Being a Reflective Practitioner

The above video summarize my ‘reflection’ on why it is important to reflect on my practice.

This course has added value to my practice - particularly with regard to reflecting on the role

technology in tertiary education. I have learnt some great tools - for making teaching accessible and flexible to learners and communities of learning (and practitioners) within whom I collaborate. Collaborative teaching has a number of advantages. These include,

• More flexible and creative use of instructional time that advantaged students. For example, providing learning materials prior to lecture allow more time for discussion and activities.
• Knowing more about all the students and seeing different student strengths given the opportunity to view them in varied learning contexts. In collaborative practice, learning takes place in different environments, within and beyond classroom.
• Greater shared ownership of students and student learning; 
• Increased reflection on individual and collective teaching practices; 
• More learning from and with colleagues about students and about teaching and learning through communities of learning
• Increased collective expertise resulting in greater effectiveness with a variety of students; 
• Decreased teacher isolation, increased support and feeling valued by colleague

The course has also highlighted some challenges of collaborative teaching/practice. This were parallel to the ones Chris Bradbeer outlines in his blog. They include,

• Loss of instructional and decision-making autonomy;
• Decreased flexibility and creativity given a set schedule for when additional instructional personnel would be present in classrooms;
• Increased communication demands given instructional interdependence among students and colleagues;
• Role shifts and confusion about how to share instructional time (e.g., who leads, who follows, how to co-teach) and how to share responsibilities (e.g., assessment, reporting);
• Feelings of insecurity because teaching became public and teachers were expected to work with more diverse students than they had in the past; and
• Differing “philosophies,” which was the term often used to describe differences between teachers related to orientations or beliefs about instruction and professional practice.

Overall, I have thought about what I can do better (using technology) as a social practitioner; and what not to do (with regards to technology as a social practitioner and a teacher). Technology (digital learning) is a useful tool in tertiary education. However, it can also be a tool that further exclusion (existing or new forms of exclusion). This technology should be critical and contextually applied in tertiary education (and in all education settings I think).