The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler
Recently I read this article regarding education and meeting the needs of our rangatahi, (Frances Valentine speaks to the Herald about bravery, business and education.) It got me thinking... By neglecting to truly value competencies for learning over content in schools are we turning todays conformists into tomorrows misfits? Lidia Yuknavitch gave a great Tedtalk on misfits. In it she defines a misfit as a person that missed fitting in or a person that is poorly adapted to new situations. Ive always enjoyed the stories of yesterdays rebel (misfit) becoming an innovative problem solver and leader because of their ability to challenge the status quo found in society. But what does that say about a society that is expected to increasingly need innovative leaders and problem solvers?
Will the Ss that are great at conforming to expectations and rules be ill prepared for tomorrows challenges? Will they be innovative enough?
Will conformists be the most vulnerable towards new technology entering the work place?
This reframing of Toffler's insight gives me the shivers. These conformists are often the Ss that teachers see as good people, deserving of a life that rewards their self-control and amicability. I think of the line in the educational documentary "Most likely to Succeed," that says.. "In the past these people were likely to live a perfectly average life all the way to the perfectly average funeral...These assurances no longer exist." This idea really affects me. I feel an urgency...This urgency needs to be expressed. Perhaps in doing so we will see how failing to explicitly raise the value of effective lifelong learning skills as of more importance than subject based content we will not place todays good Ss into such a vulnerable place in the near future. As I read this I so grateful of the NZ curriculum and its vision, principles and values and especially of the statement that emphasises prioritising depth of understanding over content coverage. (see providing sufficient opportunities to learn)I feel that teachers are not to date truly grasping the importance of these wonderful future focused features yet.
This sense of urgency is significant... it is what I will use to ensure that I am prioritising research based effective learning practices into my daily pedagogies. Its funny how sometimes it just a rephrasing of a statement to attain that "oh shit" sense of urgency.
The following is an introductory statement from our recently established TairāwhitiED facebook page. In recent years educationally focused groups have begun forming around Aotearoa with the purpose of increasing high quality, collaboration between teachers,schools and communities. One such group is called WellyED.
A group of people passionate about education in Tairāwhiti have spoken about the need for a group like this being created. So here it is..at the very early stages..Its really exciting to get #tairāwhitiED up and running and based on recent discussions there is plenty to look forward to.
It is essential that our community knows that this is an open group for any people that are interested in our education system here in Tairāwhiti. So please share with others that are truly interested in our rangatahi and their education here in Tairāwhiti. The more diverse our members are (in terms of culture, experience and background) the more valuable our contribution towards improving our youths learning experience will be.
As part of our launch we were able to screen the educational documentary "Most Likely to Succeed."MLTS was a chance to initiate a discussion regarding the need to how challenge the status quo in our education system. Under this TairāwhitiED aims to invite dialogue across all our community, professionals, entrepreneurs, home makers, and learners both young and old.
Reflection on the screening...The turn out for this screening was far more than we anticipated totalling 80! It was exciting to see so many people curious about how education needs to change and how this might look like here in for our rangatahi in Tairāwhiti. The following points are a list I made while watching MLTS.
Structure for High Tech High projects appered to be focused around Plan>>Process>>Presentation
Schools are all actioning personalised learning in different ways
Requires faith in this new pedagogy
Accountability promoted through exhibition
Project based learning was the key towards authenticity and engagement.
Team teaching allowed for integrated curriculum and expertise was supported
Learner evaluation included Qs asking Ss to reflect on learning skills/muscles
Curriculum coverage is likely to be reduced even as much as by 50% but Ss develop understanding and skill sets to a deeper level.
I am of the mindset that Most likely to succeed was a great way to share the interest we all have in education, as it was for us as students and how it is now. It provided an exciting example of how education can be shaped to meet the needs of our learners in ways that were previously impossible. We emphasised how this isn't a case of modelling what High tech high have done, but to see this as an example of what might be possible when we choose to re-vision our education system and act upon our vision. The following week we ran our very first TairāwhitiED workshop. We explored the groups aspirations and expectations relating to education here. We achieved this through using a design thinking process, (expertly facilitated by Mindlab Gisborne educator Tim Gander.) This process enabled us to both introduce ourselves and work alongside community members to explore this amazing topic. There was a real overarching theme through the group. Relationship building and personalised learning programs was often communicated as the key aim for engagement. One member spoke about connecting with learners in a way that sparks their innate talents and passions. As a teacher I felt the discussions I have only just begun are going to continue and develop in ways I could never have predicted prior. It is truly exciting to see TairāwhitiED up and running and feel that much will be gained through this wonderful group of people.
