Professional Dialogue
Describe:
It was the first day of the new session in our school and a new science teacher, Ms. Annapurna, a thin 26 years old lady, was teaching ‘acids and bases’ topic to class 6 students in the chemistry laboratory. There was a tray kept on the teacher’s table that contained dilute acids and bases and universal indicator along with some droppers and test tubes.
The class was lively with 30 students, all excited and energetic on their first day after the holiday break. However, Annapurna looked hesitant and worried .Her voice was low when she was explaining the topic to the children and at times she showed a fatigue body posture. Moreover, the children were not listening to her and trying to trouble her as well.
As
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Therefore, I worked as a team with the new teacher and helped her in completing the task assigned to her. This is in correlation with Dalli (2012) who argues that we are all part of each others’ life and showing collegial collaboration helps in enhancing the professional practice. I am impressed with Nimmo (1998) and Rogoff (1994) who argue that proximal development of child takes place when collaboration, caring and conflict between the members of a community happen together in a community through the process of transformation of participation which provides excellent education to the children. This enhances the critical thinking skills of both the teacher and the …show more content…
There was legitimate participation by the new science teacher (Barron, 2009), as she started interacting with the children confidently. With the interactive and collaborative practice, I ensured that effective learning happens and thus created a sense of belonging and identity (Iyer & Reese, 2013).
A community of practice is a pathway for the professional development of the teachers (Simoncini, Lasen, &Rocco, 2014). I enhanced my teaching practice by providing everyday materials to the children which they could connect with. With my creative thinking, I tried to connect theory with practice. “Teacher agency implies the capability to see possibilities and alternatives, to use initiative, to be mindful and intentional within the constraints of the context in which one is working” (Grey, 2011, p.28).
I took the children's lead in practice- at first they were exploring the two transparent liquids given to them, but when I gave them the everyday materials, they were excited and enjoyed exploring their acidic and basic nature. I would link this reflection to Te Whariki Strand 5- Exploration, Goal 3- Children experience an environment where they learn strategies for active exploration, thinking and reasoning (Ministry of Education,