Applied Professional Ethics

After reading this paper on Applied Professional Ethics by Göran Collste (2012), I found a lot of my personal and professional ethical views were addressed. Collste confronts the ever growing list of ethics that are being applied to areas of human activity, such as medical treatment, use of digital resources such as social media, environmental ethics plus much more. I find that all of the ethical applications I have mentioned are relevant in some form to my practice as a teacher in New Zealand.

When considering medical ethics, the students we teach and families we work with come from all walks of life. With this comes a broad range of medical diagnoses that require varying degrees of privacy and care, but all are in need of an ethical code for a school and the classroom teacher to abide by. These diagnoses range from behavioural and developmental disorders to varying degrees of physical conditions. As a teacher we must be considerate of all who are affected and the impact that this has on their well-being and schooling. Of equal importance is the environmental ethics we must instill in our students. In today's world, where we are in very real danger of diminishing our non-renewable resources such as oil, it has never been more important that environmental ethics become an active part of my professional practice. We must teach to the importance of considering the impact we are having on the environment and encourage proactive effort to make a change.

Probably the most relevant ethical application in my practice to date has been the use of digital resources, especially in relation to students. Collste states that in recent years, the development of some applied ethics relates directly to new moral problems that have arisen due to the new technologies that have been introduced. Education is going through a major overhaul at the moment as our students have access to an extensive range of digital devices and online tools. When it comes to the ethics involved in this development, I believe it is imperative that we as educators are educating our students to the best of our ability so they can become active, digital citizens who use this enormous resource to make a difference in the world, rather than just consuming applications, games and social media. 

When discussing professional ethics, Göran Collste attributes these three common, moral norms in society:

1. Relations to people dependent on professional work and service

These relations include, for example, relations between teacher and pupil, doctor and patient, salesmen and customer. Such relations generate professional moral norms, like honesty, fidelity, care and safety.

2. Relations to workmates

Almost all employees have workmates and colleagues. The relation between workmates generates professional moral norms of loyalty and solidarity.

3. Relations to employers

Much professional work is performed as employment regulated by a contract. A professional stands in relation to an employer. Even these relations generate moral norms, for example, loyalty and confidentiality.

My practice is based around building relationships with students, whānau, school staff and community, which means the professional ethics I must adhere to are vast. The school has a code of compliance that each teacher must follow that illustrates the importance of privacy, confidence and professional conduct. Along with this, there are social, digital, cultural and economic ethics I must consider when applying my practice. As addressed in my previous blog post, the context of my practice is that of a inner city school with a high percentage of non-english speakers, meaning I must proactively pursue relationships with these students and their families to ensure they feel their child is being cared for and is safe in our school environment.

I believe that as a teacher, my profession, alongside whānau, holds the responsibility to prepare each new generation for society. This goes beyond ensuring the student has extensive knowledge of core curriculum areas such as reading, writing and maths. It extends to us providing them with a sound understanding of how the world works and giving them the resources and moral and ethical understanding to become well rounded citizens who actively contribute to our society. 

Resources used:

Collste, G. (2012) Applied Professional Ethics. KEMANUSIAANVol. 19, No. 1,(2012), 17–33. Retrieved from: http://web.usm.my/kajh/vol19_1_2012/KAJH19_1_2012_2.pdf 

My Practice and Community

My area of practice is using technology in the classroom to enhance the students learning outcomes, but also helping families make the transition by developing a strong and meaning full home/school relationship. I have spent a large portion of this year adapting my practice in order to cater to the changing environment in the classroom. A major consideration in my area of practice is how the whānau feel about this change and ensure they are as comfortable with it as the students in my classroom.

Ally Bull, Keren Brooking & Renee Campbell - Authors for an Education Counts research project, inquired in to successful home school partnerships by asking the following questions:

• What are the main features of successful home–school partnerships and how do they operate in practice?
• What are the barriers and enablers to successful home–school partnerships?
• Are the success factors unique to the context?
• What is the impact of successful home–school partnerships on student presence, engagement and achievement?

