Standard 7: Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/ carers and the community
7.4: Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Understand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice.
7.4: Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Understand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice.
Artefact 1: Images of Excursion to Golden Ridge Farm During my teaching practicum with KV, I was invited to attend an excursion to Golden Ridge Farm. This experience allowed me to understand the importance of place based experiential learning that suits kinaesthetic learning styles. In addition, I came to understand the role of external professional in broadening and enriching learning communities. |
|
|
Artefact 2: Work Samples Linked to Experiential Learning Following the excursion to Golden Ridge Farm, I planned lessons which built on the influence of external professionals and community representatives. In these lessons, links to the excursion heightened engagement and allowed students to identify the links between traditional education and their society. |
Reflection
Relationships forged through professional engagement are conducive to the broadening of a teachers’ professional knowledge and practice. Green (2016) asserts that community pedagogies create “critical spaces for embodied teaching and learning” (p.54). During my practicum, I frequently engaged with colleagues, caregivers and the broader community in professional teaching networks. Consequently, I identified that links between these groups are essential for the development of a unified, holistic learning environment.
Standard 7.4.1. requires pre-service teachers to understand the valuable role of external professionals and community representatives in supporting student learning. At the Golden Ridge Farm excursion, the importance of place-based pedagogy was made apparent by increased levels of student engagement and rich, kinaesthetic learning (Green, 2016). Under the instruction of professional agriculturalists, I observed students from a range of ability levels confidently engage with course content and develop synthesised understandings. This contrasted dramatically with the responses to traditional education received in the classroom. As a result of this experience, I revaluated my professional knowledge and practice to cater for a range of learners and their preferred learning styles. In this way, I came to appreciate the role of external professionals in the broader community in facilitating opportunities for embodied teaching and learning.
At the conclusion of my teaching practicum, I became aware of the significant role parents and caregivers play in the educative process. In particular, my assistance in coordinating the 2020 Kindergarten Orientation allowed me to engage professionally with parents and caregivers. Consequently, I became increasingly aware of the diverse learning community; each family possessed different values, cultures, structures and socioeconomic statuses. Therefore, I determined that each parent and carer would perceive their role in the student’s education differently. Through discussions with parents, I understood that when parents and teachers make “complementary contributions towards a balanced perspective of the child’s education”, students are equipped with the skills and strategies to thrive in the education system (Owen, 2016, p. 1).
Throughout my practicum, I indicated my ability to engage with colleagues, carers and the broader community in professional teaching networks. To develop on this competency, I would like to be involved in the parent-teacher interview process.
Standard 7.4.1. requires pre-service teachers to understand the valuable role of external professionals and community representatives in supporting student learning. At the Golden Ridge Farm excursion, the importance of place-based pedagogy was made apparent by increased levels of student engagement and rich, kinaesthetic learning (Green, 2016). Under the instruction of professional agriculturalists, I observed students from a range of ability levels confidently engage with course content and develop synthesised understandings. This contrasted dramatically with the responses to traditional education received in the classroom. As a result of this experience, I revaluated my professional knowledge and practice to cater for a range of learners and their preferred learning styles. In this way, I came to appreciate the role of external professionals in the broader community in facilitating opportunities for embodied teaching and learning.
At the conclusion of my teaching practicum, I became aware of the significant role parents and caregivers play in the educative process. In particular, my assistance in coordinating the 2020 Kindergarten Orientation allowed me to engage professionally with parents and caregivers. Consequently, I became increasingly aware of the diverse learning community; each family possessed different values, cultures, structures and socioeconomic statuses. Therefore, I determined that each parent and carer would perceive their role in the student’s education differently. Through discussions with parents, I understood that when parents and teachers make “complementary contributions towards a balanced perspective of the child’s education”, students are equipped with the skills and strategies to thrive in the education system (Owen, 2016, p. 1).
Throughout my practicum, I indicated my ability to engage with colleagues, carers and the broader community in professional teaching networks. To develop on this competency, I would like to be involved in the parent-teacher interview process.