Critical Reflection Graduating Teacher Standards

I am encouraged by the growth I have seen in the Graduating Teacher Standards. I grew in my
confidence in many aspects, however it is evident to me that my biggest shortfall is still in the
area of Assessment and its use. I now have the beginnings of a ‘tool-set’ to make recordable
assessments, and so it is vital that I begin to use this tool set and do so. In many areas, where I
have given myself the final ‘grade’ of “competent”, it is due to the fact that I believe that I am
close, but I am not sufficiently proficient in that area. I am encouraged by the fact that I have not
become any worse in my self-assessment. I worked hard to ensure that I incorporated many
different aspects of the GTS into my placement to try and meet them. I found it difficult to find
evidence for Standard 7, in that I was unsure on how to provide evidence for upholding the
“Code of Ethics”.

Goals:
To create and use a variety of assessment tools for an effective teacher uses myriad, effective
assessment tools. I am choosing this as a goal as it is an area that I identified as a weakness
when filling out my evidence for the Graduating Teacher Standards, and as it is part of my
professional duty to meet this criteria, I need to upskill (Education Council of Aotearoa New
Zealand, 2015). Larrivee (2000) discusses the importance of upskilling in areas where I feel as
though I am inadequate, that is to say, not as competent as I could be. The only way that I could
recognise this, and take ownership of the learning, is through critical reflection.
How I’m going to do it:
Discuss different assessment strategies with Murray from Merivale, Peggy from
Pahoia, and Debbie from Omokoroa Point School. This will give me a tableu of possible
strategies to use.
Evidence​​:
I will take notes and have a kete of assessment strategies to implement into my
practice.
This kete will be a folder containing templates and notes on strategies and how
best to implement them.

To communicate assessment results more clearly with families

How I’m going to do it:
Discusses different ways to communicate with Murray from Merivale and Carolynne from
Pahoia. These two educators cover different year levels in their teaching and so it would
be interesting to see whether their mode of communication is similar or different and
why. I am choosing this as a goal as it is an area that I identified as a weakness when
filling out my evidence for the Graduating Teacher Standards, and as it is part of my
professional duty to meet this criteria, I need to upskill (Education Council of Aotearoa
New Zealand, 2015). Larrivee (2000) discusses the importance of upskilling in areas
where I feel as though I am inadequate, that is to say, not as competent as I could be.
The only way that I could recognise this, and take ownership of the learning, is through
critical reflection.
 Evidence:
Notes of ways to communicate information effectively with families.
I will find what works most effectively for the year level I teach and the community
I will be engaging with.

References​​:
Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. (2015). ​Graduating teacher standards: Aotearoa
New Zealand.​ Retrieved 14 February 2018 from:
https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/gts-poster.pdf​.

Larrivee, B. (2000). Transforming teaching practice: Becoming the critically reflective teacher.
Reflective Practice, 1​(3), 293-307.