Journal Entry One - Reflective practices skills.

How to develop
your own personal skills.
What is effective reflection? What is the purpose of reflection?
Throughout my experience and training in Education, reflection and
reflective writing have been recognised as core elements to effective
practice, evident in the number of reflective writing tasks given over the
development of the course. I have found that these reflective writing
experiences have always been challenging for me, due to a natural
tendency to have a more removed, scientific-styled approach to writing.
While I find myself reflective in practice, I aim to develop the skills to
effectively convey reflection within my writing. Having this knowledge I
have chosen to initially begin with an exploration into what purpose
effective reflection has in personal development, and what it looks like
in academic writing.
What is reflection?
Reflection is the process of linking experience and knowledge together
to create future development. Reflection is described as a thought
process that involves looking back at events and asking questions
(Hayes, Daly, Duncan, Gill, & Whitehouse, 2014, p 2). Professional
reflection requires experiences and actions to be linked to theoretical
knowledge and professional understandings, to attempt to create a
conclusion about future action. Reflection in the professional setting
does not aim to entertain or to make a living, but to convey your
experience and learning to yourself and third parties (Hargraves &
Page, 2013, p 12). When reflecting effectively, it is vital to be able to
make links between professional knowledge and the actions observed or
undertaken. Through reflection, it is possible to deign to adapt practice
to become better prepared for similar situation in the future.
Why is reflection important?
It becomes important to participate in reflective writing, as writing can
provide a more concrete and reliable recount of actions then memory
can alone. Memory is selective, and small yet important aspects may be
easily forgotten. Through written reflection, these experiences can be
explored and analysed at a greater depth, providing more detailed
information in which to develop future practices. Hargraves & Page
(2013, p 9) advocate for reflective writing, recognising that developing
reflective skills [an individual] can harness the learning in everyday
practice as well as critical moments, aiding personal development and
improving skills. Reflective practices aims to develop skills and improve
future performance.
What I will be doing to structure reflective writing?
Through exploring reflective writing, I have been able to develop a

number of strategies I wish to implement into my own personal

reflective writing. The first aspect I aim to keep in mind is the three
legitimate styles of reflective writing that can be used in academic
writing, according to Hargraves & Page (2013, p 69);
The narrators describes a situation in which they improve the
outcome, promoting that action in future practices.
The narrator identifies that something went wrong and the
reflection is about blame or guilt, and the narrator identifies what
is done incorrectly, before recognising the right course of action.
The narrator, through reflection, recognises and changes some
aspect of their own practice.
Along with recognising the three legitimate styles or academic
reflection, I aim to use Gibbs reflective cycle as a prompt to recognise
the main concepts of effective reflection (Hayes, et al 2014; Hargraves
& Page, 2013). The prompts are:

Description What happened?

Feelings - What were you thinking and feeling?
Evaluation - What was good or bad about the situation?
Analysis - What sense can you make of the situation?
Conclusion - What else could you have done?
Action Plan - if it arose again, what would you do?

I intend, that through these prompts I am better equipped to develop

effective reflective journals.

