CASE | emmarayner

professional Engagement Case

Practice Described

A local festival called SunFest runs once a year on the 2nd weekend in March. The festival organisers provide many opportunities for schools and students to be involved in the organisation of the festival and various events. One of the events I am strongly involved with is the Battle of the School Choirs. My role is a judge of the competition and part of this role is engaging with Teachers, parents and students from the different schools in the local area and getting parents and students involved with the ‘behind the scenes’ running of the event. As part of the adjudication for the event we judge each school on set criteria with each school’s total score being out of 50. Every year the event gets bigger, this year over 9 schools were involved with over 400 students participating in the event.

Related Documents

Practice Explained

Through engagement with the broader community students are able to develop “a rich view of knowledge and practice, including social and ethical issues.”(PoLT, 2015) It can help students become critical and creative thinkers (Australian Curriculum, 2015) and help students understanding of the world and of living in a democratic society (AusVELS, 2015). Being involved with the community also helps students’ development of their identity and values as a citizen. Some examples of ways that teachers could become involved with parents/carers and the wider community are getting parents involved with the daily activities of the classroom like running literature circles and involving parents/carers in other events of the school such as sports days, fete’s and excursions as well as involving community groups in the school, having guest speakers come to talk to the students, as participating in events and activities in the community.

As a teacher it is important for us to have a sound knowledge of codes of ethics and responsibilities and relevant policies and processes. Policies such as Sun Safe, Occupational Health and Safety and are in place to ensure that the safety and wellbeing of individuals remains intact and they become even more important when away from the school environment.

Practice Theorised

PoLT Point 6; Learning connects strongly with communities and practice beyond the classroom talks about students engagement with the community, connecting their learning needs with their current and future lives and involving students in rich tasks that link with real world experiences. (PoLT, 2015)

In the civics and citizenship section of AusVELS it states that “a strong sense of personal identity developed through participation in communities is a sound basis from which to connect with the world.” (AusVELS, 2015)

The Australian Professional Standards for Teachers point 4.4; Maintain student safety, point 7.1; Meet professional ethics and responsibilities and point 7.2; comply with legislative, administrative and organisational requirements talk about adhering to the relevant policies and processes and codes of ethics and responsibilities in order to maintain the safety and wellbeing of those around you. (AITSL, 2015)

The Australian Professional standards for teachers point 7.3; Engage with the parents/carers and point 7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities talk about engaging with the school community and the wider community, to improve professional knowledge and building relationships with the community to help improve students learning. (AITSL, 2015)

Practice Changed

As a teacher I would involve my students in the wider community as much as possible. There is an abundance of opportunities available for students to enhance their learning and views of the world. If taking students on an excursion to engage students with the broader community wasn’t viable there are still many other ways for students to engage with the community such as incursions where members from a local community group could run a program for the students.

I also believe that a teacher it is important that I continue with my own engagement in the wider community. I will become a role model for my students so it is important for me to be seen engaging with the community in order to encourage them to become active members of the community as well.

It is important for a teacher to have a sound knowledge of codes of ethics and responsibilities and relevant processes and policies in order to maintain the safety and wellbeing of individuals. It is also important to act, not leave something if it doesn’t comply with the codes of ethics and responsibilities and policies and processes.

Being involved with the community and involving parents/carers in student learning can be an invaluable experience for students as they are great resources with a wealth of knowledge just waiting for students to access and engage with.