Educational Politics in Focus

Transcription

September 2011
Volume 26, Number 3
Educational Politics In Focus
Political overview | ICT Levin North | PRINCIPAL(LY) YOURS
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Editor
Liz Hawes
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Peter Simpson, NZPF President
Geoff Lovegrove, Lytton Street School
(Feilding)
Liz Hawes, Editor
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ISSN 0112-403X (Print)
ISSN 1179-4372 (Online)
CONTENTS September 2011
2 EDITORIAL Political – election year
3 PRESIDENT’S PEN Election
5 Educational Politics In Focus Peter Simpson
7 Political overview of Education Sector six questions to each of the
National and Labour Education spokespersons
10 Department of Conservation presents schools
a new teaching resource for
14 SmokeFree teaching resource
16 Supplementary Learning Support
17 Whakatipuranga – Arapiki Ako
18 Principal(ly) Yours Whetu Cormick, Dunedin
22 Te Akatea Conference Rotorua
23 ICT Levin North
25 A Subject Mauled? Messages about social studies from two
Rugby World Cup 2011 resources
29 Do you have sound classrooms? Jenny Barrett
33 School Lines Lester Flockton
35 Rural Ramblings Baabaara Ramsbottom
Due to space constraints we are unable to publish ’Advice in an earthquake’ as promised in the
last issue of NZ Principal. We will endeavour to bring you this information in the Term 4 issue.
Editorial
Let’s put the people back in democracy
Liz Hawes Editor
It’s general election year. Election years generate a
heightened interest in things political. In fact everything is
political in an election year, as contesting parties try to win us
over with their different ideas. It’s the one time that politicians
really pay attention to us. It’s simple really. They want our vote.
We like to think that politicians are our representatives and
speak for us in parliament. After all isn’t that what democracy
is about? It is a governance system for the people, by the
people.
At no time in history do we have examples of the perfect
democracy. We romanticise that the Greek agora provided the
platform for the ordinary man to have his say and how we wish
we could emulate that again. Well let’s just check out that Greek
agora. For a start the agora was an exclusively male domain!
So straight away we know that half the population had no
representation at all. Secondly, those who would gather in the
grand amphitheatre to debate the issues of the day were largely
the privileged class. So in effect, they had a governance system
that was for a few privileged men by a few privileged men!
Turning to our own system of government, just how far have
we come to approaching the democratic ideal? For most of our
history, not very far. The ‘First Past the Post’ two-party system
kept representation narrow and did not take account of the
proportion of support a party might have. It focused only on the
electoral seats. The 1981 election is a good example. The National
Party won a third term in government although the opposition
Labour Party actually won the largest share of the votes cast. In
the same election the Social Credit Party won in excess of 20
per cent of the popular vote to give it two seats in parliament. In
2002 the NZ National Party won the same percentage of votes
to give it 27 seats. So what made the difference?
With such blatant inequities, in the early ’90s the disen
franchised launched a campaign to alter our electoral system.
This resulted in our current MMP system that, whilst not perfect,
at least has allowed more parties to share in the governance of
the country and has provided a far broader base of views to be
heard in the parliamentary debating chamber.
Despite the levels of support for this system of representation
it is not unusual to hear a governing party argue that they have
a mandate to implement quite extreme versions of their policies
because they won more seats than any other party.
This is not the case. A voter may agree with only half a party’s
policies but votes for the party because that’s better for them.
That does not of course give that party the right to say the
voters have given them an open mandate.
Parties in government have a responsibility to consult with the
people when they are planning changes that affect them. And
there is a defined process to make that transparent. It is the select
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N Z P r i n c i p a l | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 11
committee process that allows for public debate, submissions
and careful examination of the arguments. It is the process by
which a good idea can become a better idea and a not so good
idea can have its flaws exposed and be avoided.
When governing parties miss out this process the public is
rightly incensed, especially those groups in society that are
directly affected. It is bad political process and disrespectful
to the people whose views have been ignored. It is even worse
when experts in the field are also ignored. It is inexcusable
behaviour.
Yet that is what the current government in New Zealand
has done to the education sector since its first hundred days
in government in 2008 when it introduced its standardised
assessment system. The profession immediately called for
consultation but over the past three years has been repeatedly
ignored. With no avenue to democratically and intelligently
debate the issues the sector has endeavoured to generate its own
public debate and has had some success in this regard.
Despite the challenges, the profession has managed to
communicate to parents that standardisation, which treats
all children as if they were the same, is not the best way for
New Zealand children. The New Zealand Curriculum, they
have argued, which takes account of differences and celebrates
them, is the far better approach. Parents representing their
communities on boards of trustees, have now taken a stand and
have recommended that their school charters do not include
targets that involve standardised assessment measures.
As this issue goes to press 533 schools, representing more than
one quarter of all schools, have chosen assessment measures that
are not standardised but are reliable and valid measures which
accurately show children’s progress and achievement.
Meanwhile hundreds more are complying in a minimal way but
in fact have no confidence in them to provide good information
on children’s progress.
This is a perfect example of what happens when governments
forget what democracy is. Governments have no mandate except
that which the people support. The people in the education sector
rightly expect to be consulted on educational matters because
they are the experts in the field. To not do so is to invite what
has happened in New Zealand. When the people know that a
government policy is flawed, wrong or harmful, they will not
embrace it or implement it no matter what threats are imposed
on them.
As we focus in on this general election, political parties
might think about who it is they are serving. Who are their
party policies for? If they are for educating the children of New
Zealand then get the educators’ opinion. Failure to do so in a
democracy is to lose.
President’s Pen
Peter Simpson National President, New Zealand Principals’ Federation
Since this will be the last issue of NZ Principal before the other schools in the country.
general election, this edition has a strong political flavour in
More changes to education would follow and most would be
respect of education policy. There is no doubt that education has as unpalatable to the education sector as league tables. They are
been a political focus for the present government ever since it likely to include performance pay, a greater focus on central
took up the reins of power. Some would even argue that education control than we have seen in this term and a weakening of school
has been completely at the mercy of political ideology for the self-management and privatisation. There might also be changes
past three-year term. Whatever your view, we all work in the to teacher training, reducing the requirement for comprehensive
education sector and will have education issues uppermost in training. We have seen the first trial of this approach already
our minds as we head to the ballot box in a few months’ time.
with the six‑week graduate teacher training scheme designed
Last year, the NZPF executive met with a senior politician to get graduates into low decile schools. We have always argued
and former education minister. During the discussion general for high standards in our teacher training because research
election campaigns were discussed and the way in which parties demonstrates that there is a strong link between quality training,
poll the population to find out how people vote on certain issues. quality teachers and quality learning and achievement.
Two statements were of interest to us. The first statement was that
The question we all need to consider is how such changes will
people vote firstly on how a future government will affect
their own income. That finding didn’t draw any surprised
reactions from us. The second statement did, however, A National-led government would
get some reaction. It was that teachers don’t vote Labour!
continue on the same path as now
Worth thinking about.
At the time I write this column, the full education and we could expect more changes
policies of the main parties have not been announced.
Nevertheless, I think we can be assured of one thing and consistent with policies.
that is that a National-led government would continue
on the same path as now and we could expect more changes sit with principals, teachers and education support staff. How
consistent with policies such as the standardising of assessment long will it take for our children’s achievement rates to decline?
that we have seen with their National Standards this term. What Will it be the same as in other countries that have chosen this
we need to consider is how we feel about extending policies direction for their education or will it be different? Will our
like National Standards to the next step. An obvious one is the profession under this new direction, continue to satisfy us and
formation of league tables. League tables were the promise when fulfil our sense of values? If not, then what? Do we continue to
the policy was initially launched in 2008. I quote directly from work in a career that is headed down a path with values we don’t
the 2008 policy on National Standards:
believe in or do we leave the profession to find an equivalent
values-driven career that will deliver a comparable income? I
Schools will use National Standards to report to parents
can’t help but wonder what that career might look like.
on the progress their child makes, and how that progress
If you want a future in the education profession you know and
compares with their classmates and children elsewhere in
respect, your vote at this election could be critical. The election
New Zealand.
outcome could hit both your own income and your values and
And in an information brochure the Prime Minister shows that beliefs.
it is intended that National Standards will allow comparisons
Still related to education, but on a separate issue, I recently
between schools by posing the question
attended a health symposium on ‘Health Equity and the Social
Determinants of Health’. The keynote address was given by
Do you want to know how your child’s school is performing
Sir Michael Marmot, who is the Director of the International
in National Standards when compared with other
Institute for Society and Health. He has led a research group
schools?
on health inequalities for the last 30 years. I found his address
So parents will have information on how their child compares riveting and was moved by the evidence he produced showing
with children elsewhere in New Zealand and schools will report the impact health inequality has on the very students in our
their whole school’s performance against National Standards schools and their families. A report entitled ‘Closing the gap on
every year. In this way parents can compare their child with all life expectancy in a generation’ makes some recommendations
others in the country and compare their child’s school with all on how to overcome the inequalities. India, for example, is
N Z Principal | S e p t e m b e r 2 0 11
3
implementing the recommendations quite rigidly and already
the life expectancy for Indian women has been raised by 41 per
cent or ten hours a day over their currently expected lifetime.
He referred also to the effect of intelligence and income on
achievement. According to his findings, if you are born with
below average intelligence and are poor, you will remain of low
intelligence. If you are born with below average intelligence
and are rich, you will improve your intelligence level. If you are
intelligent and poor, your intelligence level will reduce. If you
are intelligent and rich you will reach the top.
New Zealand and the UK are two
countries with too many children
the negative statistics.
The negative trend can be reversed through reading daily to
children, having regular bedtimes, cuddling and conversing with
a child between the ages of 3 and 5. New Zealand and the UK
are two countries with too many children fitting the negative
statistics.
Sir Michael went on to talk about heating in homes saying that
a child from a cold home is twice as likely to have respiratory
problems as a child from a warm home. Cold homes, he told the
audience, negatively affect educational outcomes. New Zealand
presenter Dr Don Simmers, a GP and member of the Board of
NZMA, stated that New Zealand is failing its children in health
care and needs to do better. Another speaker, Professor Tony
Blakely, stated that New Zealand’s child poverty rate is second
only to the United States.
There were some staggering New Zealand statistics presented
at this health symposium that have direct flow-on effects for the
children in the schools we lead. It takes little brain power to work
out that a sizable number of the children affected by these health
issues reside in our education underachievement statistics.
There are choices. A government can choose to address
these health and poverty issues, or it can transfer the problem
directly to the education sector and say, ‘lift
the achievement of these children by assuming
their circumstances are the same as every other
child who doesn’t have these health and poverty
fitting
related issues.’
It is this latter response that the present
government has chosen. There will be no policy
change to address the health and poverty concerns. Teachers do
their best to help every child in their school reach their potential,
irrespective of their circumstances and will continue to do so.
When children are suffering from health issues that can be fixed,
however, they feel frustration because these health issues impede
children’s learning.
Dr Don Simmers says that dealing with health inequities,
especially as they relate to children, should not be limited by
fiscal constraints. I agree and will also take this issue to the ballot
box with me in November!
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4
Educational Politics In
Focus
Peter Simpson NZPF President tells us the way it is
New Zealand’s education system
is at a significant cross road. The future of
its world-class status is in jeopardy. Ranked
fourth in the OECD, and considered by many
to have the best curriculum in the world,
New Zealand’s education system now faces a
dilemma. Ironically, it is not an educational
dilemma but a political one. It is the choice
between allowing political ideology or
professionalism to determine its future.
Education now faces a choice between
prescription and professionalism. And
prescription, is the choice of the present
government.
Such a choice is not original. It follows a
world-wide trend of governments making
demands on their education systems. It’s
generally a two-fold demand. First is a
call for accountability of public spending and second is the
demand to lift student underachievement. In New Zealand
14 per cent of children are classified as underachievers, which is
amongst the lowest in the OECD. Despite New Zealand’s high
education world ranking and low underachievement rates, the
current government, determined to introduce its prescription of
standardisation called National Standards, was quick to inflate
the underachievement rate to 20 per cent. It could then say that
one in five New Zealand children were failing, thereby creating
a crisis of confidence amongst the population. There’s nothing
like a manufactured crisis to get people’s attention. The crisis
of course implied that our education system wasn’t performing
(despite all the evidence to the contrary) but the rationale (albeit
a false one) was now set to introduce the New Zealand version
of National Standards.
