Reflecting on Cultural Responsiveness

Retrieved from : Core Events

I feel like the second half of this assignment has become about uLearn, but like Mind Lab, uLearn has given me a lot to think about,   In a very tangible way this has been a year of tremendous growth for me.

Pat Snedden's closing keynote speech from uLearn 2015 was inspirational.  Snedden asked "how might it be if we formed a society based on the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi"  Snedden challenges us all to develop a robust and practical relationship with the Treaty and to establish cultural coherence with clearly understood values with universal subscription.

Pat Snedden talked about the affirmation of rangitiratanga leading to kawanatanga which speaks to learner agency and self directed learning within a system which promotes collaboration and responsibility.  I don't believe my school has a strong grounding in the Treaty of Waitangi.  I searched through my policy documents and couldn't find a statement. There is nothing in our school website. We have not engaged with the Treaty in a robust and practical manner.

Yet my school has a bilingual unit.

Retrieved from : Core Events

And then I listen to Russell Bishop who states that it is agentic teachers with appropriate support who will bring about the biggest changes for Maori students.  These are teachers who have agency, who understand themselves. This makes me think more and more about my own practice. 

Wow.  I wonder how I am weaving things together in my classroom to create a learning context for Maori because my understanding of what it is to be Maori is not the one shared by most Maori. I am Maori, born to two Maori parents. I don't claim other ethnicities in my gene pool. I was born in Canada, I speak with a North American accent.  I am highly educated. 

I connect with learners through making sure that they understand that their knowledge and their cultural understandings, the way they make sense of the world, what they bring to the learning conversation is legitimate and valid. As Bishop states it’s that level of engagement that brings about engagement and further engagement.  

But how are the learners at our school being valued if I can't find anything that anchors us to the Treaty of Waitangi.  How are we engaging with the document which underpins Aotearoa?  No wonder Pat Snedden calls Maori refugees within their own country.  

References

Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T., & Teddy, L. (2009). Te kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand.Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 734-742.

Edtalks.(2012a, May 30). Mike Hogan: Culturally responsive practice in a mainstream school. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/43097812

Pat Snedden's keynote address at uLearn15 retrieved from goo.gl/3GL4Bx

Reflecting on Ethical Dilemmas

Social Media map infographic:

Image from www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz

In my practice, I am lucky to be a junior member of an established larger cluster of professionals.  I have two colleagues in their second year of a 1:1 digital device learning space and we belong to the Ako Hiko cluster that is committed to establishing a robust digitally capable learning ethos.  I am well supported and have a number of competent professionals to draw upon when I need guidance. 

As set out by the Education Council, we are clear about the purpose of our social media interactions and have clear boundaries when it comes to the privacy of our learners.  We have done extensive ground work to build cyber smart individuals who are pre-emptive rather than reactive when it comes to potential issues. 

This year we have avoided most issues and our students have stayed within established guidelines but these guidelines have been very firmly created, discussed and debated.  Our community has been engaged with and parents and children have all signed Kawa of Care contracts.  These contracts talk about the use of school email addresses, the purpose of the devices, appropriate choices and engaging online in ways to limit risk. 

The Education Council’s video on commitment to parents / guardians and family / whanau is a real issue.  When students are enrolled at my school, each family is asked to sign an image consent form. If you enrol at 5, you are never asked about this consent again. 

Five years ago, my students wouldn’t have had a school based online presence.  Today, my year 5/6 class has a class blog, a class twitter account, personal blogs, personal email addresses, a Studyladder account, a weVideo account, a Kizoa account, a booktrack account plus numerous other online accounts.  They are everywhere in ways which five years ago I doubt their parents, their teachers or their community could have pictured

The Education Council outlines that in regards to parents and family teachers need to :

• involve them in decision-making about the care and education of their children
• establish open, honest and respectful relationships
• respect their privacy
• respect their rights to information about their children, unless that is judged to be not in the best interests of the children.  

I don’t think we are fulfilling this as well as we could be.  Part of an answer definitely dwells within the responsibility of the school to make sure that the educator is aware and is cyber smart in their approach to the online presence of the learner.  I've had a lot of professional development but non digital teachers have not so we lack continuity across our school. Perhaps we need a clarity regarding the dos and don’ts of online behaviour.

We need to engage in more than one conversation about permission for our student’s images and work to be posted online.  We also need to be more transparent in how images, documents and students are being used and are using the internet.  

When parents give image consent, what does this mean to them ? What does it mean to the school?  This definitely needs to be understood completely so that the situation in the video does not become a reality.

Reference

Education Council 2015, Code of Ethics.  Retrieved from http://www.educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/coe-poster-english.pdf

Collste, G. (2012). Applied and Professional Ethics. Kemanusiaan. 19(1). Retrieved from http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol19_1_2012/KAJH19_1_2012_2.pdf

Reflecting on Social Media

On 26 February 2015, 8 years after Twitter first began I opened my first Twitter account.  I resisted, I couldn’t see that point.  Most educators at my school are not engaged with Twitter.  It just looked like Facebook status updates.  I didn’t get it.   I didn’t want to get it.  

