‘ve been thinking a little about this over recent months and it didn’t hurt a bit!  In a learning culture where thinking is the norm, this doesn’t have to be ’something else’ to add on to an already very busy curriculum… it can very ably run alongside it.  The thinking curriculum also must be based on a solid pedagogical imperative, we are doing this because our kids need it and it will benefit them now and in their future.  While I like the concepts put forward by Howard Gardner, with his theories on multiple intelligence and also his 5 Minds for the Future – their translation into a classroom setting, or even schoolwide, is complex and at times sporadic and I contend not really in tune with the intent of the theory.  What schools need is a simple and easy to implement process around thinking that has impact and allows for learners to KNOW that they are thinking.  This is a mindset change and is not just about the teacher saying we are a thinking classroom, because there are pretty thinking posters on the wall… but clear evidence that all students KNOW that they are thinking, can articulate this and think about what is the appropriate tool for them to use to illustrate their thinking.  Yes this is still complex, but I have seen 5 year old who can do this in the right ‘thinking environment’.

When the opportunity came up for us to look at adding a classroom and providing for a much needed upgrade of our most dated buildings, the first place I looked was the New Zealand Curriculum.  One of the discussions I have been leading, and certainly an area I am reflecting on a great deal at the moment, is the concept of learning communities and how we can establish and build on learning communities in the School.  I particularly like the simple explanation in Facilitating shared learning under the Effective Pedagogy area of the document:

Teachers encourage this process by cultivating the class as a learning community.  In such a community, everyone, including the teacher, is a learner;  learning conversations and learning partnerships are encouraged; and challenge, support, and feedback are always available. As they engage in reflective discourse with others, students build the language that they need to take their learning further.  (NZC – p34)

Our wonderful staff are taking steps to make this happen… (that’s another blog entry!).  So how could we design our building upgrade to support this?  I had a chat to our Board, reviewed the strategic vision for property in the School to reflect the curriculum and then we engaged an architect to support us to enable this to happen.  I spoke about openness, shared spaces, as a leadership team we have had dialogue about communities of learners and how the physical environment could support this (wider than just our own classrooms).  People are on board.

The result, while only a preliminary 3D sketch and design is outstanding and very exciting… don’t you agree?

(I may post a photo of what it looks like now just as a comparison!!)

I am so pleased to be able to bring some wonderful educators to Nelson on the 22nd and 23rd of September for our cluster’s curriculum seminars.  This is going to be an exciting time for us all.  While we are all doing a variety of things in terms of implementing the curriculum in our own schools, it is fair to say that we are not quite ready to implement our own school’s curriculum… actually, it is not even in its design stage yet, but that is cool – because we are getting ourselves into a position to do this, and do it well!  :-)

Over this next month there will be an incredible amount of development and professional learning around curriculum and curriculum designs for schools in our region.  This is going to help our team and provide us with some much needed ‘digestion’ and ‘reflection’ time to enable us to review our plans and assert what it is we are going to do.  What’s more is that it is collaborative and will lead to some projects and developments across schools too!

This leads me to the reason for this entry… What would you ask schools and school leaders who are well down the track of implementation of the NZC and development of their own curriculum?  Please add these questions as comments below.  I would love your feedback!

Many thanks.

I had a great afternoon completing some development around numeracy teaching and learning in our School.  This was extremely well facilitated by Elizabeth from UC Ed+ and it is really getting our team together to think about how we are teaching and how we can work together better to enhance outcomes for students.  I am so proud of our teaching team and the attitude and approaches they bring to this… our team is going to be successful due to the fact that they care so much about the student’s learning.

Enough!  I am now over National Standards and have moved through all of the stages of grief and am now on to ‘acceptance’…

I accept that these standards will:

• Make Schools and teachers accountable (I am convinced that this is the ‘not so hidden’ agenda) for nationwide student achievement
• Allow the Government to standardise reporting on student achievement
• If used well, could inform school improvement
• Be implemented regardless of the fuss kicked up by the sector and other experts
• Lead to ‘plain language’ reporting to parents
• Will lead to direct comparison of ‘perceived’ school performance
• Detract from teaching and learning as we build the learning around the assessment, rather than the assessment around the learning.

And as part of my ‘acceptance’ our team will implement these in a way that is morally responsible for our learners and ensuring that our learning culture and learning focus is at the forefront of what we do.

I will speak no more of these ‘Stand DUD s’ in this forum.

Here endeth the lesson.

This may be a little deep, but I’ll give it a crack. I have been thinking a lot about the link between learning and growth.

Isn’t learning one of the most incredible gifts of, and for, humanity? What amazes me and continues to build on my fascination of this topic, is how closely linked ‘learning’ is with growth. When I say growth, I do mean physical growth, but also growth as a person in a cognitive, emotional, social and ethical way (there are many others, but I have not thought at length about categories for this as yet… but this still fascinates me). I am of the view, that one cannot grow with out the strength, resolve, willingness and ability to learn.

