It's not the end, it's just the beginning ....

“Change is a process begun not by learning a new idea from an expert but by recognition that something is not exactly “right” in one’s own professional practice” (Osterman & Kottkamp, 1993). I began my Mindlab journey 32 weeks ago not because I was struggling, or felt that I didn’t know what I was doing, but rather because I knew that I could be doing more.

Registered teachers in New Zealand are required to “Demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of professional personal practice”(Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, n.d.). While I was a part of regular professional development at my school I knew there was a world of new ideas, technologies, and strategies that couldn’t be covered in an hour and a quarter on a Tuesday afternoon. I knew that this was particularly true in regards to the use of technology/e-learning tools and in order to effect real change I needed to commit myself to an intensive overhaul of my practice.

My learning at the Mind Lab has opened my eyes to the world of possibilities in education. One aspect of the course I felt was invaluable was that not only were we given the e-learning tools to enable our students to create, connect and collaborate but that we also spent an equal amount of time learning about effective pedagogies to support the use of these tools. The fact that the assignments for the course were focussed on our classroom practice meant that we were challenged to incorporate these tools into our own programmes.

The amount of new information I was exposed to was exhausting, and at times I felt myself losing energy and motivation. However, throughout the course the fact that change is neither easy, nor instant was reiterated to us and this knowledge, along with the collaborative nature of our learning helped me to handle the workload. As Osterman and Kottkamp (1993) state “Reflective practice is a challenging, demanding, and often trying process that is most successful as a collaborative effort.”  

The collaborative learning style I was exposed to at the Mindlab demonstrated the value of working on and discussing difficult tasks with others and collaboration became an area of interest for me. Consequently this has been the area of my practice that has undergone the most radical changes. This area of focus aligns with another component of the Practicing Teacher Criteria in New Zealand; the promotion of a “Collaborative, inclusive, and supportive learning environment” (Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, n.d.) Through my assignments I have examined, trialled and established collaboration as the norm for students in my class. I have discovered how e-learning can transform collaboration. I have also formed stronger connections with my colleagues (we now teach collaboratively for half of the day) and learned how collaboration with fellow ‘Mindlabbers’, teachers and experts around the world can support my ongoing professional learning.

My teaching career will be temporarily put on hold next year as I take on my next big challenge…. parenthood! However, the Mindlab has left me hopeful about the future of education, and optimistic about the world that my son will grow up in. When I return to teaching I hope that I can continue to work on using technology to transform learning in my classroom, in particular I want to expand on my learning around collaboration by taking this concept outside the walls of my classroom and helping my students to form meaningful connections with other students, teachers and experts worldwide.

References:

Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. (n.d.). Practising Teacher Criteria. Retrieved October 20, 2016, from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/practising-teacher-criteria-0

Fullan, M., Cuttress, C., & Kilcher, A. (2005). Eight forces for leaders of change: Presence of the core concepts does not guarantee success, but their absence ensures failure. Journal of Staff Development, 26(4), 54–58.

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993) Reflective Practice for Educators. Retrieved on November 18, 2016 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files/RefPract/Osterman_Kottkamp_extract.pdf.

Learning Partnerships

When completing the readings for this week's blog post this quote from Kuban and Mulligan (2015) reached out and grabbed my attention, “It seems that, as educators, we recognize the globalization of society and the overlapping nature of most occupations, and we want our students to have diverse, interdisciplinary experiences—thus it seems prudent to adopt a similar mindset for our own scholarly endeavors. We should set an example for our students, valuing efforts to “reach across the aisle” and emphasizing interdisciplinary opportunities”

While this quote was made in reference to a tertiary context it has significance no matter which sphere of education you apply it to. The divisions we place between subject areas at school are artificial and generally lack this concrete distinction in the real world. In order to best equip students for success in the future we need to provide them with authentic experiences across different content areas “Instruction should focus on integrated, interdisciplinary activities that revolve around a set of important ideas” (Barton & Smith, 2000).

In order to make learning more authentic and meaningful for students we not only need to integrate different learning areas but also facilitate the creation of ‘learning partnerships’(Fullan & Langworthy, 2011) or connections between students, teachers, parents and the wider community. Modern technology has meant that the term ‘community’ is now a global one, rather than being limited by geographical location.

