Untitled genially

Professional Learning Network

ANALOGUE RESOURCES

DIGITAL RESOURCES

ORGANISATIONS

PEOPLE

Physical resources

Places

Past papers

Textbooks

Historical texts

Constitutions

Practical resources

Maps

Museums

Parliament House

Environment

Courts

Websites

Crash Course

Australian Parliament Website

Social media

X(Twitter)

Facebook

Media

News

Spotify

Teaching

Investigating

Canva

PowerPoint

Documentaries

iMovie

Government

Professional

ACARA

SCSA

AITSL

HTAWA

PLEAWA

Teachers

Family

Friends

Pre-service teachers

Mentors

Former teachers

Current school students

UWA staff

Prac mentors

Articles written at the time of past events are great for professional development. They provide useful insight into context and events, helping to build understanding and provide great resources for student learning.

Past assessment papers, such as past ATAR exams found on SCSA website, are useful when designing assessments to best prepare students to perfrom well in WACE.

Building your own relevant content knowledge is important! Thorough understanding helps to engage in relevant and effective pedagogy.

Having professional connections within institutions such as these enhances the quality of student learning! If teachers can integrate relevant and informative excursions into the teaching content, it will have beneficial effects on student enaggement and enjoyment.

Sharing stories and effective teaching strategies with peers has helped me develop engaging activities with a multidisciplinary approach.

Family members who are former teachers provide a unique perspective on the changing dynamic of education, allowing me to try and develop and all-round integrated approach to teaching and learning

Gives unique insight to the minds of current students, allowing me to develop startegies to better cater for learners

Having friends who are currently practicing teachers/educators has given me insight into the school system, the expectations of educators and the lifestyle of a teacher. It has alos given opportunities to share resources and improve practice.

Conversations allowed me to implement effective pedagogy to cater for diverse learners

Prepare for practicum, enhancing differentiation skills, improving pedagogy

Has a range of lesson plans to help develop engaging activities and promote student learning.

Several podcasts areuseful for professional development, expecially for behaviour management and catering to diverse learners.

Stay up to date on current affairs, which is useful for HASS teaching

Educate educators on effective teaching tsrategies and catering to diverse learners, such as those with ADHD or ASD

Provides assessment and lesson plans to help develop programs and teacher improvement.

Provides interactiveresources and packages to help develop skills in accordancewith the APST.

Providesresources to assist teachers in implementing the general capabilities. Particularly useful to help incorproate ICT in lessons and foster ICT competency in teachers.

These organisations promote professional development by holding workshops and seminars to promote engaging ways to teach politics and history, hold events to share experiences of teaching in these fields and provide teacher and student resourcesto enhance learning.

Provides succint and useful information on historical topics- perfect to refresh knowledge before presenting a lesson to students

Resources that can be used to create engaging resources to present information to students. Students could also utilise these for creative tasks.

​Arguably, Tobin was the first to use the term ‘PLN’, noting that that it involved a group of people to guide your personal and professional learning, share knowledge and experience, and provide opportunities for future learning (1998). Professional Learning Networks (PLN) are integral to teachers as they promote continual growth and professional learning throughout your career. A PLN combines people, organisations and resources that offer comprehensive support, advice, feedback, and collaborative opportunities for educators (Trust, 2012). This highlights the existence of teachers as ‘lifelong learners’ and ensures schools are equipped with personnel to practice up to date and effective pedagogy to cater to diverse learners. The focus area chosen for the below PLN is APST 7.4: 'Engage with professional teaching networks and broader communities' (AISTL, 2010). The PLN details ways in which I have engaged with teaching networks, including professional organisations, digital resources such as Kahn Academy, and personal connections such as practicum staff and family/friends involved in the education system. It also notes the presence and importance of external communities and resources, such as museums, Parliament House and law courts, all of which provide useful information and resources to inform my own content knowledge and practice. Interacting and engaging within this network, incorporating people, organisations and digital and analogue resources, gives me the opportunity to share and gain resources and experience, implement effective teaching strategies, make useful connections within the teaching and humanities community, and stay up to date on relevant current affairs. I created the PLN using the software ‘Genially’. This allowed me to create the brainstorm and also incorporate buttons to reveal explanations of the elements of the PLN. Additionally, it allowed the inclusion of several links to relevant websites and documentaries. This allowed for an interactive and informative network. Through creating the PLN, I have realised the extent of my teaching connections. It made me realise the wealth and depth of experience I have to lean on, in the people and organisations around me. It has also reiterated the importance of teachers as lifelong learners through emphasising the importance of professional learning and continual growth throughout your career. Furthermore, it is clear that being isolated and individual is not conducive to a successful career or efficient teaching practice, thus implying the importance of engaging with the world around you. As a result, of the connections evident in the PLN, I have been able to better differentiate lessons for diverse learners, implement authentic learning opportunities and share useful and proven resources with students. This has made my job more efficient and enhanced the learning opportunities of students. I have been able to share resources, lesson plans and experiences with my pre-service teacher peers, during formal tutorials and informal meetings. I believe that this has helped the cohort develop strategies to cater to a range of needs and requirements within the classroom. It is integral that I continue to develop and engage within this network as I move into the early stages of my teaching career and beyond. I plan to do this by continuing to develop productive professional relationships with teaching peers, mentors on practicum and those around me in both the personal and professional spheres of life.

PLN