Since my reluctant beginning, Twitter has since had a huge impact on my professional development. I had no idea what I was doing but I became curious so I went on the ride to becoming more connected.  I soon discovered a rich treasure trove of likeminded educators.  It has opened up a worldwide community.

I agree with Bridget Mahoney who says

“Twitter has enabled her to connect daily with hundreds of people.  These interactions have enriched her understanding of classroom practice, the politics surrounding education, and the potential of technology”

Twitter has lead me off on broad and transformative paths, I get lost reading blogs, talking to others and extending my learning through collaboration with other passionate educators.  These detours and lost minutes have lead to many engaging learning experiences for myself and the learners I work with.    

For example, interested in Carol Dweck’s Growth mindset I dove into some relevant hashtags.  I discovered and used the work done by Steve Mouldey  Through discussions with my professional learning network I've been able to access the collaboratively created slides based on Carol Dweck’s Growth Mindsets shared with me by James Hopkins of Core Education - Collaborative Growth Mindset Slides.  My own initial learning led to class wide learning which we then posted  on our class blog and to videos which we shared more widely.  We have now shared our ideas within the Ako Hiko cluster, Core Education and so on. 

During uLearn15 I actively tweeted. Tweeting was a really simple way in which to connect with other educators.  For example, during the keynote speeches I could listen and ask questions and answer questions.  I was able to celebrate our community.  It was really cool and impactful.  I was able to really flesh out my understanding of what I was listening to as it was happening and later when I was able to reflect on the things I’d heard. Twitter and apps like Show Gizmo have opened up a new realm for me to exist in. 

On the downside, I wonder if Twitter is creating a new elite.  There seems to be a difference between the highly connected and vocal who are seen to be cutting edge and innovative versus those not on Twitter but perhaps highly effective all the same.   Twitter has created the “Educelebrity” people like John Hattie or Carol Dweck.  There are kiwi educators we all follow those at Hobsonville Point Secondary School or Point England or Core Education. 

References

Dweck, C. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House. NYC.

Mahoney, B. ( 2013). Hashtags, mentions and following: Creating a PLN with Twitter. Middle Ground, 16(4), 22.

Steve Mouldey's blog retrieved at : https://stevemouldey.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/growth-mindset-activities-for-students/

Reflecting on Contemporary Issues

Talk about mind blowing! In October, I attended uLearn 2015.   

Steve Mouldey pointed out that it was possible to play buzz word bingo listening to Claire Amos’ talk on learner agency as she named many of the trends in education for 2015.  The uLearn conference is all about the current issues in education.

Two inspiring educators, Steve Mouldey and Sarah Martin both talked about learner agency in two different ways and both gave me a lot to think about and reflect on.

Sarah Martin is the foundation Principal of Stonefields School in Auckland. She has a particular strength in collectively building change momentum, enabling collaborative high functioning teams, future visioning, embracing student voice and re-imagining what learning matters.  (Retrieved from: https://my.showgizmo.com/conferences/1320/users/236571)

Martin really made me think about learning directed by students through breakthroughs, passion hour or project based learning. I can see that the shifts I've made in my own learning and teaching such as co-construction of success criteria or creating more opportunity to control their environment will help me move into breakthroughs or passion projects but I'm not quite there yet.  

What is overwhelmingly true of most schools presenting at uLearn is that staff, leaders and educators all share a vision.  They are all moving on the same path and this has not been achieved at my workplace.  I have spoken formally and informally to colleagues about uLearn.  I've shared everything I've picked up; hoping to inspire others to questions, delve and develop.    

Sarah Martin pointed out her students are able to see what success looks like, they have an embedded process which allows her students to build upon a framework which is build upon capacities.  I am not there yet, but I can see the day.  But like those learners at Stonefields, I too need to see what success looks like.

Mouldey is a Specialised Learning Leader at Hobsonville Point SecondarySchool. He is passionate about developing curiosity and active citizenship in students. (Retrieved from: https://my.showgizmo.com/conferences/1320/users/235794)

Mouldey spoke about tapping into and encouraging curiosity.  If students can generate worthwhile learning questions, they can also take ownership of their learning.  Quality questions can create windows to further thoughts or ideas.  Questions can be a way to tease out more understanding, to see where the learning needs to go or to develop into a project. 

Mouldey had students question storm and then to develop their next steps from the questions they created.  I’ve tried this in my class and the students have pushed past surface questions and in to questions of depth.  They then used the questions as the basis of their own inquiries.  The creativity can spark off the learner’s own learning path. 

References 

Steve Mouldey's uLearn presentation - https://stevemouldey.wordpress.com/2015/10/16/agency-and-ownership/

Sarah Martin's uLearn 2015 presentation - https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jMMZtzlr7HEQzuGsu8ut8NVqj6Qx29yv3fWXFhnAvRU/edit#slide=id.g64284c3f0_0_149

Sam Sherratt's blog - 

https://timespaceeducation.wordpress.com/2015/08/10/why-passion-projects-should-be-mandatory-but-arent/