School of Education

Professional Practice 3
102605 Secondary PP Community Engagement Self
Reflection Form

Pre-service Teacher Details

Pre-service Teacher Name: Pre-service Teacher ID:

Michael Alex Murgolo 19178149
Pre-service Teacher Phone Number: Pre-service Teacher Email Address:
0481 456 474 michaelalexmurgolo@hotmail.com

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: Placement Phone Number:

Doonside Technology High School (02) 9622 2463
Placement Address: Placement Email Address:
15-39 Power St, Doonside NSW 2767 Suzanne.FROST2@det.nsw.edu.au
Contact Person:
Suzanne Frost - 0409 926 562

Describe in about 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?

Check Due Date accompanied by your Timesheet and signed Report.

Submissions after due date will receive an N grade. At the following HECS census date, if the work is still incomplete, this will
become an AF grade. This is University policy. The AF grade can be changed when you complete the work. You must also keep
a hard or electronic copy of your assignment.

Submit this form online via InPlace. Your PPCE Report written by the Contract Person, is mailed by them or delivered
by you to the PP office in the SOE.
 Reflection

My learning experience was a placement in the ‘Middle Schools Program’ offered by Doonside Technology High
School in Western Sydney. The focus was on year 7 and 8 students across a newly established curriculum designed to
introduce collaborative and ICT-friendly spaces to foster the education of their students. What I expected from the first
day was an easy transition into educational outcomes and encouraging positive relationships between my students. The
setting itself was one where I had to gain their trust and exude my confidence in leading/mentoring them before a
professional relationship could be set and work becoming easier.

The ‘Middle Schools Program’ was aimed at years 7 and 8 students, covering a diverse area of special needs
including ADHD, mild autism, behaviour reports and gifted students. The school itself was situated in a low SES region and
my experience reflected the attention and care that I saw from the professional teachers working there. Despite the
connotations that surround such schools, I have gained experience and exercises in student management and
engagement from professionals including the Learning Support Staff and Indigenous Counsellors; they were needed due
to the 13% whole school representation of indigenous students. I was told by the head of student placement that there
was a need for the school to focus on their cultural approach to learning as it critically influences the learning of their
students (White, 2017, pp.3).

The learning needs of the students in both year 7 and 8 were met through a variety of factors that stemmed
from collaborative workspaces that were catered to a ‘student centred approach’. The goals I set for myself during this
time frame was to replicate and improve on the lesson activities given, while having the confidence to lead students’
learning depending on their needs. My greatest strength in this placement was engaging students to attempt class work
by building their confidence on the task with the ‘Scaffolding’ approach – a technique where the learning aid is reduced as
their skills improve. There was direction from teachers to approach certain situations whilst I observe how they manage
it, what I have acknowledged is the “uncertainty about what models of professional experience best prepare pre-service
teachers for a productive working life” (Reynolds, Howley, Southgate & Brown, 2016, pp. 457). Every teacher has their
own niche to approaching students and together they cover the learning needs of all students effectively, although in
reality there were relationships that could work better with specific teachers.

Whilst on experience I did engage in professional development through an invitation to a training day specifically
designed for the collaboration between middle year curriculums and ICT. From this two hour session I gained advice on
how to utilise technology to cater for the needs of certain students or extend the knowledge of the content already
taught. Furthermore I also spent a class lesson with the head of specialised learning which has given valuable insight into
my own teaching methods for future use.

Conclusively, the relationships I have build with teachers of my own discipline and the mentoring that I have
received from them, has given me the confidence to guide the students into a new era of collaborative learning. The
resources I have received to build my own pedagogical practices will improve my philosophy and allow me to constantly
reflect and improve on the methods I have practiced.
 References

Reynolds, R., Howley, P., Southgate, E., & Brown, J. (2016). Just add hours? An assessment of pre-service teachers’
perception of the value of professional experience in attaining teacher competencies. Asia-Pacific Journal Of
Teacher Education, 44(5), 455-469. doi:10.1080/1359866X.2015.1086971
White, M. (2017). A STUDY OF GUIDED URBAN FIELD EXPERIENCES FOR PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS. Perspectives On Urban
Education, 14(1), 1-19.