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Week 32 - Changes in Practice ad Future Plans

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During the last 32 weeks Mindlab has provided me with a wide range of different learning and teaching opportunities that I have got to explore and trial.  We have got to experience and develop our understand of: -Leadership in Digital and Collaborative Learning -Digital and Collaborative Learning in Context -Research and Community Informed Practice -Applied Practice in Context Each of these has provided us with an insight into the ever changing world of education and digital learning and experience. Step 1 (What):  Identify one key change in your professional practice: One key area of my professional practice that I has been a key change is the inquiry process that teachers go through in continuing to redevelop their pedagogical knowledge, understanding, strategies and practice.   Professional Learning - Use inquiry, collaborative problem-solving and professional learning to improve professional capability to impact on the learning and achievement of all learne...
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Week 31 - Practice - Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness

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For Week 31, I am going to reflect on Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness in practice using the reflection model that Rolfe’s (2001) designed. Step 1 (What):   What is cultural responsiveness?   From my research to understand what cultural responsiveness is, I came across this, “…cultural responsiveness is much more than introducing myths or metaphors into class.   It means interacting with their families to truly understand their reality; it mean understanding the socio-political history and how it impacts on classroom life; it mean challenging personal beliefs and actions; and, it means changing practices to engage all students in their learning and make the classroom a positive learning place for all students” (Education Council, Earl, with Timperley, Stewart, 2008).   Some very powerful words to think about.   You could ask yourself, what are you currently doing to promote this in your class or school.   Under the New Zealan...
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Week 30 - The Broader Professional Context

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We are hearing phrases like “future-focussed education” and “21 st century learning skills” and the impact or lack of impact that both of these ideas are having on our students today.   What: A trend that I am seeing happening a lot is educators pedagogy of supporting students in a future-focussed education, based around developing and extending knowledge of 21 st century learning skills.   Gone are the days where students are sitting in rows of desks, facing the front, with the teacher at the front standing by a board regurgitating the same lesson they did a decade ago.   So What: The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) “encourages students to look to the future by exploring such significant future-focused issues as sustainability, citizenship, enterprise, and globalization” (p. 9).   The issue here is that not many students in the primary sector, which I work, would be given the opportunity to do this, unless they have a future-focussed teacher and ...
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Activity 5 - The Use Of Social Media In The Classroom

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Kathy Cassidy, a primary school teacher said that “To come to school and power down is not the reality that we are now living in”.   This is a powerful statement and something that all educators should think about.   This blog will look at how I use social media in my class.   The variety and easiness of social media has seen them become an interwoven part of education.   Networking is an essential part of life in 2018, as it can promote a higher engagement of communication with all stakeholders in education (CloudLearn Report, 2011).   As adults, we have the availability of information at the press of a bottom, so why then are educators not taking advantage of this.   In my classroom I use SeeSaw, which my class use a digital portfolio.   They take snapshots and videos of their work, write a comment and post it for their parents to view.   By using this digital platforms parents are able to continuously view what they child has been working...
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Activity 4 - Influence of Law & Ethics in Practice

When I think of an ethical dilemma that all primary school teachers, followed by  secondary school teachers could be facing in the near future, one that comes to mind is the bargaining process NZEI members will be going through with their new collective agreement coming up.  On the surface, this is not necessarily a digital or online ethical problem for most teachers, however I can see ethical issues can come into play from media and personal blogging. The NZEI bargaining team has started the negotiation with the the New Zealand Government over their new collective agreement.  Having just attended an NZEI PLD day on the process this bargaining will take, I can see how points of views could easily get out of hand.  During this week (starting 5th March), all NZEI members and the media will have knowledge of what the bargaining team are asking for.  The media can easily pick this up and work it in a number of ways: Yes, it is about time that primary ...
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Activity 3: Contribution of Teacher Inquiry Topics to My Communities of Practice

Wenger et al. (2002) describes a community of practice as a “group of individuals participating in communal activity, and experiencing/continuously creating their shared identity through engaging in and contributing to the practices of their communities”.  This year one of the most rewarding Communities of Practice that I have been involved is the Hamilton MindLab.  The ability to get together with like minded educators that are passionate, focussed and committed on developing new skills, strategies and understanding of this changing world, has made me be reflective, challenge and engage in my own practice.  Throughout the first 16 weeks of the MindLab course, I have valued the professional dialogue and ranging opinions, thoughts, knowledge and research.    Wenger, McDermott & Snyder define Communities of Practice as “groups of people who share a concern, a set of problems, or a passion about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this...
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Activity 2: A Change in My Practice Towards Future-oriented Learning and Teaching Changing the Script: Rethinking Learners’ and Teachers’ Role. Theme 1: Personalising learning Theme 2: New views of equity, diversity and inclusivity Theme 3: A curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learning capacity Theme 4: "Changing the script": Rethinking learners' and teachers' roles Theme 5: A culture of continuous learning for teachers and educational leaders Theme 6: New kinds of partnerships and relationships: Schools no longer siloed from the community Subtheme 1: The role of current and emerging technologies Subtheme 2: Role of collaborative practices Whenever starting to learn something new or that give put up walls, you would usually do as much research as possible before beginning, to be one step ahead and have prior knowledge.  I did this before beginning Mind Lab, as I am sure many others did.  Throughout my time with Mind Lab, each wee...
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