The sector was not consulted or engaged in this process,
yet the outcomes have the potential to profoundly undermine
our excellent standing in the world and irrevocably change
the purpose and direction of public education as we have
known it for over a century. Rightly, professional educators feel
disrespected, confused and not trusted. These professionals were
responsible for delivering one of the best education systems in
the world, often under trying conditions.
The introduction of National Standards came right at the time
that New Zealand had undergone a superb consultation process
to involve school communities in redeveloping the New Zealand
Curriculum (NZC). Every principal and school community
in the country felt proud of their achievements and from one
end of the country to the other schools were moving with their
implementation process.
The NZC has a focus on a broad selection of subjects,
individual learning needs and the importance of recognising
differences in the way children learn and in
the pace at which they learn. That is why it
is the envy of the rest of the world. National
Standards are a standardising system that have
a very narrow focus on reading writing and
maths, and assume all children are the same
and learn in the same way. National Standards
and the NZC are completely conflicted.
This reality has sent the sector into a chaotic
spin and morale has plummeted. Even worse,
we are now observing early overseas adopters
of this standardising system abandoning it
because it has increased not decreased the
levels of underachievement.
What our experts recognise is that children
who underachieve need a broader not narrower
curriculum. They need to find different ways to
get motivated about learning, such as through
the arts, sport, history, social sciences and the like. Once engaged
they can then find relevance in reading, writing and maths, which
they view as tools to help them access more.
The risk we face now is that with the NZC not yet fully
embedded and standardisation being forced on us, we are likely
to lose all the benefits of our world-class curriculum as it is
narrowed down to the 3Rs.
Along with our NZC is another excellent initiative, Ka Hikitia.
Ka Hikitia is a strategy to help Mäori children learn and succeed
as Mäori. It has been said that if we can get our Mäori children
achieving then our tail of underachievement would be hugely
reduced. This is another fantastic initiative that is in its infancy.
It is likely, however, to fall victim to the drive for standardisation
before it is even tried.
What deeply concerns our sector is that from the top down
education is out of control. Between NZC, National Standards
and Ka Hikitia, there is no coherency and no vision. You cannot
have a strategy for sameness like National Standards and at
the same time have a broad curriculum to address differences.
You cannot have a strategy for Mäori that recognises Mäori
as different and simultaneously treat Mäori as if they are the
same as everyone else. National Standards and its narrowing
of curriculum will disadvantage Mäori, Pacific Island children
and children from low decile schools, the very children they are
supposed to help.
Professionals recognise these inconsistencies and we are now
seeing it reflected in the more than 500 school charters that do
not comply with the standardisation drive. These are schools
making a choice for the children they teach, to embrace the
NZC and initiatives like Ka Hikitia. They are schools trying to
overcome the confusion by taking a position that is right for
their school.
5
Most of the rest, feeling threatened by the forces bearing down
on them from government are making weak attempts to seem
compliant but are in no way convinced that standardisation is a
solution to underachievement.
Those who have tried to fathom how to assess achievement
through the National Standards are confused and bewildered
because these standards do not align with existing reliable normreferenced assessment measures that schools have been using
successfully for many years. To add further confusion there are
more changes being introduced at random intervals like the latest
literary progression charts sent to schools in June 2011.
If it is accountability that the government is after, the sector has
no argument. Schools need robust reliable assessment practices in
order to ascertain what progress children have made, what their
achievement levels are and what their next learning steps are.
Schools have been employing such valid and reliable assessment
tools for years. If a school is failing to collect robust assessment
data then it is the role of ERO to ensure that they do.
It is quite clear from overseas experiences that standardised
assessment practices are not beneficial to children’s learning,
but do have the potential to create a high-stakes environment
including the ability to compare individual schools through the
construction of league tables. The current government made it
quite clear that this was one of the reasons they introduced their
standards in the first place.
The most recent OECD report indicated that in New Zealand
there is very little variance between schools. Any variance was
within individual schools. The creation of school league tables in
New Zealand can therefore not serve any useful purpose, except
to create a false sense of competition between schools, which
would detract from their existing collaborative culture.
Contrast this scenario with countries that have allowed their
education systems to be led by professionalism, where changes
are instigated through robust research and best practice. The
governments of these countries place high trust in their teachers
to be professional, hold them in very high esteem and allow them
to get on and teach their nation’s children without high-stakes
assessment. Finland and Singapore are such countries. These
countries are performing at the very top of the OECD rankings
and, as more countries turn their back on the standardised
assessment practices and embrace the professionalism approach,
they too are lifting in the rankings.
Another characteristic of high-performing education systems
is the strong partnerships they have with related agencies,
policymakers and reference groups. Whilst in New Zealand we
did once enjoy a culture of healthy working relationships with
policymakers and other related groups, those relationships
have eroded as the emphasis has shifted to the unpopular and
confusing National Standards.
The erosion was articulated in the latest Ministry of Education’s
(MOE) formal review by the State Services Commission,
Treasury and Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
with the statement:
There is room to improve our engagement with, and
strategic management of stakeholders, both in terms of
developing a shared vision and direction and to more
systematically make effective use of stakeholder expertise
and viewpoints.
As president of one of the most prominent stakeholder groups,
I look forward to these words being fully implemented by the
MOE.
Right now the sector remains in great confusion and with
no clear vision for the future. This fact was not overlooked by
the MOE review. In the section headed ‘Strategic Leadership
of Schools’ it was noted that the performance rating for
effectiveness and efficiency was ‘needing development’ and in
the same section:
We did not encounter a clear and consistent articulation of
a long-term direction for the education system.
If the MOE doesn’t know where we are going no wonder the
sector is confused. My hunch, however, is that the sector has
some very clear ideas of where we need to go long term and
its time both the government and the MOE listened and took
notice.
To this end NZPF is holding a summit on Saturday, 27 August,
to which sector heads and association presidents have been
invited along with some guest speakers. The main thrust of the
summit is to address the question:
What is the role of a public school in New Zealand today
and what are the key principles on which the New Zealand
education system should be based?
Our intention is that these principles would become the driving
force for education policy decision-making in the future
irrespective of what political party leads government. Our
aim is to get full agreement on these principles. The outcome
of the summit will be published in the Federation Flyer in
September.
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6
POLITICAL SPOKESPEOPLE
STATE THEIR POSITIONS
Since this is the last issue of NZ Principal
that you will receive before heading to the
ballot box, President Peter Simpson has
constructed a political overview (see previous
pages) of the sector, as he and the NZPF
executive see it.
Six questions were put to both the Minister
of Education, Hon Anne Tolley, and to the
Labour Party spokesperson on education,
Sue Moroney. Sue Moroney answered each
question individually, whilst the Minister
chose to make a statement.
Question 2
Given that a considerable proportion of the
‘tail of underachievement’ is represented
by Mäori students, what is your strategy
to address this problem and in what ways
do you propose to fund solutions that will
allow Mäori students to learn and succeed
as Mäori?
Answer
Ka Hikitia was brought in under the Labour
government and we also supported the
development of Te Kohitahitanga. We
Sue Moroney, Labour Party
improved access and participation of Mäori
in quality early childhood education. It is early
Question 1
days yet to determine the success of these
strategies but it is encouraging to see the ‘tail
Do you agree that the following set of
of underachievement’ reduce to 14 per cent
principles should be adopted by all NZ
Hon Sue Moroney, Labour Party
following these initiatives.
political parties to guide the development of
Labour is opposed to the funding cuts to
education policy in New Zealand? If not, what
early childhood education which has resulted in higher fees for
principles should guide education policy in New Zealand?
parents and fewer qualified staff being employed. This makes
■■ A successful education system will lead to a successful and
quality ECE less accessible for low income families and will have
prosperous country.
a disproportionate impact on Mäori.
■■ Positive and healthy working relationships between
Labour is also concerned that too few NZ students remain
the education sector and government is critical to the
engaged at school and that the drop in engagement is steepest
implementation of education policy.
for Mäori students.
■■ Accountability for the public investment in education should be
At the time of publication of this article our education policy
transparent and trustworthy.
has
not been released, but we are working on innovative ways
■■ Children should leave school with appropriate skills to be
to
improve
engagement of students.
successful in the twenty-first century global world.
■■
New Zealanders can expect teachers to provide a high quality
relevant inclusive education system.
Answer
Labour does agree with these principles as our track record
clearly demonstrates.
We are proud that we have a world-class education system in
New Zealand and that our students consistently rank in the top
five internationally. We know we can do even better.
I would also add ‘parents’ to the second bullet point, as Labour
believes that when relationships are strong between parents and
teachers; schools and the Ministry; the education sector and the
government, then children’s education will thrive.
That’s why I have been so alarmed at the deliberate strategy by
National to drive a wedge between parents and teachers during
its short time in government. The rift that is developing between
schools and the Ministry of Education is also of concern.
The ability of teachers to provide a high quality, relevant,
inclusive education system is also being undermined by the
constant reduction in funding for professional development by
the National government.
Question 3
The Tomorrow’s Schools policy of the 1980s made all schools
self-managing under a board of trustees. Do you agree that this
model is a successful model? Does your party intend to retain
and strengthen this model of school administration?
Answer
Yes. The model is generally successful and it can always be
improved with better training and support for BOTs. It is
important that schools are responsive to the needs of the local
community and that the community has a strong sense of
‘ownership’ and involvement in their children’s education. Once
again, we are world leaders in this regard.
Labour does oppose the creeping privatisation of our education
system that PPPs (Private Public Partnerships) represent. That
model has failed overseas and the current government has been
unable to demonstrate any benefit to either the taxpayer or the
education of our children of going down that risky path.
Question 4
Do you agree that the broad New Zealand Curriculum is the key
to New Zealand’s high positioning in the OECD rankings because
7
it allows for the development of skills in
creativity, entrepreneurship and critical
thinking which are essential for children in
the twenty-first century? If so, how would
you propose to more fully support the
implementation and further development
of the school curriculum?
I am proud to say that you can judge us
on our track record and commentators
across the political spectrum agree that our
recently-announced economic policy will
give New Zealand the boost we need to
sustain our future.
Hon Anne Tolley, National Party
Answer
The government is absolutely committed
Labour is proud to have worked with
to education and giving every young New
the sector to develop the New Zealand
Zealander the opportunity to succeed. We
Curriculum and we find it frustrating
see education and skills as part of the main
that National’s National Standards have
drivers for leading us out of the current
been forced in over the top to narrow the
economic climate, and we are investing
curriculum down to reading, writing and
heavily in this area.
maths.
Budget 2011 gave a record $12.2 billion
Good educationalists know that we all
to education – and an additional $1.4
learn in different ways and are inspired to
billion over the next four years. This means
Hon Anne Tolley, National Party
achieve by different means. Narrowing the
the government has invested an extra $4.4
curriculum will have the effect of further
billion in education since 2009.
entrenching underachievement for children who don’t learn
And we remain focused on doing the very best for our
literacy and numeracy in the traditional way. The ‘one-size-fits- children and young people – from early childhood education,
all’ approach to education does not work.
through schooling, and into vocational and tertiary training
National Standards have distracted our primary schools from and education.
being able to fully implement and further develop the school
It’s too early to claim that the new, recently-introduced
curriculum.
curriculum has had any bearing in international rankings. But
we know it is innovative and prepares our students with the skills
Question 5
they need to succeed in the twenty-first century.
Do you think that student engagement lies behind student
We also know that students can’t take advantage of all the rich
achievement, and if so how would a narrowing of the curriculum and diverse areas of the curriculum if they can’t read, write and
through the creation of a high-stakes assessment regime focused do maths properly.
on just the three subjects of reading, writing and maths, help
That’s why National Standards are so important – for
underachieving students?
identifying the students who need extra help and making sure
they get the support they need – as well as ensuring that students
Answer
who are doing well can do even better.
