Week 32 Reflective Practice.
The Mindlab journey has been useful and interesting for me because it has drawn together the part time study that I have been engaged in for the last 20 or so years. That study has been in education and in particular has become more centred on ICT/digital/online learning as it pertains to secondary school students.. I have been instrumental in my school by encouraging firstly the introduction of Moodle then in the last few years the introduction of Google Apps for Education (G + Suite). My initial idea of the Mindlab course was one which would have a heavy technological component but this was not necessarily the case. Technology played a part in my development over the course but the opportunity to revisit content which I had touched on in the past but did not totally absorb was a more valuable component of the course. Also the opportunity to share learning ideas with others was also valuable.
One of the aspects that I have been reflecting on has come from the reading by Osterman and Kottkamp whereby they state that, “Often, behavioral changes resulting from successful reflection are at odds with the ongoing larger and organizational culture. This means that individuals undergoing personal change will likely be somewhat more at odds with the norms and assumptions of the culture than before. Thus reflective practice assumes that achieving and maintaining desired personal changes also means working for cultural changes, ones that will then buttress the new behaviors”
The Mindlab journey has meant that the above observation has become more true for me in my place of work. Taking back the ideas from the course and introducing them to my colleagues has been a challenge. However, I did introduce EdPuzzle to our literacy group and showed them how video clips can be used to enhance and work on vocabulary that is presented in film. It was good to get the positive feedback.
I have since left the school I was employed at when I started Mindlab but Criterion 4 of the Practising Teacher Criteria (Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice.) was something I tried to work on before I left. I did this by sharing some of my new learning with my department. Also because I was a head of a learning area I not only lead PD in my department but I did manage to lead two whole school PD sessions in my final term. Criterion 5 :(Show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning) was the impetus for this.
My next dream regarding your future professional development.
This is a challenging one. I am well over retirement age but still feel I have a lot to offer education especially in the area of leading teachers in online learning/digital upskilling. There is no doubt that this will become more of a feature in schools in the future. When I reflect where I have come personally in the last 10 years in terms of ICT/elearning practices I can only realise that the next 10 years are going to be even more interesting. I still like to be part of it in some way.
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.
Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher Criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/
Hi Brian, I believe that your journey through Mindlab has been, in part similar to mine in that I went in with certain expectations but have found that it was so much more than I thought it would be. I thought it would be very heavily IT orientated but have been delighted by other facets such as the opportunity to explore leadership elements and also develop greater understanding of collaborative learning. Student agency is a growing, key feature of our school practice, and so having time to investigate this has been really interesting. Like you, those of us from my school who are doing or have done this course have been able to explore the PTCs quite extensively and the blogging that we've done recently certainly has enabled us to show how we are developing evidence around these criteria. I am not yet at retirement age, but the ability to keep up with educational developments and IT skills has been particularly relevant for me because I have been able to take these back into the classroom and rejuvenate some practices to the benefit of the students. Being reflective of my teaching and exploring how it can benefit my department is another bonus that I acknowledge. Thanks for your thoughts and for sharing your hopes.
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