Tuesday 27 October 2015

Task ten: Where I am, where I'm going


I'll start at the end. I've signed on at Unitec to complete a Masters in Applied Practice, and am currently waiting to hear back about a Study Support Grant for 2016. I have a few ideas in mind at this time about a thesis, but I'm considering how to examine the effectiveness of my school's personalised learning program. I've spoken to the program head at Unitec about further study at the conclusion of a Masters as well. After years of thinking about it, Mindlab has opened the door to further study for me and has given me the confidence to pursue my own learning. It's helped me explore where my real interests lie within education, and think about where my career is going. 

This has been the result of 32 weeks where I've had to reflect on my values, practice, pedagogy and ambitions. It's been a struggle at times to step back and honestly critique myself within the wider teaching context, and more than once I've found myself complaining at change with the poisonous phrase "But this is how we've always done it!" Overcoming that internalised resistance to change and trying radically new ways of teaching, e.g. the flipped learning that made up the core of my DCL assessments, has opened me up to new opportunities.

My DCL assessments allowed me to develop in criteria 6 and 8, and critically evaluate the challenged and rewards that come with flipped learning. 


"Miss, I've been able to take photos!"
Whilst I felt that employing flipped learning wholesale in my teaching was too difficult, I have continued to use the model in some areas of teaching and have found it to be a powerful tool in my teaching arsenal.

My LDC assessments gave me the opportunity to consider my own role as a changemaker within the school and whanau community, and has encouraged me to step up into leading learning contexts. I am on the inquiry framework working group, overhauling our school's system for next year, and the Mindlab course has given me lots of ideas and tools for how to move this process forward. Design thinking in particular has been of great help in this work, which relates to criteria 1, 4, 5, 7, and 12. 

My coursework hit a rough spot just after the conclusion of the Mindlab-based learning, where I had an accident that prevented me from writing anything and badly affected my grades. I considered asking for a deferment on my R&C assessments and the lit review in particular caused me some sleepless nights! Finding the reserves within myself to complete all my assessments within the extended timeframe and to have received such a good grade for my lit review was a validation that I can overcome personal adversity and not lose momentum in my studies. It was also the development of my ideas for this course that sealed my decision to continue and complete my Masters, something I had been considering for years but had lacked a clear idea about where to go with is. 
KDEC students taking part in a practical assessment. Mindlab has helped me restructure assessments to include everyone, without needing to create a different assessment as has been the school's expectation.

APC was a great opportunity to reflect on my professional values, practice and commitment to the wellbeing of my students and other teachers (Criteria 2, 3, 9, 10). When considering the questions around biculturalism it was reassuring to see how my values and praxis work to uphold the tenets of the Treaty and that I am on the right path of supporting and raising the achievement of my Maori, Pasifika, students of colour and disabled learners. 


I finish my Mindlab course a better teacher, a better learner, and ready to move my career forwards to better the experience of my students. It's been a privilege to do this course.  

Sunday 18 October 2015

Task Nine: Bicultural Literacy

Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi
With your basket and my basket the people will live
I arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand in January 2009 with a vague understanding of the Treaty of Waitangi, a smattering of poorly-pronounced te reo Maori and a job offer at a school in Manurewa. I made a lot of mistakes, had to unlearn a lot and I am forever grateful for the incredibly patient people who taught me the difference between the multicultural environment I had come from and the bicultural/multicultural environment I had entered. In the first few years, I struggled with questions like:

  • Why is te reo Maori given precedence when the majority of our students are Samoan? 
  • Why are Indian Fijian students excluded from certain opportunities and offers open to Maori and other Pasifika students?
  • How does biculturalism relate to multiculturalism?
Keen to unpack my own prejudices and learn more about Maori education, I joined the school's Kahui Kaiako Maori (KKM) group, working towards improving Maori education within the school. I helped create resources for fellow immigrant teachers grappling with teaching in a Maori context, presented at meetings with overseas teachers and officials, and began a process of decolonising my pedagogy to be more responsive to the needs of my learners. I started to understand the importance of indigenous rights, something that I had not had to consider in the UK, and that the kaupapa of Maori education could be applied for the benefit of all my students in a way the principles of colonial education did not. 
Looking out over Manukau Harbour

I began to critique the language and cultural norms I used in class, and adopt ones that were more inclusive. I asked students to share their cultures and languages within the class, and made a point of standing aside and giving the platform to non-white voices where possible. I discussed the concept of white privilege with older students, which led to some fascinating conversations and ideas from learners about how they viewed their place in the world. 

