Social Networking in Teaching and Professional Learning

The Past

I remember the day my late grandma joined Facebook, wrote me a message asking ‘will you be my friend?’ She then disabled her account a week later because ‘Too many people were commenting on her posts.’  

I am becoming more in tune with the opportunities available for social networking. Since I started the Mindlab course I have started using a greater range. Although my ‘go to’ social media site is the Primary Teachers Facebook Forum. I am also part of New Zealand Spearfishing and Wairarapa Underwater Club forums. These forums are being updated frequently and a lot of posts that are relevant to me appear on these forums.

The thing that causes me concern with these forums is that there can be a rolling snowball effect of opinionated comments. I saw a post on the Primary Teachers forum today which had 230 comments, most of which were pointed in the same direction. A couple of strong headed people can make it not worth sharing your thoughts.

The Current

This year I have become a twitter user and I find it to be more on track and focused for teachers than Facebook. Blogs have also peaked my interest recently. I have found blogs by education leaders like Maurie Abraham and Claire Amos to be relevant, and at times inspiring.

In contrast, for school students, I have always seen social networking as a two edged sword. It can do wonderful things; but it can also cause harm. Teaching at an intermediate school I see the negative effects of social networking on a regular basis. Before I was at an intermediate I taught at a 1000 student secondary school. The effects of social networking would leech into school life daily. Keyboard warriors, trollers, and sharing inappropriate media between peers were problems that teachers were mediating more often than they should have to.

In a positive light I see social networking doing wonderful things in google classroom and our school Facebook page, which is updated daily. In my first assignment about digital and collaboration innovation for mindlab I made a rubrik cube club where students made blogs about learning how to solve the cube. I thought this was a good idea and reached out to a larger audience in our school.  I can also see some of the positives that the Innovative Pedagogy (2016) paper describes. I can see there are a range of opportunities for educators now.

The future progressions  

Five years ago I was stoked to get my own projector in my own room.

Last week I took some photos after winning a hockey tournament. I posted these photos on the school Facebook page, getting the first like in under 1 minute. The local paper got a hold of me, I wrote an article, which was printed on the next Tuesday. I took a photo of this and put it on twitter (because I was quite proud of the article). This event travelled to around 30,000 people and counting in under a week. The kids shared a sense of accomplishment, especially the ones I quoted in the article. It shows how quickly things can travel via social media (positive or negative). It also shows what is available now to share.

My one concern about social networking is the ‘on call’ nature that teaching has become. Parents e-mail all the time, they get your number and text, and google classroom makes teacher access 24-7. This was seen as a positive in the clips by Office of Ed Tech (2013), but I fear it will consume teachers even more. 

References

Office of Ed Tech. (2013, Sep 18). Connected Educators. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=216&v=K4Vd4JP_DB8

Tvoparents. (2013, May 21). Using Social Media in the Classroom.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZStaz8Rno

Sharples, M., de Roock, R., Ferguson, R., Gaved, M., Herodotou, C., Kukulska-Hulme, A., Looi, C-K,. McAndrews, P., Rienties, B., Weller, M., Wong, L.H. (2016) Innovating Pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation Report 5. Milton Keynes: The Open University.

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han...

Activity 5: Law and Ethics

When reading the Facilitators Guide from Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program (2012), I choose Situations Involving Professional Ethics scenario 3, p12, about a teacher who has applied for a position without the required qualifications. The ethical dilemma that I want to bring to attention is fraud. Not only is this ethically wrong, but it can also be illegal. Obviously not when rigging a vote for student leader, but in formal documents and minutes from meetings.

Using Hall and Bishop’s (2000) Questions to Guide Ethical Decision Making I was able to determine:

·         What is the problem? It is illegal, dishonest, and morally wrong

·         Who are the main stakeholders with interests in the problem, and what are their interests? The people being conned and potentially all the school and community

·         Which courses of actions are least acceptable? Misleading people in C.V’s, appraisal documents, interviews, and qualifications

·         What can be done about it? This is really up to the principal, BOT, and Education Council

In my 9 years in the teaching game I have seen a few things that I should not of. One thing that continues to bamboozle me is amount of fraudulent activities that get swept under the carpet.

