EPP 406 Task 1

Professional Decision Making Task

Andrew Martin

211 370 591

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Part A

Critical Incident

The Critical Incident that I have chosen to focus on from my past teaching
round occurred in my last few days of my placement there. I received an email early
in the morning from my supervising teacher to inform me that she was sick and
wouldnt be in for the day, and instructions on what to continue on with in her
absence (Appendix A)
The first class for the day was the Yr. 8 class that I had been involved with but I
hadn't taken any classes with them. They were very distracted and after the CRT
teachers had swapped for some reason, one student Tash, in particular was quite
disruptive and uncooperative and was eventually moved to the back of the
classroom by the CRT. At the time my initial thought was "great now she'll at least be
quiet", but from that point she no longer had any part in the class and spent more
time looking out the window.

Part B

Analysis of Critical Incident

For the analysis of this incident I have chosen to use Alternatives, Possibilities and
choices as suggested by Tripp (2011, p.45). At the time of the incident with this
particular class, all the things other teachers had said came to mind, mostly that they
are generally a good class but can be a bit noisy and the challenging behaviour this
creates.
But on reflection later in the day what struck me about the morning class was that
with my interactions with this class a student who was not the best worker but
generally at least respectful of requests made of her, was very defiant in her
responses.
This made me wonder if there had been problems at home over the weekend. Mc
Donald (2010, p.48) points out that many of a student's stresses or conflicts originate
outside the school community and school for some may be a retreat from them or
exacerbate them depending on the culture they encounter. As the students had first

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been to form assembly that morning Tash may have even encountered an incident
that only made the stress from home even worse.

As a student teacher effectively taking this class as a CRT, this incident highlights
the need to understand the students you teach and as teachers provide classrooms
that make them feel accepted and welcomed, in this environment students are able
to thrive (Mc Donald, 2010, p.31). For Tash on this Monday morning the last
experience that she may have had in a class room may not have made her feel
accepted or welcomed, and then to add to her grief a unfamiliar teacher who is not
understanding or knowing of her particular situation.

Considering this Monday morning situation and Mackay's (1988) view of the
importance of relationship and communication, he put that the people who felt
insecure in a relationship are unlikely to be good listeners. In this context for Tash
who already has come to class with a distracted focus this has far ranging
consequences for the student and teacher, both in how the teachers understands
and relates to the world of the student, and also importantly how the student listens
and understands the teacher.

Possibilities
For me the decision to move Tash to the back of the room, while in one sense was a
relief because in this case she was less disruptive, but on the other hand there was
no longer an opportunity to engage her in the class lesson, and any attempt to
encourage her to move on with her work like the rest of the class was futile, in her
eyes there had been an injustice that couldn't be righted.
My decision to go head long into the planned lesson plays some part in the mood of
a class first thing on a Monday morning, especially as the regular teacher was away,
what other options could I have used in starting this class off for the day?
Considering my limited contact with this class, an introduction activity that allows
students to adjust to the change in routine and allows them to become more settled
with me as their teacher and also settles them into the process of thinking and focus
of starting work for a new week. For a more focused group of students they may well

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have settled into work and the change better, but this class that has a history of
being more difficult to keep on track with work and challenging behaviour a different
strategy than the one employed could have produced a more settled class.

Choices
When considering the choices that a teacher has in the classroom and the decisions
that they make, I am reminded of the thoughts of Haim Ginott in Teacher and Child,
I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the
classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my
daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous
power to make a childs life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture
or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humour, hurt or heal. In
all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be
escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanised or de-humanised"
(Ginott 1970, p.35).
In all the decisions one makes as a teacher the choice of how we react to students
and the challenges their behaviour, the issues from outside the school environment
that are presented to us, is by far the most important. As Ginott points out a situation
getting out of control with in the class room is very much in the hands of the adult,
the teacher. How the relationship the student has with that teacher and the school
depends very much on the choices the teacher makes in that moment.
Churchill et al (2011, p.356) supports this and suggests 3 steps in managing a
situation,
1. Decode the behaviour, behaviour is sending a message about how a student
feels. A teacher that has an understanding relationship with the student may be
able to decode the messages that the behaviour is sending.
2. It is your response that decides what happens next, both in the class room and
the school.
3. You always have a choice, what we say and do in response to student
behaviour is our own decision.

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Churchill also points out that having a well-managed class is not about controlling
students, but about being in control of yourself. For when you are in control of
yourself and the choices you make will you be able to manage the situations that
teachers are confronted with (2011, p.356)

Part C
In reflecting on the critical incident and moving forward in planning for future
development I recognise the need to develop an action plan for settling classes that
have a disruptive start to them, and this maybe for a variety of reasons, after lunch,
excitement in the school grounds etc. I know of teachers that will use the first 5-10
minutes of class time to do a thinking activity with students just to put them in the
frame of mind to been the class proper and let the adrenaline of previous activities
die down.