They concluded that because the idea of actively building home school relationships is relatively new to New Zealand, they were limited in the observations they were able to make, therefore they could not establish a definite impact of building this. However, they have found positive feedback with many schools who are applying the Ministry of Education Home-School Partnership model in ways that suit their own school community. Homework and parent teacher interview structures were changed to encourage more interactive and inclusive tasks that require input from the family to complete. Overall, building the home-school relationship should not be an add on to an already demanding workload, but rather including it in our current practice in any way we can.

When considering my own personal practice, I approach this by maintaining a classroom blog on a weekly basis that contains student work, homework, photos from the week and details of any upcoming events. I also keep a reflective blog, where the community is able to see from my perspective how the classroom is going, progress we are making and challenges we face along the way. All students and their families are encouraged to check the blog regularly and post comments about the blog or ask any questions when they require clarification. The homework is designed to be inclusive of others at home, ranging from having discussions with family members to sharing and reflecting on activities from school. In addition to this, the school hosts curriculum evenings where families are able to participate in a range of workshops that can help them support their child’s learning at home.

A challenge of this, is that not all families have easy access to the blog. We have received feedback suggesting that some members of the community have not used blogs previously and require more information on how to navigate it before they feel comfortable using it. This is where the curriculum evenings the school hosts for the parents  area an excellent opportunity to see how it fits in to school life, and how it is possible for it to fit into their lives at home too.

The context of my practice is in a small, central Auckland primary school where the roll is more than 70% English Second Language Learners. Many of our students have very busy home lives. It is not uncommon for them to have a different extra curricular activity on each evening, or for parents to work long hours that restrict their ability to visit the school or talk to their child regularly about their learning. The purpose of my practice is to enable all students to have a level playing field and these parents to have access to a platform that allows them to see what their child is doing during the hours they are at school. For parents, it is imperative to give them a way to contact the teacher at a time that suits them, as well as ask any question or voice any concerns they have without having to make time to come in to the school. This simply is not possible for some of our busy parents.

The values that underpin my area of specialization come down to simply listening to the feedback we receive from the school community. Parents and other whānau want to be involved with school life, they want to know what is going on and now not only what their child is learning but how they’re learning it. The registered teachers criteria clearly states that as teachers we must engage in ethical, respectful, positive and collaborative professional relationships with whānau and other carers of ākonga and acknowledge and respect the languages, heritages and cultures of all ākonga. By constructing an environment that is open to all languages and families both of these criteria and perhaps others are being thoroughly met.  With this and the other criterion in mind, I inquire in to an aspect of my practice each year using the Ministry of Education Inquiry model.

This year my focus is on building those home - school relationships by making learning visible and clear to students and their whānau. In order to do this it is important to regularly gather and action feedback from the community. My core values are articulated within my organisational culture within the school quite clearly. With such a diverse range of students and home lives, we must work hard to build lasting connections with our families. This means we must be able to listen to and cater to their needs. As stated by Ally Bull, Keren Brooking & Renee Campbell in the 2008 research project into the impact of a home - school relationship, this must be incorporated in to our practice rather than creating 'additional work' that will not be sustainable long term. This doesn't just apply to the teacher but also to the students and their families as well. I have adapted my inquiry to confront this and what it means for my own practice.

To summarise: My practice surrounds the importance of technology in the classroom, but also using it to bridge the gap between home and school. I believe that the whānau understanding what goes on in the day to day life at school, it will be easier for them to support their child's learning at home, resulting in a positive impact on the students learning. However, in order to make this work, I must invest time in to delivering workshops and assistance to those families who need extra support when navigating the blog and other online tools, whether it be due to language barriers or technological capabilities. The New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria, the Ministry of Education inquiry model and feedback from the community is what supports my view and works as a guildline to my own personal practice.

Resources used:

Bull, A., Brooking, K., & Campbell, R., 2008: Successful Home - School Partnerships. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/28415/2

Ministry of Education, 2015. New Zealand Registered Teacher Criteria. Retrieved from: http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/content/registered-teacher-criteria-1

Ministry of Education, 2009: Teaching as Inquiry. Retrieved from: http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Case-studies/Teachers-as-learners-Inquiry/Teaching-as-inquiry

Reflective Portfolio

A little about myself...

