Education Review Leadership & PD 2015

EDUCATION REVIEW series

Part of the

Leadership & Professional Development

2015 / www.educationreview.co.nz / $10.95

Integrating digital technology

New at the helm

– one school's great GAFE journey

– profile of a first-time principal

Selwyn College – a school transformed

Emergency principals – last minute leadership

Lest we forget

– Anzac education Part of the series:

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Making the most of ICT (and each other) To BYOD or not BYOD? Is 1:1 important? Is it achievable for our school? Are we an Apple or Android school? Should we buy now or wait until the next release? How will we afford it? We’ve had our SNUP, got our UFB sorted, we’re connected to the Managed Network – now what?

For a while there, schools were preoccupied with getting the right technology and infrastructure in place. Technology, by its very nature, will continue to evolve, and as such, schools will never reach an endpoint on their journey to embed ICT into their teaching and learning.

However, there has been a tangible shift in focus, away from obtaining the shiny objects to putting them to the best use possible. How to achieve improved outcomes by effectively integrating digital technology into teaching and learning is now a key goal for most schools.

It was inspiring to meet with a group of teachers who are collaborating with University of Waikato lecturers on a research project about the impact that apps and devices have on primary mathematics. The teachers described how it was not merely having the apps and devices that made any difference, but rather knowing how to use them effectively in the classroom. Technology is not a proxy for quality teaching, but a tool – albeit a very effective one if used appropriately.

This is where educators stand to gain so much from collaborating with one another. One school’s experience can be so useful to another’s. In this issue we share one school’s journey of introducing Google Apps for Education and the impact it has had on the school’s approach to teaching and learning. Alongside the triumphs are the hiccups and challenges experienced along the way, because after all, isn’t the aim to improve the whole system for all Kiwi kids passing through it?

Research from the 2020 Communications Trust showed that over 75 per cent of schools surveyed are noticing that digital technologies are helping to raise student achievement, but only 14 per cent feel all their teachers have the necessary skills to manage classrooms with personal student devices.

It is so important for educators to share and learn and grow together. This is where services like the new Connected Learning Advisory – Te Ara Whītiki come in to play to help schools make the most of their increasing digital capabilities.

It was a pleasure to edit this issue, bringing together stories that hinged on this common aspect of professional learning. I hope they are a pleasure to read, too.

Jude Barback, Editor editor@educationreview.co.nz

EDUCATION REVIEW series

INside: 2

Selwyn College: school under transformation

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Integrating digital technology: one school’s great GAFE journey

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Digital support a dial away

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Emergency principals a “godsend” for schools

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Remote, rural, and ready for anything

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New at the helm: profile of a first-time principal

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Transforming teaching: using apps in maths

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New book for maths teachers

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Lest we forget – Anzac education

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Leadership in education

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Principal Q&A

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Pictures: a help or hindrance when learning to read?

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Improving boys’ achievement

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Decoding the road code

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Thinking of teaching in an international school? – where to start

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What’s Happening to U? – making sense of puberty education

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The fast-paced world of education (and how to keep up) Editor Jude Barback production Aaron Morey David Malone

Advertising & marketing Manager Belle Hanrahan Publisher & general manager Bronwen Wilkins Contributing writeRS Joseph Driessen, Wayne Erb, Sandra Jenkins, Nick Kendall, Craig McDonald, Nicky O’Brien, Bec Power, Pamela Protheroe, Kate Thornton IMAGES Thinkstock

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Leadership

Selwyn College: school under transformation Strong and unrelenting leadership and an effective professional learning programme have seen the once troubled Selwyn College achieve an astounding transformation.

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Selwyn College principal, Sheryll Ofner.

s far as Education Review Office (ERO) reports go, Auckland’s Selwyn College’s 2007 report was less than complimentary.

“Improvements in the quality of teaching since the 2004 ERO review have been limited,” it stated. The 2007 report outlined that while there was evidence of some high-quality teaching, such practices were not widespread.

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“Teaching in many classes has yet to incorporate those elements of best practice that foster engagement in learning and help students to develop an understanding of their own progress and next learning steps.

“School leaders and teachers should now work to establish a shared understanding, consistent with current educational research and literature, of what constitutes high-quality teaching for the range of students in the school.”

Seven years later, in November 2014, the comments in ERO’s most recent report made it clear that the school had risen to ERO’s challenge. It was apparent that Selwyn College had undergone a complete transformation.

“Teachers are inspired and supported to provide high-quality, effective teaching that is informed by current educational theory and research,” the 2014 report stated. “Led by the principal, they have evolved a learning toolkit that makes the Selwyn approach to teaching

Leadership

and learning visible for teachers, students and parents. It has gained rapid acceptance and is transforming classroom teaching and student learning.”

The processes involved in achieving this transformation are, of course, complex and multilayered, but what is clear is that they are the product of work carried out by Selwyn’s teachers – all of whom have been engaged in focused, powerful and sustained professional learning that has equipped them to demonstrate strong leadership. Through collective efficacy and action, Selwyn College has shifted from being labelled “a failing school” by the Minister of Education in 2008 to an educational success story in 2015; this is reflected in their NCEA pass rates, which are well over 90 per cent at all three levels.

When Sheryll Ofner became principal in 2008, she encountered an impatient local community who had lost confidence in the school and had to a large extent stopped enrolling their children there.

The anger they expressed at community meetings about the school’s failure to deliver the outcomes they expected demanded huge and sustained change as fast as possible, as well as exceptionally high energy inputs.

Critical leadership aspects

To deliver change of this magnitude and pace required buy-in, passion and leadership from all staff and a preparedness to go the extra mile.

Change could not wait, but no one could be left behind.

This meant that ‘relational trust’ needed to be secured rapidly, and it was. Two key aspects of leadership were critical. One was moral leadership, modelled consistently. As deputy principal Denise Edwards says, “I always endeavour to model the attributes and behaviour that I expect in others.”

The other critical aspect was distributed leadership. Shortly after her arrival, Ofner set up two new crucial leadership groups – the leaders of the learning areas and the heads of houses. These groups meet with senior leaders every week and have played essential and highly effective roles in communicating key messages about change and handling concerns. They have enabled the principal and senior leaders not only to keep their ‘foot on the pedal’ but also to gauge when the pressure needed to lighten in order to keep everyone ‘on the bus’ and moving forward.

Alix Coleman, leader of the visual arts learning area, substantiates this.

“For me, leadership at Selwyn means inclusion and role modelling. I feel the leaders do as they preach, and work incredibly hard to get a wide variety of voices and ideas on a wide range of issues. This includes students, teachers, all staff, and the parent community. Responsibility is

”Responsibility is distributed, and there is a high-level trust model here.” distributed, and there is a high-level trust model here.

“As there is a collaborative approach to discussing policy, procedures, curriculum and pastoral concerns, everyone has a sense of empowerment and buy-in to what and how the school operates and moves forward.”

Ofner believes that another major factor in the turnaround of Selwyn has been keeping their eyes on the road ahead. The changes required were significant and had to be research-based, transparent, widely understood, agreed on and carefully planned. Hence, she and her team have been deliberate in their avoidance of being distracted by another ‘great idea’. The phrase ‘continue to embed’ appears regularly in every Annual Plan as everyone continuously strives to do the important stuff better and better.

SELWISE a pivotal turnaround tool

Leadership at Selwyn also involves ensuring goals and expectations are co-constructed, coherent and highly visible to the community. Ofner regards herself as first and foremost an instructional leader.

“Right from the start we sought to develop a schoolwide toolkit of cutting-edge, effective pedagogies with a common language for learning,” she says. “The result today is SELWISE, our toolkit for effective learning. The successful implementation of SELWISE is critical to the turnaround in our results.”

This required outstanding teacher-leadership and explains why professional learning is at the heart of what happens at Selwyn.

Ofner quickly implemented a planned programme of professional learning for staff every Wednesday morning. Mary Anne Foley, director of learner support, is a strong advocate of the programme.

“Professional learning is vibrant, exciting, collaborative and triangulated, in the sense of being obviously linked through from the Annual Plan right through to student achievement. We all share in the journey of learning and the Wednesday morning sessions are a chance to share, reflect and develop,” says Foley.

Paul Summerville, leader of the technology learning area, agrees.

“On Wednesdays, we learn how to use our SELWISE learning toolkit to maximise every student’s opportunity to reaches their true potential and become lifelong learners,” he says.

Ofner feels a strong responsibility to be a critical driver in this learning, attending every session and

regularly leading them. She also sees the sessions as opportunities for making visible the pedagogical leadership of other staff, and for student voice.

Alix Coleman is enthusiastic about this professional learning.

“We continuously learn from each other and share ideas through our Wednesday morning professional development slot. We learn from colleagues in other learning areas, we learn from students, and we learn from outside ‘experts’ on occasions. I love that we use the SELWISE process to engage in professional discussions around a wide range of topics, which are always relevant to our schoolwide goals.”

Lucy Jansen, leader of the English and languages learning area, relishes how well leadership and professional learning are intertwined.

“For me, leadership at Selwyn means working collaboratively at all levels in order to improve. It is ako: where the teacher becomes the learner and the learner the teacher.”

Ofner say maintaining momentum is important.

“We have learnt that excitement and the deep sense of self-actualisation and shared joy derived from success harnesses the passion teachers have for their profession and encourages them to aspire to even greater achievement. Hence, joyous celebration of achievement with students and staff is one of the factors that are essential to sustaining further improvement. Our full school assemblies are the embodiment of this belief.”

Self-review provides the key

Another essential factor to sustaining improvement at Selwyn College is continuous self-review.

Selwyn leaders have established a culture where errors are seen as valuable learning experiences.

This encompasses a preparedness to learn from feedback, to welcome dialogue, to embrace suggestions and to hear multiple voices.

Ofner sums it up nicely.

“Our engagement in vigorous and ongoing selfreview is undoubtedly a key to the transformation of our college.”

It is fitting that ERO has the final word on Selwyn, since they have visited regularly since 2007 and know the school very well.

“The principal provides outstanding professional leadership, clearly articulating the school’s vision, values and strategic goals,” ERO’s recent report states. “The effective leadership and collaborative teamwork of the senior and middle managers and staff is a hallmark of the school. The innovative, individualised school curriculum using proven effective teaching practices is recognised by educators nationally and internationally.”

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ICT

Integrating digital technology:

One school’s great GAFE journey

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CRAIG McDONALD and BEC POWER share how the integration of digital technology is supporting their school’s transition to modern learning environments and is helping to enhance and redefine learning.

ince Tahatai Coast School was established in 1997, it has been a leader in using digital technology innovatively for learning. The integration of ICT has been central to the ethos of the school and at the forefront of classroom practice. However, if you were to compare the school now with how it was in its earliest days, you would find it vastly different, though the ‘song remains the same’ and the ethos of digital integration and innovation is strong.

The school vision of ‘Learning Today for Tomorrow’s World’ is integral to decision making, and we believe Hapara [Teacher Dashboard] to be a useful tool not only to help us adopt a streamlined pathway forward as a group of learners together, but also to act as our kete of digital artefacts and help learners to meaningfully collaborate in real time.

Introducing GAFE

The move into using Google Apps for Education (GAFE) has been a key component of our recent evolution, although this is just one aspect of the school’s shift away from traditional, single cell classrooms towards a modern learning environment.

Between 2010 and 2012, Tahatai Coast School underwent a massive rebuilding project due to many buildings being leaky. Despite the chaos at the time, it created an opportunity (architecturally) to modernise our learning spaces into modern, fluid, creative, innovative, relationship and communitycentred spaces.

Whānau/syndicates are now encouraged to teach and plan collaboratively, and Google Apps really enables this to be done creatively and efficiently. In fact, it is difficult to imagine being able to take this approach to teaching without the built-in collaborative opportunities that GAFE provides.

One of the biggest changes in practice has been in the way devices are used in relation to the user. Until quite recently, the model has tended to be one of a child (or small group of children) engaging with an isolated device. There were plenty of opportunities for creativity, yet its use was relatively stand-alone. An exciting development over the past 12 months in particular, has been a shift towards using digital devices as networked tools, and as networked tools enabling the networking of the users, both within and beyond the classroom.

The introduction of GAFE was staged incrementally. Our first use of Google Apps was administratively, as leadership, teachers and administrative staff increasingly used Google Docs to share and collaborate on documents. As

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well as proving a much more efficient system than having multiple copies of documents floating around at varying stages of editing, it also gave staff an opportunity to familiarise themselves with how the different Google Apps work, and to start imagining and investigating how this could be applied in the classroom.

One barrier that stood in the way of introducing Google Apps, for children as well as teachers, was the sheer logistics of how document sharing, viewing and marking would work with a class of 25–30 children.