Once, after such a conversation, my Y10 class were completing a careers survey. A couple of students called me over and pointed out that all the photos on the site had white people doing the jobs, with a few exceptions of Maori carrying out traditional crafts. The class discussed how to approach this, and with help from their English teacher, wrote to Careers NZ. They responded very positively and a representative came to the school to discuss their concerns and they took some photos of our very diverse students to add to their photo bank for future use. Giving them the vocabulary and confidence to challenge what they saw as an a lack of representation was very powerful, and gave them agency to make positive change.
Year 8 at Ihumatao

Currently, my Year 8 have just finished looking at materials science, within the context of buildings and the local construction of the new Ormiston Town Centre. Seeing an opportunity to develop this, we investigated the Special Housing Area proposal for Ihumatao, and the group of local rangatahi who oppose the build. The students learned about the confiscation of the land in the 19th Century, the importance of the site as a waahi tapu, and the arguments for and against new housing. This led to the students learning relevant words in te reo and some understanding about Maori culture that they had not come across before. This mahi culminated in both classes visiting the Otuataua stonefields and being given a tour by park rangers. It made their work in class much more relevant and real, and they came away with greater understanding of the Maori's struggles to have their claims and rights recognised than if it had been taught out of this context.

I've come a long way since my arrival, and I still have a long way to go, but it's been an incredibly rewarding journey. 

Sunday 11 October 2015

Task Eight: Teacher Ethics

Terri and Social Media: I recognise this scenario as a keen personal user of social media, as a way of keeping in touch with family abroad and also as a way of discussing political and social issues. I have a busy online life and am open about being a teacher. The ethics of maintaining this online presence as an education professional are something I consider a great deal, and I am careful to maintain a distance between my online and professional lives.


In this scenario, Terri has put her colleagues in a very difficult position. She is entitled to a life outside the classroom, but that should be kept at a remove from her students and colleagues, for her own protection as much as anything else. The Education Council's first commitment to learners is: 


"develop and maintain professional relationships with learners based upon the best interests of those learners"

This commitment extends to online relationships as well, and I don't see how a professional relationship can be maintained with people who are currently students of  teacher if they are friends on personal social media accounts. Personally, I have a couple of former students who I have stayed in touch with through social media but only after they had left my care in loco parentis. Professional relationships in education are extremely important for the safety and wellbeing of young people, and seeing a teacher they respect and admire engaging in risky, illegal behaviour compromises their safety and wellbeing. 

The final part of the Education Council's Code of Ethics states that teachers should:


"speak out if the behaviour of a colleague is seriously in breach of this Code."

Despite it being a difficult thing to have to do, Terri's colleagues should talk to Terri about her online actions in the first instance, if they feel safe and comfortable to do so. If they do not, then the issue should be taken to a line manager or HR officer who will have the resources to help Terri. 



The second scenario is also familiar, if more complicated than the issue I've occasionally faced. Changing social and familial setups, and schools opening longer hours, have made the school commute more challenging and I recognise the student in this scenario as I have several in similar situations. There are two issues at play here. One is that the teacher is being imposed on by a parent to drive her child to school, the other is the appropriateness of a male teacher being alone with a female student in a car. 

The teacher is obviously uncomfortable with the request being made of him. Whilst it might seem to the mother to be convenient to have him pick up her child, this is a long-term commitment and does not allow the teacher to deviate from his schedule in the mornings. It demands too much from the teacher and he has every right to say no, just from this point of view. 

The other issue is more serious. If the teacher did agree to this, he is making himself very vulnerable to the suggestion he is not acting appropriately towards his student. Whilst in New Zealand the situation is not as bad as in the UK, teachers should be mindful not to put themselves into situations where their motives could be questioned. 

The teacher in this scenario should refuse to meet the parent's request. The parent should work with the school to find a way of getting her child there in time, or work with her employer to find a way of ensuring that her child's learning is not being compromised.