Becoming an effective future focused educator is a deeply human experience. That's how i have grown to see education. Imagine a curriculum that is focused on students learning more about themselves than subjects. A curriculum that enables our schooling systems to nurture learner identity, thinkers, community. I see this as a very real possibility considering the first half or our current NZC. However how can we ensure that our teaching practices are focusing on our learners needs in a manner that effectively captures their learning progression? I am interested in how our education system is becoming more personalised. One area that is intriguing is assessment. In my experience to personalise assessment of learning we need to design assessments that capture more than the easy measurable quantitative data but also the more qualitative learning progressions. For the last month I've been learning about learning maps with Brian Annan and Mary Wootton from Infinity Learn.
Low tech (easy and effective with pens & paper)
Enables educators and learners to explore learning experiences as a narrative
Student advocacy is promoted
Encourages Ss to talk about their own learning in relation to people,places,tools and interactions
Learners self identify areas that could be altered for increasing learning success
It promotes student centred decision making regarding their learning
Learning maps are positive focused
I have chosen to implement learning maps into my learning advisory,(my LA is a vertical home room class with students from yr 9-13), as a result I feel that i have already developed a stronger sense of advocacy. This is really helpful considering this is still my first term here at Lytton High. Im excited by the opportunities that this kind of assessment provides for our students. The discussions that I have already experienced in my LA are more focused on personalised learning, student ownership of learning and sharing experiences. Points of interest that i thought about during last night workshop relate to identifying when learning is seen as isolated occurrences, passive vs active learning and sustainability of learning. Isolated experiences: Many of my learners saw interactions between them and others,places,tools P,P orT as separate events. They drew themselves in several places around the map instead of having the P,P or T surrounding them in a mindmap style. I wonder if this reveals how the learner sees these interactions as separate events and not as a part of a network of learning? Passive vs Active: Arrows showing interactions were mostly pointing towards the learner therefore they saw themselves as passive in their learning. Sustainability How embedded is the P,P or T in the learners network? If this is a node with several interactions then for me this might indicate that this aspect is significant for the learners experiences and more likely to remain so in the future. People,Places or Tools that are nodes with fewer connections might be more tentative in the learners current experience.. these may need to be analysed further to explore if this can be used more or worth reducing. In what I know about Mason Durie's Tapa Whā model, I see as opportunity to explore the information to gain an insight into our students hauora or essence. This is another aspect that relates to the sustainability of our learners learning practices. I wonder which digital technology will best capture these narratives and images? This will be something i will explore no doubt as i continue on with these maps. Overall learning can be difficult to capture at anytime , but i feel that using Learning maps are a strong step in the right direction if we are to develop truly effective assessments for a more personalised education system.
I took a leap this week...I participated in #ldrchatnz for the first time. I know i'm my own worst enemy at times choosing to exclude myself from groups that i feel are concerned about matters that i feel I know very little about. This week I chose not to limit myself by listening to this habit.
As a teacher I am seen as a leader, and as a teacher I encourage my students to explore, learn and practice leadership skills, therefore not to challenge myself as I challenge my learners is contradicting a deeply embedded value i have as a person.
Leading has been in the forefront of my mind for most of my 5 yrs of teaching. During my time at Te Karaka Area School, under the guidance of Karyn Gray, leadership became in my mind less about status and more about action. Here learning to lead was nurtured through a culture of inquiry, reflective practice and trust and as I result i feel excited about sharing and nurturing leadership in those around me. It is an amazing legacy I know many others in Karyn's new kura (Haeata) will have the opportunity to experience.
In my new and exciting role as educator at Lytton High School, I am surrounded and supported by a team of educators that are exciting, experienced and engaging in a substantial transformation in the education experience. Wiremu Elliot (our Principal) said that many people likened this transformation to trying to upgrade a plane while its flying.. I liked this following response.. "we're not upgrading... we're completely redesigning our plane into the USS Enterprise! We need a system that will meet our learners needs in more than just the environment we are familiar to... they are entering something that is unknown..we need to think multi-dimensionally."
Yeah.. I know I am exactly where I am meant to be.
A question came up during #ldrchatnz about resources and experiences. I saw this as an opportunity to think deeply about my initial weeks here at Lytton. I wanted to best articulate why I devoted almost 2 weeks towards talking about learning to learn, skills and thinking as opposed to content, achievement standards and credits. I felt our learners understood enough what I was attempting to communicate. I know this because of the positive response i have received and continue to see from our Lytton learners and fellow staff. But until this morning I believe I hadn't accurately captured the ability articulate the connection between the what, the how and the why.