Hapara – making sense of change

Teachers’ inboxes are busy enough places already without bulk notifications pouring in! As many schools in New Zealand and overseas have discovered, Hapara Dashboard provides an elegant solution to this issue. A number of staff had seen Hapara in action whilst on the Apple Bus Tour, at ULearn and through connections with other teachers on social media.

Hapara enables the teacher to have a bird’s-eye view of each child’s Google Drive, most recently edited documents, and also enables easy sharing of documents with the class, or groups within the class.

One thing we did notice was that, when we went to source information on how schools had introduced Hapara and moved to GAFE with students, there were no previous practical examples that we could locate. We undertook to record our journey, so that others could see the practical and pedagogical implications that we purposefully planned, and also what was unplanned – those important roadblocks or celebrations that we may not have foreseen.

We also assigned roles within our e-learning team and created a subset GAFE team. Deputy principal Bec Power led the strategic and pedagogical overview, ably assisted by Nicky Klinkert, the GAFE lead teacher, and Shona Poppe, the technical leader. Craig McDonald was a GAFE pilot teacher, and is now also an e-learning leader. Having clear roles and responsibilities enabled a collaborative team approach to the many tasks to be undertaken, which is also sustainable should any of the leaders move on.

We decided to spend the first term using Hapara initially with two year 6 classes, in order to clearly identify what needed to be in place, what difficulties might arise, and also what kind of activities lent themselves to showing the students how to use Google Drive and what it could do.

At the same time, we could share with children some of the built-in

ICT features of Hapara that help to create a safe online learning environment. When children see how easily teachers can check their work and revision history, it can make them more conscious of their digital citizenship responsibilities.

Having this term to strategically plan our way forward, while building our own knowledge and capacity in the technical, pedagogical and administrative tasks that GAFE offers (TAP into Google Apps – Tim Gander www.timgander.com), was essential. This allowed the GAFE team to inspire, motivate and, most importantly, model an energetic, practical way forward. This was strategically based on the leadership model of ‘pull’, rather than ‘push’.

During this term we also planned how we would introduce and communicate this change to staff, parents, and students. Each launch was collaboratively planned by the group then created and led by Nicky, with presentations, activities and written communication for each group. We planned the launch for the two classes, and what activities they would complete to introduce GAFE/ Hapara, and for a letter to be emailed home that week explaining Hapara and inviting parents to an evening meeting.

During this time, a similar yet more technically based presentation was delivered to staff, explaining our way forward. We found this worked especially well, as it was fresh and new to the children, and they were able to provide further explanation around the dinner table to their parents.

After a term, this was widened to other classes in the school (year 3 and up) who wanted to opt in.

The presentation was again delivered to the whole staff, with the invitation given to come on board. The financial cost of Hapara was met through the generous contribution of the school PTA. With increased teacher buy-in, there was also a need to provide the professional development opportunities to support this.

In addition to twice-weekly ‘techie brekkies’, and incidental learning and sharing between teachers during the course of the day, we also provided Hapara elective workshops, which were a part of our Tuesday afternoon professional learning and development. As one of our e-learning leaders, Nicky was also released for some time each week to provide in-class support to teachers setting out on the GAFE journey. This allowed teachers to come on board at all different stages over the next two terms.

To assist us in this, Nicky developed a flowchart of how teachers could get started, and the process that they would follow in respect to technical, pedagogical and administrative skills and knowledge for the teacher and students. This meant that teachers were able to come on board at any time, and we continued the same model of ‘introduce to class, email parents, run parent meeting’ as the communication model. This allowed teachers to begin at their own pace.

Some early adopters launched immediately in term 3, while others spent some weeks attending PLD workshops before having soft launches of some administrative tasks within their classes.

A chance to redefine learning

We realised early on that to keep doing what we were doing without much change would be a big mistake. Along with the use of powerful apps that GAFE and Hapara provide, there is a need to use them well and take the opportunity to do new kinds of learning that were previously not possible.

To help steer thinking in this direction, the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification and Redefinition) model was reintroduced to staff.

The SAMR model was developed by Dr Ruben Puentedura as a framework to assess how well technology is being integrated into learning. To achieve the most success, we wanted our GAFE use to aspire beyond mere substitution of

existing tasks, increasingly beyond augmentation and from modification into redefinition, doing things with the technology that were not previously possible.

Community buy-in for new initiatives like this is essential. The letter sent home to parents outlined what we were doing and why we considered this was a worthwhile initiative. Even better was to discuss this face to face at parent information evenings. These have grown in size over time, and have become an opportunity for those in the parent community who want to learn more, to do so.

Some of the challenges we experienced with introducing GAFE included making this accessible to children working on iPads. We were often frustrated by the lack of basic features in some of the iOS versions of Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, such as not being able to insert images.

In 2015, the use of Hapara has become even more widespread, with the option given to whole whānau/syndicates to adopt Hapara, rather than single classes. All year 4–8 whānau have opted to use Hapara immediately from the beginning of this year, and although we are just beginning to scratch the surface of what this tool can offer us, we are heading in the right direction, together, as a learning community.

Over the next terms we will continue to utilise our capabilities to inquire into GAFE/Hapara’s best practice, using teacher-led opt-in workshops and teacher inquiry. From having the idea, to being embraced by teachers across the school, that journey has developed with the encouragement of innovation by the leadership of the school, developed by the enthusiasm of a small group and then embraced as the benefits to teaching and learning became more obvious and evident.

Bec Power hopes to present the Tahatai GAFE/Hapara Odyssey at this year’s ULearn Conference at SKYCITY, where she will unpack the practical details of leading implementation and discuss and demonstrate the tool at a classroom level giving examples of innovative practice.

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5

ICT

Digital support a dial away Most schools are now connected up to ultra-fast broadband (UFB) and the Network for Learning (N4L) managed network, but how can they translate their digital capabilities into student gains? Education Review checks out a new advisory service that has been launched to connect the dots.

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ver the past decade, there has been a strong focus on getting schools’ digital technology needs up to scratch. The Government has pushed the roll-out of UFB to schools, upgraded their networks, and got them connected to the N4L Managed Network. Schools have pushed for BYOD and 1:1 initiatives in an effort to get a device in the hands of every student. Teachers are becoming increasingly savvy with apps and e-learning initiatives. Lately, it’s started to feel like we’re ‘there’; that schools, for the most part, are geared up for the digital world.

However, we’re only just starting to see an impact on student learning outcomes. And even then, many teachers feel ill-equipped to manage a digital learning environment to good effect.

“[Schools] can fill in an online form or ring the advisory phone line, and they will get answers from digital learning experts.”

Recent research from the 2020 Communications Trust showed that over 75 per cent of schools surveyed are noticing that digital technologies are helping to raise student achievement, but only 14 per cent feel all their teachers have the necessary skills to manage classrooms with personal student devices.

“Schools are seizing the opportunities for digital learning to support their students by providing them with access to digital tools and opportunities to connect with other schools. Even with this happening, they have told us they need access to expert advice because of the fast pace of change in this area,” says Dr Graham Stoop, Deputy Secretary, Student Achievement, Ministry of Education.

Free helpdesk service

The newly launched Connected Learning Advisory – Te Ara Whītiki – is aimed to help bridge this gap, ensuring teachers have the skills and knowledge to make the most of all this technology now at their fingertips.

The service provides “free, consistent and unbiased” advice on integrating digital technologies with learning for all state-funded schools and kura kaupapa Māori.

Schools are likely to find the advisory service’s helpdesk most useful. “[Schools] can fill in an online form or ring the advisory phone line, and they will get answers from digital learning experts. They will be directed to the resources, advice and professional learning they need,” says Stoop.

In addition to the helpdesk, the service will also offer face-to-face and online regional and national professional learning events based on identified needs.

The Connected Learning Advisory is provided

by CORE Education on behalf of the Ministry of Education. It replaces the interim advisory service

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provided by Network for Learning from July 2014.

The Government is investing $5 million in the service over the next three years.

The Ministry recommends that a school nominee who is best placed to represent a school’s digital technology interests – an ICT technician, senior staff member, or e-learning leader, for example – makes contact with the advisory service on the school’s behalf.

The sorts of things schools can ask about include: what digital technologies and resources are available for schools/kura how to use online technologies and digital devices to support the curriculum planning for the effective introduction of ultrafast broadband and WiFi how to engage whānau and community using digital technologies how to lead your school through technological change sourcing laptops, tablets, and other ICT equipment for your classrooms BYOD, software management, data storage, network standards, video conferencing, ICT infrastructure, and modern learning practices using technology technology purchasing decisions to ensure best fit strategically for learning outcomes.

The new advisory service is expected to complement rather than replace existing programmes. For example, the advisory service website contains links to sites like the Ministry’s popular Enabling e-Learning website (elearning.tki. org.nz) as well as e-learning community discussion forums.

Ultimately the Connected Learning Advisory is aimed at translating the investment in schools’ digital technology into better learning outcomes for students.

“This service will help ensure that government investment in ultrafast broadband infrastructure pays off where it counts – in the classroom,” says Stoop.

The Connected Learning Advisory – Te Ara Whītiki – helpdesk can be reached on 0800 700 400, Monday– Friday 9am–5pm. The online form for the helpdesk can be completed at bit.ly/1MlfWaD.

Emergency principals a

Relief principals

“godsend” for schools JUDE BARBACK looks at Emergency Staffing Scheme (ESS), a small but vital service provided to help desperate schools find a relief principal.

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at Ross is a principal with a difference. Over the past 20 years she’s worked as a relief principal at primary schools all over the top half of the North Island. She’s placed wherever and whenever she is needed, sometimes in schools that are struggling to find someone between principals, sometimes to cover a long-term absence, and sometimes because of governance or industrial issues. Pat Ross is an ESS principal.

What is ESS?

The Emergency Staffing Scheme (ESS) is funded by the Ministry of Education and administered by the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA). The scheme selects from a national pool of up to 30 experienced teachers able to undertake a senior management role to provide schools with emergency short-term services where the board is unable to fill a vacancy arising outside the board’s control.

The Ministry is emphatic that ESS pool members are not “change agents”, nor are they available to resolve possible conflicts between the community and the board. They are essentially there to fill last resort vacancies.

Thus, ESS differs from the Principal Recruitment Allowance (PRA), which has been introduced as part of the Investing in Educational Success initiative to enable high-need schools and kura to attract highly effective principals to a principal vacancy. The principal recruited to these schools is expected to provide the leadership needed to improve a school’s student achievement.

Explaining ESS

ESS pool members are paid a retainer of $6,000 a year as well as an additional $500 per term for distance placements – when a school is 100 kilometres or more from the pool member’s normal place of residence.

Which schools are using ESS?

On average, six to seven schools per term have an ESS relief principal in place. Some of these schools may need support for more than one term.

Catherine Bates, ESS national coordinator for NZSTA, says requests for support have been higher than usual this year, with 11 schools requiring ESS for term 1. Things are shaping up to be much the same for term 2. One school placement has recruited a new principal, leaving 10 schools that will continue to use ESS for term 2. In addition to these schools, Bates has also received six tentative enquiries for term 2, however not all enquiries lead to a placement, as some schools are able to find local relievers in the end.

Schools seek ESS help for a variety of reasons.

Bates says a school may need cover for the period of time between one principal resigning and the newly recruited principal starting at the school, or a principal is on long-term leave (due to an illness, for example). Another reason to seek out ESS support is if the school is experiencing industrial difficulties and an external principal is needed to cover the role.

“It is predominantly small primary schools who access this service as they do not have a management structure to support staff acting up into a principal role the same way that larger schools do. Schools have to look at options for staff to act up into the principal role first.

The Emergency Staffing Scheme (ESS) is funded by the Ministry of Education and administered by NZSTA. A national pool of up to 30 experienced, trained and registered teachers able to undertake a senior management role is ESS pool members: must be a registered teacher and have a recent, quality teaching and principal background are available at short notice, within 24 hours or within a maximum five-day period enter into an employment relationship with a board of trustees normally undertake a period of engagement of up to 10 weeks will be required to travel outside their area and be prepared to work in isolated rural schools must be prepared to work as a teaching principal are contracted on a retainer to NZSTA for a fixed-term for one year.

“Smaller schools may only have one full-time principal and a part-time teacher who provides principal release time. Secondary schools often have a larger number of students, which supports a larger staff structure, therefore more options for a staff member to act up into the role.”

Bates says location can sometimes play a part, too.

“Some of the more isolated schools find it difficult to find local relievers due to the school being isolated.”

The ESS principals

Bates says ESS provides vital support to schools that, through a change in circumstances, are left in a position where they may not have a principal to run the school.

“ESS principals are very experienced principals who are able to bring stability and calm through their experience as leaders and educationalists to sometimes very unsettled situations.

