STARR Reflection – professional participation

Situation: According to the Education Cooperative, the professional competency is one that is at the
core of the teacher’s job (Geerts & Kralingen, 2018). It is important to be professional with the
students, with your colleagues, the parents and to develop yourself professionally with trainings
(ibid).

Task: The objective was for me to develop the necessary professional skills that were linked to
activities such as open doors, trips abroad and open lessons. The idea was to gain experience that I
would later be able to use in other schools.

Action: I have actively participated in the school open doors at HNL and Niftarlake, where I informed
parents and children about the school, our French language program and our methodology so that they
could get a clear idea of what to expect by registering in our school.
I have also helped in organizing school trips to France and to Belgium and I have accompanied during
these trips. These trips have provided pupils with an enriching abroad experience where they were
challenged to speak French by completing some tasks. During my year at HNL, the pupils took part in
the program Villangues in Namur where they had to speak to different persons through the city in
order to gain points. It has provided with a good immersive experience for the students where they
have been able to put their French skills into practice. I also helped organize the trip to Lille at
Niftarlake College, and accompanied even if we eventually had to reorganize everything at the last
minute because of the farmer’s protests and go to Liège instead of Lille.

I have also participated in the ‘open les middag’ at Niftarlake College, where I provided 3 mini
lessons to pupils from group 8. I was able to introduce them to French language in a fun way,
fostering their enthusiasm and helping them seeing how French lessons are given at Niftarlake
College.

Result: My active participation in the open days, school trips and the mini lessons given to group 8
pupils have had a good impact on my professional development. I fulfilled my professional teacher’s
duties and learnt a lot from it, from how to organize a school trip, to what a mini lesson included
during an ‘open les middag’, to how to communicate professionally about the school during the open
doors. These experiences have enabled me to experience all the teachers’ responsibility and provide
help to my team.

Reflection: I believe that my involvement during the open days, the school trips in Lille, Namur and
Liège, and during the ‘open les middag’ demonstrates my professionalism and involvement as a
French teacher. I have been able to promote the school during the open days by speaking to the
parents and future students, letting them see our programs, books and explaining them our vision and
way of teaching.
My participation in these activities proves that I continually look for opportunities to improve and
gain extra knowledge and skills in order to become the best teacher possible.
It has also shown that I have completely been part of the team and was considered as a teacher like the
others as I was able to fulfil the same tasks as them. I have been able to learn from my colleagues,
understanding what a mini lesson for the ‘open les middag’ should look like, I have also learnt what I
should be saying to the parents and children on the open doors of the school and I now know how to
communicate in a professional manner about the school. For the trips, I have learnt what it takes to
organize them and contributed as much as possible to let them happen. Through these activities, I
have been able to improve my professional competency by making a positive contribution in the team
and cooperating with my colleagues for common projects (Geerts & Kralingen, 2018). I have also
improved my competency in interacting with the environment by communicating professionally with
the parents and pupils (ibid).
These moments that I spent together with my colleagues in a less formal environment also helped
developing good relations with them and facilitated the exchange of good practices, which
participated to an improvement of the didactic approach within the team (Maij et al., 2023).
The next step for me would be to organize a trip from scratch in another school.

Geerts, W., & Van Kralingen, R. (2018). The Teachers’ Handbook: Secondary and Vocational
Education. Uitgeverij Coutinho.
Maij, D. L. R., Peeters, W., & Lucassen, M. (2023). 33 tips voor VO-didactiek: adviezen uit
onderzoek en onderwijs.