Professional Context

Professional Context

Professional context includes the socioeconomic status of the community, school culture and professional environments, which includes structures. All of these different aspects of a school must be taken into consideration when implementing change, which leads to improvement. My school is at the beginning of the journey towards Innovative learning Environments.

Socioeconomic Status of the Community

Our school rating is decile 8. This is probably quite high due to the many vineyards, orchards and farms in the area and does not necessarily reflect the families of the children at our school. The families  within the local community come from varied backgrounds, including  farmers, blue collar workers and professionals.

Parents are very supportive of the school and it is the hub of the community. The community is a close knit one and the majority of parents attend parent interviews, which indicates the importance they place on their children's education. 

Even though there is a relatively large difference in some families financial situations, this does not appear to cause issues within the school and children are generous and respectful towards each other. 

The educational attainment of our students is high with 85% of students achieving at or above the National Standard in writing and 90% at or above in reading (Curriculum Report, 2016).

This level of attainment can be attributed to the families and the experience and quality of the teachers. The American Psychological Association states on their website, that school conditions contribute more  to differences in learning rates than family characteristics do.

I think we are fortunate at our school to have such a supportive community, which has produced respectful children who are keen to learn.

School Culture

I really like this quote from Mark Wilson (2013), "A school's culture is the beliefs and priorities that drive the thoughts and actions of the people at the school." He also talks about the need to have purpose and autonomy in order to work towards mastery. I think this is a little simplistic when you take into consideration the different elements involved in a school's culture. The culture of a school is influenced by history, context and the people in it (L, Stoll 1998). 

The culture of our school could be described as a mix of three teaching Cultures, Contrived Collegiality, Collaboration and Bulkanisation. (Hargreaves 1994). 

Contrived Collegiality

Some teachers are co-teaching in open plan classrooms, which is quite a new thing for our school and when I talk to them about it they are very positive about the experience. This collaboration, although compulsory, seems to be working well. A certain amount of whole school planning also takes place.

Collaboration/Balkanisation

Some teachers even though they are not in connecting rooms or open plan classrooms are choosing to share ideas and ways of teaching. Some are making plans to observe each other but as yet it hasn't happened. I do wonder if this is because we have been insulated/isolated for so long that it is difficult to make the first move and perhaps we feel like we are imposing or it may be the lack of time.  These smaller groups, which are not part of the whole, you could point to Balkanism. 

Professional Environment

The professional environment includes structures, time and space. Some of the classrooms at my school have sliding doors between them, which allows for greater collaboration between teachers, but most of them are single celled classrooms. For me though, it is more about what is happening in the classroom that is the important thing and the underlying culture of the school. You can spend as much money you like on the environment but if the culture is not one of collaboration, mutual respect and a shared vision then moving forward can be difficult, if not impossible.  

I am looking forward to a more "future focused approach" but I do know it won't be an easy transition. As with anything, where  people are involved, there are multiple considerations.