Journal Entry Two Placement Experience EAL and bilingual

students literacy development.
Individual learning plans and assessment in the classroom.
Throughout my Professional Experience Placements, I have been able to
work alongside a diverse range of student needs, including students
with limited exposure to English. These students who have English as an
additional language (EAL students) are presented with a number of
challenges to overcome in order to be successful in their education.
During a previous placement experience, I was lucky enough to
experience a teacher catering for students with EAL. In a western suburb
of Melbourne, this particular classroom had a diverse range of cultural
backgrounds, and a large proportion of students with languages other
than English. Initially I was intimidated walking into a classroom where
students were encouraged to use their native language with other
students, as I found myself entering into the unknown. But as my
placement developed on, I found that my associate teacher was using
this diversity of language very cleverly to prompt students growth, as
well as allow them to feel comfortable, respected and valued within the
classroom.
A specific example of this is a maths class I was involved in, where
students were learning to add and subtract. Many students found it
difficult to count in English, as they were still developing the language
needed to convey meaning. This however did not prevent them from
interacting with the activity, where they were using their native
language to add and subtract. Once they had examined the problem
and found the answer in their native language, they were prompted to
place this into the English language in order to present their answer. I
felt that these students would not have been able to engage and
interact in the activity if they were limited to only working in English.
This practice in the classroom has been supported by Clarkson, who
states The link between language and mathematics learning is now
seen as a crucial issue in mathematics teaching (2009, p. 146).
Clarkson described that practice of using their native language to
explore mathematics, while developing their communicative language
allows students to still develop upon their strengths and current
knowledge, even in the case of communicative challenges. While it is
recognised that students need to develop academic language, the
language of communication must first be developed (Clarkson, 2009, p.
145). From this point, students are able to transition to developing and
applying more complex language strategies.
I feel this experience to watch a teacher promote students diversity,
while still showing the skill to develop their mathematical and linguistic

skills has highlighted to me the need to be creative in teaching

approaches.

Journal Entry Three Placement Experience Developing Self

efficacy in the classroom, How does a childs self-efficacy and
personal opinions influence their learning. Positive attitudes
within the classroom related to the treatment and
empowerment of students.
Self-efficacy is recognised to be a significant variable in education,
providing a basis for student motivation and learning (Bandura, 1994).
Self-efficacy is the self-belief an individual has upon their capability to
achieve (Bandura, 1997, p 3).
What I experienced?
During my placement, I worked with a group of students who, in my
opinion, did not present a high sense of efficacy in comparison to other
grade six students I had come across. These students highly capable,
but rarely used their skills to achieve a high level of learning. This
resulted in many students portraying the mentality that they were
incapable. Shockingly, one student even admitted that he was not
smart enough to finish his maths activity. I feel this was a response to
being placed into the middle levelled maths group, and a self-belief that
he was meant to be in the dumb maths according to him. This
situation was not an isolated event either. Over my block placement, I
came across a number of instances where students described their
inabilities. This was then extended by the teacher, who had set their
own expectations on students and their capabilities.
Despite the students numerous reports of work being too hard for
students, with encouragement, and some scaffolding around the
activities, I found the students were able to comfortably complete the
tasks given.
Analysis of expert literature.
According to Bandura (1994), there are four major influences that affect
a students self-efficacy. Two of these influences are internally driven,
and two are aspects of the social structure students are a part of. The
intrinsic aspects are; A strong sense of resilience, and mood of the
students. The two social influences are; The social persuasion that
students are exposed to, and the ability to recognise similarly based
peers achieve or fail tasks.
What would I do differently?
I found it interesting that Bandura stated that It is more difficult to instil
high beliefs of personal efficacy by social persuasion alone than to
undermine it (1994, p 2). I believe that I saw this effect in this
particular placement experience, and it has highlighted the effect a

teacher is able to have over the classroom. The classroom that I saw
had low expectations on students, who then would begin to create their
own lowered expectations of themselves. This then created a cycle
where students were not seeing their peers take risks and achieve,
creating a further resistance to taking appropriate risks (Dweck, 2012).
This experience for me highlighted the importance of creating a
classroom that is supportive of students and set expectations that are
high and achievable. When expectations are low, and students begin to
see themselves as incapable, they begin a cycle that could result in a
resistance to risk taking, and consequently, effect their learning.

Journal Entry Four Collaboration between teachers. When does

this positively and negatively affect the students and their
needs?
Coteaching benefits both student and teachers, and the benefits grow
as coteaching relationships mature (Stivers, 2008)
Waitoller, F., & Kozleski, E. (2013).

Bronfenbrenner influence.
Description What happened?
Feelings - What were you thinking and feeling?
Evaluation - What was good or bad about the situation?
Analysis - What sense can you make of the situation?
Conclusion - What else could you have done?
Action Plan - if it arose again, what would you do?

