Communities of Practice

I feel privileged to belong to communities of practice with colleagues I work closely with daily. I’m using CoPs plural because I interact with different groups depending on common needs. Prior to beginning this week’s reading and tasks I felt confused by the concept of a CoP but quickly realised they exist, just without naming them. I must admit, however, I struggle with having discussions online, preferring face to face conversations.

Wenger (2000) describes the three elements which define a CoP and I believe we demonstrate them all : with an open attitude and energy towards learning, relationships built on trust and respect and a willingness to share resources and knowledge. The groups of colleagues I am describing exist within the greater school staff community. This greater school community are working through professional learning and development around collaborative practice.

As a result of this PLD and my Mindlab learning I am interested to look further into collaborative practice as part of my inquiry, including project based, self directed learning in contexts relevant to learners. As a second idea I am fascinated by the concept of gamification as a valuable learning tool. I think gamification fascinates me because I have seen gaming as something which is more damaging than beneficial.

Both of these inquiry topics could provide valuable contributions to the CoP’s I currently work with and new groups that may be formed through the G+ community. They also provide opportunities to move into the augmentation and redefinition levels of SAMR model (Puentedura 2010).

Following Jay and Johnson’s Reflective model (2002) my topics may be reflected on as follows:

Description:

I am making attempts at collaboration but believe I am not yet embedding collaboration into my practice. I have also had one, not so successful, attempt at gamification. Others within my CoPs are taking on the challenges adopting collaborative practices. I believe I am missing opportunities for development of 21st century skills such as knowledge construction and real world problem solving (ITL Research 2012). I have a love of learning and do feel passionate about ensuring students enjoy school and also develop a love to learn. I am interested to discover if I can improve engagement and enthusiasm through contextually relevant problem solving. I still do not fully understand how to reach full collaboration and blended learning to the augmentation and redefinition stages of the SAMR model (Puentedura 2010) and will need to seek further learning to achieve this.

Comparative:

As I said earlier I am fortunate to collaborate with colleagues who seek new and improved pedagogy. Together we are strong as we bring a range of views to the CoP. Research supports the need for 21st century skills and learning to enable the learners of today to be in any way prepared for their futures (ITL Research 2012). I can show leadership by contributing my passion for learning and my views to my CoPs to encourage collaborative and contextual experiences for a greater range of students across the departments I work in.

Critical Reflection:

Implications can only be positive if, through the support of members of a CoP, both teachers and students are engaged and enjoying classroom experiences. Change is challenging to some, however a significant advantage of a CoP is that we can support each other and share our experiences and resources. 

References:

Jay, J.K., and Johnson, K.L. (2002) Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education 18 : 73–85. 74 

ITL Research. (2012). 21CLD Learning Activity Rubrics. Retrieved from https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/ITL-Research

Puentedura, R. (2010). SAMR and TPCK: Intro to advanced practice. Retrieved from http:// hippasus.com/resources/sweden2010/SAMR_TPCK_IntroToAdvancedPractice.pdf. 

Wenger, E. (2000) Communities of Practice and Social Learning Systems. Organisation Articles. Sage. Volume 7(2):225-246. 

Reflective Practice Using Gibbs Model

The sub theme I selected is : the role of current and emerging technologies (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins, 2012. I attempted to address this theme by using available technologies to improve outcomes for students through a flipped classroom model with one of my maths classes.

Technology has been introduced using BYOD but I felt I was not using technology well to benefit students - hence my enrolment in Mindlab. Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins recognised that simply introducing new ICT tools and infrastructure into schools does not trigger beneficial and meaningful educational change.

To be honest I was a little fearful of dipping my feet into a practice that I was not confident with. Questions ran through my mind such as, “what if the students hated my model and it was an utter failure?” In fact the Initial feedback when I showed students in class the resources we would be using was not positive and I was surprised to discover that some students, who I expected to be early adopters of technology, were averse to change in the classroom. Fortunately for us all the experience became positive as the process went on and I felt more confident as  I began to see successes with students.

My next challenge was whanau who questioned whether students actually had homework online or were trying to gain more screen time. Then there were those students who were disadvantaged because they didn’t have access to wifi at home. Both challenges were overcome.

