Activity 3 - Contemporary issue or trend in New Zealand (Week 27)

The New Zealand Education Review Office in 2012 identified three areas that schools need to address to promote good practice and help priority learners achieve at a recognised National level:

       1.    Shifting the focus to student centred learning

2.     Knowledgeably implementing a responsive and rich curriculum

3.     Using assessment information to know about, and plan for students' learning

The topic which resonates most for me is based around assessments and how we conduct them, analyse them and use that information. The three recommendations are interlinked but I would argue that a clear understanding of assessment needs to occur before delivering a rich curriculum with students at the heart of their learning.

ERO identified that only 17 percent of Primary schools collected, analysed and used achievement data well, including using it to set appropriate targets for improved Maori student achievement. This is a shockingly low percentage. Priority learners need teachers who understand how to assess both summatively and formatively, can analyse the data to determine a child’s strengths and then find innovative ways to provide a rich curriculum to fill the gaps.

I have been teaching for longer than I care to admit but for oh so many years I believed I knew what assessment was all about. I capably administered SATs tests in the UK to 7 year olds who had previously been given group and individualized learning opportunities with hands on, fun stuff. All that was halted at SATs time and children were sat in rows to complete papers in silence. This was total anathema to me.

Even in New Zealand assessments were viewed by myself and colleagues as a necessity at the end of a task to test whether what you had taught had sunk in. I was really successful at administering standardized tests, marking them, entering the data for school reporting and then filing the paperwork away. What a waste of time and added stress for my students.

I do believe there is a place for Standardised tests as long as what we are assessing is used to inform curriculum choices and to create opportunities for student centred learning. The National Intelligence Council Global Trends reports that: individual empowerment will accelerate owing to poverty reduction, growth of the global middle class, greater educational attainment, widespread use of new communications and manufacturing technologies, and health-care advances. (NIC, 2012, p.ii). Greater educational attainment through student centred learning and an increase in student agency have never been more crucial.

Assessing pupils both formally and informally should form the basis for what we are teaching and why. Working alongside pupils to highlight strengths and set personal goals with clear steps on how to get there is critical if we are to empower individuals to achieve. The expected learning students should make both in Achievement and development should be clearly understood. A child’s prior knowledge should be explored and previous progress noted before planning student centred learning. The gaps between expectations, prior learning and achievement need to be clear so pupils understand the learning they need to make. To ensure assessment is relevant for our students we must build on their interests, strengths and learning needs. Curriculum delivery also needs to align with culturally responsive practices.

I fear I never saw testing as being crucial for my understanding of student’s needs or gaps in knowledge or skills. I certainly never saw analyzing a test as best practice to inform my planning and sharing that data with a child was not what a test was designed for. I have my own views on National Standard expectations which could be discussed at length. They appear to be here to stay and if assessing students means we have clear expectations for their learning, share targets, devise clear steps to get there to empower our learners and also celebrate successes then that is clearly better than filing away test papers.

References

National Intelligence Council. (2012). Global trends: Alternative Worlds. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved from https://globaltrends2030.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/global-trends-2030-november2012.pdf

Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools. Retrieved 18 May 2016, fromhttp://www.ero.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Evaluation-at-a-Glance-Priority-Learners-in-New-Zealand-Schools-August-2012.pdf

Activity 2 – Current issues in my professional context

I am extremely lucky to be at a school that sees developing the school culture as pivotal towards changing outcomes for students. The (fairly new) Principal of the school is intentionally creating a positive climate at the school and is the keeper of those thoughts and beliefs. Through an outside agency we are involved in a project called “Culture Counts” and have had extensive professional development about what culture is and creating a climate of agentic rather than deficit thinking.

The school has a Decile 2 rating and this has been consistent through the 15 years I have been teaching at the school. It is in South Auckland so the sabbatical report by Salvatore Gargiulo directly echoes many of the issues we face at our Primary school. As he states “children born into economic hardship are immediately disadvantaged.” We know as teachers at our school that, “The majority of the impacts affect how a child is able to access education.” The impacts of poverty which he discusses are very real within our community:

·       it impacts on how children are prepared for school

The school has taken measures to address many of these needs successfully through:

Food – we have a breakfast club run by our TAs every morning

Lunches – any child without food is given lunch which is funded by our BOT

Uniform – free school uniform is available

Kidscan – supply raincoats and shoes for our students

Duffy Books ensure each child has quality books at home

Fruit in schools – each child has one piece of fruit daily

Milk in schools – each child has a carton of milk daily

We have a scheme with Visique where pupils eye site is screened and free glasses supplied

Literacy and Numeracy programmes in place for students deemed well below NS

·       It impacts on the household’s relationship with the school

Knowing that our parents view school as authoritative we have set in place:

The Mutukaroa programme – our DP works alongside our new entrant parents sharing assessments and finding ways parents can help their child at home

Informal Expos where parents can come and visit class, have shared kai and celebrate successes

Goal setting conferences/ 3 way conferences to empower our students to talk about their results and where to next

·       The hidden curriculum and rules

The professional development through Culture Counts is addressing many stereotypical ideas and challenging the thinking of our staff

Our school motto is “Strive for the best” and we have high expectations of our pupils and one another. Our staff meetings and team meetings centre around our tamariki and what we are doing to improve target student’s results. Our professional development directly aligns with our Strategic goals and our school Vision is visible on the walls and is referred to as we are here to serve our children and community. The staff have a book of information (The Kaupapa book) about the school’s history, Vision, targets, routines and administration which is valued by new staff and updated throughout the year to be our ‘go to’ document which helps with clear communication.

