In respect to classroom communication for learning, my areas of strength were progressively building concepts, explaining new or unfamiliar terms and using questions to ensure understanding. Areas for improvement include assessment of prior understanding, and clarity of examples used. My classroom communication could benefit from more effective use of a range of strategies. When asked “to what extent did I use a variety of communication strategies to ensure clarity of understanding by all learners?” learners rated me poorly even though they were able to list a variety of strategies used, indicating that their use may have been ineffective.

The South Australian Department of Education and Child Development (DECD) offers employees access to training (https://www.plink.sa.edu.au), and in my current position as a school support officer, I am able to take advantage of this. I aim to complete “Learning Differently in Contemporary Classrooms”, an online module on instructional strategies and explicit teaching. This module will improve my communication skills, with a particular focus on diverse groups of students. Thus, I will be more able to communicate in an inclusive way, allowing me to better differentiate my future classes. By completing this module while a pre-service teacher and prior to my professional experience placements, I will be able to draw on this knowledge throughout the remainder of my training and refine my own personal communication repertoire.

DECD also offers workshops designed specifically for early career teachers. “Being a Powerful Educator” focuses on learner engagement and the use of reflection and feedback to improve teaching practice. This workshop will give me the opportunity to develop engaging communication methods and improve my skills in self-assessment. I aim to complete “Early Career Teachers – Being a Powerful Educator” within six months of graduating my Master of Education.

One of my weakest areas was assessment of learners’ prior understanding. Due to my lack of strategies, I was forced to make assumptions about the starting point for my group of learners. An effective way to improve this skill is to review literature on the topic, collecting techniques that have been identified as successful in a variety of contexts. The literature may include formal peer-reviewed research articles and case studies, textbooks, internet articles written by educators and training materials as provided over the course of my Master of Education. 

The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (https://www.aitsl.edu.au) provide a variety of videos demonstrating teaching practice at different career stages (graduate, proficient, highly accomplished and lead) based on the seven Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Viewing these videos will help me to identify effective communication strategies used by teachers in a variety of situations. In particular, I would like to use these videos to improve my ability to present clear, instructional examples for a range of topics and to use more effectively techniques to assess learners’ clarity of understanding. 

Toastmasters International (http://www.toastmasters.org.au/) is a training organisation made up of local clubs with a focus on developing individuals’ communication and leadership skills. Clubs generally meet twice a month and there is opportunity for evaluation and feedback on members’ communication skills at these meetings. Toastmasters clubs also provide learning opportunities both in meetings and online. I believe that joining such a club would be invaluable in improving my communication, in respect to specific strategies to be used in different situations, and in overall confidence in speaking in front of a group such as a class of students. I aim to find and attend a club within a month and to attend meetings for at least three consecutive months.

Using a range of strategies, I expect to improve significantly my communication skills prior to completing my Master of Education and continue to improve these as I gain experience teaching.