Question 1: Who are the stakeholders of your professional community? In what ways do they influence your practice.
There are many stakeholders in my professional community. Each impacting on the way I see the world and my teaching practice.
My biggest stakeholders are my students. They allow me to see the world differently. They motivate my desire to be the best teacher I can be for them. They are directly impacted by my everyday being. From my mood to the preparation of a lesson to the enthusiasm or lack of for a topic or situation.
My Principal is a big stakeholder too. He is my evaluator and leader. He see's my value or lack of. He provides me with Professional Development that I need that then benefits me students. He has strong voice for what the community want and the bigger picture as to where I fit within the school and community. He is the biggest influence in my professional practice as what he says goes and how he spends school money and influences the Board of Trustees directly impacts my class and teaching means. An example of this is the type of PD I am given over the course of the year. It could be Inquiry PD, where we really need to focus on Maths. The PD he pays for is needing to be shown in our classes but at a cost of our kids failing on Maths.
A big stakeholder for me personally is the NZ Teachers Facebook page. This is where I get inspired and gain a lot of knowledge from. I often think critically about problems posed on there and comment or join discussion. It also extends my professional pedagogy and often get s be reflecting on problems I never through of but are there.
Question 2: What is the purpose and function of your practice? In what ways do I cater for the community in my practice.
I am a european mid 20's lady who grew up in a decile 10 community. I now work in South Auckland in a Pasifika and Maori Decile 1a community. I have changed a lot to cater for the community.
My purpose in this community is not only to teach. I am a mother a social worker, councillor, Aunty and friends to whanau. I make sure kids have shoes and are warm, I feed them in the morning if they have come to school with no kai. I sneak them afternoon tea as I know they have none at home. At times I buy clothes for them. I have brought blankets and food for families. I have been a ear that listens and a shoulder for mums who need my help. I pop over to homes to give a coffee to mum and have a chat about their kids learning because they can't leave the house. I have SYFS meeting to protect the kids when they are not at school. I send kids work and conference sheets to prison so their Mums can be involved.
My purpose in the community can not be defined and it is different for every teacher. My role is different from the teacher who sits next to me. All I can do it serve the community and teach their children in a way that makes sense to them. Through meaningful experiences and hands on learning. We study things that are important in their world, like culture, Warriors and the Pacific Islands. I push my kids to do the best they can and achieve to their fullest so they can brake the cycle of poverty in their lives.
Question 3: What are the current issues in your community? How would you or your community address them?
Yes, I can talk about poverty and children's basic needs not being meet by the people who are ment to nurture them and protect them. but.......
The biggest issue in our community is one that is not ways seen from the outside. There is a real lack of good passionate teachers working in South Auckland. I am not meaning all, of course there are those jems but in my experience and from what I have seen there is. Yes, teaching in South Auckland is hard, I always have the craziest work stories at dinner parties. It is not just teaching in a class but your whole life gets consumed with helping and serving the community. Your tried from the emotional energy it takes to get through a day. There are many good teachers here but we need great ones. Ones that see teaching in a holistic view. Teachers that want to see their kids warm and actually do something about it!!!!!!
Teachers that want to better themselves to better their kids.
It is hard to address this. Especially just as a teacher. The govt needs to address this because these communities need great teachers the most. Bonuses not for teachers achieving Nation Standards but bonuses for being awesome at a low decile school where results are not everything. A successful day for me is a day where my kids have clean teeth, food in their belly and know they are loved.
Question 4: What are the core values that underpin your profession and how?
The core values to me are:
Respect: Respect of all cultures, beliefs, values that are different from your own. In a school you are a community of learners. It does not matter about anything else.
Persistance: Never giving up on your kids. Even when they are not achieving or getting it. When outside factors are impacting them and it is out of your control, keep going. When you are tired of working all weekend and school is getting hard, keep going because you are changing lives.
Integrity: Knowing who you are what what you stand for. Because if you don;t know why you want to teach and who you are as a teacher then this is not the job for you.
Professional Conduct: Abiding by the Registrating Teachers Council of NZ. Because we are professional and lines can sometimes be blurred. It is important to know that we must uphold the guidelines to the fullest in order to be successful.
Empathy: It is important to show empathy to others in our profession. We are that kind ear at the gate for children and whanau. Often we are the link between government services and home.
