Reflective Practice: So here we are...

Week 32 - Applied Practice in Context: Reflective Practice - Putting it all together

So here we are, at the end of the Mind Lab certificate course in applied technologies and collaborative learning and I’m a wee bit sad.

I think about how I shut myself into a bedroom for a weekend to complete the very first assignment for Digital and Collaborative Learning in Practice and the disappointment when my mark was not indicative of the work I felt I’d put into the submission.  Part of the problem was not having a routine to study, one that I now feel I’ve managed and mastered.

There was surprise that we had to write essays and frustration on two accounts: the word limit and the lack of feed forward.  While I agree that being succinct is a necessary skill (let’s face it, we all ended up skimming and settling on the summary in our literature review research, right?) I’ve been reflecting on an assessment system that has to fit in with the requirements of a traditional tertiary qualification system.

There was total brain preoccupation with the topic of my literature review for weeks, maybe months. And the pile of books that stayed on the dining room table like a semi-permanent monument to the pain of having it hang over me.  

But, there was the satisfaction of actually getting into those tomes and finding out about an area of pedagogy that had worried me for ages: how can we make students self regulating learners as they need to be if we are going to engage them in a new iteration of school? How will we ensure they are making the best of their interests and skills to cope in the world of wicked problems they are going to move into?

I loved the collaborative learning in our workshops and that we weren’t given the solutions.  “He who does the work does the learning,” kept popping into my head (a quote attributed to Doyle, but I think, much older). Yes, clever.  No one rescued us.  

I love the online community; I’ve embraced online discussion for a number of years.  As I said in a comment on Stephanie Thompson’s blog,

- comment, June 24, 2016.

This Applied Practice in Context paper has been my favourite. I’ve relished the bites of different topics I’ve digested each week: reading the class notes at the start, reading the set and other references, and finally writing when I’m sure I can do it in one sitting,  because my thoughts have been chewed over for long enough.

This blog has been the vessel of my reflection for a while.  I label each post against the Practising Teacher Criteria.  I can match my learning over this course to most of these criteria, but I will reflect here on two:

Criteria 9: Respond effectively to the diverse and cultural experiences and the varied strengths, interests, and needs of individuals and groups of ākonga.  This has been my drive since I first became aware of the term modern learning environments, which have morphed into innovative learning environments.  How has learning practice innovated? Do we need to scaffold self regulated learning? Can we and should we if we are still in a tradition single cell classroom? Is this the answer to engagement and student achievement? Will greater awareness of individual learning needs ensure that schools are culturally responsive?  I plan to follow through with my inquiry plan on this topic and it preoccupies my thoughts about our own school’s pedagogy.

Criteria 5: Show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning.  We have two main professional development foci at my school in literacy and numeracy.  Interestingly it’s difficult getting some teachers to embrace reflective practice. Dawson (2012) reminds me that reflective practice and self regulated learning is the same thing.  Here’s a quandary: the senior leadership team have recognised through our data that writing and mathematics have a large number of under achievers.  So have the teachers.  We need to look at and change what we do.  We recognise that teaching as inquiry is the most effective method of changing our practice, and for teachers to own the change.  But the big issue is workload.  We need to look at how we support our teachers to ensure they can complete rigorous, evidence based change.  The Professional Learning and Development Advisory Group’s 2014 report acknowledges this lack of time as one of the issues (p.11).  

We tried an “in school” approach: groups of teachers released and allowed to determine their own discussion topic for this time; we predetermined that that was how it should be run. Feedback was that it was worthwhile, but also that some did not think they had time to be out of the classroom.

Self regulated learning and teacher development are my ongoing goals.  I’ve completed one paper towards my Masters in Educational Leadership and now this Post Graduate Certificate in Applied Learning.  I want to keep studying and my next decision is which pathway will I follow.  I am a self regulated learner and love that digital technologies and collaborative learning have enabled that to happen.

References

Davis, M. (2003). Barriers to reflective practice: the changing nature of higher education. Active Learning in Higher Education, 4(3), 243-255. doi: 10.1177/14697874030043004

Dawson, P. (2012) Reflective practice. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1aYWbLj0U8

Doyle, T. (2008). Helping students learn in a learner centered environment: A guide to  teaching in higher education. Sterling, VA: Stylus.

