Interesting Video

This was presented to us a the NASDAP conference as a critique of much of what is wrong with modern educational reality.

Enjoy (bit cringe worth).

Achieving Educational Success as Maori

The Prerogative of Maori Education

In keeping with the theme of the Maori Language Week here is a post on education of Maori.  The following power point was presented at staff meeting on Monday.

Maori achieving as maori from WaihiCollege

Many of our schools 2015 priority learners recognise themselves as Maori.  Part of our responsibility (duty of care) for the students in our classroom is effectively providing for their (and their whanua's) needs.

Questions that we need to ask...

1. How am I going as a teacher (am I positively impacting the learning)?
2. What informs me on my answer to Q.1.?
3. What is my sense of urgency around this?

[These questions need to be asked of the students as well].  

This post is related to RTC #1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga." And RTC #7. "Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment part ii. foster trust, respect and cooperation with and among ākonga.  And ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 3 "Educationally Powerful Connections and Relationships".

Educating Boys'

Males and NCEA

I began my teaching career in a traditional single sex boys high school.  My initial years were grounded in School Certificate, Six Form Certificate and Bursary - these were systems that I was familiar with (I was a product of them myself).  

Peter Lyons - Otago Daily Times

An opinion piece by Peter Lyons (an economics teacher from St Peter's in Auckland) in the New Zealand Herald (click here) raises the issue of gender inequality in education - specifically in NCEA qualifications.  Whilst acknowledging the pitfalls of making generalised statements Lyon's points out that "NCEA is a standards-based assessment system. Many boys seem to adopt the attitude that meeting the minimum standard will suffice."

I wanted to know how reflective this statement would be for us here at Waihi College.  Do we in fact have results that reflect boys struggling in NCEA compared with the girls (and if so what does that mean for us as an educational institution)?

Here are some of our NCEA results from last year...  Level One 2014 had Girls endorsed with Excellence 6.3% (boys were at 3.3%) Girls endorsed with Merit 46.9% (boys were at 23.3%).  Similar results existed for Level Two. Level Three was more even.  So it would not be out of place to say that girls have twice the rate of excelling in NCEA than the boys last year in NCEA.  

Some of the specific issues Lyon has with NCEA include the lack of competitiveness and that instructional nature of assessments; "Boys are also generally less inclined to read instructions carefully. NCEA assessments are laden with instructions, assessment criteria and much additional reading material that camouflages the actual questions that need to be answered."  This are observations which I tend to agree with.  

So what is it that can be done by teachers here at Waihi College to counter these?  I would strongly suggest that regular review of the progress of students through NCEA (one of the core roles of the senior Pouako) would add to the competitive nature among boys.  We have annual goals around endorsement (L1 3 x Exc + 21 x Mer : L2 5 x Exc + 20 x Mer : L3 3 x Exc + 6 x Mer) - we will need boys to be better represented to gain these rates.  

Opportunities and expectations around internal assessments are key.  Are boys not taking the opportunities for 'sign posting' or re-submissions or resits?  Teachers having real conversations about the high expectations for our boys is key.  Are we pushing our boys and creating that environment of excellence?  In ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4 : Responsive curriculum, effective teaching and opportunity to learn "teachers and students co-construct realistic and challenging learning goals..." 

This post is related to RTC #1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga." And RTC #7. "Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment part ii. foster trust, respect and cooperation with and among ākonga.  And ERO's School Evaluation Indicators Domain 4.

Book Review

Changing Our Secondary Schools by Bali Haque

I really enjoyed this educational theory book, especially because this is written by a kiwi, who has worked in the New Zealand system and understands the changes specifically in the New Zealand educational system.  

Bali Haque is a well known figure in the New Zealand educational community being a former principal Pakuranga and Rosehill Colleges, President of the Secondary Principals' Association, deputy chief of NZQA and an executive member of the PPTA.  In recent years he has worked in Rarotonga.  

