A post apocalyptic vision of New Zealand education if present policies continue!

A reply to Ozy Mandias by Allan Alach( I had the same thoughts myself!  - Bruce )It’s rewarding to be able to engage in dialogue via the comments on blog posts, whether the response is for or against. One respondent to my last posting used the nom-de-plume Ozy Mandias. This brought back memories of a high school English class, where we studied a poem of that name. I recalled enough of it to realise that it would provide an excellent analogy for my pessimistic view of the future of education in New Zealand.Ozymandiasby Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)I met a traveler from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And...

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Posted in: change,guest blogger,national standards,Rants and Raves

What does the future hold for schools in New Zealand?

Guest blogger Allan AlachBruce has very generously allowed me to write another guest blog, for which I am very grateful. I’ll start off by reiterating the obvious: Of course children need to develop high levels of competence in literacy and mathematics. No argument.  Equally valid is the need to develop each child’s full potential, a case that Bruce articulates so well. The issue is the conflict between these.As we move into the second half of this year, we are now waiting to see what the Ministry of Education will do about schools who have stuck to their principles of putting children first, refusing to submit a ‘compliant’ charter.  We can expect MOE officials at local offices to increase pressures on BOTs, to try to create a rift...

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Posted in: Big Picture,change,Ministry NZCurric,national standards,Rants and Raves

What should a parent expect from a teacher in the 21stC?

This an extract from a blog by Steve Wheeler Professor of Technology  University of Plymouth UK Steve is presenting in NZ later in the year.An excellent blog.To read the full blog from Steve wheeler.What should a parent expect from a teacher in the 21st Century? This is actually quite an interesting question and if we had had time to answer it, I would have said something along these lines:The question acknowledges the direct interest parents have over their children's education, and reminds teachers of the need to keep parents informed of their children's progress. As a parent of three children who have now all left school (where has the time gone?), I know that I was always interested in what my kids had been getting up to in school,...

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Posted in: Creative teaching Educationalists,Personalized Learning,teaching and learning

Education is about developing unique individuals - learning how to live.

A couple of quotes sent to me as comments - worth sharingDebra's blog page provide these excellent quotes:Once I read a proverb:'Life is a school. Why not try taking the curriculum?' Debra is influenced by the  great writer and thinker, John Gatto Taylor: 'Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist; it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges; it should allow you to find values which will be your road map through life; it should make you spiritually rich, a person who loves whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whomever you are with; it should teach you what is important, how to live and how to die.'This quote, from an Oliver Sacks book, provided...

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Posted in: Big Picture,Creativity,teaching and learning

Under-Imagined and Over Taught

The two artists Mondrian and Pollock represent two sides of learning. Mondrian represents formality and precision and Pollock imagination freedom and spontaneity. To me the best teaching comes from having a foot in both camps - but moving forward into the realms of imagination. Unfortunately schools are being pressured to stay firmly in the 'over taught' approach to learning just when we desperately need imagination and creativity.I have to be honest I picked up the heading 'Under Imagined and Over Taught'  from an American blogger but it fits the bill for education in New Zealand as well.Education in the West has become obsessed with the measurement of achievement.Achievement in what can be easily measured  and in...

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Posted in: Big Picture,Creative teaching,national standards,Personalized Learning,teaching and learning

An overwhelming creative experience

Astronauts entering the space shuttle: Zero Gravity theme.I was invited to visit Opunake Primary School to see the culminating display of their current topic 'Zero Gravity'-  open to parents and the public the last two days of the term.To make a change from suffering from the  endless wet days we had been having I decided to take up the offer. I knew more or less what to expect as I had visited several other end of term culminating displays. To add to the fun I decided to ask an old friend of mine to come just for the ride which is about 45 minutes from where I live. I didn't tell my friend we were going to visit a school. I didn't think it would be much of an enticement and when we pulled up at the school...

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Posted in: Creative Schools,Creativity,inquiry learning,Integrated Learning,Leadership,project based learning,teaching and learning

Sharing the wisdom of creative teachers - the agenda for the future.

Quote from Goethe.Last week I attended a farewell for an excellent teacher.All the principals who had been involved with the teacher's career, since she had returned to teaching after raising her family, were invited to her current school  be part of the celebration.We were all asked to say a few words. The teacher concerned had returned to teaching when I was principal in the 90s. My comments centred around the thought that in our profession we do not really value, or take advantage, of such excellent teachers and that it is a shame that their wisdom is not able to be captured and shared with others.Learning from other teachers, both within and between schools, is the most powerful form of professional development....

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Posted in: Creative Schools,Creative teaching Educationalists,Integrated Learning,Ministry NZCurric,national standards,Personalized Learning,teaching and learning

Focussing on developing student's passions

Room environment from from the 70s! When creative teachers were rare but valued.Here we are in 2011 still trying to solve the problem of failing or reluctant learners. The Minister and her tame officials are busy spreading the word that one in five children are failing - the so called 'achievement tail'. In the process they are giving the impression that our school system is failing and that the obvious answer is to introduce National Standards.A few things ought to be clarified before New Zealand heads down the same failing solutions as the UK, the USA and Australia. Standards are not a new idea - once all classes were called standards and students sat tests to pass up to the next standard. In the UK, in the early years of the...

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Posted in: Big Picture,Creative Schools,Creativity,national standards,Personalized Learning,teaching and learning

Signs of a creative classroom

Deborah French's classroomOne thing seems obvious to me, after several decades visiting primary classrooms, is that real innovation only comes from creative teachers and not from imposed programmes. Unfortunately,  all too often, creative teachers are the last ones to be listened to in this era of school consistency and formulaic 'best practices'. It seem we are moving towards a standardised approach to learning at the very time when we need to value (and protect) our creative teachers and their creative students.Creativity, of course, is a word  thrown around to describe much of the work students currently do. But true creativity is marked by originality and  idiosyncrasy and all too often is in...

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Posted in: Big Picture,Creative Schools,Creative teaching,Creativity,Leadership,Personalized Learning,Rants and Raves,teaching and learning

Guest Post by Allan Alach on the 'bigger picture' behind standards!

Traditional way of solving a problem - but what do you really know about National's Standards?As the furore over the MOE imposed July 1st charter deadline passes, we need to be mindful that there’s a much bigger picture and not be distracted by the debate over competence in the ‘basics.” Of course all children need to ‘achieve’ in these. No dispute. Engaging in debates at this level obscures the need to lift our heads to see where the game is heading.Regular readers of this blog will know that Bruce has been very passionate and articulate in attacking national standards. This week’s guest blog from Phil Cullen in Australia expressed very similar concerns about the situation in Australia. Are these similarities just coincidental? What about...

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Posted in: Big Picture,Creative teaching Educationalists,Leadership,national standards,Rants and Raves