Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education - Cultural Competence

While wading through the vast amount of literature regarding cultural competence I thought about my learners and the diverse mix of uniqueness that each one of them brings to the class environment.
How, through different techniques, observations and reflections (both by the facilitator and the learner) they grow, contribute and help to create a unique environment where learning happens, cultures are shared and a new culture is generated.  I have just finished an analysis of learners for my GCTLT paper and thought it would link in well here. Link to analysis of learners.  These particular learners are studying their Diploma in Travel and Tourism and have limited Industry experience.

I analysed the Ministry of Education, (2011) version of a culturally competent facilitator and as I am a visual learner, in order for me to make sense of what this looks like I decided to illustrate this in a form of a diagram, linking all the concepts together.  Then I thought about what I do in the classroom towards cultural competency and wrote these thoughts around the outside.  In order to provide evidence of our actions in the classroom here is a link to a previous post that outlines some of the experiential learning environments the students encounter. to access, equity and diversity.

Ministry of Education, (2011)

Back in 1995 I completed an Otago University Education paper on Racism, Ethnicity and Educational reform, and wrote an assignment on Tino Rangatiratanga or Maori Sovereignty from both a Maori and Pakeha perspective.  The focus was on how this related to the interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi in relation to the field of education.  This helped me have a better understanding and perspective of the history and culture of New Zealand.
The growth and development of tourism through NZ history is taught as part of our curriculum and I recognise the importance in the students understanding the priniples of the Treaty especially when engaging with overseas visitors.  According to Sir Tipene O'Regan, (2013) visitors want more than surface contact when visiting a different country, they want to engage with the history, culture and form relationships with the local people.  In that way they are able to make connections to their own culture,  history, and language.

I have just recently completed a Certificate in Te Ara Reo Maori through Te Wananga O Aotearoa, a one year level 2 NCEA qualification and found the teaching methods and techniques an inspiring experience, read about this through another blog entry Link to Indigenous learners.

All these experiences have helped me to understand and implement techniques in the classroom to engage, recognise diversity and use these unique qualities to each others advantage.

Particular aspects I have learnt and hope to incorporate more into my teaching in the future are;

• Ako - reciprocal learning
• Learning through exposure e.g. doing the activity, role plays, events, volunteering
• Modelling and demonstrating
• Importance of food gathering, songs and calls of welcome
• Group work - learners work through staircased tasks that get harder, they then have the opportunity to teach others (holistic thinking)
• Establish a Whanau group through team building, sharing stories and building connections
• Assessment - variety
• Group/individual assessments
• Oral assessment options available

All in accordance with the memo of understanding between Te Runanga o Moeraki, kati huirapa Runaka ki Puketeraki, Te Runanga o Otakou, Hokonui Runanga Inc (Ka Papatipu Runaka) and The Otago Polytechnic.

References;
Ministry of Education.
"http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/http://teachercoucil.govt.nz/required/Tataiako.pdf.  Ministry of Education. n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2013.  <http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/>

O'Regan, T. (2013) Cross-Cultural Symposium Otago Polytechnic

GCTLT - Design overview

I stated in my analysis of learners blog Analysis of learners the reasons for my re-design of this paper.  This was evidenced in part by the response from the students evaluations of themselves, their peers and the course.  See below an excerpt of a response from one of the students in reply to some specific questions regarding the course.



Student evaluation of Destination paper

The paper is taught at the beginning of the academic year and in order to settle the students into a positive pattern of behaviour for the rest of the year, I feel that a more structured approach to this paper would help.  Therefore I plan to link the lesson plans to the assessment activities and the guest speaker slots, with an emphasis on team building activities/quizzes based on the International Destination.  The idea of separating some of the assessments into individual ones is in direct response to the students feedback.  I used the ADDIE model of design in an earlier post for my flexible learning paper and realised that I designed this one with the same students in mind, just for a different paper, but I feel the same principles apply; Link to ADDIE flexible learning draft plan.  Instead of planning a conference and dinner as shown in this design the students would plan and design a magazine, using a blog to illustrate their progress.