In Changing Our Secondary Schools Bali has analysed the major changes to the New Zealand Education system over the last three decades.  It is easy to see the level of change our sector has been subjected too.  I enjoyed his summaries and gained from seeing these changes from a management/strategic point of view.  My experiences have been predominantly as a teacher this book helped me see some of the logic behind the theory.  

Bali is highly critical mostly of implementation of the policies rather than the specific policies themselves.  Highlighting the compromises built upon compromises resulting in some avoidable problems.  He focuses much of his criticism on the divisions (and conflict) that exist in New Zealand secondary schooling systems.  

In the second half of the book Bali takes deliberate aim at many sacred cows in the system.  He has strong ideas which can be summarised as incendiary.  Paying excellent teachers 'excellence units', aiming to remove incompetent (and marginally competent) teachers from the ranks, making all but five weeks of holidays an expectation for teachers to be onsite, raising the entry requirement for teacher training a masters qualification, removing the focus from extra curricular, to name a few.  

On the issue of collective professionalism Bali writes "It is important to serious address the problem of incompetent and mediocre teachers... teaching is too important a profession to tolerate free riders and level high flyers unrewarded.".  

I would recommend Changing Our Secondary Schools to teachers who are new to NZ (as it gives some excellent background information about how we got here), teachers who have a mind for the politics of schooling, senior management (as much of the change lies with them).  It is an easy reading book and one that had me thinking late into the night.  

This post relates to RTC #12 - "Engaging with professional literature and reflecting on ones practice".

  

ERO School Evaluation Indicators (Part I)

Effective Practice At Waihi College

The Education Review Office have recently published a trial document called "School Evaluation Indicators: Effective Practice for Improvement and Learner Success".  As the name suggests this is the office's concise guide to what things they want to see happening in our school to produce effective results.  

The guide has an express purpose of providing a "common language for the interaction and dialogue between a school and ERO about development since the last review."  These are effectively the a-b-c's of effective management and running of a NZ school.  This is the first of two publications (the second companion resource is due out in September this year) that schools can use to confirm their progression and development.  

A common observation I've been able to make in my time in teaching is that when ERO announce their dates for review schools are ready (they had in their last review an indication of how many years until the next review).  At Waihi College our 2014 report indicated that three years would be the time for the next review.  In my experience teachers sharpen up their paperwork and a generally geared up for a review, but there is always an unknown element.  Teachers would say "what wheelbarrow will ERO come pushing this time around?" - that there are things that the review team would 'spring' on schools.  The School Evaluation Indicators  is a document which will take away any surprise element for an ERO visit - it effectively spells out, in great detail, what things they'll be be asking.  

This document is an easily digestible 42 pages which begins in theory.  They base their indicators on several things;  25 years of reviews, modern education research, the NZ Curriculum document, legislation, National Administration Guidelines (NAG's), best evidence synthesis, OECD reports and input from Helen Timperley and Viviane Robinson.  Personally I feel comfortable with the indicators themselves, and feel that they're grounded in sound educational theory.  

I've ordered several extra copies for staff (three for the Learning Leaders), there is one available in Alistair's office and one from mine.  

I've been able to link blog posts to the Registered Teacher Criteria, I will from here on attempt to link (where appropriate) future posts to the appropriate School Evaluation Indicators.  

This post relates to RTC #5. show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning

and School Evaluation Indicator - Domain Two : Leadership conditions for equity and excellence and Domain Five : Professional Capability & Collective Capacity.  

 

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent Teacher Interviews

Next Wednesday we will have our annual parent teacher interview day.  Administratively this day has been made much easier with the invention of online booking through www.schoolinterviews.co.nz (which is good for parents and staff admin).  But the time old tradition of interviews have continued with the same old barriers.

• Parental Reluctance.  There exists a tendency for parents who were themselves struggling at school to avoid interaction with the institution (especially us teachers).  How can we best encourage/invite these types of parents in to school to talk education?
• Students Painting A Different Story.  The realities of modern parenting is that often the messages from the students are taken as canon by the parents.  

Good Guidelines for Running An Interview.