My name is Anna and I am in my third year of teaching. My first year was completed at the lovely Helensville School teaching year 7/8 students, before moving to my current role at Newmarket Primary School where I started in a year 4/5 class and now have year 5/6 students. I have been lucky in my teaching career so far. In my first year I had a hugely supportive team who assisted me without question when I needed them and, when my contract ended there, I moved to the wonderful Newmarket School.

At Newmarket I have been able to really grow in my profession, not just because I am getting more classroom experience, but because I have been given copious amounts of opportunity to do so - I have only had to say 'Yes'. Saying 'yes' is something I never used to do. Too often I would consider all of the negative: the workload, the exhaustion, the 'what ifs'. I decided, with the encouragement of my tutor teacher, Belinda and school IT guru, Sonya, to change my ways and become a YES person.

So I said YES to trialling Hapara, I said YES to going to the Google Apps for Education summit in Auckland, I said YES to being the first one to one class at Newmarket School, I said YES to the #edchatNZ twitter meets and conference, I said YES to starting my post graduate journey with the inaugural course by Unitec and Mindlab and I have said YES to presenting at the next Google Apps for Education summit this Easter break - all of which has bought me to where I am today.

My students are noticeably more engaged and are usually thrilled when I come in to class with a new, and interesting approach to learning that I'm busting to try out. I adore their natural enthusiasm and open mindedness. I am surrounded by talented, experienced staff who have no qualms in sharing their knowledge with others.

Over the next few blog posts I will delve deeper in to my practice and reflect on where I have been and where I am determined to get to. How will I get there? Who knows!

Student Voice

As we near the end of term 3, I decided to do a student voice survey about some things I've trialled since the middle of last term.

I decided just to use the new approaches/subjects that have been implemented I am so happy with the results! It has given me a really clear indication of what went well and what really didn't. Scratch and devices are a clear winner. My next steps are to adjust my planning for term 4 to try and include more of what keeps these kids engaged.

Over the holidays I intend to create a scratch project unit plan that I can implement in term 4 and perhaps with future classes that includes proper structure for problem solving and general scratch navigation. I will also be including more collaborative writing experience and potentially even give collaborative visual arts a go! (That might be a stretch... we'll see!)

Here is a summary responses.

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25 responses

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Summary

What are some of the things you have enjoyed this term?

Using Devices	19	76%
Collaborative Writing	11	44%
Speeches	13	52%
Keeping Ourselves Safe	5	20%
Scratch	21	84%
Visual Arts	19	76%
Languages	6	24%
Science	16	64%
Online Reading Activities	8	32%
Other	7	28%

What about these things did you enjoy so much?

I enjoyed the collaborative writing because I thought it was really awesome and exciting to do a moment in time together also at the same time using high programmed technology. I also enjoyed using devices because it was allot easier to type and write also reading online. I enjoyed visual because I thought it was really creative and awsome!!!

everything

Visual art viven master van gogh

i want doing scratch or coding because its fun you can make games,animations,music and more whatever you want to do.

Maths because I learn so many maths to do

using the computer

I enjoyed collaborative writing because we had ideas that we could put together and make a short paragraph.I enjoyed visual art because I like to use different Technic and doing the Van Gogh picture around the school. Using the devices were cool because we could experiment and the chrome.

Science visual arts reading

they where fun and new and very interesting

Learning

Sports,because I really like sports and it is my favourite thing to do.

doing progamming :) :3

I savoured these subjects because I could barely see how vast subjects are. Especially scratch changed my whole dimension of sight that I could see special subject named 'Coding'. Furthermore, I liked learning Maori and say basic conversations with friends.

scratch, speeches I really want too do more.

I did not rely much the writing and the reading.

In speeches I enjoyed finding information because you had to look around and try to find the right link which was a hard challenge, and I like hard challenges. I enjoyed scratch because you can create your own animations, movies etc. I loved science just because the 'How does it work?' questions, they would challenge me to try find how something worked.

Scratch was very cool because you can program different types of games, music, movies and animations. Speeches was very fun because I got into the speech school finals and the other speeches were very interesting.

