18023901 Contemporary Teacher Leadership- Assignment 2

Assignment 2 – Part 1: Group Video

YouTube Link:
https://youtu.be/q0OgswUgiF8?fbclid=IwAR0aHmj_QN3tbfMyhby41gwLtzhVX6rl8VmjV
W26fNfJpkIZlpy8tWf26M4

Group: Team 11B Tuesday 1:30 PM

Assignment 2 – Part 2- Critical reflection

My critical reflection for the unit of Contemporary Teacher Leadership will address my

understanding of the unit as well as the role that a teacher plays in working collaboratively.

The reflection will look at the importance of change agents and the importance of

collaborating as a group. I will reflect on the experiences of being a part of a group in this

unit along with the positive and negatives that have arisen from group work. Drawing upon

literature that I have engaged with in this unit, I will be reflecting on how this has impacted

my own beliefs in relation to the role of a teacher and the role of a leader.

Through undertaking this unit, I have been able to recognise that constant change is

inevitable when looking at the profession of teaching. When looking at change I myself as a

future teacher will need to change and be ready for this change as well as look to become a

change agent as a teacher. The first week of this unit looked at the idea of teachers being a

change agent. Colucci (2013) looked at five beliefs that stopped teachers from being leaders.

The list reflects the issues that some teachers may face if they take the step towards becoming

a leader. It looks at the idea that leadership positions can sometimes by daunting and it also

drew upon the idea that teachers give in to the idea that they’re “just a teacher” and that it is

only the administration within a school that can implement change (Colucci, 2013). It is

important to understand that we are not just teachers, and that we have the ability to be

change agents and have the ability to implement change. Not only is this idea relevant to this

unit but it also has relevance in regard to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.
For example, standard 6.4 requires teachers to “Apply professional learning and improve

student learning (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership). This reinforces

the idea that teachers can be agents for change by create having a positive impact on student

learning.

A further example that looked at the idea of teachers becoming change agents looked at

teachers reflecting on their own teaching and thus using this reflection to grow as educators.

By reflecting on their own practices and pedagogies, teachers are able to make appropriate

improvements for the future in a way that could possible assist students in improving their

own learning (Hurd & Licciardo-Musso, 2005). Self-reflection looks at teachers evaluating

their own pedagogies and assessing the effectiveness of their own teaching in relation to

improving student achievement (Noormohammadi, 2014). By consistently engaging in

critical reflection of our own teaching practices, this allows us to make changes where needed

so that we are working towards better practices, thus allowing for student improvement. After

studying this unit and after completing my Second Professional Practice, I have tried to

reflect as much as possible on my own teaching. I have used lesson plan templates that

include an evaluation and reflection section so that I can include the things that I did well and

the things that I could improve on. By consistently engaging in critical reflection, I believe

this will help in becoming a change agent

Reflecting on our own practices as teachers as well as evaluating the effectiveness of our own

lessons, can help us in making adjustments to our teaching strategies and thus improve

student achievement (Noormohammadi, 2014). Self-evaluation should be a continual process

in trying to change our own pedagogies and ultimately changing students’ learning.
However, reflecting on your own practice to implement change is not the only form of

change that a teacher can partake in. Harrison & Killion (2007) list the numerous roles that a

teacher leader can undertake. One of these roles looks at the idea of teachers being mentors.

After reflecting on my Second Prac, I was able to realise that I acted like a mentor to another

Teacher Student who was at the same school that I was. This Teacher Student was on his

First Prac and asked me if he could observe my class because he had been struggling to deal

with the behavioural issues that were arising in his class. From using the advice and feedback

that my mentor gave me, I was able to pass this on to the Teacher Student to advise him how

he should best go about structuring his lessons. This highlights the idea that my mentor

assisted me via feedback, and I was able to do the same for the Teacher Student. Teachers

engaging in collaboration with other teachers can have a snowballing that encourages other

teachers to always be reflecting on their own teaching practices (Hurd & Licciardo-Musso,

2005).

When looking at the idea of change and teachers working together collaboratively, this was

put into practice throughout the unit and in relation to the second assignment. In our second

assignment, our group created a project to enhance students’ literacy skills of our targeted

school through the use of ICT to create meaningful learning. This project allowed not only

me but other group members the opportunity to engage in a professional manner, similar to

that of a staffroom at a school. Again, this has relevance to the Australian Professional

Standards for Teachers. Standard 6.3 looks at engaging with colleagues and improving

practice (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership). Collaboration was

massive part of this project and as such, we communicated via zoom meetings, a Facebook

messenger group chat, and creating a google doc to compile all our work as a group effort.

One of the challenges that arose whilst completing this second assignment was coordinating

the best time for us to meet up face to face as a group. Of course, we had the aforementioned
platforms to use, however, it was imperative to meet up as a group so that work

collaboratively in discussing ideas and voicing any concerns that we had about our project.

One thing that I learnt about in relation to the second assignment is that when working as a

group it is a good idea to work out your group members strengths and work towards them. I

made it known to my group that I would be able to edit the video and as such I took on that

role.

Overall, this unit has made me realise the importance of teachers in being able to take

on the role of a change agent as well as a leader. It has also made me aware of the

benefits of working collaboratively and it has provided me with the insight of what it is

like to working towards a goal as a group.

 References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (n.d.). Australian Professional

Standards for Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/teach/standards

Colucci, A. (2013). Five Beliefs That Hold Teachers Back From Leading. Education Week

Teacher. Retrieved from

https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/09/10/ctq_colucci_leaders.html

Hurd, J., & Licciardo-Musso, L. (2005). Lesson Study: Teacher-Led Professional Development

in Literacy Instruction. Language Arts, 82(5), 388–395. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/stable/41483503

Moore, D., Killian, H., & Arnesen, D. (2003). U.S. Patent No. 6,557,108. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent

and Trademark Office.

Noormohammadi, S. (2014). Teacher reflection and its relation to teacher efficacy and

autonomy. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 98, 1380-1389