“Imagine a school where a principal has become very unwell; the school students, staff and community may be feeling upset for the principal as well as unsettled about what will happen to the students and school. This can be especially difficult for small schools who work and live in a very close, isolated community.”

Bates says the initial query regarding ESS is often from a board chair who is quite stressed and not sure how they are going to manage this situation.

“The sense of relief for them when they discover there are options to help them can be immense.”

Bates says there is ongoing difficulty in recruiting ESS principals. This is largely because principals are sometimes going into difficult situations where Continued on next page >>

maintained to provide state and state integrated schools with emergency short-term services where the board is unable to fill a vacancy arising outside the board’s control.

Criteria for schools to access the scheme: An acting appointment from within the school is impossible or impracticable The board has made every effort to obtain a relief principal to cover the vacancy, including utilising local and regional resources Support is required for 10 school weeks or fewer The emergency has arisen from a situation outside of the board’s control The relief position is for a minimum of five days.

Steps schools need to take: Boards needing ESS assistance and who meet the qualifying criteria should contact the ESS national coordinator The ESS national coordinator will seek approval from the manager, services delivery, in National Office Following approval, the ESS national coordinator will locate an available ESS pool member and ask them to liaise directly with the board.

Schools meeting the criteria for an ESS placement should contact the NZSTA.

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Relief principals students, staff and communities have been experiencing uncertainty.

“ESS principals need to be prepared to work away from home for up to 10 weeks. This can be extended for a second, and sometimes on the odd occasion a third, term.”

Meet Pat

Pat Ross became an ESS principal in 1995. The threeteacher school at which she had been a teaching principal for five years was running well and she decided she was ready for a new challenge.

Ross has only Pat Ross been placed in primary schools, ranging from deciles 1 to 10.

They have been scattered from Kaitaia to Taihape and between East Cape and the Kawhia Harbour.

Her placements have ranged from three weeks to 12 months, and have been for a whole range of reasons.

Ross says she has become quite adept at seeing the big picture at a school in a short space of time.

“First priority is always the children and I like to get to know the children as soon as possible – usually by teaching from day one. I have to be objective and although I am forthright with BOTs and staff I do like to be very collaborative, which facilitates problem solving.”

She maintains an open door policy and encourages community involvement and two-way communication.

“I have found some schools where the parents and caregivers have felt excluded,” she says.

Ross says an extensive underpinning knowledge of The New Zealand Curriculum is crucial for an ESS principal, as they are often required to teach from year 1 to year 8 – often sole charge/ multilevel.

“You also have to be impartial and professional, especially when you go into volatile situations with split communities.”

Ross says it can be challenging being placed in a school where there is no collaboration or shared goals between principal, the board, the staff, the children, the parents or the community. She says “cut-and-paste charters” do not give a true reflection of the school and children’s needs.

She finds it astonishing that, 16 years into Tomorrow’s Schools, some school boards are still working on housekeeping/property issues, with little focus on children’s progress.

“I like to help with this alongside NZSTA and other advisors to put systems in place so BOTs are more aware of their responsibilities and empowered to take more ownership of the children’s needs and progress.”

There is often a lot to do, but little time to do it in.

Ross says good time management is crucial.

“As I live away from my family during the term I can give this time to the school.”

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“ESS principals are very experienced principals who are able to bring stability and calm through their experience as leaders and educationalists to sometimes very unsettled situations.”

Ross says it is difficult, especially in isolated sole charge schools, for ESS principals to find access to relevant professional development, and to ensure they are annually appraised against teacher standards. She also feels ESS principals should have the same entitlement to Career Steps as other principals.

Moreover, Ross loves her job and enjoys making a positive difference.

“Every school has been rewarding in some way or other,” she says.

She enjoys meeting new people in the school communities, learning new aspects of teaching and administration, teaching a wide range of children, living in different parts of the country, participating in a variety of communities, and seeing children progress academically, socially and on the sporting field.

Meet Bruce

Bruce Dale is a newer addition to ESS, having joined as an ESS principal in June last year. Despite some initial reservations about how he would cope with a variety of situations he hadn’t encountered before, like Pat Ross, he has found the experience to be rewarding so far.

Dale has been placed in three schools so far, all of them decile 1; one remote, one rural, and one urban. Two have been primary schools, and the third an area school. His placements have been for different reasons each time.

Dale says it can be challenging confronting a completely new environment and adjusting to new systems, while trying to address often longstanding issues.

“All schools have been welcoming but each school has been very different and you need to step back, listen and learn before making key decisions.

People-management skills are important.”

Given the placements can be in far-flung locations, Dale says it can also be a challenge staying away from his usual place of residence.

However, he is quick to highlight the positive aspects of being an ESS principal, too. He says the role has given him the opportunity to learn new things and gain different experiences, such as working in a Māori school with both Rūmaki Reo (total immersion) and bilingual classes.

“I’ve learned that each context is different and requires thoughtful input and approaches; that the people in the schools are important and want the best for their particular school and students.”

An invaluable service

The scheme is working well. Marian Galvin was the board of trustees’ chairperson for a school that needed an ESS principal to cover the principal’s long-term absence (sick leave).

“The ESS principal was able to step in and just take over, it was a great relief. We also had the issue of an acting deputy principal who was trying to step up and do both roles, which is why the scheme was great for the whole school,” says Galvin. “It settled

everything down so the children and teachers could get on with their learning and teaching.”

She describes the service provided by Catherine Bates as “fantastic” and her advice to other boards in the same boat is not to hesitate to get in touch.

“Don’t be afraid to contact the ESS staff, they are there to help. There was never a feeling of being treated as if you couldn’t cope, or didn’t know what you were doing – they were very professional and reassuring.”

Galvin’s positive experience is echoed by many others. Bates shares with me some feedback obtained through effectiveness reports from schools, pertaining to principals.

One school reports that the ESS principal “has been a godsend to our school”. “I truly wish he could stay forever,” the report goes on to say. “His knowledge of how a school should function has been invaluable; he is an amazing person and has worked tirelessly to help out our school. He has been exceptional in his role.”

Another reported that the ESS principal had “great vision, was able to step in and keep the school moving along and working well… She has her feet firmly on the ground and is very caring about the children. She wasn’t fazed by difficult parents and board members.”

Another declared the ESS principal as “instrumental in turning our school around, both financially and raising the student achievement levels significantly and improving the overall demeanor of the children”.

And so this service, that tends to fly under the radar, continues to make a big difference to schools during their hour of need.

New online recruitment service NZSTA is offering a new web-based recruitment management system that can help school boards of trustees with recruitment if that is the reason they need emergency staffing.

The free system covers the entire recruitment process from advertising to vetting to appointing and induction, while at the same time creating a pool of candidates for future recruitment.

The system, which provides integration with the Education Gazette, SEEK, police vetting and the New Zealand Teachers Council, is designed to match prescribed recruitment steps and meet the recommendations of the ERO report Student Safety in Schools: Recruiting and Managing Staff, along with the recently passed Vulnerable Children Act 2014. It will eventually provide integration with RealMe for identity verification, as well.

The recruitment management system not only supports schools with the ability to process and manage applications, but also gives applicants the ability to apply and receive alerts on future vacancies in schools.

Remote schools

Remote, rural,

and ready for anything Te Mahia School is a 40-student, decile 1 school, 75km north-west of Wairoa in northern Hawke’s Bay. Education Review asks principal NICKY O’BRIEN about the challenges and opportunities facing remote New Zealand schools like Te Mahia.

Ed Review: What challenges does your school face, due to its remote location?

O’Brien: Living in rural New Zealand, when the weather is bad, especially with wind, we often have power outages. The frequency of these means it interferes with our internet connection.

When the power is off, it usually knocks the central server system around and it needs to be manually restarted. No power also means no drinking water and no toilets.

We have two school toilet blocks at Te Mahia School that have not had any work done on them since 1960. We were in a predicament of desperately needing to upgrade this infrastructure but the size of our school did not generate the property funding that would allow us to move forward. Our property manager did overcome this challenge and sought top-up funding that was successful.

It is so expensive to get buses either to Wairoa or Gisborne. We often have invitations to attend workshops that are run in town, such as cricket or basketball sessions. We are a decile 1 school and don’t ask for school donations or fees. When activities/opportunities come up, we make a decision about whether it ties in with what we are doing and also whether we can afford to do it. We have some visitors who make a special trip out to see us at times but I do feel our isolation prohibits us from some opportunities that would be more readily accessible if we were closer.

We currently have a cluster relationship with Nuhaka School, which is based around sporting involvement, including swimming sports, athletics and winter sport codes. We have not had a professional learning and development cluster with the Wairoa district since 2006, when all 13 schools were involved in an EHSAS (Enhancing High Standards Across Schools) contract.

Ed Review: What are the positives about being a remote school? Do you think your school’s isolation gives it a stronger sense of community and identity?

O’Brien: There has been a massive involvement and commitment from people to support our school, more so than any other school I have worked at. Enormous energy is put into fundraising commitments, such as the school gala and PTA fundraising initiatives. We have a working bee here at school today and approximately 50 people from our community have turned up. It really is a strength of the school. We raised $12,000 at our gala last year – not bad for a roll of 54 students (at the end of last year, 40 currently). In a small, rural community, the school really is a central hub.

Cards evenings on Friday nights, Te Ataarangi te reo Māori classes in the evening, kapahaka practices on the weekends – there really is a comprehensive list of activities that happen at school which portray it to be a community venue.

We have a school centennial at Easter Weekend – it is fast approaching!

Take your teaching to the next level As a teacher or principal, juggling a teaching role and further training can seem an impossible task. That’s where we come in. Our Primary, Secondary or Area School Study Awards, Study Support Grants and Sabbaticals can help you reach the next level. You can complete a qualification, move to another teaching area, or even research a topic of interest.

For full information and to apply, please visit TeachNZ.govt.nz/studyawards

TNZ0284 Study Awards Ed Gazette FP1.indd 1

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New principal

New at the helm:

profile of a first-time principal

T

JUDE BARBACK returns to her old school, Matamata Intermediate, to meet new, first-time principal, Daryl Gibbs.

here I am, my 11-year-old self, sitting on the end of the front row in the class photo, marked (gulp) 1993. Years and years of class photos come after mine on the wall, a sharp reminder of just how long it has been since I attended Matamata Intermediate. Several principals have come and gone in that time, and today I am here to meet the school’s new principal, Daryl Gibbs.

Gibbs is new in every sense of the word. New to the school, new to the role of principal, and new to Matamata.

Matamata is a definitive Kiwi town. While there is the usual flux of people coming and going, some families remain in the area for decades. There is a sense that everyone seems to know everyone and everything that is happening in the town. It is no surprise that the arrival of a new principal to the intermediate school is the source of much curiosity.

Gibbs is aware of the intense interest from the community. With the exception of a handful who attend private schools, nearly every child in the wider area will attend Matamata Intermediate.

This is in stark contrast to Gibbs’ previous school, Berkley Normal Middle School in Hamilton, which competed with three other nearby intermediate schools for students.

Gibbs credits Berkley for his career development and his relatively swift move to a principal’s position. He started as a first-year teacher 12 years ago. By the end of his third year, he was made a team leader; by the end of his fifth, an associate

and admits these will probably be the hardest two as he acclimatises to a new role, new school, and a new town, with a young family in tow.

He is now on the First-time Principals Programme, a nationwide induction and mentoring programme for new principals delivered in partnership between the Ministry of Education and The University of Auckland Centre for Educational Leadership.

All this professional development and support is hugely advantageous, he says. There is, after all, a lot involved with a principal’s role. Gibbs describes it as vastly different from a teacher’s position, owing to its multifaceted nature.

He perceives his strengths as dealing with curriculum and personnel, and his relative weaknesses as the financial, property and legal issues. However, his eight years as a staff representative of the board of trustees has given him a good grasp on governance matters.

And then there are the small things to get used to about a new school – the bells, timetable, terminology. He says the support from staff has been amazing.

Making a mark

Gibbs seems keen to find the fine line between bulldozing in and changing everything, and putting his own mark on the school.

He doesn’t believe in “change for the sake of change”, and says the school appears to be in good shape and good heart, anyway.

“I like to stand out at the front gate in the mornings so I can meet the kids and their parents, and learn students’ names and faces.” principal, a role he held for seven years. In his last year, he was appointed deputy principal and getting itchy feet for a principal’s role.

He didn’t embark on teaching with a view to becoming a principal. Upon finishing secondary school, Gibbs weighed up various career options, among them becoming a joiner, a physiotherapist or a teacher.

“When I asked Dad’s advice, he said to me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you do, but aim to be the best you can be at it’. I’ve always kept that in the back of my mind, and that’s definitely had an impact on my teaching career,” says Gibbs.