We have “The Weymouth Way” which the children and staff follow – “We think, we help, we learn, we care” which is “how we do things around here” and the language we promote for our students. We also have a mantra for staff which is – “professionalism at all times.” We unpack this throughout the year and have clear expectations of how we behave towards one another to foster a positive environment and are asked to challenge deficit thinking or comments. We still have a way to go with this as a school community is made up of a variety of personalities with some static thinking. Last year we had a successful ERO report which emphasized the great “feel” of the school and the caring environment. As Stoll (1998) states “In Primary schools, care and control influence their culture, such that when pupils leave primary schools there is a feeling that they have left a family.” Through our “Culture Counts” professional development we have gathered “voices” (from students, teachers and families) to gage where we are at and where we need to get to, to encompass the ideals of working in a more whanau centred environment. Great emphasis is placed on “knowing your learner” and exploring the many cultural backgrounds of our children.

Many of these systems have been put in place for staff and consultation continues to ensure staff embrace the school’s vision and goals so that “we know where we are going” we have targets that are to be met at a National level which are displayed prominently in our staff room - this was uncomfortable at first but to be responsible for success a very necessary move. Collegiality is happening within our teams, shared documentation and minutes of meetings are accessible to all staff and our personal planning – again this was uncomfortable to begin with but documentation and evidence are part of being professional. Each teacher identifies target students in reading, writing and maths. Progress is discussed and monitored within teams and frequently discussed during team meeting with the clear understanding that we are here to improve results. This also fosters a supportive environment as we discuss teaching strategies within teams, moderate work and gather evidence. Individuals are offered PD tailored to them so we can see ourselves as life long learners – this course has offered me different ways of thinking and has undoubtedly improved my practice. The point that I feel we need to work on as a community is – “Risk taking”. Currently the climate at the school feels like we have come a long way in challenging thinking but any innovative changes could rock the waka. I would like to team teach but there would be costs involved which have put that thought on hold. Other ideas (which usually involve money) are being considered but many of our staff are happy with the culture and shared vision and see “risk taking” as a negative thing.

References:

Academy for SELinSchools. ( 2015, Apr 28).What is school culture and climate? [video file].Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_NvhlcusQ

Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London.

Gargiulo, S. (2014). Principal sabbatical report. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leadership-development/Professional-information/Principals-sabbatical-reports/Report-archives-for-2007-2014/Secondary-award-recipients-2014/Gargiulo-Salvatore

Community of Practice

The idea of writing a personal Blog is one which appears to strike fear into many of our hearts. Pushing us way out of our comfort zones and a thought which has caused me to procrastinate for far too long. What have I got to say? It is obvious now that this journal isn't about what I say but rather what I think and how I feel about it and how I will put thoughts into action within my community of practice.

As defined by Wenger:

• Joint enterprise: is a shared domain which is the “collectively developed understanding of what the community is about”.

• Mutual engagement: within the community, the members engage through interactions, building mutual trust in the relationships.

• Shared repertoire: is “the communal resources” that the community of practice produce 

Wenger (2000) defines a community of practice by three elements: joint enterprise, mutual engagement, and shared repertoire.

Embracing the definition of a Community of Practice from Wenger-Trayner is crucial for our communities to work together for improved outcomes for our tamariki.

"Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly."

I have belonged to many Communities of Practice with varying degrees of success. Each one has been created to improve educational outcomes for our students.

A successful learning community can only shift thinking and change practice for the benefit of all stakeholders by allowing rethinking, redesigning and recreating to happen.

My Community of Practice

I am a year 5/6 teacher in a low decile school in South Auckland. I have many roles within the school and have taught in New Zealand for 16 years. My prime role is as one of the digital learning teachers. I work alongside my colleague Stuart who is also part of the Mindlab CoP which is enabling us to do exactly what Knox states:

"To create, expand and exchange knowledge, and to develop individual capabilities". (Knox, 2009).

The Domain of the community is the Primary school itself centred in the heart of our small community. The community has Primary and Intermediate aged pupils. We have a shared School Strategic plan developed by staff and the Board of trustees to increase academic achievement for our pupils as well as embracing the core values of the school. There is cohesion across the school through shared professional development and weekly staff meetings.

The Community is encouraged to interact on a daily basis through formal and informal discussions and interactions. Staff meetings, team meetings, Tutor teacher meetings, attending and running professional development sessions, exchange of emails for admin purposes are all ways that we engage to discuss, think, design and create new learning. We frequently visit each others classes, share ideas and resources. This has been extended to include collaboration by sharing planning and digital resources within the Google Drive and within our school Google+ site which was developed by Stuart and myself as part of the Mindlab assignments. I have often felt like an old dog learning new tricks when I have embraced digital learning opportunities. Attending ULearn and EduCamps and contributing to the NZteachers Facebook page and Twitter have helped me to learn new skills, exchange ideas and create new thinking. I often look to our new teachers to inspire me and challenge my thinking and in return offer advice and encouragement to others. 

In Practice the shared repertoire our teaching staff produce is now digitally accessible as we upload to our server and also share through Google services. Through in depth discussion we also develop new knowledge and frequently challenge deficit thinking.

References:

Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Wenger-Trayner B, Wenger-Trayner E. (2015), Introduction to Communities of Practice. A brief overview of the concept and its uses. http://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/.

Wenger,E.(2000).Communities of practice and social learning systems. Organization, 7(2), 225-246.