my Mindlab Blog

Reflective  practice Embarking on the post-graduate experience seemed, at first, intimidating and it was.  Blood, sweat and sleepless nights! The course required persistence, challenging me to try out new practices and to open my mind to innovative ideas and possibilities.  However, studying at the Mindlab helped me focus on not just a particular aspect of my practice, but also made me more reflective on being a professional and the importance of being a lifelong learner. I am now a more focused researcher and adopted the need for new information. To me reflective practice is a means by which I can develop a greater level of self-awareness about the nature and impact of my performance, awareness that creates opportunities for professional growth and development.  Because of reflective practice I am always actively searching for innovative ideas and new strategies to support and improve teaching and learning.   How my practice in the classroom...

Interdisciplinary Connections Current Interdisciplinary connections As a Primary school teacher, we teach across the curriculum. At my school, our interdisciplinary connections are among teachers who are specialist teachers in subjects but also with outside agencies.  Currently I am working with our school’s SENCO specialist.  Working together we established a cooperative and compromising relationship; respect for and equitable treatment of individual collaborator roles.  We also know the importance of being open, honest, and willing to learn. Below is my Collaborative Interdisciplinary Relationship Map    Interdisciplinary collaboration, defined by Andrews (1990) as a situation where “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), is now possible as ...

Professional Online Social Networks There is a continuous debate about the role social media should play in education. Supporters point out the benefits that social media provides for today's digital learners while experts call for control and for eliminating social media from classes. Finding a middle ground has become a challenge. Before and After Before my Mindlab journey I would not have considered social media as a teaching tool.  Social network sites are often criticised for the lack of quality control, poorly thought through ideas, issues related to privacy and in general information overflow (Greenhow,2011). But I quickly realised today’s students arrive at school, fluent in Web and social networking technologies. Teachers can make use of this knowledge to enhance opportunities to learn.  With social media, teachers can promote cooperation and discussion, create meaningful conversation, exchange ideas, and boost student interaction. Challenges of Socia...

Law Regulations and Policy We work in classrooms characterised by cultural, social, and ethical pluralism.  Families have varied beliefs, live by different values and hold varied expectations of schools.  Decisions teachers make are more likely to be publicly challenged and publicised than they were in the past.  Teachers are being confronted by new ethical demands and our ethical decision making has become more complex.   Last week our school had a very timely Digital Citizenship meeting with netsafe.  The four fundamental principles we discussed are: client autonomy, justice, beneficence, and the avoidance of maleficence.  We have an ethical obligation to our commitment to the teaching profession, learners, parents/caregivers and families and a commitment to wider community.  The challenge, I think, is how to distinguish between personal values and preferences and professional obligations. In effect, this involves being clear about the...

Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness Culturally responsive pedagogy is defined by Gay (2001, p.106) as “using the cultural characteristics, experiences and perspectives as conduits for effective teaching”. It is reflected in five elements including knowledge about cultural diversity, the culturally integrated content in the curriculum, the development of the learning community, the ability to communicate with culturally diverse students and culturally responsive delivery of instruction (Gay, 2001). Education at my school acknowledge the contributions of Maori, as Tangata Whenua, to the development of life in Aotearoa.  We believe to upheld Mahi tahi- working together for a common purpose.  Creating a Positive environment for all We celebrate Language weeks of different cultures.  We celebrate ethnicity with parades and food stalls. Children read stories from diverse cultures.  Many different sports and activities are taught by our Pacifica ...

Trends and Audiences Family matters in the 21st Century      Education begins at home!  The first simple word a parent speaks to an infant opens the world of language to the child and sets the child on the path of discovery.  When formal schooling begins, many parents believe that their role as educators has ended. But education is a shared responsibility of parents, schools, and students.  The structure of families has changed substantially over the past decades and this has created several new challenges for education.  Education plays a significant role in supporting these modern families as well as traditional ones, and ensuring learning needs are met for all.  Do our education systems offer the necessary support for children growing up in these modern families? Good quality education can be an important tool to reduce inequality and narrow the gap between low and high and low income students. There is a difficult debate ab...

School Culture and socio- economic factors Culture describes how things are and acts as a screen or lens through which the world is viewed.  It defines reality for those within a social organisation, gives them support and identify and creates a framework for learning Louise Stoll (1998) Every school culture is unique and is the glue that keeps everybody together and can be seen as a development force.  It is true that Cultures change as participant change, however, this force must be nurtured and guided by a driving force.  It is mostly seen as how people relate to and work together from management of the school’s structures, systems, and physical environment to the learning focus for students and adults.  I like how a school culture is described as: a complex web of values and believes, norms and social and power relationships and emotions.  That is because teachers, parents, political and economic forces all have an influence on the culture of a ...

Critically define practice against concepts of Communities of  Practice To define my practice, it is important to me to understand what Communities of Practise entails. Community of Practice are 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 area by interacting on an ongoing basis (Wegner et al.,2002, p.4.)  My first thought about my community of practice is my syndicate within my school.  In such a group, we work collaboratively to solve problems, share ideas, and develop relationships.  After reading Cultivating Communities of Practice (Knox, 2009) I realise that it goes beyond just that.  As teachers, we are involved with so many different people and we have such a significant impact on their lives.  Students, colleagues, parents, and the wider community are all intertwined as a community.  I also have the The Mindlab community is a rich source of ...

Define Practice

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