Student engagement is fundamental to student achievement
And we know that students with poor literacy and numeracy
and therefore the National Standards approach does not help skills are at a much greater risk of disengaging and giving up on
underachieving students.
school. We can’t allow this to happen.
If schools are going to be judged on how many students they
Our other great challenge is keeping 16- and 17-year-olds
get ‘over the line’ then the natural tendency will be to focus all engaged in education, and ensuring they don’t drop out of the
efforts on those performing just below. Over time, this will erode system.
the focus from those who are really struggling and also those
The Youth Guarantee, trades academies and service academies
who are at or above the standard. This will lead to a mediocre are providing exciting opportunities for thousands of teenagers,
education system.
free of charge.
Labour wants an education system that works to unlock the
Vital partnerships between schools, tertiary institutions and
potential of each child. We can only do that if we recognise that employers are allowing young people to learn practical skills
each child is unique rather than expecting them to be standard.
while gaining worthwhile qualifications, using the flexibility of
NCEA credits.
Question 6
Work is also underway with the education sector and industry
Will your party provide funding to schools for learning support groups to develop much clearer career pathways for young
programmes that have been researched and identified as people from next year, as we continue our work to improve the
successful in lifting student achievement?
transition between school, tertiary education and skills training,
and the workplace.
Answer
I have worked closely with many sector groups on the changes
Labour has a track record of responding to evidence-based we are making to the education system, and I would like to
programmes and we would prioritise funding for those that are take this opportunity to thank them for their hard work and
proven to lift student achievement.
dedication.
Contrast this with the approach from National, which was to
Our policies going into the election have yet to be announced –
rush the National Standards legislation through parliament under but we will continue to ensure that lifting student achievement
urgency, preventing any public scrutiny on this programme and and giving every child the chance to reach their potential is at
then implementing it without appropriate consultation or even the heart of everything we do.
a trial?
8
Finding a roof to meet
your school’s needs
Since the Ministry of Education’s Technical Guidelines for
Structural Mitigation Work report (2003), schools across the
country have been re-evaluating their choice of roofing with a
view to improving safety and performance.
The report addressed ‘heavy’ roofs made from concrete or clay
and recommended that “All heavy tiled roofs are required to be
removed and replaced with a lightweight roof”. Since that time,
many schools have chosen to replace their old heavyweight
concrete or clay tile roofs with lightweight alternatives, such as
pressed steel.
Schools have found that a move to lightweight roofing, such as
Gerard Roofs’ pressed steel tiles, is beneficial for many reasons:
• Weight – While a concrete tile roof on an average home can
weigh around 10 tonnes, the equivalent Gerard satin finish
steel tile roof would weigh just one tonne.
• Water-tightness – A properly installed Gerard steel tile roof is
fully weatherproof, and unlike traditional concrete or clay tiles,
Gerard tiles won’t crack and let in water.
• Secure in high wind zones – Gerard’s pressed steel tiles are
interlocking and horizontally fixed. A Gerard roof can resist
winds equivalent to a Category 5 cyclone.
• Safe in heavy snow – Gerard roofs can easily withstand
heavy snow loadings. They also feature a textured coating that
ensures a safe thaw rate; preventing snow dumping that can
endanger people and property.
• Resistance to corrosion – The protective coatings on Gerard
roof tiles include a special combination of aluminium and zinc,
which provides up to eight times the corrosion resistance of
some steel roofing products.
• Drinking water - Rural communities benefit from being able
to collect potable water, directly from Gerard roofs that easily
meets World Health Organization standards.
Pressed steel roofing is a cost-effective option. No special
materials are needed for coastal areas – therefore there are no
additional costs. Fewer weight-bracing materials are needed for
new buildings. The price of a Gerard Roof includes all required
materials. Maintenance is simple and inexpensive and Gerard
Roofs offers a 50-year pro-rata warranty.
If you would like more information on Gerard Roofs’ pressed
steel tiles for your school, please visit
www.gerardroofs.co.nz
1. Lightweight
While a heavyweight tile roof on an average
building can weigh around 10 tonnes, an
equivalent Gerard pressed steel roof
would weigh as little as
just one tonne.
1
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10
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m
m
20
2. Locked on
Gerard tiles are interlocking, and every tile is fixed with
eight separate fasteners locking the roof
together into one structural unit.
In many cases, old concrete or clay
tiles are not individually fixed to the roof
framing and many rely mainly on their
weight to stay put.
Positive outcomes for schools
making the change
Schools that have made the move to lightweight pressed
steel, are impressed with the results of their investments.
Kevin Dean, Deputy Principal of Whangarei Girls High
School says “We are very happy with our new roof – it looks
good and has solved a major problem we had with roofing
integrity”. But on their 1930’s buildings, retaining a certain
aesthetic was important too. Dean adds “We selected
Gerard tile as these have the same look, but are steel and
interlocking so of course are a much improved product”.
At South Otago High School, Project Manager Greg
Johnston tells, “The board was committed to replacing the
roof with a lightweight alternative, but they were keen to
preserve its unique character” and adds “I recommended
Gerard tiles after noticing another school in the area had
used them for the same reasons. The price was competitive
and the application was straightforward – the roofing team
were slick operators”.
In view of so many compelling reasons to replace old heavy
roofs with lightweight pressed steel, there is now a real
movement happening in New Zealand, with students and
staff reaping the rewards.
MyPlanet Connects the Natur
Curriculum and Inquiry Lear
Liz Hawes Editor
The Department of Conservation (DOC) accepts
growing evidence that children are increasingly disconnected
from the natural world:
Without direct experiences in nature, research findings
suggest that children are missing opportunities to enhance
their health and wellbeing, and to develop responsible
long-term environmental behaviour.1
DOC’s national education advisor, Pam Crisp, says, ‘The
research identifies a lot of scattered resources and activities of
varying quality, but nothing that communicates a “big picture”
understanding of the natural world, and the vital role of our
rivers, seas, forests, soils, marine reserves and indigenous
biodiversity to our health and wellbeing, economy, sense of
national identity and ultimately, our survival.’
DOC is therefore developing a web-based interactive planning
tool (working title: MyPlanet) to help teachers explore and
develop with their students big ideas and values about the natural
world and conservation – the big picture of life on Earth. This
web-based tool is part of wider programme of work to support
young people connect to the natural world.
The tool has three main purposes:
■■
■■
■■
to support students’ conceptual understandings of the natural
world using an inquiry model of action-based learning
to explore conservation big ideas
to examine values with respect to the natural environment – in
particular, traditional Mäori values.
The conservation big ideas and values
The overarching conservation concept of MyPlanet is:
People are an integral part of the natural diversity of our
planet. Everything is connected, so what we do DOES make a
difference.
This concept is unpacked into four big ideas and
whakatauki:
■■
■■
Everything is connected – Ko au ko te taiao, ko te taiao ko au / I
am the environment, the environment is me
People can’t live without the planet’s diversity – Toitü te marae a
Täne, Toitü te marae a Tangaroa, Toitü te Tangata / If we care for
the resources of the land and the sea, we the people, will survive
■■
■■
People are part of the natural
world – He nohonga ngätahitanga
ahau me te taiäo / We live as one
with our natural world
New Zealand is a special place
with many unique species and
ecosystems – Käore he wähi i kö
atu i a Aotearoa me öna koiora,
me ona waahi ahurei / There is no
place in the world like Aotearoa
with its special biodiversity and
unique ecosystems.
Alongside the big ideas are trad
itional Mäori values: Aroha,
Through the magnifying glass. Pho
Manaaki, Wairua, Mauri and Mana.
Learning about these values is embedded in the suggested
learning experiences within the pathways provided in the online
planning tool.
MyPlanet planning tool
The MyPlanet planning tool provides ‘pathways’ depending on
search criteria (like a Google search). Pathways are similar to unit
plans that connect conceptual understandings, the New Zealand
Curriculum, Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, and related learning
experiences to learning resources and conservation big ideas.
Teachers can select learning experiences from pathways
and community-based activities, and save them to a ‘personal
pathway’, where the suggestions can be tailored for the specific
needs of their students. While this tool provides many exciting
ideas for teachers to save and use, it also provides prompts to
encourage teachers to think critically and inquire into what they
are teaching, and why.
Pathways are staircased around curriculum levels 1–5 and
focus on activities conducted either in the classroom, in the
school grounds, or outside the school. The learning experiences
sit mostly in the science and social science learning areas,
however, many are cross-curricula and specific literacy learning
links have been outlined in the tool.
The pathways are not designed to be comprehensive units
of work. Instead, they are designed to motivate, challenge and
inspire teachers to:
■■
■■
■■
think about students’ learning needs
focus on conceptual knowledge
scaffold students into taking informed action.
Conceptual understandings are delivered via a specific setting/
context with a range of contexts suggested within each pathway.
Any combination of contexts can be explored.
DOC staff member showing children from Waiotahi Valley School the way to
plant trees, Ohiwa Harbour, East Coast. Photo: Nikki Slade-Robinson
10
ral World with the
rning Experiences
Suggested learning exper
iences are divided into types,
following a basic inquirylearning approach modelled
from ‘Approaches to Social
Enquiry’, from the Building
Conceptual Understandings in
the Social Sciences series.
Regional events
MyPlanet also allows teachers
to look for activities in the
community that are delivered
by various conservation edu
to: Catherine Tiffen
cation providers. These may
be one-off events or ongoing learning programmes. The tool
will provide information on the community event and how it
links to the NZ Curriculum, Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and the
conservation big ideas. A teacher can add these events to their
personal pathway.
Once the teacher has created a personal pathway that contains
the learning experiences, events and curriculum information
that they want, it can be emailed, posted to social network sites,
downloaded or printed.
Next steps
Initial content for the prototype of MyPlanet has been developed
by Lift Education in consultation with teachers, environmental
educators, education advisors at Victoria University College of
Education and educational researchers. The prototype is already
in development and testing, and teachers will begin to use it in
September, this year. After that, a full version will be developed
for release to schools. The target is for all schools to have access
to MyPlanet by early 2012.
Reference
Benefits of Connecting Children with Nature. Department of Conser
vation, March 2011. Research in support of Investing in Conservation
Education for a sustainable and Prosperous Future – Tai Ao – Tai Awatea.
Department of Conservation National Education Strategy 2010–30.
1
You can copy
TV for teaching
Take out a Screenrights licence through the STA and
0:07
• copy documentaries, drama, movies,
whatever you like
• record from payTV, free to air TV,
and radio
• download programmes legally
available on the internet
• store, play and access programmes
using interactive whiteboards, eTV,
Clickview and Digital Video Commander
More information
Freephone: 0800 44 2348
Freefax: 0800 44 7006
[email protected]
www.screenrights.org/nz
Image credits L-R: Whare Maori, Scottie Douglas Productions; Polynesian Panthers, Tumanako Productions.
0:12
0:18
11
Smokefree teaching
Corinna School in Porirua reports on the Years 7 and 8
resource aimed at building student resilience
Kath Blair Health Sponsorship Council
Young people are faced with a bewildering number
of choices from the standards they set for themselves in the
classroom to decisions about drinking or smoking cigarettes.
Student resilience is key to ensuring students make good
choices. Caro Begg from Porirua’s Corinna School sums it up
by saying her goal is to equip her students to have the ability to
sift information, think and make informed decisions.
Corinna is a health-promoting school and as part of this
approach Caro has been using the new Smokefree years 7 and 8
teaching resource Staying Smokefree/Te Noho Auahi Kore. This
resource has a primary focus on levels 3 and 4 of the health and
physical education learning area but has links to most learning
areas, including mathematics and statistics, as well as English.
Teachers can choose to use some of the inquiry-based learning
activities or the entire resource, which includes a teacher guide
with learning activities arranged in four units, an audio CD
containing eight stories, student cards with a full transcript of the
stories and a student journal. The journal encourages students
to think about their attitudes and beliefs, as well as ways to deal
with peer pressure and stress.
Ideal for hot seating
Caro found hot seating was ideally suited to getting students
talking about the questions raised in the stories.
