Reflective Practice

Activity 15

Being part of the Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Practice has shown my 'commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of my personal professional practice'. The past 32 weeks have been a journey of insight into digital and collaborative learning, leadership and community informed practice. Being part of the schools middle management team through my roles as a Team Leader and an ICT lead teacher I am always seeking ways of how to be an effective leader as well as exploring ways of integrating different devices into my classroom programme. This postgraduate certificate has made me reflect on the roles I hold within the school, how I can best support and lead the teachers within my team and how I can model best practice when integrating digital technologies.

During my research into blended learning I was able to investigate the impact that a combination of online and face-to-face learning can have on providing differentiated learning outcomes for students as well as increasing engagement and motivation. The Registered Teacher Criteria states that teachers play a critical role in enabling the educational achievement of all learners. This means knowing the students in your class and planning for and teaching to the needs of each individual. Through the use of blended learning practices the ability to meet specific criteria such as 'demonstrating a commitment to promoting the well-being of all ākonga' becomes more achievable. No two students are the same and when teachers start purposefully and meaningfully planning for and seamlessly integrating a variety of devices into their programmes they can target specific needs, challenge students and encourage the children in their classes to apply the skills they have learnt. Since beginning this course I have started to question how I am using these tools and the value that the school places on progressive and innovative teaching practices. At times it feels like there is more of a focus on ensuring children are using the devices rather than on how they are using them. A strong message I have picked up from this course and brought back to school is the idea that devices should be used to create content rather than consume data. As a result the SAMR model has become a major feature of the schools ICT strategic plan and a tool promoted by the ICT team when working with teachers and children. This model aligns well with the schools inquiry programme of SOLO (structure of observed learning outcomes). Over the past 2 terms I have started creating rubrics for the children to self assess not only the skill level used when working on a device but also the content they have created. Since the introduction of these rubrics the children have shown greater focus as they now have a clear progression to guide their learning. The rubrics also act as reminders for the children for what they need to include and the skills they need to show if they are to achieve 'extended abstract'. They also make self and peers assessment possible as the children can instantly identify what they have done and any next steps they have.

These blended learning practices have also led to a greater emphasis on collaborative learning within my classroom, directly meeting the Registered Teacher Criteria of 'promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment'. This criteria focusses on trust, respect and cooperation between teacher and student as well as student-student. Developing learning outcomes that require the children to collaborate and work with others within the classroom promotes and integrates the key competencies outlined in the New Zealand Curriculum and requires children to take greater ownership over their learning. As our school does not promote the implementation of a 1-1 programme, the devices that are available within my classroom are regularly used for collaborative purposes. From these collaborative learning approaches, student voice and student initiated learning has become more of a focus in my classroom. All children have completed surveys on how they feel about school and their learning. These responses have informed my classroom practice and have guided the way in which I plan activities. The inquiry topics are now based on student interest with a range of choices open for children to opt into. The children have also helped to develop both the reading and mathematics follow up tasks with greater choice available and more responsibility handed over to the children for the learning choices they make. By implementing blended and collaborative approaches my classroom practice has become more focussed on student agency and promoting a growth mindset where the children feel challenged and take risks with their learning.

The 'leadership in digital and collaborative learning' component of this course has allowed me time to reflect on the type of leader I am. At the beginning of this course I identified myself as a 'Laissez Faire' leader. This style of leadership has both positive and negative attributes and during this course I have reflected on how this style aligns with the team I lead and the expectations of senior management. To ensure I am meeting criteria 5, 'show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning', of the Registered teacher Criteria I have made changes to the way I lead my team this year, moving away from what I perceived to be more managerial to that of an empowering leader, focussing our professional dialogue and discourse on student outcomes and how we as teachers influence these.

My future dreams for my professional practice are to continue to consolidate the changes I have made since I began this 32 week course. I want my classroom to be an exciting and innovative place where children feel challenged, yet supported to take risks, and are engaged and motivated to learn. I want to create a reciprocal learning environment that promotes student voice, collaboration and inspires children to become life-long learners. I want to continue to explore how blended learning practices can be used to meet the specific needs of children, encourage children to collaborate with children within their own class and school as well as the local, national and international community. I also hope to inspire other teachers within the profession to effectively adopt, adapt and integrate ICT into their class programmes.