Taking advantage of PD

During the more recent years at Berkley, he had been putting in the groundwork for a principal’s role, taking part in the National Aspiring Principals Programme, and studying towards his master’s in educational leadership. He has two papers to go,

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However, there are a few things he’s keen to address, and top of the list is establishing stronger links with the Māori community. This was apparently key for the board of trustees in making his appointment.

He hopes to broaden the use of te reo Māori and tikanga throughout the school, including staff.

“I was welcomed onto the school with a pōwhiri led by the school’s kapahaka group. My goal is for the whole school to participate in a pōwhiri to welcome the year 6 students, at the end of term 4.”

He’s also keen to make better use of social media and the school’s website to interact with families and the community.

Eager to understand the culture and vision of the school, Gibbs spent much of the first few weeks meeting with staff. He’s also keen to get to know the students.

“I like to stand out at the front gate in the mornings so I can meet the kids and their parents, and learn students’ names and faces.”

On the day before our interview he attended a French breakfast, organised by a year 8 class. He likes to stay involved with students through sports and supporting specialised curriculum groups in mathematics and science.

Handling disciplinary issues

Not all his dealings with students have been smooth sailing, however, with two students stood down from school in the first few weeks. Gibbs says while it was unfortunate, it did give the opportunity to show that he was prepared to follow through on disciplinary matters when needed.

“When the boys returned, we had a good chat in my office and then we had a game of touch on the field at lunch. I wouldn’t say they’re cured, but hopefully I won’t be standing them down again any time soon!”

Gibbs says the biggest challenge for him will probably be recognising that he can’t do everything.

At the moment he is taking a hands-on approach with the curriculum, but he realises that this probably isn’t sustainable. He intends to attend all staff curriculum meetings, mainly to stay involved, but also to indicate the importance he attributes to these meetings and their outcomes.

The school is part of a district writing cluster that looks at what writing should look like at each level.

Gibbs says the cluster is providing a good opportunity to build partnerships with the feeder schools.

Similarly, Gibbs sees the importance of building a trusting relationship with neighbouring Matamata College.

We talk about a number of things – National Standards (trying to gain a shared understanding of what the standards look like at each level); the digital technology infrastructure (highly evolved at Matamata Intermediate); boys’ education; what makes an effective learner; and so on. Gibbs is clearly very motivated by learning and education in general.

Advice for up-and-comers

When I ask him for any words of advice to aspiring principals, he thinks carefully.

“You have to be committed to lifelong learning,” he says. “You’ve got to truly love it.”

He also says the professional development journey towards becoming a principal is very important.

“And it’s important to get the work-family balance right,” he adds.

With that, our interview comes to a close, and for a split second, as I leave the principal’s office, I feel 11 years old again. And then I see an actual 11-yearold girl and reality kicks in. Fortunately for her, and her fellow students, I get the feeling Matamata Intermediate is in safe hands.

Apps

Transforming teaching:

Using apps in maths

R

ebekah Whyte’s passion for integrating digital technology with learning began in 2011 with five iPods and her year 1 class.

“I still have the iPods!” she laughs, although she admits they are now somewhat obsolete as tablets have taken their place.

While time has marched on and technology has evolved, Whyte credits her early experimentation with using various apps on the iPods for revealing just how effective the technology could be in helping students grasp concepts and making learning fun. Her experience with the iPods was the starting point for her master’s dissertation, in which she would probe further the benefits of incorporating devices and apps into teaching and learning, particularly for mathematics.

Whyte, who teaches at Tahatai Coast School in Papamoa, now has the opportunity to participate in an exciting new research project investigating what influence using apps has on students’ mathematical learning. Along with Glen and Monique Storey, teachers at nearby Te Akau ki Papamoa School, the teachers will collaborate with University of Waikato senior lecturers Dr Nigel Calder and Dr Carol Murphy on striving to understand how teaching and learning of primary mathematics can be improved through the use of apps on mobile digital devices. The two-year research project is supported by a Teaching and Learning Research Initiative (TLRI) grant of $200,000.

The project will analyse the influence of using apps on students’ mathematical learning, which will help construct a framework to evaluate and inform teaching decisions around the use of apps to improve students’ conceptual understanding. This framework will then support teacher professional learning and development in mathematics pedagogy.

The project builds on Calder’s ongoing research in using digital pedagogical media (computers and mobile technology) to learn mathematics and Murphy’s in studying teacher subject knowledge and children’s dialogue in mathematics classrooms. They came across the Papamoa teachers’ work through smaller projects they were carrying out in schools, and the partnership was formed.

The project is in its early stages.

The teachers involved are currently collecting baseline data. They are working with focus groups of kids, looking at student blogs, taking into account test results such as PATs and other assessment data.

Surprising results

Early as it is, the researchers are already excited at the project’s potential.

“The very first sets of data have revealed some interesting and surprising data about the ways students engage with the apps and their interaction with each other,” says Calder.

Calder says while the project stands alone, the research is part of a growing body of work in this area.

“As yet, there is little guidance for teachers on how to optimise the use of apps on mobile devices for learning mathematics. The purpose of the research is to use a framework based on technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) to further develop effective use of apps for the New Zealand context, and to enhance children’s learning in mathematics.”

TPACK, in a nutshell, is the knowledge and experience that teachers have to best use ICT in their programmes of learning – knowing what the best resource is and how to use it to optimise the learning for each individual child. It is a multidisciplinary model, but in this case it is being adapted to the context of mathematics.

Teachers and lecturers collaborate on an exciting new research project to investigate the impact of using applications (apps) in primary mathematics. By JUDE BARBACK. Flow-on effects

Calder and Murphy anticipate that what they learn will have implications for other subject areas, but it is not a direct aim of the project.

Unsurprisingly, the teachers involved in the research are huge advocates for the use of apps in teaching mathematics, and it is an essential part of their practice.

Monique Storey says the research will help articulate what they’re experiencing in the classroom.

“It’s about wrapping language around what we do,” she says.

“Technology has transformed teaching maths,” says Glen Storey. “Our National Standards results have gone off the charts.”

He says using a device allows students to articulate what they’re learning about.

“It’s a really good tool to show the thinking that goes on behind trying to work something out.”

“It’s also non-threatening,” adds Monique. “Students like being able to take their time to work it out.”

Rebekah Whyte says the apps help target areas that need more work, as they provide statistics and instant feedback to the teacher.

Selectivity is key

Glen says it’s not a case of simply having the device; it’s using the right apps that is important.

“Apps can be used really badly,” he says. “They’re not a replacement for effective teaching.”

Whyte agrees. When she first began experimenting with apps in the classroom she made a lot available to the students, but soon noticed the children would whizz between the apps rather than completing one properly.

This prompted her to wipe all the apps and load a smaller, more refined

Go to

Pictured top to bottom: Rebekah Whyte, Monique Storey and Glen Storey.

Continued on next page >>

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Apps

Maths

“Technology has transformed teaching maths… our National Standards results have gone off the charts.” selection. She says it is important to explain to the children what they’re trying to achieve, what concept they’re working on, and the expectation to complete the app before moving on to another.

Teaching maths, at any given year, shouldn’t be restricted to one level, Glen says. It should progress from teaching basic content, to encouraging critical thinking, to promoting reflective, self-moderating behaviours. Apps, when used effectively, can help progress students through this learning journey.

“It’s not about ‘drill and skill’ anymore, it’s about transformative learning,” says Glen.

Monique says apps and mobile devices shouldn’t necessarily replace other more hands-on elements of teaching.

“It’s not a case of ‘or’, but rather ‘and’. There is still a place for counters, play money, things like that,” she says.

It will be interesting to note whether the research will take into account issues of equity and student accessibility to devices.

Te Akau ki Papamoa has 1:1 device:student ratio and Monique and Glen agree the school’s 1:1 policy has made a real difference.

Calder and Murphy confirm that access will be considered in developing the framework.

Calder points out that Tahatai Coast doesn’t have a 1:1 policy, and that the research will eventually encompass a much wider group of schools.

“As we develop the framework over the next year with groups of teachers, we will investigate use of apps in a broader range of classes,” says Calder.

Calder and Murphy anticipate that the project will yield some significant findings around teacher professional learning, particularly as it relates to a wide range of varying contexts and teacher experience.

“Glen, Monique and Rebekah are expert teachers in this area so that is why we are co-researching and co-constructing the framework and understanding with them. But the key aspect will be how it can be influential and helpful with a broad range of teachers and situations.”

Next year the framework will be used with groups of teachers with mixed experience and expertise with mobile technology.

It will be initially introduced to schools and teachers in the Bay of Plenty and Waikato before being presented nationally and internationally.

Rebekah Whyte.

New book for maths teachers

A

new book for teachers of mathematics in New Zealand will help teachers put educational policy and theory into practice and has a particular focus on teaching mathematics in te reo Māori.

Mathematics and statistics in the middle years: Evidence and practice is published by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research and edited by Dr Robin Averill, a senior lecturer in Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Education.

Averill says the book is a collaborative effort between researchers and teachers that gives teachers access to a wealth of academic research.

“The book includes 18 chapters, each written by academics and school teachers from around New Zealand.

“The focus of the book is teaching children in years 7 to 10 – the book spans the primary-secondary school transition. This is when many students start to have difficulty with maths.”

Each chapter gives practical advice on how to achieve the Ministry of Education’s Māori teaching standards. Two chapters are drawn from teaching practices at Māori immersion schools in the Waikato and in Rotorua, where maths is taught in Māori using exercises such as mapping and pattern analysis.

“Linking activities to culture encourages engagement,” says Averill.

The subjects of other chapters include imparting an understanding of how statistics can be questioned, and how to communicate and reason mathematically. One of the chapters has a section on teaching financial literacy, or money matters, while another gives exercises in analysing data.

As well as helping teachers, the book will also assist those who teach the teachers.

“New Zealand’s best maths students do very well internationally,” says Averill. “Our biggest problem is the inequality of maths achievement within the country. This is linked to socio-economic factors and to ethnicity.

“There are also attitudes and beliefs that need to change a little. For example, we know that maths teachers have high expectations but are these expectations conveyed to students? Some aspects of maths teaching are really complicated and this book will help.”

Copies can be purchased from www.nzcer.org.nz/nzcerpress/maths-and-stats

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Anzac Day

Lest we forget

– Anzac education

The centenary of Anzac Day brings the opportunity for rich and varied educational experiences for young New Zealanders.

The Cyril Bassett Speech Competition

Students to set sail on Anzac voyage “To be at the 100th anniversary commemoration of Gallipoli on Anzac Day is going to be really special.”

Two Victoria University of Wellington students with World War I connections will represent New Zealand on board a square-rigged tall ship as dawn breaks at Gallipoli on Anzac Day. Isabella Thompson and Bex McMenamin are two of three New Zealanders and 21 Australians selected to crew the Young Endeavour ship across the Mediterranean Sea on the third leg of its world voyage.

After a few weeks on the water, the Young Endeavour will sail to the Gallipoli Peninsula, anchoring for a dawn service on Anzac Day, along with naval ships from Australia and New Zealand.

Both Thompson, who is studying toward a Bachelor of Biomedical Science, and McMenamin, a third year law and arts student, have personal connections to World War I—which was part of the criteria for New Zealanders to board the Young Endeavour.

Thompson’s great-great-grandfather fought in Gallipoli along with two great-great-uncles, one of whom died at Quinn’s Post. His name is on a memorial at Lone Pine Cemetery in Gallipoli.

McMenamin’s great-grandfather and his cousin arrived at Gallipoli and fought in World War I, then moved to Belgium where the cousin died.

“To be at the 100th anniversary commemoration of Gallipoli on Anzac Day is going to be really special,” says McMenamin, who is also looking forward to seeing the sun rise in different places and meeting new people.

“The ship is a mini world. You are relying on each other all the time so you do form quite intense, strong friendships.”

In April this year all eight finalists of the 2015 ANZ RSA Cyril Bassett VC Speech Competition will travel to Gallipoli to experience the commemoration of the Anzac landings for themselves.

Opotiki College student Caitlin Papuni McLellan won the competition at the national final in March in Wellington. She delivered an inspiring speech about her relative Kurei Papuni and the mana and integrity of the Māori contingent who fought at Gallipoli. The students each had six to eight minutes to speak about New Zealanders in World War I. Each finalist has received the trip to Gallipoli, a smartphone, $1,000 in an ANZ bank account and a further $1,000 cheque for their school. In addition to these prizes, Caitlin has received a laptop and will have the honour of delivering her speech at Gallipoli.

The speech competition is a partnership between the RSA and ANZ to promote a greater understanding of the sacrifices made by those who have served New Zealand in conflicts overseas.

Now in its fifth year, it was established as a tribute to Cyril Bassett, VC (1892–1983), the only New Zealander at Gallipoli to be awarded the Victoria Cross, who spent his entire career with ANZ Group.

