What are the Key issues facing the NZ education system and what should be done?
Three key issues facing the educations system as outlined by the Education Review Office (Evaluation at a Glance, 2012) are:
- Shifting the focus to student-centred learning.
- Knowledgeably implement a responsive and rich curriculum.
- Using assessment information to know about, and plan for, students' learning.
The issue most relevant to my practice is 'Shifting the focus to student-centred learning'. As a leader in my school I am constantly involved with driving best teaching and learning practice and encouraging teachers to consider what's working and what's not. We have recently made big gains in seeing this happen effectively across the school through the introduction of 'TAPs' (Teacher Action Plans). Each teacher, each term, and for each of the three core subjects - reading, writing and maths, completes a 'teaching as inquiry' process by recording all children into below, at and above groups and drills down on data to determine what's important to each group and what's worth spending time on. Reflection at the end of each term is a big part of the success of this process. Teachers springboard their whole term from this one action plan - it keeps everyone focused on the students.
The global mega-trends:
- Individual
Empowerment
- Diffusion of Power
- Demographic
Patterns
- Food, Water,
Energy Nexus
1 contemporary issue/trend in NZ/internationally that I find most relevant to my practice....
I find Demographic Patterns the mega-trend most relevant to my practice. Factors such as greater economic opportunities as people seek to raise their standard of living mean that migration rates are rising. Other reasons such as climate-change driven migration will also increase in the future. Transport is more accessible meaning the world is becoming increasingly multi-cultural and schools are faced with rising diversity and the "need to prepare students for a global life." (p 30, OECD, 2016) Our school has had a recent surge in ESOL funded children who require specialist teaching and a supply of appropriate resources. School climate and culture changes are anticipated and this issue being a global mega-trend - is only just beginning! The future focus in our school will be to consider how we can better prepare for students from different cultures, how we utilise teacher and teacher aid resources, and what is our responsibility in sharing and teaching community values?
References:
Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools. Retrieved 18 May 2016, from http://www.ero.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Evaluation-at-a-Glance-Priority-Learners-in-New-Zealand-Schools-August-2012.pdf
KPMG International. (2014). Future state 2030: the global megatrends shaping governments”. KPMG International Cooperative: USA. Retrieved from http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/future-state-government/Documents/future-state-2030-v3.pdf
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
OECD. (2016). Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en
Your comment regarding an increase in ESOL children. Perhaps it is a city wide trend as we have certainly widened our cultural mix in the last few months too. The global village is finally reaching Invercargill! Actually SIT does also bring a wonderful mix into our community.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience the opportunities to experience a mix of cultures within the school is delightful. Children are far more accepting than many adults, and the learning to respect one another's cultural differences is the best learnt when young.
Hi Sharon,
DeleteYes it certainly is a city wide trend with many schools reporting large class sizes especially in the year 4 to 6 range in Southland. As SENCO I have based my appraisal goal around how we provide the best culturally responsive climate for our ESOL children. I also believe what is good for ESOL children is good for all. If we can cater for diverse language and cultural backgrounds well than we are supporting all children to celebrate diversity and to respect each others differences.
Hi Jan, I agree with Sharon on the increase in and importance of ESOL for exposure to different cultures. My school is very proactive in attracting and working with overseas students as well as encouraging our students to investigate and experience life outside NZ. We have Chinese on our year 9 program and offer Chinese as a language option at all levels. The world will only get smaller so as Sharon said "school is the place to learn to respect one another's cultural differences".
ReplyDeleteHi Jan, Richard and Sharon. I agree with all three of you. Whilst we actively seek international students we have also had an influx of ESOL students from all over the world in the last 4 years.We have truly become multicultural with over 30 nationalities on our role. The varying cultures and languages your 'usual' students will be exposed to and the empathy, relationships and understanding that will come from it can't be planned for. It will be the benefits off the paper that will be the biggest growth. Such fantastic opportunities for having a global school and connecting students, all good for future problem solvers and world leaders.
ReplyDeleteHi Jan, I enjoyed reading bout your TAP's and how as a school you have implemented these and what you do with them and most importantly how they ensure students remain at the core of what you do as a school. You introduced this by saying it is your job to ensure best practice and to help teachers consider what works and what doesn't. My professional practice is filled of these moments and I just wish we were given a little more time to implement change and to ensure we as educators make change for the better.
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