2012 - Term 1 - Good Teacher Magazine

Term One 2012

“The best teachers don’t give you the answers...

They just point the way ...

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 1 and let you make your own choices.”

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Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

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Index 3 Your Soapbox

4

We are all cultural beings

Lyn Pascoe

5

Portraits Made From Facebook Messages

Jeroen van der Most

7

A ’Stroke of Bad/Good Luck’

A Relievers Tale

8

Teaching Internationally - Opportunities the World Over for Qualified Teachers

10

Change in the year of the dragon

Elaine Le Sueur

16

China’s new hot job: Kindergarten teaching

Michael Evans

19

Three times a day at two intervals

Laurie Loper

20

EmpowerED - Empowering women to grow

Mary-Anne Murphy

24

books and things

27

Harold’s back at school

27

School students wanted for “Pens Against Poverty”

28

One Man’s Dream and the Ruben Jane

30

Neil Adams

Pictorial: Adelaide Zoo

35

The Project Management of Prosperity

Michelle LaBrosse

48

São Marcos Da Serra

Tiz

49

New science qualifications will build primary teacher skills

53

ChildFund NZ Small Voices Big Dreams Survey 2011

53

Roger’s Rant

54

Cover Pictures... Starring subjects matching our feature pictorial of animals from the Adeliade Zoo

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Your Soapbox!

“

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

4 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

We are all cultural beings:

Considerations for teachers in multi-ethnic classrooms Lyn Pascoe

This article is written from a New Zealand perspective. We are a country whose population is increasingly strengthened by the many immigrants who make it their home.

I believe however, from my own International experiences, that many countries are facing the issues this rich diversity brings to educators.

In this global world, we are not alone.

I hope this series of articles will provide you with the framework to think deeply about who you are, your place in the world and your interactions with those for whom you have responsibility.

Teachers today work in an increasingly complex world. Our classes are frequently made up of students whose families come from ethnic backgrounds unlike our own. This brings with it a growing awareness of the need for us to examine and perhaps review our practices in the classroom to reflect both our own and our students’ ways of interpreting the world in an effort to enhance wellbeing for all and facilitate achievement. We want to create a place of safety where learning is inevitable.

We recognise that our own world-view (values and beliefs) influences our teaching, learning and leading, informing our non-negotiable and negotiable practices and behaviours.

Our teacher training has embedded beliefs around teaching that are consistent with the nationally held vision for our students and the curriculum espouses the competencies that we envisage they will gain throughout their schooling.

In our classrooms, supported by school leadership, we organise, manage and relate to others according to our own beliefs and values whilst working within the guidelines of the national requirements.

Sounds fine, but what do we need to do to create this place of safety and learning for all? This will be the first in a series of short articles thinking about how we as teachers and leaders of learning might create places where we can each be authentic, true to ourselves, and ensure the same is true for our learners.

We have as teachers and leaders, some non-negotiable beliefs that are reflected in our daily practice. These are culturally informed and may reflect a number of our experiences; our religious beliefs, our training and upbringing. These colour everything we do and sit alongside Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 5

our acknowledgement of and the direction given by the curriculum and National education priorities. They make us who we are as teachers, leaders and learners.

Ask yourself:

We are all cultural beings, our cultures help us to understand the world and position ourselves in it. If there are major tensions between how we view the world, and the way we are expected to work, life is uncomfortable and stressful. Working with those from cultures different to our own, whether ethnically, socially, religiously or physically different, requires knowledge gaining, empathy, and some negotiation, in order that each is in a place of comfort and safety, a place where learning happens.

xx

What are my beliefs about teaching?

xx

Where do they originate?

xx

Why do I maintain these beliefs?

xx

Are they valid and valuable for me now?

xx

What effect do they have on my students?

I believe that in order to make headway towards being authentic and to allow others the same privilege, we need first to look at ourselves deeply. In the words of Michael Jackson, we need first to look at the “man in the mirror�.

xx

Colleagues?

xx

Do I feel one thing but do another?

xx

Why?

To this end, I am including in this article some questions for you to consider (see box to right). You may choose to use them as part of your inquiry question, as reflective prompts for your learning journal or just to ponder in times of personal reflection! Reflect deeply. Talk to friends and colleagues as this may help you to clarify and extend your own thinking and positioning. Step out of your comfort zone and really interrogate yourself. Think about your identity anchor points, people, places, events that shaped you. What really makes you tick? This is all about you!

xx

Can I address this?

When we look honestly at who we are, what we stand for and how this informs our interactions, we are creating rich picture of ourselves. This in-depth knowledge of ourselves will inform the way we are and what we become in our classroom and school interactions. We can become positive role models demonstrating inner strength and resilience which comes from knowing and believing in ourselves.

Now consider these questions:

In the next article of this series I will look at the ways this knowledge may translate into positive classroom practice and enhanced learning.

What do I want to be as a teacher/leader? xx

Can I articulate these beliefs succinctly? (my educational platform) See if you can write this down clearly.

xx

How willing am I to question my beliefs?

xx

Do my actions match my espoused beliefs?

xx

How do I acknowledge and respect myself in my daily interactions at work?

In my classroom?

Remember to keep an eye on us...

Bookmark our site: http://goodteacher.co.nz Follow us on facebook: http://goodteacher.co.nz/facebook Follow us on twitter: http://goodteacher.co.nz/twitter

6 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

Portraits Made From Facebook Messages Jeroen van der Most Recently the Art Buzz Amsterdam site gained a new feature: Facebook portraits.

Here is the information we were sent from the developers of this application: “Now, as the first website in the world, Art Buzz Amsterdam gives Facebook users the opportunity to create a highly personalised artwork through the artist Jeroen van der Most.

Users log in with Facebook on the website and choose one of the five colors for the artwork.

The website than creates an online preview of a Facebook Portrait: a portrait that consists of a mash up of your profile picture and Facebook status updates, news-, friends and wall messages. Before these portraits were only available for purchase to inhabitants of the Netherlands, now social media users from around the world can obtain one. The portrait images can be bought as digital files, to get printed on canvas or poster at your local printer.

Cool to hang on your wall and fun to read back the Facebook messages“.

Do you find this idea appealing?

Let us know what you think, info@ goodteacher.co.nz

http://www.jeroenvandermost.com

by Art Buzz Amsterdam: http://bit.ly/zaRHyi Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 7

A ‘Stroke Of Bad/Good Luck’ ‘Wrenched Away From It was halfway through the local ‘School Maths Holiday Programme’ during week 1 of the Term 3 School Holidays last year, 2011.

Although feeling as though there was a tight band of pressure constricting my inner skull; that I wasn’t quite ‘with it’; plus feeling unreasonably tired/slightly weird during days 1 and 2(as well as for the last few weeks of term 3,)I put it down to the bad cold I’d been fighting against, ‘off and on’ over the past month or so, while relieving during the whole of the 3rd term.

Some observant local cafe workers had also noticed that things ‘weren’t quite right’, while I was trying to drink my lunchtime cup of coffee, spilling it everywhere, and screwing their daily paper up, then leaving it as a wet, sodden ball.... (whereas I usually managed to get at least half of it folded) And I was dragging my left leg behind me when I attempted to walk back for the final session with the senior students of that third day of the four day programme.

A cafe worker then took the trouble to call a mutual teacher friend of ours to come to the library (where the programme was being run) to ‘check me out’, along with another mutual colleague. Being sat down and told that ‘There’s something wrong, and you’re just not your usual self are you Phil?!’ were like snapshots (and still runs through my mind that way, upon occasion) from a bad waking dream.

They said that I had to agree to ‘at least allow myself to be taken to my local health centre,’ to be checked out,in case there was something more seriously wrong...which there sure was!

The G.P on duty put me through some quick tests of coordination and said the word I’d been fearing/knowing deep-down, all along: ‘HOSPITAL!’ Reaching the Hospital by about 2 p.m it was only about 2 hours later that I’d had my heart thoroughly checked out along with the results of a cat scan. The diagnosis was that

I’d suffered a minor stroke or, as recovery subsequently proved, a ‘T.I.A ‘ (’Transient Ischaemic Attack’) In contemporary medical parlance, this was described as an ‘occlusion of an artery in the Parietal lobe’ whereby, as a full M.R..I scan was to fortunately show, just a week or so later, the damage had healed, and that cell regeneration was happening at a pleasing rate of progress (or ‘neural plasticity’...in further medical parlance.)

After my first day on the rehabilitation ward, I went over to the dayroom piano and could hardly coordinate my hands together at all to produce the tunes I’d previously been able to perform, during pre-stroke days.

This led to a heart-rending ‘grieving process’ for what I felt I’d lost (including so many other things I was now unable to do that I’d previously ‘taken for granted’....e.g...driving myself to my schools where I’d previously had so much 4th term relief work already booked, and which I was so much looking forward to teaching at again, in anticipation, looking back on the great days I’d already had teaching there in the earlier terms of 2011.)

However, the expert care of the doctors and nurses in the Rehabilitation Ward (along with my on-going ‘cell regeneration’ or ‘neural plasticity’) was nothing less than excellent throughout.

Looking at the result of my MRI scan, it was amazing to see just how much healthy looking grey matter was coiled up there, filling the majority of the skull cavity and surrounding the initial temporarily blocked, clean/by then clear-looking parietal lobe artery in order to enable the afore-mentioned cell regeneration/neural plasticity to keep on occurring (although I suppose not all of my colleagues/acquaintances would be in total agreement as to just how much grey matter it was I could have sworn I’d seen!?!?)

I realised I was certainly one of the ‘lucky’ ones, especially seeing many other stroke victims on the ward, both younger and older than myself, in my mid-fifties, who would be taking years trying to regain their faculties-if at all....for some of the poor souls!

Once I’d started to regain full kinaesthetic awareness and coordination, and about 90% of my previous full cognitive function, I felt (despite the excellent on-going care still experienced, as mentioned) a distinct lack of autonomy, especially considering that I had to be ‘signed out’ (and back in again) by any ‘friends and family’.

Even just to go for a walk around the hospital grounds, or perhaps just to go outside to have a decent espresso and buy a paper...something that would have been taken totally for granted back in pre-stroke days.

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...Or....

It All’...

A Reliever’s Tale

At last...after six long weeks, I had recuperated enough to finally be allowed to return home, (after surviving a ‘supervised’ weekend by my youngest brother....whom I slightly suspected enjoyed, not just a little, being the ‘one in charge’ again....after all these years!) back to my lonely wee cat and to find that my car wouldn’t start, having sat there stationary, all that time there in its garage for so long.

However, its a three months ‘compulsory stand-down’ for all stroke victims, before they can be cleared to drive again, provided I’ve shown full proficiency on all my cognitive tests with my occupational therapists, which is at the point of being achieved....at this time of writing.

then back down my drive again as soon as I’d got it going again after all that time.)... ....Not that it didn’t help me become thoroughly acquainted with the ‘Wairarapa bus and train’ timetable for the past two months...which doesn’t run too badly at all, I’m pleased to be able to report, at first-hand experience.

And, likewise, to be back in my first classroom again teaching at full pace again which I feel every bit as capable of doing as before, if not (hopefully) better!

Just two more ‘hoops’ to now clear following that...

1

A driving instructor, attached to the hospital for this purpose comes over to my place, whereby I drive him around in my ‘re-mobilised’ car, to show that, like my car, I’m fully roadworthy as a driver again?

2

After reviewing and being satisfied with my cognitive results and associated driving test, my hospital doctors ‘sign me off’ as being fully fit to drive and recommence teaching duties (something they’d helpfully predicted back in later October, once my recovery had started hitting top gear!)

It was this early ‘positivism’ they showed upon the strength of my promising early recovery, which made a huge difference, along with that shown by most of my Occupational Therapists, my social worker (who was of huge benefit actually getting me on the disability benefit in the interim.) And then there was that (positivity) shown by most of my friends and colleagues, whose unfailing support was provided throughout my time in hospital.

All of this helped so much to get myself back to where I am these days....three months on from the initial attack (Oct.12th 2011-Jan.18th 2012....at this particular time of writing.)

So here I am now...’champing at the bit’ to legally drive my car (minus the tedious accompanying ‘vrrrmm.... vrooom’ noises as when I’ve previously driven the whole 10 metres up....and

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 9

Teaching Internationally –

Opportunities

Tamara Thorpe, a primary teacher from New Plymouth, New Zealand, is one of over 250,000 English-speaking teachers currently working in international schools around the world.

Tamara had always been interested in the idea of working internationally. “And the tax free option was extremely appealing!” she adds. So when a teaching job became available at the Sharm British School in Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, Tamara grabbed the opportunity.

She has since moved to the El Gouna International School which is near to Egypt’s Red Sea. “The first year here was very exciting and different,” says Tamara who is now into her third year of teaching in Egypt. “We teach a version of the UK curriculum. The children are reasonably well behaved and there is a great mix of nationalities here. Due to the revolution and changes occurring here, I have seen more Egyptian children enter our international section of the school. The staff are also from all over; the majority from the UK. I am the only Southern Hemisphere teacher on staff.”

10 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

the World Over for Qualified Teachers Tamara says that most of the friends she has made are work colleagues or are friends of work colleagues. “Socially there are lots of people from different countries which is always interesting,” she says. “I met my fiancé here; he is from Barcelona and lives and owns a company here, so that is a great aspect!”

TIC is an organisation that provides free support to teachers who are considering working in an international school. This includes recommending international schools that best suit a teacher’s experience, personality and location preferences. The options for skilled and experienced English-speaking teachers are wide.

Another great part of living in Egypt for Tamara is the exploring. She describes a recent trip to the desert:

With over 6,000 international schools throughout the world, it’s a market much bigger than most people - even those within the education sector - realise.

“We spent three days on a White Desert Safari. Wow, I absolutely loved it! We had a Toyota Land Cruiser 4x4 and all that desert to explore! We camped in tents, had fires every night, no luxuries as in bathroom facilities but that’s part of the experience! Being a New Zealander, I’ve grown up camping so it was all good for me! I would recommend it to anyone visiting Egypt.

As for recommending teaching in Egypt, Tamara says “Look into the region and the school. Read as much as you can about the country; Lonely Planet is great. Make sure you know exactly what you are getting in to. I found TIC very helpful (Teachers International Consultancy) and will continue to use them for future job searching.”

