Week 31 - Activity #7:
Crossing boundaries…My
interdisciplinary connection map
Creating my
interdisciplinary connection map took time to consider and develop. My closest friends have been colleagues at
one time or another and these people are also within my communities of learning
or practice. These are the people or ‘giants’
who inspire and support me, and from these personal/professional communities of
practice, we have branched into many different forums of learning, exchanging ideas
and knowledge with others pertaining to finding ways of supporting student
learning outcomes.
My interpretation
of interdisciplinary practice is the integration of ideas and principles from different
disciplines, and synthesizing these together in order to create a more complete
framework by which to practice by and support student learning. As Mathieson and Freeman (1997) highlight,
these processes are not new however, how interdisciplinary practice is being
integrated is making the difference.
Inquiry learning appears to be indicative of interdisciplinary practice
and had been advocated for by Bloom many years earlier (1958 as cited in
Mathieson & Freeman, 1997). Rich
learning experiences and conversations can greatly benefit students, especially
when challenged with real-life issues, making connections between “information
and to connect such knowledge to the needs of everyday living” (Mathieson &
Freeman, 1997) providing opportunities for problem solving, opening the door
for deeper understanding and meaning.
Mathieson and
Freeman (1997) explore different interdisciplinary themes or trends emerging:
- Rather than disciplines being in isolation and not working towards meeting everyday needs, creating a connection between curricular areas and basing these on “the needs of everyday living”
- The inclusion of personal knowledge, experiences and ‘points of views’ when developing a greater and deeper understanding of learning
- Pedagogical approaches using research and inquiry when designing curriculum
- Successful 21st Century learning requires connections made between different fields of knowledge
Choose 2 Potential Connections as Future Goals:
- · Completing my ACET Portfolio
- · Returning to and completing my Masters of Education
Completing my ACET Portfolio
One very near future goal is to
complete my ACET Portfolio. In a way,
this is an in-depth teacher inquiry requiring different processes and different
fields of knowledge to synthesize into a reflective and evidential portfolio,
demonstrating, I am an experienced teacher displaying exemplary teacher practice
to meet student learning outcomes and needs in creative and innovative ways,
especially those of my priority learners.
Since studying (started back in 2012), I have looked at teaching
practices in different ways, I’ve looked at colleagues in different ways and
essentially, I’ve been observing how my pedagogical teaching practices are
impacting upon student learning outcomes.
Despite believing, I was reflective in my teaching practices, it is only
recently, I have started to really scrutinize myself in in-depth and critical
ways. Considering these components of my
learning-self, I believe I am in a better position to submit a portfolio of
such. I also count myself lucky being a
participant in different communities of practices or communities of
learning. I am surrounded by ‘giants’
(Oh I love that saying) and it is the support and co-collaboration of
information and knowledge between contributors from these groups I thank.
Returning to and completing my Masters of
Education
Yes, I had already started my Masters
of Education before deciding to learn with Mindlab – the opportunity was just
too good to pass up! I intend to
continue back on this particular journey next year as I have promised my children
to spend the rest of this year being ‘nice and normal’ with more time dedicated
to them (tissues please).
Over recent years prior to starting
with Mindlab, I had been hooked into restudying by learning more about the social-cultural
theory of my teaching practice, or better still, why am I here? What qualities do good teachers have? How can I improve to become one of these ‘good’
teachers? The pre-belief was, if I’m a caring
and passionate teacher with the integrity of meeting student learning needs
anyway I can, I’ll find the way and four years later, I still believe
that. If I care, I’ll find the way and
especially, I’ve recognised this as an aspect of my personal/professional teaching
ethic – oh, and I want to be one of those ‘good’ practising teachers or should I
say exemplary! Psst! Through the course of my studies, I sure have
met plenty J
I have unexpectedly acquired more
elearning type papers then initially anticipated, especially with the recent
addition of Mindlab papers. However, I have
also become quite interested in innovative learning environments within single
celled classrooms (well, I actually have two classroom spaces) and the
development of student-agency, encompassing personal skills such as
self-motivation and self-determination.
