Teaching is learning and in return, we teach what we learn. When we first started the Mindlab journey we were asked to think about the Key Competencies (KC) from the New Zealand Curriculum. Of the five Key Competencies, we had to identify what were our strengths and what needed developing over the duration of the course.
Image: Ministry of Education - Key Competencies (2014). Retrieved from: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Key-competencies/About
Reflection
Larrivee (2000) summarises nicely that “Critical reflection is not only a way of approaching teaching – it is a way of life. The more I explore, the more I will discover. The more I question, I can access a whole world of possibilities. I want my learners to empower themselves to be reflective of their own practice. We grow together and learn together, and build on the next steps. It is important that reflective practice is cultivated and fostered to become effective. It can then be a “powerful tool to examine and transform practice” (Finlay, 2008, p.10).
When critically reflecting on my strengths I enjoy helping others and sharing my knowledge learned and resources I have accumulated. My thinking started as a fixed mindset but slowly developed into using a growth mindset approach. This opened up a whole lot of new opportunities and experiences for me to not only learn but to deliver learning experiences that were out of my comfort zone. In our Mindlab workshops, I was ‘Participating and Contributing’ and ‘Relating to Others.’ I enjoyed working alongside our Wairoa Mindlab cohort, sharing ideas and resources and being there to support one another.
Areas I had to develop were ‘Managing-Self’ and ‘Thinking’ outside the box. My self-management was frantic this term as I experienced frustration with my workload and trying to balance these with my home life. Great to say though I am slowly getting there. ‘Thinking’ was the KC that I identified needed the most work. From an educator point of view, I know I need to be open-minded and to consider all possibilities for learning. In my practice, I tried to be consciously aware of the thinking and understanding required in learning and considered how I might use this to lead a particular innovation or idea in a way that is respectful to my learners and helps them to make their own connections with the innovation. I had to adjust my mindset in our Mindlab learning and with using digital technologies.
Key Changes in my Practice
1. Collaboration: I quickly realised that in my years of teaching I could not do it alone. I needed to talk to colleagues, friends and people in the wider communities, to bounce ideas off one another. Extending my professional network with others in the same profession as I have helped me grow as a teacher. I learned that a lot of our learning in Mindlab requires collaboration, and communicating with others.
2. Being resilient: Asking for help when needed, rising up from challenges in teaching and learning from them, and being aware of my strengths and how I can help others were key changes in my practice.
3. Takings risks: There are areas of my teaching that I still need to further develop but I give it a go anyway. If I encourage my learners to participate and contribute in everything then why shouldn’t I. I took the unknown leap into a world I was unfamiliar with but have reaped the rewards of doing so, and so too have my learners.
Recognising my strengths and weaknesses I soon found myself an e-leader within my school by promoting digital programmes such as Blogger, using Class Notebook with my students and integrating the use of Staff Notebook to document teacher appraisal and other general business at school.
Where to next?
My goal for this year is to implement digital gaming into our curriculum learning in the classroom. In order to do so, I will need to strengthen my abilities to get this up and running through developing my learners' abilities in making connections with the skills and values learned from digital games. To get them not only thinking about skills and values but applying all of the Key Competencies to their learning as well.
I believe that using my strengths and developing the ability to help my learners have an awareness of their thinking around the use of digital technologies for learning, they too will move with the rapidly changing technology of today’s world. I am excited at the opportunities these next steps bring and the new pathways that open ahead as I continue on my educational journey.
References
Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on reflective practice. PBPL. Retrieved from http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/opencetl/file/ecms/web-content/Finlay-%282008%29-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf
Larrivee, B. (2000) Transforming teaching practice: becoming the critically reflective teacher, Reflective Practice, 1(3), 293-307
Tatiana I'm so pleased that I was able to complete this Mindlab journey with you. Not only have you shown growth in your leadership skills, your collaborative skills are an attribute too. The way you have lead us with your digital initiatives as staff has made me feel like I want to be a student in your class. You did make me feet empowered to be reflective on my own practice. We as educators have grown together and learnt together, and are building on the next steps together just as you want your students to do. I read in a Carol Dweck book some words which sum you and your thoughts up "Great teachers believe in the growth of the intellect and talent, and they are fascinated with the process of learning" Dweck, 2012.
ReplyDeleteI too have had to struggle with time management and the going did get tough. Resilience has been strengthened and mindset changes were needed and that has been a positive growth for me and you and a reminder to us to have empathy with our kids if we sense they are in the wrong mindset or needing support with the new learning.
Hi Nic, thank you for your comment. It has been a pleasure working alongside you in our Mindlab journey. Collaboration has been a strong focus for us all as we have worked together not only to complete our Mindlab learning and assignments but to better our teaching in the classroom through sharing ideas and strategies. You are a great support in reminding me to have a growth mindset towards my learning and teaching. Ngaa mihi.
DeleteKia ora Tatiana.....Very reflective blogg of your current and future practice. From what I observed at the writers workshop at Tiaho recently, you have a strength in collaborating with others and in a professional manner too. Your class is very fortunate to have you as their teacher to grow and learn especially with digital knowledge. All the best and well done you for being so resilient and making your way to the end of the Mindlab journey.Mauri ora!
ReplyDeleteKia ora Mere. Thank you for your kind words. In order to move forward I feel we need to reflect on our current practice, teaching after all is about reflection and reflecting on our practice. I still have a lot to learn but am doing my best to help prepare our tamariki for the future. Ngaa mihi.
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