Do not confine your children to your own learning for they were born in another time.
Hebrew Proverb

My beliefs in teaching stem from a desire to inspire and motivate my students to take ownership of their learning, follow their passions and to become life long learners. In the 21st Century, this requires students have the ability to adapt to change, as the world is changing rapidly. I am educating students for jobs in today's world that won't exist in tomorrow's and preparing them for a future that is so different from the past.

Students today have a new way of looking at the world. I need to prepare them to adapt to technological changes which open doors to educational and vocational opportunities now and in the future. To do this I need to keep abreast of these changes, digital technologies and teaching pedagogy to enable me to be an effective teacher and model the behaviour consistent with what I teach.

It is my teaching pedagogy that makes the difference to student learning and learning outcomes. I select the most appropriate teaching strategies to support the Productive Pedagogies provided by Education Queensland which includes the four key elements:

• Intellectual quality which includes higher order thinking to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of conversation that is substantive and problematic while enhancing all aspects of language
• Connectedness knowledge that is integrated and connected to the world within a problem based curriculum
• A supportive classroom environment, this being student directed education that is academically engaged with supportive criteria and have the ability to self regulate.
• Recognition of differences so students know about and value a range of cultures, create positive human relationships, respect individuals, and help to create a sense of community

It is these effective pedagogies that enable students to show significant improvement in learning outcomes and prepare them for the future.

The Queensland Government Senior Phase of learning has a new compulsory participation requirement that all young people must participate in "learning or earning" in secondary school up until the age of 17. This means that my Vocational Education and Training (VET) students may enter, leave and re-enter my classroom throughout the year. My curriculum needs to cater to their specific needs, by being flexible and well planned. It must support on-going learning, whether at school, in the workplace or at home. ICT provide the tools to support the flexible structure I need in my classroom to transform the learning process.

The following ideas and beliefs underpin my teaching practices in VET in a secondary school setting.

 

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