When reflecting on my interdisciplinary connection map I was pleased that most of my connections or partnerships listed were highlighted blue (indicating a strong connection) or orange (indicating a developing connection). However, there was one area of weakness that stood out to me immediately; while I am working hard on developing connections with whanau/family and other community groups I have spent only a minimal amount of time forming connections with experts, e.g. scientists, sportspeople, doctors etc within the local and wider global community.

Developing this area is crucial for me because forming partnerships with experts not only provides me as a teacher with sources of knowledge and experience that I do not personally possess, but more importantly helps to make learning more authentic and meaningful for students.  

This term I hope to strengthen my connections in this area through engaging with relevant experts on our overarching topic of ‘Growing’. This key idea encompasses a wide range of curriculum areas and connections/partnerships could potentially be formed with scientists, conservationists, gardeners, farmers, doctors, nutritionists etc.

Plan for engagement:

Revisiting key ideas:

One of the most common challenges with interdisciplinary learning is ensuring that the key ideas are not lost so it is important that these are outlined within the initial unit plan (Jones, 2009) before it is shared with experts.

Sharing unit plan with experts:

In order to  form connections with these experts and enable them to make meaningful contributions to our learning I would share our unit outline with them, then attempt to formulate a plan for how they could offer support and engage with the students.

Setting up tools for communication:

After engaging with these experts during the initial stages of learning and helping the students to form connections with them it would be useful to set up a means of communication that the students could use to contact them to answer questions as the students follow their own learning paths. Time and scheduling may be an issue in this but with a myriad of different forms of communication available to us I feel that these barriers could be overcome with time and commitment.

Through facilitating connections between my students and these ‘outside’ experts I hope to engage my students more deeply in the subject matter through helping them to see real-life applications for their learning. As Leslie Kreimer states in Barton and Smith (2009) “If they’re doing an activity that’s meaningful, and they know why they are doing it, and they see the application, they’ll learn from it”.  Helping students to develop relationships with outside experts is not only important for their learning, but also for their character development. Through interacting with others outside their normal sphere students develop greater empathy and a deeper understanding of others “As an educator one of our main roles is to educate and enable our students to see the world through many lenses, from different perspectives” (Thomas McDonagh Group, 2011). The earlier we engage students with the ‘real world’ , the better we prepare them for life within it.  

References:

Barton, K. C., & Smith, L. A. (2000). Themes or motifs? Aiming for coherence through interdisciplinary outlines. The Reading Teacher. Retrieved from http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/203275592?accountid=14771\nhttp://bf4dv7zn3u.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/ProQ%3Aeducationalumni&rft_val_fmt=inf

Fullan, M., & Langworthy, M. (2011). A rich seam how new pedagogies find deep learning. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (Vol. 15). http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2011.01.017

Jones, C. (2009). Interdisciplinary Approach - Advantages, Disadvantages, and the Future Benefits of Interdisciplinary Studies. Essai, 7(2009), 75–81.

Mulligan, Laura and Kuban, A. (2015). A Conceptual Model for Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Retrieved October 17, 2016, from http://acrlog.org/2015/05/14/a-conceptual-model-for-interdisciplinary-collaboration./

Thomas McDonagh Group. (2011). Interdisciplinarity and Innovation Education [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDdNzftkIpA

Making Connections

This year I returned to formal study after eight years and have been stunned by the immense changes that have occurred over that time. Facebook and other social networks were in their infancy when I was last spending late nights puzzling over an essay question or pondering the definition of a new term or buzz word. The ability to engage and collaborate with other teachers has transformed the professional learning experience for me, adding a whole new layer of feedback, support and instantly accessible knowledge that simply didn’t exist in 2008. My online interactions with other course members and members of the wider educational community have given me the opportunity to construct knowledge, consolidate my understanding of difficult concepts and connect with the expertise and experiences of others in ways that previously weren’t possible “A social network site can afford members the opportunity to create, share and curate the knowledge in a shared space, and members’ thinking is mediated and developed by the thinking of others” (Melhuish, 2013).

