Kleinwright Mind lab Journey

Week 32: How Mindlab has changed my practice  What?  I began the MInd Lab course with no idea what the course entailed. I knew the course was about leadership and digital technology and that if I wanted to be a leader/educator in the 21st century my own learning journey had to start. I haven't studied for 25 years so I found the academic side of the course difficult at first however you can’t ask students/teachers to try if you don’t model the same behavior. Carol Dewek says that Much of what we think we understand of our personality comes from our “mindset.” This both propels us and prevents us from fulfilling our potential. What I looked forward to during the course of the study was the time to collaborate with others, share knowledge and new learning. With this in mind I have chosen to focus on the concept from Hack of collaboration and how as a professional and classroom teacher I can continue to develop this area.  So what?  The 'Key Compete...

Week 31 - Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness  I am going to use Rolfe's model of reflection to support me in explaining my own learning around Cultural responsiveness.  My focus will be on: goals,  communication methods,  decision-making,  What does it mean to have a culturally responsive pedagogy?  As stated by (Gay 2001) cultural pedagogy is defined by our response to life. In society, we interpret our world by our interaction with others and we use our own cultural lens (Milne 2013) to make sense of it. First we need to know our own cultural identity. Each of us has our own culture coming from our ancestors, upbringing, schooling and experiences. I believe that all cultures have equal value and I appreciate that the merging of these can provide a rich and interesting community. With this I agree with Ellerbrock, et al (2016) who states that "Teachers who are culturally responsive and who use the cultural knowledge, prio...

Week 30: Contemporary trend in NZ or Internationally   I have used Rolfe’s reflective model based on three simple questions: What? So what? Now what? (Rolfe, Freshwater, & Jasper, 2001).  What:  I have looked at the trend of future oriented learning and teaching The New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) has complied ten years of national and international research on the future of learning. This research identified key themes for a connected and coherent future-oriented learning system. Those key themes include: commitment to personalising learning curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learning capacity rethinking of learners’ and teachers’ roles forging of new partnerships with the wider community (Ministry of Education, 2012) We are moving away from traditional forms education and adapting our teaching styles to the 21st century environment. The students of the 21st century need to develop skills that will help them engage an...

Week 29: Using social online networks in teaching or professional development Using Jay and Johnson's (2002) reflective model, I explored using online social networks in teaching and professional development. Step 1: Descriptive Stage I always thought that when I was using social media, even though I was looking for resources I was wasting time, it didn't occur to me that it was valuable to my teaching and learning. During the Mind Lab course I began to realise that online networks are places that you can grow professionally and share your learning. I started to use different social media platform in my teaching and professional development: Facebook and Google+ - to access, share and discuss context related topics with peers in the education sector. Seesaw - to share content and discussions with families of the children in my class. It is an accessible online platform in which parents, students and myself can access 24/7. Blogger - to share my assignmen...

TML Wk 28: Influence of Law and Ethics in Practice My post this week relates to the Influence of Law and Ethics in Practice.  In response to this I will be reflecting on a previous experience with a teacher in my team and the use of social media. I will discuss this using Rolfe’s (2001) reflective model to unpack it.  Taking the form of three simple questions, “what”, “so what” and “now what” As teachers we try to control the way we are portrayed online, by allowing students access to our social media accounts we lose an element of that control. According to Resnik (2015), the most frequently accepted definition of ‘ethics’ is “norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.”  People who are often described as having integrity or a good character, may be considered ethical people. As teachers, the NZ Education Council’s Code of Ethics are guiding principles to: What: An ethical dilemma that teachers are faced with is social med...