Tag Archives: professional development

End of Module Reflection

Throughout this 1st semester, I have enjoyed the HWB module. It has been good to develop my knowledge & understanding in each of the different areas within HWB and also with some aspects relating to my ongoing thesis, it has enabled me to make connections and hopefully deepen my discussions later.

The module as a whole has enabled me to look further into specific areas which are of interest to me & those I did not have high confidence in delivering within the classroom. Working with others during the inputs has enabled me to further develop my communication skills as well as skills such as listening and empathy. Furthermore, working with others on some of the tasks has made the experience more enjoyable. The motivation & encouragement we provided to each other was invaluable. I feel I have learnt a lot from them as professionals, sharing ideas and thoughts about many different issues – seeing different perspectives and encouraging me to develop my own thinking.

I decided to do the tasks within this blog/portfolio for a variety of reasons. Firstly, we had 3 compulsory ones which had to be completed and thereafter the rest were up to us to make our own choices about which ones we were going to complete. I chose to do the vast majority of the tasks based on what I felt I had an interest in but also, I chose some which I thought would challenge me. For example, the tasks within the areas of Relationships, Sexual Health & Parenthood and Mental Health & Wellbeing. I believe I felt these would challenge me due to not having much experience in the areas, therefore aiding my professional development.

For the most part, these tasks have been enjoyable to complete. It was a continuous process throughout the module with the majority of tasks being completed before the end of October. I feel that by doing them throughout the module it has taken some stress away from the completion of the assignment as a whole. I chose to do this portfolio as a blog on Glow due to feeling like I wanted to make it a bit more interactive rather than just word documents on a USB. In addition, I wanted to again challenge myself but also make a start on building a resource bank/reflection for my future career & professional development. Having this online and on Glow means I will always have access to the information as this is a system teachers continue to utilise in practice. Furthermore, Thorburn (2014:207) also states, that

“teachers are urged to share examples of their practice across the Glow intranet network; an online resource platform designed to help create communities of practice and to offer practitioners new opportunities to share and collaborate”.

Having the opportunity to experience the Glow system before going out into practice, I feel more confident in using it and recognise the advantages of such a tool.

Although it has been good to experience this tool, it has been very time consuming & at times stressful. After completing each individual task and then having to place it on here & edit it to make the blog posts more engaging took a lot longer than I had first anticipated. I hope that the time & effort can be seen throughout.

I remember getting asked whether doing this module has influenced my own health & wellbeing. On reflection of the module, I would say it has – some positive, some negative. The vast amount of information, knowledge and resources which I have gathered has been great in giving me the confidence to go out and teach all aspects of HWB. It has also encouraged me to think about areas, issues & topics I have never really considered due to a lack of opportunities to experience them in university and whilst out on practice. In addition, I feel that it has made me want to continue making positive changes (ie. exercise more, eat better etc.) in my own life. However, uni life does make this slightly difficult at times!!

Unfortunately, it has been a very demanding module at a time when thesis is also very demanding which has been slightly difficult to balance. HWB is such a huge curricular area and there is SO much to learn and take in that it is impossible to know everything. But like any module/assignment, it has been a stressful process to ensure quality & quantity.

I have to admit that completing this portfolio has been quite a challenge and I have taken a lot of time & effort to (hopefully) make it the best it could be! I do feel a sense of pride & achievement after completing this module & portfolio as I believe I have taken myself out of my comfort zone many a times to complete tasks in lectures and also in this portfolio, for example making videos. This is something I still don’t feel completely comfortable with but you’ve got to give something a go at least once! The digital skills that have been developed, from creating the blog to editing videos & uploading files are also going to assist me in my future career & professional development.

The TDT Task Sheet & Assessment Criteria states that a minimum of 30hrs is to be completed out with class. I feel I have far exceeded the 30hrs due to:

completion of set tasks (compulsory/non-compulsory)
extra activities which I believe have been of benefit to me professionally
time taken to create and utilise the blog to make it more engaging to include short reflections, pictures, videos, websites & documents.

Overall, I have enjoyed the module. I just wish there had been more opportunities throughout university to build such a bank of resources as we have only covered small amounts. With HWB
being a responsibility of all, alongside Literacy & Numeracy, I don’t feel that there is such an emphasis on it in university. This is something which I feel should be incorporated more due to many practitioners leaving with very little knowledge/awareness as they may have not chosen it for either their 3rd/4th year elective. I am glad that I made this decision as I now feel more confident in delivering lessons in specific areas which I previously was slightly daunted by.

I hope that you enjoy reading the posts and that my commitment, time and efforts have been portrayed!

🙂

PS. if the videos don’t play first time, refreshing the page should make them work!

Reference:

Thorburn, M. (2014) ‘Educating for Well-being in Scotland: Policy and Philosophy, Pitfalls and Possibilities’, Oxford Review of Education, 40(2), pp. 206-222.

