Reflecting on Practice

This is a reflective entry describing the influence cultural
pedagogy, diverse communities and different perspectives
have when engaging with teacher inquiry; while also
considering how aspects of law and regulations affect
our practice. 

The different audiences, communities and stakeholders who are fundamental to education
practice can be quite intimidating when you are placed within a profession which deals with
the growth of human qualities and having to assess competence. The processes teachers
adhere to when reflecting on their practice are shrouded with high expectations and fraught
with navigating one's own belief system. While constantly considering others and critiquing
your own perspectives or beliefs. The cycle begins and ends thinking of others and second
guessing yourself. This of course is necessary for teachers and their communities of learning
in order to be promoting continual professional development. With this in mind teachers may
need to consider how their learning communities (students and families; co-workers and wider
peer groups) play different roles.

An inquiry is a specific and deliberate act to improve how teachers and students negotiate
their way around particular knowledge systems (Kozleski & Waitoller, 2010). Through inquiry
we are reflecting on how collaborative participation, communication of ideas and the transference
of knowledge through digital dialogue can improve students ability to respond to feedback/
feed-forward. Our inquiry is structured around the Māori concept of Hauora, which is interchangeable
and relatable to diverse cultures. Each student has prior knowledge that forms the basis of their
personal cognitive development (Ministry of Education, 2007), and it seems that inquiry learning
would be a useful approach for individuals to “connect and collaborate with other individuals
holding complementary knowledge and ideas” (Bolstad et al., 2012, p. 3). 

What we have noticed so far; is that within our diverse community of learners the skillbase for
effective and collaborative digital communication is varied. On reflection we needed to consider
how our student audience has differences in learning. Our next step would be to ensure a high
ceiling, low floor approach to the activity; as our initial ‘noticings’ suggest that only a quarter of
our students understand the concept of progreesive feed-forward. 

Teaching our community of learners how to give constructive feed-forward using a teacher model
on our class blog was a successful way to scaffold students into critiquing work that is in a draft or
early stage of development. We also found that most students lacked motivation or initiative to
re-read or review their own work. These noticings were observed using multi-model activities such
as Art and Writing. There seems to be a lack of student awareness regarding processes and stages
of development when constructing artifacts of learning. As a teacher I feel that in the past I have
been guilty of not highlighting the importance of process-led knowledge construction. Or allowing
students to have enough time, materials and tools to create, reflect and recreate until they have
the best result. I definitely see the connection between high expectations teaching and student
creating in a more connected way. The inquiry may become more focussed on teaching editing as
a formative process; with opportunities to connect feed-forward as collaborative peer discussion,
and integrated into multiple subject areas. 

      

Denzin and Lincoln (1999) studied different ways people ‘inquire’ and  interpret their findings. A
major influence being that ‘research is an interactive process, shaped by a person’s own personal
history, biography, gender, social class, race and ethnicity, and by those of the people in the setting’
(p. 6). Adding that reflective practice is an integral part of how people assemble knowledge to inform
their research process. Reflection-in-action as Donald Schön (1987) puts it, is a more conscious
approach to what we do and is often used in conjunction with knowing-in-action. Knowing-in-action
being about how humans act and react through spontaneous and unthinking actions as we go about
our daily lives (Schön, 1987). This idea can relate to the purpose of inquiry. To push our thinking or
knowing out of what has always been; to figure out how to improve mundane methodologies and
expand our understanding of others. By revisiting our practice we are critiquing our performance,
and simultaneously deciding what is to be commended and what will be cut (Schön, 1987, 1995).
Using effective questioning, explicit feedback and feedforward to guide high expectations teaching
and allowing the students to reflect, connect, and continue under their own directive is promoted
by the Ministry of Education (2007) and education researchers (Reilly, 2009; Vaughn, 2015). 

    

Russel Bishop and Mere Berryman (2016) highlight how Māori students educational experiences
can be improved when teachers “listen and learn” (p. 182) from their students. Meaning that their
Te kotahitanga research project highlighted the need for te ao Māori to be present within New
Zealand teaching practices. Ann Milne (2009) agrees stating “that a secure identity is a necessary
prerequisite for good health and well-being” (p.18). Milne (2017) addresses the need for teachers
to develop a system where they “foster the development of a cultural Māori identity, we must
consider colonisation, the policies and thinking that [continue to] shape whitestream  education”.
Bishop and Berryman (2016) ask that educators seek to build “culturally responsive relationships”
(p. 185) through moving beyond what they describe as the “limited inclusion of Māori cultural
themes and iconography into their curriculum” (p. 185). Hauora is a rich topic to be explored
through many mediums. Our focus is on collective needs for both physical and emotional well-being
while also considering the valuable part our identities play in order to be our best. Hopefully through
our inquiry we create the space and possibility for students (especially Māori and Pasifika)to utilise
ako and share knowledge with confidence. 

