Using a Digital Platform to facilitate a quality professional learning experience

1. Using a Digital Platform to facilitate a quality professional learning experience A structure for Guided Learning…….that enables Critical Discourse, Establishing of Shared Meaning & Shared Ownership &.……..… creates an atmosphere of trust & support that will enable the learner to do the doing & feel capable and strong. Showcase: Pre-service Teachers engaged in Professional Learning

2. The journey begins with an informed picture of ............. Professional learning – the opportunity for the development of personal and professional teacher identity, through collecting feedback, self-reflecting, setting goals & creating an action plan The National Professional Standards for Teachers – the benchmarks for best practice The Workplace culture – the context for the alignment of theory and practice Mentoring as a focused and purpose driven strategy for professional learning

3. The Problem………Leading to the Product • Each pre-service teacher is assigned a mentor during their professional learning experience • Mentors are required to relate, assess, coach and guide – multiple roles! • The university works in partnership with schools and provides support through a professional learning team and school liaisons who are allocated to schools to moderate, manage and support the professional learning providers But there can be…………………………………………………………………………………….. Inconsistencies in summative(final) assessment decision making Little structured and documented data collected during the professional learning experience to validate the final assessment A lack of validity (measuring what is supposed to be measured) and reliability (consistency across the pre-service teacher cohort) of the professional learning based assessment

4. So What do we need to know & do…………? The Question • What is the impact on learning when a digital platform is used to collect data, measure progress and inform judgments against clearly defined benchmarks throughout the Professional Learning Experience? The Aim • Explore how a digital platform might assist on-site supervisors (teacher mentors) and pre-service teachers in the formative (developmental) and summative (final) assessment processes

5. A Digital Platform…..the difference it can make…. linking the person, the product and the processes & creating a level playing field where all stakeholders feel empowered and on the same page. • Professional learning Experiences within the education context are complex and engage diverse stakeholders with diverse perspectives on what is effective performance management of the pre-service teacher • Shared meaning driven by a specific product and process will grow quality teachers by ensuring a valid, reliable, flexible and fair approach to workplace learning • Needing a personalised approach to giving and receiving feedback • Establishing a critical relationship with the on-site supervisor (who is the teacher mentor in education) – different personality types, learning styles, beliefs and work and life experiences….. and a number of roles can be played – they guide, they relate, they instruct & they assess.

6. What the digital platform looks like……. photo.PNG photo (3).PNG photo (8).PNG Goalsphoto (6).png

7. The features of this digital platform… Open & agreed criteria against which performance is measured for specific learning groups….in the Education context Find by standard | Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership A framework for determining performance – 5 stars… 1 star = Support Required - the individual needs further guidance, reflection & practice to grow competence & confidence in the identified area 2 stars = Developing - the individual is beginning to understand, reflects & sees improvements that need to be made to grow competence & confidence in future classroom practice 3 stars = Developing effectively -the individual understands, demonstrates competence & confidence & takes initiative to incorporate ideas learned from discussion & classroom practice 4 stars = Developed effectiveness -the individual models mostly consistent levels of competence & confidence in creating quality classroom practice 5 stars = Highly proficient -the individual models excellent levels of competence & confidence in creating quality classroom practice Videos can be used to capture evidence ….what the pre-service teacher is doing in the moment.

8. The features of this digital platform There is a space for providing personalised details which includes comments, identification of specific learning needs, development of goals and an agreed action plan to grow these areas And….this data enables tracking of the pre-service teacher’s performance over time This facilitates alignment between the mentor as the assessor & the pre-service teacher…joint & mutual perspectives on the process strongly supports a shared valuation of delivered performance

9. The Benefits…………… A framework for self-reflection & on-going learning…so what do I know, what do I need to know; what strategies will I put in place to build my knowledge & skills; collect feedback & consistently track performance…do deconstruct, reflect & act! This empowers the teacher mentor: To personalise the guidance they provide To provide a valid, reliable, flexible & fair assessment process …..& Optimises the opportunity for connected & real discussion – breaking down barriers, questioning, reflecting, re-evaluating & inquiring into why.

10. The Benefits……….. • Reflection can occur outside the Professional Learning space • Mentor feedback can be referred to by students at times when deeper reflection is possible – go away, look at it again, process it!! • Visual feedback is used by students • Guided Feedback on clear criteria is valued by students and supervising teachers. • Access to criteria through IPhone/IPad increases the supervisors interaction with the criteria • Learning is enhanced by the interaction between the learning space & the workplace, the criteria against which performance is measured, teacher mentors and pre-service teachers

11. The Digital Platform…An Open & Shared Space for Giving Feedback Feedback should …………….. • Be specific rather than general • Be focused on behaviour not the person so that the receiver can do something about it • Be based on facts (what you saw or heard) not speculation • Be about why something happened • Help rather than hurt – negative feedback should be accompanied by positive feedback • Be relevant to the person concerned for example outcomes, personal development and…….. • Be two-way • Be appropriate to the situation • Be timely

12. Mentoring relationships “Mentoring can create real, relevant and meaningful relationships to induct pre-service teachers into the teaching world but it has to be thoughtfully constructed within collaborative relationships.” (Top of the Class: 2007)

13. Some Key Learnings This relationship is complex & can be very demanding Pre-service teachers and teacher mentors are adult learners with different personality types, learning styles, values, beliefs and work and life experience It is not a selected relationship it is imposed There are stages in the relationship that need to be considered – getting to know you, establishing shared agreement on how we will work together, identifying specific learning needs, continuous reflection on where the relationship is where it needs to be! All stakeholders need to have shared meaning & be part of a learning community Pre-service teachers need to grow their initiative and empowerment in this professional learning experience. This makes us look closely at what can make & what can diffuse a quality relationship?

14. This is not an incidental process it requires thoughtful design and implementation Doing things differently will lead to something exceptional, “to retain, attract and protect difficult to replace human capital innovative best practice is needed – raise the bar, be change responsive and future focused.” (Productivity Commission 2011)

15. Shared understanding & responsibility for achieving the agreed outcomes This digital platform will enable all stakeholders to actively construct the knowledge, own the learning and use critical reflection to identify future learning needs & enhance workforce development for the future. This will be facilitated by…………………………………….. Preparing the Partnership Preparing the Person Preparing the Product & Preparing the Process “Mentoring is an opportunity for co-creation of knowledge, learning & teaching to enable the pre-service teacher to construct their personalised teacher identity.” ( Le Cornu & Ewing 2008:1803)

16. Thinking ……………………Your Reflection Time THINK PAIR SHARE What words and images come into your head when you think of your students out in the ‘real world’? Now…………………………… How can this digital platform be used to build workforce readiness and capability in ‘your’ students in a range of workplace contexts?