Mindfulness

Leave a reply

Within the TDT Task booklet there was an activity on Mindfulness. I decided not to complete this task as others were of more interest and I had already completed a number of tasks to make headsp up the 30hrs. However, throughout the module I have been interested in what mindfulness is and thought I would give it a go. I had already downloaded an app ‘Headspace’ ages ago but never actually used so this is the app I decided to try out.

After signing up and creating an account, I began the free trial activities available. It is a set of 10 which you’re encouraged to do on a daily basis. This however proved to be quite challenging to actually do. I felt that when I did it in the morning, it made me more tired and wanting to have a nap so I decided to use it at night, as a wind down from the day. I found this actually helped me drop off to sleep a bit easier, especially as some days were quite busy and stressful & it can take a wee while to switch off! MBSR

This is however something I would like to give another go and try to do it everyday as sometimes I would forget. I would also like to read up about it and if possible see/implement it in practice as I have heard a lot of positive things about doing Mindfulness within the classroom and the benefits it has on children and young people.

🙂

‘Snapshot’ Assignment Feedback

Leave a reply

Write a 250 word assignment (2 hrs)

Using the assignment criteria, write 250 words of your assignment, complete with references and bibliography. You will then write a self-assessment of your short piece of work and include this with your mini snapshot essay. You will then share this with your critical peer and give written feedback to each other on your work.

Evidence: Your written 250 word assessment. In addition you should add in your self-assessment feedback and your peer assessment feedback.

Personal Thoughts:

This was a difficult task to complete. I don’t often share any assignment work I have produced due to my lack of confidence and not wanting to pass on incorrect info or scare someone if they haven’t written about something I have or vice versa. Also, this task was a challenge to try and fit in. When it comes to writing an assignment, I like to lock myself away in my room and just get on with it!

In addition, sharing a piece of approx 250 words, that I felt happy with or that will even be used within the final assignment was a slight challenge. I was fully prepared for this and welcomed some feedback, positive/negative. I gave my justification for choosing this particular section and also what else I was hoping to discuss within the assignment.

I personally found this task very difficult to do – giving someone feedback on their academic work when I don’t feel like I am in a position to do so. For example, I don’t feel qualified enough to do this. I also believe everyone has different ways of writing an assignment, taking a different spin every time which also makes it a challenge to give some constructive criticism/feedback further than “looks good, keep going”. I feel we did manage to give each other something that we may want to look at and work on however this was quite an uncomfortable task to do.

My word count is slightly over due to in text references and not wanting to stop half way through a sentence.

A copy of the 250 words & self/peer feedback can be viewed as a word document –

Assignment Snapshot Task

HWB Presentation

Leave a reply

Develop a Presentation about HWB research; carry out a self-assessment of your work (3 hrs).

Working with a critical friend (peer), each person present five slides (must be pictures) that can be used to summarise a piece of research or a policy focus in the wider area of HWB. The pair should decide and identify the assessment criteria that have to be used. This should be displayed in your e-portfolio. Write up a self-assessment of your presentation before you present it to your critical friend. Present your presentation to your critical friend and collect detailed feedback from your peer.

Think about – are you meeting the agreed assessment criteria, have you practised your presentation, does it have impact, are you getting across the key points.

Evidence: A copy of your PowerPoint presentation. In addition, you should add your self-assessment feedback based on the assessment criteria. A copy of assessment criteria should be added.

Personal Thoughts:

This activity was quite time consuming to do. Thinking of the wider aspect of HWB, I wanted to focus on a policy/research document which hadn’t been considered in class. This led to the presentation focusing on the policy document ‘Achieving Our Potential’ which aims to tackle poverty and income inequality. The issue of poverty is something which we did look at in class however this was more based around the context of the attainment gap. Throughout the presentation, my aim was to:

discuss what poverty is, the causes, how it’s measured whilst giving statistics in relation to Scotland and also consider child poverty
discuss income inequality and its effects, also the notion of ‘working poverty’
discuss the government policy and it’s aims
consider the policy in relation to others, eg. Early Years Framework; early intervention etc.
emphasise there are many strategies/initiatives being implemented to tackle these issues in order for Scotland to become a fairer, healthier, more prosperous place to live – increasing the overall wellbeing of all those living in the nation; one alone will not achieve anything

Before carrying out the presentation, we decided on a criteria which we would self/peer assess against. Looking back, I believe we could have made this more specific however at the time of creating it we were unsure of what we should have. This may have helped develop the presentation further. In terms of practising the presentation, I feel this was something we lacked. Although we felt we knew our topics quite well and given the environment which it was presented (library) in, less reliance on notes may have improved the overall quality. I feel the chosen images, on each slide, were relevant to the current area being discussed – the audience recognised how they related to the topic.