I liked using the Chromebook and exploring what it can collaborative writing as cool because we got to share our work with another person and work with them. Scratch was cool like the Chromebooks that I could explore more things. Visual Arts was cool because I was more into arts and loved them when I was a baby. The online reading games were fun especially the Olympics typing, Spelling bee.

Very fun and I like it.

learning and fun

Scratch because it lets us create our own. Science because we won't really know what will happen next. Using Devices because it helps us get work done faster. Collaborative Writing because we do it two times faster.

I like visual arts because I can learn cool and fun techniques and creativity. I love using devices because that teaches me how to right a lot faster and research while you are working. I like collaborative writing then we could share cool ideas and make a fun and crazy story.

What have you found challenging this term?

Using Devices	3	12%
Collaborative Writing	7	28%
Speeches	10	40%
Keeping Ourselves Safe	13	52%
Scratch	12	48%
Visual Arts	8	32%
Languages	8	32%
Science	5	20%
Online Reading Activities	6	24%
Other	3	12%

What about these things was challenging?

i want doing maths because you can learn something that you haven't done it and they can teach what you do not know.

I thought Keeping ourselves safe was challenging because of the egg challenge because I first thought protecting an egg was weird but also challenging.

I found scratch very challenging because sometimes I get stuck of what to do and sometimes don't understand what they mean. I also find keeping ourselves safe challenging because of the egg challenging.

Collaborative Writing because we had to argue a bit to decide who's idea we should use. Speeches because we have to get information ourselves, also having a competition to go in the finals. Scratch because there's so many buttons and boxes. Visual arts because I totally suck at it.

The challenging thing these year was

Like above, it was challenging to find the information to make the speech better. Also like above, it was challenging because the 'How does it work?' questions.

Very hard.

programming is hard if you don't know but it's in my blood

These coding activities were hard because you can't just learn how to code immediately. It's a long term project. It's very hard to try and get the computer to do what you want without thinking about how you're going to do it.

Visual art.

For speeches I had to research a lot about my topic and it took time and it was kind of scary that I had to present it to the class. For keeping Ourselves Safe I just couldn't stick with it because it was hard to learn about it especially the inappropriate stuff. I found Scratch hard to control and play with. Science was kind of hard because the one I did with battery it burned my hand and it hurted but science was still fun because it was one of my favorite subjects.

Scratch

most of it

for working with a buddy was hard because I would write something and my buddy would delete it

remembering my password

Keeping our safe was hard because of the egg challenge my egg crack but it was fun. Science was a bit hard the reason it was hard was that the instruction was.

scratch because I find it out it was so fun

I did not found many things challenging. I think it is due to raw concentration means focused on WALT. Even so, art was so challenging. I am not good at doing something following pretty strict rules(?).

keeping our self safe speechs

scratch was challenging because it was my first time on scratch and it is quite hard making your on thing on scratch.

Saying different things

there were new expectations

What would you like to do more of?

.Art because its fun to do and I really enjoy it

art more because I will get cool ideas when ever I do it in my own time.

Visual art because because I want to learn more Technics.

reading eggs, art, GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! scratch.

more STEPS

I would like to do more speeches because it has the challenge of finding information and the challenge of not finding just one piece of evidence, but three.

Sports and reading.

science sports scratch

PE because its enjoyable

I would like to do more of the scratch,devices,visual arts, science because they are fun

I would like to write a fantasy story in writing.

ART READING WRITING bilding

scratch.

SCRATCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:3

i want doing language because you can learn any language like mandarin Chinese or Maori.

I would like to do more of scratch because it is very challenging try to learn the different scripts and what the blocks do.

art writing maths building (like the fort) craft finding more about Google docs and chrome

Scratch tutorials because I like scratch.

Of course scratch and Chromebook activity because it would help when I get bigger. And plus I like it!!

art,science and scratch

I would like to do more collaborative writing because I thought it was really cool to have to combine ideas from what we thought of and combine the ideas.

The speeches the PE the scratch.

We have one more term left of school - What are some of the goals you would like to achieve before the end of the year?

