Professional Placement Essay
Introduction
This research essay will revolve around my professional placement experience and explore the statistics of the school I undertook my placement by analysing data from “my school”. I will also be discussing cosmopolitan classrooms and issuing relating to this topic. I will also be analysing how local and global factors impact cosmopolitan classrooms as well as how education policy relates to it.
School context
This semester I had the pleasure of undertaking my professional placement at a public secondary school located in the North-Western suburbs of Melbourne. I had some preconceptions about the school before entering the premises as ,when I first looked up the school, articles indicating that a young boy had been stabbed in front …show more content…
of the school appeared. After completing the full 5 days and engaging in many conversations with staff and experiencing the school’s culture first hand I can sincerely say that my preconceptions were far from the true image of the school.
I did research the school at which I undertook my placement beforehand, and was aware this particular school is predominantly Aglow Australian. However, during my first day of placement I was still surprised at the lack of cultural and racial diversity within the school. The comments section on myschool.edu.au states that the school “ is not ethnically diverse, most are of Anglo origin, 0.019% of students speak a language other than English at home, 0.315% of students receive EMA” (*********) . My reaction may be attributed to my personal schooling experiences. Throughout my education I have always been placed in a diverse school/university and, although I am aware that not every educational faculty is the same as the ones I have been a part of, I was still interested to see if this aspect of the school impacted how it functioned in especially regard to curriculum taught .This observation was so surprising and conspicuous that I engaged in a conversation with staff regarding the overall culture of the school. I was made aware that it was one of the first things staff and visitors noticed when entering the school.
I was also made aware that in the last few years the school managed to turn its bad reputation around, with the guidance of a new principal, by implementing and prioritising certain rules such as enforcing uniform policy, having students stand behind their chairs before every class and be seated when greeted and improving communication between the school and parents/guardians. The overall culture of the school changed after establishing positive attributes and focusing on students (and staff) having respect towards the community, students, teachers, and education. I was also informed that in 2008 an accelerated learning program was introduced in order to cater to and nurture high achievers.
The school has a modern feel, it is split up into many large buildings with many classrooms which each year level is allocated to, there are also areas which all year levels have access to such as the art room, cooking room and library and study centre. Classrooms contain projectors and tables/chairs can be seen set up in various arrangements. During my placement I also noticed hardly any rubbish on the floor, picking up litter and keeping the school clean is a priority there, during my placement I saw hardly any rubbish on the floor, clean desks and tidy classrooms. The staffs were incredibly welcoming and the students were respectful.
I was able to attend parent teacher interviews and was pleasantly surprised at how many of the parents took a great interest in their child’s education. Parents attentively listened to teachers and asked questions regarding their child’s progress at school.
My School: Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage
According to myschool.edu.au, a website that provides information regarding the performance and statistics of schools in Australia, the school at which I undertook my professional placement this semester is a secondary government school based in a metropolitan area.
During my time undertaking this education degree have found myself constantly reflecting and looking back on my own primary/high school experiences and comparing them to that of my professional placements. I compare the environment, the schools resources, the overall culture of the school, the teachers, the students and of course the student’s attitudes towards their education. I am aware that it is unfair to make judgments on schools in regards to these comparisons as different schools may have factors which affect their students levels of educational achievement.. According to myschool.com (2015) Levels of socio-economic advantage usually have an impact on this.
Myschool.com provides an index of community socio-educational advantage (ICSEA) which gives information on student’s background and how personal and school level factors affect educational outcomes. ICSEA is a useful tool as it allows for fair comparisons to be made between students’ literacy and numeracy levels with schools that have similar levels of socio economic
advantage. The average school value is set at 1000, the school at which I was placed at had an ICSEA value of 1011 in 2008/2009, then suddenly dropped down to 967 in 2010 and slowly began to increase in the years that followed. The ICSEA in 2015, the most recent ICSEA value recorded, was 998. An ICSEA value below 800 indicates that the school works with students with considerable socio-economic disadvantage. As the schools ICSEA values recorded from the last 8 years do not drop below 967, the school at which I undertook my placement is not considered to have considerable socio-economic disadvantage.
Furthermore, myschool.com (2015) also provides a table that presents the distribution of students across four quarters of socio-economic advantage. The bottom quarter represents relative disadvantage and the top quarter represents relative advantage. 2015 data, on the school I was placed in, indicates that at the time 30% of students were in the bottom quarter and therefore considered to be relatively disadvantaged and 9% were in the top quarter, considered to have a socio-economic advantage. Majority of the students fell into the middle quarters.
My School: Comparing Similar Schools
The schools numeracy performance, when compared to other schools with similar ICSEA values, was well below other schools for both year, levels 7 and 9, in 2008 however performance began to pick up and remained constantly close to the average performance of other schools in that later years up until 2015. Year 7 average reading performance, in 2008, started off below the average performance of other school and years increased to above average in 2013 and remained above average in the years that followed. The year 9 reading data fluctuates from 2008 to 2015 from well below average to well above average. The most recent data shows the year 9’s reading performance in 2015 was slightly better than the average of other schools. Year 7 persuasive writing performance remained constantly near the mean average performance whereas Year 9 performance in the same area fluctuated from 2008-2010 and then remained above the average of other schools from 2011 onwards. These results, as well as the ICSEA values, reaffirm the staff’s beliefs that the school experienced a low point for some time but was able to turn its reputation and academic results around.
Teachers, Students and NAPLAN
National assessment plan for literacy and numerary (NAPLAN) is a test taken annually in years 3,5,7 and 9 to assess “the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life” (***naplan website*******) including; reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. Although Nap.edu.au (2013), the official NAPLAN website, states that the NAPLAN focuses on “skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum”, there are many issues that surround this form of standardised assessment and how advantageous it actually is. Some believe that this form of testing is beneficial to all as it provides a clear and quantitative value that indicates a student’s progress and highlights areas that need improvement; however, others believe that it places unnecessary pressure on schools, students and teachers and can actually have more of a negative effect on them.
I can still remember the strenuous studying I did during class’s time in high school order to attempt to prepare for the NAPLAN and the stress I felt while undertaking. I recall worrying about my family’s reaction to my results and remember looking at where I stood in comparison to my fellow students; being proud of my above average results and completely devastated and at my below average marks.
The test only provides a view of how students are progressing through their education at the time of the test, it is ignorant to base and judge a child’s potential from this snapshot of information. The negative impact NAPLAN has on local factors, such as staff morale, school's ability to retain and attract new students as well as student’s overall well-being, and global factors, such as the impact NAPLAN has on the Australian Curriculum and pedagogy, is explored by Whitlam Institute (2013). Whitlam Institute (2013) coveys that teachers surveyed in this study reported that their teaching style and the content taught have been heavily influenced by the NAPLAN. They state the test has even led to certain subjects being favoured over others. Teachers also describe how the NAPLAN has affected the wellbeing of students, indicating that they have been aware of students struggling with stress, anxiety, sickness, loss of sleep and crying due to the assessment.
The idea that schools are unable to attract new students relates to the idea of risidualisation, which involves groups of people moving from an area that is not particularly desirable, in this case families leaving schools that have inadequate academic results reflected by NAPLAN and myschool.com. Lamb (2007) explains that policy focused marketization influences high SES students to gather in high performing schools and causes the remaining schools to cope with disadvantage. Residualisation, due to NAPLAN, places pressure on schools to achieve excellent results in order to maintain and attract new students and avoid clustering schools into advantageous and disadvantageous categories.
In many cases, students grades are seen to be a reflection their how “good” their teacher is. Thompson and Cook (2014) investigate how NAPLAN data redefines a “good teacher” and, in response to this, media reports suggest that teachers are “cheating” or “manipulating” the data. The paper explains how “‘the good teacher’ is a discursive construction for enacting the right forms and amounts of care in the classroom. The data manipulating teacher, who is in the process of overlaying this ‘good teacher’, responds to this new regime of assessment” (Thompson and Cook, 2014) . The report goes on to say that the NAPLAN changes teachers work and feelings towards their work, Obtaining optimal results is seen as a way to protect their self-esteem and reputation. “Cheating” or “manipulating data” may be the outcome cause by pressure placed on these teachers.
Neoliberalism and responsibilization are two terms that go hand in hand. They both deal with the idea that
Conclusion
Although there are certain benefits to standardised testing that can have positive effects on a child’s educations, there are still some negative sides to the NAPLAN. As a pre-service teacher, who has personally undertaken these tests and will most likely play a part in preparing students for them, I believe that, if we are to continue using standardised testing, the data collected should be used and viewed as a utensil to improve a child’s education. It is important that we focus on where students struggle and help them achieve their greatest potential instead of use the data to judge the academic performance of the school/teachers/students.