While I primarily use Mindlab’s ‘Google Plus’ community I have also started to become more active on Twitter and Facebook and am endless amazed at the speed at which I am able to engage with others around the world. When researching the iPad app ‘Book Creator’ I took to Facebook to discover how other junior teachers were using it in their classroom and within minutes received examples of work, links to apps to use alongside Book Creator and solutions to common issues, e.g. only having a small number of devices. This information would have taken me a long time to locate if I had been researching myself and the fact that it was being provided by fellow teachers who were actively using the app in their own classrooms meant that, to me, it was far more authentic and useful then reading a research article or instruction manual.

While there are many critics of social media and definite privacy and professional issues that can arise through its use I feel that its benefits greatly outweigh any costs. I believe that treating online interactions in the same way that one would treat conversations at a meeting or conference, and quickly removing oneself from networks that do not operate in this fashion is an effective safeguard against most issues.

Despite being a prolific user of social networks for my own learning and development I feel that I am yet to fully master their potential for transforming learning in my classroom.
This year I have had some success using the online brainstorm tool ‘Padlet’. I use ‘Padlet’ to provide my students with a forum where they can anonymously post questions about our topic for the term either at school or at home. To post a question the students need only to double click/tap and write. We log in every day to see where the students thoughts are taking our learning and their questions drive our learning for the following week. The students love being able to answer the questions they have asked and often access Padlet at home with their parents. In the future I would like to expand this further through connecting and collaborating with other students worldwide by posting our Padlet questions on Twitter or other social forums.

Another area I am working on developing is the use of social media for sharing learning with whanau. Parental engagement is a crucial factor in both the academic and personal success of students (Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2011) and the immediate nature of social media makes it the ideal tool for sharing learning with parents. The ease with which it can be updated and accessed offers parents a unique and timely insight into their child’s learning. As Ward (2014) states “Social media with its possibility of constant small updates and opportunities for response represents the "pulse of a school".

A challenge I am currently facing is finding a social media tool to use that requires only minimal teacher assistance. Because of the young age of my students and the fact that most of them possess only basic literacy skills this has been somewhat difficult. For social media to truly have a transformative effect on my students I know I need to take a step back, and let them take ownership. Ironically it has been social media that has lead me to a possible solution; after discussing my challenges with others on Google Plus and Facebook I am currently experimenting with using the iPad app ‘Seesaw’ in my class and am excited by the potential this offers, not only as means of recording the students work and progress but also through inviting parents into our classroom through the screens of their laptops and smartphones. It’s ease of use means that even the youngest students have been able to operate it with relative ease and I look forward to exploring this further in the future.

When used responsibly social media has the potential to bring teachers, parents and students closer together, while at the same time giving students the opportunity to engage with, and share their learning with countless others around the world. I am excited about the potential it has to expand my students' learning experience and hope to continue to develop my expertise in using it to transform their learning.

References:
Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. (2011). Cultural competencies for teachers of Māori learners: Tātaiako.
Melhuish, K. (2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’professional learning, 1994, 219. Retrieved from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
Ward, L. (2014). Talking to parents in 140 characters: how are schools using social media? | Teacher Network | The Guardian. Retrieved October 13, 2016, from www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/jul/16/talking-to-parents-how-schools-using-social-media

A Balancing Act....

Our task this week was to discuss ethical dilemmas in teaching (specifically related to digital/online

contexts).

Groundwater-Smith et al (2014) states that “There are no easy solutions in teaching. Rather, it is an occupation that requires you to think carefully about the decisions you make, knowing the consequences of your decision will affect your students, their families, your colleagues and the wider educational community.” Ethical dilemmas are something that teachers constantly face, whether it is in the staffroom, the classroom, at home or out and about at the weekend.

As a teacher of 5-year-olds I am conscious of the great degree of influence I have in my students' lives and know that everything I do, from the clothes that I wear to the body language I adopt when listening to their (extremely long) stories about their weekends impacts on them.  It is because of this degree influence that the teaching profession has long been subject to moral guidelines (Hall, 2001). In the wise words of Spiderman’s Uncle Ben (RIP) “With great power comes great responsibility”. 