These finalists will join 17 other young New Zealanders as part of the Gallipoli 2015 Youth Ambassadors NZ programme, an initiative of the Minister of Veteran Affairs, Craig Foss.

World War I material showcased online To mark Anzac Day and the centenary of the 1915 Gallipoli landings, Victoria University of Wellington’s library has created a digital collection of World War I material. The material, which is publicly available, includes the Victoria University archive’s Honour Roll, which lists the names of then-current students and former students who were killed during World War I. The Honour Roll links to biographies and portraits of fallen students that were published in the 1920 issue of student newspaper, Spike.

The collection also includes archival material related to Professor von Zedlitz, one of Victoria’s founding professors, who was forced from his post at Victoria due to the Alien Enemy Teachers Act 1915.

This material includes the report of the Victoria University College Council, letters of support from professors and students, and statements from Professor von Zedlitz.

“We thought it was important to make this archival material available to a wide audience, particularly as we commemorate the Gallipoli centenary,” says Noelle Nelson, university librarian.

“Reading the biographies of the fallen reminds us of the huge losses New Zealand and other countries suffered in this terrible conflict.

“The von Zedlitz material gives us an insight into what was a controversial and extremely sad case, which unfortunately reflected some of the extreme sentiment of the time.”

“Reading the biographies of the fallen reminds us of the huge losses New Zealand and other countries suffered in this terrible conflict.”

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Anzac Day

A brief history of Anzac Day

New Gallipoli app “It is the most authentic and inspiring travel resource you can use on your trip to Gallipoli.”

A free smartphone and tablet app that offers a new way to explore the Gallipoli campaign has been released.

The Ngā Tapuwae Gallipoli app features compelling diary entries from World War I, with clear facts, authentic and beautiful imagery, as well as audio tours narrated by leading historians. The app draws on the expertise of World War I historians to provide heritage site interpretation for locations where New Zealand played a significant role.

Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Maggie Barry has welcomed the app’s release.

“Ngā Tapuwae Gallipoli will be your informative travel guide, providing accurate information from a New Zealand perspective. It’s our unique story, following in the footsteps of ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) soldiers as they experienced Gallipoli in 1915,” she says.

“It is the most authentic and inspiring travel resource you can use on your trip to Gallipoli. Through it you can imagine the scenes that unfolded there and gain new insights into our brave soldiers’ contributions to the war.”

The app is designed to be used offline to avoid expensive roaming charges and is free for all to download in New Zealand and overseas.

The name Ngā Tapuwae refers to following in the footsteps of those who went before. The Ngā Tapuwae New Zealand First World War Trails are being developed by the WW100 Programme as a legacy project to commemorate the centenary of World War I. Minister Barry also recently announced the launch of Anzac: Sights and Sounds of World War I, from Ngā Taonga Sound and Vision, which combines archival film footage from across the world with recorded interviews, songs and photographs to give an evocative, insightful and compelling view of the conflict.

“Having this footage publicly available at no cost makes the site an important part of our ongoing World War I commemorations. It will also be a valuable education tool,” says Barry.

For more information see www.ngatapuwae.govt.nz and www.anzacsightsound.org

Anzac Day curriculum resources There are a number of Anzac Day learning activities on offer surrounding the 100-year anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign. The Anzac Day TKI resource page offers an array of classroom ideas and links to resources.

The Ministry of Education, the National Library’s Services to Schools, and the WW100 Programme Office have also worked together to develop a range of World War I inquiry guides and resources to help students gain insights into World War I. The Ministry of Education has also formed a partnership with the Fields of Remembrance Trust to support all schools and kura in commemorating the World War I centenary. The initiative gives schools the opportunities to establish their own fields of white crosses, to reinforce the impact that World War I had on New Zealand. All New Zealand schools and kura can participate in this commemoration initiative, with each given 30 named white crosses to commemorate the men and women who died for New Zealand.

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Anzac Day occurs on 25 April. It commemorates all New Zealanders killed in war and also honours returned servicemen and women, past and present.

The date itself marks the anniversary of the landing of New Zealand and Australian soldiers – the ANZACs – on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. The aim was to capture the Dardanelles, the gateway to the Bosphorus and the Black Sea. At the end of the campaign, Gallipoli was still held by its Turkish defender.

Thousands lost their lives in the Gallipoli campaign: 87,000 Turks, 44,000 men from France and the British Empire, including 8,500 Australians.

Among the dead were over 2,700 New Zealanders, almost one in four of those who served on Gallipoli.

It may have led to a military defeat, but for many New Zealanders then and since, the Gallipoli landings meant the beginning of something else – a feeling that New Zealand had a role as a distinct nation, even as it fought on the other side of the world in the name of the British Empire.

Anzac Youth Award A special category was added to this year’s Youth Awards – the Anzac Youth Award.

Youth Minister Nikki Kaye says the Anzac Youth Award is for young people who’ve helped recognise the centenary of the Gallipoli landings, or helped celebrate the Anzac spirit.

This year, 25 youth ambassadors will also be supported to travel to Turkey to attend the Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli.

Nominations for the 2015 Youth Awards opened in early March and close 28 April.

Anzac ibooks

Parcels From Home: Jack’s War is a book by cartoonist Steve Bolton about the Red Cross POW aid parcel scheme during World War II. It looks and reads like a graphic novel, but touch various points and you get sound effects and pop-ups with historical information. The whole time it’s working on several levels at once: read it as a cartoon, read the text along with looking at the pictures, listen to sound files as you go, and get the historical factual depth from the pop-ups. Added to that is an extensive glossary explaining terms, places, military events and more.

Meanwhile, the companion history book History of the NZ Red Cross Parcel Scheme in World War Two by Mark Webster and Paul Luker looks and reads like a book, but bold text reveals the source of the information when you tap it. Pictures expand when you tap on them for closer inspection. Read primary source interview accounts and tap an icon to hear their actual voices.

This history book is the result of research over seven years across hundreds of sources and hundreds of hours in archives and museums across New Zealand and at the New Zealand and Australian Red Cross Headquarters (Wellington and Melbourne).

Both books support highlighting sections and note taking. Words can be defined if your device is online.

CreativeTech Ltd Publishing will present the two books on 24 April at the headquarters of the New Zealand Red Cross Society in Wellington, and 1 May at the Grey Lynn Returned Services Club in Auckland.

Teacher education

Leadership

in education Faculty from Massey University’s Institute of Education discuss the importance of teachers developing leadership skills and practices.

Pictured top to bottom: Dr Karen Anderson, Dr Alison Sewell and Sally Hansen.

n its simplest form leadership is about influence – showing the way and bringing others along with you, says Dr Karen Anderson, from Massey University’s Institute of Education.

Anderson is a senior lecturer and programme coordinator for the postgraduate level Educational Administration and Leadership programme, where students focus on the “larger questions” of educational purpose, she says.

A planned approach to building the skills, knowledge and understandings required for the practice of ethical, inclusive educational leadership is emphasised in the course. This includes critical reflection and analysis of personal leadership practices and of educational policy, research and theory, she says.

“There is an expectation that students will ground their reading, research and reflection in their own educational contexts while seeking a broader appreciation of the diversity of world views on the purposes and practice of educational leadership.

“Our programme is built upon the ethos of equity, social justice and inclusion, with the expectation that students will apply these underpinning values to their own leadership practices.”

Developing leadership skills is vital, too, for student teachers graduating from Massey University’s Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes to encourage them to be innovative in developing new pedagogies that will reach the diverse student population, especially priority learners.

That’s the view of associate professor Sally Hansen, director of teacher education, and senior lecturer Dr Alison Sewell, from the Institute of Education at the Manawatū campus.

They coordinate Massey’s ITE programmes for early childhood, primary and secondary.

Another pathway into teaching for primary and secondary student teachers – the Master of Teaching and Learning – recognises the importance of nurturing leadership qualities among its graduates.

“Encouraging new learning initiatives using digital tools and developing new partnerships are key aspects of 21st century pedagogies and this requires the vision of an inspiring leader,” says Dr Hansen.

And in an educational climate of unrelenting and rapid change, “leadership in teaching is primarily concerned with developing highquality learning and teaching in schools to raise standards of achievement, especially among our priority learners who are less likely to experience success,” adds Dr Sewell.

“Teaching leadership is less about a top-down approach and more about developing professional collaboration and learning communities to develop pedagogical expertise that can be adapted to reach diverse learners,” she says.

They approach the idea of ‘teacher leadership’ through synonymous words and phrases such as inspiring others, sharing a vision to teach differently, integrity, forging new learning partnerships, and exploring state-of-the-art research to champion and sustain change in the classroom based on evidence.

How do you teach leadership?

Placing student teachers with mentors who are in leadership roles and are well equipped to demonstrate how they exercise leadership in their teaching is the most effective way to

convey what leadership means in an educational context, they say.

“Massey University has designed and run the Lead Associate Teacher Project that built mentoring capacity in the teachers working with our student teachers,” says Dr Hansen. “These mentors – many of whom are in leadership positions that model their leadership skills – provide opportunities to develop leadership capacity and model teaching as inquiry.

“We also build subject expertise in secondary students through sustained commitment to developing content and pedagogical knowledge.”

The master’s programme also helps student teachers to develop a sense that they can be leaders through continued inquiry into their practice. They identify ‘puzzles’ of practice and examine evidence from the classroom and the research to make changes in their practices pitched to improve student learning outcomes.

Leadership roles are also taken by communicating the results of their professional inquiry using cutting-edge technologies with their school-based colleagues.

“Through an innovative partnerships scheme with schools, students teachers are supported to build resilience and agency in classrooms as well as the adaptive expertise to make a difference for New Zealand’s priority learners,” Dr Sewell says.

Leadership and power sharing in the classroom

Exercising teacher leadership in the primary classroom is about being a role model for students – and sharing some of the power held by the teacher, Dr Hansen says.

“It’s about supporting students to be learning leaders and to take on new teaching and learning roles alongside a

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Teacher education

teacher. Teacher leaders inspire their colleagues by sharing their innovative practices.

“Because there is no formula that will work for every student in every situation, teachers have to develop a repertoire of best practices by inquiring into the impact of their teaching on their students’ learning.”

Leadership education is also part and parcel of professional training provided by Massey’s Centre for Educational Development (CED). Director Diane Leggett explains how CED facilitators work with early childhood education leaders, principals and staff to work on enabling change in practice to improve outcomes for students.

“We work alongside practitioners to build trusting relationships, together identifying needs then co-constructing action plans to improve teacher practice,” she says. “We build professional learning communities over a long period of time – a year

“Teaching leadership is less about a top-down approach and more about developing professional collaboration and learning communities…” minimum normally – to encourage change, embed that change and ensure sustainability before completing our work in a school or a centre.”

She says effective leadership of a school or early childhood centre is critical to ensuring a cuttingedge operation. “Our facilitators work with leaders to improve understandings around curriculum development, processes of inquiry, planning and assessment, appraisal, culture, cultural competencies and effective leadership.

“Staff in centres and schools also take on leadership roles in their classrooms, curriculum, extracurriculum activities and within their teams.

The relevance of leadership in teacher education programmes Where does learning about leadership fit in terms of teacher education programmes? Should leadership be an integral part of teacher preparation or is this topic irrelevant in this context because the focus in these programmes should be on preparing the teachers for their work in classrooms and centres?

Both these points of view have merit. On one hand, it can be argued that it is important for all New Zealand teachers to be familiar with concepts of leadership and effective leadership practice. There are a number of reasons for this; firstly, the registered teacher criteria require all teachers to show leadership that contributes to effective teaching and learning. The indicators of this criterion relate to active contribution to the professional learning community and effectively carrying out areas of responsibility. It follows that beginning teachers need to be made aware of the capabilities associated with effective educational leadership, and how they can demonstrate leadership in various ways.

A second reason is that all teachers have the ability to be involved in leadership to some extent. Much of the literature on educational leadership promotes a collaborative approach involving leadership at all levels of a school or centre, rather than a hierarchical model that views leadership as the sole prerogative of the principal or head teacher. The School Leadership and Student Outcomes Best Evidence synthesis highlighted that the level of expertise required to meet leadership challenges is beyond the capabilities of a sole leader.

A third reason is that the principles of leadership are also relevant at a classroom centre level; leadership capabilities such as building relational trust, goal setting, problem solving, and inspiring and influencing others are all part of a teacher’s role. It can be inferred, therefore, that all teachers need to become more involved in leadership practice. So what is a teacher’s role in a more collaborative leadership approach?

Teacher leadership is a common concept in the United States education sector but less recognised amongst New Zealand teachers,

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But they often request assistance and support from us in their respective roles,” she says.

Dr Anderson says graduates demonstrate their educational leadership by asking questions, raising awareness, challenging practices and offering alternative views and practices about teaching and learning.