‘The stories have challenged their thinking and I hope this will
transfer into other areas of their lives where they have to make
difficult choices.’
One of the stories is about Old Mitch, who asks a boy called
Ngäkau to buy his smokes, although he doesn’t want to do this.
Caro’s students raised questions about whether Ngäkau and
other whänau members should have helped Old Mitch give up
smoking.
‘It was interesting that the students used the word “bystander.”
We try to give students the message that if you are not part of the
solution, you are part of the problem. The students have obviously
made a connection between the messages we’re trying to give
them and this particular learning situation.’
Old Mitch story gets students thinking
14
resource
new Smokefree teaching
Making maths real
Students at Corinna also had great fun working out how much
money Old Mitch was spending on smokes and how much
he could save by quitting. Caro says using the resource to
contextualise the maths was a real opportunity. ‘Maths is about
real life and this resource made it real to them.’
Another pleasing outcome was the students’ development of
tactics or techniques for questioning during hot seating, Caro
says. ‘It’s about having the ability to ask more probing questions
and having a discussion where you can support your point of
view with evidence.’
The students got the idea very quickly that the message was not
to smoke. She had to work harder however, to get them thinking
about some of the difficulties of not smoking. They talked about
peer pressure and also the influence of older people, like Old
Mitch in the story. ‘A lot of our kids have that extended sort of
family, where everybody in the community is an auntie or uncle,
and these relationships will affect some of the decisions students
make. These decisions are not simple and they’re complicated
by feelings of love, responsibility and duty.’
Caro stresses her goal is not to preach to the students or their
families about not smoking. She says the learning intention was
to work out the author’s message and develop students’ literacy,
as well as the skills they need to become informed citizens.
Corinna’s Caro Begg aims to build student resilience
for working with community groups and families, and sample
templates.
Teacher Kate Collins says becoming a health-promoting school
has been an important step for the school, with smokefree being
promoted through communications with parents.
‘Our students are very critical if they think anyone is smoking
around the school – they’re very clear that it’s not acceptable.’
The planning guide has been sent to every New Zealand school
and the teaching resource has gone to all schools with year 7 and
8 students. If you have questions or need more information please
contact Kath Blair at [email protected] or (04) 472 5777.
About the Author
Kath Blair is a former teacher who manages the HSC’s Smokefree
Schools project. The HSC (Health Sponsorship Council) is a New
Zealand government agency that uses health promotion to promote
health and encourage healthy lifestyles.
Planning guide for principals
and trustees
Many boards of trustees have asked
for a practical planning guide to help
them move beyond compliance and
make their school community truly
smokefree.
Feedback from school trustees
has shown growing awareness of the
importance of the Smokefree/Auahi
Kore kaupapa and a willingness to go
further than just a sign on the gate!
The new planning guide, Our
Smokefree School/He Kura Auahi
Kore will help you embed smokefree
lifestyles into the culture of your
school. You can use the planning
guide to take small steps or make
major change.
The guide will give you programme
planning tools, including a DVD, tips
Corinna students asked many questions
15
Supplementary Learning
Support
Marie Treloar SLS Teacher and Team Coordinator, Counties Manukau. President of the NZ SLS Teachers’ Association Inc
Supplementary Learning Support (SLS) is a Ministry
of Education initiative that began in 2004 with 55 learning
support teachers nationally catering for around 550 students.
Support teacher numbers were increased in 2005 to cater for
1,000 students and in 2006 were further increased. Today we
have approximately 150 teachers nationally catering for the
needs of 1,500 students.
Learning support teachers come from a wide variety of
backgrounds in education. Ex–resource teachers of learning and
Students receiving SLS are also eligible for specialist services
from the Ministry of Education, special education, as well as
learning support from LSTs.
Eligibility for SLS service is based around students meeting
criteria for both literacy and numeracy. They will be operating
at or below level 1 of the curriculum. Nominations are called
for in the various Ministry of Education – special education
areas, and nominations are submitted by special education
or RTLB for moderation. The moderation process enables
the SLS management committees to rank the
nominations in order of need. Students may meet
This association has been formed to
criteria and get service if the area has a teacher
available to pick them up. However, they may also
help provide a bridge to those who
meet criteria and not get service in some areas,
because the need outweighs the availability of a
are isolated, provide contact with all the
teacher at that time. Some areas have a far greater
regions, and to provide a forum for greater
need than others.
There are also some nominations that do not
information sharing.
meet criteria.
In areas where students meet criteria, but the
behaviour (RTLB), special education, experienced classroom travel time to their school is beyond 30 minutes, the school
teachers, special education needs coordinators (SENCOs), may be given managed pool funding. This enables the school
special needs teachers, deputy principals and principals.
to manage the additional teacher resource for the good of the
Learning support teachers (LSTs), or supplementary learning student.
support teachers (SLS) as they are also known, provide support
The MOE website has information around the criteria, and
to students with significant and ongoing special education also a copy of the MOE nomination form.
needs, with the overall goal of improving educational outcomes
In April last year we held our third national conference, which
for students.
was hosted by Wellington. Approximately 120 SLS teachers
They support teachers and teacher aides, by working with attended the conference.
them, providing guidance and adaptations of classroom
A number of SLS teachers are quite isolated, being the only
programmes and adapted resources so that identified students ones in their area. Others work in cluster groups. The conference
can access the curriculum in an inclusive setting. They can also is an opportunity for wonderful professional development and
provide strategies that may assist with the management of the to meet up and share experiences with other SLS teachers.
student in the classroom.
Over the past four years we have worked hard to create our
LSTs also work with the individual students, teaching and own association. At conference last year we held our inaugural
supporting them through their individual educational plan meeting for the NZ Supplementary Learning Support Teachers’
(IEP) goals, as they grow in confidence and in the knowledge Association Incorporated. The national executive has regional
that they can learn.
representation across New Zealand.
An IEP is an important plan that outlines what the student
This association has been formed to help provide a bridge to
can do, and what their next steps or goals need to be, and how those who are isolated, provide contact with all the regions, and
these might be attained. These goals ought to be measurable and to provide a forum for greater information sharing. We see this as
incremental enough that they are attainable.
a means to strengthen an already focused and highly motivated
The IEP is what the SLS teacher is guided by when planning group of specialist teachers who, for an identified group of
activities for the student’s learning.
students, know they are ‘making a difference.’
Supplementary Learning Support is supplementary to what
We know that the SLS service is currently under review. In the
the school already provides for the student. SLS teachers work meantime the current guidelines apply.
collaboratively with school personnel and other agencies
If you would like to learn more about SLS, go to the MOE
involved with a student. This collaboration is very important website, and search SLS, or get in touch with your designated
as when everyone works together for the good of the student, a SLS coordinator at your special education district office.
wrap around service is provided.
16
Whakatipuranga –
Arapiki Ako
Centre for Māori and Indigenous Literacy and Numeracy AD1159_CERVIN
He aha te mea nui o tënei kaupapa – What is the importance these qualifications which refer to ‘Mäori literacy’ and which
of this gathering? He tauira, he tauira, he tauira – It is the learner, use the definition of this term from the Te Käwai Ora Report
it is the learner, it is the learner.
(Mäori Affairs, 2001) commissioned by the Rt Hon Minister
He aha te mea nui o te ao? – What is the most important thing Tariana Turia.
in the world? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata – It is people, it
Echoing conversations elsewhere in the sector, staff at
is people, it is people.
Awanuiarängi found themselves engaged in rich debate about
Recently, Te Whare Wänanga o Awanuiärangi launched diverse ways in which tutors interpreted the phrase ‘Mäori literacy’
Whakatipuranga – Arapiki Ako. Taken from the document and its stated definition. A resulting nationwide hui focused on
prepared by the National Institute of Mäori Education, Centre the fundamental question of how context (Mätauranga Mäori)
for Mäori and Indigenous Literacy and
Numeracy, Te Ako Tüapapa, the report
provides key findings in the interpretations He tauira, he tauira, he tauira – It is the
of literacy and numeracy for Mäori.
learner, it is the learner, it is the learner.
Awanuiarängi invited literacy and numeracy
leaders and experts within the tertiary sector and mätauranga and content (the deliberate teaching of literacy and numeracy)
Mäori to discuss and provide direction for the use of terminology connect to this terminology.
such as ‘Mäori literacy’ and ‘literacy for Mäori’.
The full report document is accessible by contacting the
The Mäori literacy hui were convened nationwide with the Centre for Mäori and Indigenous Literacy and Numeracy, Te
notion of rähui in mind. In his publication Tikanga Mäori (Mead, Ako Tüäpapa at [email protected].
2003), Sir Hirini Moko Mead discusses the types of ‘rähui’ or
ritual prohibition and cites Best’s definition of a ‘pou rähui’ as ‘a
post to which is attached a maro (apron)’ (Best, 1904). Mead goes
on to explain that either a rangatira (chief) or tohunga (expert)
held the authority to drive a stake into the ground and attach
their maro to the pou. This idea of putting a stake in the ground
underpinned the hui that form the basis of this report.
Mäori literacy is multifaceted. The qualifier ‘Mäori’ can be
PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2012*
added to the way we understand literacy and numeracy in two
ways. The first, ‘Mäori literacy’, implies literacy as ‘content’ while
school of iwi development
the second, ‘literacy for Mäori’, is more focused. Awanuiarängi
Marae based programmes
received Pütea Arapiki ako funding from the Tertiary Education
school of undergraduate studies
Commission to convene a series of nationwide hui to facilitate
Certiﬁcate programmes
korero with interested stakeholders and, ultimately, to draw
Bachelor
of
Health Sciences Māori (Nursing)
together a collective understanding of this terminology by
Bachelor of Māori Performing Arts
connecting ideas and continuing conversations.
Bachelor of Humanities
In recent years tertiary education organisations throughout
Bachelor of Environment Studies
Aotearoa, New Zealand have been building capacity in
Bachelor of Education
addressing adult literacy and numeracy. This work has been
government funded and aims to address the large numbers of
school of indigenous graduate
adult New Zealanders with literacy and numeracy issues. It is
studies
Masters of Indigenous Studies, Masters of Māori Studies,
widely acknowledged that this capacity-building phase has been
Doctor of Philosophy, (Māori Studies/ Indigenous Studies/
one of preparation for all organisations. The overall aim was that
Environmental Studies/ Education)
explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy would be ‘business as
usual’ throughout the sector.
SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
C ONDI T IONS A PPLY
As part of the capability process across the sector, many
educators – including Awanuiarängi staff – are enrolled in further
WH A KATĀ N E | AU C K L A N D | WH A NG A R E I
professional development such as the National Certificate in
Adult Literacy Education (NCALE). This certificate is offered as
to enrol or for more information please call
NCALE Vocational, for tutors who aspire to teach literacy and
0508 92 62 64
numeracy as a curriculum topic. Significantly, Awanuiarängi
OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.WANANGA.AC.NZ
staff were drawn to the special notes in the unit standards for
AD1159_CERVIN.indd 1
17
12/08/2011 9:18 AM
PRINCIPAL(LY)
YOURS Liz Hawes Editor
Whetu Cormick, with empowering style,
leads his children through a time of epic
change
This is the story of a merger. It is also perhaps the last story
that will be told of Macandrew Intermediate, a school that boasts
a proud and lengthy history stretching back 128 years and has
seen many a change in both role and roll over those years.
For some years now numbers have been dropping across
Dunedin schools and in particular the South Dunedin area,
which experienced a 40 per cent decline.
Whetu Cormick takes a pragmatic view of the situation. He
recognises that his surplus classrooms need to be filled and has
already explored the idea of establishing a preschool unit on
his school grounds. That idea never came to fruition but what
is absolutely certain is that some time next year Macandrew
Intermediate will merge with the local Forbury Primary
School.
18
‘The review has followed a good process so far’, says Whetu.
‘The issue of falling rolls in Dunedin South had to be addressed
and the decision to merge with Forbury is a sensible one.’
Whetu has since been preparing his staff and students for the
change. I am taken on a tour of the school by two senior students,
Sam and Jamie, who tell me their views on the merger.