Recent advances in technology have provided teachers with the tools to enable students to share work, collaborate and communicate on an unprecedented scale but have also presented teachers with a whole new raft of ethical dilemmas. Consequently, teachers will often find themselves facing issues that simply didn’t exist a decade ago (Hall, 2001) (Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program, 2012)

Coupled with changes in technology is an increasing awareness of children’s rights and the view that their needs and opinions should be considered separately from those of their parents (Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program, 2012).

While I have experienced many ethical dilemmas during my teaching career the age and developmental stage of the students I currently teach has meant that many of the technology-related dilemma’s often faced by teachers are not applicable in my current context. However, as I am the primary facilitator of my student’s online presence in some ways this means I need to be even more aware of the implications of using digital media such as blogs and applications like ‘Seesaw’ to share student work and pictures.

As I have not yet experienced any technology related issues I have chosen to discuss an example presented by the New Zealand Teacher’s Council (2012) that is applicable to my teaching practice, year level and school procedures. The problem is a parent of a child has decided that they are not happy with their child’s photos appearing on the classroom blog. The parent signed a release form giving their consent for this to happen at the beginning of the year but perhaps the parent either did not read the form or did not consider the implications of signing the form (the issue was raised after the child’s grandparent in Samoa commented on a photo she had seen.) The issue is whether my professional responsibility to my primary stakeholder (the child) would outweigh the wishes of their caregivers? Would it be acceptable for me to continue to post photos of the child if I know their parent is no longer happy with this?

Using blogs to share learning is an important part of developing collaboration and communication skills . Having the opportunity to share learning with a global audience helps to make student learning more authentic and therefore more engaging for students (Fullan & Langworthy, 2011). Therefore it could be argued that taking away the students opportunity to share their work through this medium could have a detrimental effect on their learning.

While teachers need to acknowledge the integral role that a child’s caregivers have in their lives and involve them in decision making regarding their child whenever possible the primary ethical obligation of a teacher is to the student’s in their care. “Professional decisions must always be weighted towards what is judged to be in the best interests of learners” (Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2016).  Considering I already have a signed disclosure form from the caregivers I am not legally required to remove the photos from the blog. However, refusing to remove the photos would undoubtedly create conflict between me and the parents of the child. As the negative effect of leaving the photos online (conflict between myself and the student’s caregivers) would greatly outweigh the effect of taking them down my initial decision would be to remove the photos, at least temporarily.

Involving parents/whanau in decision making regarding their child is integral in creating an inclusive school environment (Macfarlane, Glynn, Cavanagh, & Bateman, 2007) and also part of my ethical responsibility as a registered teacher in New Zealand (Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2016), in order to ensure that situations like this did not occur in the future I would talk to the management team and suggest meeting with staff/parents to discuss the advantages/disadvantages of posting student work and photos on blogs. This meeting would give parents a chance to air their concerns, allow staff to inform parents of the advantages of online collaboration and is also an example of responsible ethical practice; through incorporating the opinions of a range of other teachers  and parents we would hopefully be able to reach an outcome that is well considered, and not influenced by individual beliefs and biases “Resolving the competing claims of different ethical principles and different interest groups is usually best achieved through reflective professional discussion where the interests of the learners are regarded as being of prime concern” (Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2016) . While my students might struggle with comprehending some of the issues because of their age it could also be useful to include their opinions in the discussion.

While the wellbeing of my students is at the heart of ethical decisions it is also important to acknowledge the vital role that students caregivers have in their lives, through working together with my students and whanau I would hope to achieve an outcome that prioritized the interests of my students, without sacrificing the important connection between home and school.

References:

Connecticut’s Teacher Education and Mentoring Program. (2012). Ethical and professional dilemmas for educators: Facilitator’s guide, (January), 6–15.

Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. Ethical Decisions (2016). Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/ethical-decisions

Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. The Education Council Code of Ethics for Certficated Teachers (2016). Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0

Fullan, M., & Langworthy, M. (2011). A rich seam how new pedagogies find deep learning. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (Vol. 15). http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2011.01.017

Groundwater-Smith, S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu, R. (2014). Ethical Practice. In Teaching challenges & dilemmas (pp. 26–47). http://doi.org/10.1177/0898010108327214

Hall, A. (2001). What ought I to do , all things considered ? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers ., (April).