I grow through my fascination with the world and what happens in it, I grow with my fascination about my place in this world and how this world affects me and others, and how and what I contribute to this world. As we learn – we grow, as we grow- we learn… these two things are inextricably linked. I believe that this is much the same of our children (although we don’t think like this when we are younger). The way into the future for our children is built on their fascination with the world and their place in this world, and how they interact with it.

These are important lessons to me as I explore how we shape learning and curriculum and how we shape learning growth with ourselves and in our classrooms and make learning authentic and related to the most natural ways to learn.

I have just had a wonderful meal with family… and during the evening the topic of technology came up for discussion.  Having an interest of sorts in this topic, I decided to put in my ten cents worth… not two cents, as that denomination has been removed from our kiwi currency .  Interesting discussion, we all spoke of making pencil cases and spatulas and one of us even made a step ladder during our technology classes at school (it may interest you to know that the experiences of technology in the curriculum spanned over a generation).  Wow!  It was mind-blowing to think that our experiences of technology were exactly the same despite the generation gaps, there must be a heck of a lot of ‘technology class’ spatulas hanging around New Zealand kitchens… I need Richard Till to get hold of this fact, so he can work it into his TV show!

I would hope that ‘technology’ learning has come further than the design and creation of kitchen implements in recent years… sadly though, I know that it may not actually be the case!  I remember only two years ago working in a ’structural technology’ class where they were learning about lighthouses!  When I quizzed the teachers on why this was being done, I was told that it was because of technology skills, processes and designs.  At the time I was unsure what ‘technological skills, processes and designs’ would come from making a lighthouse in a day and age of GPS, and illustrated my contention by presenting the GPS argument, only to be informed that this GPS technology was not accessible to the children!  A quick survey of who had cell phones readily pointed out that this technology was very much accessible to the children!  Needless to say, they enjoyed building their lighthouses.  :-)

This statement from the New Zealand Curriculum Framework Technology document tells us the purpose for Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum is to:

- Achieve Technological Literacy through the development of:

• Technical Knowledge and Understanding
• Technology and Society
• Technological Capability

structural, control, food, and information and communications technology and biotechnology. (Oh dear, the door is open for another generation of making spatulas!)

In technology, students learn to be innovative developers of products and systems and discerning consumers who will make a difference in the world.

Read what you will into the title of this post… a play on words about the National Government, my beliefs about the way we have been consulted ‘with’ (National taking a stand), or how I view the impact of this proposed intervention to lift national student achievement (dud).  Regardless of all of the discussion around National Standards (The link takes you to Derek Wenmouth’s very good blog post on consultation around national standards), it is very evident to me, that it is not the National Government’s intention to do much, for example:

• Q:  Will this lead to national testing?
• A: It is not our intention that this will lead to national testing
• Q: How will this affect our current curriculum developments and implementation?
• A: It is not our intention that this will take over those priorities, curriculum implementation is still your priority. (WHAAAAAAAT!  You want these implemented by next year!!!)
• Q: What about league tables?  Are we going to be faced with league tables?
• A: It is not our intention that national standards will lead to the publication of league tables.

Ohh please, I may have looked a bit ’shell-shocked’, but I didn’t have ‘prize winning turnip’ written over my face!  While these may not be intentions, they could certainly result in everyone of these.  The grey areas surrounding the implementation of these standards are enormous, gaping chasms which require more than rope and crampons to traverse.  The consultation around these standards has been poor, ill-timed and badly planned in terms of implementation time frames and the fact that some regions were left out of the consultation altogether!  And I believe that is because what is intended and what agenda informs this stand, is not being made clear.

I must point out that I am not frightened about these standards (see this earlier post), in fact, we are attempting to plan to implement our own way of communicating achievement to learners and parents directly related to curriculum levels as part of our implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum.  What does frighten me, is the nature of the consultation, and that 49% Schools are failing to do this (According to ERO).

What is clearly ‘intended’ by the National Government, is that these be implemented as soon as possible.  Well this is good, there is some intent (*sarcasm*)… what intent is less clear is that, are these standards for learners, or parents?  The Ministry of Education’s statement:

This will help students; their teachers and parents, families and whānau better understand what they are aiming for and what they need to do next.

…indicates that this is good for all of us.  But is anyone asking the big question?  HOW DO WE KNOW THIS?  Is it because Mr Hattie says so?  (I am unsure – he has been quiet on this issue despite being quoted in the National Party’s flyer on National Standards prior to last year’s elections… but we know that Mrs Tolley is a fan).  I want to see the cast iron proof that this has the pedagogical power to do what the government say it will do.

I believe we (the students, parents, teachers and community) are owed this, before this potentially flawed and rushed policy becomes reality, and a potential ‘dud’.

…and if we don’t get this?  Well, it doesn’t really matter we will implement them in a way that works for our kids anyway.

Check out this blog post too! (Thanks AllanahK)