Activity 2 Metacognitive reflection on learning and practice

I first heard about the Mindlab through a workshop I attended as part of our communities’ tech day.  At this workshop were two teachers who were attending already and talked about their learning.  Then I went to the principal’s conference in Wellington and there was the ‘stand’.  Well, I thought, this must be a sign, so I signed up.

On attending the first session I discovered what I had signed up for, and what I thought I was going to learn, were miles apart. The assignment workload floored me.  Despite that I stayed, and found the first 16 weeks enjoyable as I was learning in a collaborative environment.  Then came the second 16 weeks, and my enthusiasm fell after the second week.  I found it hard to keep on top of the workload and I missed the collaboration with 

Which key competencies have I developed the most?

In my responses to the Mindlab survey, I did say I wanted to develop 'managing self'.  I know in terms of this course I did not achieve this.  I found the challenge of studying on top of my school responsibilities and family life overwhelming.

The key competencies that I feel I have developed the most are thinking, relating to others and participating and contributing.

Thinking:

‘Thinking is about using creative, critical, and metacognitive processes to make sense of information, experiences, and ideas’ (Ministry of Education [MoE], 2007).

For the last twenty-four weeks I have done nothing else but think.  I have had my ideas challenge and supported.  I have reflected critically on both what I thought I knew and what I now realise that I didn’t know.  I have asked questions as well as answered the questions of others.

Relating to others/ Participating and contributing:

Relating to others is about interacting effectively with a diverse range of people in a variety of contexts’ (MoE, 2007), ‘participating and contributing is about being actively involved in communities’ (MoE, 2007).  I see that these two key competencies go hand in I have always related to others in a face to face situation, but during my time at the Mindlab I have spread my wings and now make connections with educators out in the wider educational community through on line tools such as Twitter.  On these sites I ask questions, and respond to the posts and tweets of others.

What are two key changes in my practice?

My two key changes would have to do with understanding; using Carol Dweck’s growth mindset and understanding my leadership style.

Growth mindset:

The understanding of what is meant by the term ‘growth mindset’ and how it has a powerful consequences on student motivation and success, as it makes them much more likely to engage with learning tasks and persist despite setbacks (Farrington et al., 2012). One of the most important things we can do for students is to promote growth mindset as it fosters a sense of motivation and determination, and helps to create lifelong learners.

Leadership:

After a lot of reflection during the Mindlab course I have come to realise that my leadership style is fluid, depending on what the situation is.  I have a transactional style which in literature is described as a managerial style.  This style has its place when you have administration tasks to complete and organisational aspects tasks to be completed.  At other times I have a democratic leadership style, where staff are encouraged to contribute to the vision, goals and decisions made, to ensure we are always improving the educational outcomes of our students.

Farrington, C., Roderick, M., Allensworth, E., Nagaoka, J., Keyes, T., Johnson, D., & Beeschum, N. (2012). Teaching adolescents to become learners. The role of noncognitive factors in shaping school performance: A critical literature review. Chicago: University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago Schools Research. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED542543.pdf

Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that gets results. Harvard Business Review, 78(2), 78-90. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.libproxy.unitec.ac.nz/ps/pdfGenerator?actionCmd=DO_DOWNLOAD_DOCUMENT&inPS=true&prodId=AONE&userGroupName=per_unit&tabID=T002&docId=GALE%7CA60471886

Leithwood, K. A., & Riehl, C. (2003).What we know about successful school leadership. Philadelphia, PA: Laboratory for Student Success, Temple University. Retrived from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Pedagogy-and-assessment/Building-effective-learning-environments/What-We-Know-about-Successful-School-Leadership

Ministry of Education, 2007. The New Zealand Curriculum. Learning Media, Wellington.

Sturgess A. & Higson P. (2013) Democratic leadership style. Apex Leadership. Retrieved from http://www.defining-leadership.com/democratic-leadership-style/

The Mindlab. (2015), Key competencies response form. Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UelkVV0rsoE7ZosECrQWVrC3QOs82Y3C-P766bjkTBI/edit#gid=982098410

Images:

© 2016 Awesome FREE to use Clipart and Icons

Activity 1 Introduction

Ko Taranaki te maunga

Ko Waiaua te awa

Ko Kurahaupo te waka

Ko Taranaki, Te Atiawa, Ngati Ruanui, Nagtai Raukawa nga iwi

Ko Kahumate te hāpu

Ko Orimupiko te marae

Ko Vicki ahau

My name is Vicki Wilson and I am currently a fully released Assistant Principal at Paraparaumu Beach School on the Kapiti Coast.  I live with my partner Graham, my daughter Michelle and two cats Roxy and Sparky.
I love swimming and boogie boarding in the summer, paying a gym membership subscription that gets used sometimes and reading.
I have been a primary school teacher for over 25 years.  Apart from teaching on the Kapiti Coast I have also taught in Porirua East.  In my teaching career I have taught mainly in the Year 1 to Year 4 area, including being a Reading Recovery teacher, and am now teaching the Quick 60 programme.

On reflection:

As a leader I am a democratic leader.  I believe that building positive relationships with those in the school community is crucial.  I feel as a leader I show honesty, credibility, competence, and the ability to be forward looking.  These traits are extremely important to have as a leader because if the school community doesn't have faith in you as the messenger, then they definitely won’t believe the message you tell.  In saying this I see credibility as the most important; without this, it would be nearly impossible to motivate or lead your team towards a shared vision.  I’m a firm believer in what Kouzes & Posner, 2007 (as cited in Truesdell 2011) write, “do what you say you will do”.  

As a teacher I believe that learning occurs when students are actively involved in the making of meaning and knowledge, rather than just sitting and passively receiving information. My classrooms were noisy, busy places where students were working together and learning from each other so they could merge new ideas with their knowledge, hopefully seeing things from others' points of view.   I based my teaching pedagogy on the work of Les Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory, so called as in his opinion the learner must be engaged in the learning process, as learning happens with the assistance of other people.  This theory sits perfectly with the concept of ‘ako’, where the teacher is a learner, and the learner is the teacher.

As a lifelong learner I believe it’s neither too late nor too soon to learn something new.  I find I undertake extra study in areas that are meaningful to me; I’m not inclined to involve myself in learning in areas I’m neither interested in nor have any meaning or importance to my personal or teaching life.  I enjoy learning as part of a collaborative team, where new understanding of ideas is done socially; where everyone participates, freely sharing ideas, experiences and opinions so we all gain new knowledge, skills and abilities.

Social Development Theory (nd) http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html

Truesdell, C. (2011). The leadership challenge. [Review of the book The leadership challenge, J. M. Kouzes & B. Z. Posner]. National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs. Retrieved from nclp.umd.edu/resources/bookreviews/BookReview-The%20_Leadership_Challenge-Truesdell-2011.pdf

Images:

http://www.picturequotes.com/teacher-quotes

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-your-leadership-style-joan-lawrence-ross

http://buckslib.org/25-practices-foster-lifelong-learning/