wiki

I've created a wiki for TROPIC http://tropic.wikispaces.com/ (and another one for youth pathways). It's amazing how easy it is - and free too. I hope we can get some use out of it. There are definite advantages over a blog, especially the fact that it's shared, not just owned by one person. Also you can lift files to it.

I'll still keep the blog going anyway, it's one way for me to keep track of what's happening with TROPIC. Most exciting news is that I've been invited to run the training in Tasmania. Not finalised yet, but hoping that will happen in late February/early March.

Next week is visits to WBIT and SQIT, and our videoconference.

November already

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to get to Melbourne last week for the 'Going Virtual' conference - all about tele-working and virtual teams. Somewhat relevant to TROPIC because we're a virtual team, although it's proving difficult to get much teamwork happening at the moment. Maybe it's me? Or just that there's so much going on... Fourth term is always frantic, and I know there are structural changes happening in institutes as well. We have a videoconference scheduled at the end of this month so hopefully that will spark a bit more activity. In the meantime I probably need to get something happening or assign some sort of task to keep people engaged - or to re-engage them.

I had an email this morning from Bev Childs who is interested in some professional development for teachers around behavior management. I think she is at BNIT now. So the interest is there.

In terms of TNQT, I might write up a summary of where we all are. I could ask the other two institutes to send a summary of what they're up to - maybe a questionnaire will prompt a response.

Teachers Reflecting On Practices In Contexts

The hibiscus doesn't have anything to do with anything (except maybe a TROPICal theme), but I didn't manage to get any decent photos at the workshop.

It was a good couple of days, very productive and lots of great ideas shared. Now we just need to keep the momentum.

We worked through the sheets, using a video David Thompson kindly provided, and we agreed on a few changes. People expressed some confusion over terms but I think we cleared that up by referring to the descriptor documents, and importantly by giving people some more practice. That's what I think we all need to concentrate on now - practice!

I think we agreed the best approach is the direct approach. It's good to talk at forums and staff meetings, to raise the profile of TROPIC. But I've found the best way to get teachers to agree to being observed, is to ask them directly - always emphasising of course, that it is voluntary, non-judgmental and confidential.

Another significant outcome from the workshop was a name change - keeping the acronym TROPIC, but changing the C from Classrooms to Contexts, which is much more appropriate.

Seems like SQIT and WBIT have some good plans, and we're busy here at TNQT too. We agreed at the workshop that everyone will try to get a few observations done before the end of the year, and WBIT is also focusing on sharing the micro-skills broadly. We also agreed to meet again in March when we will look at bringing two more institutes on board - possibly Mount Isa and Sunshine Coast.

August update

July was a busy month with visits to Bundaberg, Maryborough and Hervey Bay. I went to Toowoomba too but it was too foggy and wet to take photos! Cold too - but very productive.

It was pleasing to hear what people had been doing since the training, in terms of observations, reflection, and discussions with colleagues. I managed to do co-observations with most people. A few things needed clearing up but for the most part I was confident that everyone has got a good grasp of the observation tools in their current form. Some suggestions were made for additions to the frequency sheet - for example, when teachers link to future learning or to assessment.

I'm delighted that our workshop in Brisbane is going ahead August 28-29. There are a lot of things I want to cover and I'm in the middle of planning how we can best cover them. Unfortunately not everyone can be there - distance and time are always factors - but I think strategies to deal with that should be one of the topics we discuss at the workshop.

The photos in case you're wondering are of Hervey Bay, Queens Park in Maryborough and the Burnett Bridge in Bundaberg. Thanks to everyone at WBIT and SQIT for your hospitality enthusiasm and support.

behaviour issues

A couple of weeks ago I gave a short presentation on the micro-skills to a group of TAA students, all of whom train or will be training and assessing in very different settings. Quite a few said they find a lot of problems, or issues, or challenges with behaviour management. Then at a completely unconnected meeting with staff members here we were discussing the challenges posed by young people coming into the TAFE system and I was told that there are more behaviour issues with adult students than with youth. It's interesting that this does seem to be such a widespread issue - especially when it's so rarely if ever discussed in any adult learning or VET literature. I think it shows that there could well be a big gap that TROPIC or something like it could really fill.

I'm hoping that I can maintain contact with the TAA group and their teacher Gail, and find out what successes and persistent challenges they have in addressing behaviour issues in their training. That together with continuing to link with the TROPIC trainees and other teachers at TNQT, SQIT, WBIT and MIIT - not to mention Mark Davidson and some of our school colleagues - could be a good way to build and share knowledge about managing behaviour effectively and supportively.

photos from the Mount Isa trip

Sunset at Karumba, Lawn Hill National Park and Leichhardt Falls. Photos by Jo Pyne.

