Changes in Practice - My Journey

“Reflection as a slogan for educational reform also recognises that the process of learning to teach continues throughout a teacher’s entire career, a recognition that no matter what we do in our teacher education programmes, and no matter how well we do them, at best, we can only prepare teachers to begin teaching” (Carlgren, Handal, Vaage (1994). 


Our Involvement - LAS

I started as principal of Linwood Ave School in October 2016 and had been in the position for about 2 weeks when the opportunity for Mindlab came through my emails.
With the importance of becoming more aware of the digital world and the opportunity of post graduate study I was excited about the idea.
I extended the invite to all staff with a number choosing to enter this journey with me.
Selfishly I not only saw it as a way to further my own development but a wonderful way to build relationships with staff that I had only recently met and due to the requirement to spend the first 16 weeks onsite at Mindlab headquarters. Thanks Mindlab.

"Nothing reinforces a professional relationship more than enjoying success with someone"
Ramis

Mindlab - The Experience

Osterman & Kottkamp (1993) suggest that "reflective practice is a challenging, demanding, and often trying process that is most successful as a collaborative effort" and that was the thought process as the group from Linwood Avenue School entered the Mindlab building on a wet and miserable Thursday.
It was great hearing the different backgrounds as individual people shared their aspirations for what they had hoped to get out of the course.
Once the pleasantries were over it was down to the reality and the reality of the next 32 weeks became clear. It was going to be challenging not only with the tasks but also the time commitment of study when working full time.

The benefit of having staff from my own school that I could share, talk and be motivated by was a huge factor in my own ability to complete the course.

Some assignments I found more difficult than others and often that wasn't due to the content but more to health, work and life commitments.


Practicing Teacher Criteria

Criteria 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional development of personal professional practice.

After starting a Masters in Educational Research, Mindlab has continued my commitment to ongoing professional learning as a principal.
As a learner I always felt adequate in regards to digital technology but as it is so quickly evolving I was concerned about being left behind and this post graduate study has provided real experiences and a network of support to develop alongside. This network has allowed me to ask questions and better develop my understanding in an environment that was safe and thought provoking.

'If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader'

Criteria 9: Respond effectively to the diverse language and cultural experiences, and the varied strengths, interests and needs of individuals and groups of Akonga. 

I am passionate about seeing every child reach their potential and want to be a driver in providing environments and teaching that caters for the needs of these individual students. Mindlab has engaged my interest in exploring research around individuals and groups. Through my Literature review I was surprised to see the lack of research around some cultures and I believe it important that these areas are explored. It has made me more aware and determined to get to know each and every learner in more than the immediate. Knowing their background will build stronger relationships which in turn will have a positive effect on learning outcomes.

'Tu'utu'u le upega ile loloto'

'Cast the net into deeper waters'

Next Step

Criteria 7: Promote a collaborative, supportive and effective learning environment.

As a school we are fortunate to be on the cusp of a rebuild that will see our single cell classrooms transformed into co-teaching spaces. Mindlab has provided pedagogical theory around this development and I see it important that I am not the one that holds all the knowledge but part of a team who promotes and supports this transition by driving pedagogical change. The ability to share relevant information and improve this journey for staff, students and our community is important. 

Thank You

With any post graduate study, I am pleased it's over. However on reflection I am glad I started and even happier I finished. It was hard, challenging but overall very rewarding and I look forward as the knowledge and expertise I have gained from being involved has better prepared me as a 21st century leader.

Thank you to all of those who have been involved in the Mindlab journey. Especially my colleagues at LAS who I have seen work very hard throughout.


Reference List

Carlgren, I., Handal, G. & Vaage, S. (Eds.). (1994). Teachers' Minds And Actions: Research On Teachers' Thinking And Practice. London, UK: The Falmer Press.

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators. California: Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files.

Crossing Boundaries - Taking Risks

Andrews (1990) defines interdisciplinary collaboration as occurring "when 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).

As a current principal of a school with a roll of 368 students I see myself as an advocate for every child on the roll. This can involve working with a variety of different agencies and support networks. These include Ministry of Education, Oranga Tamariki, Social Workers in School, RTLB, RtLit, Salvation Army, Chomondeley House, Police, Children's Team amongst others.
At times I work with more than one organisation at a time to try and ensure the best outcome for the child or family involved. This often is harder than it should be due to various confidentiality clauses or one particular entity having different values to another.

