School ofPractice

Professional Education
3

102095 Secondary PP3 Self Reflection Form

Describe in 500-800 WORDS any features and benefits of the setting you attended. Consider number of
students, location details, age of students, types of educational programs offered and any other salient
aspects of the experience. Consider how this experience will contribute to your development as a
beginning teacher.

AITSL Standards

The criteria for pre-service teacher reflection focus, the first, second, third and sixth standards.
• 1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic backgrounds
• 1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of
abilities
• 2.2 Content selection and organisation
• 3.1 Establish challenging learning goals
• 6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice
• 6.4 Apply professional learning and improve student learning

Subsidiary questions:
What surprised you about your learning in your community setting?
What research about communities did you engage with before you commenced?
Why were you surprised about your learning?
What goals did you set for yourself in your service learning activities?
In what ways were you communicating with your community participants?
What do you believe the participants in your service learning project learned?
What did you learn? How will the experience shape you as a teacher in a classroom?
How would you help someone else learn what you discovered?

This form is to be completed and submitted to the notes/docs section of your profile within InPlace.
 Reflection

My time spent at Ningbo University has given me a wealth of knowledge and understanding that I would
have otherwise not have experienced. It gave me the opportunity to teach in an environment that was
completely different from what I had experienced thus far. In terms of key learning aspects, it has given
me knowledge regarding the importance of genuine relationships, alongside an experience of English as an
additional language setting. Through the experience, the importance of group work in a teaching
environment was also highlighted to me, and this is another learning aspect that will assist my future
teaching.

One of the main things I learnt throughout this professional experience is the importance of creating
meaningful and genuine relationships with the students. This was helpful in creating understanding
between myself and the students, despite our cultural and linguistic differences. Ultimately, creating
meaningful relationships gave me the opportunity to expand upon not only standard 1.3 my
understanding of students from various backgrounds, but also the importance of standard 1.5 and how
this knowledge can be implemented to create differentiated teaching approaches that take into
consideration the needs of individual students (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership,
n.d.). Ultimately, having a genuine relationship with the students in your classroom allows you to
understand what they need most when it comes to their learning, and in turn this allows myself as the
teacher to adapt and modify learning outcomes to best suit their needs.

The learning experience also gave me invaluable knowledge in terms of teaching students with English as
an additional language. Given the diverse nature of schools in the Western Sydney area, it is not unlikely
that I will be faced with students who have students have English as an additional language in my
classroom. Being in this setting allowed me to see the importance of clear and structured activities to
support those that are not only finding the content difficult, but also the language it is being presented in.
Having a deep understanding of teaching students with English as an additional language will give me the
ability to not only meet standard 2.2 and best select content for my future students, but to also meet
standard 3.1 and create challenging learning goals, that are still appropriate to my individual student’s
ability (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, n.d.).

The group nature of this learning experience also proved to be another key learning outcome for myself.
The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (n.d.) lists: “Engage with colleagues and
improve practice” as one of the professional standards for teaching. This importance was mirrored for
myself in the professional experience as I was working with another two pre-service teachers to create
content for our students. This allowed me to see the benefits of working as a collective, as each person’s
strengths could be used to create content that is better suited to each individual student. Being able to see
my own strengths and weaknesses within a group setting was yet another valuable experience that I will
be able to take into the work place.

Overall, my time spent at Ningbo university has given me invaluable information that will assist me in
my future career. It has shown me the importance of genuine relationships in an education setting as
a means of getting to know students and adapting learning to suit their needs. It has also shown me
the need to incorporate clear and structured content to assist those who are from English as an
additional language background. Finally, the group work component of this experience also allowed
me to see how important collaboration is, within the teaching environment. Being able to work with
others to improve upon pedagogical tools and skills is yet another vital aspect of the teaching
profession.
 References

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2011). Australian Professional Standards for
Teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/apst-
resources/australian_professional_standard_for_teachers_final.pdf.