‘It will be different having the younger Forbury kids here,’ says
Jamie, ‘but we’re the big people and it’s our job to make sure that
they feel welcome here because they won’t just be our visitors.
They will be the same as us. Our school will be their school too.
At the end of the year we are having a celebration for the years 7
and 8 Macandrew kids because that’s the last time we will be the
Macandrew Intermediate School, and then we are going to have
a big welcome party for the Forbury school kids.’
‘At Macandrew we are like a big family,’ says Sam. ‘Everyone
knows everyone else. Our principal knows everyone by name.
When the Forbury kids come we will have to make sure that
we look out for the little kids. We will have to be fair and not
just take them over. So we might have to make some changes
to our systems like our school council to include the younger
kids too.’
The maturity and foresight of these responses is inspirational.
I think back to tertiary-level mergers I have encountered myself
and think how much more successful they would have been with
Jamie and Sam on the merger boards.
Principal Whetu Cormick blends easily into the back row of the
class
‘People have to take this on board in their own way and in
their own time. There are many people involved here and they
all have different issues to deal with so let’s just take the time we
need to look after everyone in the process.’
On the issue of whether he will apply for the principal’s position
of the new merged school Whetu is quite clear.
‘For me it will be all about whether the new board shares the
same values and vision as me.’
Whetu’s values and vision are also very clear. He wants to
develop young people to be drivers of their own learning; he
wants a student-driven curriculum that reflects the contributions
Macandrew kids choose their pastels to sketch out the wonders of
Matariki
Whilst kids like Jamie and Sam are well prepared for their role that the students make; he is committed to biculturalism which
in helping the merger succeed, the issues for principal Whetu he sees as an inclusive term, and works hard to ensure ‘things
Cormick stray across a much wider spectrum. They include Mäori’ have prominence in his school. What’s good for Mäori
funding, staffing, classroom allocation, demolition of some is also good for Päkehä kids.’
classrooms and the building of a new staff
room, appointment of a new school board of
trustees and of course the issue of the future It’s our job to make sure that they [Forbury
principal of this future school.
kids] feel welcome here because they won’t just
‘It’s not without its stressful moments’, says
Whetu of the merger process. ‘My concern be our visitors, they will be the same as us.
is that it is proceeding too fast. There are
so many issues to address and there is a Our school will be their school too.
strong will to make it fair and get it right for
everyone, but that will never be achieved in haste.’
‘The curriculum is the key to our success as educators’, says
Whetu’s view is that good will and focus could be lost through Whetu. ‘That is why it is so disappointing to watch the current
the desire to have the new merged school up and running at Minister of Education wanting to focus only on reading, writing
the start of 2012 and this could compromise its chances of and maths. The Minister says underachieving kids need the three
succeeding.
Rs to access the rest of the curriculum and to lift achievement
that’s what we have to concentrate on. I say she is fundamentally
wrong! What those kids need are our best efforts to engage them
through a connected curriculum that they are interested in and
one where they contribute to its design thus empowering them
to be in charge of their own learning. That’s where our broad
curriculum is invaluable. If we can re-engage them through
sport, the arts, technologies, social science or performing arts,
sooner or later they realise that they need to be able to read and
do maths because they are the tools that they will use to learn
about the things they are now interested in.’
Recognising this has persuaded Whetu Cormick’s board
of trustees to turn its back on the government’s National
Standards policy. ‘My board and school community can see that
National Standards which, as the name suggests, is a system of
19
Excited children bursting to give their view
Teachers’ art work is also displayed to inspire
standardising kids and treating them as if they are all the same.
They know that this is not the way to help our children who are
struggling or are reluctant learners. In fact it’s far more likely that
curved balls that life sometimes dishes up.
‘Through the emphasis we have on our school values and
positive education programmes our kids learn to face difficult
situations when they arise. We want them to have
a range of functional and intelligent responses to
Every kid here can do something well
adverse situations,’ says Whetu.
I looked to my school guides, Jamie and
whether its maths or sport or ice
Sam to see how successful Whetu and his staff
had been. We were a short way into the school
skating. We learn off each other too.
tour, which had so far taken us down the main
National Standards would do them damage. For the good of our corridor towards the technology rooms when ‘Innovation’,
children and especially our struggling children, our board is not ‘Respect’, ‘Excellence’ and ‘Integrity’ made themselves known.
engaging with National Standards.’
They loomed large on the expansive corridor walls, which were
Whetu believes that schools do have a role to play in educating otherwise lavishly decorated with examples of the school’s art
children to be resilient and to have the skills to cope with the works.
Jamie and Sam chat together
20
Principal Whetu Cormick joins the boys in class
The girls get special attention from principal Whetu Cormick
I goaded my guides a little. ‘Oh we see the word “excellence”
For Sam the most special thing about Macandrew was the
all the time but does it really mean anything?’
learning. ‘The teachers here are great. Every time I do maths,
‘We see excellence as being bus drivers’, replied Jamie. ‘We I learn something new. Because our classes aren’t so big it is
strive to all be bus drivers. That means we
drive our own learning. Some people are still
passengers and they need help to become He’s an awesome leader because he gets us
drivers. Some are hitch-hikers and they
need even more support. And then there are to drive our own learning and even to run
hijackers who disrupt other people’s learning our assemblies.
and they need support to help them see that
they could be bus drivers too if they wanted.’
a real advantage for us and we know everyone. Leadership is
Sam agreed. ‘Excellence also means you always put in your encouraged and I think that at our school everyone could be a
best effort and you have to reflect and focus on your learning peer leader.’
otherwise you don’t know what to do next.’
And how do the kids find Mr Cormick as a leader? ‘He’s an
We moved on to talk about ‘innovation’ with its attendant awesome leader because he gets us to drive our own learning and
actions including problem solving, finding other ways and even to run our assemblies. Kids who don’t like assembly much,
meeting challenges. ‘This is about using your creativity,’ says they are the ones who organise it. Mr Cormick just speaks when
Sam, ‘and one way to express creativity is through art works. he’s invited, like to tell us about the merger. He makes sure we
That’s why we have so many different sorts of art works at our are involved in everything.’
school so that you have lots of opportunities to be creative in
I leave without doubt that this extraordinary school will rise
different ways.’
to meet the challenge of the new day in a new role but with all
‘It’s not just about visual arts either’, says Jamie, ‘Some kids the qualities and strengths of the old. Kia kaha Macandrew
find maths is their art and they are really good at maths. And Intermediate.
you can solve problems in all sorts of different ways other
than maths or art. It might just be fixing a problem with
your mate in the playground.’
There was no doubt these kids had a firm grip on what
their school values were and, more importantly, how
to live them. I asked my guides what was special about
being at Macandrew School. ‘Everyone is special here
and you feel like you belong,’ said Jamie. ‘It doesn’t matter
how clever you are or if you are not clever because if
you’re not clever you will be good at something and the
teachers will find what that is and you will get better at it.
Everyone gets better at something here.’
‘That’s right,’ says Sam. ‘Every kid here can do something
well whether it’s maths or sport or ice skating. We learn off
each other too. There are really bright people here, who are
much smarter than kids at a lot of other schools and we’ve
got rep rugby players and cricket players too.’
‘This is a really good school,’ says Jamie, ‘because you
have so many opportunities. We are not a big school so
whatever you want to do, you can. You don’t have to wait to
get into the cricket team, for instance, you just go straight
in. It’s not exclusive.’
The boys enjoy each others camaraderie at lunch time
21
TE AKATEA
CONFERENCE 2011
Liz Hawes Editor
Conference delegates head to the dining room for a traditional
hāngī lunch
NZPF President, Peter Simpson, considered it an
honour to be invited to speak at this year’s Te Akatea hui. NZPF
has recently focused a great deal of its attention on Mäori
achievement, especially for Mäori children in mainstream
schools, and has been looking for a way forward. Peter and the
NZPF executive saw Te Akatea as the first step on the journey
towards making a difference for Mäori children because one of
the Te Akatea principles is that Akatea will drive the changes
for Mäori education.
‘It makes good sense to look to our Mäori principal colleagues
at Te Akatea to advise us on how best to proceed to make a
positive difference for our tamariki,’ he said.
Cloak and piupiu created at the
Te Rito school of weaving
The rare and therapeutic mud
pools of Whakarewarewa
In his address to the conference Peter Simpson expressed this
desire to work alongside Te Akatea to promote the philosophy
of Matauranga Mäori, take direction from his Mäori principal
colleagues and support them in getting their vision for tamariki
Mäori embedded in mainstream schools. He assured the audience
that what is right for Mäori success will also be right for Päkehä
success and that he wanted to see that Mäori children had the
opportunity to develop their own cultural identity in their school
learning environment and to learn and succeed as Mäori.
Most of the NZPF executive members attended the conference
and were deeply impressed by the warm welcome, the hospitality,
the excellent speakers and the superb humour of MC Kingi
Biddle, who pulled the conference together. For some, being
welcomed onto the marae was a new experience and the
exceptional hängï-prepared food was a special treat. The tour of
Te Puia Te Rito School of Weaving and the Te Puia carving school
gave delegates first-hand experience of the creation of tukutuku
panels, piupiu skirts and cloaks whilst the young students in the
carving school demonstrated their skills whilst we watched. The
later tour of Whakarewarewa with its rare collection of mud
pools and geysers was a further pleasure and capping the social
activities was the performance at Mitai Village and of course
the conference dinner. The conference provided a royal feast of
cultural immersion.
There was also much to learn from the conference itself. Dr
Rich Allen with his ‘greenlight’ classrooms, demonstrated the
importance of learning with movement telling his audience that
22
inventing physical activities as a means of children answering
questions was more beneficial to their learning than sitting at
tables waiting to call out or write the answer. Tommy Wilson, a
passionate children’s writer and initiator of the series of ‘kapai’
books, both entertained and educated his audience on the
importance of kaupapa Mäori and the value of storytelling as a
means of giving our tamariki the knowledge they need. He later
took a workshop on his work in low decile schools where he
encourages children to tell their own ‘backyard’ stories.
Dr Angus Macfarlane talked of motivating Mäori learners
and that this was both an art and a science. He emphasised the
importance of recognising that tamariki arrive at school together
A young carver at work at the
Te Puia carving school
Whakarewarewa in action
with their socio-cultural experiences and backgrounds and
that unless these aspects are also addressed, it is unlikely that
successful learning will occur.
Professor Graham Smith presented his model for transforming
education referring to the notion of ‘connecting the words with
the music’. He referred to Kaupapa Mäori intervention elements
including self-determination (tino rangatiratanga), cultural
aspirations (taonga tuku), culturally preferred ways of doing
things (ako Mäori), mediation of socio-economic impediments
(ka orite), extended family structure and practice (whänau), and
having a collective vision (kaupapa).
We learned that to achieve such a vision for educational
transformation first depends on validating indigenous ways of
knowing. This theme was repeated in different ways throughout
the conference by all the presenters.
The over-arching message was that for Mäori to learn and
succeed it is necessary for them to first be acknowledged as
Mäori and given the opportunities to express their own culture
and values system within the school environment.
President Peter Simpson and the NZPF executive extend their
congratulations to the Te Akatea conference organising committee
for a superbly run and stimulating conference and thank the
Te Akatea executive for their very generous welcome.
‘This is just the first step towards trying to get better results for our
tamariki,’ said Peter Simpson. ‘We look forward to working closely
with Te Akatea and look to our Mäori principal colleagues to give
us advice on how best to provide for the future of our tamariki.’
ICT Ākonga captured in the
Horowhenua
Getting tricky with your wiki
Liz Hawes Editor
I have always respected the Mäori language for its ability
to articulate huge concepts in a single word. ‘Äkonga’ is
such a word which encapsulates the notion of being both
a teacher and a learner. And it doesn’t stop there. It refers
to learners teaching each other; teachers teaching learners;
learners teaching teachers; teachers teaching teachers.
Such a concept engenders feelings of connectedness of
collaboration, of close family and abandonment of hierarchy.
It’s such a cool notion to aspire to but not necessarily an easy
one to facilitate. In the Horowhenua I was privileged to see
‘Äkonga’ in action under the school roof of Julie Hepburn,
the principal of Levin North.
