Week 26

Week 26:  Socio-Economic Status of the Community, school culture and professional environments.

I teach in a low decile school in a low socio-economic area where all the issues that Gargiulo (2014) reported that disadvantage our students are still evident today and back further than I like to remember (when I started as a beginning teacher) the disadvantages of our students regardless of culture was discussed freely in the staffroom and it was the biggest reason why the students weren’t achieving.  It made me cringe than and it made me cringe again to be reminded of it at the beginning of his paper and it made it difficult for me to read on.  Thankfully I picked the paper up again with a different frame of mind and read through to the end. 

Gargiulo states that “children born into economic hardship are immediately disadvantaged,” their SES (socio economic status) impacts on their ability to partake in the basics of school life due to their financial situations.  Along with that come health issues, hunger, transportation, and unsafe living conditions affecting our tamariki’s mental, social and emotional wellbeing.  Yep that’s how it is. 

 I have to say I’m proud to be able to note the changes that have been made over time to support our tamariki in a safe and caring environment (I mean that from the bottom of my heart).  Our entire staff is at our school because they care and believe they make a difference. Trust me it isn’t easy but it is possible. 

Whilst we are very aware of the homes our tamariki come from I’m proud to say our school has put in place numerous support systems to meet the needs of all our tamariki to give them the best advantage possible to learn in a safe and caring environment.  Stationery is provided by the school, purchase agreements for uniform and other school events are negotiated with the principal.  We have the support of Duffy books in schools, Health Nurses, Counselling services (that liason with school, students and their whanau) and our Nit buster lady tries to keep on top of this issue weekly.  Fruit and milk in schools are provided daily and there is back up for school lunches from Kids Can.  The list is endless and we all work very hard to provide an environment that is focused on the achievement and nurturing of our students to become lifelong learners and contribute to society in a positive and confident way in the future as cited in The New Zealand Cirriculum (2007).    

Stoll (1998), states that “school culture is one of the most complex and important concepts in education.   She continues to explain that a “culture is the “glue” that holds everyone together.”

A school culture is made up of values, traditions, behaviour, norms, beliefs and priorities.  It is driven by all the stakeholders in the organisation.  While it is unique to each school it is often described as the feeling rather than something that is measured or assessed by ticking boxes or passing tests.  It’s kind of difficult to describe a school culture when I’m immersed in it and have been for a long time.

The majority of our staff has remained the same for several years with changes being made mostly in management positions.  We are a small school in a low socio-economic area where the culture of the students has a bearing on our school culture.  I say that with tongue in cheek because while the students culture is very important and respected, it differs from the school culture in that the values, traditions, behaviours and expectations for our students are for them to become active, confident and connected members of society.  Visitors to our school are often reported to have said “there is a lovely feeling in this school.”  This I am happy to agree with as it hasn’t happened overnight but it has happened and continues to be work in progress at all times. 

  Recently our whole staff attended “The Incredible Years for Teachers” that put us all in the same boat refreshing lots of what we knew and changing some mindsets and attitudes towards our behaviour management and in turn the culture of our school.  We study and discuss different values every term to reinforce positive interactions.

While I agree with Stoll that “a schools culture is shaped by its history, context and the people in it,” my view of our school culture is that while is appears to remain the same as far as the people in it are concerned changes have occurred for the betterment of all.  New staff and students who have been immersed in different school cultures bring with them different values and ideals that require consideration and make a difference to our culture as we jostle to accommodate them.

 

This term saw the end of a longstanding member of our staff in a leadership role that had a great influence on our school culture and we will begin our ongoing journey with a new senior leader bringing a different style and ideas to our school.  I look forward to changes and after the study I have almost completed I feel sure I will welcome change as a continuum of my learning.  

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

Stoll L., (1998) School Culture., Department of Education, University of Bath.  Reprinted from School Improvement Network’s Bulletin, No. 9, Autumn 19981 Institute of Education, University of London 

Gargiulo QSO S., September (2014) Principal Sabbatical Report

Week 25

Activity 1: Community of Pracitce

 My topic of interest is teaching as inquiry.  The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education pg 35 2007) recommends teachers converse with their colleagues about changes they can make in their practises to enhance student engagement and raise achievement.  When teachers determine what their students know and what their next steps in learning are they can rely on research, past practices and professional conversations to inform their practice to raise student achievement.   I believe teachers are unable to know everything and we are not required to because we work in a community of teachers as learners and learners as teachers, tuakana, teina where learning happens together.
Knox (2000) speaks of a"community of practice" being where people have grouped together because they share a passion for something they believe in and strive to achieve.  When this group interacts regularly they are able to learn how to improve the ways they perform in order to support their learners more effectively.


My community of practice consists of the Junior Syndicate (made up of four teachers) in which I teach a year 2-3 class. Within this syndicate I have a critical friendship with my partner teacher ( in the open plan classroom) who is also the team leader. Significant others are my amazing release teacher who works closely with me to continue my maths programme in my absence, the very knowledgable Resource Teacher of Literacy and a few hours of precious Teacher Aide time.  The wider community consists of the senior teachers, (including our assistant principal), and their students that support our students with their learning and behaviour. Holding our community together is our Principal.  I see myself as an active and motivated member of this group. I am supportive of any events that occur school wide and I'm happy to share ideas, resources and my experiences.

.Knox (2000) decribes a community of practice as that which focuses on all the participants and is organised with a common area of interest to the community. Our goal is to continually build positive relationships with our students and their whanau, provide an interesting and safe learning environment where students needs are a priority and raise achievement of our tamariki.
Communities of practice are made up of a variety of strengths in different areas and
develop through regular interaction where there will always be varying levels of participation.  It is through excitement, enthusiasm, relevance and value that community members are encouraged to discover the power of working collaboratively.  Our community must be forward thinking to provide for 21st century learners.     Naku te rourou nau te rourou ka ora ai te iwi.  
             With your basket of knowledge and my basket of knowledge together we will grow.
  
 Change can be challenging and it is easier for some than others.  This learning has encouraged and reinforced the need for continuous change.  The result has seen me taking risks in my practice with  the support of my critical friend and making experimental changes that have lead to positive  learning experiences.



  Our ultimate goal is to paddle our waka in the same direction 

We have worked together as a staff to complete the incredible years for teachers and professional development for science focussing on the nature of science. Seniors have recieved I Pad education. All of the Professional development is valuable for our teaching practice, building relationships, changing our approach to teaching and providing a safe positive environment for our tamariki.
Our staff and syndicate meetings often include updating ourselves with new research on literacy and numeracy. Syndicate meetings make time for discussing our priority learners sharing successes and failures within our practices.  The more regularly we do this the easier it becomes to ask for suggestions and collectively research innovative ideas to support student learning including support from technology. We still have a long way to go and understand this is a lifelong learning journey we have our waka facing the right direction I believe.


Ministry of Education (2007) The New Zealand Cirriculum (pg 35) retrieved from www.learningmedia.co.nz

Bruce Knox.,  Cultivating Communities of Practice:  Making them grow., retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk