2011 - Term 3 - Good Teacher Magazine by Good Teacher Magazine

Term Three 2011

“The best teachers don’t give you the answers... They just point the way ... Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 1 and let you make your own choices.”

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Index

Your Soapbox

David Farrar

Traditional way of solving a problem (Guest post)

Bruce Hammonds

You think English is easy?

Obituary from London Times

Free Thought

Learning with the International Primary Currirulum

Spotting Māori Leadership Potential

Elaine Le Sueur

Regenerating the Academic Workforce

ACER

Assessment revisited

Laurie Loper

Think World Conference - think New Zealand

Curriculum, Connections, Contexts... Still Pulling it all together

Lucy Literacy...

There is no such thing as leadership

Wes Balda

Tangaroa’s amazing voyage

NIWA

Don’t just tell them... SHOW them!

Michelle LaBrosse

Summer/Winter Solstice

Tiz

New Lifeforms with Theo Jansen

Free to Be... Not Anymore

Marlo Thomas

Think World Conference - think New Zealand

Roger’s Rant

Education Resource Centre

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Cover Picture: Trees after torrential rain still manage to look majestic. Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 3

Your Soapbox!

“

Digital Natives via Kiwiblog by David Farrar on 6/9/11 A good column at the NZ Computer Society by Brenda Leeuwenberg on being a digital native: We’re a privileged generation, those of us in the 30-50 or so age range. While we were alert and ready to learn, we got relatively easy access to personal computers, the internet emerged and invaded our lives, and a whole new suite of skills and job opportunities appeared almost overnight. We have been riding that wave, developing our skills and exploring the opportunities of technology with open and flexible minds. We have been alert to the need to know a bit about how things work, to accept that things are sometimes not quite perfect, and that sites/phones/computers do crash. We are sufficiently in the zone to remember rotary dial phones, records and record-players, typewriters and hand-writing essays for school. We remember schools, universities and workplaces without computers. Accordingly we appreciate so much the opportunities afforded to us by the technological advances of the last 25 years or so. This is so true. I learnt to type on a typewriter. I recall working in Parliament when parties did not have websites (in fact I created National’s first website). I remember when parliamentary researchers subscribed to dozens of overseas journals and magazines to keep on top of their portfolios. And I remember how fax machines were the main joke distribution mechanism. But I’d like to challenge the concept of the ‘digital natives’ – those children of our generation who have grown up with computers, internet, iPhones, and all the technological advances we have seen happen. We hear that they are shaping the future (and no doubt they are), we hear that they are so lucky they just ‘get’ technology. But actually I don’t think they do. I think they ‘have’ technology but they don’t necessarily ‘get’ it. They don’t know how it works, they don’t appreciate where it’s come from, they don’t get why it’s amazing – for them it’s just there and theirs to use. And actually that is a problem, because these ‘digital natives’ don’t follow instructions, read manuals or use navigational tools. They favour the technology for short bursts of activity, instant gratification and no-understanding-required interfaces. They have the attention span of a flea and the sense of entitlement and inherent ‘rightness’ that comes with being a teenager. They can create entire worlds or slaughter armies on the Playstation, but frequently can’t file or find documents on the hard-drive. They can draw elaborate pictures on the screen or with a mouse, but they can’t type. They get frustrated with the iPhone because it makes them spell words properly (true story!) so they look naff in the face of their badly spelled txt spk peers. Again I agree that those of us who grew up without the Internet and associated technologies, appreciate it the more for that.

”

If you want to haveYOUR SAY please email your offering to: soapbox@goodteacher.co.nz

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Traditional way of solving a problem

Bruce Hammonds Independent Education Adviser

SUNDAY, JULY 03, 2011http://leading-learning.blogspot.com/ Guest Post by Allan Alach on the ‘bigger picture’ behind standards!

Traditional way of solving a problem - but what do you really know about National’s Standards? As the furore over the MOE imposed July 1st charter deadline passes, we need to be mindful that there’s a much bigger picture and not be distracted by the debate over competence in the ‘basics.” Of course all children need to ‘achieve’ in these. No dispute. Engaging in debates at this level obscures the need to lift our heads to see where the game is heading. Regular readers of this blog will know that Bruce has been very passionate and articulate in attacking national standards. This week’s guest blog from Phil Cullen in Australia expressed very similar concerns about the situation in Australia. Are these similarities just coincidental? What about the similarities between government policies here and in England and the USA? Coincidence also? Read what Lester Flockton writes in the latest New ZealandPrincipal magazine: “Is it a coincidence that the ‘bold’ new frontline strategy being ‘rolled out’ has very strong resemblances to the strategy advocated by the UK-based McKinsey & Co., and particularly its chief strategist Sir Michael Barber - one time adviser to Tony Blair? We know for a FACT that the strategy for system improvement hasn’t succeeded in remedying their tail of underachievement. So why, in all sensibility, would we want to follow such a model here?” Why indeed? Very good question, Lester. I do wonder whether the full extent of the probable agenda is understood by the majority of principals, teachers and parents in New Zealand schools, even though there is no shortage of information, nationally and internationally, that points the way. Why are people seemingly blasé about this? “She’ll be right, mate” Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 5

The government has been and still is being extremely clever with the introduction of the standards. This process has veryneatly drawn attention away from their longer term agenda, with all the focus at the moment being on that 1st July charter deadline. The New Zealand Curriculum (remember this?) has, as one of its themes, the development of inquiry learning. So, in the spirit of the New Zealand Curriculum, let’s look at the whole national standards situation, using our inquiry learning skills. Reflect on these: •

Why is the government ignoring the very wide range of national and international educational experts who are articulating the need for an educational system that will meet the needs of the 21st century?

• Why is it that standards based systems have been introduced into the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ countries (England, Australia, USA, Canadaand New Zealand)? Why is the rhetoric to justify this very similar in each country, and especially so in USA states with a Republican Governor? What do American parents think? Parents Across America • Why do non-educators, especially politicians and business people (Bill Gates), profess to be experts in education and know all the answers? •

•

Quality Teaching and Learning Bruce Hammonds has revised and added to his previous resources to develop a new 240 page book ’Quality Teaching and Learning’. In this new book Bruce shares the practical ideas gained from creative teachers he has worked over the years. Also included are ideas and quotes from educationalists that contribute to what Bruce calls ‘A More Informed Vision for the 21stC’. Simply this is a book that values the ‘artistry’ of classroom teachers and the need for students to ‘do fewer things well’. The ideas in the book align well with the intent of the New Zealand Curriculum.

How come the ‘common core standards’ in the USA are similar to our national standards? Concerns about core standards.Why are we playing the ‘me too’ game in introducing standards, to the incredulity of experts such as Andy Hargreaves? Why is everything being based on the scores in the PISA tests, when there are increasing numbers of experts, such asStephenHeppell in the UK (http:// heppell.net/pisa/) and Diane Ravitch in USA (http:// tinyurl.com/pisa-ravitch) pointing out the flaws in these? How valid are the rankings when Shanghai is listed as number one? Just Shanghai? What about the rest of China?

• Why is the emphasis being placed on the PISA test, to the exclusion of other data? Who defined the PISA test as the key indicator of educational performance? What does Ravitch say? “The lesson of PISA is this: Neither of the world’s highestperforming nations do what our “reformers” want to do. How long will it take before our political leaders begin to listen to educators? How long will it take before they realize that their strategies have not worked anywhere? How long will it be before they stop inflicting their bad ideas on our schools, our students, our teachers, and American education?” Indeed. More here: http://larryferlazzo.edublogs. org/2010/12/08/the-best-sites-for-learning-the-truth-aboutinternational-test-comparison-demagoguery/ • Why is the McKinsey report “How the world’s most improved school systems keep getting better?” being used to justify school reform? Who engaged them to be the experts? •

Why doesn’t the government acknowledge that according to the PISA data, NZ’s primary school education spending per head is amongst the lowest in the ‘developed world’? On a ‘bang per buck’ model, New Zealand has the best results.

•

Why doesn’t the government chose to publicise the 2009 PISA results that has New Zealand statistically near the top of the rankings in every test? Hardly the sign of a failing system?What about this scale, which has New Zealand at the top?

To order book

• Why doesn’t the government acknowledge that the countries who have instituted standards based systems are below New Zealand’s ranking on the PISA results? •

•

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Why is the government completely ignoring all the national and international evidence that standards a) don’t work and b) will be harmful to children? There is well documented researchquerying the focus on standards and testing, so why press ahead? Why is the government disregarding the increasing concern from overseas about the narrowing of the curriculum , the increasing emphasis on the 3Rs (Seymour Papert: “Obsolete Skill Set: The 3 Rs”,) to the detriment of the arts and the creative development

of the whole child? Sir Ken Robinson: “A Baffling Detour to the 19th Century”

even though research shows that their achievement levels are no better. Strange, that.

• Why is the government ignoring the evidence that the most successful school system is Finland and that the Finnish approach is the complete opposite to a standards based system? Singapore is moving towards the Finnish model while we are moving the opposite way.

If you want to know more (and you really should), follow Diane Ravitch (www.dianeravitch.com) who is articulating the anti-testing/anti-standards campaign in the USA. Joe Bower in Canada (www.joebower.org) and Warwick Mansell in England (www.educationbynumbers.org.uk) also have much to contribute. There are many, many others.

•

And so the trail has led back to New Zealand, starting with national standards that will result in league tables (the Minister has now admitted this) and the identification of “good” schools and ‘poor” schools, who are ‘under-serving’ students. “Under-serving”? Where did that emotive jargon originate? Why do we buy into all the political jargon? Really - what does ‘raising achievement’ actually mean? Let’s debunk the jargon.

Why is the government not acknowledging the national and international research about socio-economic effects being the major influence on learning?