Julie Hepburn places a high value on the importance
of children being computer literate if they are to succeed
in their future. Her school obtained its first Apple Mac in
Principal Julie Hepburn gets down to work with the children.
1984 and later on installed a network system to fit with the
What a happily engaged bunch!
school’s ICT vision which expressed networking in terms
of communications. Since then, investment in ICT has
been a high priority for the school. Other Horowhenua schools addition each group of children brings a teacher of their own.
in her cluster group also rate ICT as a critical component of Some of these teachers have wide ICT experience and some don’t.
twenty-first-century learning and together have developed a Some are learning along with the children and others take up
programme which sees children becoming ICT tutors in their an instructional role .
own schools.
‘In the first year,’ says Julie, ‘there was a higher level of teacher
Levin North School is the host for this programme. A small direction, but now it’s the kids who take the leadership role,’
group of four or five children from each of the seven schools she continues proudly. I learned that last year the focus was on
in the cluster meet together at Julie’s school once a term. They animation and the kids learned how to make movies. Today they
travel from as far away as Shannon and Foxton. Amongst these are building on their previous experience of learning about how
children are identified ‘peer tutors’. These are children who help to create wiki spaces. They have already had one session so today
other children with their new learning. As the children become they begin with a brief round-up on what they have been doing
computer competent, they take turns at being peer tutors. In with wiki creation in their own schools. The Foxton Primary
School team announced with great pleasure that they had helped
everyone in their school to create their own wiki space. The
Shannon school children had been building a wiki at their school,
too, but were stuck and now needed to know more.
As Hoani Perigo from Levin North School announces it is
time to ‘get tricky with your wiki’, 30 pairs of eyes follow him
to the front of the room and focus intently on the interactive
whiteboard, which in the olden days would have been the
blackboard space. They watch intently as they are instructed
to go to the site where the pictures are stored, click on ‘edit
this page’, go to ‘images and files’, then to ‘upload files’ – all the
pictures come up! Click on a particular picture to load it then
click on it again to size it and there it is on your wiki screen!
Writing captions for the pictures is next and of course saving
your changes. ‘It’s just practice’, Mr Perigo counsels the children.
‘It’s all about having a go. Making mistakes is no problem. You
These boys have just uploaded a game onto their wiki.
just go back and fix it up.’
They sit back to admire their work
23
I learn how useful wikis are through interacting with the
children and teachers.
‘We can publish everything on the wiki,’ says Julie, ‘and of
course it’s a great way to get parents involved too. Teachers can
communicate directly with parents and vice versa. We encourage
the children to publish their own work, and the parents can share
what they have produced in school that day’.
The wiki ensures too that children can’t trick parents into
thinking they have no homework. Homework tasks can also be
published on the wiki! In addition, there are numerous sites for
parents to access to help children with their homework whether
its maths, reading, comprehension or learning a song!
‘Tasks like learning tables can be very boring for kids,’ Julie tells
me, ‘but we have a selection of maths games that can be accessed
on the wiki and that’s a fun way for kids to learn.’
It doesn’t stop there. The children directed me to the ‘nstereo’
site. ‘We can video Kapa Haka, upload it on the wiki and show
it to our parents at home.’ What a great idea, I muse, thinking of
all the parents who would love to see their children performing,
but can’t get to the school during the day.
It all seems just too good to be true, but Julie tells me there is
a downside to be aware of.
‘You need the vision and the infrastructure in your school for
this to work,’ she says. We take every opportunity to increase
professional development for our staff and continually upgrade
our infrastructure. There is growing leadership in the school
around elearning and it is important to recognise the strength
of staff in making this successful. We are fortunate too that we
operate an inquiry model and elearning fits very comfortably
with that. The kids have a voice in this environment.’
A peer tutor shows the girls what to do
As I circulate around the class, it is impossible in the end to
work out who is tutoring who. Teachers are giving instructions,
children respond and sometimes with a new idea that surprises
and informs the teacher! The child peer tutors are also learning
from the peers they are tutoring. The visiting teachers take time
to have a class of their own where they in turn share their own
learning, sometimes gleaned from working with the children!
They talk about useful learning websites, strategies, special
needs applications and ideas that they can all use in their own
schools. I realise that this same situation will be occurring in
the children’s own homes, where parents will be learning from
their own children.
ICT at Levin North is as close to achieving true ‘Äkonga’ as I
have seen operating in any school.
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24
A Subject Mauled?
Messages about social studies from two
Rugby World Cup 2011 resources
Mike Taylor School of Education Policy and Implementation, Faculty of Education, Victoria University of Wellington
Messages about social studies are implicitly conveyed
through the resource materials designed to help support teachers
plan and deliver quality learning experiences. It is important,
therefore, that contemporary glossy materials, available to
schools for little cost, are critically appraised by teachers,
otherwise messages about social studies may be conveyed to
learners that are counterproductive to the intentions of the
subject. Thus it is in the spirit of ‘proceed with caution’, that I
turn my eye to two similarly branded, yet deeply contrasting,
Rugby World Cup (RWC) resources for primary schools:
1. Kidzone RWC 2011 student activity sheets produced by
RWC Limited 2008/New Zealand Rugby 2010, available at
www.rugbyworldcup.com/kidzone. These materials encourage
learners to adopt a second team and use the 20 activities to find
out more about that country. In addition each activity sheet has
three focus-level questions, aimed at ages 5–7, 8–10 and 11–12
respectively. Teacher Resources are brief, largely consisting of
the answers to activity sheets.
2. RWC 2011 booklets produced by the NZ 2011 Office in
association with the Ministry of Education and sent out in
hard copy to all primary schools. These materials are targeted
at years 1–3, 4–6 and 7–8 learners with a particular focus on
event management and the shaping of culture. The booklets are
accompanied by extensive teacher notes accessed via the TKI
website (http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-resources/
Learning-and-teaching-resources).
Choosing evaluation criteria
What criteria should be selected to evaluate social studies
resources? Figure 1 offers a starting point for discussion. Readers
may not only agree or disagree with my choice of seven criteria,
they may also attribute greater weighting to some of the criteria
than others. The rationale for my selection is as follows:
Factual content may be enjoyable to learners keen to do well
in ‘Kiwi quiz’ settings, but if this is at the expense of developing
ideas about society, does it meet the aims of social studies? The
need for students to be able to identify some surface features
of cultural expression, is undoubtedly important, but to what
extent should such ‘tip of the iceberg’ knowledge dominate social
studies learning, and for how long?
New Zealand social studies has been described as an ideas
subject (Barr, 1998). Ideas are represented as abstract concepts,
embedded in the wording of curriculum achievement objectives.
The recommendations from the most recent NEMP results for
social studies call for greater emphasis to be placed on developing
students’ conceptual understandings and to encourage deeper
levels of thinking (NEMP, 2010). Thus concept-led social studies
activities may help learners meeting the aim of transferring
ideas to new contexts.
Factual content
Concept-led
Learning progression
Social inquiry
Controversial issues
Curriculum links
Assessment
Figure 1: Criteria for Evaluating Social Studies RWC 2011
Resources
The NZC achievement objectives signpost learning progression.
Teachers may need to break down these large ideas into more
manageable conceptual understandings, as they plan for
student learning. For example, when addressing the Level 4
AO ‘Understand how people pass on and sustain culture and
heritage for different reasons and that this has consequences
for people’ (MOE, 2007) a teacher might develop the following
conceptual understandings to guide the focus of student activities
in a rugby context:
1. Discrimination is a way of sustaining power.
2. Apartheid regimes in South Africa attempted to sustain the
power of the minority white culture by excluding black South
Africans from representing their country in sporting events.
3. Social conflict during the 1981 Springbok tour was between
those who wanted to sustain rugby culture and those who
wanted to dismantle apartheid.
The need to develop increasingly more complex ideas about
society is affirmed by the Ministry of Education’s helpful
Approaches to Building Conceptual Understandings teacher
resource, which states that at ‘each level, the conceptual
understanding . . . will differ according to the context of study
and the accompanying concepts’ (MOE, 2009, p. 6).
The potential for social inquiry to unpack controversial issues
rests upon the opportunity for students to explore contested
values, perspectives, peoples’ responses to decisions and
ultimately develop their own social action. This moves social
studies methodology beyond simply data collection, processing
and presentation, to ‘doing the hard bits’ (Keown, 1998).
It might be naïve to expect to see controversial issues in
resources that are ultimately a celebration of New Zealand
25
hosting RWC 2011, thus reflecting a ‘citizenship transmission’
orientation to social studies education (Barr, 1998). Avoiding the
controversial in social studies will, however, lessen the scope to
‘engage critically with societal issues’ (MOE, 2007, p. 30).
An important decision to consider when selecting resources to
use in the classroom, is to what extent it links to the curriculum.
Primary schools have, in the last few years, spent considerable
time considering how their learning programmes reflect the
intentions of the NZC. Social studies contributes to the bigger
educative picture of informed, connected citizens.
Assessment of social studies is difficult and therefore teachers
may look for suggestions from resource providers for approaches
that can be integrated into, and provide authentic summaries of,
student learning.
Comparison of two RWC 2011 teaching resources
26
Kidzone RWC 2011 student activity sheets
RWC 2011 booklets (NZ 2011 Office)
Factual content?
Accumulation of facts is the name of the game. For
example, ‘History’ requires students to identify the proud
captains holding aloft the Webb Ellis Cup, with a space for
the year and country to be inserted; ‘Clothing’ requires
students to identify traditional or unique clothing worn by
people from their adopted country; and ‘Food and drink’
requires the writing of a daily meal planner for a family in
the adopted country.
Factual knowledge is developed, but not at the expense of deeper understanding.
The year 7–8 question ‘How can we avoid cultural tokenism and promoting
low-level understanding of our culture (such as only looking at flags and capital
cities)?’ makes the NZ 2011 Office position on the place of facts quite explicit.
Concept led?
Some of the focus questions require understanding of ideas
to be developed, but these are presented as ‘footnotes’,
following on from the factual focus of the worksheets.
Prominence is given to social studies concepts in many of the activities. For
example, the year 1–3 booklet focus on the knowledge and skills required to
successfully manage an event, emphasises roles and responsibilities. This gives
learners the opportunity to make more sense of the operations required to
successfully organise a significant (sporting) event.
Treat some concept-led approaches with caution. For example, in the year 7–8
booklet, how sport has changed over time is presented by a flow diagram that
presents an overly simplistic linear relationship between cause and effect.
Such a representation belies the complexity of societal change, and it may well
behove teachers to challenge students, once equipped with enough content
knowledge, to design their own multi-causal models to represent examples of
societal-sporting change.
Learning
progression?
Difficult to determine because of the factual nature of the
activity sheets.
Increasing levels of difficulty is a feature of many of the student activities.
At one point in the Teacher Notes, learning progression is communicated
through carefully crafted propositional statements that each link to a number
of social studies concepts (in bold) about New Zealand’s relationship with
Pacific culture:
1. New Zealand is a Pacific nation.
2. Immigration from the Pacific Islands has changed the ethnic composition
of New Zealand, and Auckland now has the largest population of Pasifika
peoples in the world.
3. New Zealand’s culture, especially in sport and the arts, has gained a
distinctly Pacific flavour.
However, the year 7–8 booklets contain some activities (e.g ‘Everyone counts’
and ‘Working together’) that do not seem to have progressed learning a great
deal from the ‘roles and responsibilities’ themes of the books targeting younger
children. Progression towards the acquisition and exercising of leadership may
be more appropriate for year 7–8 in the context of the RWC 2011?
Social inquiry?
Emphasises finding and selecting information from a range
of sources. Some of the focus questions represent a social
inquiry orientation at level 3 (for example, ‘In what ways
can these symbols include and exclude different groups?’;
‘What challenges or difficulties do you think someone from
your adopted country might have if they came to live in your
country?’), but these are sporadic. Student self-reflection
a feature of some of the focus questions.
