Changes in Practice

Reflective practice, while often confused with reflection, is neither a solitary nor a relaxed meditative process. To the contrary, reflective practice is a challenging, demanding, and often trying process that is most successful as a collaborative effort. Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). 

The above quote sums up my Mindlab experience. When I first saw an email about the postgraduate course I thought about it briefly but then quickly put it in the 'too hard basket'. I didn't have time, it would be too difficult, I wouldn't know anyone etc. A few weeks later my Principal emailed the entire staff about the same postgraduate course and asked for expressions of interest. My colleagues and I discussed it and decided it might be okay if we did it together. We applied.

I guess the most obvious change in my own research informed practice to the Practising Teaching Criteria (PTC) in e-learning was 

• Criteria 4: Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice.

Until applying to study at the Mindlab I was guilty of not 'demonstrating commitment to ongoing professional learning....' yes I had participated in professional development but only in whole school/staff setting that our management team had decided would benefit and align with our school-wide goals. I felt as if I had sound knowledge and a good skill set around e-learning. Boy was I wrong. 

I have learned a great deal about e-learning in the 32 weeks I have been studying with the Mindlab. I have not only learned about practical and exciting e-learning tools and activities like Makey-Makey and Coding etc. But more about why we do these things. I have enjoy watching my students become more and more engaged as I plan more thoughtfully and deliberately. My colleague and I often refer to the 21st Century Skills Rubrics for Teachers by Microsoft, we think carefully about the key concepts. To what extent have we provided students with opportunities to collaborate, construct knowledge, solve problems, use ICT and self-regulate? We often reflect on our planning and hold each other accountable by asking "How high does this particular activity score on the rubric?" "What can we change to make it a 5?" 

One other change in my own research informed practice to the Practising Teaching Criteria (PTC) in e-learning was 

• Criteria 8: Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn.

I have been teaching for twelve years and I thought I had a pretty sound understanding of pedagogy, what makes kids tick and how they learn, and I do, some of the postgraduate course material and the opportunities to collaborate with educators from other schools confirmed this for me. However I have learned a huge amount about engagement, what makes learning engaging and WHY those things are engaging, particularly while studying game-based learning. I take this new learning into consideration constantly when planning. The other thing that has changed the way I think abut my own learning, the way I speak to my students (and even my own kids) and about their learning is Growth Mindset. I had never heard of Growth Mindset before coming to the Mindlab and I didn't look at Growth Mindset in particular throughout the course but my colleagues did. I have loved looking at their classroom displays, listening to how they have used it and reading about the huge difference it has made for their students. Because of this my next dream regarding my future professional is around Growth Mindset.

Sometimes when I forget how challenging I have sometimes found postgraduate study, I think that maybe I would like to one day go on and do my Masters around Growth Mindset! I think in the school that I work where students have faced great adversity they would benefit enormously from a Growth Mindset philosophy. I would also love to find out what kind of impact/influence Growth Mindset has on students' behaviour. But for now, I need to wait and see that I have passed this bit before I consider further study. Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R. (1993) hit the nail on the head when they said "reflective practice is a challenging, demanding, and often trying process that is most successful as a collaborative effort." I have only got to this point because of the constant encouragement and collaboration from my peers.

References

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators. California: Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files.