International schools are those that use English as the language for teaching and learning, and they offer an international curriculum. Most typical curricula used are the English National Curriculum, an American curriculum or an international curriculum such as the International Primary Curriculum or the International Baccalaureate.

Most international schools are independent, highly respected, well-equipped and skilfully managed employing fully qualified English-speaking teachers from around the world, mainly from the UK, New Zealand and Australia, South Africa, Canada or America. These schools not only attract English-speaking children from expatriate families

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 11

12 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 13

Opportunities the World Over for Qualifie but also children from the local population; typically the wealthiest of the local families who recognize that an international, English-speaking education opens a lot of career doors for their children. “In fact, international schools are now catering for the richest 5% of the non-Englishspeaking world,” says Nicholas Brummit, Managing Director of ISC Research, an organisation which supplies data on the world’s international schools and analyses developments in the international schools market.

It’s a market that is developing significantly as ISC figures attest. “There were 2,584 English-medium international schools in 2000,” says Nicholas Brummitt. “By April 2008 that number had grown to 4,827. Currently there are 6,000 international schools and by 2021 we predict that number to be 10,000,” he says.

That means a lot of jobs for English-speaking teachers and Headteachers and the reason why they’re looking, says Andrew Wigford of Teachers International Consultancy, isn’t just about salary. “In research that TIC carried out recently, the number one reason for teaching overseas was the adventure and the opportunity to travel,” he says. “Every

single one of the respondents said that the experience of living and working internationally had enriched them as a person and the vast majority said that the experience had been good for their career too, with 89% saying that it had improved their skills and job opportunities.” Andrew adds: “For Tamara, she’s learnt to work with a new curriculum and she’s gained excellent experience of teaching children from many different countries which will help her significantly with any new job application, both internationally and back home.”

If and when she chooses to move on from El Gouna, Tamara will have plenty of options. There are another 130 international schools currently in Egypt; 69 alone in Cairo.

And, according to ISC Research, there are many more further afield. Qatar has 362 international schools and Pakistan has 355, with 307 in India, 218 in Japan and 155 in Thailand.

For more information about teaching opportunities in international schools go to www.findteachingjobsoverseas.

So.... what is the best advice for other teachers considering a move to an international school? xx Apply to accredited international schools or schools that are part of respectable organisations such as COBIS, BSME, FOBISSEA and others,” recommends Andrew Wigford. “You can find details of these organisations on the TIC website. xx If a recruitment organisation is helping you with your search, make sure that they only recommend you to accredited international schools, or that they personally vet nonaccredited schools in advance of your interview. xx Also make sure your cv is up-to-date and well written. International schools will be looking for strong personal skills as well as teaching experience. xx More and more international school interviews are being conducted through Skype so be prepared for this. Make sure you have the correct equipment set up and have practiced communicating through Skype in advance of any interviews. xx Work through a reputable organization when searching for foreign teaching positions. There are a few unscrupulous owners in some international schools who do not take the appropriate procedures to ensure that foreign

14 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

teachers have the correct health and safety coverage, visa back-up, or suitable accommodation. xx Teachers have been known to find themselves in difficult circumstances, sometimes a long way from home. So working with an established organisation to oversee your placement will give you the security you need. xx If you work with an organisation that is specifically experienced at recruiting for the international school market, they will be able to give you all the advice and expert support that you need and will know - and may well have visited - many of the schools that you are considering. This will help you significantly during your job search. xx Once you’ve been offered a job, make sure you cross-check all your terms and conditions and know exactly what you will be receiving and when, including any relocation support. xx If a recruitment agency is representing you, they will review your contract with you. If you are still considering a job move for this summer, it’s not too late to do something about it. There are still vacancies left. But take action now or you’ll miss the opportunity.”

ed Teachers

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 15

Change in the year of the d The dragon is seen in Chinese culture as the most powerful of the animals and it promises to be a strong year for those who rise up to the challenge of reflecting on their educational practice in order to support the process of profession learning.

Reflection starts when we face a situation and ask ourselves what needs to be done. The start of the new year is an ideal time to be thinking about what we do to meet the learning needs of all our students, knowing that a class encompasses students who may see the world through a different lens and therefore have different learning needs from the mainstream. Not just those who struggle, but those who are quick to understand and needing high levels of challenge.

What is in place to meet the learning needs of able students and how will each of us take responsibility for ensuring that there is appropriate challenge? It’s a time for thinking about the influence that you will have over the coming months. It’s an ideal opportunity to make changes for the better where they are needed.

And we can ALL improve something.

What opportunities will you provide for • ‘Off level testing’ for the student who tests at the ceiling of normed tests for his/her age group so that you can provide appropriate curriculum challenge rather than ‘more of the same?’

• the student who reads widely, loves reading and has a wide vocabulary knowledge so that the love of reading can be channelled into widening the student’s ability to make a difference?

