EDPRAC 305 2014 Preparing for Part B

create sustain purposeful

The central focus of EDPRAC 305B is to create and sustain purposeful learning that enables achievement for all learners.

The critically reflective teacher

We have elevated to the level of an art form, the capacity to lead our lives in one kind of way, while construing them in a completely different way”

Smyth, 1993 cited in Hill, 2013

“One of the wonders of the world is that as human beings, we have an enormous tolerance for incoherence and contradiction.

As teachers we have an obligation to make increasingly well-informed decisions in the context of our everyday practice

Reflective practice: stopping and thinking

The conditions, situations or circumstances that prompt engagement in the reflective process

The process itself – different types of reflection

The content of the reflection – what exactly needs to be analysed, examined, discussed, challenged … and with what perspectives or ideologies

The product of the reflection, improved understanding of professional practice, action taken as a result of the reflective thinking

Sellars, 2014, pp. 1-3

An academic version, which focuses on teachers’ skills in disseminating the discipline content and presenting in such a way as to maximise its accessibility for their students

A social efficacy version, which is based on research findings and focuses on evidence-based practice

A development version, which primarily considers age and developmentally appropriate teaching strategies that focus on students’ interests and thinking

A social reconstructionist version, in which reflection is focused on the political and social issues of schooling and on classroom interactions designed to promote greater student equity and justice

Gore & Zeichner, 1991

Gore and Zeichner (1991) present 4 important types of reflective practice

An academic reflection

Sellars, 2014, pp.6-7

Do I know my content well? Am I using appropriate pedagogical strategies for

my students’ needs? Am I well-organised and resourced in readiness

to teach? Have I sequenced the content suitably for my

student needs? Does the planning cycle include suitable

assessment strategies for evaluating student learning?

Have I been innovative and creative in order to engage and sustain students’ interests?

A social efficacy reflection

Sellars, 2014, p.7

Am I implementing what I know from research and evidence about teaching this content?

Have I considered specific strategies that have proven to increase student success?

Have I considered and used research and evidence to plan for these children in this context and these circumstances?

Is this evidence-based practice meeting the needs of the children in my class?

A developmental reflection

Sellars, 2014, p.7

Am I providing teaching and learning contexts, tasks and instruction that are suitable and appropriate for the stage of the children from a developmental perspective?

Have I evaluated the children’s skills and thinking to determine the stages at which each of them is able to engage in different learning contexts?

Have I planned suitable modifications to ensure appropriate differentiation?

Have I designed teaching and learning activities that meet the needs of diverse groups of learners?

Have I taken into account and effectively utilised the children’s interests related to this learning?

A social reconstructionist reflection

Sellars, 2014, p.7

What do I believe to be the purpose of education?

Do I have a specific philosophical beliefs or viewpoints about the values, purposes and functions of education?

Does my practice promote student equity and justice?

O’Connor and Diggins (2002) define reflective practice as thinking about what educators do in order to reconsider their actions and refine their practices according to these thoughts. Reflective practice is a cycle of on-going learning that occurs when we take the time to “stop, think and change” (p. 9).

Defining reflective practice

There are a number of models educators can use to reflect on their practice. You have previously been introduced to the DATA model.

1. Describe: describe in detail -involves paying attention to what happened, who was involved, and their thoughts, feeling and emotions as they related to the incident. 2. Analyse: explore why - examine the underlying values, beliefs and assumptions that maintain the practice and consider sources of information to make sense of the situation.

3. Theorise: make sense of what happened. - think about the practice from different perspectives in order to formulate a new or different understanding and consider a new or different approach. 4. Act: put the new way of thinking into practice - trying out a new or different way of doing things in order to enhance and improve practice.

Peters, 1991

Stopping, thinking and changing

Critical reflection

Ultimately the reflective process is an intensely personal practice for it to be authentic. As you critically scrutinize the origins, validity and limitations of your personal beliefs, values and principles that help you to understand your experiences, you are able to become more open to other perspectives and interpretations.

