Cacey Britten

Activity 8: Changes in my practice One of the two key changes that has occurred in my teaching practice within the past 32weeks learning journey has been in relation to Criterion 2 of the teaching standards; demonstrate commitment to promoting the well-being of akonga (Ministry of Education, nd.). I believe I have used digital platforms to strongly allow personal learning for my students; Students have different learning needs and e-learning tools provide ways to cater for those differences and personalise the learning. Online resources can also provide support to teachers working with students with specific needs. (Ministry of Education, nd.) Here is a link to a google doc I have made showcasing some of the digital and collaborative activities my children have achieved throughout the year. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Mq3hxFFAKqjkRUxpjQb-fLNX4DbFZOUjXSntDCfQPpI/edit?usp=sharing It has videos the children have made as follow-up activities to our big books, inquiry a...

Activity 7; Critically discuss the interdisciplinary connections in practice. Andrews (1990) defines i nterdisciplinary  collaboration as occurring "when different professionals, possessing unique knowledge, skills, organizational perspectives, and personal attributes, engage in coordinated problem solving for a common purpose" (cited in Berg-Weger &. Schneider, 1998). Working collectively with our colleagues will open new pathways to inform our pedagogy and in turn strengthen our practice. When watching the video by Thomas McDonagh Group (2011), I agreed with the fact that we need to educate our students holistically and empathically. By exposing students to different views, opinions, and horizons, we can set our students up to be well-rounded citizens of society and connected learners. Being inclusive of others, particularly their backgrounds and cultures is a natural part of life. The more we know about others, the more we can learn about ourselves in relati...

Create a reflective entry where you critically discuss the use of social media in YOUR teaching OR professional development. A study undertaken by S eaman & Tinti-Kane (2013) questioned 900 pearson customers about the impact digital communication has on their levels of stress and the number of hours they work. 48 percent of faculty reported that digital communication has increased their level of stress. Only 13 percent believe that their level of stress has decreased, with the remaining 39 percent reporting no change. In addition, nearly two-thirds of faculty report that digital communication has increased the number of hours that they work. An additional 27 percent see “no change” in the number of hours they work, and only 8 percent say that there has been a decrease in the number of hours that they work as a result of digital communication ( Seaman & Tinti-Kane, 2013) . I found these findings compelling as I personally have found that social media has only decrease...

Activity 5 (Week 29) Critique and address issues of law, regulations and policy in practice; Emailing, texting or messaging via social media to a student may seem harmless and in some cases practical. The student may need immediate help or feedback on an assignment or has a query about the class or course. However, there are dangers to this instant form of communication and it’s hard to find an appropriate balance; o ften, the problem with this form of communication is that it can obscure the boundaries between teacher and student ( Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program, 2012). Social networking applications expose teachers’ out-of-school identities and their networks to a greater degree of scrutiny by their students, colleagues, and school communities (Henderson et al., 2014). In situations where a teacher has used their own personal email or cell phone to communicate with a student, it might be easy for a student or teacher to overstep the boundary and share ...

Activity 4 (Week 28) Critique and evaluate how indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness inform practice; When considering Butcher’s (2008) mega skills that contribute to cultural intelligence, I believe the 9 criteria are constantly evolving depending on who you are as a person, and as such, I think the first criterion of ‘understanding my cultural identity’ is the most important. By being aware of and understanding our personal beliefs, values and assumptions of teaching and learning, we will be in a better position to help students learn. Considering this, I think both myself and our school is in the state of being proactive (Mauri Oho), being awaken from the Mauri Moe. We are in the Kua whakawhiti stage which means we are beginning to interact ( Pohatu, 2011) . I say this because as a staff (I do not speak for all) we are still learning about our student’s cultural backgrounds and identities and are learning Te Reo at the basic level. Most of us are still in the stage...

Activity 3 (Week 27) Critique and evaluate practice in the context of different audiences (local, national and/or international) and their perspectives; Teaching and learning today goes beyond passive receipt of knowledge and towards actively seeking knowledge. The trend I have chosen to investigate is; Technological Innovation Accelerates Progress but Leads to Discontinuities. ICT are poised to transform a widening array of work practices and the way people live and communicate (KPMG international, 2014). This is happening in education, particularly in the way children are working and communicating together. The reason the education system needs to face this trend and its potential challenges is to address the risk of decreasing social interactions. Laal et al., (2012) state that the need in society to think and work together on issues of critical concern has increased, shifting the emphasis from individual efforts to group work, from independence to community. If students ar...

Activity 2 (Week 26) Critically analyse issues of socio-economic factors, school culture and professional environments in relation to practice; Our school’s 2016 ERO report showed 50% of our students identify as Pākehā, 37% Māori, 4% European, 3% Asian and 6% other. This shows a great variance in how we are made up ethnically, therefore bringing many different characteristics to our community in terms of socio-economic status ; the socioeconomic status of a family is “a combination of education, income and occupation” (APA, 2016). This has brought about issues relating to the engagement and academic success for all students across the school. In our 2016 analysis of variance, 48/117 students identified as targets across reading, writing or numeracy. These 48 students had medical or behavioural needs, were ESL or had a referral made. To help these students succeed, target groups were made and monitored regularly by the team leaders. Teacher aides were trained through RTLB and SENC...

Activity 1; Week 25 Critically Define Practice; Over the course of my lifetime I have belonged to many communities of practice with various family and community members eg. learning to cook, book club, yoga, university, teacher training, work etc. When learning about a community of practice and what it essentially is, I am humbled to realise that mindlab itself is a really great example of Wenger’s (2000) three distinct elements of; joint enterprise, mutual engagement and shared repertoire. These can also be referred to as the domain, the community and the practice (Wenger & Wenger-Trayner, 2015). Mindlab has naturally permitted these three pathways and it has been interesting reflecting on how it has achieved this. Cambridge, Kaplan, and Suter (2005) suggest that communities of practice provide an environment for people to connect, interact, build and extend the shared resources within shared learning goals. Mindlab has been a platform for this to occur and on reflec...