Skip to main content

Starting the Journey

2016 Empty nest, new home, time  ( really) to look at new challenges, back teaching a level I had not been truly engaged with since 2013, and seeing changes in them arriving. MLE built, moved into, where to move professionally now with the students to match the forward plunge.       Enrolled in Mind Lab.

 Challenging, fast paced , F2F evenings, sharing with peers, and looking at new ways of engagement. 

 I downloaded a copy of Stand Firm by Sven Brinkmann, and  found some comments resonating within my mind. A Literacy focus of PLD and attendance at a course led by Murray Gadd, then  Jo Morris made me reflect on strong processes and strategies we have once used regularly then "thrown out in the bath water" as so much change is overwhelming us without often enough time to process, develop, reflect and then the next "new" system is picked up and run with. We are being asked to keep improving, change tack, and progress in a culture of accelerating to each "new" concept as being the way for us to perpetually move, adapt and update ourselves to improve. When we are not seen to be "buying in" to all the desperate attempts to be seen to continually "improve" there is a common belief that we are stagnating, resisting change and beyond the concepts of what is "good". Even an underlying guilt that maybe is the time to move on, as we are stagnating. But what if, instead of jumping on every bandwagon, we actually researched, trialled, evaluated, collaborated and researched some more? Brinkmann states " Being flexible, is not necessarily a good thing, because we end up focusing on ever changing and exhausting short-term goals rather than seeing the big picture."  I hope as I reflect, study and utilize the new knowledge with past  expertise and experience to help a more informed choice. I aim to integrate experience, known successful practice with new learnings and hope as I research and reflect more benefits will be shared with my students.  

Comments

  1. Unknown26 May 2017 at 17:47

    Great readings, Deborah!! To tell you the fact, you have echoed exactly how I feel. I am really feeling so overwhelmed with all this new knowledge, umpteen readings and not having sufficient time to process, reflect and apply all those new ideas and concepts that I am learning. This engulfs me with a feeling of guilt as I feel that maybe, I am being part of that hard-core, inflexible part of the group who are so resistant to change. Having had so many years of teaching experience behind me, it is only sensible to integrate past experiences with new ideas and concepts and trial them out. Surely, we still can blend in and successfully equip our students with the 21st century skills.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deborah Ninness27 May 2017 at 16:48

      Thanks Jalaja, I think time to assimilate is a huge one, we seem to jump on as "Early Adopters" due to the study and recommendations but without regular feedback and a strong face to face support maintenance is difficult.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 5 Applied Context in Practice

Legal and Ethical Considerations  According to the Code of Ethics for Certified Teachers, the professional interactions of teachers are  governed by four fundamental principles: ·          Autonomy  to treat people with rights that are to be honoured and defended ·          Justice  to share power and prevent the abuse of power ·          Responsible care   to do good and minimise harm to others ·          Truth  to be honest with others and self   When I read about the ethical problems considered by teachers today, and then also reflected on the huge paradigm shift we as teachers have been required to undertake as technology has been embraced in many fields in education, the technology field is to me the largest development to manage appropriately, however in whose eyes? Our st...
3 comments
Read more

Changes in My Practice

Activity 8 - Applied Practice in Context - Changes in my Practice Image 1 Well I have  made it! What a journey, so many speed bumps along the way,  when I put my hand up and said how keen I was to do the course I certainly did not fully understand what the course entailed. I was so lucky to be in a school with some inspiring e-learning masters, they tutored, encouraged, supported and challenged. They were so positive and excited for me to embark on the Mind Lab journey. Having 3 colleagues on the journey as well was helpful too, even if we didn't all attend the same face to face venues. there were opportunities to touch base easily when needed. Certainly once we went to distance learning and further school PLD, meetings, report writing et al began to surface they were the people whose incidental conversations kept me going. Thanks team. Moving in to a new school with some fabulous e-learning behind me and feeling competent, the confidence had taken a huge dive wi...
1 comment
Read more

Week 1 Applied Practice in Context.

“ A community of practice is a group of people who share a common concern, a set of problems, or interest in a topic and who come together to fulfill both individual and group goals” (Cambridge, Kaplan, & Suter, 2002, p.1.). What is my Practice? I have been teaching for 20 plus years, in the Primary Sector for most of that time, and mainly in year 5-8 area, however I did spend a few years in the Year 0 - 2 area and then to a Year 7 - 13 High School, where Year 9 and 10 were part of the teaching (and learning ) journey. During this time I have had the benefits of a multitude of different groups of people to learn from, develop with, interact professionally and socially, sometimes deliberately, at other times by attrition, all have a role in contributing to the "meaningful knowing" Wenger (2000) that shapes my practice today. What do I consider my Community of Learning (CoL)? Within my school I work within a MLE and the CoL of everyday practice is the ...
1 comment
Read more