“Reflection begins with a concern, an issue, a not sure, a worry, a problem, a dilemma, a puzzlement, an uncertainty. It unpacks these concerns by putting you at the centre and examining them at a deep level in order to understand the effect you have on your practice and student learning. It is about ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘my’”

Sinclair, 2013

Sellars, 2014, p.7

Reflection

Practical reflection

Korthagen & Vasalos, 2005, p. 54

Korthagen, F., 2008, p. 3; Kothagen & Vasalos, 2005, p. 54

What am I dealing with? What do I do? What am I competent at? What do I believe? Who am I in my work? What inspires me?/ greater entity do I feel connected to?

What am I dealing with? What do I do? What am I competent at? Who am I in my work? What inspires me?/ greater entity do I feel connected to?

What am I dealing with? What do I do? What am I competent at? Who am I in my work? What inspires me?/ greater entity do I feel connected to?

Smyth’s framework for reflection

CONFRONTING: being able to subject the

theories about one’s own practice to interrogation and questioning, in a way that establishes their legitimacy.

• DESCRIBE • INFORM • CONFRONT • RECONSTRUCT

I reacted inappropriately to BJ making fun of another boy (TC) in the reading group I was taking. TC lacks confidence, and often gets answers wrong. BJ was grinning and giggling. When TC got a third answer wrong BJ burst out laughing. I loudly told BJ that he was out of line and to leave the room. I think I said something like “you don’t laugh at another person in this class and get away with it” My AT was present, and she backed me up with my order (even though I realised later in discussion that that wasn’t the action my AT would have taken).

Describe: I did / observed / experienced

Sinclair, 2013

Inform: reasons for this situation occurring I know that I acted instinctively, because children like BJ really annoy me. BJ was picking on a weaker child. I think that he does this because he likes to feel important. Maybe he gets picked on himself and this is a way to make himself feel stronger. I think the problem is that the children don’t know me well enough and BJ thought he could get away with this. He needs to know that he can’t get away with this sort of behaviour and so I will need to be firmer with him. He needs to know to respect me just like my associate teacher. I was annoyed for CT because I had worked really hard with him. I finally built his confidence and got him to say something in group discussion. BJ completely shut him down. He feels ridiculed easily when one of the louder boys in the class takes over. When I talked with my associate teacher after this incident, she told me that this is because he struggles with all areas of the curriculum and academic learning is important to his parents.

I’ve always found children who bully others annoying. It is so unfair and I am determined to make sure that I do not tolerate bullies in my own class. I have planned the reading lesson really carefully and made sure that BJ and CT were not sitting together but that still didn’t make a difference. BJ knew that he could get at CT anyway and he did. I think that it didn’t help that I’d set the group to answer questions out loud to everyone. It might have been better if each child had his or her own question to answer so that BJ was more focused on what he had to do. He might have left CT alone then. Also I think that I should have sat CT right next to me so that he could share his answers with me more privately. I guess that I hadn’t thought the organisation through properly. I don’t think that I’ve made my position clear to BJ yet – I haven’t been firm enough. He still thinks of me as a student teacher and a bit of a push-over.

Confront: how I came to be this way

Reconstruct: doing/viewing differently

The central focus of EDPRAC 305B is to create and sustain purposeful learning that enables achievement for all learners.

“Reflection begins with a concern, an issue, a not sure, a worry, a problem, a dilemma, a puzzlement, an uncertainty. It unpacks these concerns by putting you at the centre and examining them at a deep level in order to understand the effect you have on your practice and student learning. It is about ‘I,’ ‘me,’ ‘my’” (Sinclair, 2013).

