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Reflection 8: Changes in my Practice

Reflection 8: Changes in my practice I think it is fair to say that the past 32 weeks of this course have gone incredibly quickly. I had a very limited understanding as to what I had signed up for at the start of this course. I hadn’t gone to the first meet-and-greet session of what Mindlab was about. My flatmate came home after she had gone and she described what this postgraduate diploma entails. I thought why not. I will be honest, most of the topics that were covered in the first 16 weeks of the course were not new to me or my school’s context. However, what was new was how these topics could be integrated at an earlier year level. What this course has provided me with is a chance for me to be confident in justifying how and why I do different things in my classroom. This course has made me critically think about they way in which I conduct different learning practices, contexts and styles within my classroom. Collaborative learning is an aspect that I have spent a great amoun...
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Reflection 7: Interdisciplinary Connection

“The interdisciplinary approach synthesizes more than one discipline and creates teams of teachers and students that enrich the overall educational experience” (Jones, 2009). Through numerous approaches with different agencies and individuals, we are able to learn different pedagogies that we may not necessarily think of ourselves. As a primary educator, we are constantly in discussions and meetings with different agencies to support a specific child’s learning. In order for us to be successful as an educator, we have to be able to also know who to go to when particular issues arise and for that to happen, those relationships with outside agencies need to occur and be fostered. For the purpose of this assignment, I will be centering this journal around the relationship I have with our Speech and Language Therapy (SLT). For me, I have never had children in my classroom with learning difficulties, nor have I really had the opportunity to learn more about different learning issues...
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Reflection 6: Social Media

Our school used Blogger for two years. Every classroom had a blog and we were expected to do a minimum of 2-3 posts each week. This was implemented so our staff could engage with classrooms overseas and our learners would have a context for learning outside our own school context. Towards the end of last year, questions started to arose around what is the actual benefit of a blog, who is benefitting and what are the learners achieving from this? We could see the impact blogs had upon the senior students as each one of them had their own personal blog and they did understand a few of the benefits and purposes of having one, as they could engage with people within their own guided terms and be in control of their own blog. However, for our junior classrooms, we soon began to realise that these reasons were inapplicable to us. Our blogs were not meaningful nor relevant for our learners so because of this, we changed to Seesaw. Half of our parents weren’t checking the classroom blogs ...
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Reflection 5: Law and Ethics

Reflection 5: Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice Social media is impacting teachers, students, whanau and communities in a world where technology is an integral part of anyone’s life (Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program, 2012). Information that is shared on a social media is no longer completely private, instead, most information is public. Snapchat is concerning social platform and one in which I have already seen ethical issues arise from (not in my own personal school context).  I have no issue with a person, who is a teacher, sharing photos or videos of their life events on Snapchat in relation to the outside world and their own personal adventures that they wish to share with others. I have an issue, though, with teachers sharing photos and videos of the students that they teach in their classroom, as well as those around them. Every school environment and the atmosphere of each context is different. However, what is the same is that eve...
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Reflection 4: Cultural Responsiveness

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Reflection 4 : Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice To be culturally responsive means more than just the integration of Maori legends and activities. A culturally responsive classroom involves whanau, a co-construction of learning between teachers and learners, as well as emphasis on the fact that every learner has their own voice where it is shared within a collaborative environment (Education Council, 2017). A culturally responsive classroom allows learners to challenge not only their own, but others beliefs. All learners are involved with the learning process as they are constantly creating their own goals as to what they know and where they going to next. Teachers are encouraged to learn alongside students instead of upholding an ‘authoritative figure’. Learners learn in an environment where they are respected for their own prior experiences. A key emphasis is placed on the relationship between not only teacher and student, but whanau (Edtalks, 2012)...
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Reflection 3: Trends influencing Education

Activity 3: Trend influencing education in New Zealand or internationally Climate change; changes in the environment that put pressure on the environment and humans. Therefore in time, our economic, social, political and security measures will all be affected in a negative manner ( National Intelligence Council, 2017). Climate change is an issue that some people believe we could potentially solve through education. Through education, we are able to teach children about the effects of climate change on the environment, people and global issues (Schep, 2016). As described in the article, schools, high schools, and universities are in the very best communication position to connect with outside communities (Schep, 2016). Education environments are a few of the most influential environments that students are a part of because it provides a context for students to gain the necessary skills to be able to navigate their way through global issues and worldwide contexts (Schep, 2016)...
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Reflection 2: My Professional Context

Reflection 2: My Professional Context Auroa school is a decile 8, rural school located 20 minutes inland from Hawera. We are a full primary school from Year 1-8 with just over 200 students. We are predominantly Pakeha, however, we do have around 30% who are Maori. Auroa school is surrounded by a farming community. Families that are in the area are either share-miking, owners of their own farm or working on a farm. It is fair to say that the children who attend Auroa school are from supportive, two-parent families (in most cases) who are heavily involved with their child’s education. The Auroa school community has a strong PTA, BOT and parent attendance. A few years ago, Auroa school merged with three other schools in the local community due to low numbers in other schools. This created a large split between communities because there were four communities coming together to create one. There were many families who did leave the area and time was needed for parents to feel comfort...
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