OTARA design model (Hunt,2013)

I have used the OTARA design model to illustrate the activity-centred approach I wish to incorporate into the paper.  

• Objectives - These are the learning outcomes
• Themes - I will base my lesson plans around these making them generic enough that any destination can be used
• Activities - How they will do this
• Resources - What we will use
• Assessments - Marking criteria to show evidence

In previous papers I have explored the importance of scaffolding the learning so that each segment fits together and builds on the last, I have used an example of 'making a cup of tea' and how the sequence is crucial to the end product, see Link to learning sequences.  I plan to build on each of the 'themes' during the paper so that they have all the resources to be able to produce a travel magazine.

My philosophical approach to teaching has been explored in a previous post see Link to Teaching Philosophy, as has my paradigm in which I teach and I believe that Vygotsky's approach fits best with my aims, beliefs and values.  See Link to Vygotsky's constructivism approach.


References;
Hunt, K. & Moore, M. (n.d.). resources.Learning, design and editing. Retrieved October 7, 2013, from http://kjh.co.nz/otara/

All other references in linked posts.

Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education - Reflective Practice

My understanding of reflective practice is reflecting on my strengths and weaknesses and looking at areas for improvement and development. " Continuous quality improvement in the short term and using evidence e.g. student evaluations to improve content and delivery in the long term". (Bauer, 2010).

For my learner centred learning paper I did a critical review of my teaching practice and created a lesson plan for the session on Human Rights.  See the link below which gives an over-view of the session, my observations and reflections regarding how it went, what happened, how it could be improved and plans for the future.

Link to critical review of teaching practice

During the planning for this session I focused on resources that would have some relevance to the students and considered interesting stories that would help them to link the learning with their own experiences, recognising that "(S)tories and dialogue can be effective technologies for the reflective process because they provide cognitively complex and culturally potent systems for conveying the way we think about, feel about, and make connections in experience"(Amulya, 2013, p.3).
I find using this technique helps when I ask them to remember back to a previous session and use the story to prompt their memories, this helps them link the learning together and make sense of previous sessions.

Using the lesson plan created for this session, I have added some 'in action' reflection and some reflection 'on my action'.  See below;

Amulya (2013) points out that "a person could reflect very frequently, bringing a high level of awareness to her thoughts and actions, but rarely stopping to look across what she has noticed to consider what could be learned by exploring her patterns of thinking across different situations".  In other words, diversely reflecting on the good, the bad and the ugly, at any stage before, during or after. Then "analysing the learning that has emerged", rather than recognising it has happened but not doing anything to change or enhance the experience at a later stage.

"Kolb's Learning cycle proposes that learners plan for and have concrete experiences that they reflect on and derive meaning from.  They do this by making connections and contextualising the experience within their existing knowledge framework.  Learning from and through experience is therefore at the heart of reflective practice." (International staff, 2012)
Learning through experience
Link to Kolbs Cycle of Experience

In earlier posts I have discussed the way I have introduced blogs with my diploma students and have linked the research surrounding the inportant reflective opportunities these processes provide.  I have found my own blog an amazing reflective tool and use the previous learning that I have done to illustrate new and emerging learning that is currently happening.  In the future I hope to start introducing blogs to my certificate students, to help encourage them to use the blogs to reflect on their and others work.



References:

Bauer, Gabriele . "Become A Reflective Practitioner -- Bauer - YouTube." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWnpsiwmups.


Amula, Joy. "What is reflective practice?." itslifejimbutnotasweknowit. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 June 2013. <http://itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files

International staff, 2012, Learning and teaching.  Retrieved from;http://www.internationalstaff.ac.uk/learning-and-teaching/developing-reflective-practise/

GCTLT - Constructing Courses to Enhance Learning - Analysis of Learners and Context

