Final thoughts module 1

Task 3D: Final Thoughts

• I have found that my attitude to networking is somewhat blurred. Where I can see benefits that wider social networking can bring to the collective table I am still more confident in using my own ‘Community of Practice’ ie colleagues and people that I work with on a day to day basis. It could be argued that my online networks are somewhat limited as I use what are mainly conventional teaching networks (TES, LGFL) this has been echoed through reading the blogs of others who work in education on the BAPP course, TES in particular being a common feature. I do feel that my networks such as colleagues/students are of the most use to me overall as I feel that being able to ‘Reflect-in Action’ especially where students are concerned, allow me to make more informed decisions on what methods of my practice are effective or non effective, particularly as it is more personal.

• I find that a lot of my working concerns are shared by those within my area of work. I feel that I have not perhaps capitalised on being able to reach out far enough beyond my professional area as it is often difficult to speak in a more than hypothetical way about other scenarios as you do not have a direct knowledge of other people’s students/colleagues.

• Sharing ideas with colleagues and communicating with students is a regular feature of my planning and often shapes my approach to each group I teach. This form of critical reflection enables me to plan more diversely for future sessions.

3C

Task 3C: Sources Of Information

My main sources of information in my practice:

1)      Staff training- There is weekly training within my school that is open to all interested parties on a weekly basis. This covers a wide array of areas as the training is either delivered by colleagues or outside agencies. Training that has been most beneficial to me has been training in regards to special needs students with the training focusing at how to deal with different special needs in a classroom environment. The most recent being training on autism.

2)      Staff Bulletin- This is weekly bulletin that compiles information that staff need to be aware of for the coming week. This may be so that we are aware of events taking place in the school or of students who are undergoing particular issues either socially or within their health so that we are aware of how to handle any potential situations

3)      TES/LGFL- These websites offer a great deal in terms of existing resources or ideas for activities. They are both an essential source for information in regards to planning activities.

4)      Colleagues- Those who I work with are often a great source of information as they are able to help me reflect upon my own work and how it can be improved. As well as helping me improve work they are able to give me confidence on aspects of my role that I am doing well which is of great help when you are feeling low or uninspired.

5)      Students- Last but certainly not least would be my students. Feedback is almost generated on the spot through emotions shown by students whether they be positive or negative. This can often be the most helpful to me when planning.  

3A

TASK 3A: Current Networks:

When looking inwards at my own networks that I use within my practice I need to split them into two separate categories depending on which aspect of my job I am approaching from. These two roles are:

• The ‘technician’; in this role I am not looking at classroom knowledge. Instead I am acting as a supporting role to five curriculum areas therefore my primary concerns are maintenance and resourcing within these departments.
• The ‘primary school drama club facilitator’; this role differs as it involves me working directly with students where I am responsible for the co-ordination of extra curricular activities in order to enhance their learning experience

Therefore I shall list my current networks beneath these two headings in order to offer more clarity in why I use these networks:

The Technician:

·        RW HART: This is a local supplier who is used regularly across the school. This service proves very beneficial as the company are willing to do price comparisons with other companies to offer competitive prices for resources ranging from classroom essentials (exercise books & stationary) to more complex machinery and equipment (sound systems). I often contact the owner of the business when looking for deals within a specific price range. Finances have shrunk on a yearly basis so within creative subjects where resources are drained regularly in large quantities it is important to know a reliable cost effective solution.

http://www.rwhart.co.uk/

·        http://www.uk.freecycle.org/

This is a network I have only begun using very recently but again with funding limited this is a superb tool to have in terms of resourcing. Users are able to ‘offer’ items they are willing to get rid of free and allow other users to collect them when a time can be agreed. This has been of benefit to a couple of my departments as I have collected audio cables and music leads as well as canvas for our Art department. All I have to do is make time to pick such items up and we receive them for no cost. It may only produce something of interest occasionally but thus far as proved to be a useful resourcing network.

Primary Teaching:

·        TES: This is an online community for teachers all over the world providing news, information on job vacancies as well as lesson plans and learning resources. The latter being the most useful element for me as I can try to freshen up my teaching using other ideas as starting point.

http://www.tes.co.uk/teaching-resources/

·        Internal Communication (LGFL): The London Grid for Learning offers similar services to TES in terms of providing some generic interactive resources. However my school use the staff e-mail service which it provides. Benefits of this system are the ability to communicate to staff as a whole which is often hard to do face to face in a split site school. It also helps when organising whole school events.

