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Professional
School Practice 3
of Education
102605 Secondary PP Community Engagement
Self Reflection Form
Pre-service Teacher Details
Pre-service Teacher Name: Quoc Tuan Le Pre-service Teacher ID: 18196463
Pre-service Teacher Phone Number: Pre-service Teacher Email Address:
0406730789
[email protected]Placement Details: If you haven’t complete 60 hours face to face you must provide
a detailed statement of how your experience meets the outcomes for Professional
Practice CE. Attach evidence.
Placement Name: Bass High School Placement Phone Number: 97263644
Placement Address: Arundle Road, Bass Hill, Placement Email Address:
2197
[email protected] Contact Person: Penny Koutzas
Describe in 500 WORDS any features and benefits of the setting you attended. Consider
number of students, location details, age of students, types of educational programs offered
and any other salient aspects of the experience. Consider how this experience will contribute to
your development as a beginning teacher.
AITSL Standards
The criteria for pre-service teacher reflection focus, the first, second, third and sixth
standards.
1.3 Students with diverse linguistic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic
backgrounds
1.5 Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the
full range of abilities
2.2 Content selection and organisation
3.1 Establish challenging learning goals
6.3 Engage with colleagues and improve practice
Subsidiary questions:
What surprised you about your learning in your community setting?
What research about communities did you engage with before you commenced
What goals did you set for yourself in your service learning activities?
What do you believe the participants in your service learning project learned?
What did you learn? How will the experience shape you as a teacher in a classroom?
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Self-Reflection
For my PPCE placement at Bass High School, I had an opportunity to work with senior
students during their study periods in the senior learning centre to help them with their classwork,
homework or assignments. Throughout the time that I spent here at the school, I have realised the
importance of having a positive student-teacher relationship in motivating the students to learn and
succeed. I have also witnessed and learned how challenging it is for teachers to provide a safe
learning environment, be aware of who understand and who are struggling, and differentiate to
cater for diverse learning needs.
Before commencing this placement, I have already had the opportunity to work here during
my second professional practicum. My mentor teacher suggested me to come back as a tutor for the
senior learning centre for my PPCE placement as term 3 was the time students preparing for the
upcoming HSC trial exams. Although I was familiar with the school, I knew I was coming back as a
different role. I talked to one of my friends who had worked in the same position before to find out
what my roles and responsibilities are. I also contacted my mentor teacher and the learning centre
coordinator for further information.
During the placement, I worked collaboratively with the learning centre coordinator to
support students with their learning. I also took part in monitoring during a mock trial exam as well
as helping students from year 7 to prepare them for NAPLAN in year 9. I also attended homework
help after school in the library to help students across all years. Although the majority of the
students needed help with mathematics which is my key learning area, a few students found
themselves struggling with other subjects as well. This posed as a challenge for me as it pushed me
out of my comfort zone, however, I am glad to have the chance to experience this as I know this is
something I will face when I start teaching, especially as a casual teacher. As I was working with
different year groups, I was able to formulate an overview of how each year's class behaves and
approaches their learning.
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I was surprised to see that some of the students that were labeled as incapable of learning
maths can actually do really well when it comes to one-on-one tutoring. There was a student in year
12 who was in one of the classes I observed during my second professional practicum. This particular
student was struggling greatly with the basic concepts of mathematics but refused help from the
teacher by hiding her struggles. She behaved similarly when I first approached her, but I kept having
casual conversations with her and offering help every time I see her. Eventually, I was able to gain
her trust when she started sharing her struggles in maths and actively asked for my help. She even
showed up at the homework centre to look for help. There were a few more cases similar to this
student during the time I was there. Seeing the improvement from these students, I realised the
importance of having a positive student-teacher relationship where the students realise that they are
not alone and help is always around when they can open up, allow teachers to see their struggles
and receive help. However, I do acknowledge this is hard to achieve in class due to various factors
including class size and lesson duration.
Overall, my primary goal was to provide extra assistance for students outside class as well as
inspire and motivate students to achieve their maximum potentials. Personally, I think I have
achieved these goals which were evident by the clear and visible improvement from students. In
return, this experience has contributed to my ongoing development of becoming a good teacher
who sees the students ability beyond what they show in class.