Simon Sinek's ted talk about the golden circle has helped me to better understand the dynamics not just between the what and the why but also helped me to connect the apparent disconnect between the two halves or our New Zealand Curriculum document.
This Golden circle concept of action/ engagement is an insight that I want to share with others around me to nurture leadership as it has been with me.
First and foremost I thought of my learners. We are currently developing sustainability projects based on the design thinking process. As an essential part of this process we use our empathy though connecting with our friends, whanau, and community members about what environmental issues are having an impact on our community? This is then followed by the ever important why do you feel this is? or why do you feel it is important? questions for the deeper sharing. I liked how Simon explained the what zone in our brain. To me i saw a link to this and learning at a superficial level while the why results in action/behaviour... and no wonder why we at times struggle with articulating why they do what they do!! haha...
As I learned about the golden circle I knew our learners would immediate see the value in this knowledge. In learning about our learners both in LHS and TKAS, I know many want to understand more about the why instead of the what. Perhaps is is a universal need for all learners. This is an example of the type of knowledge that is in my opinion transformative... perhaps even threshold concept quality of knowledge. This has been a profound insight for me.
I've also seen a link between the the Golden circle concept and our use of the NZC.
There are teachers that see the document from the what zone first (in my opinion these are the teachers that open the NZC from the back..) and those who see the document from the why. I'll het back to this... I see how our NZC needs to be understood better by all of us involved in education. I feel that i am now better equipped as an educator and leader to connect with those around me in an authentic, genuine way and that's awesome...
Following this video I watched a spoken word poem by Prince Ea. Im adding this to the blog as an opportunity to explore the golden circle concept to the labels we place on people in our society.
Ive learned that many of our learners admire the messages this poet shares therefore well worth using for developing discussions in learning and very relevant to the why on why.
A practice I
have witnessed in our kura is the practice of removing either accessibility to
devices or accessibility to sites that are seen as a potential distraction from
learning.
This in my
opinion is a practice not founded on the value of nurturing the capacities of
all learners to think and act with developing independence. Here’s why...
Digital technology
(DT) in a relatively short period of time has deeply embedded itself into daily
life for most of society. Society has crossed a threshold in relation to DT and
once crossed there is no turning back as such. What this means is that modern
day life and society is now highly digitalised and its dependence on DT will
continue to grow. The digital world is quickly becoming as relevant to lives as
the physical world historically has been. For our learners to gain valued
skills they must learn to manage tasks within this digital environment.
Clearly these
potential distractions will continue within our digitalised future society. The
practice of blocking these distractions is not going to best support our
learners to become self-managing, confident citizens. We are effectively
undermining valuable learning opportunities for our learners by creating disconnected
learning environments for the sake of student efficiency.
Secondly
removing accessibility to digital devices as a punitive (band aid) approach
that isn’t addressing the cause of the problem. Questions need to be asked of
all members of the learning community.
·Why is this a distraction to their
learning?
·How can we tap into this already
established engagement tpo benefit their learning?
Removing accessibility
to devices or sites without consideration of these questions effectively undermines
the importance relevance, connectivity and shared information is for learning
in 21st century. It is comparative to removing the learner from a stimulating
classroom because they aren’t paying a full attention to the teacher.
How do we
address the issues? Promote improved time management skills through a series of
closely monitored goal setting and reflective practices. Teaching must include not
just subject oriented content but a mix of explicit teaching and modelling of key competencies that promote self management, relating to
others and thinking.
At TKAS our
team has constructed a poutama for leadership that includes how our Ss manage
their time and devices. This poutama emphasises how our learners all
demonstrate the attributes we value at times however the consistency of these
values being demonstrated is the difference between the status of Guided
learner and Self directed Leader.
Our Ss are
placed into the levels according to conferences we have which include student
self evaluation and teacher discussions. These status are updated every few
weeks and students are moved along the poutama based on the criteria being met.
Therefore learners are encouraged to actively manage their learning and as a
result gain a status of leadership that is recognised as valued by our learning
community and whanau.
This is an
often messy process and needs to be monitored effectively for its relevance
towards learning to be maintained but after a few terms in use it appears to be
making a positive difference towards the development of Ss that are confident,
connected, actively involves lifelong learners.