1.  Know your students.  This sounds obvious but being ahead of the curve is very important.  Are you able to pin point their progression in their learning?  Where are they excelling/struggling?  What interest levels do they have?  What things increase their engagement?
2.  Know who's coming.  Look at your bookings and organise all your information for interviews.  It pays to have assessment results and classroom work handy.  Being able to speak to parents with reference to the students work is powerful.  It adds greatly to your perception of credibility if you're organised.
3.  Listen first.  It's a good thing to begin "thanks for coming in today/tonight you've had a chance to read X's report, before we begin were there any issues that you'd like me to cover?"  Some parents will have a bee in their bonnet and it's important that you listen and process their issue (this doesn't mean getting bombed upon - see point #6 below).  
4.  Talk about time factors.  Have a clock handy acknowledge the booked time, how long you've got available, check that you've got their contact details should the interview go too long.  
5.  Ask about their observations/hopes/plans.  The parents are potentially very powerful drivers of learning for the student.  It is important to know where they're at and build upon this.  A parent that says X is a bit bored is probably asking for extension material.  A parent that says X is not enjoying this subject this year is probably saying that your not X's preferred teacher.   
6.  Keeping it professional.  There are parents out there that will be unreasonable and cross boundaries.  Be prepared to finish up an interview early.  Saying "I don't think that we're getting ahead here, lets reschedule this meeting for later when we've got more time".  Standing up is a non aggressive way of finishing an interview.  Do communicate with your colleagues/management about your interviews... have someone to support you.  
7.  Thank the parents for their time.  

This post relates to RTC # 1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga i)  engage in ethical, respectful, positive and collaborative professional relationships with: whānau and other carers of ākonga" 

Ohinemuri Schools' Festival of Education

Mind Frames of Change

Yesterday the Learning Leaders and I were lucky enough to head over to the inaugural Education Festival held at Paeroa College.  Our intent was to go and see the keynote address by Lynda Shanks from Cognition Education in Auckland.  Cognition are the educational providers for John Hattie's Visible Learning Plus.

Here is a summary of the key messages I took away from Lynda's presentation...

There are three main messages of change presented; 1.  What are visible learners?  2.  What are the mind frames of the teachers (are we change agents in education)?  3.  What system reform is required in schools?

The notion of building up a shared language of learning was key.  The question - when your students are asked "what was learning like today?" would they say "fun" or "busy" or would they be able to describe their learning?  This question was supplemented with video of students verbalising their experiences in the classroom.  

How is it that we collectively as Waihi College staff are going about embedding the language of learning within our students?  Do we have a 'way' of learning that is uniform, do our students know it, and is it best practice?

Lynda went through Stephen Covey (recommended author or the The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) basic change model.  How is it that we as educators know that we've actually made an impact on the learning of our students?

• See - School Culture, personal beliefs, and traditions.  
• Do - School structure/policies/rules/programmes.
• Behave - the results and effects (e.g. achievement results).

Lynda then moved into the purpose of the workshops on the day.  She encouraged all of us to see ourselves as the change agents for our schools.  To begin this through a series of self reflective questioning.  

1. How am I doing with my students?
2. Where am I going to next in my practice?
3. How am I going to get there?
4. What can I control as a teacher?
5. Do we challenge all of our students in our classes?
6. Do we plan lessons from different points of view (the most able or those struggling)?
7. Do we fall into the habit of labeling students? 

Overall the presentation was great.  Lynda is clearly a communicator who is grounded in the experiences of the the classroom.  

This post relates to  RTC#8. "Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn." and RTC#7. "Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment.

Mini Visits (Post # 2)

Professional Conversations

Part of the movement towards having closer professional learning relationships here at Waihi College has seen some new innovations to our systems.  A new approach that we're going to bring in here is the practice of 'mini-visits'.  Here is a link to my recent post on this idea (click here).  

Here is the presentation that I made at staff meeting on Monday...




The plan is to cover your classes (unless non-contacts work for you) for ten mins to allow you to be able to visit another teacher's classroom.  Obviously good to plan these in advance (a heads up for admin).  Please jump onto these asap rather than letting them linger on.