As well as including traditional information seeking aspects there are a few
occasions in which points of view (e.g. considering ‘trends in sport’ at years
4–6; interviewing relatives to discuss ‘Sport, then and now’ at years 7–8) and
perspectives (year 4–6 ‘Consequences wheel) are requested. The final activity
in the year 7–8 booklet ‘Find-out – then what?’ has some values orientated
question stems that might be useful to use. There does not appear to be much
opportunity for learners to explore peoples’ responses to action or exercise their
own active participation in response to issues emanating from RWC 2011.
Controversial
issues?
The RWC 2011 is presented as simply an ‘event’ and
controversy is almost entirely absent in these overtly
celebratory worksheets.
Largely benign accounts of international relationships through sport are
presented.
Recognises some of the challenges of hosting a RWC in the year 4–6
‘Consequence Wheel’ & ‘Hosting RWC 2011’ and year 7–8 ‘Costs and Benefits’
activities.
Curriculum links?
Teacher resources suggest that it is up to the teacher to
identify learner needs and curriculum aims before deciding
how to use activity sheets.
Teacher Notes contain detailed ‘front’ and ‘back’ end NZC links, although
the links between conceptual understandings and curriculum achievement
objectives could be clearer.
Assessment?
Activity 1 is ‘KWL’ chart used to identify prior knowledge
and what a student would like to learn.
Final activity is a multi-choice quiz that enables learners
‘to see how much you have learnt!’ The quiz is consistent
with the low-level factual approach of the activities.
While developing student conceptual understanding is clearly the focus,
how that should be assessed is noticeably silent. Is the message here that
assessment is unimportant, beyond the scope of external resource providers,
or too difficult?
Conclusion
This brief analysis of two RWC resources represents very different
representations of social studies. The Kidzone RWC 2011 activity
sheets present social studies mauled: a superficial collection of
facts with little commitment to deeper learning. These resources
have little in the way to support recommendations from the most
recent social studies NEMP report (2010) about developing
conceptual understanding. In contrast, the NZ 2011 Office
booklets present a message of social studies as an ideas subject
(Barr, 1998), in which learning about society is promoted by
carefully planned, predominantly concept-led activities.
The celebration of RWC 2011 means that social controversy
is largely invisible across both resources, although there is some
space dedicated to the economic ramifications of the event
in the NZ 2011 Office materials. It is likely that teachers will
need to consider extending the controversial to social, cultural
and environmental ramifications of the RWC if social studies
learning is to support the aim of developing critical, actively
engaged learners. For example, making the homeless less visible
to international visitors, exorbitant service industry price rises,
and the carbon footprint of international sporting events may
also offer critical lenses on contemporary New Zealand culture
and values through the context of the RWC.
In summary, it is hoped that this brief analysis of two social
studies resources reinforces the importance of casting a critical
eye on materials sent to schools. Having a rigorous set of selection
criteria as a tool to evaluate such resources not only has an
instrumental purpose; it also underscores some of the big ideas
of social studies teaching and learning.
References
Barr, H. (1998). ‘The Nature of Social Studies’. In P. Benson and R.
Openshaw (eds), New Horizons for Social Studies (pp. 103–120).
Palmerston North.
Ministry of Education (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum.
Wellington: Crown.
Ministry of Education (2009). Approaches to Building Conceptual
Understandings Wellington: Learning Media Limited. http://ssol.tki.
org.nz/social_studies_years_1_10/teaching_and_learning/effective_
teaching_in_social_studies/building_conceptual_understandings
National Education Monitoring Project (2010). Focus 2010. Otago
University. http://nemp.otago.ac.nz/_forum.htm
Keown, P. (1998). ‘Values and social action: doing the hard bits’. In
P. Benson and R. Openshaw (eds), New Horizons for Social Studies
(pp. 137–160). Palmerston North.
About the Author
Mike is currently an Initial Teacher Education lecturer at the Faculty
of Education, Victoria University of Wellington. He coordinates and
teaches social studies and social science (geography) papers in the
Primary Graduate Diploma, BTeach and Secondary Graduate Diploma
programmes. Mike’s research focus is on geography and science teachers’
curriculum response to the Canterbury–Christchurch earthquakes. Freeto-air viewing will offer the chance for Mike to be an armchair pundit
for the duration of the RWC, but he is unwilling to predict if the All
Blacks will choke once again.
27
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Do you have sound
classrooms?
Jenny Barrett General Manager, Sitech Systems NZ Ltd
By ‘sound’ classrooms, I mean
do you have classrooms in which
information can be clearly heard? It
seems timely as we all clamour for
touch screen computers, interactive
whiteboard technologies and iPods, to
remind ourselves not to overlook the
fundamental requirement of a learning
space – that our students can hear
information that is being shared.
Conduct an experiment
To help you assess your learning spaces,
let’s think about the level of noise in a
typical New Zealand classroom. Ideally,
your teachers and students could access
a data logger and keep a record of the
noise level of their classrooms when
occupied and when empty. First, they
need to consider background noise –
AJ Puleiata presenting to the class and reading to the class
traffic, construction, airplanes and other
classrooms. There is classroom noise such as sliding chairs and (60 dB). In plain English, each increase of 6 dB means that the
air conditioning. Plus with our more communicative approach noise level has effectively doubled.
Next you will want to identify the SNR – the signal-to-noise
to learning, there will be many individuals talking. Students
do not just sit and listen to the teacher anymore. They work in ratio. The signal is the teacher’s voice or the student doing a
different groups on different tasks. They run computers and presentation or the video that you are sharing. If the teacher’s
data projectors, play videos and audio. Research has shown that voice is 70 dB and the level of noise is 60 dB, then you have
noise levels in empty classrooms can vary from 30–35 decibels an SNR of +10 dB. The recommended SNR for adults to hear
(dB) at night to 55–75 dB with teacher and students present.1 effectively is +6 dB. However, for children with normal hearing,
Compare these findings with your classrooms. Note that decibels it is recommended that it be +15 dB.2 Younger listeners need a
are logarithimic not linear, as with the Richter scale. Therefore a greater SNR because children’s brains are not fully developed
vacuum cleaner (70 dB) is twice as loud as average street traffic for listening until they are in their early teenage years, so
29
primary school-age children find
it much harder to correctly hear
their teacher’s voice. They can miss
keywords, phrases and concepts
in poor listening conditions and
don’t really understand the words
that have been spoken. Add to the
equation ESOL Learners, Special
Needs students and those children
who suffer recurrent ear infections
– all of whom may have even greater
needs and you begin to understand
the size of the problem.
Failure to hear accurately can
have a huge impact on a child’s
achievement at school. The New
Zealand National Foundation for the
Deaf quotes international research
that has shown that children with
‘mild’ hearing loss (i.e. that of a
recurrent ear infection) have 12
times the risk of educational failure
than their normal-hearing peers.
90 per cent of the intelligibility of
speech is in the higher frequencies
– soft consonant sounds which
are difficult, if not impossible, to
project loudly. In order to deliver
intelligible speech, we need to
boost the softer sounds and slightly
reduce the energy in low frequency
sounds. Louder is not necessarily
better. This is where classroom
audio technology comes in.
What is the latest in
classroom audio technology
and how does it work?
The two most prevalent types
of sound field amplification for
classroom use are FM and infrared
systems. FM technology has been
on the market for many years and
it transmits sound via radio waves.
Each room uses a specific channel
(or FM frequency) and the signal
is not interrupted by physical
Diego Serpa, Year 5 & 6 Classroom Teacher
The key – intelligibility
objects in the room. However, this
In order for learning to occur,
type of system can be susceptible
children therefore have to be able to hear all of the spoken to radio frequency interference (from other types of wireless
instruction. The loudest sounds in speech are low frequency technology) and the signal can transmit through walls, which
vowel sounds and they are easy to hear. On the other hand, could compromise confidentiality. Infrared systems are the
most widely used for a group or classroom setting today. This
type transmits sound in the form of invisible infrared light
waves, similar to a television remote control. The more modern
technology is immune to electromagnetic interference and the
signal will not transmit through walls, ensuring privacy.
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Most research indicates that classroom amplification systems have
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A primary component of literacy is phonemic awareness
– the knowledge of the sound structure of language
focusing on auditory distinctions. So the clearer those
auditory distinctions are to the child, the better will be
their opportunity to learn to read. Studies show that literacy
has been positively impacted in the classrooms that use
audio systems.4
Cost
Okay – your teachers and students have identified a need. Now
you need to sell it your board of trustees and/or approach a trust.
Simple! Compared to the benefit that sound field amplification
systems provide to students and teachers, they can be the most
inexpensive technology purchased for a classroom. Up-to-date
costs from leading manufacturers average $1 to $1,500 for a
complete system. When this is divided by 25 students per class,
it is a cost of $60 per student. The estimated lifespan for each
system is ten years; therefore the annual unit cost per student
is $6. Plus additional savings to a school may be in the form
of reduced sick days due to voice problems and fatigue. Of the
teachers participating in an American study examining voice
disorders in the profession, 18 per cent reported missing at
least one day of work per year due to a voice disorder.5 Based
on average relief teacher pay of $250 per day, every six sick days
saved would pay for another unit!
What do we need to know when purchasing a
classroom audio system?
RF versus IR
In the past, radio frequency (RF) has been the primary, if not
only, viable method of transmission for wireless microphones.
Since they use radio waves, RF wireless microphones (specifically
VHF or UHF) can transmit over relatively long distances and
even through walls, making it the optimum technology for use
in churches, concert halls and outdoor events.
The classroom environment presents a whole different set of
issues than a typical wireless microphone application. Rooms
are small and don’t require long range transmission. Systems
are being placed in every classroom in a building; and in many
cases each classroom has two active microphones. Systems are
sometimes moved to different classrooms from year to year.
With all of these unique challenges, infrared transmission
has overwhelmingly become the standard in the classroom
amplification market for the following reasons:
■■
■■
■■
immunity to outside interference from TV and radio stations
elimination of frequency management issues
ability to use microphones interchangeably throughout a
building.
Cone speakers versus flat panel speakers
Cone speakers do a fine job of defusing low-frequency sound,
however, these single point speakers project a relatively narrow
funnel of higher frequency sound. To clearly hear phonemes
and softer word sounds in these higher frequencies, one must be
positioned directly in line with the speaker. Off-axis, even a little,
will degrade speech intelligibility, resulting in loss of information.
The radiation of sound waves from flat panels is more diffuse
because the entire surface of the panel is activated rather than
a single point. Thus the mid and high frequency information
is preserved and is distributed more evenly throughout the
learning space making it an ideal fit for classroom amplification
systems, especially as it relates to phonemic awareness, literacy
and language acquisition.
How many microphones?
Going back to Dr Carol Flexer:
Not only do pupils need to hear teachers, they need to hear
other pupils and they need to hear themselves, and that
takes two microphones.
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Media connection
Finally, future-proof your purchase and ensure integration
with other multimedia in your classroom.
Computers, LCD projectors, video, TVs, CDs, iPods and other
audio sources are generally limited due to speaker size and
location in the classroom. Therefore add an integrated amplifier
to your package that is designed to accept audio from all these
sources.
One school’s experience
Case study
Windley School is a decile 1 school situated in Porirua East,
north of Wellington. There are approximately 370 students from
year 1 through to 8.
Our experiences:
■■
■■
■■
Teachers prefer to wear the microphone around their neck,
rather than the older headset model which was connected to a
transmitter pack worn on a belt or in a pocket. Relief teachers
were never very enthusiastic about wearing the headset models
but consistently wear the pendant microphone.
The system ensures every student hears what is being said, even
for example when rain is pounding on the roof.
Many of our students are softly spoken and can be hesitant
when sharing information with the rest of the class. The
advantage of the second pendant microphone for student use
has been very successful. They can have their hands free when
reading or demonstrating to the class.
■■
■■
The pendant microphone is worn up close to the throat and
responds to voice vibrations, which is fantastic for students and
teachers because the head can be turned and there is no loss of
sound or clarity as there is when the microphone is worn as a
head piece or is hand held.
And amazingly even though there is just the one speaker all the
students can hear their teacher.
Case study by Judy Waterhouse – a teacher at Windley School
with a passion for digital innovation.
