Community of Practice

Week 30 - Professional Online Networks Melhuish (2013)defines social network sites as 'socially constructed spaces that allow members to create and collaborate in groups using semi-permanent comments'. As I considered my own practice and involvement in networks initially felt I am cautious in my engagement with many of the social media sites. Yet when I ponder this further it causes me to reconsider the statement.  Within my work place we are constant users of Google docs which supports us to create, collaborate, communicate and share.  The use of this media is for teachers and students and is so important to the way we operate each day that we would be lost without it.  As a senior leader I use vln (virtual learning network) and You Tube to help provide further information for staff during professional learning activities. In my professional learning I have used networks to keep up to date with professional readings, research, searching blogs, twitter, You T...

Week 29 Influence of Law and Ethics A Youtube situation: The challenges of allowing students to use media in the class and developing the skills to use web based media that then over flows into their personal lives.  Henderson, Auld, Johnson (2014) raises the concerns of social media and the ethical dilemma's teachers face in teaching students about the  public/private boundaries they have to navigate. We were recently working with students who have been active on You tube sharing clips containing images of themselves and friends.  The students were using pseudonyms but were identifiable with links to their followers.  Although the clips that were posted were recorded at home they were using their school email accounts. This group of students when questioned felt they had acted correctly in that they were not using their own names and therefore it was 'ok'.  Henderson, Auld, Johnson (2014) noted that there was debate when teaching young people about what ...

Week 28 Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness Culturally responsive pedagogy defined by Gay (2010) as 'teaching to and through(student') personal and cultural strengths, their intellectual capabilities, and their prior accomplishments. Culturally responsive teachers contextualise instruction in cultural forms, behaviours and processes of learning familiar to students.' These definitions resonate with me as I think about how myself and teachers in my school view cultural responsive pedagogy.   Our school mission and vision - Kia Maia - Have Courage  has to do with us all being courageous learners, teachers, students, community. Our school values which have recently been changed have beliefs and actions which staff collaborated on as guiding ways for the culture of our school.  These ensure that we value and support students and families in our school community. Teachers spend time at the beginning of the year getting to know the student and family/whanau. W...

Week 27 The Broader Professional Context  - Contemporary Trends What trend captured my attention? The NMC/CoSN Horizon Report (2016) key long term trend identifying the redesigning of learning spaces and rethinking how schools work. While the conventional physical structures of classrooms is changing with the building/remodelling of innovation learning environments the whole school experience is being extended beyond the four walls. The use of digital technology is changing the way we teach and therefore physical spaces are becoming less important when accessing subjects and teacher expertise. The integrated learning and 'project, discovery' type learning that students are involved in takes away the need for bell times and things such as 'reading, writing, maths' limited by interval and lunch times.   NMC Horizon report states;       'As learning becomes more fluid and student-centered, K-12 leaders believe that schedules should       be mo...

Our Professional Context 'Culture eats strategy for breakfast' - Peter Ducker As a school we would like to say we pride ourselves on the culture of our school.  Werner (2015) discusses climate and culture discussing climate; how does it feel and the uniqueness of each climate and culture; how a school does things, the values and how people feel? When a new family, staff member or person from the community  enters our school we want them to feel the 'culture and climate' of our school.    Socioeconomic Status/Characteristics- Our school was changed from a decile 5 a decile 6 at the last decile changes. The Council website information reports show the predictions for the community to be an increasing +65 years old age group and a declining 0-14 years age group. More recently we have seen an increase in students whose families are leaving Auckland and purchasing houses in our town, most are from professional backgrounds.    We have families from man...

Communities of Practice When I read about the community of practice and what made it a community it was a timely moment to consider what defines a community compared to a team.  A CoP in our school is usually referred to as a 'team'.  It got me thinking which one is a better definition of how we work and learn together in my school? In our teams we meet regularly to reflect and plan and look for best practice, how we might support each other and what we re doing to achieve our goals for student achievement.  Etienne and Wenger-Trayner(2015) succulently state what a community is ' Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn and how to do it better as they interact regularly'.  It is helpful to have this definition here as I consider what are my communities of practice. Wenger (2015) states there are three defining characteristics to a community of practice.  These are domain, community  a...