• The Diploma of Travel and Tourism is a one year level 5 course (120 credits, 45 credits at level 5) that sits within the Business and IT areas, due to the current re-shuffle, not a school any more but an entity(now called;College of Enterprise and Development).  This programme has a blended delivery format with an emphasis on self-directed learning, the programme is loaded onto wiki-educator and the students have project based assessments which they predominantly complete in teams. Study takes the form of a mix of projects, face-to-face classes and team work/study, with a strong focus on using the programme wiki as a resource and the course blogs as a communication tool.
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• The minimum entry requirement is a Certificate in Applied Travel and Tourism (Level 3) which we offer as an entry level qualification, this introduces learners to possible employment as travel agents, tour guides or reception/reservation positions within the hospitality/tourism industry. The majority of our students stay on to complete the diploma after finishing the certificate, for those that just want to complete the diploma there is an interview process that they go through.  This is done mainly to outline the workload, ensure they have the minimum qualifications required and gain an over-view of their personality type. 
• They must have a minimum of four NCEA credits at Level 2 in reading and writing and 8 credits at Level one in mathematics.
• If English is not their first language, they must also demonstrate English language skills and qualifications. 
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• For the programme to be viable our minimum number of students is twelve and over the last couple of years we have scraped through with this number.  This has had an impact on the amount of papers that have been able to run e.g. Nouveau and adventure tourism were not offered this year due to lack of numbers.
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• The paper I would like to re-design is at level 4 and is called International Destination. The students explore the geographical, climatic, cultural and heritage aspects of a chosen destination and examine the attractions and ancillary services provided for visitors.  The destination is chosen each year and as a team they have to put together a travel magazine, this year it was the UK.  The over-all structure of the paper is great with good assessments, quizzes, guest speakers and resources, but the wiki is undeveloped  and with only one class a week, the students are required to do a lot of self-directed or group planning and they find this difficult to co-ordinate.
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• Analysis of Learners  
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Analysis of learners adapted from Hegarty(2013)

What is going to be changed and why

I am going to re-develop the wiki to include a more structured approach to the lessons linking them more closely to the assessments, the group dynamics and the formation of the blogs.  Also add the blogs to the wiki.  See the link for the front page of the wiki also an example of one of the student team blogs.
Link to Destination UK

Link to student blog

I taught the paper for the first time last semester and organised a guest speaker from England Ireland, Scotland and Wales over a 10 week period.  They gave their first hand experiences of growing up in these countries and why they felt tourists would want to visit.  We held discussions in class and each of the assessments were introduced.  The students were split into two groups based loosely on the results of a Myers briggs personality quiz.  They had to meet each week, allocate tasks, collaborate on the content and the design of the magazine and write a brief synopsis of their meeting on the blog.  This process was plagued with absences at meetings, lack of responsibility, work not done and a general in-ability to be self directed.

• I am going to focus on producing more detailed lesson plans incorporating and linking the guest speaker themes with quizzes and the assessments
• I am also going to incorporate more team building activities to help each group to bond and work together more closely
• Have a combination of group and individual assessments, this is based on their feedback regarding them relying on others to gain an overall pass mark

Goals for the design phase

• Detailed lesson plans linking to the assessments
• Team building activities
• Analyse the learning outcomes and see if some of the assessments can be marked individually

The graduate profile that the organisation, the industry and other stakeholders are looking for are students that are self directed, confident, have robust literacy and numeracy skills, can work constructively in team situations and  can actively problem solve.  Paul Smith, Director of the Dunedin Fringe Festival says;

“We love Otago Polytechnic graduates because they’re creative, passionate and willing to do what it takes to create extraordinary events.” Smith (2013).

References:

Kim Komando, (2013).  Humanmetrics.  Retrieved 20 August from;

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/jtypes2.asp

Otago Polytechnic (2013).  Retrieved 20 August from; http://www.op.ac.nz/

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Graduate Diploma in Tertiary Education - Practice Context - Dual Professional Roles

Introduction
I'm currently completing my GCTLT and have been using this blog as a forum for all my assessments.  This is my first Diploma paper and I shall continue to use this to build up my evidence for my portfolio.
I teach on the Certificate and Diploma papers for Travel and Tourism, teach coffee making courses for OUSA and occasionally lend a helping hand on a function, the latest one was at the Regent theatre.  A formal dinner for 300 pax as part of a two day conference.

My Story;
Being a dual professional as both a tertiary educator and expert practitioner in the workplace what does this mean?  I looked at the you tube clips and read the articles around this topic and thought about what this meant to me in my context.  This diagram illustrates my understanding of what this means;

Diagram showing the knowledge transfer used when in the role of a dual
professional

I think it comes down to giving learners authentic, relevant and up-to-date experiences, information and stories, that relate directly to the workplace.  For example the students working on the Conference and Event paper are currently planning a lunch which requires them to plan, liaise, advertise and market this event in a team.  Peter Coolbear, (2012) sees "active and enquiry oriented learning is a key part of the repertoire of these educators."  My job is to advise, mentor and negotiate with them, ensuring that all the learning outcomes are met.  The course outline is on wiki educator, the students form a company, brand and image.  They plan a three day conference and liaise with another lecturer who poses as the client.  A blog is created along the way and the students produce a portfolio for assessment.  "Capable 21st Century tertiary educators are...., partners with their learners and negotiate the learning environment and opportunities with them." (Coolbear, 2012).

Example of student blog entry

This blog entry illustrates the collaborative, team approach used within this paper.

An article in The Guardian (2011), discusses the benefits of trying to combine a teaching/Industry career as the "teaching forces them to keep their practice, and their knowledge, up to date." Andalo, (2011).  Teaching also "bring(s) a different perspective to the workplace".  The article uses a variety of different professions as demonstrated by this quote;

'Dr Adrian Byrne who is a consultant anaesthetist and a senior lecturer and director of programmes at Swansea medical school in Wales reveals how this process feeds into his teaching work': "We bring a sense of reality and we have the ability to tell stories which is hugely underrated. We can come out with some terrifying and profound stories which students never forget."(Andalo,(2011),
but I feel that the story telling aspect of this is quite true and it is these narrative that are remembered by the learner.

The final point I think is important is by embracing a dual practitioners role there are many benefits to your own personal development, it keeps you in touch with industry professionals from many different environments which helps to provide you with a much broader perspective of the industry sectors, which ultimately helps with networking and in maintaining a mentoring role.

I think it is really important to maintain strong links with Industry, whether it is in a consultancy role, providing workplace assessments or working alongside Industry to create authentic work experiences for our learners.  These are some of the areas I would like to progress my own professional development in. 

References;

Coolbear,P. (2012).  Professional development for Tertiary Educators.  Retrieved from; http://www.education review.co.nz

Otago Polytechnic,(2012). Retrieved from; http://wikieducator.org/Requirements_of_a_Tertiary Educator

Andalo, D. (2011, March21).  The rise of dual profession lecturers. The Guardian:Higher Education Network. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2011/mar/21/part-time-lecturers-dual-profession

Teaching philosophy

Concept/beliefs central to my teaching philosophy

My teaching philosophy is based around providing a safe environment where participants are able to make mistakes, share, build productive relationships and learn from each other.  I believe in the importance of building mutual respect, creating an environment of support and providing the students with challenges that instill passion and a positive attitude, whilst encouraging and empowering them to pursue further learning opportunities into the future.

One concept/belief that supports learner centred learning

One of the main beliefs that underpins my philosophy is the concept of teaching and learning and that you cannot do one without the other.  See my earlier post Ako and teaching philosophy.  This philosophy is supported by Weimer (2002) who states  'In order for teaching to more effectively promote learning, instructional practice needs to change in five areas.'  One of the five areas that she focuses on is '(t)he responsibility for learning' and states that in order for us to effectively promote learning there needs to be 'activities to create constructive classroom climates and let there be logical consequences.' Effectively saying that the teacher/learner roles become blurred and the learners become more 'autonomous' as their confidence grows.  The teacher must learn to hand over more responsibility to the learner.

