A compass to point you
in the direction of North.
Van de Klink (2017) et al. opens the introduction of a journal article with, ‘There is growing recognition that teacher educators can only continue to act as professionals if they are engaged in further professional development throughout their entire career.’1 It is a fascinating article that discusses the lack of comparison of teacher development worldwide, and draws on rich literature that supports the necessity for learning.
Looking to continue to develop my weaker points as an educator, I recently took an opportunity to consider and reflect on Read Write Inc. materials and how they link to the Australian curriculum. Having gone through tertiary education in the field of Mathematics, Physics and History – I acknowledge it will be beneficial for my professional growth to peruse the English curriculum.
In a previous blog post I have touched on Read Write Inc. and its pedagogical approach. As an education team, we looked to map the context covered through the program to the The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) English Curriculum.
This drew some fascinating moments of reflection, as each educator had nuanced way of viewing the resource.
I offered to continue the process in collaboration with another teacher, for an additional hour or two, for my own development. The conversations that resulted were underpinned by robust professional debate over what definitions in the curriculum meant, and how they applied to the resource.
In an analysis of Finnish teachers by Maaranen et al. (2018) they found, ‘Informal professional development included a theme such as personal learning,’ and that, ‘Many teacher educators had participated in some kind of voluntary, free-time education.’2 We take this moment to reflect on the value of passionate teachers and how a desire to consistently improve practise should never be understated.
Fundamentally, teachers need to know their students and how to teach them. With each additional piece of knowledge, I enable the students in my class to receive the best teaching pedagogical they can. By undertaking a review of the RWI program and looking to link it into the English Curriculum, I improved my practise.
References:
1Marcel Van der Klink, Quinta Kools, Gilada Avissar, Simone White & Tetsuhito
Sakata (2017) Professional development of teacher educators: what do they do? Findings from an explorative international study, Professional Development in Education, 43:2, 163-178, DOI: 10.1080/19415257.2015.1114506
2Maaranen, K., Kynäslahti, H., Byman, R., Sintonen, S., & Jyrhämä, R. (2018). ‘Do you mean besides researching and studying?’Finnish teacher educators’ views on their professional development. Professional Development in Education, 1-14.
AITSL Standards: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.5, 3.3, 3.6, 4.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.4
The Remote Teacher 