·        Students: This may seem a strange inclusion. However I would justify this inclusion as without being able to gage how students are responding to tasks or long term projects I would not be able to adapt my teaching strategies in order to enhance firstly my own teaching and more importantly their own learning experience. As a result I find interaction and feedback from my students an integral part of my networking.

Networks That Are Relevant To Both:

·        Colleagues: In both aspects of my practice I use the existing and ever growing network of colleagues who are able to provide a very accessible and human source of networking. As a technician I communicate regularly with teaching staff to identify short and long term goals for my work within the departments. Colleagues are also an imperative network for the development of my teaching as I can regularly observe colleagues teaching lessons and discuss ideas or problems that I have within my primary work. It is useful to speak to colleagues in this respect as they have an awareness of practical limitations that I face within the school that they may have direct suggestions to help me work around.

As I discovered during the first set of tasks, social media networks were initially considered no go areas in my line of work and even now there is still a great amount of scepticism surrounding their use. I think it is worth mentioning that I feel in my specific line of work they are difficult to incorporate into my daily practice. Perhaps in the future I may look into groups that are designed for support staff within schools however I do not wholly trust leaving queries or information openly on a social media format. 

TASK 2A/B

Task 2A/B: Journal Writing

If I am completely honest, the idea of writing a personal journal has at times been a daunting thought for me. I am often uncomfortable in expressing my own emotions, particularly within a working environment and I don’t find myself ever naturally gravitating towards the idea that sharing my own private thoughts within a written medium will be of great use to me. Having read many of the blogs written by my fellow BAPP colleagues, I can see that my reasoning for being reluctant to share my thoughts on paper is completely absurd given that you do not have to share these publicly.

In fact, reflection can in some ways be more fruitful if we are willing to try more ideas. If anything should reflection not drag you away kicking and screaming from a comfort zone in order to help you reach out to new ideas? Is my practice likely to become stale if I only choose to reflect within my own chosen methods? As a result of these chosen fields am I likely to draw the same conclusions regarding my practice and never really get to grips with long-term issues in my practice?

David Boud raises an interesting point when speaking about the balance between journal writing for a reflective purpose or an academic assessment;

‘The conventions of assessment demand that students display their best work for it to be judged’

     

I often find it hard to reflect via the use of a journal as I feel that it needs to be written in a formal manner in order to be valid.

When working with years 5 & 6 however, I do keep a form of journal consisting mainly of bullet points and diagrams that allow me to retain ideas between sessions. Below I have put in an excerpt of one of the Year 6 groups that I work with to show how I have been developing one of their final scenes for performance. The group are not currently rehearsing in the performance space they will use. As a result I use diagrams and rough synopsis to allow me to keep track of stage layouts and key dialogue for reference in future rehearsals. This has been a constant feature for me throughout and is good in order to reflect on practical issues that may arise or need to be addressed as we progress towards the showcase.

Of the suggested ways of writing a journal outlined in the course handbook, I feel that an interesting concept comes through the idea of writing from ‘Another View’. As a method of reflection, it would be of great use to see how the implementation of my practice would come across or potentially engage or disengage my students. Of course I may write from the perspective of a complete outsider or perhaps the Head Teacher who can hear proceedings from her office next door.

Verbal Journal: I often find that conversations with students and colleagues often provide me with an opportunity to share my thoughts in a way that helps me to reflect. Does this count as a form of journal writing/keeping? 

TASK 2D

Task 2D: Inquiry

What in your daily practice gets you really enthusiastic to find out more about? Who do you admire who also works with what makes you enthusiastic?

-       Finding ways to engage students of all abilities harmoniously in a creative environment: Traditional subjects such as Maths and English often disengage students who feel they are not good at these subjects. However this does not mean students who excel in these subject areas cannot too excel within the creative arts, more specifically in my case Drama. Drama is one of the few subjects that doesn’t set students in groups based on ‘ability’. However terms such as ‘Gifted and Talented’ and ‘More able’ often creates a divide in how all students are taught to approach specific tasks or whom they work with in group activities.

-       Can extra curricular activities break these barriers?: Drama and sports clubs can offer a way to break these barriers with students. This may help offer an alternative approach to the individual learning of each student and how to work alongside different groups of people. I have a keen interest to know what impact not having to follow the national curriculum can have from a teaching perspective. How far does it open up what you can do? Or is the curriculum structure necessary for effective learning?

What gets you angry or makes you sad? Who do you admire who shares your feelings or has found a way to work around the sadness or the anger?

-       The limitations of my job. Being a technician, classroom involvement is sporadic at best. Luckily I have the opportunity to do outreach work with a primary school. However, my job role lacks clarity and I feel that can sometimes be exploited in order for me to take on extra work that should not strictly be within my remit.