Hobbs, V. (2007). Faking it or hating it: can reflective practice be forced? Reflective Practice, 8(3), 405-417. doi: 10.1080/14623940701425063

Ministry of Education (nd). Practising teacher criteria and e-learning . Retrieved from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Professional-learning/Registered-Teacher-Criteria-and-e-learning

Ministry of Education. (August,2014). Report of the professional Learning and development advisory group. Retrieved from http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Initiatives/PLDAdvisoryGroupReport.pdf

Osterman, K. & Kottkamp, R.(1993). Reflective Practice for Educators.California.Cornwin Press, Inc. Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.itslifejimbutnotasweknowit.org.uk/files/RefPract/Osterman_Kottkamp_extract.pdf

Crossing Boundaries*

Week 31 - My seventh post for Applied Practice in Context:  My interdisciplinary connection map

I believe in the NZ Curriculum. It is a forward thinking document that encompasses future thinking, local context, and learners not only as individuals but as citizens of the world.

Which connections will I address first?

My literature review was about self regulated learning (SRL) because we are now trying to develop innovative learning practices to meet these aims. It’s time for a shift from passive learning (or lack of learning) of reluctant school goers, to active, owned learning. While I see all the connections on my diagram as intrinsic to the whole, I need to talk about two that are near future goals. Embracing digital technologies is one of the connections from the map. Enhancing what we do in positive behaviour for learning, is another.

I listened to a webinar this morning: a chat with Grant Lichtman, author of “#Edjourney: A Roadmap to the Future of Education”. He talked about the need to reinvent the current school model and that many schools are behind the times in thinking about the world their students are growing up in.

Our students have been born this century, when the world wide web and computers were already very much in use.  They don’t know a time without computers and don’t understand teacher hesitation in using available technologies.  I use my smartphone, ipad and laptop for research, collaboration, connection, and publication; and I want instant results because I can have instant results.  My students have similar expectations.

Besides teacher reluctance,the other issue is available funding.  I do my best to advocate, educate, assist and innovate wherever I can.  I’ve got our executive officer applying to trusts and our technician installing Chromixium into some old laptops that have passed their use by date.

Positive Behaviour for Learning is a values programme that our school has been involved with for seven years.  Like all programmes, there comes a point where you inject more time and energy - and even funds - into it, or you start over. At the start we gathered community, teacher and student voice on what our key values should be and developed the statement: “Mokoia is a community which values respect, relationships and honesty for learning.”  Reading Hipkins et al’s “Key Competencies for the Future” has made me think more deeply about how we view these values and what attitudes our students really hold.  I am acutely aware of what we call cultural responsiveness and whether we can embrace what Hipkins et al call the range of “discourses” we encounter and need to be comfortable with; can we adapt and appreciate cultural values that differ from those we are born into? Are we good digital citizens? Are we respecting our environment?

Working in an interdisciplinary environment

We now understand that we learn when two conditions are met:

Firstly, we want to learn. We have an authentic reason for taking on board new knowledge or skills.

Secondly, we can make connections with our previous knowledge. We make better sense of the new learning. We get that “aha!” moment.

It makes sense then that learning does not happen readily when knowledge and skills are taught in isolation.  It’s why we realise that we need to look at the authentic use of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum when we decide how literate or numeric a learner is. Can they select from their knowledge and skills to solve problems? Real life problems usually involve a range of disciplines or learning areas, and we need to be able to select appropriately.  Life events do not occur in siloed subject areas, and we are realising that we need to give learners authentic situations to practice with.

However, as our class reading emphasises, each discipline has its particular literacy.  We depend on expert knowledge for some problems and situations. We depend on the development of that expertise too, so it’s important that our learners are exposed to the full range of disciplines. You never know when your class harbours the next Einstein. Take a look at this:

The education model that most of us are familiar needs to change to ensure we have engaged learners prepared to solve today’s issues with today’s tools, and able to adapt and learn for the issues of tomorrow.  It seems clear that we need to engage our learners in authentic situations and an interdisciplinary model is the one that fits best.

* "creating something new by crossing boundaries" - definition of "interdisciplinary" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdisciplinarity

References

Hipkins, R., Bolstad, R., Boyd, S., & McDowall, S. (2014). Key competencies for the future. New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) Press.

Jones, C.(2009). Interdisciplinary approach - Advantages, disadvantages, and the future benefits of interdisciplinary studies. ESSAI, 7(26), 76-81. Retrieved from http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1121&context=essai

Lacoe Edu (2014, Oct 24) Interdisciplinary Learning [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA564RIlhME

Lichtman, G. (2014). # EdJourney: A roadmap to the future of education. John Wiley & Sons.