If the politicians were as concerned as they profess to be about the educational development of NZ children, then surely it would be logical to take note of the evidence and expert opinions? The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that any talk about the children’s learning is political rhetoric and that there has to be more to this. And there is, and it’s not hard to find. The first agenda is naked politics in all its dubious glory. The aim of any political party is to be elected in the first place, and to stay in power for as long as possible. One not particularly savoury aspect of this is the appeal to the baser instincts of the voters. In the case of education, it is being done through targeting parents’ fears that their children may not make the grade, hence the inaccurate “1 in 5” are failing. Extending this political fear-mongering further, if 1 in 5 children are failing, then that means that significant numbers of schools can be accused of not doing the job. I can hear the political rhetoric already. “Is your child in a ‘good’ school? How do you know? We will set up league tables to identify ‘good’ and ‘bad’ schools. We will use ‘data’ to identify and reward ‘good’ and to get rid of ‘bad’ teachers.” And so on… Couldn’t possibly happen? Just have a look at the USA. What do we find? Attacks on the teacher unions… Teachers losing ‘tenure’ if their test results are not good enough. Value added teacher appraisal. The worst example of all: The Los Angeles Times published the test history of all teachers over the past five year period, to identify the best/ worst teachers. Look closer to home - fancy working in Australian schools under their NAPLAN testing regime? Australian Education Minister Peter Garrett (one time lead singer of rock band Midnight Oil, who sang protest songs about uranium mining and Aboriginal land rights - figure this change of ideology) is promoting teacher performance pay against NAPLAN test results. Why do politicians keep promoting performance pay for teachers, even though in practice this is unworkable and also flies in the face of research evidence? Maybe they should all read Daniel Pink’s book “Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us”? Or what about this research “Giving Teachers Bonuses for Student Achievement Undermines Student Learning, Study Finds”

Socio-economic indicators suggest a high correlation between decile rating and achievement against standards. Where does this lead? Students in higher decile schools are likely to have much more educational ‘space’ to explore a richer curriculum. As the converse is more likely for students in lower decile schools who may struggle to achieve the ‘standard’, this risks increasing the gaps between the “haves’ and ‘have nots’ even further. Read Alfie Kohn: “How school reform damages poor children.” and also this: “We know what it takes to help disadvantaged students do well, and we know what it takes to almost guarantee their failure. We know the reforms our students need—the really hard ones that are politically tough and not always popular. Let’s hope that when all the pretend reforms go away, at least a handful of good schools survive. After the sea change, when the tide goes out, perhaps a few beacons of hope will remain on the beach” (Carol Corbett Burris, the principal of South Side High School in New York. She was named the 2010 New York State Outstanding Educator by the School Administrators Association of New York State.) So the question needs to be posed? What is the government’s longer term agenda for New Zealand schooling, especially in light of the clear links to, and following in the footsteps of, developments overseas? Vouchers? Corporatisation of New Zealand schooling? This would be consistent with other government policies and rhetoric, and so there’s no reason to suppose that education would be an exception. Maybe we could start with private ownership of the buildings? Oh, that’s already happening... As the saying goes, “If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, then it’s a duck.” Quack.

Is there a bigger agenda yet? I believe there is. Once again, looking at the English and USA examples, we find that ‘failing’ schools are closed, and replaced by Academy and Free schools in England, and charter schools in the USA - all supposedly to better reflect community wishes. What happens? Vouchers in some states. Selective enrolment (‘good’ children only please), site based employment (no ‘nasty’ unions) and the opportunities for businesses to use schools as profit making enterprises,

With thanks to Donald Duck Wallpapers and Walt Disney Corporation

Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 7

You think English is easy? 1 The bandage was wound around the wound. 2 The farm was used to produce produce . 3 The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. 4 We must polish the Polish furniture. 5 He could lead if he would get the lead out. 6 The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. 7 Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present .

language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which, an alarm goes off by going on.

8 A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of the human race, which, of course, is not a race at all. That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

9 When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

PS. - Why doesn’t ‘Buick’ rhyme with ‘quick’ ?

10 I did not object to the object.

You lovers of the English language might enjoy this ...

11 The insurance was invalid for the invalid. 12 There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row. 13 They were too close to the door to close it. 14 The buck does funny things when the does are present. 15 A seamstress and a sewer fell down into a sewer line.. 16 To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow. 17 The wind was too strong to wind the sail. 18 Upon seeing the tear in the painting I shed a tear. 19 I had to subject the subject to a series of tests. 20 How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend? 21 I read the book with the red cover and it turned out to be a good read Let’s face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren’t invented in England or French fries in France . Sweetmeats are candies while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig. And why is it that writers write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth, beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So one moose, 2 meese? One index, 2 indices? Doesn’t it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend? If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them, what do you call it? If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat? Sometimes I think all the English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what 8 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is ‘UP.’ ]It’s easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP ? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP ? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report ? We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver; we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special. A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don’t give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP... When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. When it doesn’t rain for awhile, things dry UP. One could go on and on, but I’ll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so........it is time to shut UP! Now it’s UP to you what you do with this information!

An Obituary printed in the London Times Interesting and sadly rather true “Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend. Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. Noone knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: - Knowing when to come in out of the rain; - Why the early bird gets the worm; - Life isn’t always fair; - and Maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are incharge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when wellintentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a

student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers;

I Know My Rights

I Want It Now

Someone Else Is To Blame

I’m A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.”

Free Thought The Otago Daily Times ran this column from Year 13 student Sarah Mosley: Political correctness. Is it a well-meaning initiative, or an attempt to undermine our laid-back way of life? No more can we have policemen and firemen. We must be non-gender specific, and don’t even think about mentioning religion or race. The world is going into PC overdrive. … Political correctness in New Zealand is on a smaller scale compared to the madness in the United Kingdom. A chief constable refused to release pictures of two escaped murderers because it might breach their privacy. What about the victim? New Zealand hasn’t completely escaped though. The PC fog is sneaking down the country. Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital has removed the crucifix from the hospital’s chapel, oh, sorry, I mean the spiritual centre. How much comfort will patients or visitors find in an empty room, devoid of any of the religious symbols that they have come to expect? …

The Eskimo lolly is one of our country’s favourites. Last year, there was a lot of publicity about them. The large majority of us have all eaten at least one, if not 50. Apparently that makes us cannibalistic, Inuit-hating people. Get real. Most of the time they’re processed so badly that you can’t tell what they are anyway. … Political correctness is a crazy plan to stop human beings doing what we were designed to do – think for ourselves. To stop this dangerous trend we need to stand up for what we believe in and think for ourselves. Keep a sense of humour and stop small-minded people ruining our lives. These PC trends are sneaking in all over the world. Society is at risk of being destroyed. We need to unite, burn those risk management plans, buy a big bag of Eskimos, and take responsibility for our own actions. Hear hear. Well said Sarah.

Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 9

Learning.... with the Interna It has always been important for children to receive a great education. In the challenging global, interdependent world of the 21st century it is more important than ever before. But it’s also more difficult than ever. In the same way that far fewer children play football because there are so many other competing things for them to do, so it’s far harder to help young children learn in school when other parts of their lives can seem so much more attractive, and when so many children are in homes – professional and non-professional – where time for parents to be attentive to their children is at a premium. This is the paradox we inhabit. The need is great and, at the same time, the opposing forces are more powerful than they’ve ever been.

Getting a primary curriculum right is more difficult today than it’s ever been because it has to meet multiple goals. Of all those goals, the most essential ones are: Rigorous learning: Paying attention to essential and transformational knowledge, to the development of key skills, and to the slow, steady progress towards deep understanding across a broad range of subjects. •

High levels of children’s engagement: Making sure that this rigorous learning can win the battle against superficially more exciting out-of-school activities so that a) children enjoy it and stick to it and b) come to like learning enough to want to continue throughout their lives. And incorporating easy, accessible opportunities for parents to get involved in order to encourage and support their kids.

•

International, global and intercultural awareness: So many of our problems at local and global level are caused by different groups not knowing or respecting each other. So many of the key problems we face today will only be solved through local and global cooperation. So many of the opportunities open to our current generation of children will be in countries and cultures different from the one in which they are growing up.

•

The development of personal dispositions: Creating opportunities for children to develop qualities that will help them on their journey through life as individuals, citizens and partners. Qualities such as adaptability, morality, respect, resilience, enquiry, cooperation, communication and thoughtfulness.

•

Supporting teachers: Providing teachers with everything they might need to make the curriculum work to its very best for every single child.

•

Supporting schools: Providing all that a school requires to be confident in delivering good practice

A curriculum that thoroughly meets each one of these priority areas is not an easy trick to pull off. But feedback from schools, parents, teachers, children, inspectors and authorities tells us that one curriculum – the International Primary Curriculum – is well on the way. 10 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

ational Primary Curriculum If that’s the case, how does the International Primary Curriculum (IPC) ensure rigorous learning? What does a high level of engagement mean in IPC practice? What about the development of personal dispositions? And what is it about the IPC that has gained the commitment of over 1,300 schools in over 63 countries around the world in just ten years?

as the hook, the learning platform and the ‘wrapping paper’ in order to excite and engage children.

Engaging Children

Within each theme, the IPC suggests many ideas for collaborative learning, for active learning, for learning outside the classroom, for role play, and for children learning from each other. “All these approaches are crucial factors affecting engagement,” says Director of the IPC, Steven Mark. “Teamwork with a purpose, where every person plays a vital but different role, enables children to become deeply engaged in their learning, especially when

Well, for a start, we all know that children learn best when they want to learn. That’s why the IPC has over 80 different thematic units of learning; all child-friendly, modern-day topics appealing to all ages of primary children. Themes such as Time Detectives, Airports, I’m Alive, Inventions and Machines and Global Swapshop. Teachers use the theme

The theme enables young children to remain motivated through the learning of science, geography, history and so on. It also allows them to make purposeful links and connections throughout their learning and to see how their subject learning is related to the world they live in.

Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 11

that learning is relevant to their interests and needs. At the same time, there’s a huge flow of knowledge and many skills are practised and developed.” For example, in the IPC Rainforest unit children, through role play, debate the impact of slash and burn from all perspectives; from those of the indigenous forest dwellers to the prospectors. “This is something that we have continually prioritised and developed within the IPC,” continues Steven. “Child-friendly themes involving issues relevant for today’s children and creating opportunities for them to make their own choices in the progress of their learning. As a result, the learning becomes inspiring and fulfilling for them.” The IPC’s engaging approach also encourages parental involvement as children, inspired by their learning, talk freely to parents and family members about what they’ve done at school and often choose to continue their learning at home. Parental involvement is also promoted through learning-focused letters, extended learning ideas, and end of unit ‘Exit Point’ events.

Rigorous Learning Each IPC unit incorporates most of the core subjects including science, history, geography, ICT, Art and PE and

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provides many opportunities to incorporate literacy and numeracy. Subjects are only included into each theme if there is a direct link between the required learning and the ideas behind the theme. Each subject then has a number of learning tasks to help teachers to help their children meet a range of learning goals set out in the curriculum. Take, for example, the IPC Chocolate unit. In history, children explore the discovery of chocolate, the period it was discovered, the motivation for discovery and the changing attitude to chocolate through the ages. In geography they look at the countries that grow cacao and how particular localities have been affected by its production and by slash and burn. They look at the links between countries that grow cacao and countries that produce chocolate. In art children look at how chocolate is sold and how packaging is designed. In science, children use the Chocolate unit to look at the energy values in foodstuff and to explore the effects of heating and cooling. The IPC learning goals are deliberately explicit; designed to make sure that teachers distinguish clearly between children’s learning of knowledge, skills and understanding. IPC Director, Steven Mark points out that knowledge, skills and understanding may all be examples of learning but that each is learned differently, assessed differently and, therefore, IPC believes, should be taught differently. “There is absolutely no point in talking about rigorous learning if we don’t make explicitly clear the nature and implications of the learning we want children to achieve,” says Steven. So each IPC unit has a detailed teaching framework incorporating very explicit skills. “As skills take time to develop, children need to have the chance to continually revisit and practise these key skills,” he explains. “To develop these skills, individuals need context and purpose. Which is why the IPC suggests real life, practical learning experiences to help them. All our units encourage children to work individually and together towards learning goals. It’s important that children can see that they are still learning skills found in history and geography but set in the context of the big picture theme.”