-       At times I feel that the individual importance of each student and their personal growth is overlooked as a consequence of needing to meet government targets in curriculum league tables. I’m often frustrated that we are told to promote our 6^th form to our Year 11 students as it has an impact on funding. This to me does not always represent the best interests of every student and adds weight to the argument that we are perhaps nothing more than an ‘exam factory’. Students achievements and development are measured by more than just academic success. However this is sometimes difficult to remember when the school overall is driven by the unfortunate culture of statistics

-       Sadly, many of my colleagues share these frustrations, the amount of paperwork that accompanies jumping through particular OFSTED hoops as well as weekly meeting cycles make it very difficult to be able to try and enrich students away from a classroom environment.

What do you love about what you do? Who do you admire that also seems to love this or is an example of what you love?

- I love being able to build relationships with the students. My day-to-day role as a technician would be very dull without interaction with our students. In short they are the lifeblood of our school and the purpose behind what we do as a staff collectively. Being able to listen to them, help them through problems they may be having or even just sharing some light hearted banter is a really special element to my job that provides the sort of job satisfaction that cannot be provided by a financial incentive.    

-       Working with my primary school students is also a huge reward within my job. I enjoy bringing out confidence in students and also learning through their own creativity. Many of the productions I do with my primary students stem from their own initial ideas as I feel it is rewarding for them to see their own ideas develop.

-       An old teacher of mine is somebody I learnt a lot of this from. Barriers to learning were often unknowingly knocked down by his approach and people skills. I’d like to think that like him I can be a member of staff who encourages students to search for ways in which to be happy within their learning

What do you feel you don’t understand? Who do you admire who does seem to understand it or who has found a way of making not understanding it interesting or beautiful, or has asked he same questions as you?

- After five years in a job it may be a strange thing to say but I am still not entirely certain of my own job role within the school. Yes I am a performing arts technician yet when I tell most people that they assume I am a lighting technician. As I work in five separate departments in addition to being responsible for sound and audio for whole school events, it does make it difficult to narrow down exactly what my job entails.

Task 2A/B: Journal Writing

If I am completely honest, the idea of writing a personal journal has at times been a daunting thought for me. I am often uncomfortable in expressing my own emotions, particularly within a working environment and I don’t find myself ever naturally gravitating towards the idea that sharing my own private thoughts within a written medium will be of great use to me. Having read many of the blogs written by my fellow BAPP colleagues, I can see that my reasoning for being reluctant to share my thoughts on paper is completely absurd given that you do not have to share these publicly.

In fact, reflection can in some ways be more fruitful if we are willing to try more ideas. If anything should reflection not drag you away kicking and screaming from a comfort zone in order to help you reach out to new ideas? Is my practice likely to become stale if I only choose to reflect within my own chosen methods? As a result of these chosen fields am I likely to draw the same conclusions regarding my practice and never really get to grips with long-term issues in my practice?

David Boud raises an interesting point when speaking about the balance between journal writing for a reflective purpose or an academic assessment;

‘The conventions of assessment demand that students display their best work for it to be judged’

     

I often find it hard to reflect via the use of a journal as I feel that it needs to be written in a formal manner in order to be valid.

When working with years 5 & 6 however, I do keep a form of journal consisting mainly of bullet points and diagrams that allow me to retain ideas between sessions. Below I have put in an excerpt of one of the Year 6 groups that I work with to show how I have been developing one of their final scenes for performance. The group are not currently rehearsing in the performance space they will use. As a result I use diagrams and rough synopsis to allow me to keep track of stage layouts and key dialogue for reference in future rehearsals. This has been a constant feature for me throughout and is good in order to reflect on practical issues that may arise or need to be addressed as we progress towards the showcase.

(Image will attach separately)

Of the suggested ways of writing a journal outlined in the course handbook, I feel that an interesting concept comes through the idea of writing from ‘Another View’. As a method of reflection, it would be of great use to see how the implementation of my practice would come across or potentially engage or disengage my students. Of course I may write from the perspective of a complete outsider or perhaps the Head Teacher who can hear proceedings from her office next door.

Verbal Journal: I often find that conversations with students and colleagues often provide me with an opportunity to share my thoughts in a way that helps me to reflect. Does this count as a form of journal writing/keeping?

