This week, I was invited to present at our annual Social Sciences Conference (SOCCON) which was held this year at the Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre. The theme of my presentation was 'Teaching as Inquiry in a Junior Social Science classroom' and it was a 30 minute brilliant burst. I choose this theme because at conferences in the past, I have not seen or heard much about inquiry and this has been focus for me. I wanted to share my journey in understanding the impact of my practice on my learners.
I was nervous because it is hard to gage why people are there so I first asked them to share in groups their understanding of inquiry and what it looked like to them. I then defined my understanding so they could see where I was at, then proceeded to share some of my findings and reflections.
I explained the Manaiakalani kaupapa and how it had guided my inquiry to where I felt confident to describe my learnings as a teacher in the kahui ako. I also explored the idea of being open and transparent as it supported others who may have the same challenges. As the workshop progressed, I grew more and more at ease with the flow of the presentation and choose to have time at the end of the session for people to talk and ask questions.
At the end of the session, a number of people came up to thank me and one particular teacher, Sarah from Naenae College in Wellington said I was doing exactly what she was doing except her focus was on reading rather then writing! She said she was so happy to find someone else who was doing something similar and we exchanged email addresses and said we would share resources. Another colleague of mine from Mangere College tagged me in a facebook post which was really encouraging. I enjoyed the chance to share my journey and look forward to doing it again.
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