Intercultural Awareness Each IPC unit has embedded within it, learning-focused activities that help young children start developing a global awareness and gain an increasing sense of the ‘other’. Every unit creates opportunities to look at learning of the theme through a local perspective, a national perspective and an international perspective. With schools in over 63 countries learning with the IPC, opportunities abound for children to share their local experiences related to an IPC unit with children in dramatically different environments. Take the children at the International School of Iceland last year, who shared their first-hand experiences of the erupting Eyjafjallajökull volcano with their IPC friends around the world learning with the IPC Active Planet unit. These children have listened to, communicated with and learned from each other in a real world context. Developing Personal Dispositions The personal dispositions we form as individuals do not come from reading about them in a book or discovering them spontaneously. But rather, they are established over time with constant use and that’s how the IPC views children’s learning of personal skills. So instead of ‘add-on’ lessons about such elusive personal skills as morality or respect, the opportunities to experience and practise very specific personal dispositions are built into the learning tasks within each thematic unit. In addition, many of these tasks are group activities which encourage children to

consider each others’ ideas and opinions, share responsibilities, respect other people’s views and communicate effectively. For example, in the IPC Water unit, a group of children have to make a water turbine. They start by creating if from cardboard and, through their own research and development - along with gentle guidance from the teacher - work out how to improve their design to make it more resilient and effective. Not only are they learning about the power of water, but at the same time these children are developing the skills of cooperation, enquiry, communication and adaptability. Supporting Teachers Each IPC unit has a very structured yet flexible teaching framework providing teachers with a series of learning tasks. These are designed to achieve the learning goals through creative, meaningful and memorable learning activities that appeal to all learning styles and are relevant for all children of all abilities. In addition, these learning tasks have been carefully designed to help children build upon their development of individual skills from previous IPC units. However, the learning tasks are purely a guide and provide plenty of scope for creative teaching, personalisation to the class and the locality, and development on the theme. For UK and British international schools, the IPC learning goals are cross-referenced to meet the National Curriculum guidelines of England, assuring teachers that their children are learning in a rigorous as well as engaging, creative and relevant way. Cross-reference

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documents are also available for Welsh and Dutch schools and one is underway for Scottish schools too.

Supporting Schools The IPC was originally designed purely as a curriculum. But ten years of growth and development have resulted in a vibrant, global IPC community of over 1,300 schools in over 63 countries as diverse as Swaziland, Malaysia, Qatar, Japan, Russia and Brazil. In the UK the IPC community embraces almost 1,000 schools including state primaries plus academies, independent schools, special schools as well as several highly active Local Authorities. This provides a sharing of best-practice and minds encouraged through blogs, podcasting, conferences, summer schools and more, ensuring that no school, however remote, feels isolated.

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Measuring Success So what about the feedback from teachers, parents, inspectors and authorities? Headteacher Alex Butler of Hampstead Norreys Church of England Primary School in Berkshire, UK which was awarded Outstanding School of the Year in the 2009 League Tables of English Primary Schools sums up the feelings of many: “The IPC provides you with a very clear teaching framework to follow which we personalise to meet the needs of our children in our locality. Some people have said it’s an off-the-shelf option but that’s not true; there’s huge depth to the learning process, a real understanding of what ignites children’s interest, true expertise of community and internationalmindedness, a very careful balance of knowledge and skills in every unit, and some really creative ideas for

teaching and for learning with a flexibility to make it your own. Because of doing something quite innovative such as the IPC, everyone is watching you! Our success in the League Tables and the Ofsted inspection have proved to our Local Authority and to other schools that the IPC really is making a difference for us. It’s particularly down to the engagement and to the focus on learning.” In a quite different setting,Louise Grant, Principal of Elementary, SJI International School in Singapore says, “There is real depth to the IPC. The learning goals and the learning process are the real strengths of IPC. It does a great job of making the learning goals explicit so we all know where we’re heading for. And it takes us through a learning process that immediately engages children and helps them to see a purpose to what they’re learning,”

and in Norway, at the British School of Stavanger, Principal, Anne Howells says, “What a difference the IPC has made to the whole school! It not only meets the thematic, creative approach and develops thinking skills but it also focuses on discrete subjects, approaching them in a cross-curricular way which helps to create links between the subjects and, as a result, gives children purpose and meaning to their learning. We’ve seen such a change in the children. Now they are engaged in their learning, they’re switched on to learning, they are going home talking about their learning and this feeling is universal across the school; teachers included.” For more information about the IPC contact the IPC at +44-207-7531-9696 or visit: www.internationalprimarycurriculum.com

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Spotting Māori Leadership Po Leadership is a characteristic of many able students but the nuances of the term are recognised in different ways by different cultures. Most notable of these is the ability to motivate others in ways that result in positive outcomes. The Ministry of Education’s publication, Tū Rangatira- Māori medium educational leadership, is aimed at teachers but also provides clues to look for in our Maori students as they attempt to make sense of their place in the world realising their potential as Māori... That of a knowledge of their identity, being able to speak with a Māori voice and protecting Mäori cultural wealth for future generations. These qualities begin in the whanau as children participate in community activities. As a European educator, what follows in this article are my personal reflections and ideas based on readings and classroom experiences which are open to debate, in an attempt to stimulate dialogue within what I believe is a long overdue educational conversation. In her various writings on the subject, Bevan-Brown has provided a number of suggestions for supporting the maori concept of mana tangata (the power acquired by an individual according to personal ability and effort expended in developing the skills and knowledge needed) but cautions that the abilities and efforts specific to Mäori culture are unlikely to be seen in a school setting unless the learning

environment supports and values them. Traditionally teachers look for the student who leads by doing because talents are comparative. •

advanced practical and creative ability in some form of Mäori art/ craft or music such as carving, weaving, traditional waiata or haka

•

Display of advanced ability in Mäori games, pastimes and practices e.g. taiaha expertise

•

composition, delivery and/or response to a karanga, karakia, mihimihi or whaikörero that is appropriate to the occasion and the audience

Observation checklist items such as these are only a starting point because they focus on specific abilities or skills but they don’t take into account the human qualities that lift them into the realm of excellence within the cultural perspective. It is essential to have a basic knowledge or understanding of these abilities and skills but it is only through a cultural lens that we can begin to recognise and analyse the quality of what is being observed. A Maori view of giftedness is holistic and built on relationships. Kaua e rangiruatia te häpai o te hoe; e kore tö tätou waka e ü ki uta ‘Do not lift the paddle out of unison or our canoe will never reach the shore.’ This proverb serves to emphasise the importance of all working together to succeed in any joint project. (Tū Rangatira). The development of human qualities takes precedence over the narrower focus on ability. A Maori world view includes the importance of spirituality directly related to the concept of manaakitanga... that of selflessness and caring for the wellbeing of others that is born of the relationships between individual and his total environment. A school that supports the notion that the sum of the parts is greater than the contribution of each to the whole, would of necessity develop links with kaumatua in the local community and a consultative, multi dimensional approach. Caring for manuhiri (visitors) is an important aspect of the New Zealand way of life, and the tradition of hospitality matters a great deal to Mäori.(Cathcart, 2010). What opportunities are provided in your classroom / school to support the gifted Mäori student who... •

Shows respect for traditional Mäori values such as manaakitanga through actions?

•

Possesses a strong sense of Mäori identity and incorporates cultural content in many fields of endeavour?

As educators we all have a part to play in creating learning pathways that support the diverse abilities of learners. It would be a pity if the debate is reduced to the ability or inability to communicate in te reo Mäori or the scarcity of maori teachers when we can learn so much 16 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

otential

Elaine Le Sueur

from the culture and the way in which Maori support each other and facilitate successful networking opportunities for the benefit of all if given the opportunity to do so. I believe that every teacher in a New Zealand classroom should be encouraged to reflect on ways in which their practice could be improved, but without the willingness to focus on coming to grips with the basic understandings of a Mäori viewpoint, the learning environment is impoverished and at best is serving a small percentage of students while ignoring the wider implications of the power of relationship networking. Please don’t let this happen in your sphere of influence.

Reflection Continuum

1 I have little or no understanding of leadership from a Mäori perspective.

2 Consultation with the Maori community has led me to an increased understanding of a Maori perspective.

My understanding of Maori perspective of gifted leadership is developing but opportunities to lead in these areas are currently limited.

The culture of Maori students is understood and valued, and is reflected in all aspects of the learning environment

If you have placed yourself at the lower end of the continuum then what could you do to make a change ? Remember that if you always do what you have always done then you will always get what you have always got ! Change begins with doing something differently. What are the barriers to implementing your ideas for change ? How might they be overcome? What are the enablers ?

Further Readings Jill Bevan-Brown Providing a Culturally responsive environment for gifted Maori learners International Education Journal, 2005 6(2) 150-155. 2005 Rosemary Cathcart Thinking about Pakeha and Maori and gifted children REACH education. www.giftedreach.org.nz Mary Irvine Mapping the Journey : Putting Māori perspectives of giftedness into practice Otumoetai College Rangimarie Mahuika Maori gifted and talented education : A review of the Literature Retrieved from http://www.review. mai.ac.nz Ministry of Education Tū Rangatira: Mäori Medium Educational Leadership. Timu Niwa Maori Students with Special Abilities. Apex : NZ Journal of Gifted Education. Vol 11/12 No 1. Melinda Webber Identity and Whakapapa: A curriculum for the gifted Maori child.

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Dear Teacher, Visit my website and register for your FREE resource to use in your classroom with your able students. No strings attached. It is my thanks to you for taking action and following through on this flier. If you would like heaps more ideas and strategies for differentiating your lessons to meet the needs of these students, check out my new teacher manuals, available from www.thinkshop.org.nz

Check out the LSSNA (Le Sueur Student Needs Analysis) and the link to University on wheels for even more help. www.universityonwheels.org.nz Thank you for your interest. From Elaine

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Regenerating the Academic Workforce Results from the largest survey of Australian research students ever undertaken show that more than half of all research students in Australia plan to forge a career as an academic. However, the survey findings also reveal that the next wave of Australian academics feels their degree leaves them unprepared for teaching roles within universities. The National Research Student Survey (NRSS) was conducted in June 2010 across 38 of Australia’s 39 universities and attracted responses from almost 12 000 students currently enrolled in PhD or Masters by Research courses. The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) worked in collaboration with the Centre for the Study of Higher Education to conduct the survey on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Research students surveyed indicated that their degree will be effective in preparing them for academic research and publication, but will not be particularly effective in preparing them for the task of university teaching and the associated planning. ACER Higher Education Senior Research Fellow Dr Daniel Edwards said this suggests that the 54 per cent of research students who intend to go on to an academic career do not feel their degree prepares them for teaching roles within universities. Only 14 per cent of all research students surveyed report having participated in teaching training during their research degree. Among those with academic career ambitions, the figure is slightly higher at 16 per cent. Responses from university graduate education leaders to

the supplementary Institutional Survey indicate that training in university teaching is not currently a highly valued commodity in most institutional recruitment processes, and many universities prefer to offer such training once a new graduate has been appointed to an academic position. Edwards suggests that decisions among research students not to engage in training for university teaching may be based on their recognition of these facts. However, Edwards said that it is important to remember that many research students undertake university teaching work at some period while completing their degree. More than half (57.2 per cent) of the research students surveyed worked at a university at some point during their degree. Of this group, more than 70 per cent worked in a teaching capacity, such as a lecturer or tutor. “The findings of this survey provide important opportunities for examining the way that PhD programs are currently administered in Australia,” said Edwards. The full report, Regenerating the Academic Workforce: The careers, intentions and motivations of higher degree research students in Australia by Daniel Edwards, Emmaline Bexley and Sarah Richardson, is available from http://research.acer.edu.au/higher_education/23/

Summer’s Coming..... Term 4 GTM will be uploaded on October 25th Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 19

Assessment revisited Like all the practices that have grown up around learning, assessment has a history. From it’s Latin roots, it means to sit beside. The word itself has of recent times become a prominent part of the taxation lexicon, particular meanings being given to the words “assess” and “assessor”. Estimation is part of the tax assessor’s armoury and that also applies to teachers when they assess. Plenty of examples are to be seen in law courts of how problematic estimation is in the tax process. With the teaching and learning process – despite the absence of court cases – the situation’s no different, estimation is just as problematic here too.

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What that absence of court cases signifies, though, is that both estimation and judgement, are very well accepted parts of teacher assessment. The learning research findings of the late Graham Nuthall, though, make it evident that current assessment practice is in urgent need of a review. As it’s currently understood, assessment can’t ever be the vehicle of improved academic performance that governments and the Ministry of Education are banking on. Simply put, that’s because there’s the impossibleto-overlook matter of classroom learning being by nature “inherently inefficient” (Nuthall, 2001). While that situation persists there’s very little chance of being able to significantly improve academic performance across the board. By itself, assessment has no hope of being able make the learning process as efficient as it needs to be. The assumption underpinning assessment is that teachers have enough knowledge of their student’s learning to be able to make valid judgements about the performance of each one of them. That assumption is based on nothing more substantial than common sense that says of course teachers know both their students and their learning well enough to do this. As with many other myths that plague our understanding of learning, it’s been accepted for so long that assessment has become a mandatory part of what teachers are expected to do. In fact, teachers don’t know nearly as much about their students as they think they do, particularly about what their students know. For starters, all teachers employ a multi-tasking way of teaching that preoccupies them to the point where it prevents them from

being able to attend well enough to what’s going on in their classrooms, many missing up to 60 per cent (Nuthall, 2001). They also have no accurate, real-time idea of what individual students are making of what they’re being presented with. Individual students all have their own take on everything, especially any new topics, ideas, and concepts. All too often their understanding is a partial one, and all too often it is wrong. Depending on the size of class involved, any given student’s experience and/or understandings of the topic of study will be so different they’ll be unlike every other student’s, bar one or two (Nuthall, 2001). This really isn’t as surprising as it may at first seem. After all, every one of us evaluates new experience against what we’ve previously acquired. Few if any teachers would be aware of how unique this student learning experience is, and would find it hard to accommodate that in their assessments if they did. They’d be largely unaware that students multi-source information when learning in the classroom, selecting it from all sorts of places and people, including class mates in surreptitious communications (Nuthall, 2001). Thus the quality varies, depending on source, from the valid to the totally weird and wonderful. Any contrary information involved is given weight in accordance with the student’s perception of the authority of the person or place where it came from. They use this variously sourced information to validate, modify or reject that which is presented in class. What they really believe and/or understand therefore may not necessarily be revealed, for instance, in testing. Teachers would also be unaware that

Laurie Loper Psychologist there’s a major, and only very recently discovered rule that affects whether new topics, ideas or concepts have been properly absorbed – the full information three times at two day’s interval rule (Nuthall, 2001). Unless the full information is experienced about that new stuff on those two further occasions, and at the interval specified, there’s an 80 to 85 per cent chance it will not have become the fully processed, operational knowledge that teachers hope they’re ensuring each student acquires. Neither will that turn out to be the sort of knowledge the student will be able to recall for use further down the track, say, a year out (Nuthall used a year as his criteria as to whether learning had or had not stuck). When you also realise that much coverage by students of new material will be either a one-off opportunity and/ or that the processing that’s done will likely not match the full information the two further times at two day interval rule, you get a sense of where things are going awry. For instance, one very well conducted study showed that in reading and math tasks provided by “excellent” teachers, 6 and 7 year students got on average a bit over one go at each new thing introduced (Bennett et al, 1984). Add to that example, the likelihood that assessment in some form might occur any time after the first experience of the new material and you can see how that compromises things as regards teachers knowing what their students know. So-called memory based learning occurs when the strategy is one of teach and then test – at whatever interval thereafter – and then move on to a new topic. Such learning is unlikely to have been properly processed, so as said, test results are

likely to give a false picture. Think of what this does to the modern insistence that test data be faithfully kept and paraded not only as a record of student progress, but as evidence that teachers – according to that learning-manager model – are doing their job properly. The implications of the use of this questionable data both as a basis for ascertaining what help individual students might require, and for forward planning, bears thinking about. Apart from those factors already discussed, there are others to do with the quality of teaching input that make the quality of assessment data suspect. Of particular relevance here is whether or not the conditions for optimum learning are in place or lacking. These conditions relate to whether students feel that they have ownership and control of the learning task, that they’re included in all decision making undertaken in relation to the task, possess or are supplied with the requisite skills, and experience rates of success of around 80 per cent, most of the time. In relation to the latter point, the matching of difficulty level to student skill status is crucial. Very credible research (Bennett et al, 1984) found that a group of “excellent” teachers, in setting up work for their students, did not know sufficient about what their students knew so couldn’t match current skill levels with tasks of the right level of difficulty. They got the match-up right slightly less than half the time, a rate no better than chance. Setting up tasks in that way makes a mockery of the need to ensure success rates are in the 80 per cent realm, such a mingy manner of ensuring success is no way to keep students motivated. In terms of pay-off, the effect of such poor

matching would be worse than expecting a worker to be happy with half the going wage rate. Student ownership and control of learning cannot properly exist where the prevailing learning model is one in which the teacher is operating as the learning manager of the classroom. That model limits the extent to which students experience learning independence, this being crucial to the development of the skills of lifelong learning, the espoused long term aim of the new New Zealand Curriculum, and indeed, of the entire education system. Nuthall found that where students were frequently being told what to do, not only did they fail to invest anything of their own skills, accumulated experience and energy into the activity, they did not learn (Nuthall, 2001). The extent to which assessment has captured both the sector’s and politicians attention, especially of late, elevates it to the position where it’s become the tail that’s shaking the education dog. The prominence it has achieved has seen the growth of a huge educational infrastructure that hasn’t been for the benefit of anyone, bar those obsessed with accountability, them not realising that much of the data that assessment feeds on is next door to useless anyway. Far from assessment guaranteeing gold standard educational efficacy, it isn’t succeeding in getting significantly more students to the top – as should be the expectation given virtually all share a “remarkably similar” capacity to learn (Nuthall, 2001) – neither is it significantly cutting the numbers being left behind. Why keep something that’s proved it can’t significantly raise across-the-board performance of all

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students when it’s been known for more a decade now that almost all of them are potentially top learners? As long as we’re prepared to fly in the face of unequivocal research, especially that of Nuthall’s, we must be prepared to accept there’ll be no across-the-board improvement of any significance and that educational outcomes will go on being unacceptably uneven, low ended and inequitable for the foreseeable future, the lack of attention given the efficacy factor will guarantee that. Which raises the question of what the alternatives might be? Given the evidence, an entirely new direction is required. The evidence suggests that the promotion of significant across-theboard learning increases must have slipped off the education system’s

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agenda for clearly, it’s not happening. No one has yet come up with the means of ensuring that it will. It’s no use kidding ourselves that the current system is adequately bringing up levels across the board, or that the answer is as simple as getting all teachers to muscle up in their use of best practice. Being so deeply rooted in what Nuthall calls “teaching culture” anyway, best practice is as much the problem as anything else borne of that culture. In any case, trying to improve across-the-board outcomes by that means would be as difficult to achieve as will be the rebuilding of Christchurch. It’ll likely be just as fraught and take at least as long. Turning now to the idea of giving students more status in the learning they do, if the sector is as keen as most educators say they are in having a student-centred learning system,

why not go the whole hog and hand the assessment role and responsibility completely over to the students themselves. Since the current system isn’t doing the job and is tying up resources for no real gain, that would make sense. Besides, by doing that, it would ensure full advantage was being taken of those who best know what they know. For those who might bridle at the mere thought of such a suggestion, before dismissing it out of hand, let’s get a feel for something that’s happening right now that could be a conduit for its introduction. These days, hope for better outcomes seems to be getting pinned on student-centred learning. Especially since the proliferation of new and multiply capable iphones, ipads and suchlike IT formats, the term is often heard.

That hope seems misplaced. All those using the term have their own idea of what student-centred learning looks like. Curiously, its use occurs in association with the same inefficient learning-manager model of teaching that isn’t about to let itself be taken over by a bunch of IT gismos, “teaching culture” will see to that. The use of that term, then, and the cosy accommodation it has with a teaching model that’s philosophically miles apart from it, in no way guarantees student-centred learning would be occurring in any fully independent or self directed sense any time soon. Misplaced hope or not, the term does have the nub of a good idea. It also has the added value of being current. From my perspective, that’s a real plus. Though my understanding of the concept is quite a bit removed from how it’s commonly understood, nonetheless it fits under the same umbrella. As I’d be banking on the term acting as a bridge, that’s a huge advantage. Given the power and influence of “teaching culture” – about which I’ve written often – where change is concerned, it’s going to be very useful to have a bridge between that old learning model and any new one. In brief, my version of a studentcentred model is a six stage one that’s student owned, operated and controlled from go to whoa. That’s in it’s purest form. But it has the advantage of being able to exist in less pure formats, allowing students the time to grow into the skills needed, one stage at a time. Not that they would need much time as simplified formats could well be managed by seven year olds, if not younger. Teachers can likewise grow into it’s use as well, allowing them to be able to become comfortable with introducing each one of the 6 stage learning process – assessment being one stage – at a speed they decide. These considerations matter immensely for apart from the usual issues that pertain when change is in prospect or is happening, with something that’s remained unchanged for centuries, hopefully that’ll help make change look evolutionary, not revolutionary, and enhance the prospect of a successful uptake. For change of the kind being discussed is no small matter. Imagine the whole basis of teaching being impacted by something akin to the force of a 8.9 earthquake. While that might be the scale of impact necessary to put paid to that hopelessly inefficient learningmanager model, it would likely leave

too much of a chaotic aftermath in its wake. It would be better to have on tap a force that’s not too traumatic initially but which produces aftershocks gentle enough to keep things joggling along nicely. The model already alluded to, Self Directed Learning ™ (SDL), has been used in a number of contexts and both students and teachers have shown enthusiasm for it and the process involved. It’s a logical, scientific, student-driven model that fulfils the conditions of optimum learning listed earlier. It enables students to be aware of what’s involved in the learning to be done, it has them generate and check out options about how it might done, then to plan around the chosen option, implement the plan and monitor progress, evaluate the outcome, and decide the next move. The way that assessment is addressed here is quite different to the way it’s addressed by the current learning model. The SDL model requires that each student be the assessor of their own learning. At the planning stage in the SDL model, it’s a requirement that learning objectives be written into the plan. These comprise both personal and curriculum objectives. Both sets of learning objectives, then, are evaluated at the assessment stage.

teacher moderation overview being introduced, as an interim measure. The advantages of this form of assessment are many. By having students themselves doing their own assessments, we’d have a system that comes much closer to responding to the individual learner issues than ever before, with the decisions being made by the one person who best knows what they know. We’d have student involvement to a degree where not only would their own issues become identified and accurately defined, there’d be an entirely motivated person addressing them, undertaking the necessary work. At the same time teachers would be relieved of considerable work and be turned into learning professionals, freed at last from that inefficient, learning-manager role. Above all, the “inherently inefficient” situation that Nuthall discovered that pertains to all learning in every classroom would now have a good chance of being remedied. We would have reached a situation where learning ought to be blooming like it never has before. That’s because, unlike what’s never happened in the past, we’d have students who had been trained to learn. It would be no surprise, then, to see significantly improved achievement of the acrossthe-board kind breaking out all over. The possibility exists, let’s turn it into a reality.

To those who are immediately persuaded that this is a recipe for anything goes, all the research literature on students judging their own References: performance speaks with one voice. Just as mothers are harder on \Nuthall, G. (2001). The cultural myths students about the standard of their and the realities of teaching and classroom work than are teachers, learning. Unpublished Jean Herbison students are far harder on themselves Lecture, 2001. than would be any other assessor. Bennett et al, 1984. The quality of When you think about it, this is hardly pupils’ learning experiences. Publisher surprising for they do have much Lawrence Erlbaum. better information of what they know than anyone else and possess a better idea of what This magazine they’re trying to achieve. Besides, can be accessed such an by educators arrangement ensures student both in New Zealand control, ownership and Internationally and independence in relation to the Would YOU learning, what better like to advertise way to ensure motivation. In with us? saying this, for those teachers and others who need time to get used to this, there is nothing to stop some form of Contact Good Teacher Magazine:email: info@goodteacher.co.nz Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 23

Lucy Literacy... Curriculum, Co

Further to the article in the Term Two issue of Good Teacher Magazine, about the work inspired by Jeannie Baker. Here are the layouts by two of the class groups showing their concept of how the subdivision should be laid out. Interest in Jeannie Baker was so great that Lucy has added another article about this interesting author/illustrator/ artist. to support this we have added a biography about Baker for teachers to use as support material if introducing her work to their programme.

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onnections, Contexts... Still Pulling It All Together

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Lucy Literacy... Still Pulling It A There are so many fabulous books on the market today that I wish I had time to just sit and read! You might remember a recent article (Curriculum, Connections, Contexts – Pulling it All Together. Good teacher Term 2 2011). The text in this article was Window by Jeannie Baker. I wonder if anyone has had a chance to read her latest book “Mirror”. Jeannie Baker is the author and illustrator of a number of children’s picture books, including the award-winning Where the Forest Meets the Sea. Her characteristic use of mixed media to create detailed and elaborate collages is stunning and unique. She lives in Australia. (Taken from the front cover of the book and Jeannie Baker’s website http://www. jeanniebaker.com/mirror.htm) Title:

Mirror

Author/Illustrator: Jeannie Baker Publisher:

Walker Books Australia, 2010

ISBN:

978-1-4063-0914-0

Genre:

Picture book

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´This innovative picture book is comprised of two parts designed to be read simultaneously – one from the left, the other from the right. Page by page, we experience a day in the lives of two boys and their families - one from inner city Sydney, Australia and the other from a small, remote village in Morocco, North Africa. These worlds couldn’t be further apart, yet with the showing of the parallel lives of the two families, we see a simple truth. We see that in the context of strikingly different lifestyles, remotely different countries, landscapes, differences of clothing and all. The families are essentially the same. They care for each other, they need to belong, to be loved by their loved ones and be a part of their community. The simple truth is that even with all these differences we are all the same. We are the mirror of each other.”

All Together Again Jeannie Baker has created a compelling story and yet there are no words. My first thoughts were how we could make the most of this wonderful story. There is freedom for students to express their thoughts and understanding as they see it. There is a great opportunity to make cross curricular links. What a cool way for students to represent their knowledge and understanding of similarities and differences in a number of curriculum areas. Social Studies and Science sprung to mind. How about two students combining their work and designing a fold out book to show their new learning? I’m thinking too about growing understanding of cultural responsiveness. How do we as teachers create learning environments that honour the worth and dignity of all students? Maybe as we learn about each other this could be a way to share those understandings. The whole collage idea opens up an exciting way of illustrating writing and a link to visual language where students can learn about those key aspects of static images: •

Colour

•

Point of impact

•

Audience

I suggest that if you haven’t already checked out books by Jeannie Baker now might be a good time. Here are a few: The Hidden Forest Window Belonging Where the Forest Meets the Sea Grandmother Grandfather

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30 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

About Jeannie Baker Jeannie Baker is an artist who began turning her hand to children’s books many years ago. She was born in England but has lived in Sydney since the later 1970s. She has been making art from collage for at least 40 years. For the last 30 years many of these works have been created to use as illustrations for picture books. However, they can always stand separately as works of art. As a result Jeannie has exhibited her work regularly over the last 40 years, often in parallel to the release of her books. It is important for Jeannie that her art can stand alone, and it does, with distinction! She is unique as a collage artist, illustrator and author. What puts Jeannie in a category of her own is the way she begins with an idea that always has a significance and a message that only a great collage artist could communicate in this medium. She creates her works with varied materials usually collected in the setting that then becomes the subject of her art. I recall her saying many years ago that when she created ‘Where the Forest Meets the Sea’ she went off and not only explored the Daintree Forest alone, she slept in it overnight under a plastic sheet to keep herself dry. It can take Jeannie years to produce a book. Her most recent work ‘Mirror’ took her five years. I review this work in detail below. Once she has finished the collages she photographs them to create the page plates for her books. This usually leads to an exhibition of her art as well as a picture book. To see her collages as works of art is a great treat. I’d encourage anyone living in Sydney to take advantage of the exhibition of her art from ‘Mirror’ at the ‘Museum of Sydney’ that will be open until 10th October 2010. The exhibition will move to Melbourne in November, Adelaide in March and other galleries and museums throughout 2011. Jeannie Baker’s technique yields works of art that are stunningly beautiful (and quite small) which when put together into a book offer a visual experience for the ‘reader’ that keeps them coming back to the book. I never tire of reading Jeannie’s books, or of reading them to children. When I read ‘Mirror’ recently to my grandchildren my eldest grandchild Jacob reacted with delight and excitement as he kept seeing new details in each image. The illustrations lead children to touch and stroke images because they look so real. This is partly achieved by Jeannie Baker’s fastidious use of materials that are from the real object. For example, she used sand and authentic

fabrics from Morocco in ‘Mirror’. If she creates a bird it will often have real feathers. Internationally her work has gained critical and public acclaim and a stack of awards, including Australian Picture Book of the Year Honour Book, 2005, for “Belonging”, Australian Children’s Book Council Picture Book of the Year Award, 1992, for “Window”, Notable Book by the American Library Association, 1984, and short listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal, 1985, for “Home in the Sky” and a Boston Globe Horn Book Magazine Honour Book award, 1988, and International Board of Young People Honour Book Award, 1990, for “Where the Forest Meets the Sea”. Her latest work ‘Mirror’ is a wonderful place to start in considering Jeannie’s work because I think it is her best work. The concept is brilliant, the quality of the images once again stunning, the book design groundbreaking and the wordless picture book created is, as usual, challenging at many levels. It is the concept and design that will first catch your attention. It is slightly more square in shape and it defies your efforts to open it in a conventional way. This picture book comprises two stories that are designed to be read simultaneously – one from the left, the other from the right (see below). As you pick up the book you try to open it from right to left only to have the book open at the middle to reveal two books, one that is read from left to right and begins in Arabic, and the other from right to left that begins with English. Page by page, we experience a day in the lives of two boys and their families - one from inner city Sydney, Australia and the other from a small, remote village in Morocco, North Africa.

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There is no such thing Today, my friend Peter Drucker died. That thousands of other men and women around the world can say the same thing is a testament to his character and his reach, over time and across cultures.

management as “making knowledge effective.” Its tasks involve “specific purpose and mission, making work productive and the worker achieving, and managing social impacts and social responsibilities” (p. 40) . Management “is not the application of common sense, or leadership, let alone financial manipulation,” (p. 17), yet it will “increasingly be concerned as much with the expression of basic beliefs and values as with the accomplishment of measurable results” (p. 36). Greenleaf said it was “the ability to state a goal and reach it, through the efforts of other people, and satisfy those whose judgment one respects, under conditions of stress” (p. 10). Louis Allen, adapting from Henri Fayol earlier in the 20th century, defined management simply as “planning, organizing, leading and controlling.”

Drucker, who will be greatly missed by us all, fathered management as a discipline and also parented many floundering managers and leaders, including me. For a time, I directed the executive management and PhD programs at Claremont Graduate University in the business school named after him, where he was the Marie Rankin Clarke Professor of Social Sciences and Management from 1971 to 2003. My most important job there was chauffeuring Peter to class on Saturdays. Jack Welch, Bill Pollard, Max DePree, and some of the other greatest names in business received his kindly mentoring, yet he always had time for me – and for others on my staff. The best way to get free So here’s an attempt consulting was to be his driver. He also could be compensated in Krispy at a definition Kreme donuts, though his healthconscious wife, Doris, was not … leadership is supposed to know this. Drucker that dimension believed she was convinced this would cut his life short (shared with of management me when he was 91). He once asked me to sit in on a class where he that makes promised to give an entire lecture knowledge effective advising me how I should run my program. I showed up. At lunch one day, I asked Peter to define leadership. He snorted in response, “There is no such thing as leadership.” He defended this by claiming it couldn’t be defined. He stressed that leaders were only labeled thus because they had followers. “At best, leadership may be a dimension of management,” he said, “and leaders could be identified because their actions were predictable, or perhaps trustworthy.”

through people or relationships – in contexts of powerlessness and trust – especially those of change, risk or crisis.

When the greatest management thinker of the 20th century expresses his ambivalence about leadership, we should all pay attention. And, for those who haven’t noticed, we are awash in leadership books. Try searching on Amazon using this term … I got more than 18,000 hits with the word in the title alone. As a professor of management, and later the dean of a school of management, right-management doctrine and useful knowledge appeal to me. In fact, Peter’s doubts about leadership, his approach to framing it as a dimension of management, and his subsequent linking of this dimension to trust and predictability made sense. In the end, there was no doubt for either of us that the term would stay in our corporate vocabularies (as well as a search term on Google and Amazon), but his own penchant for precision in language and thinking made him uncomfortable and me curious. In various recent books and articles, Drucker defined 32 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

A dimension is an expression or derivation of a concept, a way of reframing it in a different way or in a different context, and evokes ideas of measurement, perspective or depth. If “management” is the key and foundational term – as I believe Drucker would claim – then its dimensions add to our understanding of it and broaden our perspective. Allen’s four terms fit well as dimensions and include leading, the focus of this discussion. In considering the work of the manager, dimensions such as monitoring, networking, liaising, negotiating, allocating, peacemaking, recruiting, training, directing, innovating, scheduling and problem-solving add meaning also. There are numerous other possibilities.