I like my van goal art

for me to type faster and not have to use the computer to tell me that I'm wrong.

To answer question from my own words and get more into class discussions. And not talk to my friends

I would like to use more interesting words in writing. I would like to get better at vocab.

-I want to be better at fluent talking because I sometimes kind of murmur during important sentence. -I want to learn some good vocabularies.

I think for the rest of the year on my reading goal is to known my prior knowledge really well,the writing goal I want to achieve is to type quicker and more efficient, for my maths I want to know my fractions and decimals well.

finding more answers in the text and using more addjestive

move up a math group.

Learn my times table Read more at home

do khan academy at least one game

be good at maths and devices especially scratch

get gold in STEPS use my chromebook more for writing

One goal would be learning how to use java script because it is a different type of programming and it is harder than scratch. The other one would be to not try and sit next to my friends so I can get my work done quicker.

Be a scratch master expert and achieve maths.

finding more answers in the text and using more adjective

My goal will be reading and understanding.

ignore people that are annoying me listen carefully and more

i wish i can focus to my teacher and listen not to talk to my friends if someone is being mean to you or annoying you can just move spot on the mat or at the table.

I want to learn how to multiply a decimal with another decimal. For example: 2.3 * (The X sign) 7.2 I also want to increase my vocabulary by using more unique long words.

In reading I would like to finish reading my thick chapter books because I need to finish my Harry Potter The philosophers stone what room 5 is reading. And in my scratch I would like to improve of knowing more blocks

Reading more and getting my work faster.

Learning all about decimals and fractions

Get better with my devices and see more things and get faster at typing.

Number of daily responses

Collaborative Writing - Our First Try

We have been one-to-one for a little over a term now so the students are pretty engaged and confident when it comes to using their devices and Google Drive, so I thought it was time we cranked it up a notch.

Often with our writing, we do whole class planning, where I model the learning intention and we work

together to come up with the success criteria, so we're already collaborating to some extent. My goal of this session was to allow for that same discussion and experience but with their peers rather than having the lesson so teacher directed.

I thought the best was to approach this was with a 'Moment in Time' exercise. The students would share the same experience then plan and create a piece of writing together. Before we even started, I had to teach the students how to share a document in Google Drive. As I said, they know their way around pretty well so it only took a few minutes for everyone to have created, named and shared their document with their buddy.

Once everyone was ready, I handed out a few sour lollies to each student. We timed it so they ate the lollies at the same time and started writing their plans about the experience as it was happening. I couldn't believe how successful it was straight off the bat! As I walked around the class I was thrilled about how quickly they had picked it up. They were talking to each other, they were working together and coming up with some great vocabulary to describe their sour lollies.


So, naturally when it came to my next session I thought: These kids are clearly collaboration masters, I can just give them simple instructions and send them on their merry way!

Unfortunately... I was wrong.

Jonathan and Luke's writing

YES they shared their planning, but when it came to producing a single piece of work between 2 or 3 of them it just did not go to plan. I ended up with one document between the small groups and an individual piece of writing for each of them on that same document. Eeek!

Naturally, this disastrous lesson ended up being valuable for both me and the students. Collaborating in writing is an entirely different way of thinking for these guys, and for me as well. We took the time to role play what collaborative writing looks like: first with me modelling with a student, then several students opting to demonstrate their understanding. Before we knew it, we were off on the right track again.

Sharing back to the class

Just like the planning session, the students had fantastic discussions. They worked with each others strengths - all and all had a very successful outcome. When I asked the students for feedback after the sessions were complete, there was a mutual agreement that they really enjoyed the whole process. As their teacher, I definitely did too! They were mostly entirely engaged during the whole process, clearly enjoying themselves, and of course I was very happy with the final product as well.

Despite the speed bumps: Awesome. Will do many more sessions like this in the future.

#edchatnz Conference

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to the #edchatnz conference at Hobsonville Point Senior School. Myself, Renee Hogg and Sonya Van Schaijik represented Newmarket School.

