Activity 6 - Contemporary issues or trends in New Zealand or internationally

The two contemporary issues that I identify as being most relevant to my practice that are influencing or shaping NZ or international education are:
​

1. Student-Centred Learning
2. Local schools working together

Student Centred Learning

Student-centered learning could be defined as shifting the the focus of instruction from the teacher to the student and was identified by the Education Review Office in their paper ‘Evaluation at a Glance : Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools’, (Education Review Office, 2012)  as one of the key aspects that the New Zealand education system needs to address.

More care and attention needs to be paid to our classroom of students who come to us from increasingly diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and learner needs which results in the teacher needing to be highly skilled in the area of inclusive practice.

This is where student centred learning plays such a vital role in the New Zealand and International education system and basically means providing a system of practice that puts the student at its heart.

(Brandes & Ginnis, 1986) state in their book ‘A Guide to Student Centred Learning’  that the following principles need to be practiced in order for an effective student centred learning environment to exist:

• The ownership of learning is with the student
• The subject matter has relevance and meaning for the student
• Involvement and participation are necessary for learning
• The teacher becomes a facilitator and resource person

These principles correlate with the points made within the ERO report mentioned earlier in this post when discussing what good practice typically looks like within the classroom. Namely that students should be able to:

• Understand their achievement in relation to the expected level and what they can do to make improvements
• Set goals with their teacher
• Make use of exemplars to support their learning
• Talk confidently about their progress in relation to particular curriculum areas, learning goals and next steps
• Keep informed about their progress in achieving goals such as through tracking sheets and teacher feedback
• Take an active role in reporting their achievement and progress to their parents

(Education Review Office, 2012)

The reasons why I feel that student centred learning is an issue close to my heart are because:

• My school is focussed heavily on changing teacher practices so that the student is at the heart of the learning
• The student voice I gather tells me consistently that the students want more control over what and how they learn and that if they are not interested in a topic or are not actively participating then they do not learn as well
• Through observations and summative assessment I can see that a student learns more effectively and is more engaged when taking an active role in their learning

I and my school have already taken steps to address how we change our practice to a more student centred system. Below are the steps that I/we have already taken:

• The school has worked collaboratively to create reading, writing, maths and ICT progressions in child speak and we are now working with our students on how to read and understand them so that they are more aware of what they have achieved and what their next learning steps are. (These will soon be stored digitally using an E-Portfolio solution)
• The students are now writing their own mid-year reports based on their personal progressions
• Students within my class are in the early stages of planning their own learning day
• The use of student voice is more prevalent across the school in both what we are teaching the students and how we are teaching the students
• Students within my class are writing on posters what lessons they wish to have depending on subject
• Our school is inquiry driven with problem based learning at its heart which in itself is interdisciplinary
• We are looking at ways we can use technology to better communicate and involve our community with their child's learning and understanding
• The students in my class are learning to create deeper and more meaningful reflections on their learning so they have another tool to help them self direct their learning more efficiently

It is my hope and belief that my own and the school’s practice is going through significant change to address this issue of ensuring that the student is at the heart of the learning. We still have much to do regarding this issue. It is not a quick and straightforward process to move ourselves into this new way of thinking, teaching and learning. Equally, it is imperative that we should be seen as adapting, not adopting to this process of change.

Local schools working together

The second contemporary issue that I feel is relevant to my practice is the need for my school to be more closely affiliated to other local schools in the area. In ‘Political consensus in education - the way of our future’ (“Political consensus in education,” 2015 ) the need for local schools working together is highlighted as one of the issues that needs to be addressed from the political level.

Based on the highly successful Finnish educational system of local schools working together ‘The Finns see no merit in the children in one school achieving educational success while the children in other schools around it struggle’. (“Political consensus in education,” 2015 )

In my previous post ‘Activity 4 - Your Professional Community’ I identified within my wider educational sphere that our local cluster schools were a representation of one of my main bodies of my community. And yet while there are some curriculum leaders in communities of learning (Kaipatiki Learning Cluster),  I feel that on a personal level I have no association with them whatsoever.

A document by the Ministry of Education titled ‘ Investing in Educational Success... A Community of Schools’ (Success, 2014) details an initiative that brings these schools together. It describes how communities of schools are groups of schools and kura that come together to raise achievement for children and young people through:

• sharing expertise in teaching and learning
• supporting each other
• forming around students’ usual pathway from primary to secondary

The full document can be found at the end of this post but the most pertinent points to me are:

• Collaboration around students
• Sharing best practice across schools

Looking at these two points together the document highlights that students will benefit from their school and their teachers being part of a community and that teachers working together will share best practice throughout schools. Expertise that teachers and principals have could be shared and that schools will then be able to learn from each other on how best to raise the quality of teaching and learning.

This document seems to me to be highlighting the obvious, yet I personally have a feeling that there could be a degree of competition rather than togetherness that is currently stopping this from happening.

I feel that this issue needs to be addressed and I can see that through closer collaboration within our community of schools that my own practice and expertise could be enhanced in the following areas:
​

• What does student-centred learning look like in other schools
• How do our progressions align with other schools progressions - is there consistency?
• How does each school communicate effectively with their parents and whanau?
• How are teacher capabilities and appraisals carried out in other schools
• What initiatives do other schools take part in to engage with their communities?
• How do other schools in the area assess their students in respect of the National Standards?
• What testing and exemplars are used to assess students against the National Standards?
• What and how is PD applied in other schools?
• How is technology used within the classroom?
• Are teachers assessed in their ability to use technology
• What applications and sites do other schools use to engage their students, parents and teachers

I feel that just writing this blog highlights my desire to know just how exactly other schools are operating. I feel that I could learn so much from having closer ties to our local schools both in growing my own expertise and imparting my knowledge to others and it is an exciting prospect.

In summary, I feel that this is such an important contemporary issue that needs to be addressed so that we as teachers feel less isolated and can build our expertise and align more closely with other schools, which will ultimately be of benefit to our students.

I have spoken to several other teachers within my school who seem to share the same sentiments as I do. I will now be bringing this matter to the attention of my principal to find out more about this issue and what seeds we can plant to initiate a change that will see more communication and collaboration between our local schools.

Bibliography
​
Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance : Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools August 2012, (August).
Brandes, D., & Ginnis, P. (1986). A guide to student-centred learning. Oxford: Blackwell.
Political consensus in education "" The way of our future. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2016, from http://www.ppta.org.nz/issues
Success, E. (2014). Investing in Educational Success ... Communities of Schools Guide for schools and kura, (August), 1–3.