I was fortunate in 2008 to work with Dr Heidi Hayes Jacobs, an author with expertise in an interdisciplinary approach to curriculum. She states in her 1989 book that "No matter what the content we can design active linkages between fields of knowledge". I see this statement is being as ever true today than it was in 1989 and it concerns me that individuals and individual schools continue to work in silo's.

Currently Linwood Avenue School is in the process of establishing a school wide curriculum that is relevant to our school and our community. I see this as a driver for interdisciplinary connections within school and within the community.
As a school we understand that this is a process and the initial importance was to show that this creation would be more than just another 'thing' on top of a mounting workload but instead essential in the ongoing development of our children and in time would create less work by maximising the strengths within the organisation(s).
We also saw the importance of developing this with the voices of the relevant stakeholders which include staff, students and the community. This establishment of goals and expectations will create buy-in and sustainability.



The other big driver for interdisciplinary connections is that of our Tamai Community of Learning. A Community of Learning (Kahui Ako) is defined by the the Ministry of Education as a group of education and training providers working together to help learners achieve their full potential. (Retrieved from MOE).

We are currently in the early stages of development and I see the potential for opportunities as an exciting proposition for the community. We have recently appointed a lead principal and are currently working on filling the vacant 'Across School Teacher' positions.

As a COL we are working with similar demographics and with a wide range of success (based on NS data) it seems to me we have the skills within the COL to improve the outcomes for all 2500 students that we cater for within this group.
In time this interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning will better prepare students and teachers who currently have a mounting workload.



Reference List

Berg-Weger, M., &. Schneider, F. D. (1998). Interdisciplinary collaboration in social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 34, 97-107.

Hayes Jacobs, H. (1989). Interdisciplinary Curriculum: Design and Implementation. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED316506.pdf

MOE (2017). Retrieved from https://education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/col/

Professional Online Social Networks - The Principals Perspective

Being a principal can be quite lonely and social networking is a fantastic way to connect with other principals who work in the same role regardless of geographic location. 

I am currently part of a NZ Principals Closed Facebook group that has 317 members who are all current principals. This group provides useful information as well as a platform to ask questions of others with varying experiences in the role.

I also use Twitter as a platform to 'follow' educationists such as Michael Fullan and Andy Hargreaves who often tweet professional readings, latest news in education and other useful information.
This particular use of social media was highlighted in the research completed by Melhuish (2013) when participants felt the social media most successfully met their needs were the ability to explore topical issues and being able to connect with other colleagues.

As a principal I also monitor activity on such pages as NZ Teachers (Primary) page to gauge 'feelings' amongst teachers nationwide. Although I understand that not everything said is coming from teachers it provides information that they may not feel comfortable discussing with leadership.

The other major aspect I use social media for is for the employment of new staff members. I use their social media profiles to gain information about them. As mentioned in previous blog posts, teachers are on display more often than ever before and I need to ensure that they are going to enhance the positive the image the school displays.

As a school we proudly post information, notices and celebrations on our school Facebook page. These are well received and those who engage in comments and 'likes' are respectful and supportive of the school.
As a school we also inform and explicitly discuss the use of social media with our teachers and teacher aides. As we are a staff of varying ages, abilities and interests in the use of social media, nothing is assumed and providing support and guidance is part of our responsibility as employers. 

Social Media - Revenue 

The opportunities for income through advertising in social media is extreme and in recent times I have been made aware of friends who with as little as 5000 followers on twitter are making $1500 a 'tweet'.
With education being such a competitive market in regards to businesses and schools in constant need for financial assistance, i'd be interested in exploring the possibility of companies paying to advertise within your social media platforms. This approach is not uncommon in other industries.
In recent times one post on our school Facebook page was viewed over 10,000 times and shared over 100 times.

Reference List

Melhuish, K. (2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators' professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Influence of Law and Ethics

According to Rest (1994) the four components of ethical decision-making are:

Moral sensitivity refers to an awareness that actions have the potential to harm and/or benefit other people and that a moral perspective is valid.

Moral Judgement refers to the component in the process that requires reasoning where potential choice and consequences are determined to be ethical.

Moral Motivation refers to making ethical decisions during the process that are not influenced by individual’s intention. “…values that underlie any educational activity are themselves socially created in particular contexts by particular people, reflecting the values of those people themselves” (Menter, 2011, p. 48).

Moral Courage refers to ethical behaviour. This component involves being ethically responsible in the situation that arises.

Although these components are sequenced they are in no particular order and “failure at any step can result in failure to make an ethical decision” (Rest, 1994).

