Mindlab by Unitec: My Postgraduate Learning Journey

07 March 2016 (APC Week 32 - Task 10)

Putting It All Together

It's important for all of us as professional educators to both understand and evaluate our own practise. Osterman & Kottkamp (1993) offer us a useful model that links in well with the practical aspects of developing a pedgogical approach.

Figure 1: Osterman & Kottcamp (1993) - Source Article

My experiences over the course of the past 32 weeks for my Mindlab studies has certainly provided me with a greater understanding of what Teaching As Inquiry looks and feels like 'in action'. I for one now firmly believe that the professional awareness that this approach generates within us can have a positive lasting impact on how I approach my own leading and learning roles in future.

Being able to reflect on my own practise whilst  experiencing new professional experiences has been both eye opening and horizon broadening. Meeting and collaborating with educators from around the country (and even overseas) as part of my studies has been a revelation that has extended my own view of the profession well beyond geographical boundaries and current points of view. 

In a New Zealand educational context, the Ministry of Education has set criteria for practising teacher in e-learning. For the reflective purposes of this blog entry, here's some evidence  from my studies to support a few of the criteria I have met well over the past 32 weeks...

When reviewing how I have used this "Professional knowledge in practice", Criteria 7 leaps to my attention: how I "Promote a collaborative, inclusive, and supportive learning environment". Plenty of evidence of this is freely available on our class blog and learning hub website that I have collaborated on with my colleagues. Many of the posts on this blog also demonstrate how I have been sharing what I have learned with my wider community of practise, too.

Looking at the criteria around "Professional relationships and professional values", two immediately spring to my attention as having been well met over the course of my studies, and within my teaching practise for many years now.

"Criteria 3: Demonstrate commitment to bicultural partnership in Aotearoa / New Zealand." Apart from this being a strong underpinning element in several of my internally submitted essays for my recent studies, my recent blog entry on cultural inclusiveness effectively summarises my own understanding and drive to include this as part of my pedagogical and ethical approach to my leading and learning.

As a useful segue, "Criteria 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice" also leads me to the final part of this blog entry...

Where to Next?

I've long questioned the established ways of doing things, and my being open to new ways of leading and learning have been a definite asset for this course of study. It seems to me as if the opportunities are only as limited by our own individual and collective vision(s) when it comes how we might move forward from here...

My 'Big Question' for RCIP two months ago - the question now, for me is, do I limit my understanding of a Community of Learning to a geographically bounded area, as a simplistic case study that can be replicated elsewhere - or begin to consider myself a part of a global community of learning...

The academic research and case studies I've viewed fill me with a quiet optomism as to where it all may lead; and the cautionary tales and as yet under-researched areas should likely encourage each of us to look beyond traditional methodologies. There's definitely an opportunity there for me to consider studying at Masters level in future, or to at the very least encourage others to pursue this avenue.

I myself am left with a keen interest in exploring newer, more inclusive pedagogical approaches that will likely make the most of our increasingly global contexts. It's not just about hoping that innovation occurs in a timely manner and going with the proverbial flow anymore:

I firmly and passionately believe that it's vitally important for all of us as whanau  and educators alike to consider how we can  actively partcipate in changing the paradigms that we lead and learn within, as we begin to deliberately coach and mentor our students and colleagues in this new age of digital and collaborative learning...! 
 

References Cited

Osborne, M. J. (2016, 1st February). My RCIP Reflective Portfolio. [Blog Entry] Retrieved from http://postgradteacher.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/mindlab-by-unitec-my-rcip-project-plan.html on 28th March 2016. 
Osborne, M.J. (2016, 29th February). Cultural Responsiveness within a NZ Context. [Blog Entry] Retrieved from http://postgradteacher.blogspot.co.nz/2016/02/mindlab-by-unitec-evaluating-my-own.html on 28th March 2016
Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993) Reflective Practice for Educators. California. Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files/RefPract/Osterman_Kottkamp_extract.pdf on 28th March 2016.

Ministry of Education (NZ). Practising Teacher Criteria and e-learning. Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Practising-Teacher-Criteria-and-e-learning on 28th March 2016

Leadership Theories and Connected Learning

Leadership Theories and Styles LDC Week 6
Transformational Leadership
Group Task: What makes a good leader? An active listener; inspirational / passionate learner, strong content knowledge, up-to-date, reciprocity of approach, sense of humor, positively invested in others, compassionate, empathetic, finger firmly on the learning pulse within a school/class, skilled in relationship building/maintenance, flexible and adaptable. Also links to the Key Competencies.

Leadership challenge: we selected one of six options (scenarios) to then reflect on our natural ways of doing things - how would we act as a leader? Then, we made some notes for ourselves before think-pair-sharing, where we shared our approaches, and discussed some alternative ones. 

e.g.: "Teachers in Year 6 are complaining that teachers of year 5 teach science in many different ways which is resulting in an inconsistency in the preparedness of students arriving in year 6. Consideration amongst senior leaders has identified the need for a greater consistency between science learning between year levels.
How do you make the year 5 teachers follow a more consistent science programme?"
My initial thoughts on this 'problem' were: "First of all, determine the extent of the differences in approach - either through survey by encouraging shared reflections around how different programmes are being carried out around the school. Identify the extent of the 'problem' - is it one or two of your teachers' programmes who are out of alignment, or is it more extensive? Don't assume that the Year 6 teachers have it right either - bring it back in to context via alignment with the NZC. Consider how you could collaborate with staff to begin to develop and align programmes - without finger pointing - and create PLD opportunities linked to the targeted curriculum area (in this instance, science). Reflect on the broader contexts for science learning in the senior school, and how the introduction of co-constructed benchmarks around learning might occur. This may be done within year level syndicates initially, and then taken back into whole / senior school meetings (depending on the size of your school) and identifying those staff members who have a strong interest in taking the qualitative discussions..." [What style does this best reflect? = participative leadership]

Try this quiz to find out your style of leadership...

(My score was: Authoritarian 24 / Procedural 28 / Transformational 36 / Participative 39 / Laissez Faire 40 :-)

The Six Leadership Styles (Goleman, Daniel "Leadership That Gets Results" 2000)

Connected Learning DCL Week 6 
"...is an educational approach designed for our ever-changing world. It makes learning relevant to all populations, to real life and real work, and to the realities of the digital age, where the demand for learning never stops." (source)

NB: Click here for the original link for the above jpeg

Connectivism - video of the original theorist Dr George Siemens' explanation for this theory.

Online Sharing Apps
We also tried out some 'mind mapping' tools or other visual presentations to summarise key ideas visually:
Comic Strip - using bitstrips (shared on to Facebook)
Storyboard - use Storyboard That
Infographic - use Piktochart

Assignment Notes: for LDC 1 - talk about a specific leadership theory (not style!), how it applies to you, evaluate how it impacts on your professional practice.LDC 2 - can broaden and compare to other theories and styles.

Most commonly, LDC students have chosen from:
Participative Leadership
Situational Leadership
Servant Leadership
Transactional Leadership
Transformational Leadership

Next Steps: setting up our own Twitter 'handle'/accounts for our next tutorial session... Here's a helpful video I found as to why this might even be a good idea after all.

(Video Open Source: Edutopia)