• the student who is quick to understand with little or no need for practice to retain the knowledge and make unexpected and/ or abstract links so that he/she doesn’t lose interest and become unmotivated?

• the student who has unusual or intensely focussed interests and is capable of concentrated bursts of interest when motivated by the topic so that his/her content knowledge and talent can be valued and nurtured ?.

•

the independent thinker / the student who displays insatiable curiosity / the student whose culture is different to that of your own?

What is your new year’s educational resolution for the ‘kid that can’ already in your classroom?

16 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

dragon Elaine Le Sueur

START HERE Do you need help ?

Celebrate then decide on your next action.

Identify an issue that requires action

Who can you ask for help?

ASK !

NO

Have you taken action ?

YES

Have you decided on the action you will take ?

Ask for help NO

YES

YES

Was the action successful ?

NO

Decide on an alternative action

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 17

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

18 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

China’s new hot job: Kindergarten teaching For the millions of students who graduate from China’s universities each year, the job search is a grueling and seemingly hopeless struggle, as countless applicants fight for a dwindling number of jobs.

But for one profession, it is the employers who are clamouring to snatch up the rare young graduates with the skills to fill a very in-demand position: kindergarten teachers.

The phenomenon reflects rapidly expanding enrolment numbers in kindergartens across China, as well as parents’ rising demands for quality education in the earliest years of their children’s schooling.

The country’s desperate need for kindergarten teachers was evident at a recent job fair in the northern Hebei province.

Four hundred twenty-one kindergartens took part, offering a total of 8,986 positions, according to Hebei Youth News.

Only 810 students attended.

Kindergarten teachers demonstrate childrens’ exercises at a school near Wuhan. Pic: Chutian Dushibao

“Right now, I’ve had three kindergartens agree to sign me,” said Lin Li, a soon-to-be graduate who had been at the job fair for little over an hour. “Which one should I choose?”

Local schools at the job fair competed with employers from neighboring provinces and regions as far away as Guangdong. Kindergartens from China’s wealthier cities advertised monthly salaries and benefits far above the ability of Hebei schools.

“Job seekers only need to match our requirements,” said a teacher from Beijing’s Guangming Pre-School Education Center. “3000 yuan ($475), plus insurance, room and board.

We can make good on it.”

By the time the job fair closed at 2pm, all but nine students had walked away having accepted a job offer.

For many of their peers, these are chances they could only dream of.

A 2010 study by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences found that 89.6 percent of college graduates had found employment within six months of graduating. Many students devote their entire senior year to the job search, and employed graduates frequently complain of underemployment and miserable working conditions.

But for kindergarten education majors, many of whom are graduates of vocational schools rather than four-year universities, employer-applicant ratios like those in Hebei are nothing out of the ordinary.

A job fair held the same day in the eastern province of Anhui was attended by 413 students, with over 3500 positions available. Starting monthly salaries went as high as 5000 yuan.

In contrast, the 2010 CASS study found that recent college graduates earned an average of 2,500 yuan per month.

By Michael Evans With thanks to: http://asiancorrespondent.com

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 19

Three times a day at two A process that’s based on myths and mistaken beliefs is hardly likely to be efficient.

Till the year 2000, myths and mistaken beliefs have been our only basis for understanding the learning process.

Come 2001, fortunately a new understanding emerges.

It brings hope that infants, yet mewling and puking in their mother’s arms, will no longer be destined to become the half-pai learners of tomorrow, they will not become students with a restricted licence to learn.

The trick is to convince their carers, their teachers and the education policy makers that a new era is now upon us.

It’s an era when students will end up learning to the remarkably similar level for which almost all have been genetically programmed.

It’s an era wherein no student will have to put up with the vagaries of an ineffective learning process that ensures some learn, others not so well, some hardly at all.

For till now, no one has had the knowledge, either, to recognise the extent to which that learning process – upon which all places of learning set such store – is the sort of ineffectiveness cluster bomb that’ll go on blighting lives and haunting futures forever. All involved have acted with a similar lack of understanding of what’s going on. Interventions have been targeted mostly to the visibly underachieving, none realising that all learners are afflicted by the same malady, an inherently inefficient learning process that undercuts the otherwise remarkably similar capacity to learn most all possess. None realising, either, that the lot of those visibly underachieving hinges largely on that ineffective learning process being replaced by an effective one.

The something-must-be-done principle still drives the decision to bring intervention approaches into play. In far too many instances, the somethingthat-gets-done turns out to be varietal forms of whatever common sense approach is currently fashionable overseas. In the final wash up, when they’ve run their course, nobody seems to notice that what has been done didn’t change things all that much, the same efficacy problem remaining.

In all this, we witness the tragedy that is our learner’s rightful fulfilment being sacrificed on the alter of ignorance. For in this instance it’s wilful ignorance. Thanks to Nuthall, we now know the root causes of all this educational ill thrift. But the policy makers have consigned his research to gather dust in their archives.

