Look back and reflect, so you can
move forward.
Initially, I was reluctant to
give up 4 hours of my precious time to Mindlab for the first 16 weeks and the
November start was also a time when I was still on crutches due to a ruptured
Achilles tendon that I had done in September.
I travelled by mobility scooter for the first 5 weeks at least. I had
signed up with 2 colleagues from school and we are all from different levels of
the school, experience and roles – a deputy principal, a team leader and a recently graduated
teacher - a mixed bunch.
Overall, I enjoyed the first 16 weeks of the course particularly the face to face with like minded people and having time to collaborate with them each week. I enjoyed the hands on activities, the laughs, frustrations and celebrations. I enjoyed being able to learn about and try new apps and online web2 tools and trialing some of these in my classroom. I am still on this journey and am looking forward to our schools next couple of terms, where my team and myself are planning and exploring the universal theme of conflict through games and gaming for our cohort. The self directed part of the course I found very rich and relevant, by having a very clever colleague to work with, who willingly shared ideas and suggested possible changes in my practice and that of my team made this thought provoking to say the least. He has become a great friend and mentor and has helped me navigate through some challenges in my professional life for which I am forever grateful.
An eye-opener for me was the discovery of all the different types of leadership styles and how these can be manipulated through the context, content and the people involved. At one stage, I was put on the spot by my DP, who asked what ‘leadership style’ is needed to get teachers on board regarding the new play-based learning another team leader was trying to make happen with her team. I think I amazed myself with my quick response and my reasons for stating them. Leadership isn’t something that I believe has a label, as teachers were are all leaders of learning and that we all will take on roles on leading the learning with children, colleagues and the wider community, especially with advent of the five potentially disruptive emerging trends.
Overall, I enjoyed the first 16 weeks of the course particularly the face to face with like minded people and having time to collaborate with them each week. I enjoyed the hands on activities, the laughs, frustrations and celebrations. I enjoyed being able to learn about and try new apps and online web2 tools and trialing some of these in my classroom. I am still on this journey and am looking forward to our schools next couple of terms, where my team and myself are planning and exploring the universal theme of conflict through games and gaming for our cohort. The self directed part of the course I found very rich and relevant, by having a very clever colleague to work with, who willingly shared ideas and suggested possible changes in my practice and that of my team made this thought provoking to say the least. He has become a great friend and mentor and has helped me navigate through some challenges in my professional life for which I am forever grateful.
An eye-opener for me was the discovery of all the different types of leadership styles and how these can be manipulated through the context, content and the people involved. At one stage, I was put on the spot by my DP, who asked what ‘leadership style’ is needed to get teachers on board regarding the new play-based learning another team leader was trying to make happen with her team. I think I amazed myself with my quick response and my reasons for stating them. Leadership isn’t something that I believe has a label, as teachers were are all leaders of learning and that we all will take on roles on leading the learning with children, colleagues and the wider community, especially with advent of the five potentially disruptive emerging trends.
What is in store for our students in the future? Technology is the way of the future yet adults still view it differently than that of our children. Currently many of our kids are more than happy to use technology for entertainment, much to the dismay of those parents who have forked out for new devices and still want to know what is the learning. Technology is a tool, I’m sure when we changed from ‘chalk and talk’ the lament was the same – How will they learn? How will it prepare them for the future? It really is scary to think we are teaching students and preparing them for jobs that don't even exist yet or do exist yet struggle to find employees to fill the roles. We, as educators need to be flexible in our approach, be open to up-skilling, be a‘guide on the side’ (King, 1993) and enjoy the ride.
Osterman and Kottkamp’s (1993)
states the contrast between the traditional approach resulting in knowledge
acquisition versus reflective practice model leading to change in behaviours
via self-awareness. Being reflective
practitioner as all teachers are, I have
come to realise since beginning Mindlab
that this has been mostly in my own head. I am now more conscious of
when taking part in any PD or reading professional literature, observing
another colleague teach or even a post on Facebook that grabs my attention -
how important it is for me to record my reflections of my own practice and what
I can take from these experiences. There have been times recently that have
been able to share my reflections for the benefit of others, I am quite proud
of how far I have come with this change in my practice which can only help with
the new Our Code, Our Standards (Education Council, 2018) that my school is
working on to guide our appraisal process this year.
So, what next? Having more time to invest in my family and my school team, without the bounds of study will be helpful in order to create more work-life balance. Without my patient husband who has been my rock and listened to me wane on and on about Mindlab, I wouldn’t have been able to start on this journey, never mind complete it. Although Mindlab has peaked my curiosity on what I need to take on as far as my own personal growth. I am very grateful to my colleagues who have I have worked with, supported my thoughts and encouraged me on my learning journey…it is only the beginning.
References
Bolstad, R. & MacDonald,J.(2016). An
analysis of participant blogs supplemented by teacher interviews. Wellington:
New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
King, A. (1993). From sage on the stage to guide on the
side. College teaching, 41(1), 30-35. Retrieved from: https://faculty.washington.edu/kate1/ewExternalFiles/SageOnTheStage.pdf
Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993).
Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Corwin Press, Inc. Retrieved
from http://www.itslifejimbutn
otasweknowit.org.uk/files
Ministry of Education (2017). Our code, our
standards. Retrieved fromhttps://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards
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