This post relates to RTC #  1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga - i. engage in ethical, respectful, positive and collaborative professional relationships with: teaching colleagues."

Book Review

David & Goliath : Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants.  By Malcolm Gladwell.

This is the latest in the line of excellent books by Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers and Blink I would highly recommend).  David & Goliath is one of the rare books where an international bestseller writes so clearly on educational ideas.

Gladwell's style is very good - he takes complex notions and illustrates them well in real life narrative.  He takes you as a reader to Paris in the Impressionist art movement, to the ancient biblical setting of Judea, back into modern settings.  Each new story bringing out his ideas of overcoming adversity.

Malcolm Gladwell

As an educator I was most impressed by chapter four where Gladwell works through an explanation of the science of dyslexia.  This complex medical term has grown and grown in educational circles - but remains to most teachers something of a mystery.  The beginning pages of this chapter was a concise/clear summary of what is happening inside the head of a young person with dyslexia.
 
 Another great chapter for teachers to read is chapter two where the majority of the material is focused on the best class size (a controversial and political  subject).  Gladwell takes a scientific approach to calculating what is the best size class for learning.  He works well through the balance of work loads, class engagement, teacher one on one time and classroom management.  FYI Gladwell concludes that too smaller classes (which are major selling points for private schooling) are not the best.  Rather he settles on 24 or 18 as these can be assigned into groups easily.  It is interesting to see he's constantly looking at the underdogs so considers greatly those introverted/shy students in classes.

I related well to the sections devoted to the 'size of the pond'.  Here Gladwell contrasts the effects of being the big fish - small pond vs being a big fish - great big pond.  For us here at Waihi College (with cohorts around 100 students) has many tangible positives.

I would definitely recommend this book.  Teachers that would get additional benefit from reading David & Goliath are career counselors, teachers with dyslexic students, teachers from the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths classes), and those interested in the big picture around education.

Finally here is a quick YouTube clip of Gladwell discussing his latest book...

This post relates to RTC#8. "Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn." and RTC#7. "Promote a collaborative, inclusive and supportive learning environment."

Self Reporting Grades Part ii)

Empowering Student's Learning

One of the most exciting presentations from the Visible Learning Summit from term one this year was the presentation by the Selwyn College leadership team.  

Selwise

Please take some time to have a look at the following video of Selwyn College.  It is a summary of their journey over the last six year (new Principal in 2008) with some dramatic improvements in their outcomes.  One of the things that was presented at the conference was the benefits of explicitly presenting the language of learning - as you watch take note of the ways visually that Selwyn College has deliberately presented this.  

They have formulated a shared level of learning 'advertising' that is the standard across the school.  Students are re-enforced this values and methods in all their class.  Selwyn College is deliberately teaching meta-cognitive strategies to students with the goal of making them better learners.  

Selwyn College was a finalist in the annual Prime Minister's Education Excellence Awards in: Excellence in Leading - Atakura Award in 2014.  Their NCEA results progressed from pass rates below 50% of students to consistently in the 90%.   

One of the major changes that Selwyn College went through was to try to empower their students to chart their own way through their learning.  The way that they did this was to supply the students a detailed (in student language) descriptor of what each level of the learning was.  That is they'd take the NZ Curriculum's Achievement Objectives (click here) and drill down to what that would mean in the classroom - with exemplar illustrations.  That way the student is empowered to know exactly where they are in their learning and what the next steps in their learning would/should be.  

This was identified by ERO here at Waihi College when they highlighted a next step in our journey being "Quality Assurance... monitoring student's progress with agreed parameters."

The idea here being that the student would be able to understand what it is that they know (where they are in the curriculum) and that they'd be able to see the next steps in their learning to move themselves forward.  This relates very well to John Hatties most influential (biggest effect size) factor in student achievement - 'Self Reported Grades' (click here for evidence).  

Here is John Hattie briefly presenting a summary of his meta study (about five mins)...