Macfarlane, A., Glynn, T., Cavanagh, T., & Bateman, S. (2007). Creating culturally-safe schools for Māori students. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36, 65–76. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leading-change/Manaakitanga-Leading-with-moral-purpose/Creating-culturally-safe-schools-for-Maori-students

New Zealand Teachers Council. (2012). The commitment to Parents/Guardians and Family (video file). Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49804201

Creating a Culturally Responsive School

This week we were asked to focus on how our own/our school's practice has been informed by indigenous knowledge and culturally responsive pedagogy:

Our schools’ motto is “Attitude determines altitude” or “Whakapono kia koe”.  I love this simple yet powerful statement as I believe that it aligns closely with Carol Dweck’s ‘Growth Mindset’( 2010)  or the idea that success is achievable for anyone through effort and perseverance.

This motto is evident in the positive attitude of teachers at our school, who could be defined as what Bishop (2012) terms as ‘agental teachers’, that is teachers who reject deficit theorizing and believe that the responsibility for student achievement rests firmly within their classrooms.  While the achievement of Maori students is of course tracked closely (as required by the Ministry of Education) I have not once heard deficit theorizing either during an assessment meeting or in an informal context and this is in turn reflected in the overall high achievement of Maori students at our school.

Along with rejecting deficit theorizing culturally responsive teachers create an environment where Maori knowledge is validated, celebrated and actively drawn upon, build relationships with students and whanau and involve them as partners in learning and assessment (Bishop, 2012)(Savage et al., 2011). Through acknowledging and knowingly incorporating these practices into their classroom educators can create culturally-safe schools, that is, “places that allow and enable students to be who and what they are” (Macfarlane, Glynn, Cavanagh, & Bateman, 2007, pg. 65).
Our school vision (included below) aligns closely with these culturally responsive teaching practices and with our increased incorporation of Te Reo Maori (30% of classroom language), active Kapa Haka and inclusion of students, parents and the community in learning I feel that we are well on the way to living our vision.

Mā te whai pānga mai a ngā mātua me te hāpori, e rite ai wā tātou tamariki mō te paeako tawhiti

With the involvement of parents and community our children will be prepared for life long learning.

Mā roto atu I ngā whakaakoranga hiranga me ngā tūhae wheiako whai kounga.

Through excellent teaching and a range of high quality learning experiences.
Ka whai uara, ka whakautea te tuakiri me te mana o ia tamaiti.

The individuality and dignity of each child will be valued and respected.

Bishop (2012)  believes that “Teachers are the key to making a difference for Maori students”. However individual classrooms do not exist in a vacuum and in order to create a truly culturally responsive environment where Maori can achieve success “as maori” it is important that teachers receive support from their school and from the government.

Bishop (2012) gives an example of this support in the form of quality professional development training for teachers.  While serious work has been done in regards to establishing a more culturally responsive environment at my school this is one area that could be developed further.  We have received some professional development on the creation of inclusive learning environments but there are variances in cultural knowledge and Te Reo Maori skills among the teachers at the school and I believe that further training and support would be beneficial to ensure consistency across year levels and classrooms.

Along with the school the government also has a responsibility to support teachers in the creation of culturally responsive classroom environments. I believe that a lack of skills and knowledge is an issue nation-wide as training at teachers college needs to be more comprehensive, e.g. including actual Te Reo Maori language skills alongside studying Maori theories of learning and development. There should be on-going funding and support for the upskilling of teachers who qualified before this was even an area of study at teachers college. 

Bishop (2012) mentions collaboration between teachers as being integral in the creation of culturally responsive schools, while this happens informally at our school a next step forward in our journey could be formalizing this support system through mentoring workshops with more knowledgeable peers supporting others to increase their Te Reo Maori skills. 

With our growth mindset approach to learning and inclusive practices our school has already laid solid foundations for becoming a truly culturally responsive school where Maori students can achieve the success in an environment that acknowledges, includes and celebrates their culture. I know that further steps will be undertaken until our vision is fully realized and look forward to being part of this.