In the 1980s, a popular definition differentiated between management and leadership, claiming the former is about doing things right and the latter about doing the right things. (This actually may be a misunderstanding of Drucker’s definitions of efficiency and effectiveness.) However, the problem with elevating and isolating leadership from management is that we lose sight of the wider challenges, the solid body of management scholarship thus far, understood and thoroughly-debated assumptions, and a relatively welldefined taxonomy that can be useful to us. We then trade them for a field of inquiry (leadership) finding its voice, assumptions and theories. In every organization, the dimensions of management, and especially leading, should be present. In carrying out our work, we do all of these things, usually daily and sometimes hourly. How should we then understand leading, or perhaps leadership, as a distinctive dimension within the larger domain of management? And … dare we define it? Max DePree identified an important concept – the absence of power. Leading could be how we manage, or make knowledge effective through relationships, in powerless

as leadership environments. Results are achieved around or beyond the use of power. “Leading without power” may be the only way leadership works. By definition, then, using power in leading is not leading at all. Most “leaders,” when they get into trouble, are found to have used power inappropriately and therefore become toxic. Whenever power is exercised, it is because a “power differential” exists. There is a difference in power between two individuals and the stronger controls the weaker. When there is no power differential (it is zero or at parity), or as this differential approaches zero or parity, creating a result requires motivating or persuading the other with something besides power. Volunteers do not contribute their time and energy because another is using power. The CEO of a nonprofit has not ordered them to serve. (If the CEO has, she should probably join a toxic leader recovery group near home.) Volunteers choose to participate out of belief, commitment, a sense of contribution, interest or whatever. It is their choice to follow. Drucker likened knowledge workers in business to volunteers because they were primarily motivated to work by nearly everything but compensation. Whether an elegant programming solution, a healed and happy patient, or an functional engineering design, knowledge workers are motivated to perform because they are interested in or satisfied by their labors. They feel they are making a contribution. If they are not, they will move to another company. If a volunteer isn’t motivated, she will stop serving at the homeless shelter. When authors like Jim Collins describe “level-five leaders” as humble, they recognize the absence of power in leading. Even St. Therese of Lisieux wrote often of being “little” – surely an important state of mind when leading without power. The question of character is inescapable, yet more on this below. So, when Drucker says leaders are only defined by the presence of followers, I believe he means that these followers first exist – and that they are absolutely free from all constraints in choosing to follow. Power is absent, and the decision to follow creates the ultimate democracy. (Drucker, incidentally, was even more focused on civil society after Sept. 11, 2001.) He also mentioned once that everything we needed to know about leadership could be found in the writings of Xenophon, the Greek general of the eighth century B.C. For those unfamiliar with Xenophon’s descriptions of decision-making within the Greek army, it need only to be said that every soldier effectively had veto power over nearly every decision of Xenophon. Each decision followed hours of discussion, with opinions shared from throughout the ranks. No power was present to coerce any unwilling soldier to obey. It was all about persuasion. Thankfully, the enemy usually waited out the decisionmaking process. (This is somewhat similar to the faculty governance process at Quaker colleges.) In our lunch, Drucker conceded that being predictable or trustworthy might also be an element of leadership. It became clear that these were synonymous. Followers will trust a leader because her actions are predictable. We followers trust that this is what you the leader will do, because you are predictable, and we trust your

Peter Drucker predictability. To be predictable is to be consistent in our actions and reactions. Our expectations never fail to be fulfilled, even when the news is bad. Perhaps it’s like children and parents … whether reward or discipline, the child takes comfort from getting exactly what he expects. Sometimes it is a secure feeling to get what we deserve. Presumably, it could be worse if we don’t know what to expect, and all is uncertainty. The ultimate powerless situation results from crisis, and to a lesser extent, situations of risk or uncertainty. Small wonder that this is where we often see leaders fail or succeed. The context of powerlessness is fear, risk, vulnerability, responsibility without commensurate authority, and despair. The responses, respectively, are courage (fear), informed confidence (risk), capacity (vulnerability), visioning and communicating (no authority), and hope and optimism (despair). When other character traits like humility, being “little”, predictability, trust, honesty and grace are added, it becomes clear that only managers of character dare lead. Grace in managers is an especially peculiar phenomenon: it requires treating people better than they deserve, esteeming others as more than myself, making strengths productive and weaknesses irrelevant in followers, and forgiving. It is a counter-intuitive gift and therefore usually unexpected. So here’s an attempt at a definition … leadership is that dimension of management that makes knowledge effective through people or relationships – in contexts of powerlessness and trust – especially those of change, risk or crisis. Peter, what do you think? About Wes Balda Dr. Wes Balda is Executive Director of the Centre for Advancing International Management [AIM Centre] and Professor of Management at St. George’s University. Previously he was Dean of a School of Management in Oregon, and Director of Executive and PhD Programs at The Drucker School, Claremont Graduate University. Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 33

Tangaroa’s amazing voyage NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa has just completed a very successful voyage of habitats of significance for marine organisms and biodiversity. “We were amazed by what we saw,” says NIWA’s Dr Mark Morrison, programme leader. Over 42 days, split across two voyages, the Tangaroa worked its way down the country and back, working 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It surveyed habitat and biodiversity hotspots around New Zealand’s expansive continental shelf.

These surveys are very important for understanding the diversity of animals and plants that live within New Zealand’s territorial waters and for identifying coastal habitats that may support fisheries functions such as nurseries and spawning grounds. The scientists photographed, videoed and collected thousands of specimens. Amongst these were particularly fascinating species such as hydroid ‘trees’ which look just like a foot-tall palm tree but are a type of animal. The scientists found ‘feather stars’ that retract their arms when disturbed, and which can ‘walk’ from place to place. They found a bat/frog-fish - a small fish consisting of a triangle head and body rolled into one. “It has specially modified lower fins that look remarkably like frogs legs, which let it ‘walk’ across the seafloor,” says Dr Morrison. Over 2,600 invertebrate ‘specimen lots’ were collected and catalogued for detailed taxonomic work, along with a wide range of small fish species. These are likely to show the presence of species well outside their previously known range, and may well reveal species new to science. The survey extended from north of the Three Kings Islands off Cape Reinga, down to the west of Stewart Island. It included a range of areas chosen for detailed study. These areas were chosen based on local knowledge gained from interviews with retired commercial fishers.

Black coral Three Kings 34 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

Gorgonain with snake stars North Cape

The survey extended from north of the Three Kings Islands off Cape Reinga, down to the west of Stewart Island. It included a range of areas chosen for detailed study. These areas were chosen based on local knowledge gained from interviews with retired commercial fishers.

Gathering information from the seafloor

further down its western flank at 120–140 m water depth black corals appeared, many of them having whip like ‘corkscrew’ forms. The Cape Reinga shelf and Three Kings Islands support a very colourful profusion of life, including many sponge species, gorgonian forests, bryozoan and rhodolith beds,

The information about the seafloor was gathered using state of the art multi-beam sonar. The sonar was deployed during daylight hours to comprehensively map areas of interest. Maps produced from the sonar were used to direct seafloor sampling at night. The primary survey tool was the Deep Towed Imaging System camera (DTIS), which includes a high definition video camera and still camera, and a lighting system for illumination. Towed at night, it was used to capture very high-resolution imagery of seafloor habitats and their sleeping fishes. It also filmed a number of nocturnal species that only come out under the cover of darkness. Limited biological sampling was conducted using beam trawls and rock sleds to sample plants and animals. This is done so that taxonomic specialists can formally identify the species seen on the video and still imagery. The next phase is to process the samples and formally analyse what was found.

North Island At the most northern location sampled, the submarine Middlesex Bank, 30 kilometres to the north of the Three Kings Islands, multi-beam mapping revealed a huge tilted block of sea floor, plunging on its eastern side from 90 m – 700 m over a horizontal distance of just 100 m. The top of the tilted block held sponge and rhodolith fields, while

Rhodoliths Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 35

Gorgonacea “which look like small boulders at first glance, and reflect the amazing oceanic clarity of the water,” says Dr Morrison. Off the Dargaville coast, in the middle of canyon heads, extensive fields of sea urchins occur on soft sediments, especially adapted for these habitats through being flattened on their bottom side. On the edge of the north Taranaki Bight out of sight of land, scattered low relief reefs on the edges of canyon heads support more black corals, crinoids, and very hard ‘stone sponges’, surrounded by large expanses of sand and mud, with occasional patches of sea pens and sea whips. On the opposite coast, off East Cape on Ranfurly Bank, extensive beds of 2 m high kelps were found down to more than 50 m water depth, evidence of the exceptionally clear

waters there. These kelps are thought to be a deep water form of the common Ecklonia, which is found on shallower reefs and is well known to divers; but these plants are much taller and have a single very large blade. Down at 90 m and beyond, massive cup sponges made their appearance on rocky reef outcrops, while on the more extensive rubble and low relief areas huge meadows of crinoids filtered the passing water currents. In deeper waters of 120 m or more, extensive gorgonian fields were found on the northwest side, while on the southeast side deeper water sponge species covered what reefs were present.

South Island Well offshore in the North Canterbury Bight, large expanses of what fishers called ‘wire-weed’ were sampled. These expanses of wireweed are in fact tube-building polychaete worms, which form extensive meadows 15–25 cm tall, composed of fine stalks that close-up look like segmented bamboo.

Juvenile ling and seaperch on wireweed 36 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

Despite their fineness, being 2–3 mm across, they are very hard to break by hand, and do not look like animals, hence the name ‘wireweed’. These meadows support a diversity of other species,

Hay Paddock including large numbers of juvenile sea perch, invertebrates such as sea cucumbers and sea-squirts (ascidians), and sea dragons, a large over-sized bright orange pipefish 30–50 cm long. These were seen on video with their tails wrapped around the wire-weed, acting just like their smaller shallower water pipefish cousins do on coastal seagrass beds. Over 90 km2 of wire-weed was identified by the multi-beam sonar, which sampled only a small proportion of the overall North Canterbury Bight.

Sponges and gorgonians North Cape

Further south, off Oamaru, an area nicknamed the ‘Hay Paddock’ many decades ago because of fishing gear coming up festooned with ‘straw’, turned out to also hold wire-weed. The Hay Paddock is dominated by a range of stringy and colourful sponge species that carpet the seafloor for kilometres, with a variety of other species also being present. Inshore of the Hay Paddock, large areas of flat rocky reef in 30–40 m of water support a completely different suite of fantastically coloured red, orange, and yellow sponge species, along with sleeping blue cod and leatherjackets. Off Dunedin, extensive bryozoan thickets were sampled, composed of colourful, three-dimensional structures of these colonial animals. Associated with these are abundant snake and brittle starfish, and other invertebrate species such as sea anemones and sponges. One of the more exciting findings from a fisheries point of view was numbers of juvenile blue cod, sleeping at night in and around the bryozoan colonies. “What habitats juvenile blue cod use as nursery grounds is Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 37

Blue Cod at Hay Paddock

currently not well known, so the finding of these small fish in direct association with the bryozoan thickets provides potentially valuable information for managers relevant to any protection of nursery habitats,” says Dr Morrison.T

he most southerly site sampled was at the head of Mason Canyon, off Codfish Island, to the west of Stewart Island. Here deeper water sponges dominated deep reefs around the canyon’s sides, along with the occasional large black coral tree.

