Placement Reflection

Placement Reflection

7th July, 2016

Aaron looks back on the first week of the last placement round for his final year

Placement, the time where we finally get to put all the hours of reading, listening, writing and falling asleep in front of the computer late at night to good use! I’m always pretty excited about placement; I think after spending a long time working with children, this is actually the part of studying education that makes the most sense to me now. I feel confident when I walk into a room of total strangers, all of which are much smaller than me, and can at times be a challenge to manage. I think this challenge is rapidly becoming one that I enjoy the task of completing. This first week out was a great way to get to know the students, and as much as I’d prefer this all to be done in one go, I’m starting to understand why the final placement has been laid out in 3 sections – it’s easing me into it quite well.

As with my previous round, I have been placed in a Prep classroom and once again appear to be pretty fortunate with a class that has a very loved and respected classroom teacher. I spent the week observing as much as I could to take in all the intricacies of how the teacher runs her lessons and manages behaviours and routines in the classroom, as to not cause too much of a stir when I take control, and I think this week was a good chance to see it all. Final week of term can always be a bit hectic, and seeing Prep students at that stage in the year attempting to cope with disruption and change to their learning is quite eye opening. In the last round, we had students at the end of the year, excited and eager to move on, this time we are seeing them smack in the middle, and their resilience is really tested at this point and it shows that at this stage in their learning you really are teaching them a lot more than just numeracy and literacy – you’re preparing them to deal with the unexpected and the unknown, something they likely have had little experience with at this stage.

Similarly to last time as well, I have been placed in a classroom that does a lot of team teaching, and with another PST – this will be a good way for us to support one another and I think will work to both of our benefits having someone their to assist and pick up some slack where needed. I’m looking forward to getting into running some lessons and planning classes with the team when we return from the break next week, I’m feeling pretty antsy at this point, like I’m sure a lot of other final year students are, as we’re so close to the finish, and so close to getting paid for our time – which at this point is getting pretty necessary! I think all lessons you learn in life are important, and the task of completing a degree at University has been a lesson I have been learning for a while now – I’m ready to use the fruits of this labor to start planting seeds and starting down a path that I haven’t been fully expecting, much like the Preps before the holiday break! 

- Aaron Osborne

Reflective Practitioner - What Does This Term Really Mean?

Reflective Practitioner – What does this term really mean?

30th March, 2016

Nick discusses his opinion of what is means to be a reflective practitioner in the teaching profession

The term ‘reflective practitioner’ is one that is consistently raised during lectures and tutorials, placements and journal articles. Principals and teachers are searching for graduate teachers who are reflective practitioners, but what does this really mean? The term reflective practitioner it is quite an abstract concept and can have different meanings for different people.

My personal definition for a reflective practitioner is a teacher who is willing to examine their practice and acknowledge what is working well and what could be improved. Quite often at university we are required to write these thoughts and opinions down and recall BIG moments of when something did not work in practice. Is this really what being an effective reflective practitioner is? Do we always need to focus on the negative? Can we still reflect and focus on positive aspects of our practice and still be critically reflecting?

I will often complete an activity with a student whilst at work or on placement and instantly think “I should have completed the task a different way” or “that lesson did not go as intended”. As a result I have been left feeling disappointed and frustrated because I wanted to give the student the best chance to perform during the task. I remember after a particular lesson that I thought did not go well, an experienced teacher gave me this piece of advice, which shaped how I reflect on my practice. ‘Although the lesson did not go entirely as planned, as teachers we need adapt to every situation.’

This comment made me realise not to focus too much on the negatives and reflect on what worked well and build on that. Yes, it is important to reflect on what did not work to improve future practice. However I believe the best reflective practice is to focus on the ‘what worked’ moments. Identifying what worked provides confidence and reassurance that what you are doing is of benefit to the students you are working with. What does this mean as a preservice teacher moving into their first year of being an in-service teacher?

I believe that an integral part of shifting from a preservice teacher to a graduate teacher is being open to learning through reflection. This means observing what other experienced teachers are doing and consistently reflecting on what you are observing. Whether this reflection is in the form of writing physical notes or taking mental notes both can be implemented into future practice. I also believe an effective teacher is consistently reflecting on their own practice, evaluating where improvement can be made to best benefit student learning. This will be most crucial in the first few weeks of being an in-service teacher as this is where I feel a lot of new and important learning will take place.

- Nick