Activity two: Current Issues in my professional Context

Current Issues in my professional Context

 Identify the socioeconomic status of the community, organisational culture and professional environments. 

Statistical data indicates we are a Decile 6N school for socioeconomic status (MOE data).  This has improved by one since the last change.  MOE uses census to calculate this and takes in households below 20% national income, work at lower skill levels, sizes of households, no educational qualifications and income support households.  MMC is average across the country.  This tells us we have students from a very wide mix of backgrounds including all the above information.

As a school the culture is being driven by the top down, looking at results, academic success.  Sporting, drama, culture, and being the best you can be.  Building relationships and collaboration have been major pushes.   We have topped the results in the BOP in our decile group and coed.  Huge successes in drama, dance.  Rebuilding our kapa haka.  Many sporting achievements across a real diverse range.  All sports welcomed, supported and accommodated.  The physical side of the school is also being address.  Huge effort is being put into making the place welcoming, environmentally friendly and a place to have pride in.

The professional environment of the school - this has improved:  

15 years ago we were loosing 15+ teachers up to one year we had over 20 leave  As the culture has changed, staff valued this has changed.  

Breakdown 2016:

4 retired, 1 promotion, 1 a little disenchanted and shorter travel

We are encouraged to grow academically and professionally

Analyse the issues around the socioeconomic status of the community, the school culture and professional environments. 

• As with many schools in this decile rating, the span of abilities, engagement is quite huge.  As a school we have addressed many of the socio-economic issues set out in Stoll's (1998) article - 10 influencing cultural norms of school improvement, the school has definitely come some way to embed these in our environment.  
• The goals are shared and referred to regularly.  
• Success is on our wall.  
• Collegiality often meeting in groups.  
• Life long learners has become a catch phrase.  
• Risk taking, all ideas are welcomed and you are given the support to implement and respect for this.  
• Discussions (in smaller groupings) are often open and the reflection fulfilling.  People will share the good and bad.
• Result the professional environment in becoming more harmonious, discussions in staffroom more open and directive, sharing of ideas.  New initiatives are being actioned. 
• The culture within the school has really improved with the direction from above, we all know what is expected, academically, in making relationships, valuing our students, giving everyone a chance.  

Looking at Principal's sabbatical report by Gargiulo (2014) - 
We have a 'Kai Ora' programme for all (food)
PB4L - has continued to grow
Trades Academy in the last three years
Student Achievement conferences - (getting there) - still developing - sooner rather than bottom of the hill stuff
Literacy Programmes - Principal working hard to embed and improve the cohort intake results - moving students up to the required level for NCEA within the first year of college.
Overall culture has improved and testament to this is the numbers of students punching above MOE expected, at over 1500 this year.

Activity One: My Community of Practice

Critically defining my community of practice


My Community of Practice

I belong to many Communities of Practice.  One is this course of study which has encouraged much critical reflection since we started. The second one that overlaps is within my Commerce Department, year 10 commerce course.  Many discussions, ideas have been bounced around in both groups but I am going to work with the Year 10 Commerce Teacher group for this exercise.

Three elements of my community of practice

The shared domain within this community of practice, instigated by me is to make the course more collaborative and more digital and engaging.  It is a shared domain for the three of us within the school teaching this subject.  As it is at junior level we have more scope, no NCEA requirements.

Last year we introduced a few new units to the course.  When looking at it from 'Gibbs model for reflection' (Finlay page 8), I came up with an Action Plan, I wrote a small knew unit introducing some collaborative skills and letting the students design with technology.   Description we gave the students the unit, stepped back, became facilitators (in an advisory role), at the end of each lesson we discussed our Feelings  on how the lesson had gone, the difficulties we were facing in this type of classroom lesson. Frustrations when resources don't fit the purpose. Suggestions on changes to unit were made and followed. 'Time wasting' to us but huge learning for the students Evaluation for us, it was the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Not having total control all the time, the letting go was difficult.  However the outcomes were pleasing and the student learning - in some cases for real world activities was great.  Analysis As a unit for 2017, it was a go, we hope to introduce this sort of work earlier, the students as mentors themselves, once one group learned an applications, they shared and the cross group interactions were fantastic.  As a 21st century learning tool, this unit was a good introduction Conclusion we are going to continue with including this type of unit.  Using students involvement on setting the tasks.  Increase the level of digital use.  Using us as facilitators and letting the students explore.

We have shared units, the writing, reviewing, ideas, the good, the bad and the ugly.  By doing this we are opening our lessons to being more interesting.  Inter subject related and focusing on real life skills and trying to include a higher interest factor for the students.  During this we have also shared the technology, trying new approaches, shared the classes, moved the goal posts to give the students a voice, joint teaching and facilitating.  Department 'buy-in'

My practice within the community of practice

A real sense of connectedness applies - why? Open discussion, even playing field for all
The make up of the group, a first year teacher, a HOD (and now) an experienced teacher. 
All ideas discussed,  positive feelings shared.

My role in the community of practice? I started it, but happy to let all have input.  Like the results and interaction from my colleagues.  

I still have a lead at this stage - coming up with new ideas or asking for suggestions on how we can change the teaching of a skill or topic.  I see myself as the instigator and then standing back and seeing where it goes.