When Renee and I arrived at HPSS and were immediately stunned by the sea of enthusiastic teachers that greeted us. If I'm being honest, we really had no idea what to expect. Sonya (@vanshaijik) had played a big part in the organisation of the conference and was adamant that we would find it beneficial. Both Renee and I had seen a handful of the #edchatnz conversations via twitter but not enough to really know what we were getting ourselves in to. We picked up our wonderful personalised lanyards and set off to the opening session.

After an inspiring opening talk by @missdtheteacher - the lone nut and reason we were there, where we were given an overall view of what this was all about - we knew we were in for an eye opening 2 days.

First Session: we decided to do a tour of Hobsonville Point Primary (@hobpointprimary) to see a modern learning environment in action. For Renee and I, this was our first time seeing a school like this. Though we loved the school set up, we had a lot of questions about how we could transfer our new knowledge to Newmarket School.



Morning Tea: I think both Renee and I can agree that it was the best chocolate cake we've ever eaten.

Second session: With our bellies full, and as though perfectly planned, the session we chose to attend next was a group of students from HPPS explaining how their self monitor and plan their own days. They were from year 2 to year 8, each student discussed they process they go through each day. They also talked about how the teacher monitors them and referenced specific examples of project based learning they had undertaken. Overall, a large number of our queries were answered just by listening to these students speak.

Lunch: Another winner with the food! Thanks #edchatnz caterers :)

For our final session we went to the eye-opening political debate between National, Labour and the Greens, brilliantly moderated by @claireamosnz. The focus of course bring their views on current and future education policies.

With our brains full we decided to call it a day.

Saturday:
We arrived bright and early on Saturday morning and made our way to our first session: Furware. As Newmarket School is in the process of planning and building new learning areas in the school, we were curious to see and hear about potential furniture choices and how important it actually was to improve learning and productivity.

We then saw @chasingalyx - This session was great, as it was from the perspective of a beginner teacher. Both Renee and I are early in our careers so we were able to relate to the challenges Alyx has had to overcome. Her simple yet interesting approach to how teaching should be transparent was highly beneficial.

After yet another wonderful morning tea, we headed towards @Geomouldey's presentation about creativity in the classroom: and what can I say! Yet another valuable discussion about how to stimulate and inspire students to be creative risk takers.

Overall - we arrived at the conference having no idea what to expect, and left with our minds exploding: so full of ideas to take back to our classrooms and schools, changes to make in our own practice and a clear vision of our way forward. A massive thank you to Renee - @MissRHogg for being great company, @vanshaijik for the push in the right direction, @newmarketschool for the opportunity, @HPSSchool for hosting and all who were involved in the preparation of such a great conference. Awesome!

Holidays = Resource-making-days

After an incredibly busy last few weeks of term, we are finally on holiday! and of course, I have time to update.

In our final team meeting I was able to introduce Hapara to my team, showing them a few basics such as changing student passwords and uploading mass documents to student drives. I am excited for more people to be coming on board in using the wonder that is the teacher dashboard! I have even set up a shared folder in Google Drive with my colleagues, where I am putting all the activities and resources I make or collect, in the hopes that they too will begin adding in their own. I have big dreams of a never ending resource folder full of collaboration and innovative new ideas for the classroom :)

Back in the class, being one to one is going well. In the last week of term we had our parent/teacher interviews. I was somewhat apprehensive about the questions I was going to get from parents and how on earth I was going to answer them. Luckily, I quickly came to the realisation that the parents were thrilled that their child had been given the chance to take the step towards being a fully digital classroom. I was able to share the work they have done so far, the processes we follow when completing work, as well as how easy it is for parents to now view their child's work and the feedback given to them by their teacher on a regular basis. Overall the response was fantastic, and completely solidified my belief that this is - truly - an awesome opportunity for all involved.

As mentioned in previous entries, reading and writing is pretty much up and running with only a few kinks that need smoothing over. However, I am still pondering my next steps for Maths. I have several meetings lined up over the break with people I know who are already using devices in their math programs for more than just online games or activities. I hope to have collected a range of advice and resources by the time term 3 rolls around. This means the majority of my break is going to be spent creating, collecting and researching - but I'm okay with that! In fact, I'm quite enjoying it :)