The Interdisciplinary Map....is it really new??

Here is my Interdisciplinary Map.I tried to show that the main “theme” content was in place during the early days  of my teaching career (1980) and that the collaboration that was used drew upon the strengths of the people around you.

What was very very important were the skills each person had, but also the links that each teacher had in a social and professional context:  a friend or colleague, who could be relied upon (sometimes -put upon) to add to the termly “theme”.

This “theme” the overarching TOPIC which was broken down by the 7 curriculum areas that existed in New Zealand then was jointly planned and executed.(As an aside the 7 curriculum areas were individually updated and the unpacking of these was a lot simpler to do as a staff)

The Arts(Music Dance ,Drama) ,Social Sciences,Technology ,Science, English and Maths were then integrated and the learning was teased out through both knowing the needs of the students but also looking to bring on board a wider range of skills -the Teachers as learners as well.

The graphic is my reflection on the shift from the “80’ through to the present day.

The middle section of the Harekeke (flax) shows the New Zealand Curriculum as it was released and the right hand side shows the digital shift.

I did feel watching the American models of this new Interdisciplinary “ approach that there may be some element of “kickback’ from teachers who were and are now very keen to distance themselves from the prescriptive schooling structure in the United States that occurred during the same time scales in my map.No offence intended.

In my teaching context -a hard technology classroom this approach suits design work collaboration and personal interest to create right down to the ground. It is the use of the digital applications and design applications that I am now working towards with my students. Projects are individualised ,though there is scope for collaboration. Historical cultural and geographical links are explored.

I have children keen to explore and make ,there is a design room and a complete workshop,and we create together. These elements are linked to the comments below from the ACRLog blog site.

“Two of these elements can be controlled: (a) favorable attitudes and personality qualities toward interdisciplinary engagement and (b) common goals determined between the involved parties. The third element—(c) workplace conditions—is largely out of the collaborators’ control but still impacts the partnership. When all three facets come together, we believe successful collaboration can occur. In the event that one facet is absent or lacking, we believe that collaboration can still function but may be difficult to sustain.”

ACRLog welcomes a guest post from Laura MacLeod Mulligan, M.L.S., Information Services Librarian, and Dr. Adam J. Kuban, Assistant Professor of Journalism, both at Ball State University.

In looking carefully I wondered if we have just altered our jargon again -could this be “edspeak”- cross pollination, Multi faceted,data mining, systems thinking,interdisciplinary integration,combining domains,.......but I still prefer to use the language I use with my students:

Critical thinking

Creativity

Collaborate

Communicate.

Whats my take on social networks for online teacher professional development

Thanks for stopping by….the hook is below in “bold”.

From the webinar and the readings the following reflections have simmered in note form for some weeks. I was a new member to the Virtual learning Network and needed to sort myself early, making sure I had the “sound and vision” as David Bowie would have put it, under control.

I had set myself a huge time space so no hitches could take place.

I had No preconceived ideas on the flow, structure or the Webinar protocols that I knew others would have in place. I didn’t think it was really a place for me as I am a Hard technology teacher - Yr 7 & 8 students - woodworking, metals, plastics...etc.

Critically discuss the use of social online networks in teaching or professional development.

So with that in mind here is a summation of what I thought and how I now can say - I liked it!I

It worked for me, given that the timing of previous sessions were never going to fit.

Karen Melhuish had said that this is was a “thriving participatory system vs educators to engage in an informal kind of Professional development.. To share

*Immediate concerns

*Contexts in our practice

* Leadership”

So for me - this electronic communication is an alternate road to the ‘in house’ professional development that is in schools here in New Zealand today.

It has been a long time since the advisory and specialist services were catering for teachers and management providing outsourced (out of school) professional development.

Mostly in this day Senior management will be provided with these opportunities.

Or in our cases - MINDLAB has furthered our discourses and learning networks.

We have Communities of Learning that have been implemented, the personel selected and the odd opening day, but they have lumbered into existence, require serious management and only offer a trickle down level of professional development to the classroom level teacher.

Harsh perhaps, but to quote Fullan (2006) “Effective school change and system lift places professional development at the heart”  of the matter here.

Timperly et al, (Best Evidence Synthesis -Teaching) noted that it has to be ONGOING- action Inquiry research…..

• With methodology
• Formal policies and curriculum
• Social organisation
• Current discourse

What the webinar offered was a participatory platform for providing what what was also outlined and wanted from (BES) - diversity in teacher community discussions, and the IMPACTS for diverse learners.