Well, this column has threshed those causes too many times to have any

20 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

appetite to do so yet again. Thanks to the late Graham Nuthall, they’re now well understood, that is, they are to the few who pay them heed. On the list of those who don’t, would appear the names of virtually every so-called educational leader throughout the land. No, the tack this time will be to concentrate on perhaps the single most important of Nuthall’s findings and see what use and benefit might be obtained from it.

The finding in question – Nuthall’s three times the full information at two day interval learning rule – pertains to what it takes for new topics, ideas or concepts (tics) to be properly processed, that is, permanently integrated into an individual’s knowledge base. This rule is at once the most challenging in relation to where education must now head, the most difficult to take advantage of, yet possibly the single most immediately beneficial in what it could deliver. What to do with it presents the education sector with the same sort and magnitude of dilemma as would be presented to the world of particle physics if the Higg’s boson was found not to exist. By itself, it would not be the end-all of the massive inefficacy that’s hamstringing the nation’s learners, young and old, but it’s impact on the current inefficacy situation would be spectacular, if not revolutionary. Student achievement across the board would flourish.

Nuthall formulated his rule from data obtained from studying teachers taking lessons. He gathered information from multiple sources – video, audio from miked-up students, and from interviews that tapped into surreptitious student conversations, and even into thoughts, voiced and unvoiced, getting

intervals Laurie Loper Psychologist inside heads. He then related all of what took place to what students ended up knowing.

He was a very meticulous scientist. He had to be. Gathering data in the comprehensive way he did, the data base was so huge it took a year to analyse just one lesson. Being a stickler for replication, he studied many such lessons in this way in several classrooms and schools. To establish what students had learnt, he interviewed them afterwards at around one week, 6 months, and 12 months after the initial lesson. His criteria for learning permanency, was that a student could both recall and make functional use of the information 12 months afterwards.

His data threw up patterns so consistent, it allowed him to construct a predictive computer model that he used as a research tool. If students were subject to the 3 times the full information at 2 day intervals rule when learning new tics, 80 to 85 per cent of them would be able to both recall and make functional use of the information involved, as said, 12 months on. Tics that didn’t have the benefit of the rule, of course, were not learnt. By any measure, Nuthall’s criteria is stringent. In this era of teach and test, I wonder what, say, NCEA results would look like if it was possible to assess all student learning against that 12 month criteria.

The reason the Nuthall rule works has to do with how he reckoned the brain processes and stores new information, something I won’t go into except to say it does accord with some work going on at Otago Medical School by a team led by Professor Cliff Abraham that’s studying how the brain works in Alzheimer patients. In an email communication he said that the team

was examining learning and memory in terms of the changes that happen at the synapses between neurones. In the work being done some useful understandings of the complex electrical and biochemical processes involved are being developed. Though he had not previously known of Nuthall’s work, Abraham went along with the model Nuthall formed of the learning process.

reintroduced you probably don’t need to spend another 3 sessions on them).

Identification of unique tics in a course syllabus, and then design your schedule around emphasis of those tics is likely key to your success in this venture. This will give you a rough idea how much of the schedule is available to teach each tic, and hence how frequently new tics need to be introduced.

Making use of the Nuthall learning rule means considering how it can be integrated into timetables. To this end I consulted with Brett Loper, Waikato University, to take advantage of his math and physics background and his tutoring and teaching experience. I posed the question of whether there wasn’t a mathematical solution possible that would enable Nuthall’s rule to be used? His answer is quoted verbatim:

Now you can attempt to design your schedule. What you’ll probably end up with is an idea of the optimal number of tics for a course syllabus (given the number of teaching days and hence number of sessions to teach a course is a constant). This would be the 1st iteration of your schedule.

“As it stands the problem is probably insoluble from a mathematical point of view because of weekends. To get a solution you will need to simplify the problem to something that is soluble and then I think you’ll be able to obtain a workable solution – to this simplified version of the problem – from a scheduling point of view, by trial and error. What I suggest is that you look first at just a single subject and approximate the week to being only 5 weekdays (discount weekends) so as you can schedule new tics from any day. (Perhaps not optimal by Nuthall’s rule but mathematically soluble.) Then the first thing you need to do is work out the number of tics in a course and the number of weeks you have available for teaching. Note that the first is not necessarily trivial given many courses will see repeated application of the same or similar concepts (and when concepts are

Further iterations might add consideration for weekends, assessment and all courses in a programme. Other constraints such as not introducing new tics on say Thursdays and Fridays when students are least attentive could be considered later also.”

Making use of Nuthall’s learning rule, with its many inherent complications, clearly won’t be easy. Any suggestion, though, that the rule be regarded as generating more problems than it might possibly solve needs to be tempered by understanding that, under the present ineffective learning regime, by definition, no student can be learning as well as they should.