References:

Bishop, R. (2012). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Dweck, C. S. (2010). Mindset. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success - Business Book Summaries, 1(1), 1–10. Retrieved from http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=51237690&S=R&D=qbh&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHr7ESeqLQ4v+vlOLCmr0qeprFSsai4S7aWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMOzpr1Cvpq5KuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA\nhttp://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=qbh&AN=51237690&

Macfarlane, A., Glynn, T., Cavanagh, T., & Bateman, S. (2007). Creating culturally-safe schools for Māori students. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 36, 65–76. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leading-change/Manaakitanga-Leading-with-moral-purpose/Creating-culturally-safe-schools-for-Maori-students

Savage, C., Hindle, R., Meyer, L. H., Hynds, A., Penetito, W., & Sleeter, C. E. (2011). Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student experiences across the curriculum. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 183–198. http://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2011.588311

We've got the power....

What is the relationship between education and the ‘mega-trend’ of individual empowerment?

When reading the National Intelligence Council’s 2012 report on global trends I was immediately intrigued by their identification of ‘individual empowerment’ as a ‘mega-trend’, that is one of the 4 crucial patterns or changes that will shape what the world looks like in 2030. Many close links have been made between education and empowerment and this really brought home the vital role that we, as teachers have in equipping our students with the skills they need to build a better future.

According to the N.I.C this trend has emerged over the last decade through the rise of enabling technologies and the growth of the middle class. The reduced cost and widespread availability of new technologies means that they are being adopted at a rapid rate by developing countries, allowing them to develop at a faster pace than ever before (National Intelligence Council, 2012). By 2030, a mere 14 years away the majority of the world will, for the first time, be defined as ‘middle class’.

Cheaper, more accessible technology and transport means that there is greater communication and mobility between countries. This increased ease of movement has meant that immigration is at an all-time high and countries are becoming increasingly diverse.

With this changing world comes many positives but also the potential for challenges and conflicts. The National Intelligence Council ( 2012, pg iii) sees the solutions to these challenges as coming, not from interventions by traditional world super-powers but rather through the increased empowerment of individuals “…we see the potential for greater individual initiative as key to solving the mounting global challenges over the next 15-20 years”.

Technology has had, and will have a large part to play in the development of individual empowerment but without education its’ ability to break down barriers will be limited. The  2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report, Overcoming inequality: Why governance matters found that education leads to individual empowerment, reductions in poverty and  promotes more democratic societies through giving individuals the knowledge and skills to question their governments and hold them to account (UNESCO, 2009). As educators we have a responsibility to teach students not only how they can utilize new technologies but also the skills they need to participate in, succeed in, and change the world of the future.

Global challenges will require global collaboration and education can help by ensuring that the next generation is equipped with the skills required to tackle these challenges. The development of '21st Century' skills such as collaboration is now regarded by many educators as being as vital as teaching reading, writing and maths (Fullan & Langworthy, 2011).  The New Zealand Curriculum already includes some ‘21^st Century' skills in the form of key competencies such as participating and contributing and working with others. Many schools nationwide are building on this further by adopting programmes such as Michael Fullan’s ‘New Pedagogies for Deeper Learning’. There is also a drive towards individual empowerment in schools through the development of greater student agency and student involvement in curriculum design and assessment.

Alongside the deliberate inclusion of 21^st century skills in learning programmes I believe that helping students to develop a growth mindset so they are unrestrained by deficit thinking related to class, race and gender is integral to ensure that they reach their potential and develop the confidence or ‘empowerment’ to push for change.

Our students generation will have an opportunity to influence and shape the world of the future like never before and we have a vital role in ensuring that they are ready to let their voices be heard.

References:

Fullan, M., & Langworthy, M. (2011). A rich seam how new pedagogies find deep learning. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (Vol. 15). http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2011.01.017

National Intelligence Council. (2012). Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. Info.Publicintelligence.Net. http://doi.org/978-1-929667-21-5

UNESCO. (2009). EFA Global Monitoring Report. Overcoming inequality: why governance matters. Book. Retrieved from http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001776/177683e.pdf

Out of Context.....analyzing my teaching context and the challenges and issues within it.

School culture and climate are ideas that are hard to define but these abstract, slippery concepts are often felt as soon as one walks into the door of a school. A school’s culture has significant influence on student achievement, staff retention and the general forwards mobility of a school.