So for me part one of my plan is to develop a kit bag of activities that are readily
called upon to use in situations like the one encountered with this class. These
activities need not be purely maths based, in line with my teaching area, but puzzles,
thinking strategies and the like to promote thinking and preparedness for students to
focus on the wok ahead and provide an opportunity for me to deal with any unrest or
issues a student may have in that particular moment (Appendix B).

Also in line with Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)
standard 7.3, Engaging with Parents/ Carers, to further understand students develop
a dialogue with parents/carers of students that are having difficulty engaging with the
class room activities. These dialogues help to understand the background of the
student and if there is some element of their life outside of school that is affecting
how they react to these stresses at school. Understanding the background of a
student helps with the formation of meaningful relationships that are paramount to a
student's connectedness with school and education as a whole.

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References

AITSL Standards, http://www.aitsl.edu.au/australian-professional-standards-forteachers/standards/list?c=graduate, retrieved 10/8/15

Churchill, R., Ferguson, P., Godinho, S., Johnson, N., Keddie, A., Leets, W., ... Vick,
M. (2011). Teaching:making a difference. Wiley & Sons,Milton, Qld, Australia.

Ginott, HG 1972, Teacher and child : a book for parents and teachers, Macmillan,
New York.

Mackay,H. (1998), The Three Rs of Communication, The good listener: better

relationships through better communication, Pan Macmillan, Sydney.

McDonald, T. 2010, Connecting with Students, in Deakin University School of

Education, Teacher Learner Relationships ETP201, Oxford University Press,
Melbourne, Ch2, pp. 30-57.

Tripp, D. 2011, Critical Incidents in Teaching: Developing professional judgement,

Taylor and Francis, Hoboken

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Appendix A

Extract from journal Notes

Monday 1/6/15
Email from R Kirkpatrick, unwell and not coming in today, Classes will be covered by CRT and work
will be left for them to go with. If I feel comfortable I can teach the algebra lesson to this class that I
had taught to another Yr 8 and Yr 7 ALP class. Go on with the planned lessons for 869, 7ALP and
10MM if happy to.
Hi Andrew,
I won't be in today as I'm not feeling well. Please go
ahead and teach your classes as planned - 868, 737
& 10MM.
737 - The Concept Test is on my desk, already
printed off - do the fractions warm up after the test.
That will hopefully take up the lesson, let them
organise maths tiggy if there is still time after
fractions...
868 - go ahead with what you've planned for going
over algebra.
10MM - go ahead with what you've planned for
plotting Quadratics.
869 - I don't expect you to take this class, but if you
feel you'd like to take them for "pro-numerals on
both sides"...
I will leave alternative work for them on Compass as
well.
Please email me with any questions you may have.
Robyn Kirkpatrick

-868 Whole class was more disruptive than usual CRT teachers changed for some reason? Tash ..
disrupted Monday morning...CRT moved Tash for being disruptive, once at the back of the class she
didn't do any work, (not sure that was the most helpful thing, although she was quiet), not sure of
her family situation , I didn't think of Monday being a problem for her.
Was there an incident that happened at form group that morning that impacted on her mood in that
class.

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Appendix B

Brain Teasers
Please try to solve the problems below. Let your mind go and use your creative thinking skills! Good
Luck!
1.

You are a cyclist in a cross-country race. Just before the crossing finish line you overtake the
person in second place! What place did you finish in?

2.

In a year there are 12 months. 7 months have 31 days. How many months have 28 days?

3.

I do not have any special powers, but I can predict the score of any football game before it
begins. How can I do this?

4.

Please add the following numbers in your head.

Start with 1000.
Add 40
Add 1000
Add 30
Add 1000
Add 20
Add 1000
Add 10
Write down your answer.

5.

What are the next 3 letters in the following sequence?

J, F, M, A, M, J, J, A, __, __, __

6.

Jimmy's mother had 4 children. She named the first Monday. Named the second Tuesday. The
third is named Wednesday. What is the name of the fourth child?

7.

You are in a cookie factory, and need to make a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies. The
recipe calls for exactly 4 cups of sugar. Problem is that you have two buckets. One is 5 cups,
the other is 3 cups. Using these buckets, can you measure exactly 4 cups of sugar? How?

8.

What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never speaks, has a head but never weeps, and
has a bed but never sleeps?

9.

What is full of holes but can still hold water?

10.

Your dad tells you that he will pay you $6.00 an hour for the 6 seconds that you take to wash
your hands before dinner.
How much did you make for washing your hands?

11.

What goes around the world but stays in one corner?

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