Teacher Appraisals

I have had mixed experiences with these. As a PRT the appraisal process was thorough on the road to full registration. As time went on there were years where I did nothing and was signed off, and other years where I provided detailed documentation. In reflection I am probably too hard on myself. I know of other teachers who do not share the same characteristic of honesty as I do. Yet every year they get signed off. It does make you wonder if “We are the suckers” because those that do the right thing are actually no better off than those that do not.

In terms of appraisal documentation the Education Council state that:

 “The principles are intended to educate, motivate and inspire members of the profession. At the same time, the Code is also a statement to learners, parents, whānau and the wider public about what may be expected of all certificated teachers in their professional roles.”

Ask yourself if you see this happens with every teacher every year or is it something to tick off?

Information in C.V.’s

This is another interesting debate. What is fraud and what is just a lie. Stating that you have a current first aide certificate, when you actually do not, is fraud. This is because it is a qualification. Stating that you played representative sport, when you actually did not, is just a lie. It only makes you a dishonest person. Information that you put in you C.V. can be misleading. But when competition is tight and bills need to be paid, would you tell a little ‘white lie’ to put your best foot forward?

Interviews

I have heard this 100 times; I can coach …….. But after appointments are made, this doesn’t seem to happen. “Sorry, too busy now.” Things brought up in interviews can be fraudulent from both parties. In many ways the interview process is flawed. In some situations, confident people can bluff their way through interviews compared to someone that actually has the skills. I have seen some excellent candidates denied teaching jobs because they were piped at the post at an interview.

Assessment Data
No one plays with this data to make themselves look good, so it's not really an issue. This has been happening since my old man sat School C. There are so many loop holes. 

One day I hope to be in a position where I can see through such dishonesty. I hope that I can keep my morale compass pointing north.

References

The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/about-code-of-ethics

Ethical and Professional Dilemmas for Educators (2012). Understanding the code of professional responsibility of educators. Facilitators guide.

Hall, A. and Bishop, R. (2000). Teacher ethics, professionalism and Cultural diversity. 

Activity 4: Culturally Responsive Practice

This is my third attempt at writing this blog post. It is a topic which is close to home to me and my first attempt would probably offend some people. I started to question; am I writing blogs to entertain people or educate people?

Goals

When I look at Masterton Intermediate School, one of our strategic aims is: “To ensure that the Maori culture is alive and well at Masterton Intermediate School.”

To be fair, staff at our school works hard in this area and we have key people with the right ideas to pursue these strategic aims. ERO stated that “Te ao Māori is valued and there are a number of opportunities for Māori learners to lead, learn more about and engage in the curriculum through their language, identity and culture.”

Their recommendation is “Continue to build individual teacher practice to respond to Māori students’ culture and weave te ao Māori across learning areas.” I believe that this is something that we can all strive for at the most emergent level. I would like to see more in depth study and learning for students about the history, language, and culture of the clientele of our school. What we do keeps currently ERO happy, but leaves me with no extra fulfillment.

School Wide Learning activities

I fear that we are dealing with bias Bucher (2008) because we assume, deficit theorise, and we react by ‘catering for Maori’ in the only ways we know how. We scratch the surface with superficial things like Kapa Haka, and learning of basic vocabulary that can be wrote learnt. A massive emphasis is put on pronouncing Maori names correctly.

Moving Forward

I really believe that we give into the hegemony of what is perceived as culturally responsiveness. Surely there is more to being culturally responsive than pronouncing a name correctly. In a PD session on culturally responsive practice at the end of last year an article by Tipoki (2016) was presented to us. The main point was about pronunciation of Maori words correctly. What a first world problem we have. When you see refugees coming into our schools from horrendous circumstances, grateful for the opportunities presented to them. Many of our ESOL students really inspire me, and we can all take a page out of their books.

