Week 27: Trends Influencing Education in NZ

One trend in education that has really grabbed my attention is the increased use of digital devices and technology in the classroom. It is something that appeals to the ‘tech girl/apple girl’ in me. I love my gadgets! I’d be lost without my iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. All of these devices I use in my classroom everyday for some aspect of learning or teaching. Maybe I need to talk to the school about subsidising my next upgrade! 

The 2014 “Future-focused learning in connected communities” report identified that being digitally competent was a necessity for our students to become  successful, contributing members of the modern society. To achieve this students needs to have access to suitable technology regardless of  location, ability and financial means. The importance of digital technology is further emphasised by the introduction of Digital Technologies into the National Curriculum from Year 1 to 13 in 2018.

I am in the fortunate position in my school to be part of the ICT team and am currently the team leader. Keeping abreast with technological developments and sharing my knowledge is part of my job description. We are predominantly an Apple school with all teachers using Macbooks, classrooms having a mixture of Mac desktops and iPads and a pod of Macbooks available for classes to use via a booking system. We have, however, over the last eighteen months acquired a number of Chromebooks (130+ and rising), with classes from Years 3 to 8 having between 10 -16 devices using GAFE applications. In my classroom I am using Google Classroom to present more and more content and students are being introduced to a number of methods in which to complete their learning.

Flipped Learning

One digital learning trend that I would love to try is the use of flipped classrooms where direct instruction moves from the more traditional group learning sessions to individual, self-paced, learning sessions that take place outside of the classroom, ideally at home (Flipped Learning Network, 2014). Group sessions in class then become opportunities for practise, interactive discussion and clarification. One hesitation I had was the lack of access that some students may have outside of the classroom to the internet and/or devices. Peterson (2016) identified a number of workarounds for this situation. She suggested allowing students to access devices in the classroom before school, using the school library during break times or setting up a station where students can view the learning materials while others start the follow up activities. These are definite possibilities. Now I just need to work on the budget to go 1:1 devices in the class!

References

Digital Technologies and the national curriculum – what’s it all about? (n.d.) Retrieved June 15, 2016 from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Curriculum-areas/Digital-Technologies-in-the-curriculum

Flipped Learning Network (FLN). (2014) The Four Pillars of F-L-I-P™ Retrieved June 15, 2016 from https://flippedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FLIP_handout_FNL_Web.pdf

Future-focused learning in connected communities (Rep.). (2014, May). Retrieved from https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Initiatives/FutureFocusedLearning30May2014.pdf

Peterson, J. (2016, January 14) Flipping the classroom when home access is a problem. Retreived June 15, 2017 from https://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/01/14/flipping-the-classroom-when-home-access-is-a-problem/

Week 26: Socioeconomic Factors, School Culture and Professional Environments

Socio Economic Factors

Our school is a decile 4 full primary catering for years 1 to 8. The roll is currently approximately 420 and still growing. The area is predominantly middle class but it is currently undergoing significant housing development that may have some effect on this. The current enrolment zone includes one of the 'exclusive' suburbs in the region.

Approximately 24% of students identify as Māori and about 5% of students are other ethnicities. These statistics closely reflect the 2013 census data for our community. It will be interesting to see what data the next census reveals as there seems to have been a recent influx of immigrants both to the community and the school.

School Culture

While I have only experienced a small number of schools in my short teaching career, I would have to say that our school has the most amazing culture. This can be attributed to every person within the school; management, teaching staff, support staff and students. In his sabbatical report, Gargiulo (2014) speaks about how the language we use can impact on relationships between teachers and students. Our school prides itself on its restorative practices and this is evident in the language we use both in the playground and in the classroom. This language is not only how we talk to students but also how the students talk to each other. These practices are so embedded in the culture of the school that the language comes naturally.

Our whakatauki, ‘Kaha i ngā wā katoa – Our Best Always’ is on the front walls of all our classrooms and is part of everything we do. Our students and staff display our school values; respect, helping others, taking responsibility, honesty and fairness, and these are explicitly taught throughout the year. At our fortnightly celebration assembly, we acknowledge students who have been seen displaying the school values and achieving other successes. At this assembly the Principal also introduces students who are new to the school announcing which of the four school whanau teams they are joining and the student leaders of these whanau greet the new students.

When I read through Stoll and FInk’s (cited in Stoll, 1998) 10 Norms of Improving Schools I was able to tick off each one as applying to our school. It struck me that all of these norms happen with minimal pressure from management.  

Professional Environment

When I started at this school two years ago I immediately noticed the staffroom atmosphere. I had come from a school where the staff room was very ‘clique oriented’. Teams did not really mix socially or professionally. At our school everyone is at ease with each other. It doesn’t matter where you sit or who you sit next to. Everyone is comfortable, open and honest. This flows through all levels of the school from management down.

We may appear to have a lot of staff meetings a week but they are all beneficial. Monday morning’s fifteen minute meeting is looking at what is coming up during the week. Tuesday afternoon alternates between curriculum meetings and team meetings. Friday afternoon is a chance to review the week, talk about challenges and celebrate successes. While staff collaborate together to plan inquiry units, there is the freedom customise it to suit your learners. We are all committed to providing the best learning and learning environments for our students. You will often see and hear professional conversations going on at all times of the day as staff share concerns, thoughts and ideas.

Education Review Office (2014, Jun 04) Bell Block School Report 04-06-2014. Retrieved May 28,2017 from: http://www.ero.govt.nz/review-reports/bell-block-school-04-06-2014/

Gargiulo, S. (2014). Principal sabbatical report. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leadership-development/Professional-information/Principals-sabbatical-reports/Report-archives-for-2007-2014/Secondary-award-recipients-2014/Gargiulo-Salvatore

Stoll, L. (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

Week 25: Communities of Practice

What is a Community of Practice?

"Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and who interact regularly to learn how to do it better." (Wenger-Trayner, 2015)

My Community of Practice

Both professionally and personally I belong to a number communities of practice. When contemplating the definition above the most obvious professional community of practice that I identify with would be the middle school team that I am a member of. This community consists of four Year 3 and 4 teachers. 


Wenger (2000) describes three elements that together make up the structure of a social learning system.

1. Joint Enterprise:  Members of the community must have collectively developed an understanding of what their community’s purpose is and be able to actively contribute to it competently.
2. Mutual Engagement:  Members must build the community by interacting productively with each other.  Members must trust each other, both personally and professionally, so that real issues may be addressed and and members are able to share openly and honestly.
3. Shared Repertoire:  Members have produced communal resources that all can freely access and use competently.  These resources serve to enhance the groups shared domain of interest.

I am an active member of this community of practice, as are all members of the team. We have a very capable leader who recognises the strengths in her team and uses these strengths to the benefit of the whole team. We all contribute freely during fortnightly team meetings and during the many day to day conversations we have as part of a normal school day. Team meetings are not bogged down with lots of housekeeping/admin items but rather focusing on how our students are going, particularly our target students. We bounce ideas around about how we can best cater to these students and offer suggestions of approaches to boost their learning.

We plan many aspects of our teaching together. Each member is willing to share resources and we each take ownership of some particular area of planning such as the handwriting plan for the term or poems for the term so that we are all not spending valuable time doing the same activities. 

As two members of the team are about to embark on maternity leave it will be a interesting to see how the dynamics of the community evolve as we are a very tight knit group who have got used to how each other works and what our strengths and weaknesses are. I'm sure that we will adapt and grow as a team with our learners as our central focus.

References:

Wenger-Trayner (2015), Introduction to Communities of Practice. Retrieved June 7, 2017, from http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/

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