Alana Giles-Lawson

Understand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and conduct for the teaching profession

In South Australia, teachers are expected to adhere to the Code of Ethics as outlined by the Teachers Registration Board. This provides a framework for teachers to reflect on in their decision making and understanding their ethical requirements.  The key principles outlined in the code of ethics are integrity, respect, and responsibility. In upholding these principles teachers maintain public confidence in the teaching profession.  I believe that I have demonstrated a sound understanding and application of the code of ethics through the satisfactory completion of my placement, therefore, I have provided my practicum report as evidence.

Evidence:

Understand the relevant legislative, administrative and organisational policies and processes required for teachers according to school stage

During my placement there were administrative requirements for me to sign-in each day to notify the school of my attendance. This was an important requirement in case of evacuations. While on school grounds I was required to wear a name badge which identified me to students and colleagues, and as being allowed on the school grounds. In the classroom I was always required to have a supervising teacher, who would be there to support me in all situations. Prior to my placement I was required to complete Responding to Abuse and Neglect (RAN) training and a Child-Related Employment Screening conducted by the Department for Communities and Social Inclusion. Compliance with each of these demonstrates my understanding of the importance to adhere to these policies and processes to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for students, staff and administration.

Evidence:

Understand strategies for working effectively, sensitively and confidentially with parents/carers.

Due to restrictions enforced in response to COVID-19 opportunities to engage with parents/carers were restricted. Therefore, my engagement was limited to updating students assessment outcomes on Day Map and indirect communicate through updating subject pages with assessment deadlines, worksheets and class notes. However, I am aware of the importance to establish and maintain a respectful and collaborative relationship with parents and carers through regular engagement, as it has been shown that this positively impacts students academic achievement. This is something I will be sure to engage with as a graduate teacher. I have included a screenshot of the posted assessment results for my year nine visual art class which is accessible for parents and a comment from my final report.

Evidence:

Understand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice.

During my placement, the school was actively focused on improving students literacy skills. To do this, they had engaged with an outside source, David Caldwell, from the University of South Australia to provide guidance on strategies to improve student literacy. As a result, he gave a series of presentations to each of the learning areas on how they could specifically focus on literacy in their curriculum area. This was beneficial in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice as it provided an outside perspective from a research-based professional. In the presentation with David I learnt about simple approaches that can help develop students literacy. This included utilising noun groups, evaluative language and PEER (Point, explain, example and relate). I worked in conjunction with the visual arts faculty to create an exemplar for students that demonstrated David Caldwell’s suggestions which I have attached as evidence. 

Evidence:

Demonstrate an understanding of the role of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers in identifying professional learning needs.

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers served as a framework for identifying and planning my professional learning while on placement. The standards encompass my professional knowledge, professional practice, and professional engagement. My supervising teachers actively utilised the AITSL standards as a guideline when providing verbal feedback on my practice, as well as completed my final placement report against the standards. This provided me with a comprehensive understanding of how I was going and areas in which I could improve. Additionally, the AITSL standards support continual development for teachers, identifying where you should be at each stage of your career. I have uploaded a copy of my final practicum report which identifies my ability to meet the AITSL standards and consequently demonstrating my understanding of the importance of the standards. 

Evidence:

Understand the relevant and appropriate sources of professional learning for teachers

Ongoing engagement in professional learning will be vital to ensure growth of my teaching practice. Professional learning ensures that I am knowledgeable of current pedagogical trends, understand legislative and administrative requirements and equipped with the relevant skills to improve students’ academic achievements.  While on placement I was involved in staff meetings, curriculum meetings and other school-based learning opportunities, however, due to COVID-19 this limited or streamed via Microsoft Teams. My placement school is in the process of a curriculum overhaul, so I was involved with meetings that focused on developing the new curriculum. In these meetings there was a focus on how the school could best meet the learning needs of the students and engage students in the lessons. I have provided a comment from my placement site coordinator demonstrating my involvement with professional learning. 

Evidence:

Seek and apply constructive feedback from supervisors and teachers to improve teaching practices

While on placement I attended all staff/curriculum meetings which were held twice weekly on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. These meetings gave me an insight into the importance of regularly engaging with colleagues to improve teaching practices. These meetings were used to discuss various agenda items which were discussed by the staff present and actions were put in place to resolve issues.  

Evidence:

Demonstrate an understanding of the rationale for continued professional learning and the implications for improved student learning

My placement school was focusing on a school-wide approach for improving the literacy skills of students in each curriculum area. As a result, the school had engaged with UniSA and David Caldwell, who was assisting the school by running professional learning seminars. One of the aims during these seminars was to focus on scaffolded pedagogy with each subject area creating a literacy exemplar that students can refer to. I worked with the visual arts team to create an exemplar that aimed to improve student’s literacy skills for writing an artistic analysis. I have provided this exemplar as evidence for this focus area.