Moreover, with Nuthall’s proof relating to that “inherently inefficient” learning process being so solid (Nuthall, 2001), it’s almost certain that also means that about half the learning capacity of the nation’s young is not being developed (Loper, 2007). Notwithstanding the difficulties that making use of Nuthall’s rule presents, there’s little excuse for it to

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 21

be still lying unused 10 years after it was first reported in 2001.

In the light of Nuthall’s discoveries, the situation facing those endeavouring to raise achievement across the board couldn’t be more fraught. For few realise that the only real answer to lifting the educational performance of the visibly failing lies in finding a means of raising the performance of every student. Hence that’s not a tactic in their repertoire. Because learning inefficiency plays such a dominating and all pervasive role in reducing the attainment of every student, the fate of all students, more especially those visibly failing, rests entirely on whether or not a means of putting that tactic to work can be found. That’s another valid reason for putting in the work to make sure the Nuthall rule contributes to the fullest extent possible.

Getting best value from the rule also means turning the spotlight on to interventions. These in their variety, like hope, keep springing up eternally, but by definition, they’re largely a waste of time and money. As indicated elsewhere, none target the inefficacy of the learning process or treat it as the major waster-of-life-chances cause it is. It behoves all wannabe seekers of improved outcomes to recognise this and not give up, but to go hard after more appropriate solutions. I can’t imagine those scientists with their Large Hadron Collider ever giving up seeking a solution to what causes mass just because they’d found the Higg’s boson didn’t exist. Neither should the fact that the rule looks a bit like education’s version of the Gordian Knot curb efforts to make full use of it. I’d also have difficulty imaging how any teachers, armed with a full understanding of the rule, could possibly carry on teaching as they once did.

Besides, Nuthall’s contribution to the improvement of learning across the board isn’t limited to the rule he’s discovered, he’s unearthed a raft of other discoveries that lend themselves to being most useful. His rule would only provide one means of assaulting

22 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

the efficacy issue. Experience suggests, though, that getting a toe hold for Nuthall’s ideas will likely only occur if some teachers could be enticed to try something new, the rule provides that opportunity.

Apart from the approaches suggested

by Brett Loper above, ways of making use of the rule might include the following: Make sure all students know about the rule and are encouraged to use it in all instances where time tabling doesn’t provide the opportunities to engage in the necessary two full follow-through experiences. Student’s need to learn to recognise when tics the teacher is covering are new to them so they can be earmarked as being in need of follow through attention. Where the number of ticks goes beyond what a student can handle – something I’d imagine would happen quite often – prioritisation could be taught, teachers helping here by flagging the relative importance of respective tics, by developing a suitable rating system.

Teachers, it must be acknowledged, are the meat in the sandwich here, trying to balance the demands of delivering curriculum against ensuring that students have a proper opportunity to learn. Of the two roles, the second is surely the most important. Students could be taught to keep data on tics which in turn could be fed back into the system to ensure the learning load is kept at reasonable levels. Where they are not, such data in the hands of older students provides the opportunity for student action.

Teachers might like to experiment with the rule, scheduling things so as to accommodate a particular course or theme. That would allow a comparison with other situations where there had not been opportunity for both the second and third experiences of the full information. Comparisons though would need to be made at least, say, 6 months after the initial learning experience in order to ensure the longevity aspect of the learning has had time to come into play.

Taking an experimental approach might reveal some additional options if the experimentation was to be directed at finding out how much flexibility there was in the rule. For instance, it’s known that those additional two experiences of the full information of a tic can consist of part experiences, as long as they all add up to fit the criteria, that’s what matters. Maybe there’s other flexibility to be had.

Primary and intermediate teachers working in situations where they have their own class much of the time might like to schedule new tics on Mondays and follow-through experiences of them on the subsequent Wednesdays and Fridays. Similarly, they could also schedule new tics for Tuesdays, with a further follow-through on Thursday, using Saturday as homework for the third. Variations for long weekend shortened weeks that cancel out Mondays, might also be considered.

In a situation where the number of subjects in the curriculum make it impossible for the proper processing of the new tics involved, rationalisation is an inevitability, be it dropping subjects, reorganising, pruning or amalgamating content, or whatever.

It’s untenable and unethical for schools and teachers to be presenting subjects when there’s not a proper opportunity for students to process the learning involved.

The rule clearly signals that coverage has to amount to more than just one go at new tics, a failing that Bennett et al, in a Lancaster University study found was startlingly present amongst “excellent” teachers in reading and maths study they undertook with 6 and 7 year olds (Bennett, 1984). One-off opportunities set up failure as the prospect. In one-off situations where interesting material is employed to engage students, there’s the real danger that learning ends up being mere infotainment.

