- Why is the ability to critically understand issues important in your profession?
- To what extent does critical thinking inform your teaching practice?
Critical thinking
I have to be open minded. I cant go in thinking I am the only one with a solution. I may not even see the problem at first. I do spend a lot of time looking for accurate information in the SCT role. To get a full picture of the situations involving the teachers I am working with I need to ask a lot of questions and do a number of observations. Its all about gathering the evidence I need to make informed decisions and suggest possible solutions to problems OR help a teacher to come to a solution themselves (preferable) So there is evidence gathering and then substantial analysis of this evidence.- I am regularly curious about what is going on in other classes. What are people doing out there? Who is doing the really innovative stuff? Who is doing ordinary things really well? who is combining the innovative with the best practice? Who can I recommend to visit? Who do I want to visit? Who would those Best practitioners visit and what would they be able to give to the people they visited?
- Everything I see raises more questions. What can we do better - how can I improve my practice and deliver better quality to those I work with?
- When looking at a situation I am bound to consider a variety of viewpoints. The POV of the students in the class, the POV of the teacher, The POV of the Teachers' Council.....
- Listening is huge. It's the thing I need to do more of. If I just listen, people often identify and solve their own problems.
- Many just need a sounding board. One of the most valuable questions I have learned to ask is "what do you want to happen..?" This also helps with separating out reason from emotion
The community I serve is multicultural. The school is multicultural - 47% Pakeha/European, 24% Asian, 6% Maori, 7% Pasifika, 8% Indian
The smaller community I work with as PRTs is also diverse. Maori - the one te Reo teacher, a Turkish immigrant, several pakeha NZers and their experiences of multicultural education are equally as mixed.
- Why is being able to communicate in cross cultural contexts an important value in your context?
Relationships are fundamental and if we cant communicate across cultures we cant establish those relationships
- How/ is building and maintaining a pattern of right relationship with people a political act?
- How is culturally appropriate practice an ethical issue?
- How is is a social justice issue?
- In what ways do privilege and social power determine how culture is practiced?
If your school community - wider geographically speaking - taking in families and the local area - also happens to be largely white privileged and socially empowered - you will receive support from them in undertaking these measures listed above. BUT you will not notice. You will take this as approval. You will take this as consent. You will seldom actively seek the feedback from the minority - claiming that they 'never bother to respond anyway' thus dismissing their opinions.