Evidence:

Demonstrate understanding of assessment strategies, including informal and formal, diagnostic, formative and summative approaches to assess student learning

Assessing student learning is a critical component of the education process to determine if the required learning outcomes have been met and to measure student achievement (Brown 2005, p.82). I believe that it is important to assess student learning through all stages of the learning process. This provides ongoing updates as to how students are progressing and indicates if my teaching strategies are sufficiently supporting the learning process. Diagnostic assessment allows me to determine where students’ knowledge is currently and set challenging learning goals for students to reach by the end of the unit. Communication with students through formative assessment items tells students how they are going and what they can focus on improving. It is important to provide students with an assessment task sheet and rubric at the beginning of a topic that is clearly explained, as this outlines the assessment criteria for summative assessment and the learning goals. As a result, students will be aware of each of the assessment components, what leaning outcomes they are required to show and the structure of the unit. If there are multiple summative tasks (e.g. visual analysis, practical task, evaluation) I will revisit the rubric at the introduction of each task. This reiterates the prior explanation ensuring that all students understanding the expectations. I have provided evidence of my assessment task sheet for my year nine class which clearly outlines the the summative assessment tasks students were required to complete and the rubric used to assess the work. 

References:

Brown, S 2005 Assessment for Learning’ Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, vol.81, no.1, pp. 81-89 

Evidence:

Demonstrate an understanding of the purpose of providing timely and appropriate feedback to students about their learning

Providing feedback is a crucial component of the assessment process that provides students with advice of their learning outcomes and guidance of how they can further improve. I aim to provide feedback in a timely manner, with descriptive and constructive notes. This is based on research that indicates when feedback is given promptly, it significantly improves student performance compared to delayed feedback (Opitz et al. 2011).  Descriptive notes help students to identify their strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to apply the recommended changes to future tasks improving their skills and abilities. Additionally, I believe it is beneficial to highlight any positive aspects of student work. This emphasises where they are going right and can make them more receptive to other constructive feedback.

I have provided evidence of feedback given to two students in my year nine visual art class. For this unit there was three assessment components, this was the first component they had completed. Returning student work prior to the conclusion of the unit meant that they had an idea of how they were going and increased motivation for the final two assessment components.

References:

Opitz, B, Ferdinand, N K, & Mecklinger, A 2011, ‘Timing matters: the impact of immediate and delayed feedback on artificial language learning’, Frontiers in human neuroscience, vol.5, no.8

Evidence:

Demonstrate understanding of assessment moderation and its application to support consistent and comparable judgements of student learning

When assessing student work, I used a rubric to assist me in making consistent and comparable judgements. This allowed me to compare all students to a set assessment criterion, ensuring that all students were graded fairly. Additionally, to ensure that my grading was not skewed, I gave my supervising teacher examples of what I considered to be an A, B and C student, so that they could provide me with feedback on if they felt my marking was accurate.  She advised me that is important not to overthink your marking and it is best to trust your gut instinct based on your observations and reference of the rubric. I have provided evidence of the rubric used for my year nine artist research unit, as well as evidence of drafting my marks for the first assessment item. I initially marked student work like this to give me time to discuss with my supervising teacher and ensure that my marking was consistent and fair for all students. 

Evidence:

Demonstrate the capacity to interpret student assessment data to evaluate student learning and modify teaching practice

The inquiry project that I conducted throughout my placement required me to explore how my teaching impacted on student outcomes. In analysing and interpreting work samples and assessment data collected, I was able to evaluate student learning and identify modifications that need to be made to my teaching practice. I explored the impact of worked examples on student learning outcomes. My findings indicated that worked examples were most effective when used in conjunction with a range of high-impact teaching strategies and when I displayed good use of time management.

Evidence:

Demonstrate understanding of a range of strategies for reporting to students and parents/carers and the purpose of keeping accurate and reliable records of student achievement.

Reporting to students and parents/carer’s is an important process because it improves transparency and accountability in the learning process. Reporting can be in the form of written/verbal feedback, assessment results, informal conversations with students or communication with parents/carers via reports, Day Map, or interviews. Accurate and reliable records of student learning provide evidence of student learning or pinpoint shortcomings that need to be addressed. Reporting aims to keep students aware of their progress and consequently establishing personal learning goals for the future. Additionally, parents/carers are aware of their child’s progress and be involved.  I have provided evidence of reporting on student achievement through providing students with individual feedback on their work and results published on Day Map that is accessible for parents.  

Evidence:

Identify strategies to support inclusive student participation and engagement in classroom activities

Visual Arts is a very practical subject; therefore, engaging and encouraging student participation is vital in ensuring successful student outcomes. It is important to create a classroom environment that is inclusive and safe. This supports students to feel relaxed and supported in the classroom, and confident to share their thoughts and opinions.  

