Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership - stepping up and calling myself out!

Recently I've been talking about the Code and Standards with my tauira at TWoA. I'm pretty proud of the fact that I have been keeping a reflective journal since the early 2000s and took this online in 2008. Although some of my earlier posts are hardly worth mentioning ;) In my defence it was in the early days of Blogger. Fast forward to 2021 and I find myself reflecting on the Codes and Standards again. I and realise that I have made little to no progress in the Te Tiriti o Waitangi space (the labels world cloud proves that!) - certainly not as much as I could have or should have at this stage in my career. Hei aha, this post is about me calling myself out and setting professional goals in this space.

Here is what the profession demands for Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership

Understand and recognise the unique status of tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand. 

• Understand and acknowledge the histories, heritages, languages and cultures of partners to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 
• Practise and develop the use of te reo and tikanga Māori. Demonstrate commitment to tangata whenuatanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Reflection - 2018

I am privileged to be of Maori descent. My father is a descendant from Ngāpuhi and grew up in Kaikohe and Whangarei. I use Te Reo Maori and practice Tikanga Maori in all of my teaching practice and everyday interactions. This 'standard' is of significance to me professionally and personally, so I will look at further opportunities to embed this in my everyday practice.

Reflection - 2021

I'm calling myself out for not doing enough for Te Ao Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi. While there are a number of reflections on this blog it really isnt good enough! Being Māori isn't really enough in 2021! You have to actively and intently invest time into Te Reo Māori and so this is the start of my next professional (and personal) goal. 25 minutes every day invested in Te Reo Māori - be intentional, be committed! Stay tuned for my development.

Thinking deeply about primary education - key principles from Christopher Such (Reading)

 

Key principles shared by Christopher Such:

• Be guided by research - the process of teaching reading is exceptionally complicated. Know it and let it inform your practice.
• Teach phonics well - Essential that this is done to a high standard
• Consider language development as a key part of reading - reading stories, openly discussing things with children
• Developing fluency - know what it is, know how to assess it, encourage its development in children.
• Vocabulary - embed and teach this in a way that supports vocabulary development.
• Reading comprehension - understand and taught
• Teach the whole class as a default.

Study Leave - my tips and tricks!

I've just come back from 11 days on the beautiful island of Rarotonga (straight into lockdown mind you!). I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to focus solely on my research and enjoy long overdue catch-ups with my family that live on the island. This is my second writing retreat this year and as I am a self-professed addict to learning (mostly reading) I have a few tips that I have learned along the way.

1. Set study goals - I love competing with myself, so when I set myself goals and I beat them, it certainly motivates me to keep going.

2. Pomodoro - Staying focused with no distraction is hard, like really hard. Pomodoro is 25 minutes of study, with a short break of 5 minutes or a long break of 15 minutes in between. I find that it's important to take breaks or you get study fatigue. 

3. Study snacks - I love chocolate - especially Whittakers Almond Gold, but this is a snack that isn't really conducive to studying. Choose snacks that are going to keep you alert and focussed - my favs are fruit (and I got to enjoy pawpaw every day on the island), soy mix and cranberry nut mix or rice crackers and avo/tuna too - Water is a must!

4. Exercise - I didn't exercise the first two days and I felt it. On the third day, I swam out to the reef and back again and was super productive that evening. 

Do you have any tips for studying that I might have missed? 

What is the purpose of school? Guy Claxton and Kath Murdoch

Kath asked Guy the following question: What is the purpose of school in 2021?
School should be a well-designed set of gears, and the most important gear is the purpose.
We are supporting parents in preparing students for life. So, what do students need to know, to do, and to be like to flourish now and in the future?

Education has multiple components in terms of knowledge, competence and character.

What do we think ALL of our kids are likely to need to flourish? 

A learning framework

Dispositions underpin success in life more - curiosity, determination, are like a big fish at the bottom of the river. Keep an eye on the bottom of the river.  Look at the whole of what's going on.

Writing introductions and conclusions - AUT Workshop

Introduction

Move 1: State research field

Move 2: Establish niche

Move 3: Occupy niche

My attempt at rewriting the introduction:
A central issue in educational leadership is communication. Communication is regarded as an essential leadership skill. Relatively few studies focus on listening as a key communication skill. The objective of this study is to examine the ways in which listening improves the leadership practice of Cook Island leaders in New Zealand primary schools.

Conclusion

Move 1: Summarise findings

Move 2: Identify implications

Move 3: Suggest further research

Academic Writing - AUT Workshop

This evening, I participated in the Academic Writing - AUT workshop. I've been studying at the tertiary level for 25 years and have been told on many occasions that I am a good writer. For the most part, I enjoy writing and find it easy to discuss dialogue, debate topics - I think this is because I am a really good talker (I talk lots!). However, in my recent task for MEdLead thesis I found it incredibly difficult to keep to my wordcount (wrote too much) and found it challenging getting to the point (the longest sentences you ever did meet!). Hence, after 25 years of studying, I decided to go back to the basics.

I really enjoyed the workshop and appreciated that part of why I. need to work on is planning out what I am going to say, before actually putting pen to paper. I enjoyed this so much, I'm heading back for the reading workshop next week.

 

Writing Literature review sections - AUT workshop

 

What have been the important ideas? 

• Many definitions/types of listening
• There is limited literature on listening in education
• So many aspects - listening, leadership, communication, Cook Island leaders.

What is important to know?

As few researchers have addressed listening as a leadership skill, this theses aims to examine the ways in which listening can improve the leadership practice of Cook Island leaders in New Zealand primary schools.

What is your research topic?
Improving leadership practice through ‘listening’: The perspective of Cook Island leaders in New Zealand primary schools.

What is your research needed, relevant and important?

We understand communication to be an important leadership skill, however, this generally means we believe that leaders must articulate ideas clearly. This research aims to unpack the role of listening as a key communication skill and listen to the perspective of Cook Island leaders.

There was a brilliant resource shared, http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/ that I know will be useful for my upcoming writing of my theses chapters.

We need to paraphrase literature in our own words without changing the meaning!