Emily Willett

18593655

PP2- Reflection 2

While my first professional practice was at an all-boys catholic school, this professional
practice was a complete change of scenery at a co-education public school. I have thoroughly
enjoyed my experience at xxx and have found that with an extremely supportive mentor
teacher and a supportive faculty, the opportunities for professional and personal growth have
been significant.

I quickly learnt the importance of clear and explicit instructions for students, however the
practicality of providing these for students can often be a challenge and a skill that I am still
developing. While I have been constantly trying to improve the clarity of my instructions, I
have been shocked by how difficult I have found this and the assumptions I have made about
students and what they would know or not know to do. In one of my earlier lessons I provided
students with an opportunity to develop a poster based on our unit of work. Students were
provided with limited instruction as I felt that this would allow them to embrace their
creativity. On the contrary, students were unsure of what was expected of them and as a
result they were reluctant to work and misbehaviour arose. While students love the
opportunity to demonstrate their learning in various mediums and should be allowed this
opportunity, they still require the structure and scaffolding which is essential in order for
them to achieve (Lazonder & Harmsen, 2016). I was disappointed in the outcomes of the
lesson as what I expected of the students was quite different to the work they produced.
However, on reflection, it became evident that it was unfair to be disappointed in the
students inability to meet my outcomes, as I had not shared with them exactly what I wanted
and expected of them. Vygotzkys theory of the importance of scaffolding for the zone of
proximal development was purely evident in my classroom (Marsh, Clarke & Pittaway, 2014).
In future lessons, students were able to gain a deeper understanding of the content when I
was able to clearly express to them what I wanted them to achieve and provided the
scaffolding in order for them to achieve it. These lessons created successful teaching and
learning opportunities where all students had the ability to achieve and therefore their
motivation and engagement levels were increased and misbehaviour decreased.
Observing my mentor teacher, I noticed the different positive reinforcement systems he used
within the classroom. After one lesson where there were some behaviour management
issues, my mentor encouraged me to reflect on my use of negative reinforcement and
punishment in the class and to consider the use of positive reinforcement as a way of
improving classroom behaviour. As a student teacher, I have found it very easy to slip into
noticing the misbehaving students and giving them my energy, whereas students who are
working hard and quietly have often been overlooked. I found that the benefits of using
positive reinforcement were profound and they go beyond just simply improving the
classroom behaviour. At the end of the lesson, it is so much more rewarding to have
recognised those students who are working well than to reflect on all of the negative
behaviour within the classroom. Research has shown that teachers who do not have positive
coping skills in place are more likely to use punishment rather than positive reinforcement
(Salkovsky, Romi & Lewis, 2015). Given the stressful and often emotionally draining nature of
the teaching profession, I believe it is essential to have positive coping mechanisms in place.
Using rewards and positive reinforcement helps produce a positive learning environment
where good work is rewarded and quality learning opportunities are available. Rather than
leaving the classroom frustrated, being consistent and deliberate with positive reinforcement
strategies meant that I was in a much happier mental state. The reduction of behavioural
issues is also really important as I found that even those students who were normally
distracting others were working hard to try and earn the rewards. This professional practice
has been a wonderful learning experience for me and I am now able to take these reward
systems into my future classrooms, hopefully with the same success.

Often, the best learning occurs after mistakes. When there were lessons where students
misbehaved, I was encouraged to reflect on that lesson and consider why students
misbehaved and how I could improve the learning experience for them and also for the rest
of the class. I have found that as a teacher, timing is critical. There is the balance between
allowing enough time for students to develop a deep understanding before they become
disengaged and misbehave. One area where this timing seemed even more important was
when the teaching was teacher centred rather than student centred learning. It was often
during these times that misbehaviour increased and students were more likely to be
disengaged. I had to try to provide students with learning opportunities that engaged them
in their learning. I found inquiry based learning to be a highly effective strategy as research
has suggested (Fung, To & Leung, 2016). When students were in control of their own learning
experiences and I was a facilitator rather than the teacher, students were much more
engaged and also produced work of an exceptional quality. It was essential I provided
students with scaffolding for this inquiry based tasked as research has demonstrated this is
necessary for it to be effective (Lazonder & Harmsen, 2016). However, the students were able
to work in groups to discover their own knowledge and then used this knowledge to share
with the class. I truly enjoyed this classroom experience and I believe the students did too. It
highlighted to me the importance of incorporating new pedagogies into my classroom. I found
it easy to slip into the traditional teaching methods, particularly in a school were resources
were limited. Despite limited supplies, students can be provided with inquiry based learning
opportunities as long as the teacher has a clear idea of what they expect and has planned the
lesson effectively.

Overall, I had a wonderful experience at xxxx High and I believe that my six weeks was an
invaluable time for learning some of the essential skills of teaching. While I still have a long
way to go with my teaching, I feel much more confident in my teaching abilities and look
forward to continuing my professional development.
References:

Fung, D., To, H., Leung, K. (2016). The influence of collaborative group work on students
development of critical thinking: the teachers role in facilitating group discussions.
Pedagogies: An International Journal, 11(2), 146-166.

Lazonder, A., & Harmsen, R. (2016). Meta-Analysis of Inquiry Based Learning. Review of
Educational Research, 86(3), 681-718

Marsh C., Clarke, M., & Pittaway, S. (2014). Marshs Becoming A Teacher. New South Wales:
Pearson Australia Group

Salkovsky, M., Romi, S., & Lewis, R. (2015). Teachers coping styles and factors inhibiting
teachers preferred classroom management practice. Teaching and Teacher Education,
48, 56-65.