I believe the changes did improve my teaching practice because I could give targeted teaching to flexible small groups depending on need versus me grouping students depending on testing which were less flexible. This was difficult in that it is very different to my usual teaching programme and it felt messy, like I was not in control as the student’s needs arose. However I quickly saw that I was providing for far greater differentiation than previously.

While I certainly was not redefining practices I was utilising current technologies I hadn’t used to their potential before which is a positive step towards utilising more technologies as I become more confident to take risks and try new things.

I believe I have seen an opportunity to use the potential of technology to transform teaching and learning to underpin some themes of 21st century learning (Bolstad, Gilbert, McDowall, Bull, Boyd & Hipkins, 2012). My changes support continuous learning for me and re-thinking the learner-teacher role as I am directed by learners along with catering for diversity through greater differentiation. More learning is taking place at home students so can share this learning with parents and whanau versus taking practice examples home which parents often cannot help with because, particularly in mathematics, teaching has changed significantly. 

My next challenge is to build on this experience by further developing a diverse range of opportunities for how tutorials are presented - for example create tutorials using materials we used the classroom for a clear connection. I would attempt the same model again because I experienced great learning moments with students, however further development is needed to create collaborative ways for students to show evidence of learning and I have begun planning to incorporate collaborative, contextually relevant tasks and options for knowledge as a tool to solve problems which cater for student diversity.

My intention is to use data from the websites I am using to track student progress and engagement (AJ+ 2015). This can be shared with parents more regularly and in a meaningful way. I am becoming comfortable with allowing learning to be less controlled by me and adjusting my planning as needed. 

References 

AJ+. (16 Sep 2015) 5 Technologies That Will Change Classroom Education. Retrieved from

http://watch?v=loFL5gT_m8I

Bolstad, R., and Gilbert, J., with McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., and Hipkins, R. (2012) Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Report to the Ministry of Education. New Zealand Council for Educational Research.

Finlay, L. (2009). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/sites/www.open.ac.uk.opencetl/files/files/ecms/web-content/Finlay-(2008)-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf

My New Habit Challenge

My New Habit Challenge

Having entered teaching just four years ago after over twenty years self employed in the private sector, self reflection that is seen by anyone but myself was a frightening concept as I berated myself for mistakes believing there was best practice to aim for and eventually reach. How wrong I was as I entered teaching and was introduced to the spiral of enquiry model early in my first year. Did anyone in this sector ever do a satisfactory job?

My current reflective practice is very much intuitive, relying on my own self awareness (Finlay 2009) and sits superficially in the stages within Jay and Johnson’s reflective model (2002). As a result of events in the classroom I will reflect on what happened and my feelings around what happened for the students but rarely do I make time for recording my thinking more deeply than notes on my planning for future reference. Hence why I describe my reflection as relatively superficial and introspective, which as Finlay (2009) points out is the dominant mode of reflective practice. 

I am early in my teaching career and see my colleagues as valuable holders of immense experience and knowledge that I am yet to gain. They have, therefore, become a patient resource for reflective professional conversations and ideas for change. A future step for me is to seek further reliable sources and writing.

To move more deeply into the stages of Jay Johnson’s model challenges me to step into the unknown responses of a more rigorous form of student feedback on what happened and how it was for them (Jay and Johnson 2002). Not only does this challenge my thinking and expectations around my planning but am I really strong enough to take their comments critically and not want to crawl into that dark corner under my desk?  As Findlay (2009) states : practitioners may also find it testing to stand back from painful experiences and seek to be analytical about them. While my experiences are not necessarily painful, as a person who seeks to do things to the best of my ability, honest critique from students can be a frightening prospect. And yet I do seek feedback daily but in an informal way interacting with students in the classroom.

The future for me sits in the realm of seeking reliable sources and forming a habit of journalling the hours of thought which my mind processes weekly. As is so often the case there are never enough hours in the day and an ever growing “to do” list but I have identified my next step as forming a new habit of recording reflection, not superficially but with more depth and therefore value.

References

Jay, J, K., and Johnson, K, L. 2002. Capturing complexity: a typology of reflective practice for teacher education.Teaching and Teacher Education 18 : 73–85. College of Education, University of Washington

Finlay, L. (2009). Reflecting on reflective practice. Practice-based Professional Learning Centre, Open University.

Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/sites/www.open.ac.uk.opencetl/files/files/ecms/web-content/Finlay-(2008)-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf