Reflective Entry 1

Reflective Entry 1: Discuss how are you addressing the context of different audiences (local and national and/or international) and their perspectives for your inquiry.


In this reflection the target audience that I will be addressing is that of primary teachers in New Zealand. My reflection will focus on student agency/self-directed learning with an overarching theme of personalised learning. For the purpose of this reflection I will use the term self-directed learning as this is integral to the language of learning that is used at the school where I teach. 

In recent years, self-directed learning has continued to evolve and gain popularity within the context of many schools and with professionals across NZ. At OneSchool Global this model has been adopted and reworked to fit the culture and ethos of our school. Huge effort has been made to ensure its success across the school. Further restructuring has been made this year as professionals lacked, deep understanding of the mode,l not having received the appropriate professional development needed. This year has seen many changes for professionals and students around SDL as digital devices have been made compulsory across all year levels from Y3-13.

As an inquiry I have researched many styles of leadership that work well within an SDL model. That of situational leadership was the best fit for what I wanted and needed to achieve, fellow professionals nationally and internationally have already begun to adopt this style of leadership as teaching within an SDL model requires professionals to be flexible within the role they play for each student. This leads into personalising learning for each student where strong reflective practices are a must.

Made popular by Knowels (1973) for adult learning purposes, the SDL model has been integrated into schools and used with students of all ages. SDL and personalised  learning involves creating learning pathways/journeys that supports students’ learning, and has positive outcomes as they begin to take ownership over their learning.

Today there is a huge trend in NZ education for student agency/Self-directed learning as this model aligns with the 21st century learning skills.  NZ is embracing this style of teaching and learning as it meets the diverse needs of students in a modern world. There is evidence that supports SDL as a modern learning model this was taught to many professionals at Ulearn 2019. (Core Education).

A powerpoint by Nathan Crocker (2019), speaks about the positive impact SDL has on student outcomes, however I needed to integrate these SDL principles to best suit the needs of my students that are full digital learners. Transforming our classroom into a modern learning environment. Which incorporates many forms of digital learning.


Derek Wenmoth (Core Education) addressing the importance of student agency.
“One way of thinking of learner agency is when learners have “the power to act”. Agency is when learning involves the activity and the initiative of the learner, more than the inputs that are transmitted to the learner from the teacher, from the curriculum, the resources and so forth. In the past, our schools have catered mostly for groups of learners, for classes of kids, with a one size fits all approach. Arguably, many students felt disenfranchised in the midst of that, as they just had to sit and do what they were told. Lessons were delivered to students who were passive in the way that they received that. When learners move from being passive recipients to being much
more active in the learning process, actively involved in the decisions about the learner then greater the agency. Students have a sense of agency when they feel in control of things that happen around them; when they feel that they can influence events. This is an important sense
for learners to develop. They need to be active participants in their learning.
(Derek Wenmoth, CORE Education 10 Trends, 2014)



References:
Malcom, K. (1973). the Adult ) Learnerg A Neglected EMLF6. (1), 207. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED084368.pdf
 Matthews, M. T. (2016). Learner Agency and Responsibility in Educational Technology. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 68. Retrieved from https://queens.ezp1.qub.ac.uk/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/1867939591?accountid=13374%0Ahttp://resolver.ebscohost.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/Education+Database&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:m
Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching - A New Zealand perspective\n. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/109317/994_Future-oriented-07062012.pdf

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