Note:
The primary professional obligation of registered teachers is to
those they teach. Teachers
nurture the capacities of all learners to think and act with developing
independence, and strive to encourage an informed appreciation of the
fundamental values of a democratic society. Code
of ethics for registered teachers.
The use ofd social media has been an uplifting and supportive network for me professionally for over a year. I have experienced a range of discussions through this forum that always leaves me energised and inspired to challenge my own practices and thinking. Based on these experiences, social media has become embedded into my practices as a key tool for my ongoing professional development. My intention for this blog is to elaborate on how social helps me to become the best teacher I can be.
In Aotearoa (New Zealand), teachers are required to practice and evidence a set of teaching criteria over a set period of time. These criteria are called practicing teacher criteria or PTC’s.
In my opinion social media supports teachers in meeting our PTC’s through many varying ways. For the sake of brevity I will only focus on two.
The attributes I see as being linked to social media are Connectivity and Collaboration.
I have used a Facebook page for sharing professional readings between TKAS staff over the last year. The purpose of this page was for staff to have a forum for reading, sharing and storing researched articles relating to education, to connect with each other online in a professional capacity and to generate a pool of resources that could be used for learning in our MYSY community. The most rewarding moments occurred while team teaching when we were able to refer back to these readings and potential applications within our day to day practices. What I have learnt is that through sharing our professional readings we as a team keep focused on a shared vision.
PTC# 1. Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga
PTC#4. Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of personal professional practice
Over the last 12 months Twitter has become a key tool for my own professional development. What I have experienced through Twitter (#edchatnz in particular,) is continued exposure to a wide range of current practices and professional opinions. These aspects have helped me to keep track of relevant discussions regarding current practices and professional readings. The discussions that occurred here were less directly related towards specific day to day practices (which facebook was helping with,) but instead more towards modern pedagogical concepts and general applications.
In a way I feel that Twitter is providing me with a sounding board for my own growth that I would otherwise not have.
PTC# 1. Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga
PTC# 5. show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning
PTC#12. use critical inquiry and problem-solving effectively in their professional practice
What has become apparent is while I’ve have used both these forms of social media in similar ways there are some key differences in the audience. Through Twitter I was able to connect with colleagues that were from a wider audience. While on Facebook the connection was mainly focused on staff/colleagues. In both instances I feel that critical thinking of my own practices and researched informed practices have increased because of the connections and collaboration achieved through social media.
Along with its well researched benefits for students collaboration is promoted as a key tool for effective Professional Development in NZ education. There are increasingly new ways to develop effective professional collaboration. Two methods that have grown in popularity over the last 24 months are in my opinion are #edchatnz and Educamps.
Firstly for over a year I have been participating in professional discussions through #edchatnz on twitter. My perspective on this is that professional teams need at least one person to be connecting with professional forums from beyond their own learning community to keep updating and refining their practices and ideas. What I have experienced through #edchatnz is precisely that, continued exposure to a wide range of current practices and opinions. These aspects have helped me to keep track of relevant discussions regarding current practices and professional readings.
Secondly I’ve attended 2 educamps. My first was #educampalmy in which i attended in person and the second #educampwelly, I watched through streaming. In both instances I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I experienced in #educampalmy was passionate discussions about modern practices, connections made through social media being re-inforced through kanohi kei te kanohi, sharing of ideas and co-constructions of new strategies. Educamp Welly was a more limited version yet still worth the time joining in through stream. While streaming is not really comparable to being at an educamp in person, streaming allowed me to contimue connecting with like minded teachers and leaders in real time from a distance.
Upon reflection I feel these methods for promoting collaboration have been remarkably effective in developing a sense of professional camardery and ongoing inspiration. However I see this practice as potentially resulting in a satisfying sense of collaboration with colleagues from afar, which has clear benefits, but this distance can limit the opportunities for growth that can be gained through collaboration. What can I do better to raise the effectiveness of the collaboration currently used within our immediate learning community?
What I would like to do is focus upon one teacher in our learning community and encourage them to join me on any of the social media based forums I plan on using this year.
Recently I read a blog by Rose Maceachern about critical friendships (this blog was recommended to me by an #edchatnz tweeter). I see this professional practice as a real opportunity to develop in a more personal and professional way. Developing a partnership based on common goals and values is exciting and scary. As stated in the blog, the ultimate aim is to develop these critical friendships both within and beyond the school we are working in. I see this as a relevant goal for our own learning community. Promoting practices that are based on mutual respect,trust, critical thinking and partnership is a powerful and growth enhancing practice that will ensure that we develop effective collaboration both within and beyond our learning community.