This leads us to consider the norms of practice here at Waihi College.  How is it that we're focussing our collective efforts to making learning more visible?   What habits and systems do we share as teachers here at school that empower our students to progress in their learning?  

This post relates to RTC #6  "Conceptualise, plan and implement an appropriate learning programme." And RTC #8. "Demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn- i) enable ākonga to make connections between their prior experiences and learning and their current learning activities & iii) encourage ākonga to take responsibility for their own learning and behaviour."

Mini Visits

Classroom Visits

I can remember way back to when I was first training as a teacher.  I had three practicums, with three associate teachers.  I remember them fondly and appreciated at the time the step learning curve I was on.  There was however one associate who stood out - his strategy was to farm me out.  Each day he would point me off to another teacher "go see Jones teach - she's great with year 10's" or "go see Smithy teach - he's super organised".  So there I was training to be a Mathematics teacher with an associate putting me in Art and PE and Science etc.  But actually this was the most beneficial time in my training - you see each new class, each new teacher I picked up one more strategy or one more approach or one more management style. 

Last year when I had the opportunity to come along and see many of you teach reminded me of that experience.  I could see that Waihi College has very high standards of teaching across the board with pockets of excellence.  Again I found myself thinking "I like that method" or "that's a great resource" and thinking about how this could be adapted to my practice.  

ERO in there 2014 visit pointed to one of the College's 'Quality Assurance's Next Steps' "is to ensure good/effective practice is far more consistent across the school".

This term one of the things that we (myself and the Learning Leaders) will endeavour to do is to provide all the staff with an opportunity for you to get around to your colleagues classes.  That is to come to your classes and free you up for 10 - 15 mins to go see your colleagues and students.  

Who could you visit?

1. Colleagues from your curriculum area - picking up tips within your subject.
2. Colleagues that share a class - seeing how teachers operate with the same students you teach.
3. Colleagues from elsewhere - don't underestimate the quality that exists in other areas.

The hope here is that you'll be able to pick up some ideas, skills and new habits from your colleagues.  That the conversations you have about your teaching with your colleagues will be more meaningful as you can specifically talk about the dynamic in the classrooms.  

So from here we'd like for you to consider talking with your colleagues, those staff you respect (or have heard good things about) and gauge their availability to a visit.  If you have not class (non contact) you can use that time - or alternatively if you want cover please let me know.  I'm very happy to free you up to get this happening.  I'm hoping that in this year you will be able to visit at least three different teachers.  

This post is in relationship to RTC #  1. "Establish and maintain effective professional relationships focused on the learning and well-being of ākonga - i. engage in ethical, respectful, positive and collaborative professional relationships with: teaching colleagues."

Secondary Teacher Study Awards

The Annual Study Awards


One of the key parts to the 'Vision' of the New Zealand Curriculum document is that our young people are "Lifelong learners" that they'll be "active seekers, users, and creators of knowledge".  This same challenge sits will us as teachers.

I have always thought that one of the very positive parts of working in the education sector is the opportunities we have in furthering our learning.  Every year the Ministry of Education (TeachNZ) offers three different types of study awards.  From now until the 8th of June applications are invited from teachers at NZ schools to consider taking on some individual study.  

The three study awards are...

1. 75 Secondary Teachers' Study Award - this is study leave opportunity to study a qualification, undertake research, or obtain practical knowledge in an area related to your subject.
2. 40 Sabbaticals - 10 weeks of full paid leave.  To be eligible you need to have 20 years teaching experience in NZ (including the last seven years), and intend on returning to teaching.  
3. 100 Study Support Grants - these are for one year and provide cover for one class (0.16 FTTE) to study an area related to education/subject.  There is also $500 contribution to course costs.  

If you are considering applying for one of these three study awards you can find more information at the following web address (click here).

Karen Bryant was able to access one of these study grants to complete her recent study.  Speaking with Karen she is very grateful for that opportunity and would recommend this to those considering the option.  

This post relates to RTC #4. demonstrate commitment to ongoing professional learning and development of personal professional practice - iii. initiate learning opportunities to advance personal professional knowledge and skills.