Mathison,S.. & Freeman, M.(1997). The logic of interdisciplinary studies. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, 1997. Retrieved from http://www.albany.edu/cela/reports/mathisonlogic12004.pdf

TEDx Talks (2001, April 6). TEDxBYU - David Wiley - An interdisciplinary path to innovation. [video file].Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ytjMDongp4

TEDx Talks (2015, March). TED2015 - Neri Oxman - Design at the intersection of technology and biology. [video file].Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/neri_oxman_design_at_the_intersection_of_technology_and_biology?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tedspread

Getting a “Handle” on Social Media

Week 30 - My sixth post for Applied Practice in Context:  Professional Online Social Networks 

I've written about my involvement with social networks before, especially with Twitter.  This latest post, to meet my post-grad requirements, outlines my use of a range of networks for professional learning, as well as giving you some great reasons to be involved yourself.

It can be tough for some educators in New Zealand.  Many of us live outside of the main cities and it’s a major effort, time-wise and cost-wise, to access the courses and workshops we see advertised on the web or in the Education Gazette. That’s why the online networks I engage with have become my “lifelong learning” lifeline.

Twitter 

I like being @mrs_hyde; she is embraced by a learning community which has similar values about teaching and learning. Literally; hugging and shrieking has become the norm for edutweeps who meet for the first time.  When we meet face to face, chances are we have discussed, assisted, debated, laughed and empathised with each other already.

I follow global educators on Twitter who share their own and others’ ideas and articles.  This provides me with a wealth of education readings about the latest pedagogy.  In addition, I can directly contact the experts who I would never feel I could approach in real life. I’ve had conversations with some of my education heroes like Steve Wheeler, Richard Gerver, Nigel Latta and Grant Lichtman. 

  

I’ve been able to engage in webinars, like last week’s discussion between Keri Facer and our Edchatnz star, Danielle Myburgh.  I read some of Keri’s work on futures thinking for my literature review and it was a bonus to hear her speak on the same topic.  This one was at 7.00pm on a Wednesday night; I’ve been known to sit up in my pyjamas to listen and contribute to a northern hemisphere webinar at 3am!

I’ve got a wealth of knowledge about other schools in New Zealand. My classroom really doesn’t have walls.  I feel like I am part of a virtual staffroom and know “who does what” in New Zealand: innovative learning environments, makerspace, Minecraft… This has led to school visits or online question and answer sessions.

I’m a regular participant in educator chats like #edchatnz, #aussieED and #ldrchatnz.  These Twitter chats are fast moving discussions between global educators.  Using Storify, and the hashtags, I curate these chats into slideshows to read later, save links and serve as evidence against the Practising Teacher Criteria. There’s usually a Devil’s Advocate - I’ve had a turn at that - to challenge our thinking.

I’ve used Twitter as my “lazyweb” to use the collective personal professional knowledge of others to quickly glean information. Or advice.  Other leaders on Twitter are great help mates.

Google+

While I’ve dabbled with Google+ in the past, I have put it to good use during my postgrad studies with MindLab. We share a community with our cohort, to share links, discuss assessments, ask questions and reflect on each others’ blogs.  I have two accounts: one is for school, one I keep separate.  In each one I have set up collections to curate readings I find on the internet. I am a member of other communities too: coding, Google Apps, Literacy, Minecraft. It’s been useful for setting up a study group community too, especially for our literature review.  

The Virtual Learning Network

I first started using this because I was the ICTPD facilitator for our cluster, and the VLN was the platform for sharing learning and recording evidence for our milestone reports.  I found that I could connect with other cluster facilitators and elearning experts for advice; what Melhuish calls “group genius”. I was one of the people who responded to her survey for her thesis:

“Two areas where participants felt the site most successfully met their needs were the ability to explore topical issues and being able to connect with other colleagues". (p.95)

I had my turn as guest speaker in webinars and enjoyed participating in forums.  My most active group is our #connectedrotorua group page.

Facebook

While my aim has been to keep Facebook for social interaction with family and friends, an addition last year meant that I changed my mind. Two teachers from Auckland began the NZ Teachers (Primary) group which has in turn spawned a number of other professional teacher groups.  These are great help sites for locating resources and creating discussion.

LinkedIn

Although I am a member and “link” with a range of professionals, I don’t venture into the discussions as I do on the other platforms.

Blogger

I love Blogger because I love writing. This is my reflective portfolio, where I make sense of the ideas from my discussions and readings. I tag my posts with the Practising (Registered) Teachers’ Criteria. I then use my other social networks to share my posts, using the hashtags #edchatnz, #edblognz and #MindLabED.  I encourage students to have blogs and share these using the #comments4kids hashtag. 