I aim to establish and implement inclusive and positive interactions in my classes by regularly involving students in class discussions and group activities. Visual arts is a subject that benefits from interacting with others. Students can discuss and challenge each others’ ideas. An example of a group activity that I used during my practicum to support student participation was the Exquisite Corpse. This is a fun, simple art activity that encourages creativity and plenty of interaction between the students. A sheet of paper is folded into thirds, which each part dedicated to a part of the body. Students will begin by drawing the head then folding the paper, so it is hidden and pass it along for another person. The process is repeated for the body and legs. At the end of the task the class will come together and unfold the artwork, resulting in a lively conversation of the humorous results. I have included the visual results of the exquisite corpse as my evidence, it is easy to imagine the fun and interaction that students had in viewing the results.

Evidence:

Demonstrate the capacity to organise classroom activities and provide clear directions

A classroom with effective implementation of classroom management strategies positively impacts on the academic outcomes of students (Bellezza 2015, p.15). During my practicum it was an aim of mine to improve my classroom management skills. Visual arts is a subject that is regularly open to individual interpretation; therefore, if I want students to demonstrate learning criteria in a specific way, I need to ensure that my activities, instructions and demonstrations are presented in a logical manner, with clear and detailed instructions. When designing unit plans/lesson plans I have found that identifying the learning goals that I want to achieve and recognising how each of the learning goals relate to each other allows me to effectively manage classroom activities. This means that I can be prepared with a logical and sequential unit plan, teaching strategies, resources, and ready for any difficulties that students may face. When I am adequately prepared, I feel more confident in my lesson delivery and my instructional quality is enhanced. The evidence that I have provided is my report from my university supervisor which describes my management of the class which he observed and a lesson plan with outline of the classroom acitivies.

References:

Bellezza, S 2015, ‘Teacher Efficacy for Behaviour Management: An Examination of the Construct and its Predictors’, PhD thesis, North Carolina State University, North Carolina, < https://search-proquest-com.access.library.unisa.edu.au/docview/1703715581?pq-origsite=primo >

Evidence:

Demonstrate knowledge of practical approaches to manage challenging behaviour

I find that building positive relationships with students is a proactive form of behaviour management. When I have developed mutually respected relationships with students, responding to misbehaviour is less conflicting. I can speak to students in a calm, friendly manner and address the issue directly and resolve any problems together. Additionally, an even-tempered manner conveys my authority in the classroom. I believe non-verbal forms of communication to manage challenging behaviour are more effective with the foundation of positive relationship. For example, keeping close proximity to students displaying off-task behaviours, maintaining eye contact, or signalling small gestures (such as a head shake) are all better received.

Establishing behavioural expectations and classroom procedures also helps to manage challenging behaviour. When I first begin teaching a class, I will establish rules for phone usage, noise level, packing up/cleaning, seating arrangements and laptop use. Maintaining my expectations and being consistent with the consequences for misbehaviour helps to support desired behaviours (Bellezza 2015, p.74).  I also believe that it is important for each day to be a clean slate. If a student has misbehaved it is of no benefit to let it influence my opinion or treatment to them.  

For my evidence I have included an introductory lesson in which I have listed my behavioural expectations and classroom procedures.

References:

Bellezza, S 2015, ‘Teacher Efficacy for Behaviour Management: An Examination of the Construct and its Predictors’, PhD thesis, North Carolina State University, North Carolina, <https://search-proquest-com.access.library.unisa.edu.au/docview/1703715581?pq-origsite=primo>

Evidence:

Describe strategies that support students’ wellbeing and safety working within school and/or system, curriculum and legislative requirements

Maintaining student safely is of upmost importance to my role as a teacher. In South Australia, teachers adhere to the Teacher Registration Board Code of Ethics which provides a framework to assist teachers in reflection of their decision making and ethical issues (Teacher Registration Board, n.d.). It is vital that we identify strategies that provide high-quality teaching a care that are in the best interest of our learners and uphold the professional standards (Teacher Registration Board, n.d.). My placement school had a dedicated student wellbeing centre and a wellbeing team who provided support for students who were experiencing difficulties and frequently interacted with teachers to disclose how students were going and strategies to help them in class. I had to utilise the wellbeing team when one of the students in my class who had a disability became distressed and unresponsive. I updated the incident on Day Map as a case management note which provides a digital record for the school to refer to when helping the student or to accurately inform parents/carers about their child’s wellbeing. My response to this incident demonstrates my ability to maintain student safety because while my attention continued to focused on the student, supervision of the rest of the class was reduced; therefore, involving the wellbeing team resulted in the best outcome for all parties. Additionally, my documentation of the event indicates my ability to adhere to the school’s expectations regarding student wellbeing.

References:

Teacher Registration Board n.d., Code of Ethics: For the teaching profession in South Australia, Teacher Registration Board of South Australia, viewed 7 October 2020, <https://www.trb.sa.edu.au/sites/default/files/Code-of-Ethics.pdf>

Evidence: