The
Stakeholders
Learners
The learners in my classroom, Room 15 have the biggest impact
on my practice. This year my class is
very self-directed and engaged. Last year my class was not. The learning, the engagement, the behaviour
all differs greatly and it is based on the individuals with whom I interact. I
have to be responsive to the needs of the learners in Room 15.
There are 600+ students enrolled at my current school. I take dodgeball at lunchtime because our
school roll is so large and we have limited spaces available for constructive
play. The sheer number of our learners affects how and what I do. Things need to be relevant and applicable.
Families
Parents and families impact my practice. This year I have a number of parents who
watch their children closely. They are constantly at school monitoring the
school, their children and myself. They
are highly involved and engaged.
Parents email, call and visit with their concerns. They are highly vocal and active participants
in the needs and wants of their children.
They influence me as I empathise with them as a parent. I can see both points of view and try to
remember that they have a vest interested in the wellbeing of their children.
Management
Control. Our
management team, as a transactional leadership model, controls most aspects at
school which directly influence my practice.
Things are beginning to change as more collaboration becomes evident but
overall they control common structures and processes at school.
Colleagues
Colleagues uplift and enrich my practice. I am blessed with some very dedicated and
talented educators around me. I am able
to learn from their practice to enhance my own. These colleagues have different cultures,
backgrounds and levels of experience and offer insights, problem solving
skills, and support.
The Ako Hiko Cluster
I have had a lot of professional development through the Ako
Hiko cluster this year. Once a fortnight
a consultant comes to run through things with my class to accelerate their
learning utilising 1:1 devices. They are
helping to shape my current pedagogy.
Problems
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This week. . . .
My school hosted an evening
for the parents of year 4 students who might be interested in entering their
child into the digital class in 2016.
The meeting was very poorly advertised.
There were about 20 families present out of a potential 60.
Only two of the three digital teachers were present.
The two teachers present were very poorly dressed.
The principal and lead digital teacher communicated very poorly and did
not ‘sell’ the idea of digital and collaborative learning to the parents
present.
The two digital teachers failed to engage with the community and have
alienated some families.
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Solutions
In order to create interest I believe the current year 4
teachers should have been engaged in talking about and helping their learners
become more digitally able. The current
year 5 / 6 classes should have been working collaboratively with students in
year 4, so that those students could have been exposed to 1:1 learning in new
and fun ways.
The year 4 classes should have been taken to the Mind Lab
for a day to experience different types of learning experiences.
The meeting about the digital intake should have been in
multiple newsletters, in the school app, in our inter school notices and in each
class’s homestudy sheets over a number of weeks in anticipation.
A plan needed to be in place in term 2 addressing how
families could be encouraged to make the commitment to join the digital
classrooms so that when the third term came it would be easy to meet with the
teachers who would be forming the digital cohort.
I am one of the current digital teachers and I resigned five
weeks ago but the school does not have an adequate plan in place to replace me. The families need reassurances that their
children will be looked after. There are
many capable teachers within the school who could take over this position. Mothers are now more reluctant to enter their
children into the digital classrooms. Within
five weeks, I feel like the school could have created a solution. Even if the staff appointment depended on
options they might have outlined that to the families.
A father commented, why do the teachers dress so badly? They are a bad advertisement for their
school. They obviously have no pride in
this school and it’s like they don’t even like it here. Is it necessary for a school to have a dress
code?
A mother told me that our principal hardly talked and that
the two teachers were passive and reluctant to fully answer question or assuage
fears for the families. Are they
sabotaging future digital classrooms? Perhaps there needs to be a reshuffle of
teachers in these positions. The principal
needs to offer greater leadership to these teachers.
References
Wegner-Trayner. (n.d.). Communities versus networks. Retrieved from
http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
Wegner-Trayner. (n.d.). Introduction to Communities of Practice.
Retrieved from
http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/
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