So, let’s start again…

Korthagen & Vasalos, 2005, p. 54

I reacted inappropriately to BJ making fun of another boy (TC) in the reading group I was taking. TC lacks confidence, and often gets answers wrong. BJ was grinning and giggling. When TC got a third answer wrong BJ burst out laughing. I loudly told BJ that he was out of line and to leave the room. I think I said something like “you don’t laugh at another person in this class and get away with it” My AT was present, and she backed me up with my order (even though I realised later in discussion that that wasn’t the action my AT would have taken).

Describe: I did / observed / experienced

Sinclair, 2013

Possibly what I think this means for me is that I acted instinctively, without having a management strategy ready to go when an incident like this occurred. Perhaps my instinct was to protect the weaker of the two children. I had finally got CT to say something in group discussion and it had been completely shut down and ridiculed by one of the louder boys in the class. I don’t think that I realised that by kicking BJ out of the classroom, I had shown anger (which is probably what he was after) and I hadn’t thought through what he would be doing once he went outside. When I read the School Guidelines, I found my action was not allowed. (I also read that bullying is strictly not tolerated – but that doesn’t justify my action). I think my problem is about struggling to comprehend the attention given to the children who “misbehave” versus those who never cause a problem, do their work, and always seem to be waiting for others to calm down. I didn’t really think about why the ones who cause problems get all this time and attention given to strategies to keep them on task. I just got annoyed with BJ and reacted.

Inform: reasons for this situation occurring

Sinclair, 2013

I know that I acted instinctively, because children like BJ really annoy me. BJ was picking on a weaker child. I think that he does this because he likes to feel important. Maybe he gets picked on himself and this is a way to make himself feel stronger. I think the problem is that the children don’t know me well enough and BJ thought he could get away with this. He needs to know that he can’t get away with this sort of behaviour and so I will need to be firmer with him. He needs to know to respect me just like my associate teacher. I was annoyed for CT because I had worked really hard with him. I finally built his confidence and got him to say something in group discussion. BJ completely shut him down. He feels ridiculed easily when one of the louder boys in the class takes over. When I talked with my associate teacher after this incident, she told me that this is because he struggles with all areas of the curriculum and academic learning is important to his parents.

My own educational background has been in schools where respect was shown to teachers and a lot was made of respecting others. Talking with my AT went a long way to help me unpack the situation. She said that while a particular management strategy may work in one school or in one class, it may be completely useless in another. I cannot afford to make a heat of the moment, emotional decision. That puts the child offside, and may shut down their willingness to learn later on. I also know that practicum is supposed to be enjoyed, and a time for different learning ideas and behaviour management strategies to be tried out. I am aware of Roger’s research on behavior management - situations need to be de-escalated and this is what I did not do. My AT also pointed out the danger of confronting children so publicly – with such a hard line from their teachers, they will just shut down. Now I see that children need structures, routine, and expectations etc. Constant reinforcement of expectations, behaviour agreements, and consequences are important. Also knowing why I am taking one particular course of action is key. This was really helpful as I tried to understand the process behind behaviour strategies. I need to have thought through similar situations before they happen, so that when they do I can keep my cool and deal with the problem in a way that it gets resolved, and does so without tempers being lost or only temporary solutions being found. I know that at the time I was just so angry about what BJ had done that I didn’t care where he went, so long as he wasn’t in the room. The effect of your emotions on your behavior have a major impact on students

Confront: how I came to be this way

Sinclair, 2013

I’ve always found children who bully others annoying. It is so unfair and I am determined to make sure that I do not tolerate bullies in my own class. I have planned the reading lesson really carefully and made sure that BJ and CT were not sitting together but that still didn’t make a difference. BJ knew that he could get at CT anyway and he did. I think that it didn’t help that I’d set the group to answer questions out loud to everyone. It might have been better if each child had his or her own question to answer so that BJ was more focused on what he had to do. He might have left CT alone then. Also I think that I should have sat CT right next to me so that he could share his answers with me more privately. I guess that I hadn’t thought the organisation through properly. I don’t think that I’ve made my position clear to BJ yet – I haven’t been firm enough. He still thinks of me as a student teacher and a bit of a push-over.