Inclusive education is seen as a way to ensure equity within schooling is enacted and that all children
have access to learning in multiple formats and contexts. Teachers believe in this idea; we embrace
the evolution of educational thinking to include different perspectives, relishing in the new wave of
multiple intelligences and formative assessment experiences. Elizabeth Kozleski and Federico
Waitoller (2010) state that “schools are the stage where characters (i.e. teachers, families,
administrators and students) come together to enact a script called schooling” (p. 659).  A script
that still reinforces the old binaries that have plagued the educational system on a global scale. As
teachers we are left to perpetuate inequalities through the lack of relevant initial teacher education
and adequate classroom support. Kozleski and Waitoller (2010) highlight the injustice within social
minorities and how teachers fail to be properly prepared for the expected level of professional
output there communities and government expect. Kozleski and Waitoller (2010) state: 

In order to achieve inclusive education, proponents must understand the
moral, political and intellectual challenges they face in introducing a
transformative agenda into mainstream educational communities that
reify social inequalities through incomplete and rarely contested
educational, psychological and cognitive theories. p.655

This quote explains the complexities of inclusive education and calls to attention the need for
teacher support from initial training to ongoing classroom support. So how does this lack of
cultural knowledge and in class support affect my inquiry? Unfortunately classroom support for
students who are suffering from/living with emotional trauma do not meet the requirements for
government funded support. This has meant that those in our Hub who need emotional and
academic support are at most times disengaged and uncomfortable with learning. With us as
teachers making hard choices regarding equity of teacher time throughout the class lot.   

Our government needs teachers to be culturally inclusive, yet during initial teacher training te
reo me ngā tikanga Māori is only given a very small percentage of learning time. We struggle to
integrate Māori values and language knowledge as a high number of teachers have very minimal
real experience to draw on. Our inquiry has lacked deeper cultural connections, even though our
inquiry is wrapped in the Hauora concept. I believe we need to start giving te ao Māori the space
it deserves which means rearranging and decolonising our whitestream (Ann Milne, 2017)
education system. From teacher training to primary school, we need compulsory learning of te
reo and te ao Māori. Joe Kinchloe (2011) reiterates from an international perspective, the need
for teachers to be properly equipped to navigate the sometimes severe lack of equity for students
who are marginalised within the current system; saying that “It is naïve and dangerous to think
that teachers can become the rigorous professionals envisioned here without a conceptual
understanding of contemporary and past societies and the socio-cultural, political, and economic
forces that have shaped them” (p. 50).

My understanding of cultural pedagogy means inquiries are foremost based around the
importance of relationships, trust, integrity and diversity of culture and learning (Hemara, 2000).
This is where initial teacher education could hit two birds with one stone. When those who have
never experienced another culture or way of life besides their own, they can be blind to the idea
of multiple perspectives, learning methods and ways of being. If teachers are exposed to the
different layers of Māori pedagogy and explicitly taught deeper ideals and values that relate to
building relationships and constructing a community within te ao Māori framework, then surely
people would be open to changing certain mindsets that overlook fundamental data which affects
our inquiry outcome.     

Reference List

Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-
oriented learning & teaching: A New Zealand perspective. Wellington: Ministry of Education.

Denzin, N. K., & Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publication, 695-728.

Hemara, W. (2000). Maori Pedagogies: A View from the Literature. New Zealand Council for
Educational Research, Education House, PO Box 3237, Wellington, New Zealand.

Kincheloe, J. L. (2011). The knowledges of teacher education: Developing a critical complex
epistemology. In Key works in critical pedagogy (pp. 227-243). Brill Sense.

Kozleski, E. B., & Waitoller, F. R. (2010). Teacher learning for inclusive education: Understanding
teaching as a cultural and political practice. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(7),
655-666.

Reilly, M. A. (2009). Opening spaces of possibility: The teacher as bricoleur. Journal of
Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 52(5), 376-384.

Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and
learning in the professions. Jossey-Bass. 

Schön, D. A. (1995). Knowing-in-action: The new scholarship requires a new epistemology. Change:
The Magazine of Higher Learning, 27(6), 27-34.

Vaughn, M. (2015). Adaptive teaching: Reflective practice of two elementary teachers’ visions and
adaptations during literacy instruction. Reflective Practice, 16(1), 43-60.