So what was it that puts the likes of me off - bearing in mind that FAMILIARITY in practise with Technology is a cornerstone of the changing digital landscape.

My past attempts had been thwarted by access, the timing to connect with a group was never aligning with my schedule, the required sorting of access through differing platforms or organisation, reluctance generally to use a digital voice out into the unknown, and or to people unknown.

What has happened to my mindset on this now. In reflection…….

1. The sidebar provided the names of the participants - I knew members and could acknowledge their presence during the process
2. Technical advice was forthcoming from a facilitator who popped the links in at a timely juncture
3. Sound and vision set backs and volumes were ironed out with prior early set up
4. I was happy with the ability to control image and voice, just to listen where necessary
5. The pace of delivery could be controlled
6. The information delivered when organised can be tight and target appropriate

Would I join in  again -Yes I am out there now, am looking and listening on two groups.

Participating???

Just past Risk taking..needing more familiarity.

Cultural Sensitivity......

Indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice

The following continues the reflections that are assigned to us and relates to Maori, Pacifica, and refugee nations; the latter whom are non english speaking and who attend our school.

In my context showing “Tuakana teina” is imbedded into our appraisal system - linked by the works of Professor Angus Hikairo Macfarlane.

We are an Intermediate, with  Year 7 and 8 students, which draws on the whanau (family) from differing contributing schools.

My classroom is a Hard materials workshop, where ‘design and make’ are the order of the day.

The classroom is, of course, the daily lived experience of students; thus validation of students’ cultural identities and valuing of the cultural knowledge students bring with them to school have the potential to make a difference (Gutierrez & Rogoff, 2003; Sleeter & Grant, 2009).

Things we know - the effective teaching profile which developed out of Te Kotahitanga and the research work of Bishop and Merryman (2006), shows learning and achievement improves when teachers put aside deficit thinking and focus on building positive relationships and setting high standards.

Recently at a Conference (Nelson 2017) M Berryman who was apart of the above development said ‘Relationships first, culture second and structure third’. She said the students felt the most important thing to them was that the teacher really cared about them.  She was talking about the pedagogy of relationships - interactions emerge from relationships; culture counts (it’s important) and power is shared between self determining individuals with no dominating relationships of interdependence.

Pedagogy = responsive and interactive .

Learners / Teachers are connected through a common purpose/vision and reciprocal responsibility.

In my own practice I am fully aware that my relationship building comes first, mutual respect - being able to laugh at myself (slightly self deprecating without losing face), wait for the response - don’t hurry the “korereo”(conversation/talk), or push questioning, remain calm/open. I have  a design brief to help draw out cultural inferences and influences which often opens the lines of reciprocal acknowledgement.

We also know teaching is determined by the quality of inquiry into the relationship between teacher actions and student learning. Effective teachers inquire (reflect) into what they do (outcomes), along with what happens to students (learning), and then they take actions in what they do to improve the outcomes for students (Aitkin 2007).

Hence our inclusion, pardon the pun, with teacher appraisal linked to Hikairo (Professor Macfarlane).

(Hattie 2009) presented evidence that teachers who are passionate about making a difference are more likely to make that difference. Teachers who are “activators” and provide quality feedback for students are far more effective than when teachers act as “facilitators”.

The four most effective methods from Hatties effect size analysis work that need to be remembered are - feedback, instructional quality, direct instruction and remediation/feedback, presupposes that you already have a cultural responsiveness in place.

Differentiated learning (Bloom 1974) recognises the prior learning we all bring to a task and that all individuals require different levels of challenge, pace, context and content.  The Ministry of Education study on “Student participation and achievement in Science” (which essentially is what my technology classroom is), stated that they are a social justice and equity issue because of the roles science and its applications play in addressing many of the challenges and exploring the opportunities facing society today (Ministry of Education, 2007).

New Zealand primary classes increasingly include students with diverse cultural, linguistic and experiential backgrounds. For some of these children their home and cultural background, ways of interacting, and making sense of the world allow them to fit easily into school science. Others, although their knowledge and experience are just as rich, struggle to find a way to engage and participate in classroom science learning.

We successfully operate a bilingual Maori classroom, we have a schoolwide - all cultures Kapahaka performing group. Pacifica this year formed their group for singing dance and Sasa, and the Refugee nations have begun to develop the school gardens for the growing and sharing of vegetables for all.

Importantly like the other teachers, I still where  indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness consider myself a Learner.