Journal Entry Five Gifted Students by Linda parish Dweck

In order for a butterfly to have strong wings and a solid body it needs
to struggle and fight its way out of the cocoon. (Dweck, 2012).
In the final weeks of semester two, I was able to be a part of a lecture
on gifted students by Linda parish. Having worked with Linda in Ballarat
previously, I knew she was always a great source of information and I
was exciting to hear her speak. There were two major aspects I had
taken from this lecture:

The role of fixed and growth mindsets in the classroom.

The risk that gifted children can be placed in.

The mindsets.
The first mindset spoken about was a fixed mindset. The fixed mindset
was one that was interested in appearing smart. This mindset was
focused on the outcome and being perceived as capable. According to
the fixed mindset, failure is seen as an indication of low intelligence, and
similarly, needing to put a lot of effort into tasks is seen as a sign of low
intelligence.
On the other end of the spectrum is a growth mindset. This mind set
aims to learn and develop, even in the presences of challenges. This
mind set views failure as an indication of a poor strategy, rather than
low intelligence. With more effort, it would become possible to overcome
these obstacles.
Through looking at these two mind sets, I start to evaluate my own
mindset, and how I attempt to perceive the world. More importantly, do I
perceive challenges are attainable, or do I see failure as a sign of low
intelligence? As I explored this more, I begun to realise that it isnt
always an either/or situation. In some aspects I have recognised myself
as a fixed mindset, seeing my own shortcomings as failures. This was
evident in more of my studies then anything else, where I have
developed a mindset of high academic marks are a sign of intelligence.
Alternatively, in my part time job as a swimming teacher, I have
recognised failure as a poor strategy, and have an awareness of needing
to change strategies to achieve. This is evident in my work with the
disability classes I have been involved in over the past decade. I have
developed a mindset that if something doesnt work, I need to modify
and attempt something else until I can obtain the result I am searching
for.
More about the lecture
These two mindsets lead very nicely into gifted children education, and
the expectations that are placed upon gifted children. Dweck states that

every word and action can send a message. These messages can be
delivered very subtly in the mindset of students. A focus on getting a
good mark on a test can promote a student to evolve a fixed mindset,
where students place emphasis on the outcome being right, and gaining
a good score.
In order to develop a growth mindset, teachers need to place a focus on
personal improvement.
Gifted children come into the classroom having a high base knowledge
than other students and require less repetition. This can easily be
transformed into a fixed mindset, where they are consistently achieving
high marks, and high praise. They begin to find value in high marks,
rather than their own learning, and soon become afraid of failure, as
failure is link to not being valued.

Journal Entry Six Lesson plan development and authentic

assessment.
Description
Interpretation
Outcome

Reference
Clarkson, P. (2009). Mathematics teaching in australian multilingual
classrooms: Developing an approach to the use of classroom languages.
In Barwell, R. (Ed.). Bilingual Education and Bilingualism : Multilingualism
in Mathematics Classrooms : Global Perspectives. Clevedon, GBR:
Multilingual Matters. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com
Stivers. J. (2008) Strengthen Your Coteaching Relationship: Intervention in
School and Clinic 44: 121, DOI: 10.1177/1053451208314736
Hargreaves, J., & Page, L. (2013). Reflective practice. Cambridge: Polity
Press.
Hayes, C., Daly, J., Duncan, M., Gill, R., & Whitehouse, A. (2014). The
nature of reflective practice. In Developing as a Reflective Early Years
Professional (pp. 1-21). Glasgow: Critical Publishing.
Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. In V. S. Ramachaudran (Ed.),
Encyclopedia of human behavior (Vol. 4, pp. 71-81). New York: Academic
Press. (Reprinted in H. Friedman [Ed.], Encyclopedia of mental health. San
Diego: Academic Press, 1998).
Dweck, C. (2012). Mindset: How you can fulfill your potential. London:
Robinson.
Waitoller, F., & Kozleski, E. (2013). Working in boundary practices: Identity
development and learning in partnerships for inclusive
education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 31, 35-45. Retrieved
November 4, 2014