Reference no: EM133837304

Professional Practice

The purpose of this assessment task is to Consult a mentor teacher on their role as an administrator and leader.

Learning outcome 1: Reflect upon and discuss the image of the teacher as administrator and leader

Learning outcome 2: Debate how administrators and leaders utilise advocacy and activism to influence the role and actions of administration;

Images of early childhood educators: how are they characterised?

Assessment Structure

In this assessment you will:

Find a mentor/early childhood educator in a leadership position. This could be a Room Leader, Director,2IC, Centre Manager, Area Manager, Early Childhood Teacher or even your own lecturer/Unit Convenor here in ECE6014.

Prepare the questions you will ask. Please note the questions on this page are simply a guide. You are encouraged to change them. A minimum of 6 questions is needed.

Have a reflection conversation with your mentor. Record details/take notes and find connections from the readings and sources within the unit. A minimum of two references and connections are needed.

Create your presentation to include the position of the person you interviewed, what you've learnt, and how it connects to your future practice. Use the reflection questions as guide to ensure you meet the criteria in the rubric.

Create a 5 minute presentation. The presentation must include your own voice as part of the audio content. It is to be a visual presentation. This could be a PowerPoint that you speak over.

Instructions

To get started on your assessment task, please follow the instructions below;
Part A: Conversation with mentor
You might like to consider the following questions to ask your mentor (Please note these questions are only ideas and are not the questions you have to use)
What is your image of the teacher?
How do you see your role as an administrator in an early childhood setting?
How do you support your community?
What are all the jobs that you do as being an early childhood teacher?
What are the most important, priority areas for you?
How much time do you spend on these different areas/various tasks?
How do you prioritise your time?
How does the teacher make time to advocate for yourself (to achieve your personal philosophy, or simply to cope

Part B: Presentation
Prepare a 5-minute presentation that contains:

The position of the person you interviewed ( I will be interviewing Early Childhood Teacher Georgina James )
The main points you've taken away from the reflection conversation with your mentor.
The main points that you have reflected on in terms of what you have learnt. This can include: What was something you agreed with? What was something you disagreed with? What was something that surprised you? What was something that really stood out that will inspire or influence your future practices within the early childhood industry? Get top-rated assignment assistance online!
An explanation of how this conversation helped you to formulate your vision for your work and future practice. This must be linked to two readings/materials embedded within the unit. These must be referenced as per the APA referencing style.

Creating a constructive conversation

In many professions, you will be required to receive or give feedback on an element of work. This is particularly so for what can broadly be described as the field of Human Services. Meaning people whose work entails service to other human beings. As human beings, we are all really varied and so it can be challenging to navigate our work. A mentor is someone with more experience than you and often in a management or supervisor position. In an employment situation, this person may assist you with, among other things, professional and career development. However, they are also a person who can ‘sound' things out with and develop different approaches to the work you are undertaking.

One of the most valuable contributions anyone can make to another person's learning is constructive comment. Whether as a student or as a teacher each one of us has the capacity to provide useful information to other people that will help them to learn more effectively." -

David Boud
In this instance, your mentor's role is to give you feedback on your curriculum/program.
In this conversation, it is important that you take the lead. You have reflected on your teaching so you have a well-developed sense of how the program went and your understanding of yourself as the educator.
Designing questions for your Mentor

Develop your reflections from what you have learned from this unit and assessments into questions for your mentor. Make your questions targeted to get the feedback you are most interested in knowing.
Watch this short video on some tips for asking for feedback:

You can include an open-ended question such as, "Did you notice anything else that you think it might be important for me to think about in relation to the curriculum/program?"

Remember feedback can be difficult to hear at times. This open-ended question can result in a negative comment. On the plus side, it is also an opportunity for your mentor to tell you something they noticed that might be very positive.

Consider sending your questions to your mentor in advance so they have some time to reflect on them.