Week 30 - PRACTICE: Trends influencing NZ or internationally
What?
I had a conversation with my sister recently that went a bit like this:
Sister: I’m thinking about taking the boys out of school and putting them in private school.
Me: Are you insane?
Sister: Maybe. I just feel I would then have paid to constantly annoy their teachers about their progress, and wouldn’t feel so bad about it. What do you think?
Me: That it kind of depends on what you send them to school for. Is it so you can track their reading and maths levels (to the point where you know the curriculum progressions better than some teachers) or is it so they develop as well-rounded humans who learn who they are, what they like and how to engage with the rest of the other humans we are surrounded with daily?
This conversation basically sums up why I think we go to school. The current focus on the development of personal skills in students (Daggett, 2014), speaks loud and clear to me, and is something always at the forefront of my teacher-brain. As our world continues to change, one thing holds constant - the importance of building trusting relationships (Covey, 2004).
This conversation basically sums up why I think we go to school. The current focus on the development of personal skills in students (Daggett, 2014), speaks loud and clear to me, and is something always at the forefront of my teacher-brain. As our world continues to change, one thing holds constant - the importance of building trusting relationships (Covey, 2004).
So what?
A trend, by definition, is the direction in which something is changing or moving. Wilson (2012), adds that changes caused by the trend would impact the wider field within which they sit. One such current trend in New Zealand education revolves around the removal of school reporting based on National Standards. Now we find ourselves with a bit more curricular freedom and, with that, many educationalists are following a new trend - 21st Century learning pedagogies (ITL Research, 2012). With Collaboration, Effective Communication and Self-Regulation as three out of six key skills to be developed, our focus is shifting back towards providing our learners with opportunities to engage in meaningful projects that spark their enthusiasm, nurture dialogue and encourage choice in what, and how, they learn.
This is a very exciting place to be educationally, however, New Zealand is not alone in recognising the need for more connected, responsible, self-motivated graduates. Daggett (2014), stresses the importance of ensuring we equip our learners with a toolkit of skills that help to make them employable; if we cannot begin to imagine the jobs our tamariki will have in the future, we need to teach and develop those skills that hold true, and can be adapted to any situation. Adams Becker, Cummins, Davis, Freeman, Hall Giesinger, & Ananthanarayanan (2017), suggest schools globally should develop a growth-mindset culture, starting with leaders and working out from there, thus creating an authentic environment for risk-taking in real contexts, where learners “cultivate self-awareness and self-reliance while piquing curiosity” (p.4).
Now What?
To actually make this happen in my context relies on building a strong, clear foundation upon which change is seen, within our whole community, as a necessary requirement of preparing tamariki for an uncertain future. We have started to gather information from all stakeholders regarding their views on life’s most essential learning skills, and build these into a useable teaching framework. As suggested by Daggert (2014), building a core team to lead the charge helped us to achieve the momentum needed to bring the early majority on-board, alongside regular collecting and sharing of data to reinforce the merits of the endeavour. There are some very real issues to consider, such as “How do we report on this learning to parents in a way that makes sense and shows progress in a meaningful way?” I’m sure we’ll be grappling with that for a long while to come.
References
Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Davis, A., Freeman, A., Hall Giesinger, C., &
Now What?
To actually make this happen in my context relies on building a strong, clear foundation upon which change is seen, within our whole community, as a necessary requirement of preparing tamariki for an uncertain future. We have started to gather information from all stakeholders regarding their views on life’s most essential learning skills, and build these into a useable teaching framework. As suggested by Daggert (2014), building a core team to lead the charge helped us to achieve the momentum needed to bring the early majority on-board, alongside regular collecting and sharing of data to reinforce the merits of the endeavour. There are some very real issues to consider, such as “How do we report on this learning to parents in a way that makes sense and shows progress in a meaningful way?” I’m sure we’ll be grappling with that for a long while to come.
References
Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Davis, A., Freeman, A., Hall Giesinger, C., &
Ananthanarayanan, V. (2017). NMC Horizon Report: 2017 Higher Education Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Covey, S. R. (2004). The 7 habits of highly effective people: Restoring the
character ethic ([Rev. ed.].). New York: Free Press.
Daggett, B. (2014). Addressing Current and Future Challenges in Education.
ITL Research. (2012). 21CLD Learning Activity Rubrics.
Retrieved from https://education.microsoft.com/GetTrained/ITL-Research
Wilson, B. (2012). Trends and issues facing distance education. In L. Visser, Y.
Visser, M. R. Amirault, & M. Simonson (2nd Ed.) Trends and Issues in Distance Education. International Perspectives (pp.39-54). North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
I very much enjoyed reading your blog. I like the way you tied in so many different aspects; 21st century skills: meaningful projects for students: growing a school culture on which to build change, and the all important development of personal skills in students. Your question about how we will now report to parents in a meaningful way brought to mind what we have just been doing in my school where I work part time. The students in the middle (years 3-5) and senior school (years 6-8) have been writing their own school reports on iPads for their parents/caregivers. They have written about what they have learnt, what they are learning and their goals/next steps, as well as a personal comment. It has required some teacher guidance but the process has been enlightening for all.
ReplyDeleteI very much enjoyed reading your blog. I like the way you tied in so many different aspects; 21st century skills: meaningful projects for students: growing a school culture on which to build change, and the all important development of personal skills in students. Your question about how we will now report to parents in a meaningful way brought to mind what we have just been doing in my school where I work part time. The students in the middle (years 3-5) and senior school (years 6-8) have been writing their own school reports on iPads for their parents/caregivers. They have written about what they have learnt, what they are learning and their goals/next steps, as well as a personal comment. It has required some teacher guidance but the process has been enlightening for all.
DeleteI totally agree with you that school is about so much more than reading, writing and maths and completely understand the question that you put to your sister. It frustrates me when parents keep students home because of social issues at school; sending them to school at this time would allow them to develop the skills to cope in social situations, rather than develop further anxiety around being at school. And like you have said, it is important to ensure the engagement of the wider community. As teachers we know the value of teaching these 21st Century skills, how do we remind/teach our communities the value of these skills too?
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post Yvonne. As a parent reading my daughters report, I look for the page and comments that reflect her ability to collaborate with her peers, demonstrate respect and care for others, persevere and manage her learning, before I look at anything else. Our leadership team is currently determining what our new reporting system will look like now that they don’t have to be based on National Standards and like others who have commented - I find this exciting! Feedback from parents has been relatively positive towards a shift to looking at students progress in Key Competencies and 21st Century skills.
ReplyDelete