Reflection TWO

Reflection Two – Relationship with associate teachers
When I was reading the PowerPoint slides for each of the sessions, I found that the speakers of several sessions shared about their experience and knowledge of building relationships. The term ‘relationship’ made me think about how the relationship influences the practicum.

How these ideas reflect on my position?
The first group of people I thought of were the associate teachers. The practicum won’t be successful and students won’t be able to complete their degrees without having guidance and support from the associate teachers. As the practicum coordinator, I need to build and always maintain a positive relationship with associate teachers.

What obstacles did I face?
There are some obstacles in terms of building and maintaining a positive relationship with associate teachers, mainly that:
1) There are many early childhood teacher education providers in Auckland, so the associate teachers don’t need to worry that they won’t have students; some early childhood centres have 3 or 4 student teachers on practicum at the same time. Therefore, a competitive atmosphere is created among all providers in Auckland. Some associate teachers like to choose to receive students from either the universities or polytechnics, while private providers are often finding it hard to get placements for students.
2) Some students cannot do their practicum properly. There are lots of reasons behind this such as personality clashes, students who cannot meet the practicum criteria, and students’ attitudes problems or cultural differences.

What to do in the future?
I will think of a variety of strategies to build and maintain a positive relationship with associate teachers. Earlier this year I created a web site for associate teachers, where they can get in touch with us and get all the information for practicum at anytime. I will continually keep the information updated on the web site and will also run the associate teacher meeting in each semester. I will have a networking meeting once a semester, support the associate teacher symposium with other education providers, and have an associate teacher seminar every year (which I will discuss in the next reflection).