Category Archives: 1.4 Prof. Commitment

Teamwork makes the dream work

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As part of today’s TDT we were encouraged to engage with peers posts which has prompt me to keep on top of my ePortfolio more.  I do engage frequently with mine however it is more for TDT’s rather than professional thoughts and opinions. By looking at my peers posts it has inspired me to engage with my ePortfolio outwith my TDT’s.

Prior to the Christmas break I was beginning to really getting into the swing of writing posts and commenting on my peers posts. However this began to fall away when assessments and presentations were coming up as all my focus was on them. The lack of engagement from my peers and lecturers on my post also made me lose my confidence. When I am posting a blog it takes me ages to write it up as I am constantly re-reading and re-writing it. The amount of time I together-everyone-achieves-more-teamwork-quotespent on my posts and the lack of feedback I received really made me think, whats the point?

However after today’s lecture with Derek my “what’s the point attitude” slowly began to fade. After engaging with my peers post I was made aware that people did not engage on every single post and they still continued to post outstanding blogs so therefore why shouldn’t I?One blog that particularly stood out for me was – 5,6,7.. Dance. I found this post really interesting as Lauren’s passion and enthusiasm for her love of dance really shone through. I liked how she incorporated pictures from her own dance experience into her blog to make it that bit more personal. Her lesson plan really showed how much experience she has in dance and I am sure her enthusiasm would really motivate the children.

For me to improve my blog personally I feel I need to be more open to share my posts on edushare. I still feel very apprehensive when posting my work on their for everyone to see and for my professional development I feel this is something I must work on. I also feel I need to include more interactive sources such as videos, pictures and my professional reading into my blog to show I am really meeting and understanding the Standards for Registration.

The ePortfolio’s are a great tool to use as it is a space in which your thoughts and feelings are gathered. It allows you to reflect and engage in professional dialogue with peers and university staff providing you with the opportunity to expand your professional knowledge, thoughts and opinions.  After engaging with my peers posts this has really spurred me on to engage with my ePortfolio more and also my peers. By working together as a cohort and really engaging with one another’s ePortfolio’s we can flourish and grow together as professionals and make this a huge learning success.

how secure are you?

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During our psychology lectures one lesson I particularly enjoyed was studying the theory of attachment. I found it interesting that your sense of security and attachment is connected with the development of you as a person. Attachment is a bond in which a person has a special sense of security  and comfort to another person which is usually the Mother. However in the modern day attachment can be formed with many different people such as the child’s father or the child’s grandparents.

I looked further into some studies regarding attachment and one that I thought was interesting was Freud and Dunn (1951) study on war orphans. Freud and Dunn studied six war orphans who’s parents were killed in the concentration camps. The infants were looked after as-well as possible from fellow prisoners however it was difficult to form any sort of attachment as people were never around long enough. The conditions the children lived in were hard and they had limited food and no toys to play with. After the war had ended the children were moved to Bulldogs Bank Reception in the Lake District. The children couldn’t communicate much except a few German swear words. Freud and Dunn found that the children were very hostile to the adults trying to help them and the children would do everything together, if one did not eat nor did the rest. They appeared to have formed attachment to one another. The children progressively developed relationships with adults and slowly recovered from the deprivation they suffered however still remained very much attached to one another. For me I thought this study was a real eye opener as to how key attachment is for development. The infants missed a crucial period for creating attachment therefore their social skills were affected.

An attachment theory I feel can be really beneficial in the classroom is Mary Ainsworth Strange Situation study. Ainsworth studied children’s reaction when a stranger was in a room with and without their mother present.As a result of the experiment she came up with three different attachment types; insecure avoidant, securely attached and insecure resistant. Insecure avoidant  is when the child has little interest in their caregivers and aren’t phased when alone with a stranger, they also aren’t looking for comfort when the caregiver returns. Securely attached is when the child gets upset when their caregiver leaves and seems distressed when alone with the stranger, however is quickly soothed when their mother returns. Insecure attachment is when the child doesn’t want to explore the room and they cry when their caregiver leaves and when left alone with stranger. There is however mixed responses when their mother returns they want to be soothed but they can also reject their mothers comfort and be angry. Children with a secure attachment don’t need all the teachers attention on them and are happy for other children to receive some of that attention. These children are able to wait their turn, with belief that their teacher will be able to meet their needs.  This allows the child to take risks and tolerate frustrations in the learning process. However, children with attachment difficulties will typically show distrust within in their teacher and classmates, and many put this down to  lack of concentration rather than attachment difficulties. A child who constantly talks can be using this a strategy to keep bad thoughts away. These children may also have difficulty dealing with unstructured situations such as playtimes . If they make mistakes, these children may have explosive reactions.

Overall for me I feel that having the knowledge of the attachment theory is crucial for teachers. Having the ability to spot that a child is acting up as they have trust issues because due to not having that attachment figure in their life, and not because they are trying to show off or be the “class clown”. As teachers having the knowledge and tools to deal with this situation can only insure a better learning experience and future for your pupils.

What is an Enquiring Practitioner ?

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An enquiring practitioner is some who grows as professional “by challenging or ‘disrupting thinking’ and ‘ingrained habits of mind.” For me this means someone who is open to change, someone who seeks to gain more knowledge and someone who reflects on their teaching styles and aims to better these in order to  provide their pupils with the best learning experience.The best way to better yourself as person is to reflect and learn from particular situations.