By the end of the presentation, it was made clear that I had given clear and relevant information – focusing on key points – which is what I hoped I would do, enabling the audience to (potentially) learn something new, as I did with theirs. I found it challenging to be critical in my feedback however do feel I gave some constructive criticism to my peer.

The presentation can be viewed as a PowerPoint document –

HWB presentation

A copy of the self/peer assessment feedback sheet has been included –

Food & Health Resources

Leave a reply

Spend some time looking at the vast resources around the area of food and health provided by Education Scotland. Choose two areas and resources that you could use in the classroom.

Evidence: Identify two resources that you could use in future practice and reflect on how they could help to identify skills development for the learner.

Personal Thoughts:

Maureen’s input about food & health was of great interest. I personally learnt a lot of new information regarding balanced diets & healthy eating, reasons for food choices and also resources available to practitioners and schools. Following her input I looked further into the resources & support material available on Education Scotland for practitioners hoping to cover this HWB area in a classroom context.

The task can be viewed as a word document:

Food Resources Task

Interview Opportunity!

Leave a reply

So last night, I was being a very good friend and helping out some fellow teachers do one of their Science Elective module tasks. This involved a group of us debating the issue of: Animal testing for medical purposes. The group was composed of Teaching students, Law students, a Maths student & a Mental Health Nursing student.

Before the debate, myself and few others on the science elective were heading along to the CafeScience event on Space at Avery & Co. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to enter the event as the venue had reached capacity. This was quite annoying as it was pouring with rain, cold and we had an hour and a half to spare before we said we’d meet for the debate…

Not to worry DUSA to the rescue!!

We headed along to Liar and got dry. Whilst waiting for the others to arrive, I thought this would be a great opportunity to ask my fellow teachers how confident they feel about going out into their probation year and future teaching career in delivering lessons on all areas of HWB. This was very spur of the moment so nobody was prepared, including myself, but it was interesting to get their perspective – especially because they have not undertaken the HWB elective in uni.

Although this was not a task set for the portfolio, I thought it would be interesting to do. Also due to my kindness of taking time out of writing my assignment to help them out, Niall & Laura were up for returning the favour in some way.

The interview can be viewed here and don’t worry, Laura doesn’t always have evil eyes!

Thanks to Laura Glass & Niall Ridgway (budding future scientists & primary teachers) 😀

Some pictures from throughout the debate –

Learning Goals

Leave a reply

Identify 3 learning goals at the start of the module and write reflections at three identified points during the module to indicate your progress in learning related to your stated goals.

Evidence: Learning goals identified and three short reflections will be written about your chosen learning goals and reflect about your progress in development of your ideas, knowledge and critical thinking during week 1, 6 and 10.

Personal Thoughts:

These goals were set after the first input of the module. I cannot be sure that the reflections were done on the weeks stated, more so following any input I felt related to a goal. This task was stated to only take an hour however I feel that due to the length of the reflections, this took me longer.

The task can be viewed as a word document –

Learning Goals

The Corner Dundee

Leave a reply

Organise a visit to The Corner in Dundee and find out about the work of the organisation, resources and how they link with schools.

Evidence: Write a reflective piece about the effectiveness of such an organisation for resources and teachers and find out how effective it is in meeting the needs of young people.

Unfortunately due to lack of time & staff, The Corner were unable to provide us with information about their service. After making initial contact through email to arrange a suitable time to go and visit we received a reply stating why this was not possible. This was understandable due to us recognising the pressures on such services during the current economic climate. We were informed that taking a look at their website should give us some quality information which we would likely get if popping down.

Link to website –

http://www.thecorner.co.uk/

The Corner Dundee

The Corner provides a variety of different health services, information & support for young people between the ages of 11 and 19 in the Dundee area. They offer a phone service (01382 206060) to a worker for those 20-25 years who can discuss the individuals needs and offer guidance to the most appropriate service. They provide a drop-in session to enable anyone with an issue they wish to discuss, to pop in at a time best suited for them. The opening times are:

Monday – Friday: 2pm – 6pm
Saturday: 1pm – 4pm

The workers recognise that every young person is different in how comfortable they are when they come through the doors, so it is really important that individuals understand the different services that are available and what happens when they go in. First, once you have “plucked up the courage to come through the doors, you’re welcomed by staff who will ask you to tick which service(s) you are in for. This is to protect the individual and keep their information confidential.”

The Drop-In Services provides support for issues such as –

Sexual Health
Mental Health
Support U/Individual Support
Drugs
Smoking
Alcohol
Housing
Youth Information
Exam Stress
Health Promotion
Sexting

Other services they provide:

Peer-led Services: principle that young people learn from and are influenced by their peers, both positively & negatively. Peer influence can have a huge effect on the lives of young people; how they act, how they feel about themselves and decisions they may make. The Healthy Transitions programme is delivered city-wide across Dundee and its contents is strongly influenced by young people. Healthy Transitions links with schools and also impacts on the wider community, with young people involved in passing on information and skills to fellow peers, family, friends & their communities. The programme also carries out peer-led interventions within the associated school cluster communities on a needs-led basis and this in turn has an impact on the community as a whole. Within this section, there are 3 aspects; Process, Accreditation and Peer-led Resources. More information about these can be found here.

Finally, The Corner offer an Outreach Service which enables practitioners working with young people to contact them to discuss the delivery of sessions on topics including sexual & mental health, drugs, alcohol, self esteem & body image. A request form can be completed and sent which enables a staff member to be allocated to give more information.

Recently, The Corner, which has about 150 new young people visiting every month, had an exciting Royal Visit whilst they were in Dundee promoting mental health.

The Website provides information for professionals and parents as well as young people and can be a valuable resource for those who feel that they want to seek some help or advice. Displaying their confidentiality policy enables the young people to feel they are in a safe environment in which they can share personal information.

As a professional, I feel encouraged that such a service is available for professionals to also seek advice on difficult issues which are important for young people. Having an awareness of this service enables me to feel confident in offering some guidance/support to any young person who I feel may find it beneficial. Furthermore, the work they do with other agencies and through their Outreach programme, is important in ensuring children and young people are provided with support for a wide range of needs.

I believe that having the opportunity to visit the Corner may have been more beneficial to my professional development, however it is just unfortunate that this was not available at this point in time. A possible visit in the future will be something I hope to do. This will enable me to have a discussion about all their services and what they can provide whilst asking questions to gain a better insight into The Corner’s Service.

Academic Reading

Leave a reply

Read and Share an academic paper around the area of child development with a peer

Evidence: Add a reference for the academic paper and write a reflection of the key findings (2 hours)

Personal Thoughts:

Due to time constraints it became apparent that this was an activity which I may be better off doing independently. I however chose not to look at child development as I wanted to focus on an area of more interest and which I felt would be more beneficial to me personally. The paper I therefore decided to read was:

McKinney, S., Hall, S., Lowden, K., McClung, M., Cameron, L. (2012) ‘The relationship between poverty and deprivation, educational attainment and positive school leaver destinations in Glasgow secondary schools’, Scottish Educational Review, 44 (1), pp.33-45

I found this paper of great interest as it reports on a Research Project of Quantitative Research and establishes the association between poverty & deprivation and attainment in school examination; the relationship between poverty and deprivation and initial school leaver destinations in Scotland. The study measured poverty through FME, SIMD and Staged Intervention; reliable indicators of poverty and deprivation, then compared with attainment figures and initial leaver destinations.

Through their findings, the research suggests a major association between poverty & deprivation and attainment. However, the research also demonstrates that there is no major association between poverty and deprivation and initial leaver destinations; some schools serving poorer areas are particularly successful (high proportion of initial leaver destinations). Furthermore, despite successful initiatives being implemented Glasgow is still below averages for attainment. The study also found that schools with lower levels of poverty & deprivation tend to have a higher no. of pupils moving onto Higher Education (HE), appearing successful; however the data suggests that these schools may actually be less successful in assisting the majority of its pupils to secure positive destinations outwith HE. This therefore raises the question of whether schools are really providing the support required for all young people on their pathway into adulthood.

The article does however have implications. Firstly, the data provides information on the initial positive school leaver destination, but no indication of the type of employment or training (full time/part time). HE was also taken out of the equation due to it being very highly associated with attainment – positive leaver destinations and finally, each of the three indicators have limitations.

To continue to monitor and demonstrate the effects of poverty & deprivation on attainment in exams in Glasgow requires further quantitative research and a longitudinal study would enable more data to be gathered beyond 2009.

Link to paper –

http://www.scotedreview.org.uk/media/scottish-educational-review/articles/338.pdf

The Rise of Foodbanks

Leave a reply

Recently BBC1 produced a documentary about the growing need and work of the Foodbank in Dundee. Living and working in Dundee as a student for the past 4 years as well as having placement experiences in schools in different areas, I found this quite a shocking but interesting watch. It was good to see how the service is run and who they are helping however it was difficult to comprehend that in such a wealthy nation, individuals are experiencing such horrible times.

I have attached a document which explains the Foodbank and some interesting points which were made throughout the programme –

Dundee Foodbanks

The programme can be watched on BBC iPlayer however the links says it is only available until Saturday 7th November 2015 (30 days after being aired) and can be accessed at –

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06dsdqk/the-food-bank-scotlands-hidden-hunger

Link to The Trussell Trust Charity –

http://www.trusselltrust.org/foodbank-projects