Key features of social media that are beneficial for teaching and learning:

Ubiquitous personalised learning.  I love that I can organise where and when and how I want to learn. Social networks are always awake, even if it’s somewhere else in the world.

Multidisciplinary and cross sector.  I remember a time when secondary teachers and primary teachers kept to their corners. Now we are found in the same virtual staff rooms. Social media has helped to de-silo learning.

Equitable. Learning does not belong to those who are able to pay.  It is available to all.  Besides the free availability of googlable information, many structured courses are free. The Edchatnz Mooc is an example.

Ako. "Ako" means having a mutual teaching and learning relationship.  Wellburn and Eib (Veletsianos, 2016) talk about the different roles we can take in social media; at different times we can play the “expert, amateur, audience, author, learner, and educator” (p.65). Youtube is another example of this in action. 

Interactive and creative. Rather than just receiving content, we are expected not only to interact, but to make content.  

Authentic. Teachers are harnessing social media not only for their own learning but to engage students.  Students blog for real audiences who can provide feedback and feedforward in their comments. They are participating in quadblogging, and Twitter chats like #NZreadaloud and #kidschatnz. 

Key competencies.  Social media engages us in the competencies.  We must learn how to operate in each environment; they each have their own literacy.  Twitter, for example forces us to be succinct. Thinking, relating to others responsibly, managing self and participating and contributing with others are all encapsulated in these networks.

The vision of the New Zealand Curriculum is for “young people who will be confident, connected, actively involved, lifelong learners” (p.7). The “older” people need to model these attributes too.  Social networks provide a rich, attainable arena for professional discussion and development to enable this vision.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marc_smith/4311427445 - cc license

Related Blog Posts

Having A PLN - https://dougpete.wordpress.com/2016/06/13/having-a-pln/

A Fly on the Wall of Virtual Learning - http://likeahoginmud.blogspot.co.nz/2015/03/a-fly-on-wall-of-virtual-learning.html

Species Twiducatus Edchatnz (No Birds Were Harmed in the Making Of This) - http://likeahoginmud.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/species-twiducatus-educhatnz-no-birds.html

Reporting and Interviews...subtitled "I wasn't going to tweet tonight." -http://likeahoginmud.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/reporting-and-interviewssubtitled-i.html

It's All About Connecting - #connectedrotorua - http://likeahoginmud.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/its-all-about-connecting.html

#Edchatnz - Speed Dating With Twiducators - http://likeahoginmud.blogspot.co.nz/2013/11/edchatnz-speed-dating-with-twiducators.html

Attwicted to Learning - http://likeahoginmud.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/attwicted.html

Using Microblogging: Twitter and Other Tools to Facilitate Teacher and Student Learning - http://likeahoginmud.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/using-microblogging-twitter-and-other.html

References

Joosten, T.( 2013. October 22). Pearson: Social Media for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/tjoosten/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-27456257?ref=http://professorjoosten.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/pearson-social-media-for-teaching-and.html

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y

Silius, K., Miilumäki, T.,Huhtamäki, J.,Tebest, T., Meriläinen, J., & Pohjolainen, S.(2010). Students’ motivations for social media enhanced studying and learning. Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International Journal, 2(1), 54-67. Retrieved from http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/article/view/55/39

Veletsianos, G. ed. (2016). Emergence and Innovation in Digital Learning: Foundations and Applications. Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Teaching the Teachers About Online Ethics

Week 29 and the fifth post for Applied Practice in Context:

cc public domain attribution

Everyone has a right to privacy, right? Even teachers. So what I put on Facebook is my business. Wrong.

I hear more about Facebook abuse than any other social networking tool, and as my community of practice is an intermediate, our method of controlling its use - or rather, abuse - is by blocking it.  Yes, I know  - education is better than control, and hopefully we will get there.  But right now, it’s easier to stop our students accessing it at school, especially as half of them are underage according to Facebook guidelines.

The issue is partly that adults don’t get it either.  Some parents are blissfully unaware that Samantha is posting posed shots of herself with pouty lips; or that she has collected friends like Weetbix cards, people she less than barely knows who can read about her every move. They come to us when Samantha receives insulting putdowns from Jessica and Alana.  You see, it’s easy to be a big brave bully online, not having to look your victim in the eye and waiting for adulation from other kids in the peer group. (NB I realise that the person is bullying, not the tool, so we work on that too, with programmes like PB4L and Kia Kaha.)

We counsel parents and their children about security settings and making sure that the former are aware of their offspring’s online life.  I hold regular assemblies where I gather student photos from nonsecure accounts and display them across the screen (nothing risque of course).  I let the student body know about the ease of access, lack of control and right that I have to view their images, just as any stranger might.  It’s a strong message with desired results, based on a Learning@School conference keynote, from Australian cyber cop, Brent Lee.

Remember I said that adults don’t get it either? Well, teachers are adult.  They forget how networked we are.  I suggest that they don’t need to be friends with me as deputy principal, but we have mutual friends so a comment on a photo could turn up on my feed.  And they sometimes forget that some of their “friends” are parents or people who have friends who are parents. A comment can be misconstrued or turn into gossip very quickly.

With this in mind, the Board of Trustees decided to put together a social media policy, gathering documentation from Netsafe, from the Code of Ethics and from the Teachers and Social Media site.  We held a staff meeting on social media and the staff looked at the Code of Ethics and the draft social media policy more closely.  There was a lot of learning.  Many of them had no idea that they could not ethically post photos of their students working without specific permission or that there were dangers in publishing named student images.

We now have our Mokoia Matrix which is our digital citizenship and cybersafety hub, for all members of our community.  All teachers need to teach digital literacy.  That way they learn too.

References

Education Council. (nd). Code of Ethics for Certificated Teachers. Retrieved from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/code-of-ethics-certificated-teachers-0

Cleaning Our Cultural Lenses

My Week 28 and fourth post for Applied Practice in Context: indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness in my practice.

cc attribution

It’s pretty hard to keep your cultural lenses clean of preconceptions and your own cultural beliefs. I know that because I try and either get flack from some others in my inner circle (including family), or pull myself up when I realise that even though I haven’t said it out loud, I'm thinking something that is at the very least, thoughtless and at worst, xenophobic.

There, I've said it.  But I know I'm not alone.  It’s pretty much how humans have been right through history, dividing and conquering each other on the basis of difference and dominance, and now, in this new era of globalism we are only allowed to play out these innate feelings on the sports field. It’s about our need to belong and why we kowtow to fashions in clothes, sayings and activities.

I remember when I learned that it was polite to belch after your meal in Burma.  That was pretty much my first acknowledgement, in Form 2 Social Studies, that people didn't do things all the same.

But don’t judge me as a white middle class, middle aged pakeha female from the suburbs. Because yes, I’ve been a victim of that. I loved listening to Taiye Selasi’s Ted Talk about being judged by her ethnic origins instead of as an individual.

I'm a first generation Kiwi with and English mother and Dutch father, who lived in Jamaica for four years; at ten, my parents split and my mother, a sickness beneficiary, moved us in with her elderly mother in Christchurch. I benefited from a free education and subsidised university.  Most of all I believed I would go to university because my parents did.  I believed that was my path.

I can’t speak Dutch because my father believed that it was more important to be accepted as an enzed European, as many immigrants in the sixties did. I've listened - and laughed - when others have told me that Dutch people are all tight with money and have poor table manners. Did I mention that my father’s mother was German, had an illegitimate child and a brother who was potentially a Nazi?

I moved from the South Island to Kawerau in the mid 1980’s and it was like moving to a new country; instead of school houses called after the first four colonising ships, they were called after maunga (what?) and I was in Maungawhakamana. Panic; I couldn’t say it.  People played guitars at parties and the dialect was way different.  When someone died, the whole school closed for the tangi. I was in culture shock.

So I'm an individual with a rich cultural background, no better or worse than any other.  I share some things with those around me, and I bring some differences to the table. And I bring those differences into the learning environment.  My new learning is built on my previous experiences and it is the varied experiences that we must think about when we design learning activities for the class of individuals trusted to our care.  

Jacqueline Jordan Irvine, in the video, Teaching Tolerance, reiterates that our students are not “blank cultural slates” when they come to us.  Geneva Gay, in the same video, reminds us that, like Taiye Selasi, they are individuals with a range of experiences, local and socio-economic, that they bring to the classroom.

Like Russell Bishop, in his Edtalk on cultural responsiveness, they remind us that relationships are “paramount to education”. We must care about people and care that they learn; that is culturally responsive pedagogy.  Māori students, like other ethnic minorities world wide, have suffered from “deficit theorising;” the idea that some ethnic groups are less intelligent than others. It’s time to throw that nonsense out.