The New World Order needs faith and a lot of trust...stay positive people!!

• What trend captivates your attention? Why?
• What is the relevancy the trend have to your practice?

Having steamed my way through the readings I wandered back to see just what parts of the

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE COUNCIL-GLOBAL TRENDS: PARADOX OF PROGRESS article struck a chord.

Parts of the future paradox are very bleak and I had to remind myself that “positivity” is a useful tool that should be engineered for students.

I think in education there is also a need to develop a moral sense of trust in relationships, the ability to judge correctly for social justice and the ability to accurately discern and look for subtexts in people,organisations and governments.Obviously I have had a utopian pill today!

The following are taken as excepts and I have underlined keywords and added in for some quotes the (bracket) as my reflection on relevancy of practice.

“Thinking creatively about the future is often difficult because of the tendency for the recent past and current events to prejudice assessments.Developing alternative scenarios helps to challenge unstated assumptions about the future, revealing new possibilities and choices that are otherwise difficult to discern.(there’s that discerning again)

“Improving economic growth will continue to depend on new technologies, local innovation and entrepreneurship.”( develop a hands off approach to some sessions and see what the students create,visit and look at the local workplaces for new skillsets to share)

“The slowing of globalization and trade is sparking a new generation of experimentation, innovation, and entrepreneurship at local levels. The increasing costs of food imports as countries have imposed carbon taxes have also spurred local agriculture production.” ( support the growing for Hauora)

“While critical state functions such as foreign policy, military operations, and homeland defense remained the province of national governments, local populations increasingly relied on local authorities, social movements, or religious organizations to provide a growing array of education, financial, commercial, legal, and security services.”( What do my peers support ?? Engage and see)

“People increasingly defined their relationships and identities through evolving and interconnected groups outside of national government channels. Information and communication technologies are now key to defining relationships and identities based on shared ideas, ideologies, employment, and histories, rather than nationality.”

“States, city and civic leaders, and commercial and civil society organizations now routinely participate in regional and interregional processes and issue-based networks to create alternative venues for driving positive change.”

“The creation of media and technology organizations that provide objective reporting and support transparent fact-checking would be a step toward building a foundation for enhanced trust in government and institutions. Coupled with education on critical thinking skills, increased transparent communication could reduce fear and broaden citizens’ understanding of different perspectives.”

National Intelligence Council. (2017). Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved from https://www.dni.gov/files/images/globalTrends/documents/GT-Main-Report.pdf

Hello -week two...love how my heading comes up as the Weekly Wee.....oopsie daisies

Task - Critically analyse issues of socio economic factors, school culture and professional environments in relation to your practice.
So, Clark and Guba’s model of the stages of educational change is:
Research — advance knowledge to serve as a basis for development
Development — invent and build a solution to an operating problem
Diffusion — introduce the innovation to practitioners
Adoption — incorporate the innovation into schools
Based on House (1974) 36

This is as relevant to our whole Intermediate school culture as it is to my desire to reconstruct the teaching of hard materials technology in the Hardtech environment.

Currently the research stage is key. I have aligned my teacher inquiry around the strategic development-trying to invent and to build my solution. TIME and the Utopian element aside, I can see that the shifting forward will be gradual (The Japanese saying “Ipo ipo” is the key - gradual-very- small incremental slight steps upwards and forwards).

Identifying the socio economic status of the community...Some Census Background.(2013)

46,437 people were resident in Nelson (estimated Nelson population in 2017 would be: 66 336*).

More children but fewer teenagers. The number of people aged under 10 years of age rose by 564 to 5,736, an increase of 11 percent since 2006.

The median age increased to 42.5 years.

Most of the population (89.3 percent) identified themselves as being of European ethnicity, higher than the New Zealand average of 74 percent.  

An increasing percentage of people identified themselves as belonging to the Māori ethnic group, 9.4 percent.

The number of people identifying as Asian ethnic groups almost doubled between 2006 and 2013, growing to 1,956 (4.4 percent).

The unemployment rate was 5.9 percent, compared with the unemployment rate for New Zealand of 7.1 percent.  

There was a big increase in employment for people aged 65 years and over, of which half were employed full-time.  

The median household income in Nelson was $54,300 (National median household income of $63,800).

We are a South Island Small Town with a Cathedral.

Our Intermediate School Organisational Culture and Professional Environment.