School culture and climate are “situationally unique” (Stoll, 1999, pg. 9); the influences and factors that lead to the creation of a school culture are so complex that two schools less than 2 minutes from each other can have completely different cultures. The socio-economic and cultural environment which the school operates within has significant bearing on the school culture and accordingly this can present its own advantages and challenges.

According to the decile rating system our school is officially categorized as a decile 9-10 school. Our roll comprises 65% New Zealand European/Pākehā, 22% Māori, 6% Asian and 6% Pacific students. Interestingly these statistics are not too dissimilar from that of the general population in New Zealand, albeit with Maori students making up a slightly larger proportion of our school population.

In contrast to national trends, achievement is high across all groups. Despite strong academic statistics the school has previously acknowledged that the level of inclusion could be increased and in the last three years the school has taken significant steps towards incorporating and celebrating Maori language and culture. This year we were affirmed as a Level 3 immersion school, meaning that Te Reo Maori is used in classrooms 20-30% of the time.

Decile ratings can be deceiving and I am somewhat reluctant to make any wholescale assumptions based on this, however having worked at schools in significantly less advantaged areas both within New Zealand and overseas I can cautiously say that the majority of students at this school are lucky enough to come from homes that have incomes and formal educations above that of the typical New Zealand household. There are of course exceptions to this rule and money only erases some of the issues that young students have to contend with.

A common complaint from teachers at high decile schools is that they have to deal with difficult parents, however on the whole our parent community is highly supportive and this interest and desire to be involved is definitely advantageous when you need parent help or require parents to complete extra learning with their children at home.

Metz (1990) discusses the influence that parent communities’ views on education can have on school culture. There is one area where I feel that the higher decile rating of our school can be somewhat restrictive and that is when teachers are making OTJs or writing school reports. Many hours are spent agonizing whether to put a student ‘at’ or ‘above’ as parents will see a change between the two levels as a drop in achievement rather than a natural progression in learning. This is especially true in the Junior School where a student will often move from above-at-above as the standard they are being judged against changes according to their age. I personally would like to see more parent education about this to build a deeper understanding of the learning process.

The Academy for SEL in Schools (2015) identify the staff of a school, as the most consistent part of a school community as having the greatest degree of influence in creating the school climate. The professional environment at school is a happy, settled and supportive one characterized by the“norms” (Stoll, 1999) of celebration and humour, mutual respect and support. This is despite the school undergoing some significant leadership and staffing changes over the last 5 years. While I personally have only been at the school for three years I believe this positive environment is largely due to the personality of our Principal. While he is certainly not afraid to voice his opinion or make hard decisions when they need to be made he remains friendly and approachable and this sets the tone for the rest of the school. While there could be a greater distribution of leadership he ensures that individual staff members’ opinions are always acknowledged and valued and goes above and beyond his job description to support staff members who are experiencing issues, whether they be personal, professional or health-related.

The professional environment among the teachers is best described using Hargreaves (1995) term “Balkanisation” meaning that “teachers are neither isolated nor work as a whole”. Instead most teachers work in smaller collaborative groups, sharing resources, planning and ideas between classes. The degree of collaboration varies across teams according to the staff members. This seems to be due to individuals’ preferences and habits rather than any personality issues.

While risk taking and innovation are the norms for some staff, these ideas are not necessarily embedded in the school culture. However we have just undertaken the first phase of Michael Fullan’s “Deep Learning” programme and I feel that this a huge step towards drawing our school closer together and taking us further along in our journey as teachers. Perhaps with this next step forward innovation and risk taking will become school-wide norms.

Academy for SEL in Schools. (n.d.). What is School Culture and Climate? Retrieved September 11, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_NvhlcusQ

Hargreaves, D. (1995). School Culture, School Effectiveness and School Improvement. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 6(1), 23–46. http://doi.org/10.1080/0924345950060102

Metz, M. H. (1990). Real School: A Universal Drama Amid Disparate Experience. In Education Politics for the New Century (pp. 75–91). http://doi.org/10.1080/0268093890040505

Stoll, L. (1999). School Culture. School Culture, (9), 9–14. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture