AITSL Standards
Standard 6.2
An important part of the teaching process in continual improvement (Churchill et al, 2018), which is captured by the AITSL standard 6.2. Being able to identify and engage in appropriate professional development is key to continual success, to ensure teachers are not lacking in a crucial area.
As a part of the Teaching Society, I have been able to plan relevant development for many students. The foremost example of this was during the lockdown of 2020. This gave myself and some peers the time to plan a project, for the betterment of other Pre-Service Teachers (PST). I decided to pursue the creation of a PLN, an online learning environment, as myself as a PSTs felt disconnected from a learning community. This endeavor led to the creation of a Slack Channel, where PSTs could share their collective intelligence on a range of topics. A video explaining the PLN project can be accessed by visiting the link below:
Another example of planning for professional learning includes the creation of an academic Journal Club in the first teaching period of 2021. After the holiday break, discussion with some peers led to the conclusion that myself and other students felt gaps in our knowledge. These gaps were often in supplementary areas which we would love to spend some more time studying in.
Using the Slack channel prepared for the PLN, a Journal Club was created, with 4-5 regular members. The template used to guide research and discussion is provided in Figure 6.1.
Figure 6.1: Journal Club Template
Both of these example show just the the ability to not only engage in professional learning, but plan and lead it. The specific example shown above were included to not only engaging in, but choosing the relevant PD opportunities. For the PLN, forming a community was identified by peers and UWA administrators as an important endeavor. For the Journal Club, more thorough engagement in specific details was needed, for more niche topics.
Relating the above examples to the theory of SAMR (Puentedura, 2013), the use of the slack application is crucial to the PLN. The PLN required the application to archive, sort and identify the appropriate content into different sections. This helped guide the collective intelligence of the group, demonstrating how the task is defined by the tech of technology. This puts it at the re-definition model of the SAMR- in figure 6.2.
To further increase engagement in the PLN, the use of social media could have been more seamlessly integrated (Skyring, 2017). This would have looked like more engagement and more knowledge shared, without compromising the collective intelligence or definition of ICT in the PLN.
The result of engaging in such professional development activities, is an increase in the knowledge of how to teach, or pedagogical content knowledge/PCK (Churchill et al, 2018). By consistently improving my PCK, the students I teach will be receiving the best possible teaching practice, as well as improving their engagement and academic outcomes. The reason staying up to date is so important, is why it is included as an AITSL standard.
Figure 6.2. SAMR Model (Puentedura, 2013)
References:
Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) . (2011). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/national-policy-framework/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf
Churchill, R., Godhino, S,. Johnson, N.F., Keddie, A., Letts, W., Lowe, K., Mackay, J., McGill, M., Moss, J., Nagel, M.C., Shaw, K., & Rogers, J. (2018).Teaching: Making a difference (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd.
Puentedura, R. R. (2013, May 29). SAMR: Moving from enhancement to transformation [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/archives/000095.html
Skyring, C. (2017). Using social media to build your personal learning network. Education Technology Solutions, 78, 60–63.