Benefits and Challenges
Some Benefits:
I believe I’ve ‘harped’ on about a
multiplicity of benefits occurring in not only this blog post, but previous
postings regarding interdisciplinary teaching practices but here are a few key
words which come to mind:
- Collaboration of ideas, knowledge, advice, learning
- Contributions from colleagues who are finding real success in classrooms and are willing to share with others
- Greater improvement of critical and in-depth reflection of my practices and addressing weaknesses arising or further improving strengths
- Creating and building networks with other educators – I am part of groups but I can have a bigger role to play in terms of instigating discussion of topics and remembering “no question is a dumb question if I really want to know the answer” (I hope! J)
- Better implementation of disciplines across curriculum areas and working towards intradisciplinary discipline so students are finding success such as better student agency
Some Challenges:
· Time – I haven’t got enough time to do
everything in one day (eg teaching planning, teaching, study, assignments,
children and sports, family)
· Prioritising – I have to prioritize better and
not ‘beat myself up’ when I can’t finish something
References:
Lacoe Edu (2014, Oct 24)
Interdisciplinary Learning [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA564RIlhME
Mathison,S..
& Freeman, M.(1997). The
logic of interdisciplinary studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of
the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1997. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf:
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Image 1 - My interdisciplinary connection map using coggle.com
Lesa, I can so tautoko your lament around time, there is never enought to do all that I want to do! I am pleased to not that we will have access to the mindlab website for another 7 weeks as there are lots of resources and readings that I would like to download. You are right in noting that interdisciplinary practice is not knew however the way it is implemented does make a difference to the outcomes and I am hoping to learn form the best examples of integrative interdisciplinary practice so that I can be co-constructing the design of the curriculum collaboratively with the students that I work with. I do wish you every success with your ACET Portfolio and the journey towards your Masters. You really are inspirational in the way you are prioritising your role as a mum at this time over the second half of this year. Well done.
ReplyDeleteHi there Erika!
ReplyDeleteWe never have enough time! :) Thank you for your comments re: interdisplinary practice. I have New Entrant students and I would like to see more collaboration/co-construction of the curriculum in my class even though, for example, I already get students to work with a buddy or even a small group (now that's interesting to watch, but they are getting better) on many tasks where they are encouraged to discuss problems and tease out ideas, a greater part is me dominating and leading the programme or students working independently. I would like to see more student agency in my room and to observe how innovative learning programmes are 'run' at this level in other schools, as many classrooms are still predominantly what I see as 'traditional' (as my kids would say olden days - well, not that old! lol) Thank you re: my future goals...I just have to do them and get them over-and-done-with! Once the ACET is completed I really hope I don't get the 'itch' to finish another MEd paper before the end of the year! No...I am actually looking forward to 'vegetating partially' for the rest of the year and just 'take time' to do 'teacher stuff' and go home to do Mum-stuff :) All the best for your future goals and rest of your year too :)
Hi there Erika!
ReplyDeleteWe never have enough time! :) Thank you for your comments re: interdisplinary practice. I have New Entrant students and I would like to see more collaboration/co-construction of the curriculum in my class even though, for example, I already get students to work with a buddy or even a small group (now that's interesting to watch, but they are getting better) on many tasks where they are encouraged to discuss problems and tease out ideas, a greater part is me dominating and leading the programme or students working independently. I would like to see more student agency in my room and to observe how innovative learning programmes are 'run' at this level in other schools, as many classrooms are still predominantly what I see as 'traditional' (as my kids would say olden days - well, not that old! lol) Thank you re: my future goals...I just have to do them and get them over-and-done-with! Once the ACET is completed I really hope I don't get the 'itch' to finish another MEd paper before the end of the year! No...I am actually looking forward to 'vegetating partially' for the rest of the year and just 'take time' to do 'teacher stuff' and go home to do Mum-stuff :) All the best for your future goals and rest of your year too :)
I think your comment about time resonates with all of us. We will never get everything done and, just like you said, we need to learn to prioritise. Sometimes we forget that we are allowed to say no when asked to do something for someone. Interdisciplinary practice is something that we need to do more of in our classrooms. I feel that through the Mindlab our competence and understanding has grown a lot. Masters has been in the back of my mind since starting this journey, but that will come at a later date. For now it will be nice to have a bit more time.
ReplyDeleteHi there!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh 'time' is such a commodity we can do with more of! 'No' is good...a word I have sometimes trouble saying when I'm already bogged down with other things that seem to demand more time for lol. I've felt Mindlab has been rushed in terms of transitioning from topic-topic each week but I've really enjoyed the aspect of implementing some of the focuses into my classroom more and finding tracking progress has been interesting and uplifting! I wish you all the best for your educational journey especially when you start your Masters pathway. I'm thinking of taking time away from school (even though, research will be based on observing students/adults!)...not sure how that is going to work lol
All the best :) :) :)