“This means taking a critical stance on educational policy and practice,” she says, “to ensure that the interests of all students, their achievement and wellbeing are at the front of discussions and debate.”

DR KATE THORNTON, of Victoria University of Wellington’s Faculty of Education, discusses whether or not teacher education programmes should teach concepts of leadership and effective leadership practice. where terms such as distributed and/or collaborative leadership are more common. Teacher leadership extends the influence of teachers beyond their own classroom and may include actions such as advocating for students, leading professional learning and becoming active outside the classroom.

Distributed leadership is more closely associated with collaborative leadership practice and involves leadership that is dispersed across group members and characterised by interdependence and cooperation.

Distributed leadership blurs the distinction between leaders and followers and opens up the possibility of all members of an organisation exerting influence and demonstrating leadership behaviour at various times.

The counter argument to student teachers being made aware of leadership concepts and practices is that leadership is not relevant to teacher education programmes because the focus of new teachers should be mastering the art and science of teaching. Also, fully meeting the registered teacher criteria is not expected until the end of a two-year period.

As many teacher education programmes are only one year in duration, it is challenging to cover all the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to become an effective teacher, let alone an effective leader. It could be seen that even if leadership has some relevance, students are unlikely to engage with this concept in any depth because they are not directly experiencing the impact of effective or ineffective leadership practice.

The shift to postgraduate teacher education programmes where teachers spend more time in schools and centres and are more actively involved in professional learning communities may be a catalyst for the development of interest and awareness of effective leadership practice. Shared and supportive leadership is a characteristic of an effective professional learning community and involves shared responsibility for decision-making.

Therefore new teachers can be encouraged to share their knowledge and expertise and demonstrate leadership in their work with others in order to actively contribute to improving overall learning outcomes.

School leadership

Principal Q

Q&A

Did you aspire to be a principal at the start of your teaching career?

Jenkins: It did not occur to me to become a principal until I was well into my teaching career.

I had worked as a teacher and was promoted to senior teacher at Clendon Park School in my fourth year of teaching. I was seconded to the Department of Education and worked as an advisor in schools the next year. I was encouraged and inspired by colleagues to reflect about the direction I would like to take in my career.

My first principal position was in a country school called Ruakituri in Hawke’s Bay. Being a principal in a small, rural school was a great way to start my career as a principal. I gained promotions in bigger country schools, including Kohukohu and Mangonui in the Far North.

I was encouraged by a colleague to start on post-grad educational leadership papers, which helped me to understand the wider role of being an education leader and building school cultures that support learning across the school community. The exposure to educational leaders’ thinking, such as Fullan, Senge and Hargreaves, inspired me to think more deeply about education culture and change management and bring some of these ideas to what we do in our schools.

Q

What are the most rewarding aspects of being a principal?

Jenkins: The opportunities to build highperforming teams of school leaders and transforming learning communities can be inspirational. Leading, adapting and constantly moving forward in times of complex change is both challenging and rewarding. Solving complex problems with our values and beliefs about education informing decisions in a collaborative community is exciting and causes passionate debates with our teams. The opportunities to be innovative and entrepreneurial, to bring the best resources and experiences available for our schools, are challenges I find good fun!

Q

And the most challenging or frustrating aspects?

Jenkins: Probably managing work-life balance and balance in the job. As a school leader I need to be a better role model to others around the hours that I work and making good choices around work-life balance. It is difficult when you love the job and enjoy it with a passion to be sensible about such things.

Do you have a good support network with other principals?

Q

Jenkins: I think it is absolutely essential to have a strong network for reciprocal support. My own

Education Review asks SANDRA JENKINS, principal of Freemans Bay School in Auckland, about her journey to becoming a school principal, the highs and lows of the job, and what she’s learned along the way.

support network includes our local Auckland Inner City Principal Cluster – which is a fabulous collaborative group. The professional relationship with my BOT chair is also pivotal and helps to keep me grounded in keeping the aspirations of our school community a priority. Professional organisations such as NZEI, APPA, NZEALS, NZPF and STA have all been supportive and have influenced directions in my career. With Twitter, blogs, PLCs and the opportunity to attend events nationally and internationally, I have been able to be motivated and inspired by a wide range of fantastic leaders.

Q

Do you miss being in the classroom?

Jenkins: Balancing the administration of the role and time in classrooms with teachers and learners is very frustrating. I love the time I do get to spend with learners, participating in classrooms and wider curriculum events. I would like to make more time to do so.

Q

How important is your own professional development and that of your staff?

Jenkins: I believe it is important for me, as principal, to lead learning as a lead learner. It is a priority to collaboratively develop communities of learners so that school communities all have their schools’ learning values at the heart of their decisions. I completed my MEd (1st class) five years ago and encourage teachers to participate in post-grad learning as part of their professional learning. I also consider that professional learning communities centred in inquiry around learning that is personalised and future-focused will bring innovation and rigour to our teaching and learning practice.

Q

What do you count as your biggest achievements as principal?

Jenkins: Principal achievement is a team effort at all levels. A highlight of my career was being a recipient of the APPA/ASB Travel Fellowship last year. Over 10 weeks I visited 26 schools in six countries, exploring modern learning environments and purposeful design for learning.

Q

And what is still a ‘work in progress’?

Jenkins: In 2010, at Freemans Bay School we demolished a large, subsiding classroom block and built new learning hubs in a two-storey building. This building design was scoped to develop flexible spaces to enable teachers to teach and students to learn in a variety of ways. The remaining school buildings have since been

identified as either leaky or past their use-by date.

We are now in the Ministry of Education’s new schools building project. The challenge of totally rebuilding Freemans Bay School sparked my interest in thinking more deeply about how spaces are designed and used to engage learners. Visits to schools, universities, libraries and co-corporate organisations continue to play a significant role in shaping thinking around design and pedagogy and the transition from traditional classrooms to purposeful spaces with a focus on more personalised learning in open learning zones.

How would you describe your leadership style?

Q

Jenkins: I would like to think that those who work with me consider my leadership style empowering and motivating. I like to challenge teachers to be innovative and to take on new opportunities to develop their passion to make a difference to learners.

Q

What advice would you give to an aspiring principal?

Q

What is your greatest hope for New Zealand education?

Jenkins: Start on post-grad Educational Leadership papers and complete your MEd thesis on an area of leadership that inspires you. Take on other opportunities, such as the National Aspiring Principals Programme. Join local professional learning communities and networks. Talk to your principal, who will coach and mentor you on your journey towards your first principal appointment.

Determine your transition plan to achieve your goal and start on it immediately.

Jenkins: I believe that The New Zealand Curriculum is one of the best curriculums in the world. The vision of the curriculum for “Young people to be confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners” is aspirational and powerful. This provides an opportunity for every school to realise their community’s vision for learners through a collaborative process.

I would hope for a greater national focus on supporting teachers to develop high levels of personalising learning and what that looks like in actual practice. I would hope for more support to teachers to strengthen personalising learning experiences to give greater traction to shifting from teacher-led education to learner-led education.

This way our learners would be empowered through a personalised curriculum centred in deep challenge, creativity and inquiry.

Go to

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Education Review series

Leadership & PD 2015

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Literacy research

Pictures:

a help or hindrance when learning to read?

Contrary to popular belief, it seems pictures do not always help children learn to read.

Dr PAMELA PROTHEROE discusses the decades of research that have led to this conclusion.

T

here is overwhelming evidence, gathered over the last six decades, that picture books interfere with children learning to read. The use of picture books may not account for all reading difficulties, but it is a major contributor.

In the middle of the last century there were concerns that children weren’t learning to read well. So while some people wondered if pictures were harmful, others claimed that pictures were helpful, or at least that pictures didn’t interfere with learning to read. For a while there was a flurry of research by both sides, and this research was reviewed comprehensively in 1970 by S J Samuels.

Let’s consider an example – using pictures to teach a sight vocabulary. As far as teaching a sight vocabulary is concerned, the researchers focused on whether or not they could use pictures in such a way that they would aid the children’s memory of the written forms of the words.

They tried showing the picture first, removing it, then showing the children the word. This technique produced bad results. The children didn’t learn many words. Then they tried showing the word at the same time as the picture. Still, dire results.

Undaunted, they tried showing the word first so the children could focus on the word. Then they showed the children the picture. Again, not good results.

In desperation, they even tried projecting the word and the picture together, then fading out the picture. Unfortunately, the children couldn’t remember many of the words after this, either.

The only method that resulted in the children remembering most or all of the words was the method that didn’t involve using pictures. In some studies, the children learned twice as many words without pictures and, in one study, four times as many words.

There were many other studies of how pictures affected learning to read that went beyond word recognition. For example, researchers tested to see whether or not pictures aided understanding text. They didn’t.

Gathering the results of this research, Samuels had to conclude that pictures did indeed interfere with learning to read.

Even those who began their research convinced that pictures actually helped children learn to read had to admit, somewhat reluctantly, that pictures caused problems.

These experiments showed that it wasn’t simply that pictures did not help children learn to read, but that pictures

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actively interfered with children learning to read. It wouldn’t be a worry if pictures were just attractive additions to the text that didn’t cause harm.

Unfortunately, pictures do cause harm.

In the 1990s, Wu and Solman, researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia, repeated many of the experiments that had been done more than 20 years previously. Wu and Solman got the same dire results, no matter how they tried to use the pictures.

Unsurprisingly, Wu and Solman concluded that the most effective way to use pictures when teaching children to read was not to use them at all.

Do picture books motivate children to read?

Do not confuse a child’s delight at looking at beautiful pictures with the delight a child gets from building their own mental model in response to text. A child cannot process a picture and build a mental model at the same time. Children love making their own mental images in response to text, but pictures prevent this.

Back in the 70s, Samuels was worried. What if pictures had a positive effect on children’s attitudes to reading? However, Samuels could not find a single study to answer this question – and neither can I. Nevertheless, it worried Samuels because if it were ever discovered that pictures did build favourable attitudes toward reading, then educators would find themselves on the ‘horns of a dilemma’. That is, they would have to choose between keeping pictures out of books to facilitate learning to read, or including pictures in order to build favourable attitudes toward reading.

As it turned out, the ‘horns of a dilemma’ that Samuels worried about have been successfully avoided. Somehow all this research about the negative effect of pictures on learning to read has been kept from teachers. What Samuels should have worried about was that all the research would be ignored.

In his book, Why Johnny Still Can’t Read (1981), Rudolf Flesch was interested to know how schools managed to prevent children from reading, and why their inability to read persisted throughout their schooling. Flesch says that the publishers of reading material for beginners periodically present their new batch of reading material to educators as if they were in a beauty contest – year after year churning out reading material for learners that is ever more gaudily illustrated. Flesch focuses on the finding from the research that the more attractive the illustration is, the more it will interfere with word learning. He makes the link between this beauty contest between publishers and the ever increasing failure of so many children to learn to read.

Research shows that boys are especially prone to the detrimental effect of pictures on their attempts to learn to read. The OECD report for 2013 showed that on average in New Zealand, girls outperformed boys by 15 points, higher than the average OECD gap of nine points in reading literacy, maths and science.

Literacy research

DON’T MISS NZ’S BIGGEST CAREERS EVENT

Pictures prevent some children from learning how to comprehend

In conducting research for my doctorate, I found that for some children pictures prevent them from practising the skills they need if they are ever going to understand text.

For most of the children – good comprehenders as well as poor comprehenders – pictures interfere in a measureable way with them practising these vital skills. I found that boys are more adversely affected by pictures. I also found that most children, even the good readers, understand better when there are no pictures. Other researchers have found that even the best readers read more slowly and make more mistakes when pictures are present.

The easiest route to learning is not always the best route

Wu and Solman concluded that the problem with trying to use pictures to help children learn to read was more than simply a case of the pictures distracting the children from the text. They found the problem stemmed from ‘psychological blocking’. Psychological blocking is caused by a known source of information blocking the learning of an unknown source.

Let’s say a child hasn’t yet learnt what the word ‘rabbit’ looks like, but they know what a rabbit is. The easiest source of information for their brain to use is the picture, not the word. As a result, their brain blocks the processing of the word, and just uses the processing of the picture. When this happens, the child won’t remember the word when they see it again.

No one’s brain can consider all things at all times – billions of items of information are received by the brain every second. A child’s brain has areas that are best at processing visual information. A child’s brain also has areas that are best at processing language. But most brain areas can process most input to a certain extent – the area that is best at language processing can also process visual information (but not well) and the brain area that is best at processing visual input can also process language (but not well).

To cope with this, the brain has a ‘reciprocal inhibition mechanism’. This mechanism’s job is to focus on and use the information that is most easily processed by the area of the brain most suited to processing it. A child’s brain will use the brain areas best at processing language to control linguistic behaviour, and their brain will use the visual processors to control responses to visual input.