TROPIC in the dust

Last week I conducted observations and had conversations with teachers in Mount Isa and Normanton. Settings included classrooms, computer room, workshop and construction site. Vocational areas included electrical, construction, business/IT and diesel fitting.

There are some great things happening out there. Employment is booming with the mining, and TAFE and the mine have a good partnership going fast tracking apprentices in a range of areas. At the same time there are some challenges with persistent unemployment, disengaged youth and diverse communities. My overall impression was that teachers adapt their teaching styles well to meet the different needs of their client groups, and that they work hard to continually improve their teaching skills. Certainly I found that many teachers were prepared to invite me to observe and/or to engage in conversation with them about improving teaching practice.

I enjoyed my time there and found my conversations with teachers to be very rewarding. I certainly learned a lot.

A few random observations:

• teachers using students' names frequently - helps to maintain rapport and also to ensure that all students are called on to contribute - helps to maintain engagement too, as students need to be ready to be called on!
• a self-assessment checklist can be a very effective way of summarising learning, especially in a self-paced learning environment
• drawing on students' workplace and real-world knowledge is a good way of activating learning - but this can be difficult with younger learners who have more limited experience. One possible approach is to frame their learning with an initial attention-establisher, for example with WH&S to use a 'gory story' about workplace accidents to spark their interest...

June 2006

Susan and I ran the TROPIC training in Brisbane with 14 wonderful participants from SQIT, WBIT and TNQT. I will follow up with visits in July.

I'm going back to Mount Isa this Friday to do some observations and spend some time with the teachers there and in Normanton.

Have been doing some observations and also talking more with Robin, Sarah-Jane and Mary about possible improvements to the program. I'm hoping we can all link in together across the different institutes, and include Mount Isa in the conversations as well.

Had a call this morning from Phillip, a counsellor in TAFENSW who came across TROPIC and classroom profiling from an article on the TAFENSW ICVET website: http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/ezine/year_2006/may_jun/litreview_classroom_management.htm

catching up for 2006 so far

The trial training happened back in November (December?) last year. I was very ably assisted by Susan and we managed to get through everything in the two days. Many improvements were identified, as would be expected, and the teachers involved - Ann, Anne, Mary, Robin and Sarah-Jane - contributed some great ideas and the benefit of their experience.

Robin and Susan have both contributed by allowing videos of their teaching to be made, as did Claire. I still need to encourage people a bit more strongly to get out and do some observations.

Also had a thought, that I could send out weekly or fortnightly good teaching encouragers, based on the items on the flow and frequency sheets - eg greeting students; linking material to what was previously learned and/or to students' experiences, etc.

This could link in with the reading I'm doing currently for the MLM - have finally delved into Bloom's Taxonomy (the original, but condensed) and discovered Cyrs, who approaches the Taxonomy concepts from a very practical perspective.

Getting back to the update - I visited Mount Isa early this year and ran a workshop on the micro-skills. It was really inspiring to be there and to hear about the energetic and innovative ways a lot of teachers out there are meeting their challenges. There is a great partnership between the TAFE and the mines, to fast-track 70 apprentices through two years of training to get them into the mines in a productive capacity quicker. I'm hoping to get back out there to do some observations.

The Brisbane training didn't go ahead in March due to Cyclone Larry interfering with travel plans. It has been rescheduled for May 22-23.

In the meantime John has helped out by assigning two of his Diploma of IT students, Natasha and Shirley, to do an assessable project developing a database to capture quantitative data from observations. They have quite quickly grasped the basic concepts and principles of TROPIC, and this week will show me what shape the database is taking.

For my final project in the MLM (Master of Learning Management, Central QLD Uni), I am doing an evaluation of the implementation of the TROPIC program across the different institutes. I'm using Kirkpatrick's 4-level evaluation as a model, and for my methodology will be surveying all the participants in the training followed by 3 case studies of teachers involved in the implementation.

That's about it. I have done 3 observations so far this year, each one together with a video recording of the lesson.

Oh, one other thing - Mary and I are going to attend a symposium on workplace learning in Brisbane early in May. We will look from there at implementing some teacher development around workplace learning (with help from Trish and support from Professional Practices Unit, and maybe Reframing the Future funding). It would be good to link this in with TROPIC and see how we can apply and/or adapt the observation tools and processes.

Main thing to focus on now - getting some more activity happening with those who did the training.