This research essay will revolve around my professional placement experience and explore the statistics of the school I undertook my placement by analysing data from “my school”. I will also be discussing cosmopolitan classrooms and issuing relating to this topic. I will also be analysing how local and global factors impact cosmopolitan classrooms as well as how education policy relates to it.
School context
This semester I had the pleasure of undertaking my professional placement at a public secondary school located in the North-Western suburbs of Melbourne. I had some preconceptions about the school before entering the premises as ,when I first looked up the school, articles indicating that a young boy had been stabbed in front …show more content…
of the school appeared. After completing the full 5 days and engaging in many conversations with staff and experiencing the school’s culture first hand I can sincerely say that my preconceptions were far from the true image of the school.
I did research the school at which I undertook my placement beforehand, and was aware this particular school is predominantly Aglow Australian. However, during my first day of placement I was still surprised at the lack of cultural and racial diversity within the school. The comments section on myschool.edu.au states that the school “ is not ethnically diverse, most are of Anglo origin, 0.019% of students speak a language other than English at home, 0.315% of students receive EMA” (*********) . My reaction may be attributed to my personal schooling experiences. Throughout my education I have always been placed in a diverse school/university and, although I am aware that not every educational faculty is the same as the ones I have been a part of, I was still interested to see if this aspect of the school impacted how it functioned in especially regard to curriculum taught .This observation was so surprising and conspicuous that I engaged in a conversation with staff regarding the overall culture of the school. I was made aware that it was one of the first things staff and visitors noticed when entering the school.
I was also made aware that in the last few years the school managed to turn its bad reputation around, with the guidance of a new principal, by implementing and prioritising certain rules such as enforcing uniform policy, having students stand behind their chairs before every class and be seated when greeted and improving communication between the school and parents/guardians. The overall culture of the school changed after establishing positive attributes and focusing on students (and staff) having respect towards the community, students, teachers, and education. I was also informed that in 2008 an accelerated learning program was introduced in order to cater to and nurture high achievers.
The school has a modern feel, it is split up into many large buildings with many classrooms which each year level is allocated to, there are also areas which all year levels have access to such as the art room, cooking room and library and study centre. Classrooms contain projectors and tables/chairs can be seen set up in various arrangements. During my placement I also noticed hardly any rubbish on the floor, picking up litter and keeping the school clean is a priority there, during my placement I saw hardly any rubbish on the floor, clean desks and tidy classrooms. The staffs were incredibly welcoming and the students were respectful.
I was able to attend parent teacher interviews and was pleasantly surprised at how many of the parents took a great interest in their child’s education. Parents attentively listened to teachers and asked questions regarding their child’s progress at school.
My School: Index of Community Socio-Educational Advantage
According to myschool.edu.au, a website that provides information regarding the performance and statistics of schools in Australia, the school at which I undertook my professional placement this semester is a secondary government school based in a metropolitan area.
During my time undertaking this education degree have found myself constantly reflecting and looking back on my own primary/high school experiences and comparing them to that of my professional placements. I compare the environment, the schools resources, the overall culture of the school, the teachers, the students and of course the student’s attitudes towards their education. I am aware that it is unfair to make judgments on schools in regards to these comparisons as different schools may have factors which affect their students levels of educational achievement.. According to myschool.com (2015) Levels of socio-economic advantage usually have an impact on this.
Myschool.com provides an index of community socio-educational advantage (ICSEA) which gives information on student’s background and how personal and school level factors affect educational outcomes. ICSEA is a useful tool as it allows for fair comparisons to be made between students’ literacy and numeracy levels with schools that have similar levels of socio economic
advantage. The average school value is set at 1000, the school at which I was placed at had an ICSEA value of 1011 in 2008/2009, then suddenly dropped down to 967 in 2010 and slowly began to increase in the years that followed. The ICSEA in 2015, the most recent ICSEA value recorded, was 998. An ICSEA value below 800 indicates that the school works with students with considerable socio-economic disadvantage. As the schools ICSEA values recorded from the last 8 years do not drop below 967, the school at which I undertook my placement is not considered to have considerable socio-economic disadvantage.
Furthermore, myschool.com (2015) also provides a table that presents the distribution of students across four quarters of socio-economic advantage. The bottom quarter represents relative disadvantage and the top quarter represents relative advantage. 2015 data, on the school I was placed in, indicates that at the time 30% of students were in the bottom quarter and therefore considered to be relatively disadvantaged and 9% were in the top quarter, considered to have a socio-economic advantage. Majority of the students fell into the middle quarters.
