Create a reflective entry to discuss how you are addressing the context of different audiences (local, national and/or international) and their perspectives while you are taking action.
The audience I would like to write about in relation to my inquiry is the business world. This could be local businesses or international businesses. People who work outside the education world might ask why we conference with children. Conferences also promote engaged learning because teachers can identify a child's interests and use these to develop an interesting learning path or inquiry.
In Trends Shaping Education Spotlight 15, the writers state that "Scientific literature on technological development
suggests that advances in computers’ artificial
intelligence, vision and movement capabilities could
impact tasks carried out by the majority of workers in
currently existing jobs (Elliott, 2017)." This means that the 21st Century students need to develop a different skill set to students of the past.
The article discusses various issues related to the use of Information and Communication Technology in schools. However, the last section "Towards the Future" is most relevant to my inquiry about conferences with students.
The Towards the Future section discusses the importance of 'supporting more personalised and engaged learning". The conference process is one way that teachers can achieve this. When conferences are conducted individually teachers have the perfect opportunity to personalise learning to the child.
Bolstad,Gilbert,McDowall, Bull, Boyd, & Hipkins, (2012) ask "Why does personalising learning matter for the 21st Century?". They answer this question by saying that personalised learning involves a 'systems level shift'; one in which "the system is built around the learner"(pp17). Individual learning conferences are evidence of this shift in practice in a modern learning environment. This systems level shift is difficult for some people outside the 'education industry' to understand (and some within).
At our school, teachers conference with children in order to find out how to build a learning system around them. This system can be very personalised and can differ from child to child. As times goes on, our teachers are learning more about how they can work as a collaborative team to cater for many different kinds of learners at one time.
Bolstad,Gilbert,McDowall, Bull, Boyd, & Hipkins, (2012) also say that in 'deep expressions of personalised practice' students will have genuine input into shaping their learning, and the learning activities that they are involved in at school. Learning conferences are one way to create a genuine opportunity for students to contribute to the design of their own learning.
Another aspect of personalised learning discussed by Bolstad et al (2012) is the need to "...shape a learners pathway in ways that support their needs and interests...". A skilled teacher will be able to tell where a child is at, and what their next steps could be.
The teachers in our team seem to enjoy the opportunity to conference with children individually. However, they are grappling with the ups and downs of a school day, time management, multi-tasking, unpredictable events and real live emotional young human beings. It is important to remember that deep learning is not a one way race to the finish line, although sometimes it happens quickly. Deep learning is more like an orienteering event in which the destiny keeps changing - so it's important to keep checking in with the competitors along the way to make sure they still know where they are going!
References:- Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching — a New Zealand perspective. Report prepared for the Ministry of Education. Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306
OECD. (2018).Trends shaping education 2018 spotlight. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/education/ceri/Spotlight-15-A-Brave-New-World-Technology-and-Education.pdf