The data Stylasteridae

The information collected is on a scale and coverage not seen before for New Zealand’s coastal waters. It will be used for a wide range of applications, including the identification of important habitats and areas for marine biodiversity and associated functions such as fish nurseries, particularly for commercial species. Given the increasing pressure being placed on New Zealand’s coastal environments, these data and the knowledge gained from them will provide a key foundation on which improved marine spatial planning for our marine environment can be advanced. Ultimately, the intention is to make these data and their interpretation available to all New Zealanders, through the Ocean Survey 2020 web portal www.os2020.org.nz

This research was funded by the Ministry of Fisheries, Land Information New Zealand, and the Ministry of Science and Innovation. 38 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 39

Don’t just tell them... SHOW the I sat in a window seat on the plane with my nose stuck in my newly purchased book. It was one of those books that sucks your right in, leaving you completely unaware of your surrounding, which is exactly what I needed to save me from what otherwise would have been a monotonous travel day, full of weather delays and missed connections. At my next stop, as I waited in an endless line to find out which flight was available for me now that I missed my connection, I was an island of contentment surrounded by a sea of angry and frustrated individuals, and all because I had a good story to occupy me. I got to thinking about why certain stories were so riveting, why others were just soso. What I decided was that a good author did not simply tell you the story, they showed you the story as if you were there, revealing the plot with actions of the characters, and not just with explanations. The act of showing, rather than telling, is very powerful, and can turn a story from “boring” to “best seller.”

In your profession as a Education Project Manager, make sure that you are using good story techniques to advance in your occupation by showing others your story, not just telling. Become a captivating author of your career by following these tips. Walk the Talk Or better yet, don’t talk at all, just walk! A good Project Manager earns the respect of their team from leading by example. If you want your project team to go the extra mile to accomplish a goal, then be the first to show them how it’s done. I recently worked on a project where team morale was way down due to gossip running amuck among team members. It was worse than a high school prom, and it was affecting project progress. To snip this attitude in the bud, I changed the script and created a “no whine” bubble around me, where I was not allowed to complain unproductively, and I would not listen to others do it. I showed my project team the appropriate way of communicating by doing so myself, and dealing with unresolved issues by addressing the person involved directly, privately, and in a professional manner. Soon, others followed suite, and team morale began to grow as we built trust and respect within our project team. The simple act of leading by example changed our project results from what may have been a tragic end, into a success story. Experiential Learning Think about the last time you learned a new skill. Did you learn by reading about it, listening to someone else that is proficient in the skill, or by doing it? For most of us, we need our teachers to SHOW us how to perform a task, and then be able to do this task ourselves in a safe environment. Some of the most innovative private schools in our country are adopting school schedules that provide longer classes. The extra time allows teachers to capitalize on experiential learning that takes place when you give students the time and space to learn the tasks themselves. Do the same for your project team by showing what they need to learn rather than telling them. Show Your Stuff Imagine you are sitting in an interview, and you are asked about your best strengths as a PM. You could list off your many attributes, such as your fantastic negotiation and communication skills, OR you could show your skills. Tell your interviewer a story about the time you procured the resources you needed for a project against all odds. While other projects in your organization were running into budget problems, you utilized your negotiation skills and ability to assess others, as well as the situation, arrived at the most optimal situation, saving the project and earning company wide recognition. The ability to demonstrate your capabilities to others comes handy in an interview, but it is also an essential skill needed throughout your career as you manage projects. The more specific you are in describing situations and outcomes to show your skills, the clearer your capabilities are, and the more memorable you are. Show your stuff PM! Because the more you show, the more they know, and the more your career can grow.

PMP is a registered trademark of the Project Management Institute.

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em!

By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP速, Chief Cheetah and Founder of Cheetah Learning, and Kristen LaBrosse, Co-Author, CAPM速 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 41

Summer/Winter Solstice Who has not dreamed of leaving teaching, living in France and minding a pension (or in this case a Chateau) for an absentee owner? To be able to immerse yourself in the language and customs of another country and amble around the countryside at will ... well almost at will. Good Teacher Magazine is delighted to introduce Tiz who has just such a life at present... Perhaps after reading her letters you will want to go even more... Or you may just change your mind!

21 June 2011 Well bonjour mes amies! Methinks the summer/winter solstice is an entirely appropriate time to report in. Most of you are, of course, in the latter category of solstice, so I regret to inform you that today its 29C, clear blue sky, and a light breeze from the west. The pool temperature is about 22 degrees, which will be good enuf for a swim later. Not gloating! You are heading for longer days from this point on. We are heading towards shorter days. There, that’s some consolation. Needless to say, ‘tis bien to be back in la belle France. That’s not to say things have been all plain sailing – more anon. But the joy of real baguettes, wonderful runny fromages, absolutely dirt cheap wine, just listening to and observing the French with their unique style and foibles, and of course, being in summer (I shan’t mention that again – honest!), means that mostly, I should be sucking a lemon to get the stupid grin off my face. I’m now domiciled at Le Chateau Lalinde. It hangs out over the Dordogne River which alas, is in a low flow state, there having been 10 weeks of NO rain before I arrived. The day I did arrive, there were thunderstorms and rain, and the place felt distinctly gloomy and a wee bit scary. Just moi in this 4-storeyed edifice where taps dripped, lights didn’t work and cobwebs abounded. It had been shut up for the winter, with the owner here for only 3 days in early March, and her ex-husband for a few days more than that. The worst nightmare was the swimming pool. Everywhere else I had visited, the pools were open and being used in the unseasonally early summer (opps!). But this pool still had the black polythene cover on which had sunk into the pool on one side, and it was covered in slime and dead leaves. The water was a nasty pea-green soupy colour. Yik! And no-one had been able to get hold of the poolman. With the help of a few frens, the poolman was located and he turned up, but before he would do anything, demanded that his bill from last year was paid. That may have been the only problem, mais non! The pump engine wouldn’t work. The poolman called in the technicians who said they would come and have a look when their bill from 2009 was paid. Good grief! Anyway, they did come, and poked about for a bit, et voila! The pump started working. Two good strong men pulled the cover off and draped it over the fence to drain the slime and debris, and wouldn’t you know it, the next day it fell down on to the riverbank below, where it now rests. The two strong 42 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 43

men are coming back one day to retrieve it. Meantime tho, the pool is now operational and looks superb. If only I’d taken a photo of the ‘before’ and ‘after’! There was also the small problem of not being able to get into the pantry, the laundry, the corner cupboard in the kitchen, and the laundry cupboards (2) on each of the upstairs levels. Mostly cause of junk, a ‘squirrel’ mentality, or things just tossed in at random. The oldest “use by” date I tossed out of the pantry and corner cupboard was 1997, and there were lots of choice items that expired in 2004 and 05. The record tho’ was for 3 containers of confectioner’s colouring which had been issued on 25 March 1947. I kept those for their historical worth. The linen cupboards took the best part of 3 days to sort, but oh! The sense of achievement! I am now the housekeeper’s Best Friend. When I say housekeeper, she comes for about 3 hours a week – but every bit helps! Then, just to really test my mettle, I’d been here for 5 days, still thrashing through the debris, when there was a knock on the door at 6pm on Saturday, and there stood a couple who were booked in as guests! Pardon? The owner had ‘forgotten’ to tell me they were coming. Merde! I gave them a glass or two of wine while I ran around like a banshee to get their room ready. Then

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it was up early the next morning to see if I could rustle them up some breakfast. Thank god for patisseries! They were really nice about it (Canadians – that kindred Commonwealth spirit) and we managed to muddle through the next 3 days ok. Couldn’t do a thing about the pool tho’, which was still in a slimy green state. The owner has assured me that the next guests (8) don t arrive until July 8. By then I ll be a year older, so may not be able to keep up the pace. I ll just fortify myself with a bottle or 2 of Provence rosé at 2 euros a pop per bottle that is. Yep, less than $4 how do they do it? But the French wine industry is not subsidized y know. Non. Lalinde’s bridge had been closed since March so it could be widened. The grand opening ceremony was at 5pm last Friday. The crowds turned up. The band turned up, along with the vintage cars, Vespa scooters and cars (true!), the Mayor crossed the bridge and solemnly shook hands with everyone on the way. The clock struck 5pm. Then 5.30pm. At 5.50pm it began to rain so I went home – no hardship as the bridge is fully visible from the chateau. By 6pm it was pouring. At 6.25pm when everyone was thoroughly soaked to the skin, the ceremony started. The words ‘piss up in a brewery spring to mind’. Very relaxed about time, the French. But enough. This is NOT a grumble! I feel so badly for the poor souls in Christchurch, and my frens in Ohope and Whakatane, and thank my lucky stars that the worst I’ll have to put up with in the ‘earth-moving’ stakes is the occasional sonic boom as the airforce practices its stuff. Hope this finds you all as well as can be, dry and warm and content. Bisous from la Dordogne, Tiz Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 45

New Lifeforms

Theo Jansen is building lifeforms that will live and thrive on the beach. He calls them StrandBeest and uses PVC electrical conduit, plastic tubing, and lemonade bottles as building material. The many-legged creations are amazingly advanced, able to count steps, sense and flee from the water’s edge, and protect themselves from high wind. He gave a TED talk back in 2007 that we’ve put below; it’s uncanny. See examples of his creations using fans and sails to store wind energy as compressed air in the lemonade bottles, then use that pressure for locomotion. He also demonstrates a binary step counter and water sensor. TED Talk link: http://www.youtube.com/watch_po pup?v=HSKyHmjyrkA&feature=email Another link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY

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Theo Jansen (born 14 March 1948) is a Dutch artist and kinetic sculptor. He builds large works which resemble skeletons of animals that are able to walk using the wind on the beaches of theNetherlands. His animated works are a fusion of art and engineering; in a car company (BMW) television commercial Jansen says: “The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds.” He strives at equipping his creations with their own intelligence to manage avoiding obstacles, by changing their course when one is detected, such as the sea itself. Theo Jansen has been creating wind-walking examples of artificial life since 1990. What was at first a rudimentary breed has slowly evolved into a generation of machines that are able to react to their environment: “over time, these

skeletons have become increasingly better at surviving the elements such as storms and water and eventually I want to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.” Constructed as intricate assemblages of piping, wood, and wing-like sails, Jansen’s creatures are constantly evolving and have become excellently adapted to their sandy beach environment. The creatures sport legs, which “prove to be more efficient on sand than wheels...they don’t need to touch every inch of the ground along the way, as a wheel has to”. The creatures are also able to store air pressure and use it to drive them in the absence of wind: “Self-propelling beach animals like AnimarisPercipiere have a stomach. This

consists of recycled plastic bottles containing air that can be pumped up to a high pressure by the wind.” Theo’s more sophisticated creations are able to detect once they have entered the water and walk away from it, and one species will even anchor itself to the earth if it senses a storm approaching. According to his website:Since 1990 Theo Jansen has been occupied with the making of a new nature. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic material of this new nature. He makes skeletons which are able to walk on the wind. Eventually he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Jansen

Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 47

Free to Be... Not Anymore Just how many dead teenagers, driven to end their own lives, is it going to take for adults to stand up and say, What the hell is going on? There was a time when the words “Free to Be” embodied a hope that whatever a kid was, was good enough. But “freedom” doesn’t describe the world of this generation. Or of their parents. One of those parents wrote to me on my Facebook page. “Hi, Marlo,” wrote Kevin Jacobsen of New York. “Our son Kameron was bullied relentlessly and committed suicide on January 18th. He was 14. In lieu of flowers, we asked for donations to go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, my mom’s favorite for decades. I know you’re busy, but just wondering if you could take a look at our son. We have nothing else to lose.” He then posted the link to a website he’d built to honor his son, called KindnessAboveMalice.org. I logged on, but could barely look at the child’s face. He was beautiful. Thirty-seven years -- and two generations of children -- after the creation of Free to Be... You and Me, I can’t help but remember the beautiful words lyricist Bruce Hart wrote that anchored the opening anthem:

bullies can be anonymous. And without that face-to-face encounter, it’s impossible to stop them.” When I hung up with Kevin, I re-read his post, and seeing his mention of St. Jude made me think about how different the children are there. I’ve seen compassion, not cruelty, for each other. I’ve seen four- and five-year-old girls and boys offering hugs and giving comfort to two- and three-yearolds, telling them that they understand the pain they’re going through, and that they will be alright. So the idea that healthy children should die, not from an errant cancer cell, but because of the abject malice of another child, is something we need to take on. And stop. Kevin Jennings, the assistant deputy secretary at the Department of Education, told me that most parents of bullied children have no idea about the anguish their sons and daughters are enduring, because the kids aren’t talking. They’re ashamed to admit it, because they think it’s a sign of weakness, and they want to handle it themselves.