Relevance/application

Examples of this in my own teaching practice are outlined in an earlier post regarding learning sequences Learning sequences and the importance of arranging a session plan in a logical progression, building on activities throughout the session and slowly ensuring the complexity increases as the 'picture' is created. This also fits well with Vygotsky's (1978) constructivism approach Constructivism where the learners take an 'active' part in the process or class structure.
I believe in finding out peoples strengths and using these during group activities where students are co-ordinating a session or activity.   In this way I am learning from my learners, my role becomes three-fold in as much as I am;

• Teaching the learner to become more autonomous
• Learning from the learner
• Helping the student learn to teach/instruct

Weimer (2002) highlights this as another of her 'changes to practice' and argues that 'content should be used to build a knowledge base and to develop learning skills and learner self-awareness.' 

Alton-Lee (2003) states that "it (ako) recognises the knowledge that both teachers and learners bring to learning interactions, and it acknowledges the way that new knowledge and understandings can grow out of shared learning experiences".  This fits very well with the constructivism approach that believes learners come with their own thoughts, ideas,understanding and knowledge and have much to contribute in the learning process and this should be reciprocated.

The principle of Ako also 'affirms the value of pair and group learning approaches in which students interact with their peers, teachers, tasks and resources.' (Alton-Lee,2003).  This is where focusing on the context, in particular room set up and how and where the students sit helps to determine how well they interact and share in their learning.  Drawing on their own life experiences and stories can help build connections, trust and a sense of belonging.  See earlier post on Learning in context.  This style of interaction suits Maori and pacific Island learners by using a holistic approach in their encounters.

Another technique I use to apply my teaching philosophy is that of understanding the importance of providing 'real life' experiences for the students to make their learning connections.  Whether it is role plays, field trips or work experience.  Previous adult learning theory research that I have explored has indicated the importance of creating experiences that take into consideration all the different learning styles that my students have, variety is the key! Other Adult Learning Theory thoughts.  This approach ensures that the visual, auditory, kinesthetic learners all have an opportunity to progress and learn during a session.

The concept of Ako also relies on deliberate acts of teaching where interactions are set up and during these sessions the teacher reflects on the process and uses this to improve future  encounters. Reflection and reflective practice .

My focus on Ako as a concept of my teaching philosophy has shown that new knowledge and understanding can grow out of shared learning experiences.  I endeavour to constantly challenge myself and my students by providing a caring and inclusive teaching environment where they feel safe to take risks.  An environment where I am not only improving my teaching techniques by providing constant quality and up to date resources, but I am learning from my immediate environment and reflecting on that to ensure improvements are always made.  

References;


Retrieved June 19 from; Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice available online: www.josseybass.com Maryellen Weimer (2003)

Retrieved June 20 from; http://tereomaori.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-guidelines/Teaching-and-learning-te-reo-Maori/Aspects-of-planning/The-concept-of-ako

Module Six - Adult Learning Theories - Principles and Practices

I have explored adult learning theories in previous papers for the GCTLT, so I thought I would look at  Vygotsky and his constructivism approach as this view fits well with what I do and what I believe.
My understanding of this is that the learner comes with their own thoughts, ideas, understanding and knowledge, with their own unique and diverse background, up-bringing and culture.  If all this can influence the impact on their learning, then it is vitally important that we get to know our learners as quickly as possible.
The quality of the learning experience and how well they are constructed relies heavily on how well we know the learner, so that they in turn can assess and compare this with previous life experiences. (Knowing what to do). (Literacy and numeracy, 2010)
I do try to build in a reflection process into my teaching style, this takes on a variety of forms e.g. individual questionnaires, group feedback, self and peer reflection.  These help me make informed decisions for improvement.

Vygotsky's (1978) social development theory 'promotes learning contexts in which students play an active role in learning. Roles of the teacher and student are therefore shifted, as a teacher should collaborate with his or her students in order to help facilitate meaning construction in students. Learning therefore becomes a reciprocal experience for the students and teacher.' (Haufather, 1996).
That concept of Ako comes through very strongly with this constructivism theory.


References;

Retrieved June 17 from http://www.learning-theories.com/vygotskys-social-learning-theory.html

Hausfather, Samuel J., (1996) Vygotsky and Schooling: Creating a Social Contest for learning.
Action in Teacher Education.(18) 1-10.
Retrieved June 15 from https://www.literacyandnumeracyforadults.com/resources/356269