The importance of understanding this is vitally important in regards to the use or misuse of social media. As principal I view social media accounts of applicants and their digital footprint provides information that can often contribute to success or failure. 

This was highlighted on television show How I met your mother when character Marshall Ericksen was applying for a law job. His employer saw footage of him on Youtube intoxicated with two large beer bottles taped to his hands claiming he was Beercules (A play on Hercules). Although this is a light-hearted  example it provides the reality in today's society in the search to find the best person to fill a role. 

My Digital Footprint
Like most teachers I am a regular social media user with Facebook and Twitter being my go to. These two accounts are on me at all times whether I am working, studying, hanging with mates, drinking... Although all these activities are completed with different people, at different times and sometimes in different parts of NZ or the world I am a principal in all of these situations. And although that seems quite intense,  behaviour published to social media could lead to the termination of employment at it's most serious. 
This is not just selective to education with celebrities and sports stars regular apologising for 'posts' they put on their social media platforms. 

Professionalism 
The 2017 Draft Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession has clear examples of standards that include both professional and personal behaviour;
These include
- Modelling a high standard of behaviour, both inside and outside the classroom.
- Behaving professionally and being respectful.
- Using social media appropriately.

They also list inappropriate behaviours;
These include
- Sharing inappropriate information on social media.
- Sharing personal information without permission.
- Communicating about colleagues in a disrespectful way (including social media).

I am encouraged by the introduction of this document as a way to maintain integrity of the profession and bring to the forefront the importance of being professional both inside and outside the classroom. 

By creating a document, I believe it is now the responsibility of schools to educate staff. This will not be the opinion of all principals but unfortunately to assume all will have the same expectations is naive and leaving the school open to having to make decisions.


Reference List

Menter, I. (2011). A guide to practitioner research in education. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Cultural Responsiveness - A Personal Journey

Culturally responsive pedagogy leads to culturally competent teachers. "Teachers who are able to use the learner's culture/s as a building block to learn and teach. They understand how to utilise the learner's culture/s to aid the teaching and learning process, as well as to facilitate relationships and professional growth (Bishop, 2007). 

As an educator who has taught in South Auckland, Ashburton, Ohakune and Christchurch I feel I have been exposed to many different cultural narratives. These environments have not only been rich with multicultural students but also multicultural colleagues which has enabled access to high quality professional development.

I have been privileged in my role to be invited to better understand cultural responsiveness by attending Ramadan celebrations, Diwali, Marae visits, Samoan churches along with interactions with a number of different cultures. 

Maori

Durie (2006) outlines the importance of Maori advancement through educational achievement, effective whanau engagement with schools, iwi strategies for education and whanau development, and trans-sectoral government policies. 
Macfarlane, Glynn, Grace, Penetito & Bateman (2008) state that Maori worldview is characterised by an abiding concern for the quality of human relationships that need to be established and maintained if learning contexts are to be effective for Maori students. 


In my time as principal of Ohakune Primary School, we would visit Mt Ruapehu once a week for ten weeks as part of our snowsports programme. 

As part of this I was made aware of a cultural narrative that Maori referred to the mountain as 'Koro'. For me this was hard to understand that an object which I didn't see as alive could be given human qualities. Part of this was that at the start of the winter season we would travel to the top of 'Koro' at 5.00am. We would ask him to keep our children safe and to look after us all. We also would visit at the end of winter to thank 'Koro' for doing so. 
The skeptic in my head initially thought this was a waste of time but after my first visit and hearing the responses from 'Koro' in the form of the wind echoing through, feeling the chill and seeing the sun rise from behind became a spiritual feeling I was privileged to be part of for 5 years. 
During this time I also was given the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the manuhiri when being welcomed onto Maungorongo Marae. As a non fluent speaker of Te Reo Maori I was incredibly nervous but was embraced through the Maori value of Whanaungatanga. 
Both of these examples I see as 'ata' as described by Pohatu (2005) because these reflect not only the building and nurturing of relationships but the understanding of well being when engaging culturally. 

Reference List

Durie, M. (2002). Whanau, Education and Maori Potential. Retrieved from

http://www.sleepwake.co.nz/massey/fms/Te%20Mata%20O%20Te%20Tau/Publications%20-%20Mason/HTML%20Charcode.pdf

Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2), 106-116.

Macfarlane, H., Glynn, T., Grace,W.,Penetito,W. & Bateman, S. (2008). Indigenous epistemology in a national curriculum framework? Ethnicities, 8, 102.

Ministry of Education. Retrieved from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/148851/National-Standards-Achievement-Results-2015.pdf