It is possible, however, for one area of the brain to be primed to ‘take over’ what is usually best done by another area. When this happens, the area of the brain best suited to do the processing is not the one that will be in control over the child’s response.

The child’s brain has considered the word ‘rabbit’ and processed it. But if there’s a picture present, this picture will inhibit this information about the word from being retained or saved in the child’s memory. The processing of extraneous information has to be inhibited. So the child, who is unskilled at reading, has their memory of the word ‘rabbit’ overridden by the dominant activity of attending to the picture of the rabbit.

A typical argument against the research

After hearing my ideas about picture books inhibiting learning to read, a parent explained why she thinks the pictures are a good idea. She said, for example, that when she was hearing her child read, he could not read the word ‘pirate’ – so she directed him to the picture and he guessed that the word was ‘pirate’ and then was able to read the word and carried on reading the text. She felt that this was helpful to him in learning the word. It would be interesting to see if he could recognise that word ‘pirate’ again when he didn’t have a picture or whether ‘psychological blocking’ occurred.

If you are a teacher, you have nothing else to use besides picture books, so in the final chapter of my doctoral thesis I make suggestions that you might find helpful. You can find my thesis on the internet by putting the title into your search engine: The Effect of Illustrations on the Ability of Children to Draw Inferences while Reading Narrative Texts. If you want to read more about the research into the effects of using pictures, my book Picture Books and the Literacy Crisis contains a useful reference list and can be found on Amazon.

Education Review would love to hear readers’ opinion on this subject. Please comment online at www.educationreview.co.nz.

World of

Work

The Careers Expo is your one-stop-shop for careers advice and information from the widest range of employers, training providers and industry bodies. Come and check out the action in one of these locations: a great k Hub is d ld of Wor what you nee r The Wor and discove t. Come place to job you wan get set for life and to get the game of play the furure! a bright

World of

Work

CHRISTCHURCH. 7-9 May. Horncastle Arena AUCKLAND 28-30 May. ASB Showgrounds, Greenlane HAMILTON 7-8 June. Claudelands Showgrounds WELLINGTON. 28-29 June. TSB Bank Arena, Queens Wharf

a great k Hub is d ld of Wor what you nee r The Wor and discove t. Come place to job you wan get set for life and to get the game of play the furure! a bright

CHECK OUT THE WORLD OF WORK AREA AT THE EXPO A whole new interactive hub designed to help young people get ‘work ready’ !

Get involved to give yourself a head start in the game of life!

www.careersexpo.org.nz

Boys’ education

Improving boys’

achievement JOSEPH DRIESSEN pinpoints four key areas for teachers to address in order to help improve boys’ achievement.

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oys’ learning is increasingly becoming the focus for many schools and teachers, who are debunking the old myth that only boys from certain socio-economic backgrounds or ethnic groups are underachieving. In fact, many boys from all sorts of backgrounds are underachieving, simply because they are boys trying to learn in an education system that does not take their learning needs seriously.

It is heartening to see so many teachers making significant progress with improving the learning experience for boys. These teachers find that improvement takes place when they address the following areas:

Becoming more authoritative

The term authoritative means being supportive and caring on the one hand, and providing assertive, positive leadership on the other.

Many boys need a lot of care, encouragement and support from their teacher, because deep down they lack confidence, which is masked as bravado. When they meet a teacher who shows they really care, these boys open up and communicate what they need, becoming very loyal to their teacher.

However, these same boys also need positive, assertive, leadership from their teacher; one who is not afraid to state clearly their expectations and who has the courage to demand a lot from boys.

These teachers are not fazed by boys testing them, and simply assert their authority and reiterate the standards the boys need to meet.

Boys thrive in classrooms where both the standard of care and expectation is high.

Conversely, teachers who are permissive and who let boys push them over, or who are aggressive and authoritarian, find that they lose a lot of respect, and gain a lot of opposition from some boys in their class.

Creating a winning team

When teachers put in sustained effort and skill to create a team culture in the classroom, many boys drop their resistance to the teacher, and become proud to be part of the team. These teachers create loyalty and commitment from boys by

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creating great relationships and articulating their expectations, and by weaving into their frequent class talks the norms they want in their classroom.

Many boys are actively looking for the alpha leader of the group who cares for them, and the successful teacher, by acting like one, discovers that they have a team of boys willing to go on the most difficult learning journey.

Conversely, teachers who simply focus on learning, achieving and “getting through the curriculum”, without putting in the effort to build warm, respectful relationships, and create a winning team, find some boys resist them all the way.

Listening to boys’ learning preferences

Some boys give up on learning, and trying to get adults to understand what they need, very early on in their learning career. As early as in kindergarten and the new entrants classes, where some boys find their teachers are not really aware or interested in their learning needs, these boys switch off from the teaching process.

What these boys need is a teacher who actively listens to them, and who asks them persistently what learning and teaching they are looking for.

After initial scepticism, most of these boys will tell the teacher exactly what works for them, and when they note that the teacher honours their requests and preferences, re-engage with the learning process.

These teachers start to focus on boys’ interests and learning differences. They get books which capture boys’ hearts, and create learning contexts which animate them. They create activities which involve boys’ bodies and hands, and change pedestrian writing to animated doing. They provide challenges and create competitions, provide novelty as well as routines, link the learning to boys’ values and aspirations, and make boys feel their boyculture is respected and valued.

Conversely, some teachers are utterly unaware of the needs and values of boys, and simply roll out a learning programme full of assumptions, norms and value judgements which some boys actively disagree with, and which confirm to them they are incarcerated in an environment which alienates and ignores them. Their opposition is a direct result from having a teacher who does not ask, and does not listen.

Involving boys in the teaching process

Many boys are deeply deprived and live in ’noman’s land’. There are few or no men in their lives, they lack male guidance and discipline, and are deprived of knowing men who can inspire and guide them. If we raised girls without women there would be an outcry, but because we live in a cultural era whereby it is politically correct to ignore boys’ fundamental right to male role models, many teachers accept this as normal.

Teachers who are successful with boys, however, understand the critical importance of male role modelling, and use the boys in their class or school, as learning role models. These teachers stand back, and actively use boys (and girls) as co-teachers. They invite older boys into their classes as teacher aides and mentors.

Within the class they appoint boys as learning counsellors, reading tutors, writing coaches, homework helpers, and thereby show all boys that boys are great learners.

These teachers also have a busy programme of visiting male role models, and actively invite fathers and grandfathers into their classes to talk about their work, to model the importance of reading and writing, and to give boys the much needed presence of male role models.

Conversely, many teachers blithely have bought into the distorted and deprived ’no-man’s land’ culture of our society, and make no efforts whatever to introduce male role models into their class. These teachers would be outraged if their daughters were raised in an environment where there were no women whatsoever, but they are unaware of this double standard. Some of their boys however, are actively waiting to get out of this environment, and look for sport, work, their mates, their coaches to provide this role modelling. They have given up on the classroom to meet their search for a healthy, balanced, male identity, and are waiting to leave, and join the real world, where there are male role models who will inspire them.

Joseph Driessen is an education consultant who gives a variety of educational workshops and seminars to teachers, parents and educational management teams both in New Zealand and internationally. He can be contacted on j.o.d@xtra.co.nz.

Tertiary

Before getting behind the wheel, novice drivers need sufficient literacy and numeracy to learn the road rules.

Decoding the road code

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or a school leaver looking at a trades or service industry career, the ducks to get in a row include learning relevant tools and skills, gaining qualifications, gaining a driver’s licence and having the reading, writing and maths ability to pull off all the above.

The road code pathway is a new addition to Pathways Awarua, the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC) online literacy and numeracy resource. The addition is intended to help any adult learner prepare for driver licensing while strengthening their literacy and numeracy in an applied context.

Dr Gill Thomas, Pathways Awarua project director, says users of the road code pathway are likely to include people embarking on vocational training. Many trades learners are school leavers aged 16 to 18 who enter into certificate courses that begin on Levels 1 to 3 of the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.

“People studying at these levels sometimes face literacy and numeracy difficulties that stop them being successful in the courses they are studying,” says Thomas.

Pathways Awarua provides adult learners with nearly 350 modules. The modules contain a variety of multimedia and interactive activities that are marked automatically and users can track their progress. Use has spread across 270 tertiary providers, with 30,000 registered users. Some school students enrolled in secondary-tertiary partnerships such as Youth Guarantee are likely to be in that count.

“We’re trying to get people to want to improve their literacy and numeracy so they have greater opportunities,” says Thomas.

Real-life contexts

All modules are contextualised, meaning learners encounter vocabulary, texts and maths problems relevant to trades, service careers and situations in everyday life.

Safe road use is the latest real-life context. The road code pathway has modules on reading road signs, how to give way, driving at safe speeds, plus explanations of the stages of the graduated driver licence system.

Driving is a core skill to many blue collar careers, and there is evidence of a correlation between lack of a driver licence and unemployment. For example, the Auckland Chamber of Commerce found just 17 per cent of young job seekers in two employment skills programmes had a restricted or full licence, despite the impact on employment opportunities being “crystal clear”.

The Chamber cited cost and social norms among the reasons for lack of licences among these cohorts. Another likely cause for some people without licences is the literacy and numeracy challenges in driver tests and application forms. Thomas says feedback she gets from adult literacy tutors is that many clients enrol when the need to get a driver licence forces the client to confront gaps in reading and writing skills.

“Low adult literacy and numeracy skills are a major obstacle to young people achieving a driver’s licence,” agrees TEC tertiary education strategy implementation group manager Frannie Aston.

Being licensed to drive can increase employment opportunities but improving literacy and numeracy may be a preliminary step for some learners.

WAYNE ERB reports on a new online resource.

Aside from helping employment prospects, more people able to move towards full licences is likely to mean safer roads, says Joel.

“If you get people into the graduated driver licence system, that has been shown to be a very effective intervention in terms of improving safety.

People going through the licence system, sticking to the licence conditions and moving through to a full licence will be really useful for New Zealand as a whole in terms of road safety.”

TEC-commissioned research shows Pathways Awarua is highly valued by educators and used on a regular basis as a teaching supplement, says Aston.

She says the TEC’s work in adult literacy and numeracy will continue to make use of relevant contexts, to ensure resources are useful to both learners and their educators.

Learners and educators can log in here: www.pathwaysawarua.com.

Seeing the big picture

The road code pathway was jointly developed by the TEC and the NZ Transport Agency.

Andrew Joel, senior education advisor at the latter, says when people do embark on gaining a licence, many prepare by doing online tests that imitate the learner licence theory test, rather than by reading The official New Zealand road code itself.

“They learn to answer the questions but they may not develop a deep understanding of the principles of the road code and why some things are the way they are, or how it all fits together,” he says.

The road code bills itself as “a user-friendly guide to New Zealand’s traffic law and safe driving practices” but Joel says the Code is acknowledged as having limitations as a learning tool.

“It has grown over the years and yet it’s still quite technical in the language, which means it’s quite a complex text for people to read. For anyone preparing to sit their learner licence test, it’s quite demanding.”

He says the NZ Transport Agency is developing a sequenced education programme to help people move right through the licence system. This will build on the Pathways Awarua resource.

Example learning activities from the Pathways Awarua Road Code modules.

Go to

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Education Review series

Leadership & PD 2015

21

Teach International

Thinking of teaching in an international school?

– where to start

NICK KENDELL offers his advice for teachers considering teaching in an international school.

M

ake sure you (and your partner/ family) are ready to go.

Do you have the travel bug or yearn for adventure in unknown parts of the world? Are you in a place in your life where you know you want to experience more than the same daily routine?

Do you have a great sense of humour, flexibility and the ability to cope with any situation? Do you feel secure in your teaching practice? If you can honestly answer yes to these questions, then you are the sort of person who will have a successful and rewarding time internationally. Relocating overseas is an experience that changes your life, in both expected and surprising ways, but it is not for the faint-hearted.

Think about what is important to you – your deal-breakers.

Do you want the experience for a chance to make some extra dollars? International schools usually offer free rental, medical insurance and flights home, giving you the added benefit of renting out your house. Do you want to travel around Europe or Asia or the Middle East? Think about how many plane trips you will need to take to get to different countries, especially if you are travelling with children. Is weather important to you? If you can’t see yourself living in humidity or extreme weather conditions, rethink where you might be willing to go. Is it an issue whether the school is ‘for profit’ or ‘non-profit’? Do you need a large expat community in an established city or would a small school in a

developing country suit you better? Your views on access to hospitals, clean air, savings potential, etc. are also worth considering.

Start researching.

Find an organisation with a proven track record of placing teachers in quality schools. The growth in international schools around the world has been massive – there are currently over 7,500 – and conditions and benefits vary greatly. Find someone who can help you sort out which schools are worth applying for and who will look after you.

