Standard 6: Engage in Professional Learning
Professional development involves the
implementation and planning of teacher learning in order to enhance student
learning and achievement (Bound, 2011). Bound (2011) states that professional
development not only takes place through organised formal sessions through the
school or institution in which a person is employed, but also through projects
which involve teachers investigating ideas which they feel require further development
individually or as a cohort. In order to achieve the intended learning outcomes
for teachers, they need to immerse themselves in actual situations, literature
and communities which are able to provide them with the information and
resources required to advance their own teaching pedagogies (Bound, 2011). According to Aydin, et al.,
(2013), the most effective means of stimulating and fostering better teaching
practices, is when teachers are in their pre-service years of teaching in which
they learn and gather vast amounts of information, including through the
observation of their peers. It can be seen that professional development cannot
be merely taken by graduate teachers over a short period of time with the
expectation of immediate results, but rather over a longer and sustained period
where they develop their own professional development programs, that
encompasses the knowledge and experience handed down to them by their peers (Marsh, 2010). It must also be noted that
professional development programs are only a small but very crucial part of a
teacher’s overall development (Marsh, 2010).
Ultimately, professional development programs must be complemented by ongoing
constructive feedback from peers, in order for teacher learning to have a
maximum impact on the way teachers engage with and teach their students (Bound,
2011).
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Artefact 1: Associate teacher Comments
Annotation: Focus area 6.2, involves
teachers engaging in professional learning and improved practice which has
been clearly evidenced in my end of teaching round report as highlighted in
yellow below, through which my mentor teacher spoke highly of
myself in making the effort to be involved in as many aspects of school life as
possible during my placement. I attended and participated in
professional conversations at professional learning team meetings and after
school staff meetings, as a means of improving my own
professional practice as a pre service teacher.
Artefact 2: Associate Teacher Feedback From Lesson
Annotation: The first image within
artefact 2 demonstrates my fill in associate teacher's feedback in regards to a
lesson I conducted with my junior school students. I understood that the
feedback that was provided in the lesson was in order for me to develop my
teaching effectiveness in the future and with this in mind, my subsequent
lesson involved applying this feedback which resulted in the evaluation
seen in the second image of this artefact. This directly exhibits my
demonstration of focus area 6.3 of the Australian Professional Standards for
Graduate Teachers.
Artefact 3: TESOL Professional Development Program
Annotation: As part of a unit undertaken
at the Australian Catholic University which focuses on
teaching English as a second language, I was required to develop a
professional workshop presentation in relation to students who are from a
background in which their first language is not English. In the
near future, I hope to attend a large number of professional development
(PD) programs which in turn can only help to improve my
own student's learning and development. In engaging in
ongoing professional learning, similar to the professional
workshop I created, I am able to apply this learning henceforth improve
student learning and satisfying focus area 6.4 of the Australian Professional
Standards for Graduate Teachers.