TASK 2C

Task 2C: Critical Reflection on Reflective Practice

There are many formal methods by which we as professionals are able to reflect on our own performance within the working environment. Each year I undergo a ‘Performance Management’ cycle that enables my progress throughout the year to be monitored and reassessed for the coming cycle via the use of target setting. However reflection takes place on a day to day basis within professional practice and can often be a process we are unaware that we are going through, or at least how explicitly we are going through it. I will be looking at some of the key theories that emerge in regards to critical reflection and to what extent do they exist within my own practice or perhaps may even improve my approach to my work.

Dewey: Experience

John Dewey focused heavily around the idea that in order to truly reflect we must be aware of our own experiences. He felt this was of great importance within education, viewing the process as ‘continual reorganisation, reconstruction and the transformation of experience.’ I feel that this applies to a lot of my work, in particular in running an after school drama club for primary school students. Often my sessions begin with a rough plan of how the session will develop over the course of the hour. However, my planning for future sessions is altered if I find that students are disengaged or struggle with a particular activity. The use of experience is also a valuable tool for understanding how each student prefers to engage. With such knowledge I am able to try and stretch the learning of students responding well or find an alternative approach for a struggling student when appropriate.

Kolb’s Learning Cycle

In truth, throughout this process I have had a lot of trouble working out at which point do I enter into Kolb’s learning cycle as I feel in some way or another I use all four stages at various points of my practice:

Concrete Experience: Doing/having an experience is something that we must be aware of in order to reflect to begin with. Earlier examples illustrate that in my teaching I need to be aware of activities that may or may not stimulate a group of students in order to plan for such groups accordingly.

Reflective Observation: I am fortunate enough to be able to observe teachers around me to pick up on classroom strategies such as behaviour management or even activities that I have not thought of using within my own teaching. By observing I can reflect on things that I may not do so well to allow my teaching to grow.

Abstract Conceptualisation: Following each of my teaching sessions I will note what I feel went well and perhaps not so well within the session. By ‘working this out’ it enables me to learn why my approach may or may not have worked

Active Experimentation: This aspect of reflection is most evident within my planning prior to each session. I am able to plan out how new activities that I have observed can be implemented into my current projects as well how strategies can be implemented to ensure each student gets as much from the session as possible.

Howard Gardner & Multiple Intelligence

I have found Howard’s idea of multiple intelligences an interesting one. It is often forgotten far too easily that as learners we all have our own unique way of learning and this can often be frustrating from a teaching perspective when trying to get a student to reach particular ‘outcomes’. However, the idea behind multiple intelligences really highlights what it is that has drawn me to a career in education. The fact that so much can be learnt as a collective if we are all looking from a different standpoint as we can turn all types of experience to learning whether it be through the use of our bodies or adopting a more logical approach.

Also I have been able to reflect upon a question I had in Task 1C when I spoke about career choices. I feel my strengths within my practice centre around Interpersonal intelligence. This may signify that I should explore further the possibility of working in a pastoral aspect of education such as a learning mentor as opposed to the classroom teacher route.

Schon: Reflection-in-Action & Reflection–on-Action

This again lends itself to education within the arts as often as practitioners we need the flexibility in our teaching in order to ‘think on the spot’. This process is reflecting in action as we can see that a particular task or idea is not working. For example, I had produced a short script for my year 5 students leading into a performance. However, during the rehearsal process it became apparent that one particular student was struggling with written text. As a result, it proved a more beneficial move to allow the student to ad-lib and rework his particular scene.

On the other hand I don’t believe that being able to reflect in action excludes you from being able to reflect upon action. Reflection on action is often a necessity in order to help make more calculated decisions for the future. In this sense in education this lends itself to forward planning where as the former approach is very much an instinctive yet necessary component of our teaching.

Throughout my learning on BAPP (Arts) I have begun to connect with the ways in which I already reflect within my practice. It is often not immediately acknowledged that I have reflected within a situation. I have often leant towards the forward planning process as my most relied on tool of reflection as the environment that I am in is very centred around this process, I observe teachers using data of students to plan how they structure activities or even seat them within a classroom as they have learnt through their experience that these methods work. However, within my own practice I have often dismissed or at the very least understated the role that spontaneity plays within my practice. In my earliest days of working with my primary students I used to get a twinge of disappointment if a session had not gone how I had structured it on paper. However, I am beginning to feel more comfortable in the fact that they do not as I feel my teaching can only improve through being able to react and respond to each and every one of my students. This process shouldn’t be a disappointment or deemed as inadequate planning as I have learnt to trust my ability to reflect and hold great confidence when allowing a session to deviate. Through reflective processes such as ‘reflection-in-action’ you are able to look at how to plan for ‘now’ when you have a clear view of how students are progressing or not progressing. This has given me more belief and knowledge of what I already do.