PISA survey of 2014 New Zealand has experienced a decline in the Science literacy of 15 year olds, although still above the OEcD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)  average this decline is significant and a worrying trend. (2)



So why is science literacy important in the 21st century?
Modern society is built on a scientific and technological platform and we largely function 
everyday where we expect the science and technology to function ubiquitously with little understanding of what is happening inside those little containers we carry around. Indeed we need to understand some large socioscientific issues that have arisen this century such as climate change, energy requirements of an increasing world population and distribution of food and medical supplies. In any modern democracy it is an educated populace that keeps the government policies in check via the media or direct protest.  How can you do this without science literacy?

Problems with current Science Education.
The role of science in modern society has seen a seismic shift in the 21st century however the science taught at secondary school is largely the same as it was 40 years ago.  We still learn the elements periodic table indeed this is what my current Year 10 class is learning just like me 30 years ago and my parents before me 50 years ago. Indeed despite all the changes in the curriculum science lessons are largely the same, all be it with more technology available, so now instead of doing a class demonstration we can watch a you tube clip. Indeed one of the first experiences for high school students arriving at secondary school is how to light a Bunsen burner safely yet in most real world laboratories health and safety has seen these replaced with electrical heaters.  One quote that seems significantly apt in describing the current state of science education is that students are "frogmarched across the scientific landscape from one feature to another, with no time to stand and stare, or to absorb what it was they had just learned" (Bull et al. 2010).(3)

There has a great deal of endeavour to change the curriculum over the past 30 years to be more connected to real world contexts, more student centric, more inclusive to a wider ethnic diversity, more cognisant of the way students learn, increased technology in the classroom. Indeed these efforts have resulted with the introduction of new words into the curriculum document but has had little effect on how science is taught in the classroom.  Indeed Science education seems to have a low profile in many primary school and is mostly used a context for inquiry learning and as a result students arrive at high school with very little knowledge of scientific methodology.

If science education is going to move into providing the appropriate skills for the 21st century and provide a science literacy that allows populace to make informed choices we need to rethink how science is taught in our schools.

(1) www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/14606.pdf

(2) www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/indicators/main/education-and-learning-outcomes/science_literacy_achievement_senior_secondary_schooling
(3) Bull, A.,Gilbert, H., Barwick, R., Hipkins, R., Baker, R. (2010) Inspired by Science, A paper commissioned by the Royal Society of New Zealand and the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor.

School Culture - Week 2

History

On Monday 28th January 1884 Rangiora High School (RHS) opened for its first day with a roll of 19. One hundred and thirty three years later on Wednesday 1st February 2017 a new cohort of students were welcomed into RHS with a roll of around 1800. History and tradition is important to our school and is frequently mentioned in introduction and graduation speeches. Indeed a book has been published that documents the journey the school has taken though the late 19th until the late 20th  
century(1). The age of the school has certainly had a impact on the culture and according to the development stages identified by Schein(2) would be considered midlife where continued growth and renewal is essential to avoid move towards decline.

Community

Rangiora has seen a huge change over the past 100 years from small farming community in North Canterbury to a thriving community of over 15,000 people.  Indeed the biggest change has happened in the past five years due to the Earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 where there has been a big migration from Christchurch. Over the 10 years I have been there the roll has grown from 1200 to 1800 students despite the reduction in our school zone. This made its impact felt in a number of ways not least moving our decile rating from 8 to 9 but also in the nature and make up of our community of parent and students.  No longer do many of our students come from farming background with the aim to move to agricultural trades after school but a more cosmopolitan mix with the aims far more diverse.  The school needs to adapt to this new reality and change its rural community outlook to a more global and inclusive mentality.

School Culture

Currently I believe that our school culture is in transition and given the issues and challenges we have faced over the past couple of years regarding the removal of the principle and the ensuing court case has left a degree of uncertainty among the staff.  In fact the teacher culture within the school is in a high state a flux with a concerted effort to move from 'Individualism' towards 'collaboration' as identified by Hargreaves (3). This is due in part to the Innovative learning environment that is due to open May 2017 and the move to 21st century learning.  However the as I experience the current teacher culture it more a like 'Balkanisation' where smaller collaborative groups have been formed to teach the incoming Year 9. This initiative been labelled as connected learning and group of 30 teachers from across multiple departments have been placed in groups 5 to team teach 60 students. 

In terms of the typology of the school culture this very much depends on who you ask with the responses ranging from moving, cruising, strolling or struggling (4).  However whatever the typology of our school culture one thing is for sure it going to significantly and radically change to accommodate the needs of the community and its learners. This may indeed be facilitated by the appointment of a new principle this year. 

Currently much of the change has focused on structure especially roles and responsibilities this is the easy stuff the hard issues still have to be addressed.  This will make the next two years and interesting and some what exciting journey.


1. Gunby, D. C., & Rangiora High School. (1984). Rangiora High School, 1884-1984: A centennial history. Rangiora [N.Z.: Rangiora High School Centennial Committee.

2. Schein, E.H. (1985).

3. Hargreaves, A. (1994). Changing teachers, changing times: Teachers work and culture in the post modern age. London: Cassell.

4. Stoll, L. (n.d.). School Culture: Black Hole or Fertile Garden for School Improvement? School Culture, 30-47. doi:10.4135/9781446219362.n3