Discussion and Agreements Between Teachers and Different Teaching Methods

What is an artefact?

Artefacts are examples of plans, teaching and learning experiences, learning stories, annotated observations, resources made or collected, personal reflections and feedback from colleagues or tamariki. While artefacts are in themselves evidence of your work, they also usually represent or capture part of a wider experience or scenario. For this reason, an artefact does not stand alone but needs to be given a context that explains what it is and how it is part of a wider learning and teaching experience that was significant to you.

Choosing an artefact

Your chosen artefact and the experience it represents should:
– be significant to you in relation to your growth as a kaiako
– show progression in response to inquiry, reflection or feedback
– be connected to a range of Standards/Ngā Paerewa.

For example:

Artefact:

The artefact selected is part of an inquiry into my practices of support. It is a table of the professional growth cycle I completed as part of the assessment tasks for Learning Outcomes 3 and 5. I have chosen this because it captures my thinking at each stage and the progression in my learning.

Context:

The centre I was at on placement is currently being extended. As a result, part of the car park is blocked off by temporary fencing and some large orange cones. Behind this fence, the builders are working during the day to construct the new building extension. During my first week of practicum, the tamariki in the older age group rooms are very excited to be able to go out to the car park with their kaiako and stand near the fence to observe the buildings and watch the progress of the building being constructed.

I talked to the other kaiako about this interest, and they were very supportive of me taking a lead to continue and extend the interest of the tamariki. There were lots of opportunities to extend the learning of the tamariki during this time through discussions, for example, about diggers, measuring tools and safety issues. I also used the opportunity to find out kupu and phrases to incorporate te reo in a meaningful way. We found out a little bit more about the local area on what land the centre building was situated on by looking on the internet, and we found out that it used to be native bush a long time ago.

I introduced more building-type materials into the outdoor environment and into dramatic play as a way for the tamariki to engage and extend their interest in the construction. Block play was also supplemented with tools such as levels, rulers, tape measures, safety goggles, high-vis vests, etc.

I noticed that one tamaiti in particular was very interested in the building project as her dad is a builder, and she knew about the tools that the builders were using and each day was able to see what had changed in the construction process. She commented on this to her kaiako, and they supported and extended her interest with books and block-building constructions back in their room.

After a discussion with this tamaiti, the kaiako supported the child to make a book to show how the building progressed. The tamaiti took photos with the centre camera, and I helped her to print these off. She then offered words or text to the book which was an ongoing project.

I decided to write a group learning story about this experience and also an individual story for the tamaiti with the special interest in the construction process. We documented the learning over four weeks of my placement.

It reminds me that Lee et al. (2013) suggests that the context of learning for the tamariki is important to consider when planning for learning. It is also important to take advantage of the interests of the tamariki. I considered the individual funds of knowledge and dispositions for learning of the tamaiti. This relates to Te Whāriki as, “When planning, kaiako draw on their own pedagogical knowledge and on their knowledge of the children” (Ministry of Education, 2017, p.65). The concept of ako from Tātaiako is also important here (Ministry of Education, 2011). Furthermore, Tapasā (Ministry of Education, 2018) also tells us about the importance of being more culturally responsive, and the need for me to keep building my relationship with whānau to understand what cultural responsiveness looks like from their perspective. This was an important progression in the depth of my knowledge and understanding of how to support a positive learning environment for learners of diverse cultural backgrounds.

How this artefact relates to the six Standards/Ngā Paerewa:

Links to Standards