So what does cultural responsiveness look like in my school? We are an intermediate school in Rotorua, that draws from a mix of schools in the eastern suburbs.  Our student body is predominantly bicultural with a pretty even mix of Māori and pakeha and the full gamut of socio-economic backgrounds.  We also have students who identify with at least eleven other ethnic groups - probably more.

In the last five years that I have been there, work has been done to ensure that our strategic goals and “how we do things” match our vision, which includes the phrase: “Te Kotahitanga concepts as key to facilitating effective student engagement and achievement.”

This mahi includes time spent talking with local elders from our haukāinga, Te Roro O Te Rangi, as a staff and Board, about tiro ā-Māori ki tōna ake ao and our local stories.  At our marae at the beautiful Hinemoa Point, we were gifted a pepeha for our school and learned about the importance of our children understanding their connections and relationships so they don’t feel adrift as “tamafreakies”; the concept of tangata whenuatanga.  It is no coincidence that placenta is also “whenua.”

As a staff we unpacked “Tātaiako: Cultural Competencies for Teachers of Māori Learners.” We discussed the concept of manaakitanga in detail and talked about the protocols we wanted to have in place, like always welcoming guests with a pōwhiri or whakatau. Our rumaki teacher, with students, demonstrated the kaupapa Māori of her room and the students talked about the elements that confuse and frustrate them when they go into other learning environments: people sitting on tables, food placed under chairs.  

I shared my learnings from my NAPP2012 inquiry on Māori student achievement: tuakana teina and the importance of being able to revisit new learning as is done in kapa haka.

Whakapapa right back to Ranganui and
Papatuanuku on which every rumaki student
can find their ancestoral line

Most important is respecting the language and learning correct pronunciation, essential when building relationships with students.  I get this completely.  My name is Annemarie, pronounced Ann-eh-marie, but I have people tell me I'm wrong! They have no idea how important this is to me, because I have inherited this name through my European origins from people who meant a lot to my parents. Twenty six years ago I remember a colleague standing up in a staff meeting to challenge the principal who continued to pronounce whānau as “far-now”, rather than “far-know”.  We hear these mispronunciations daily; ironically, even Mike Hogan makes this error in his Edtalk on cultural responsiveness.

This year when we appointed the new rumaki teacher we called on Te Roro o te Rangi kaumatua to help with the selection.  They are represented on our committees and on the incoming Board as a coopted member.

Are we doing as well in our classrooms? We have had a large staff turnover in the last year and obviously we need to revisit our previous learnings.  While we include certain kaupapa as “the way we do things here”, I know that there is a lot of variation within the staff because of the cultures they come from.  We include He Reo Tupu He Reo Ora in our learning programme and I believe our teachers are good at making relationships with students.  I love what our rumaki teacher is doing but there are Māori students in other classes and those from other ethnicities, including those with little English, in the school.  This term we held a whanau engagement meeting to bring in families of our target writers so they could create shared learning maps. We are on a journey.

This statement from Milne should make us stop and think:  

The model of education that exists in New Zealand is that white page.  It is important for our children that we start to create our own “colouring books” in our communities.  We come to the conversation with the lenses of our own cultural background.  We need to try to clean those lenses and focus clearly on each of the students in our care.



References

Bishop, R, Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T. & Teddy, L. (2009). Te Kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5)734–742.

Edtalks.(2012, September 23). A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49992994

Edtalks.(2012, May 30). Mike Hogan: Culturally responsive practice in a mainstream school. [video file].Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/43097812

Findsen, B. (2012). Older adult learning in Aotearoa New Zealand: Structure, trends and issues. Presented at Adult Community Education (ACE) Conference.

Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(2),106-116.

Savage,C, Hindleb, R., Meyerc,L., Hyndsa,A., Penetitob, W. & Sleeterd, C.(2011) Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student experiences across the curriculum .Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 183–198

Shaw, S., White, W. & Deed, B. (2013) (Ed.). Health, wellbeing and environment in Aotearoa New Zealand.South Melbourne, Australia:Oxford University Press.

Teaching Tolerance ( 2010, Jun 17).Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGTVjJuRaZ8

Ted Talk. Selasi, Taiye. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/taiye_selasi_don_t_ask_where_i_m_from_ask_where_i_m_a_local?language=en

Unitec. (n.d). Unitec Learning and Teaching Booklet. http://www.unitec.ac.nz/ahimura/publications/U008817%20Learning%20and%20Teaching%20Booklet.pdf

Image retrieved from https://pixabay.com/en/soap-bubbles-eye-glare-stains-light-1192339/