My School: Comparing Similar Schools
The schools numeracy performance, when compared to other schools with similar ICSEA values, was well below other schools for both year, levels 7 and 9, in 2008 however performance began to pick up and remained constantly close to the average performance of other schools in that later years up until 2015. Year 7 average reading performance, in 2008, started off below the average performance of other school and years increased to above average in 2013 and remained above average in the years that followed. The year 9 reading data fluctuates from 2008 to 2015 from well below average to well above average. The most recent data shows the year 9’s reading performance in 2015 was slightly better than the average of other schools. Year 7 persuasive writing performance remained constantly near the mean average performance whereas Year 9 performance in the same area fluctuated from 2008-2010 and then remained above the average of other schools from 2011 onwards. These results, as well as the ICSEA values, reaffirm the staff’s beliefs that the school experienced a low point for some time but was able to turn its reputation and academic results around.
Teachers, Students and NAPLAN
National assessment plan for literacy and numerary (NAPLAN) is a test taken annually in years 3,5,7 and 9 to assess “the sorts of skills that are essential for every child to progress through school and life” (***naplan website*******) including; reading, writing, language conventions and numeracy. Although Nap.edu.au (2013), the official NAPLAN website, states that the NAPLAN focuses on “skills in literacy and numeracy that are developed over time through the school curriculum”, there are many issues that surround this form of standardised assessment and how advantageous it actually is. Some believe that this form of testing is beneficial to all as it provides a clear and quantitative value that indicates a student’s progress and highlights areas that need improvement; however, others believe that it places unnecessary pressure on schools, students and teachers and can actually have more of a negative effect on them.
I can still remember the strenuous studying I did during class’s time in high school order to attempt to prepare for the NAPLAN and the stress I felt while undertaking. I recall worrying about my family’s reaction to my results and remember looking at where I stood in comparison to my fellow students; being proud of my above average results and completely devastated and at my below average marks.
The test only provides a view of how students are progressing through their education at the time of the test, it is ignorant to base and judge a child’s potential from this snapshot of information. The negative impact NAPLAN has on local factors, such as staff morale, school's ability to retain and attract new students as well as student’s overall well-being, and global factors, such as the impact NAPLAN has on the Australian Curriculum and pedagogy, is explored by Whitlam Institute (2013). Whitlam Institute (2013) coveys that teachers surveyed in this study reported that their teaching style and the content taught have been heavily influenced by the NAPLAN. They state the test has even led to certain subjects being favoured over others. Teachers also describe how the NAPLAN has affected the wellbeing of students, indicating that they have been aware of students struggling with stress, anxiety, sickness, loss of sleep and crying due to the assessment.
The idea that schools are unable to attract new students relates to the idea of risidualisation, which involves groups of people moving from an area that is not particularly desirable, in this case families leaving schools that have inadequate academic results reflected by NAPLAN and myschool.com. Lamb (2007) explains that policy focused marketization influences high SES students to gather in high performing schools and causes the remaining schools to cope with disadvantage. Residualisation, due to NAPLAN, places pressure on schools to achieve excellent results in order to maintain and attract new students and avoid clustering schools into advantageous and disadvantageous categories.
In many cases, students grades are seen to be a reflection their how “good” their teacher is. Thompson and Cook (2014) investigate how NAPLAN data redefines a “good teacher” and, in response to this, media reports suggest that teachers are “cheating” or “manipulating” the data. The paper explains how “‘the good teacher’ is a discursive construction for enacting the right forms and amounts of care in the classroom. The data manipulating teacher, who is in the process of overlaying this ‘good teacher’, responds to this new regime of assessment” (Thompson and Cook, 2014) . The report goes on to say that the NAPLAN changes teachers work and feelings towards their work, Obtaining optimal results is seen as a way to protect their self-esteem and reputation. “Cheating” or “manipulating data” may be the outcome cause by pressure placed on these teachers.
Neoliberalism and responsibilization are two terms that go hand in hand. They both deal with the idea that
Conclusion
Although there are certain benefits to standardised testing that can have positive effects on a child’s educations, there are still some negative sides to the NAPLAN. As a pre-service teacher, who has personally undertaken these tests and will most likely play a part in preparing students for them, I believe that, if we are to continue using standardised testing, the data collected should be used and viewed as a utensil to improve a child’s education. It is important that we focus on where students struggle and help them achieve their greatest potential instead of use the data to judge the academic performance of the school/teachers/students.