Standard 7 Engage professionally with colleagues, parents/carers and the community.
Standard 7.1 Meet professional ethics and responsibilities
Understand and apply the key principles described in codes of ethics and conduct for the teaching profession.
The excerpt to the right is an example of the acknowledgement of professional standards set by my university and the adherence to these policies. In particular, the adherence to professional conduct, appropriate attire, and proper attendance.
The excerpt to the left indicates acknowledgement of understanding of Oakleigh Grammar's child safety commitment policy.
7.1 Critical reflection
In every practical placement duration, I have always read and made sure important school policies were understood and subsequently strictly upheld, particularly with regarding student safety. This was seen in lesson plans ensuring safe student conduct, observations for yard duty and having a zero tolerance to bullying which is common in schools today. I have always dressed appropriately, met attendance requirements, treated all members of staff and students with respect and complied with the code of conduct of the school.
Standard 7.2 Comply with legislative, administrative and organizational requirements
Understand the relevant legislative, administrative and organizational policies and processes required for teachers according to school stage
This excerpt is taken from St Peters College student rights responsibilities and regulations policy. It clearly outlines the rights of the student within the school and their responsibilities towards their peers. It is the responsibility of staff to ensure these rights and responsibilities are adhered to within each classroom at all times.
The excerpt to the right was taken from the staff code of conduct in which appropriate measures to support student safety is outlined.
The excerpt to the left is taken from Balcombe Grammar’s mandatory reporting policy in which the safety and well-being of young learners is an educator's top priority. The guidelines and procedures of mandatory reporting are clearly outlined and whilst no student concerns were evident during my placement, the document was read and fully comprehended with all supporting documents secured in a safe location.
This is an excerpt taken from the Child safe code of conduct at Balcombe Grammar which is to be followed and adhered to by all persons interacting with students. Here it clearly outlines appropriate behaviours expected of those persons working with students and as such, these were often implemented in lessons.
7.2 Critical reflection
Throughout all of my placement experiences I have never allowed any confidential documents pertaining to students or school policies to be left unattended or within easy reach of non-critical persons. These have always been stored in a safe location to be viewed at the convenience of my supervising teachers, other staff members to which checking of safety of documents is applicable or myself.
All important school policies were read and particularly in terms of behaviour management, student safety, staff code of conduct and ICT policies in the management of cyberbullying, they were strictly adhered to, with the support of my supervising teachers and implemented where applicable in the lesson plans.
Standard 7.3 Engage with parents/carers
Understand strategies for working effectively, sensitively and confidentially with parents/carers
This excerpt is from parent teacher interviews undertaken at St Peters, it clearly demonstrates documentation of communications between parents and myself in a respectful and professional manner, in addition to showing sensitivity to parents of different backgrounds and their insecurities regarding online learning and upcoming assessments. Lastly, I learnt from observing my supervising teacher of the processes regarding effective communication strategies for parent teacher interviews.
1st placement at St Peters
7.3 Critical reflection
One important strategy that I have observed in effectively communicating with parents is through parent teacher interviews. Whilst I have had minimal contact with parents in general, I have observed the importance of language in communicating with parents of different backgrounds and seen its effectiveness in relieving any concerns of worries parents may habour.
For my own part, at St Peters during parent teacher interviews all comments were undertaken with the sincerest respect and empathy towards parents and their concerns, the conversations were documented, and when student work was shown and I was asked to provide comments, they were positive with room for improvement spoken in a positive manner.
Standard 7.4 Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities
Understand the role of external professionals and community representatives in broadening teachers’ professional knowledge and practice
These are excerpts from a 2023 curriculum map I created for Oakleigh Grammar using the updated Australian Curriculum incorporating my own ideas regarding these descriptors. Afterwards I engaged in a professional discussion with the head of Arts and my supervising teacher where these ideas were presented and discussed.
These lesson plans are excerpts of the meeting held on the previous day regarding how to assist students learning. The lesson I learnt during the meeting was that YouTube videos are not always as helpful as assumed and it is important to foster effective group collaboration skills. In this lesson, I incorporated the instruction that students were to collaborate and effectively choose their own group members in which they felt more comfortable contributing with and no YouTube videos were used in this lesson. Instead, verbal instructions were provided.
7.4 Critical reflection
Throughout my placement experiences, in particular St Peters, there were many professional development meetings in which I attended and many of which were found to be inspirational for my lessons with students. In particular were the meetings that fostered group collaboration as seen from a student's perspective to allow members of staff to better empathize with young learners. This allowed me to have a changed perception on student collaboration, where I discovered that just because a teacher insists on collaborative efforts, does not account for actuality. Students must trust and be comfortable working with one another and as such, I allowed students to select their own trusted group members.
At Oakleigh Grammar, I engaged in frequent professional discussions with members of staff and offered my opinions regarding appropriate selective music activities using the Australian Curriculum and in alignment with Oakleigh Grammar’s focus on Inquiry and creative and critical thinking. In particular was the use of Google Chrome Music Lab which was highly successful and engaging for young learners.