my Mindlab Blog

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...