Recruitment fair

- one teaching couple’s experience Arj and Kate Bartholomeusz, teachers from Melbourne, Australia, were determined to give their children the gift of an international education, and attended a recruitment fair in Melbourne to help make sense of their options.

“It felt like cramming six months’ worth of emotions into three days,” they wrote of their experience of the recruitment fair in their blog.

“Literally having to get our heads around the possibilities of living in approximately 20 different countries and how each would impact on our kids, then finding out where the goalposts truly sat and finally investing enough of ourselves emotionally to potentially commit to three different cities.”

Arj, once an international student himself, became intrigued by teaching overseas after chatting with an American he met during a professional development course.

“He was teaching in Singapore and literally implored me to take my family overseas. He spoke about ‘cattle calls’ (i.e. job fairs) which took place all over the world, where hundreds of teachers take their chances in a speed-dating scenario to try to land a job.”

Over the four days of the fair, candidates hear talks from a number of school leaders and other

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experts in various fields who will help them land the job they want, or prepare them for what lies ahead. From senior administration staff providing an overview of what it’s like to work and live internationally, to advice about tax investments and how to impress in interviews, candidates can be assured they’ll be equipped to make a fully informed decision.

After the information presentations, the signup session begins, where candidates request to interview with recruiters. This is where the “speed dating” part comes in as teachers have to “sell themselves” in around five minutes in order to score an interview later. For Arj and Kate, they decided to tackle the lines separately so they could make as many interview times as possible.

The lines could be as many as five to 50 people deep to speak with a recruiter. Because one of their preferred schools had a queue of about 50 people, they chose to skip it altogether to speak to other, more available, recruiters.

Arj and Kate attended their interviews over the next day and a half, often skipping meals and breaks. By day 3, they had attended 12 live interviews, two Skype sessions, two follow up interviews to review contracts, and a cocktail reception for all recruiters and candidates.

Recruiters often took the time to meet with candidates to chat and offer advice even though they didn’t have openings. When recruiters meet a star candidate, they often follow that candidate’s progress over the years, hoping to finally make a match for them at their school.

Arj captures the chemistry between candidate and recruiter in his blog: “The most compelling part of each presentation was the feel we got from the presenter... the sense of humanity conveyed by the director, or principal, or deputy head from each school. And I guess each of us candidates felt that there were ‘kindred spirits’ with whom we would like to work... They were all impressive... some intimidating and ultraprofessional, some you wanted to go to the pub with and some who reminded you of a close friend or relative.”

Nick Kendell from Search Associates describes his team’s role in the process as that of a filter – helping teachers to identify what’s important to them and to narrow down their options.

“I love seeing their excitement when a decision has been made and they say ‘yes’ to an offer from an international school – it is a really rewarding few days.”

Teach International You can choose to ‘cold call’ schools yourself, but be aware that you will go into the pool with thousands of other teachers. Recruiters at international schools are usually the Head of School. They often don’t get time to read resumés thoroughly and appreciate using a company that screens teachers and prepares them for life overseas. Talk to as many people as you can for personal recommendations and to bounce ideas off others. A contact already overseas will offer invaluable information.

Attend an information event or recruiting fair.

Teaching in an international school is one of the best-kept secrets in the teaching profession. Some teachers take their first position abroad thinking that it will be their last. However, once started on the ‘international circuit’ many teachers make international education an extended career choice for the excitement, discovery and fulfilment offered.

Consequently, competition is fierce. Researching the best way to apply for these positions yourself and attending an information seminar means that you can find out what schools abroad really want in a teacher. For example, teaching couples with more than two children find it difficult to be placed as tuition, accommodation, flights and medical insurance are provided for the whole family. Also there are different requirements for some countries to issue visas, and marital status, qualifications, criminal convictions, etc. are all important considerations. Recruiting fairs are a great way to find out more about schools and living overseas as each school runs a 30-minute presentation. Heads of School are available to meet with and jobs are often offered on the spot.

Seek the advice of a reputable financial advisor.

It’s preferable to find an advisor who has experience with expat taxation issues. Prior knowledge can save you thousands of dollars when it comes to learning about taxation as a resident/non-resident, impacting on your earnings within the country and maximising the savings you make whilst overseas.

Being proactive in preparing for a career teaching internationally can be a daunting task, but it is the chance of a lifetime to immerse yourself in a new country and a new culture, to see new places, learn new things and reinvent yourself.

Nick Kendell is director of Search Associates Australia and New Zealand, the largest international teacher recruitment company in the world. He will be delivering information seminars in Christchurch on Thursday 16 July and in Auckland on Saturday 18 July.

”Teaching in an international school is one of the bestkept secrets in the teaching profession.”

Health education

What’s Happening to U?

– making sense of puberty education Teacher Toni Ferens helps align puberty education resources with The New Zealand Curriculum and classroom teaching.

O

ver the past five years, the team at health and hygiene products company KimberlyClark New Zealand has worked with experienced teachers to create engaging, interactive teaching materials for health and physical education (HPE) teachers who are developing puberty education lesson content in New Zealand and Australian schools.

Called What’s Happening to U? and created for classes of girls and boys, this complimentary resource pack covers ‘Changes to your Body’, ‘Menstruation’ and ‘Social and Emotional Changes’. It is designed to allow teachers to choose or combine their own teaching with the loose-leaf sheets of suggested lesson outlines, class activities, myths and quizzes, along with video files, readymade PowerPoint presentations and an offer of student education packs containing feminine hygiene product samples and a puberty guide packaged in a clutch purse for the girls in the class.

New developments

This year, the U by Kotex® Products team at Kimberly-Clark, led by Julie McNae, have taken another step forward with the development of the materials.

They wanted to understand more about how New Zealand teachers see the kit, where it sits most appropriately inside The New Zealand Curriculum, and how it best supports classroom teaching, so they consulted with Toni Ferens, teacher in charge of health education at Takapuna Grammar School in Auckland and dean of year 10.

Always willing to help companies provide schools with relevant and useful materials, Ferens explained that the kit was best suited for year 7 and 8 teaching and learning, but could also be offered to year 5 and 6 and year 9 HPE teachers.

Ferens rated the kit’s introductory video highly as it spoke about body changes for boys and girls “honestly and in their language”. She suggested that New Zealand teachers would integrate

“New Zealand teachers do a great job helping students ease the transition into puberty and periods, and we value the opportunity to support them…”

the material with the Hauora or the Whare Tapa Whā model of wellbeing and integrate it into The New Zealand Curriculum with discussion in class around mental, emotional, social and spiritual, along with physical, changes experienced during puberty.

Julie McNae says Feren’s input has been invaluable.

“Each year we receive positive feedback from teachers who use our resources and it's great this year to have Toni's input, giving us a clear understanding of how they will best dovetail with the New Zealand health curriculum in class.

New Zealand teachers do a great job helping students ease the transition into puberty and periods, and we value the opportunity to support them in this way.”

New Zealand teachers can order their free resource pack at www.ubykotex.co.nz. Just click on ‘Teachers’.

® Registered Trademark Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. © 2015 KCWW

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Professional learning

The fast-paced world of education

(and how to keep up)

E

Australia’s most innovative educator, Jenny Lewis, says that while shared best practice is useful in the pursuit of quality education provision, the local context must be taken into account. By JUDE BARBACK.

very country wants to increase its levels of student achievement. What is not always so clear, is how to do it.

We are in the throes of a period of great change – one in which the skills needed for an industrial age are being replaced with those needed for workplaces of the 21st century, skills that require critical and reflective thinking, creativity and collaboration.

At times of such change, education can suffer something akin to paralysis as educators scramble for the right approach to curriculum, the most appropriate form of assessment, and how to balance all this with rapidly changing technology.

Jenny Lewis, new regional CEO for global education professional learning organisation

Yet, it is her time as teacher and principal of Noumea Primary School, a low socio-economic school in New South Wales, of which she speaks most passionately.

It was at Noumea Primary School that she, along with a team of “amazing” teachers, built a professional learning model that enabled its students, many the children of fifth-generation unemployed parents, to feel safe and realise they were active and capable learners.

The model included individual and collective ‘visioning’ for the school, a process which identified that traditional standardised testing wasn’t adding any real value and was therefore replaced with daily teacher judgements of student evidence, which proved to be a far more useful measure of

“There is a whole new blanket of learning that looks beyond a curriculum environment … it is time to draw [21st century skills] into sharper focus.”

Solution Tree, believes progress is being made with aspects like assessment, curriculum focus, and how technology can assist learning.

“It’s been quick, the pick-up of technology, but what hasn’t always been as clear is how it assists with learning,” says Lewis.

However, she believes this is changing and points to recent research by Michael Fullan and Geoff Scott as an example of how technology is starting to find a more embedded place within education. The paper discusses the way new pedagogies or “powerful new learning modes steeped in real world problem solving” are conducive to rapid developments in the use of technology for interactive learning.

Lewis also points out that New Zealand’s curriculum, like others, has already outlined the competencies we need; however, until recently there has been more emphasis on treating these competencies as processes, rather than outcomes.

She also thinks we are getting better at assessing critical learning skills, with new ways of assessing collaboration and critical thinking.

Blueprint for transformation

Lewis is well placed to offer such insights. Her resumé boasts a large number of prestigious positions and accolades are many and varied, including a plethora of fellowships, awards and directorships held in and beyond Australia. She was also listed as one of the top one hundred most creative and innovative people in Australia by Bulletin magazine.

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student progress. To support the school’s vision of a more evidenced-based approach to pedagogy, the school sought to better align its organisational values, addressing leadership models, resource allocation, and student grouping. Through a process of gathering and analysing data, and applying this to further strategy and innovation, the school underwent a significant transformation.

Once identified as a “school at significant risk”, Noumea Primary School’s efforts were recognised at a national level, receiving two National Quality Teaching Awards.

Lewis credits much of her success with leading the school’s transformation to being able to coteach during her leadership of the school.

“It gave the opportunity to lead with and learn with others about leading a school with huge challenges.”

Lewis’ experience at Noumea School provides an excellent case study for one school’s transformation; however, she cautions that what may work for one school, may not necessarily work for another, particularly for schools with different socio-economic, cultural and political factors.

“Context and policy are really important,” she says. “Every education system wants to see an increase in student achievement, but how to get there is the key.”

Aligning education with economic need

Lewis believes an understanding of the relevant economic and social needs is critical in determining the focus of an education system.

“There is a whole new blanket of learning that looks beyond a curriculum environment. Many countries, particularly New Zealand and Australia, have drawn attention to the oft-called ‘21st century skills’, but it is time to draw them into sharper focus.”

To this end, Lewis thinks there needs to be stronger collaboration between educators and business leaders.

She gives the example of mining, and says business councils in Australia have admitted they should have been clearer that there was going to be a mining boom in Australia, allowing schools to better prepare students for the eventuality of working in that industry.

Meanwhile other countries are aligning their education systems with predicted skills gaps in their workforces. India, for example, is placing greater emphasis on science and technology in its education system. Canada is taking a strong focus on entrepreneurship.

PricewaterhouseCoopers recently released a ‘World in 2050’ report that indicates that Australia is at risk of losing its G20 status unless politicians and business leaders start looking long-term and investing in education, particularly the STEM subjects. The report estimates Australia will slip from 19th place in 2014 to 29th by 2050 in global economic rankings, while countries including Bangladesh, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand are predicted to surpass Australia, and India will challenge the US for second place.

Lewis says while it is important to observe and learn from other countries, we shouldn’t be too quick to overlook what is under our noses.

“Due to our isolation we’ve become adept at learning best practices from other countries,” she says, “But New Zealand and Australia have some of the best research and investigative practices in the world.

“We are quick to pay for other educators from overseas to come in, and sometimes that is absolutely the right thing to do. But we need to be better at selling ourselves.”

In her new position with Solution Tree, Lewis’ remit will span the Asia-Pacific region, enabling her to work across different education systems.

“Amongst the current reforms occurring in the Asia-Pacific education system, there are exciting developments and explorations into ‘what works’ for different contexts. Policymakers and educators need to nurture these innovative reforms,” she says.

“To ensure quality education for each and every student has been the focus of my career and I look forward to continuing to assist schools and systems to improve both school and student achievement at Solution Tree.”

Feed the world Protect the future Live well The world is at a crossroads. A rapidly growing global population is putting increasing strain on food production and security, environmental management and sustainability, and redefining business and lifestyle.

We need to find solutions for these pressing problems; our future depends on it.

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LEarn thE nZ rOaD CODE

FOr FrEE On pathways awarua

The NZ road code pathway is a new addition to Pathways Awarua, the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC) online literacy and numeracy resource.

The addition is intended to help any adult learner prepare for driver licensing while strengthening their literacy and numeracy in an applied context Visit www.pathwaysawarua.com

Pathways Awarua is an online digital learning tool funded by the Tertiary Education Commission