MindLab Practice Blog

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takimano My strength is not that of an individual but that of the collective Communities of Practice (CoP) are a means though which all those involved can develop their knowledge competence through social interactions with like-minded individuals.  In this sense, learning is an organic and social phenomenon.  Those involved need to be invested in the issue/topic being inquired into and demonstrate engagement, alignment and imagination (Wenger, 2000), as well as being cognisant of - but willing to suspend the impact of - time constraints, and socio-cultural environment (ego and individual agendas) ( Kerno, 2008 ).  See my previous blog post for more detail . I have two collaborative learning related teacher inquiry topics. Inquiry 1: When working with students on high stakes research based assessments over a long period of time, how do we avoid crossing the line from collaboration and into collusion?   How do we avoid t

Back in the days before MindLab, the heightened awareness of social and professional interaction and collaboration using the internet - and the plethora of tools for doing so - there was little on offer.  Conferences, professional development courses and general face-to-face communication were the primary tools for professional communication regarding practice.  One engaged with other professionals at these courses, collected as many resources as possible, and returned to school to “spread the knowledge”.  The learning tended to be confined to place and time in which they took place.  Now, with increasing use of social media and other collaborative communication platforms, learning can continue, and be shared, over longer time spans. Throughout the mid to late 90's and early 2000's, I formed local online groups to support teachers in 6th Form Certificate Physical Education, Bursary Physical Education, and the newly emerging NCEA.  A group of us decided to use a Wiki or a f

In our school, we recognise the importance of equity, diversity and inclusivity .  With respect to 21 st Century and E-Learning, we look to provide equity of access to the technology and the learning that can accrue from that.  We have worked through the process of providing equity devices, free software and, have invested in infrastructure that allows access to an increasingly diverse world.  This has come about as we have recognised that, “educational engagement and success for all learners is an important priority for 21 st Century schools” (Ministry of Education, 2012, p.25).  It is an egalitarian approach through involvement in initiatives such as He Kakano , Kia Eke Panuku and professional learning around Culturally Responsive Practice – to bring notions of excellence, equity, belonging, fairness, and the place of diversity to the forefront of our practice. HOLD ON … Can we address the elephant in our room here? How does banding or streaming students according

The reading this week is an 85-page behemoth entitled “ Supportingfuture-oriented learning & teaching – a New Zealand perspective ” .  Being the helpful geek that I am, I thought I might summarise the subheadings within it in a few words just to make it a little easier to select one of them for Activity 2. The document works on the following premises: “21 st Century Learning” and “Future Learning” are interchangeable and is characterized as being an emerging (important word) “cluster of new ideas, beliefs, knowledge, theories and practices” (p.1).   They exist along a continuum from being highly visible in schools to barely visible. Knowledge is easily accessible so we need to rethink what we are doing with that knowledge in classrooms.  We need to move from mere transmission and acquiring knowledge, to the use of that knowledge in terms of knowing what to do with it, manipulating it and applying it in new contexts.  They use the term “fluidity” (p.2) with respect to kn

Reflective practice is seen as an essential component of professional competence ( Larrivee, 2000 ; Finlay, 2008 ; Mann, Gordon & McLeod, 2009 ) and implicitly underpins the professional standards and code of ethics in New Zealand Education (New Zealand Education Council, 2017).  Self-reflection is a product of increasing consciousness of self which has evolved over time as a product of higher mental functioning ( Gillespie, 2007 ).  This implies we are predisposed to self-reflection and instinctively take part in it.  “ The path of least resistance and least trouble is a mental rut already made. It requires troublesome work to undertake the alteration of old beliefs. ” John Dewey Dewey seem to encapsulate both the value and tension that exists within reflective practice.  We know it is of value, yet to reflect deeply/critically requires time, effort and energy – often in short supply – reducing it to a simplistic/mechanistic process to “get it out of the way”.  Being tol

Within self-reflection, theorists have noted that reflection can operate in both an iterative and vertical dimension. Iterative refers to reflection triggered by experience (Mann, Gordon & McLeod, 2009) and tends to follow the processes familiar in most models of reflective practice i.e. the recognition that an experience has elicited certain feelings of comfort/discomfort that need to be acted upon through the formation of abstract concepts of change which, in turn are put into practice and evaluated ( see previous blog for an overview and useful links to iterative models ). Vertical refers to the depth of reflection from surface to deep, theoretical analysis (Mann, Gordon & McLeod, 2009) and can be summarised in the five levels of reflective practice noted by Zeichner and Liston (1996, in Finlay, 2007, p.4): 1. Rapid reflection - immediate, ongoing and automatic action by the teacher. 2. Repair –thoughtful decisions to alter their behaviour in response to stude

Reflective practice is well established in the literature across a range of professions (Finlay, 2008; Galea, 2012; Timmins, Murphy, Howe & Dennehy, 2013; Husebo & O’Regan, 2015; Potter, 2015; Zalipour, 2015) to evaluate outcomes, using evidence, to challenge held assumptions, formulate alternate hypotheses, and concretise these hypotheses by putting theory into practice.  The purpose of genuine reflection in education is to develop a deeper understanding of personal learning and professional knowledge with a view to improving both personal and learner outcomes.  In this way practice informs reflection and reflection informs practice – Figure 1 (Zalipour, 2015).                                                                          Figure 1 If we assume the willingness to be better practitioners , then it seems self-evident that we need to become better reflectors (of that practice).  Reflective practice is a critique (internally/externally or both) of e

Thought I would share this blog that i came across when doing some research on reflective practice.  It gives a nice overview of different models of reflective practice as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each. Well worth having a look. https://lifelonglearningwithot.wordpress.com/2016/05/02/different-models-of-reflection-using-them-to-help-me-reflect/