“Every boy in this land grows to be his own man, In this land, every girl grows to be her own woman.”

But if more parents would get into the game, Jennings said, we might be able to turn things around. He told me that the majority of parents haven’t been trained to look for signs of bullying in their child’s life. But they need to. And they can start by asking themselves a few questions:

Kameron will never grow to be his own man.

Does your child not want to ride the school bus any more?

For all the walls we thought we’d broken down with Free to Be -- and all the stereotypes we thought we’d shattered -children today are not free to be anything they want to be, nor anything they are, and they are dying for it. And no beautiful lyric can fix that.

Does your child often wake in the morning complaining about stomach aches and asking to stay home from school?

According to current statistics, one out of every four teenagers across America is bullied in their neighborhoods and schools; 160,000 students stay home from school every day because of their fear of being bullied; and each month, nearly 300,000 students are physically attacked inside their secondary schools. Online, things are even worse: 43 percent of kids are cyber-bullied, while 53 percent admit to having said something mean and hurtful to another kid online. Then came that tragic September -- 2010 -- when over a period of just three weeks, nine gay or questioning youths -- all male, average age 15 -- were “bullied to death,” committing suicide, no longer able to endure the neverending harassment from their peers. Like many people, much of what I know about bullying is what I read in the headlines: 15-year-old Irish migrant Phoebe Prince of Massachusetts, hangs herself in the stairwell of her family apartment, after yet another day of relentless bullying. The harassment continued on her Facebook memorial page. Or just this month, 14-year-old Ambriel Bowen of York, Pennsylvania, commits suicide at home when the daily terrorizing by bullies -- which included two black eyes and a broken nose -- becomes too overwhelming to bear. Reading the horrid accounts of bullied kids is devastating. But hearing the voice of a bereaved father brings tears to your eyes

Are your child’s friends not coming around so much any more? Has your child stopped receiving invitations to parties? Most important, said Jennings, is if you suspect your child is being bullied, you must become proactive, and try to get that child to talk. And I think we all have to start to talk. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years about tackling problems, it’s that the first thing you need to do is spark the conversation. So let’s start talking about bullying. With our neighbors. With our friends and family. With fellow parents at PTA meetings. And with each other -- right here. Let me hear what you think. It’s time to take bullying down. In the meantime, if you’re worried that a child in your life might be a victim -- or is, in fact, the bully -- there are some helpful thoughts at such websites as stopbullying.gov. I’m sure there are countless other sites, and I’d like to know about those, as well. We don’t have the time -- or any more kids’ lives -- to waste. It’s been nearly four decades since the debut of the Free to Be message. But I ‘m hopeful that, together, we can realize that place that Bruce Hart imagined where: “Every boy in this land grows to be his own man, In this land, every girl grows to be her own woman.” A land where the children are free... from bullying. http://huffingtonpost.com/marlo-thomas/marlo-thomasbullying b 866313.html

I called Kevin Jacobsen after I read his Facebook post and my heart broke as he recounted his son’s tragic story. “Bullying is not the same old issue it used to be,” Kevin said, softly. “With cell phones and social networking, it’s turned into an around-the-clock problem that our kids cannot escape from. And the other thing that’s different is that the 48 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

Marlo Thomas: Awardwinning actress, author and activist

Think World Conference – think New Zealand! New Zealand’s gifted education community has scored a huge success. In 2013, for the first time ever, the biennial conference of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children will be held in New Zealand. The World Conference is the highlight on the international calendar for those involved in this field. It attracts leading researchers and practitioners from all points of the globe. Hundreds of teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists and parents meet to share new research findings and practical developments for able students. Held every two years, the WCGTC conference is usually located in Europe, America or Asia and has never ventured this far south before. Bringing it to New Zealand will open vistas of knowledge and experience only a handful of New Zealand teachers have had the opportunity to engage with before now. It will also create an opportunity to showcase what New Zealand itself can do in this field. The Kiwi reputation for taking the initiative has led to some outstanding work in some schools and in some individual programmes, which will be reflected in some of the conference activities. Many months of planning, organising and fundraising now lie ahead. However the committee which submitted the successful bid to bring the World Conference to New Zealand has a remarkably comprehensive membership including professional and parent groups and key individuals from throughout the entire country. Co-chairs Elaine Le Sueur and Rosemary Cathcart say they will be drawing on the diverse strengths of the committee to create a conference that’s as exceptional and interesting as the children themselves. “The ideas are flowing in already,” they say. “Watch this space!” Contacts:

Rosemary Cathcart Elaine Le Sueur

07 357 4232 reacheducation@xtra.co.nz 09 239 2852 elaine@giftededucationservices.co.nz

Photos courtesy of the Gifted Education Centre and the Gifted Kids Programme. The conference website www.worldgifted2013.com is expected to be live very shortly.

Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 49

Roger’s Rant Gullible’s Travails Anatoly Gullible had been suffering from hypertension for some time. He discovered that his blood pressure was high after a visit to his GP to ask about jet-lag medication for his planned trip to the Sargasso Sea to swim with the eels. His doctor was not overly concerned – he talked about diastolic and systolic values, which Anatoly did not completely understand. He did, however, trust his doctor and when the latter suggested dietary changes and more exercise, Anatoly was happy to comply. So, for several years, Anatoly managed his blood pressure admirably and annual checkups confirmed that his doctor’s advice was effective. Anatoly first became aware of the Society for Complete Accountability for Medicos (SCAM) when a pamphlet arrived in his letter box. He was alarmed to read that SCAM was accusing the medical profession of slipping standards, compared with those of other developed countries, mostly those with names ending in ‘stan’. In particular, it believed that doctors were treating their patients poorly, not being vigilant in ensuring they were being adequately screened for possible maladies. A visit to his GP saw Anatoly’s concerns somewhat mollified, when his doctor assured him that he was in good health and his blood pressure was within normal limits. However, SCAM’s repeated sallies against the medical profession started to influence his friends and they, in turn, convinced Anatoly that improvement was needed. He needed to know more. 50 Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011

Several SCAM adherents decided that political clout was needed to effect change and so was born the SCAM Political Party (SCAMPY). In the next election, surprisingly, one SCAMPY member was elected (the electorate’s front-runner was exposed as a closet heterosexual on the eve of the voting) and under MMP, she took four colleagues with her to the Beehive, where, along with two representatives of the Moaner Party, they became an influential wagging tail. Within a few months, doctors were alarmed to find that government directives were being promulgated to enforce changes to their practice. Whilst the Ministry of Health admitted that doctors were, on the whole, doing quite a good job, they owed it to their patients to make sure that their diagnostic practices were world class and that their clients were as healthy as anyone else. Every citizen, therefore, was to be tested three times a year and results were to be disseminated in patient-friendly wording. Scribbled instructions, Latin coding and abbreviations on prescriptions would no longer be tolerated and all forms would have Braille transcriptions. In the House, opposition parties warned that such measures were hasty and would be counter-productive but SCAMPY MPs quoted opinion polls to back up their policies. Hansard transcript: “In response to his question re appropriate research to drive our policies, I would like to inform the member for Waiowai that 51 percent of voters, sorry, patients totally endorse the SCAMP Party’s

innovations for universal health evaluations . We have delivered on our promises. Patients are happy. We have a mandate, Madam Speaker.”

doctor’s office for three hours, which he spent thumbing through decade-old copies of Tractor Monthly and New Zealand Toenail Clippers’ Almanac.

Anatoly was uncertain about the meaning of ‘mandate’. He had an idea that it had something to do with the gay community but he held no prejudices. His next visit to the doctor took longer than usual. He had complained of problem dandruff and was rather impressed with the battery of tests that were performed. Within a few days, he received a five page letter detailing his results in English, Maori, Samoan and Sanskrit, informing him that he had been cleared of a host of ailments, none of which he had heard except leprosy, bubonic plague, lockjaw and athlete’s foot. He was somewhat relieved to learn that he was not pregnant.

When he finally was ushered into his GP’s office, he was immediately given an eye examination and then had to complete a Rorschach Test before bending over and coughing. After these, he had forgotten to ask about his dandruff. He was reminded that he was due for the next round of check-ups in four months. His results indicated that he was above normal in flatulence levels and was within one standard deviation below the mean for snoring decibel scores.

For several weeks doctors debated the pros and cons of their new regimens. Many were concerned and spoke up. Opposition MPs supported their wishes to return to normal practice. Government MPs lambasted the dissenters. National Media delivered well-thoughtout and disinterested editorials: This is a legal requirement and as public servants, doctors must comply. It is not open to debate. Common sense dictates that any doctor worth his/her sodium chloride should be concerned for the welfare of patients. For too long, people have been falling ill and, indeed, dying. Doctor unions, in opposing this worthwhile initiative, should take a long, hard look at themselves and stop supporting their under-performing colleagues... (New Zealand Laxative, May 4-11, 2014) Anatoly’s next appointment was a few months later. He had to wait outside the

SCAMPY statisticians, employing PR firm Damnlies Inc; produced graphic displays of national test results. Newspapers, selectively publishing a small percentage of these, trumpeted the fact that the lowest incidence of dengue fever was in Stewart Island and Scott Base and condemned the inadequacy of medical practices in more northern latitudes. A large number of people dismissed their GPs. One doctor, exposed as having the most patients with varicose veins in the country, abandoned his practice and was re-employed writing horoscopes for a weekly women’s magazine. As at time of writing, Anatoly is an alternative medicine practitioner and is treating his dandruff with manuka honey and guano potions. He is also treating his former doctor for hypertension.

Roger Good Teacher Magazine Term 3 2011 51

Now online!

www.educationre sources.co.nz

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