Week 18 - “New kinds of partnerships and relationships: Schools no longer siloed from the community”

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“New kinds of partnerships and relationships: Schools no longer siloed from the community”
After having read the article by R.Bolstad and J Gilbert, I decided to choose the theme of
“New kinds of partnerships and relationships: Schools no longer siloed from the community”.
The text  states that “Learning for the 21st century, should support students to engage in
knowledge-generating activities in authentic contexts. This implies that learning will require
additional resources/support/expertise/input from a much wider range of people.”

I am enthusiastic to adapt my teaching practices and this has led to more collaboration the community.
I became excited to look at how I can change my current teaching practices. I engaged the support of
a range of people within the community so that my students got a more authentic learning experience.
I made contact with the local park rangers in the area and organised outdoor activities based on the
topics being studied. This proved beneficial to the students in my Environmental Science class.
I immediately saw the benefits that this had on students and this gave me more impetus to continue.
I have seen an amazing difference in some children in my Enviro Science class. Students who didn’t
engage in the classroom suddenly “found their place” outdoors. Students who are less academically
inclined gained in confidence. Some even stepped up as leaders in practical group activities. On trips,
caregivers were pleasantly surprised when students took ownership of their own learning during these
outdoor sessions. I have seen a rise in confidence, resilience, problem solving and an increased ability
to work as a team. I believe that I took the transformational approach in my leadership style, because
all connections made with the outside community related back to the students. I still feel that there should
have been a lot more “front loading” in the classroom before we embarked on our outdoors journeys.
This would give the learning clarity. I plan on continuing with this change as I can see my teaching
practise changing. I am now thinking about ways on how to I can make each student feel the
“relatedness” to what we are learning and make them feel competent as we prepare ourselves for more
such outdoor activities.

There are many links to the theme of “New kinds of partnerships and relationships: Schools no longer
siloed from the community” Engaging the services of experts outside of the classroom has afforded my
students an authentic learning experience allowing “students to engage in knowledge-generating
activities in authentic contexts” (Bolstad and Gilbert, 2012). I understand the need to still possess a
strong pedagogical knowledge of the subject matter taught but I also see huge benefits in the “need to
be able to collaborate with other people who can provide specific kinds of expertise, knowledge or
access to learning opportunities in community contexts”. (Bolstad and Gilbert, 2012)

My teaching practice has changed for the better through this post graduate journey. I realise now that
students can only develop 21st century learning experiences through the expertise and resources from
outside the school community.

I feel that it is time now to to encourage my students to independently seek outside agencies that they
would like to work with rather than the teacher seeking these opportunities for them. In this way they can
see the benefits of engaging with people outside of the school community and also build their own
confidence. I also plan on encouraging my students to work towards projects that will benefit the
community as a way of “giving back”. We are already actively involved in helping out at community
events where we can share all the knowledge gained from our EOTC trips.

References:
Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., McDowall, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., & Hipkins, R. (2012). Supporting future-oriented
learning and teaching — a New Zealand perspective. Report prepared for the Ministry of Education.
Retrieved from https://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/publications/schooling/109306

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