References
Berg, F., Blair, J. and Benson, P. (1996). ‘Classroom acoustics: The
problem, impact, and solution’. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services
in Schools, 27, 16–20.
1
2
Palmer, C. (1997). ‘Hearing and listening in a typical classroom’.
Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 28, 213–218.
3
Access Dr Michael Heeney’s PhD paper on ‘Classroom Sound Field
Amplification, Listening and Learning’ (2007), which looks at New
Zealand. See: http://www.wom.com.au/files/01Thesis%20on%20
sound%20field%20amp-%20Heeney%202007.pdf
Dr Carol Flexer, audiologist and distinguished professor emeritus,
is based at the University of Akron and Northeast Ohio Au.D.
Consortium (NOAC) Akron, OH, USA. Dr Flexer may be reached
through her website: www.carolflexer.com
4
5
Mosheim, J. (2004). ‘Sound field systems benefit teachers’. Advance for
Speech-Language Pathologists & Audiologists, 13–14.
• • • 32
School Lines
Lest we forget – to remember!
Lester Flockton Feedback, feedforward, feedup, feeddown [email protected]
What is the official justification for National Standards, and Standards, ‘enticements’ are on offer! But even simple minds
who is responsible for such a badly designed system?
know that true improvement of the kind to be expected from the
National Standards were conceived by politicians under the magnitude of this tax payer–funded bulldozer must be proven
influence of populist, delusional fix-it fertility inseminations to be demonstrably incremental and sustained over years – not
from places abroad like England and America. They were merely in short, impermanent snaps in children’s schooling. You
dutifully delivered by Ministry midwives but badly malformed would have to be very gullible indeed to think that data from one
in their fast-cook incubators with prescriptions given by a few year’s progress and achievement on its own is proof of a ‘sure to
consultants deficient in the realities and workings of children, rise’ pudding. The data on which such assumptions are made are
schools, communities, curriculum, teaching, learning and likely to be as fragile as the pudding is indigestible.
assessment. Now the signs are clear: this
all-powerful and insistent National Standards
‘baby’ is rapidly growing into a bureaucratic This all-powerful and insistent National
monster that has all the potential to wreak
havoc on a schooling system that hitherto Standards ‘baby’ is rapidly growing into
had been widely acclaimed as among the best a bureaucratic monster.
in the world for children and their learning
(there can never be a single ‘best’ system).
It is profoundly unfortunate in this whole sorry saga of
National Standards that the force of argument and opposition
We cannot assume that assessment, or indeed any other
is centred largely on the dubiousness (unreliability) of the data
educational practice (National Standards) will work in the
it manufactures (the ‘metric’ as measurement people now like
way intended. Activities as deeply personal as education
to say). Clearly, data is the centre pole of the Ministry’s system,
must be recognised for the emotionally complex, culturally
consistent with its blinded adherence to the orthodoxy of datadiverse and more or less unpredictable things they
led school improvement. But should this data fixation really be
are . . . we may be in danger of unwittingly unleashing
the central focus for challenge and debate around the National
a Frankenstein’s monster. Indeed, we may already have
Standards policy? I think not! The vast majority of ‘grounded’
done so.
educators in this country know full well that the Ministry’s
(Broadfoot, 2002)
system is badly designed and hyper-spun. Even the Minister
But let’s be fair about this. Account should not be simply laid at of Education’s own partisan advisory group acknowledges the
the feet of the politicians. The law changes introducing National problems in recommending to her that National Standards be
Standards made within weeks of the current government being reviewed (but her Ministry has done such a good job in spellelected were worded quite broadly. They allowed more than binding her, that she has disapproved of the overdue advice – at
ample scope for the Ministry of Education to design a sensible, least for the meantime – at least until some convenient time after
sound and acceptable ‘system’ – but that’s not what we got. the upcoming election). So let’s put the Ministry’s ‘system’ aside
Instead we have been saddled with a system that is shot through and put the spotlight where it should rightfully be: the reason
with serious design and implementation problems. Its only true for having National Standards in the first place! The justification
promise is to increase bureaucratic busy work, mountains of for the policy and all that is oozing out of it. Let’s not forget to
cyber paper, and ill-founded faith in ‘glorious’ data.
remember this!
The whole reason, justification, rationale, political persuasion
. . . the term data inclines most educators to think good
for the National Standards policy has been repeated time and
thoughts laced with notions of evidence, science, and rigor.
again by the Minister of Education and ministers around her:
But data shouldn’t elicit automatic obeisance from rightto rescue the alleged one in five children who are failing. This
thinking educators. Indeed, we should spurn some data.
raison d’être must at every point be the measuring rod for the
(Popham, 2003)
success or failure of the policy – and the system designed to
Already the Ministry of Education is tirelessly on the hunt for support it. And where, might you ask, did that ‘one in five’ come
any faint signs that their National Standards system is improving from in the first place?
student achievement, no matter how isolated and unchecked
National Party education spokesperson Bill English says
the examples and data might be (look for the photos and stories
children who are underachieving need National Standards
in their Education Gazette). Moreover, if a school happens
in literacy and numeracy, plain English reporting and
to somehow show flickers of improvement against National
highly performing teachers.
33
He is responding to the Education Review Office’s annual
report that finds that up to 20 per cent of students are not
achieving.
(EDUVAC, 7 November 2005)
The credibility of National Standards stands or falls on
substantially denting the percentage of ‘underachieving’
students in this country – a percentage that continues to be
paralleled in other Western developed countries regardless of
their National Standards systems, the relentless spin, and the
curious constructions and interpretations of their data. What
New Zealand now has in common with those countries is a highly
stratified society – or layers of people from the very very rich at
the top, to the very very poor at the bottom. And therein lies the
major clue to explaining ‘tails’ of underachievement.
At long last our shameful child poverty record with attendant
social and intellectual dysfunctionalism is being publicly
admitted and declared. The sad truth is that the large majority
of our underachieving children are located in the seriously
disadvantaging circumstances of the lower strata. The simplistic
belief is that the tail of underachievement can be severed by
‘targeting’ those students and holding their teachers and schools
accountable for lifting their achievement through National
Standards. This flies in the face of highly credible evidence that
70 to 80 per cent of a child’s achievement is typically related to
their inherent personal attributes (we are each made differently),
and to the circumstances of their home and living environment.
To think that National Standards will override this fundamental
truth is to think without knowing! We do know where the
problem lies and where policy should be directed – but the
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
»
34
»
justification for National Standards foreshadowed by Bill English
is based on the assumption that schools can override individual
differences exacerbated by societal problems.
There are many proposed solutions to both raising the bar
and closing the gap (‘reducing disparities among diverse
learners’). But very few of these proposed solutions – some
would say none – have been demonstrably effective on a
large scale under the variable conditions that exist in most
schools.
(Leithwood, 2007)
Public and professional scrutiny, debate and argument about
National Standards is not about reliability of data. It is about
whether they can lift the achievement of disadvantaged and
differently abled children so that they are no longer ‘failing’.
If they cannot do that, then they too fail miserably on many
counts. Internationally the evidence from places with established
National Standards systems shows that they have indeed failed.
So don’t take them too seriously, and don’t waste too much time
on them.
References
Broadfoot, Patricia (2002). ‘Beware the Consequences of Assessment!’
Assessment in Education, vol. 9, no. 3.
Kenneth Leithwood (2007). In The Jossey-Bass Reader on Educational
Leadership. 2nd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, p. 187.
Popham, James W. (2003). ‘The Seductive Allure of Data’. Educational
Leadership. February 2003, pp. 48–51
Rural Ramblings
Ten thousand hours of practice . . . Baabaara Ramsbottom
When it comes to lifelong learning my grandad was an
marginally) implicated in our future achievements, we are
inspiration – he loved music and when he retired he taught
likely to persevere . . . What we decide about the nature of
himself to play the electric organ. He was so enthused that he
talent, then, could scarcely be more important.
decided his eldest granddaughter must learn an instrument too.
Syed, Bounce, p. 16
So it was that at the age of eight I embarked upon violin lessons. I
He quotes the work of Anders Ericsson who carried out an
would love to tell you that I showed immense promise and that if
extensive study of outstanding, world-class performance. His
you search the ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’ on YouTube you would
subjects (coincidentally!) were violinists at
find me alongside Yehudi Menuhin, Nigel
a renowned German music school. After
Kennedy and Vanessa Mae. You won’t.
extensive research he found that all had
My partner runs a tertiary-level rugby
started at a very similar age, had good
programme where he endeavours to ensure
teaching and parental support – the only
that no promising rugby player in the
significant difference between those who
Manawatu leaves school without UE. In
would go on to be world-class, exceptional
the belief that every stocking should have
performers and the rest was the number of
at least one good book, every November I
hours they had dedicated to practice. By the
begin trawling bookshops for the perfect
age of 20 the elite violinists had averaged
one. Last Christmas I hit a particularly
10,000 hours, over 2,000 hours more than
high note with a book called Bounce by
those judged to be very good. Syed’s premise
Matthew Syed. Matthew is a Commonwealth
is well researched and well written – it is also
medal–winning table-tennis champion and
the only book to have taken up permanent
journalist. His book is built on the theory
residence on my partner’s bedside table.
that the difference between a champion
I find it unimaginable that anyone could
and an average performer can be measured
spend 10,000 hours practising the violin –
in hours of practice. Being at the top of
which probably accounts for the fact that
Photo by Graeme Brown
your field takes on average 10,000 hours
the height of my achievement has been
of practice. He stacks up some convincing
three excruciatingly painful arrangements
evidence which has serious implications for our beliefs about
of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’! However, it has occurred to me
learning new skills:
that for at least 15 years of my 20-year career I have devoted 40
If we believe that attaining excellence hinges on talent, we
working weeks of six hours a day to the practice of teaching –
are likely to give up if we show insufficient early promise.
which I calculate to amount to 18,000 hours. Despite this, with
And this will be perfectly rational given the premise. If,
an ERO visit on the horizon, I am loathe to consider myself to
on the other hand, we believe that talent is not (or is only
be at world-class performance standard! Hence, my continued
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35
reflection on the importance of lifelong learning.
As we are often reminded ‘shift happens’ and there cannot be
many careers that demand such willingness to learn and unlearn
and relearn. Added to that, working in a country school means
that my class may be taught by me for five or six years of their
schooling; I owe it to them to work at my learning in the areas
where I don’t yet excel.
It was therefore with dismay that I recently listened to a
Ministry presentation on new plans for professional learning.
with populations of less than 1,000. Will rural schools, who will
have less actual numbers of underachieving pupils, miss out on
funded PD?
Even though ‘country service’ is no longer considered an
essential part of a principal’s career path, many New Zealand
principals begin their professional lives in rural schools. I hope
that access to high-quality professional learning continues to be
ongoing for the development of our profession as a whole.
In the meantime, were there a National Standard in music
I would undoubtedly be ‘well below’ – but
I am a lifelong learner (and with the hope
Even though ‘country service’ is no
that I finally make my grandad proud!)
I persistently strive towards the heights of musical
longer considered an essential part of
greatness. My junior teacher and I recently began
learning the ukulele and, having learned four
a principal’s career path, many New
chords, we attended the first Central Ukulele
Zealand principals begin their professional
Festival in Palmerston North*. It was an amazing
day – we took the whole school and played our
lives in rural schools.
new chords with more enthusiasm than accuracy.
It seemed to suggest that access to freely available professional As a result I have now mastered the intro to Deep Purple’s ‘Smoke
development will now be decided on the basis of charter targets on the Water’, which – according to my 9-year-old son – is
and overall school data gathering – with support targeted at meeeeeaaaaan.
schools with the highest numbers of pupils judged to be below
I have since bought a beautiful yellow ukulele and estimate I
and well below National Standards. Our New Zealand data have racked up around ten hours of practice so far – only 9,990
tells us that the greatest differences in learning achievement to go!
lie between classrooms in the same school rather than between
schools and yet it seems that some of us will be prioritised as *The Central Ukulele Festival was organised by Jennifer Moss who offers
having greater needs where PD is concerned.
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Educational Politics in Focus

Transcription

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