CASE | emmarayner

professional KNOWLEDGE Case

Professional Knowledge

Practice Described

A week before my six week placement began a new student began attending class. This student was of an indigenous background and had a learning difficulty and behavioural issues caused by severe trauma. Because of this the student was only going to be attending school for two 1-hour lessons each week and would have an integration aid with his at all times. My mentor had advised me that the his first week of attendance had not gone very well with the student not showing for the first lesson and swearing at my mentor, running out of the room and slamming the door after the first 15 minutes of the second lesson. In consultation with my mentor, the student’s parents and the integration aid we decided to set a goal for the student of staying in the classroom for the whole lesson. We asked the student’s parents about their interests and found out that they really enjoyed using ICT. We decided to use ICT during the next lesson with the student incorporating the use of ‘Minecraft’ but found that once the student was using ICT they would not respond to you and when asked to put the iPad away the student ran out of the room. We tried a number of different approaches to reach this goal including hands on craft lessons, using ICT as a whole class (not individually as before) and lessons that took place entirely outdoors. By the end of the term the goal was achieved once.

Practice Explained

In every classroom there will be students from a range of cultural, socioeconomic, linguistic and religious backgrounds and it is important for all students to feel safe, welcomed and respected in their learning environment.

One way of helping students to feel safe, welcomed and respected in their classroom is for the teacher to build strong and positive relationships with their students. It allows for students to become comfortable in their environment and feel that they and their opinions will be listened to and respected. It also allows for teachers to gain an understanding of their students to better inform their teaching practice.

It is also important for teachers to create an inclusive learning environment that encourages students to be accepting and respectful of their peers. I commended my students’ actions when the student was coming into the classroom because they were very respectful and accepting of them and set a good example for them when they attended school.

Three lessons that were planned with the aim of keeping the student in the classroom for the whole hour. incorporating hands on activities. The first two lessons shown took place during book week.

Practice Theorised

Childhood trauma affects many youths and has tremendous impact on their functioning, well-being and overall vocational and academic outcomes.

“Trauma has been described as an over-whelming experience that can forever alter one’s belief that the world is good and safe.” (Brunzell, 2015) Schools can provide much needed support to these students, improving their future life outcomes by including trauma informed educational practices. (Brunzell, 2015)

PoLT standards 3.1 and 3.4 Students’ needs, backgrounds, perspectives and interests are reflected in the learning program talks about using strategies that are responsive to the individual learner’s needs and support different ways of thinking. As well as building on students prior knowledge and experiences and using technology to help student learning. (PoLT, 2015)

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers point 1.1; physical, social and intellectual development and characteristics of students and point 1.2; understand how students learn talk about understanding how students learn and grow as individuals so that we can improve student learning. (AITSL, 2015)

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers point 1.3; students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds, point 1.4; strategies for teaching aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, point 1.5; differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities and point 1.6; strategies to support full participation of students with disability talk about being an inclusive teacher and having an inclusive classroom that caters for all students learning needs and encourages all students to participate in learning. (AITSL, 2015)

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers point 2.2; content selection and organisation and point 2.6; Information and Communication Technology (ICT) talk about selecting and organising what students will learn into teaching programs and incorporating the use of ICT into student learning. (AITSL, 2015)

Practice Changed

Building strong positive relationships with students is very important in the twenty-first century classroom. I recognised this importance of building strong relationships with students before this case but only after working with a student who I had barely had a chance to build a relationship with did I realise how important it really is and that a twenty-first century classroom really couldn’t function in a productively without it. I strive to get to know my students as learners and as individuals, to build a good rapport with my students so I can better learning programs for my students.

In my classroom I strive to create a culture of respect, and acceptance so that my students know that they are accepted, respected and valued and know that they need to be respectful and accepting of their peers. I give all my students equal opportunity to learn no matter their backgrounds. Every individual has the right to learn and it is our responsibility to ensure that our students have the best possible chance of success.