Some benefits of being an enquiring practitioner which is stated on the GTCS is that it “enables teachers to bring about fundamental changes in pedagogy and curriculum and thereby significantly improves the quality of students’ learning experiences in educational institutions.” Seeking further knowledge regarding the curriculum and incorporating different teaching styles allows teachers to grow as professionals but also improves the learning environment for children.  Another benefit I thought was of importance was that it “enable teachers to collaboratively develop the curriculum.”  The saying “two heads are better than one” comes to mind for this, working with someone allows you to see a situation from a whole different perspective. By reflecting together it allows people to share different experiences and ideas which can develop whole new opportunities for learning. Also to be a enquiring practitioner you have to ask why and having the ability to challenge certain ways of thinking. There are however some challenges which may be faced when being an enquiring practitioner such as some people may feel uncomfortable. As an enquiring practitioner the aim is to continue to better yourself as a professional through research and reflecting; this means there may be new skills and challenges being faced which can be daunting especially if you have been in the practice for a long-time. Another would be that It can be difficult to question your own assumptions  therefore many can start looking for problems in products, strategies and pupils. To be an enquiring practitioner you have to be critical of yourself to learn how to adapt to different ways of teaching.

I feel that learning now, how to be an affective enquiring practitioner will really benefit me as a student teacher . Within the University set up for example, in lectures not just believing everything you are told. Having the ability to go away and research theories and challenge them will allow me to grow as professional.  Another example would be whilst observing your classroom teacher on placement having the confidence to ask why they done that particular lesson plan or why they dealt with that behaviour in that way. Not just accepting that, that’s the way it is done. Then having the ability to reflect on this and either use it in your own lessons or deciding you may do something differently. I feel this will all set me in good stead for becoming an enquiring practitioner.

Teachers on professionalism

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What makes a teacher who makes a difference?

In video 1 “Being a Professional Teacher” it highlights certain similarities between teachers and doctors. Some of the similarities were that both teachers and doctors see their profession as a calling. They have to be caring, passionate and also up to date on their profession e.g new laws and regulations. However I have to disagree with the severeness of when life and death is stated. I would not say that having an unprofessional teacher is a matter of life and death. There have been many people who have had an unprofessional teacher or bad schooling experience but still succeed in their lives. However to be at the hands of an unprofessional doctor can result in death.  The first teacher in the video shows how enthusiastic and committed she is to her pupils.  Not only does the teacher have the backing of her pupils but also their families and community. The teacher has to adapt to her surroundings and little resources available and fulfill the needs of the pupils; by doing this provides her pupils with the best learning opportunities. The teacher in the video goes above and beyond the expected by taken on lots of extra activities such as abuse awareness and literacy classes in order to make the lives of the people around her better. I feel that what makes a teacher makes a difference is them making the first move to make a change.

What teachers call professionalism

In video 2 Miss Long highlights how teachers are becoming more noticed in society and there is a higher knowledge of professionalism of teachers. Many could see this as a disadvantage as it can add excess stress. However the higher standard set  makes sure that teachers are providing an education to the greatest of their ability allowing the children to seize the most out of their education. Mrs Nursen states that professionalism of a teacher can affect the children when the they grow into adults. Your pupils spend a lot of time around you and therefore will pick up on your traits. Therefore if you behave in an unprofessional manner such as the language you use in your class or the values you portray the children will think that behavior is the norm. Mrs Walsh had a similar idea of Mrs Nursen that we have to professional as teachers have to be good role models to the children. She also highlights a very important point that as professionals you should not judge the pupils on their home life or appearance. Every child deserve fair and equal opportunities. Mrs Smith believes that professionalism allows you to be an effective communicator. You are able to communicate with children, family and teachers. Professionalism is about teachings being aware of the influence they have on children, they way you act in the classroom they take that outwith the school walls.

 

Personal vs Private

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The GTCS states that teachers have to use social media wisely and in a correct manner. Even though they are entitled to a private life; what they say on social media or how they use social media can be classed as unprofessional and seen as going against the GTC code. Teachers have to maintain the trust of both pupils and parents. This trust is maintained through behaving in an appropriate way both in there personal and professional life.

For me personally I feel it would be difficult to marry up both your personal life and private life on social media and I prefer to keep both mine separate. All my personal social media accounts such as; Twitter, Facebook and Instagram are private. In your private life you could say something on social media which you see as harmless however others may think you are being inappropriate or unprofessional. I also feel it would be difficult to maintain a professional boundary if you tried to marry it up with you personal life as people can see you in a different light. My personal view is that people have very high standards regarding the way teachers behave and are quick to pick up on any negative behavior and come down hard on this.  I feel marrying the private and personal life can make a teacher vulnerable to scrutiny.

The use of social media professionally however I feel has great aspects. Social media is the forefront of everything these days and children are heavily involved within social media. I feel introducing social media sites into the classroom such as Glow makes learning more modern and relevant to the children. However I feel its so important to stress to children the dangers of using social media and that they should be taught how to use social media safely and appropriately. I looked into some statistics regarding social media and young children and one that really sprung out at me. On Guardchild (http://www.guardchild.com/social-media-statistics-2/) it stated that “Only 10% of parents of children aged 10 and under had frank talks about appropriate online behavior and threats” Children are using technology and social media from such a young age that this should be drilled into them especially when they do not get told in depth at home about appropriate use of social media.

There are many challenges to social media and I feel that social media is portrayed in a negative way. This could be due to all the horror stories you hear regarding it or that because its relatively new that some people of older generations see it a bit alien like. However I feel it is a very positive aspect of learning. Websites such as Glow allow you to communicate safely and appropriately with pupils. It expands pupils literacy skills e.g by using blogs. I feel there is always going to positives and negatives of using social media however it is the future and I believe we have no choice but to embrace it.