I like Russell Bishops quote where he asks the question “If Maori people can achieve at tertiary level, to the highest degree that a tertiary has to offer, how come they can’t get through secondary school.” His belief that Maori are an educable group of people is one that I hold as a belief also.

Story Time

Before you judge me as an insensitive soul, hear out a bit about my background. I was the ‘ahua pakeha’ kid at Kohanga Reo and Kura Kaupapa. We moved to Dunedin when I was 6 to a predominantly non-Maori school, where I was in remedial reading for 2 years. I went through life with people unable to pronounce my name: Niheta, and eventually got the nickname ‘Nuts’. I am still called that daily, even at work. For me, my name isn’t a reason for failure. I can’t back to my high school maths teachers and say “It was because you couldn’t say my name properly and treat me like a Maori learner that I failed.” We all have some baggage, its how we store it that matters.

My question for educators is: Who are you really letting down, and how much will it impact them?

References

Bucher, R. (2008). Building Cultural Intelligence (CQ): Nine Megaskills. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc.

Tipoki, L. (2016) The Spinoff, AUT. Retrieved from https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/29-11-2016/you-say-kai-kura-i-say-kaikoura-why-your-inability-to-pronounce-maori-place-names-pisses-me-off/

Source: Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Activity 3: Global trends :
The closure of country schools

“More than ½ of humanity live in cities-over 2/3 predicted by 2050.”

In my short time in the education game I know of three schools in our district to face closure: Akitio School, Tirumea School, and Mangamarie School. All were full primary and eventually the numbers dropped by so much that they were forced to close the schools. Neighbouring schools gained the kids and boosted their chances of survival. Closing schools is nothing new and in 2004 a plan to merge many of the schools in the Masterton district saw the end of some country schools.

Why do these schools close? There are many things to take into consideration; but I would presume that teachers in charge of the schools would be right down the bottom of the list. I’ve heard one theory about the shrinking population in Tirumea which made sense to me; that was that a lot the farm land had been planted up in pine forests, which meant that instead of having many people to look after livestock, they only needed a few to look after trees. Manawatu Standard (2015) quoted the reason for the Mangamarie School closure is “Demographic trends, size of the district, and transport issues.”

Technology in farming is getting better and farms are getting bigger. A thousand hectare block would have once provide work for 3 people and their families will now only have 1. As technology gets better in farming, the need for people reduces. At its most basic needs, schools require…..firstly students to be in them.

Masterton district has an area of 229,859 Ha, population of 24,600, which equates to 0.11 people per hectare. 17.2% of the population rely on agriculture as an income. Our district should have the lots of country schools, not be closing them. In 2016 there were 12 schools with less than 10 students in them. Most of these schools were so isolated geographically that it would be hard to close these schools. In some districts, like Masterton maybe it is an easier decision.

What does this mean for me if I want to end up as a teaching principal in a country school? Is it too risky to pick up my family and move to a new district only to have a shrinking roll through no fault of my own? I know of a country school that has a mini-van that picks up students from town and drives them 20 km towards the coast to keep the numbers up. On the flip side, my sister in-law just moved to Auckland from Melbourne, and are now residing in the zone for a school that is already full. It would be fair to say that the principal was not interested in the arrival of this new entrant student.

The school I currently work at is sucking in students from around the district. These students are leaving their country schools to be at our school, with a roll of 470. It would be fair to say that we are nearing full capacity as well, while some schools have empty classrooms and are going through CAPNA.  

Does the country school still have a place in New Zealand or are we going with the ‘big is good’ mentality.

References: 

National Intelligence Council. (2017). Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved from https:// www.dni.gov/files/images/globalTrends/documents/GT-Main-Report.pdf

Wilkie, K. (2015). Manawatu Standard, July 15^th 2015. Retrieved from: http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/69614857/rural-school-closed-because-of-declining-numbers

Statistics retrieved from: http://profile.idnz.co.nz/masterton/home

Schroeter, M. & McBride, N. (2017) Manawatu Standard, January 29 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/88846413/Then-there-was-one-Boy-has-playground-to-himself-as-sole-pupil-at-country-school