Because I am in the room for such a short period of time, I plan to adopt some existing strategies that my AT uses rather than try and implement new ones. I need to get to know BJ. He is looking for attention for a reason. I also need to be consistent with him so that he learns to trust me. Children in this class get three chances, before they face time out and he knows that. One‐on‐one talks when necessary can be used. Awarding points and commenting on good behaviour also sets the standard for what I consider good behaviour, and gives everyone an example to aspire to, including BJ. Also, when a situation like this one does arise, it is important to remove the “fire” as soon as possible. A good strategy in this case would have been to say that “laughter is not acceptable, take yourself to the other side of the classroom and keep reading please”. This could have been backed up by a mark in the warning system, and a talk at lunchtime. I need to be aware of the effect of my emotions on my behaviour and how this impacts on the students. I plan to talk to my friends at Uni about this and discuss it further with my AT because this is a big thing to think about.

Sinclair, 2013

Reconstruct: doing/viewing differently

As they develop their expertise, novice teachers shift their vision from a focus on themselves to the class and to an awareness of the needs of the individual students who make up the class.

Eckerman Pitton, 2006, p.38

Vision of

individual students:

‘ Did Shawna understand?’

‘Was Matt with it today?’

‘What will help Laura be successful?’

Vision of

the class as a whole:

‘How did the students do?’

‘Did they all learn it?’

‘What will make the lesson better?’

Vision of self:

‘How am I doing?’

‘Did I get it right?’

‘Am I a good teacher?’

YOUR Critically reflective practice Teaching is inspirational and exciting and thinking of ways to engage

and motivate and challenge students. about new learning and helping students to become

more self regulating and taking ownership of the learning. It is not about control and discipline.

You have to understand where your ideas, biases, beliefs, values, assumptions, experiences come from and how they influence your thinking about teaching and learning in order to make a difference to student learning. We often go to a default position and do the same things we had done to us at school because that is what we know.

We need to know why we do what we do in order to teach effectively.

Sinclair, 2013

When you write your reflections

…you need to focus your thinking on your practice rather than simply describing what the students/AT are doing. Reflection is about you and your response and decision making and the actions you take. It is understanding what impacts on you and your beliefs and assumptions about teaching and learning. It is being aware that the actions you take to improve learning are at the centre of your practice. You make the difference. It is not about what the students or AT are doing it is about what you do and how you manage what the students are doing and their learning.

Sinclair, 2013

Eckerman Pitton, D. (2006). Mentoring Novice Teachers: Fostering a dialogue process. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Corwin Press.

Gore, J. M., & Zeichner, K. M. (1991). Action research and reflective teaching in preservice teacher education: A case study from the United States. Teaching and Teacher Education, 7(2), 119-136. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0742-051X(91)90022-H

Hill, D. (November, 2013). Graduation address presented at New Zealand College of ECE Graduation, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Korthagen, F., (2008) . ‘Quality from within’ as the key to professional development. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association March, 2008, New York.

Korthagen F. & Vasalos, A., (2005). Levels in reflection: core reflection as a means to enhance professional growth. Teachers and Teaching: theory and practice. 11( 1). 47–71. DOI: 10.1080/1354060042000337093

O’Connor, A. & Diggins, C. (2002). On Reflection: Reflective Practice for Early Childhood Educators. Lower Hutt, Aotearoa New Zealand: Open Mind Publishing

Peters, J. M. 1991). Strategies for reflective practice: New directions for adult and continuing education, 51. 89-96.

Sellars, M. (2014). Reflective practice for teachers. London: SAGE.

Sinclair, A. (2013). Notes to help with writing reflections. [Handout]. Auckland: University of Auckland, New Zealand: EDPRAC 305.

Smyth, J. (1993). A socially critical approach to teacher education. In T. Simpson (Ed.). Teacher Educators Handbook. Brisbane: QUT.

References