Six feeder schools contribute their Year 6 students into the Year 7 cohort at the start of each year. ERO - This Intermediate has 421, Year 7 and 8 students. The roll is ethnically diverse and includes 25% whom are Māori; 3% Pacifika students, and students from refugee communities. Learners of the English language are provided with additional support in a dedicated space. Staff involvement in a wide range of in-depth external and internal professional development contributes to effective Teaching and Learning.

Whaia te Aratika - Our Vision

We aim to have tamariki who follow the right pathway in life to become positive, contributing and worthy citizens.  Whanaungatanga Is about interacting with other people on a personal and genuine level.  Authentic relationships respect - differences, cultures, learning and backgrounds.  Rangitiratanga... Leader of Learning-Using knowledge.  Manaakitanga... Celebrating each other with care and respect. Kaitiakitanga... Guardianship of learning and environment.

The professional Environment is: Collegial; Collaborative; Changing; Humorous and Positive - 10 new staff in 2017...due to promotions including a DP to Principal, appointment of new DP, (the usual hatches, matches and dispatches)!

New teachers, to kick off a whole new year. We are part of a COL.

Also included... Mindlab; Gail Loane; PB4l; Rich Arts and Talents programmes all enhance.

Show AwesomeNIS is our focus for all (Currently).

Nelson Intermediate is a Positive Behaviour for Learning School.  We are passionate about ensuring students are successful, respectful, responsible people at NIS, and this means knowing how to behave in ways that set them up for success.  We believe in the power of positive relationships and work hard to create strong links between home and school environments. This allows us to remove barriers to engagement and improve students chances to achieve at school and beyond.

We embed /I embed the Norms of Improving Schools as prescribed below - they are in place and evolving:

• Shared goals
• Responsibility for success
• Collegiality
• Continuous improvement
• Lifelong learning
• Risk taking
• Support
• Mutual respect
• Openness
• Celebration and humour—“we feel good about ourselves”

Stoll and Fink (1996)25

As stated “The norms are interconnected and feed off each other. They do not just

represent a snapshot of an effective school. They focus on fundamental issues of how people relate to and value each other.” Thrupp also argues, that the social mix of the school plays a major role in how it functions, largely because of the cumulative effect of how the pupils relate to each other as a group. Essentially, pupils who attend the school flavour it in a particular way, through their own pupil culture. This takes on added significance when they reach adolescence and their identities and values are shifting. The Intermediate environment is a two stage, two year on transition to College and independent learning.

We are a functioning developing Thang!!

My next step is to action my teacher inquiry... it will be important to follow the thinking of Clark and Guba’s model of the stages of educational change, as well as Dr Murray Gadd (NZ) said ... As in any writing... the heading and the ending should tie in ..... "The eyes should look down to the feet... and the feet look back up".

Kia Ora!

Kia ora tātou - Hello Everyone. 
Tēnā koe - Greetings to you (said to one person-thats if someone visits-lol) 
Tēnā koutou - Greetings to you (said to three or more people thats if a few of you come to join in) 
Nau mai, haere mai - Welcome.

The above was taken by me!! I know..... its a fluke but its of the Atawhai estuary in Little ole Nelson town which is located in the South Island of Aotearoa.(New Zealand)
The Language used above is the First Language of Our Country -Maori.

I work as an Intermediate Technology teacher -hard materials- wood metal leathers plastics... . etc...I am a problem solver for making"stuff"
The above photo occurred on my journey home.
Right place right time right equipment-That old mantra. 
I run a fully equipped workshop inside our school and have a Mahi-design room attached all set up for year 7 and 8 students (12-13 year olds)  
I get results when the right attitude is also present.
Which brings me to my point- I have an assignment to be reflective , as an individual.. (I am the boat)...and a little at sea.
Have it suggested, to use only a short descriptive writing style and then to hone my thinkings on teaching, learning..educational musings 
(thus the angle of the photo is broad and narrowing down to a definite edge)
Looking back and looking forward are key points (see the sea above and below)
I think the poetical can be pushed to the side now.
Put of what this is is an engagement tool -which I invite you to share in.
I have been reading Etienne Wenger- this blog is for reflection but has to be something to inter act about, with open engagement, non judgemental, allowing ways for stories (repertoires!) to translate, so our experiences and competencies interact!
Quite a mindfield......(from an Organization Article Vol vol 7 (2) 225-246 @Sage London.

So theres the idea ..I floated the boat, the suns going down and so should the muse ...cuppa tea first?

Ka Kete . (Goodbye)
just for a bit....K