Week 28 Reflection - Activity 4
Week 28: Reflection.
Activity 4: Applied Practice 2 in Context
It is the Teachers’ Council that confirms and
registers (New
Zealand Teacher Registration Board, 1991: 12) any good character person who
is “fit to be a teacher” (Education Council, 2017). However, the making
of that particular teacher is the responsibility of various education experts
like teacher training lecturers, schools’ principals, vice and assistant
principals, team/syndicate leaders, associate teachers, teacher appraisers and
the individual teachers.
What?
It was the fourth day, of the first two weeks, of
my final student teacher practicum at the school. I was in a class of 34
students. My associate teacher was admitted in the hospital the night before
the two Year 8 classes’ trip. A reliever and one parent appeared in the
classroom before the bus left for the EOTC venue. Just before we left, the
syndicate leader told me that the class was all mine. “Really? Are you coming?”
I asked. He wasn’t, but confirmed that I was responsible for the class.
The trip went smoothly at the start but it didn’t
last longer. One girl pushed a boy who sent a weird email to her Year 7 sister
three weeks ago from the school during the class ICT. Luckily, the parent
helper at the trip was the boy’s uncle who parted and stopped them. They were
informed that the matter would be dealt with the following day in school.
So What?
I was extremely shocked, nervous and worried. I
hadn’t enough time to make the best decision. The safety of 34 students and I
was risked. I assumed the syndicate leader would come with us to meet the adult
students’ ratio. I remembered the legal adult students’ ratio of 1 to 10 from
one of the university lectures. I thought of telling the syndicate leader that
it was illegal for me to be alone with the class. Since students already walked
to the bus, it would be chaotic to cancel the trip right away.
It was only my sixth day of building a learning
focused relationship with the learners, whanau/aiga and the community and a
professional relationship with the staff as I would be back for another 6 weeks
to conclude my practicum. I wondered about the students’ medical conditions.
What if any medical issue arose on the day? What if any accident
happened? Who would be responsible?
Now What?
The trip should be cancelled for the following reasons:
- It didn’t meet the
legal adult students’ ratio
- Illegally, I
shouldn’t be alone with the class.
- I didn’t know the
students well – their behavior and medical conditions
- Any signed consents
for the children?
Only if time permitted and to align with
education morals (Wilson, 1967; Tom, 1984; Goodlad, Soder and Sirotnik, 1990), I should have reminded
the team leader the legal procedures around student teachers with pupils. I
should have called the university or contacted the school’s practicum contact
person for advice. It would be helpful too to clearly explain to the class the
reasons why they wouldn’t go if the trip was cancelled.
At school, the associate teacher should call a
meeting with the children, their parents and syndicate leader to discuss the
emails’ conflict, consequences and solutions depending on the problem’s roots
and evidence due to breach of ICT (Livingstone, 2009). The principal should
have been informed regarding the syndicate leader’s decision.
References
Children and the
Internet: Great Expectations, Challenging Realities. Livingstone, S. (2009)
Goodlad, J.I., Soder, R. and Sirotnik, K.A. (eds) (1990). The
moral dimensions of teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
New
Zealand Teacher Registration Board (1991). The registration of teachers.
Wellington: NZTRB.
Tom, A. (1984). Teaching as a moral craft. New York: Longman.
Wilson, J. (1967). What is moral education? Part 1. In Wilson, J.,
Williams, N. and Sugarman, B. (Eds.), Introduction to moral education.
Baltimore: Penguin Books
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