Perhaps the rule’s greatest contribution is that it makes it crystal clear that where any curriculum becomes so overcrowded there’s no

possibility of students being able to cope with those follow-through requirements, it points the way to a solution that the explosion of knowledge is surely demanding. With the knowledge explosion threatening to overwhelm, that solution could be as simple as teaching students how to learn, instead of concentrating on cramming in more and more of what will end up as being sketchily taught content.

Schools and their teachers may consider that teaching students how to learn is precisely what they’re doing nowadays, especially with there being so many IT options to assist. But with Nuthall’s evidence showing clearly that teachers know very little about how learning works, especially in classrooms, that claim surely holds no water. Time will tell, but from where I’m sitting, and with history on my side, that inefficient learning process looks to be as firmly ensconced as ever.

Best to be making policy decisions

now before that knowledge explosion completely overwhelms us.

References and Acknowledgements:

In his latest book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to get things right, published January 2011, author Atul Gawande talks of two kinds of errors that get made,..

Bennett, N. “The Quality of pupil learning experiences”. L Elbaum Publisher 1984.

“errors of ignorance (mistakes we make because we don’t know enough), and errors of ineptitude (mistakes we make because we don’t make proper use of what we know).”

He says that failure in the modern world, is really about the second of these errors.

So it is in education. Up till Nuthall’s 2001 report on his discoveries, we knew no better about what makes learning work. Now that we do, stopping those “errors of ineptitude” we’ve endured this past decade becomes paramount.

Nuthall, G. (2001). The cultural myths and the realities of teaching and learning. Address to the Annual Conference of NZARE Christchurch, Dec 2001.

Loper,L. (2007). Notional Diagram. Unpublished.

Acknowledgements for email contributions made by Cliff Abraham, Professor of Psychology, Otago University and Brett Loper, Computer Support Consultant, Waikato University.

Gawande, A. The Checklist Manifesto: How to get it right. Profile Books Ltd Publisher. January 2011.

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Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 23

EmpowerED

24 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

- Empowering women to grow.

It all began for owner/organiser Mary-Anne Murphy when she made a resolution in 2008 to push personal boundaries and step outside of her comfort zone.

Beginning with a Sky-dive of 13000 feet over Motueka, the bucket-list check-off had begun. Next up was a solo backpack through Vietnam and Cambodia for 6 weeks.

This tested her self-sufficiency and resourcefulness; and returned a sense of empowerment and appreciation that was ever-lasting.

EmpowerEd is an organisation that organises trips, events, and learning opportunities for women.

These are arranged to provide likeminded women with the opportunity to learn, grow and tick-of some of those things on their bucket-list within a supportive and fun environment.

On her return she resolved that she wanted others to experience a similar sense of empowerment. This brought-about the evolution of EmpowerED. Events organised include a weekend away doing the Tongariro Crossing, 4-Wheel driving for the Girls, bike riding and writers weekends; to name a few.

Mary-Anne has an extensive background that supports her role, which includes qualifications as a personal trainer, fitness instructor, massage therapist, along with numerous education qualifications including teaching and leadership experience up to Principal level.

Passionate about facilitating people to grow, Mary-Anne believes that life is not a dress rehearsal; and sometimes we need support to step beyond our comfort zone. She believes the collective energy of women can foster an environment of support and growth.

So what is in-store for EmpowerED in the near future?

Tongariro Crossing Weekend: 16-18 March $170 .

Includes: transportation from Hamilton, 2 nights accommodation (shared facilities), 2 breakfasts, packed lunch for crossing, transportation to and from crossing, spa, “Just did it” T-Shirt and certificate of completion... along with an awesome weekend of fun, sisterhood and a sense of achievement With a trip to the Tongariro Crossing in March, plans are now in place for a weekend of gentle yoga, personal writing/art and jewellery-making based in beautiful Raglan over the weekend 13th -15th April.

If you are needing time-out to regain balance, re-energise and reignite your creativity; then this is for you!

To find out more details, contact Mary-Anne: mary-anne@inspired.ac.nz Something to ponder...

“My deepest fear is not that I am inadequate. My deepest fear is that I am powerful beyond measure. It is my light, not my darkness, that most frightens me. I ask myself, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who am I not to be? ... My playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure about me. ... And as I let my own light shine, I unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As I am liberated from my own fear, my presence automatically liberates others.”

Marianne Williamson Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 25

Mary-Anne is a Learning Facilitator/Consultant, based in the Waikato and works throughout NZ. She partners with schools to offer tailored professional support that provides practical and innovative learning for teachers.

She is committed to supporting teachers in their quest to provide learners with the tools, strategies and competencies that equip them to become global citizens of tomorrow. She is focused on empowering learners to think and lead their learning through the creation of authentic, wholistic learning opportunities which seamlessly infuse current technologies. Mary-Anne empowers teachers to personally and collectively extend and fill “nga kete mātauranga” (the basket of knowledge) so they can move forward with focus and insight.

She has extensive teaching and leadership experience within both Primary and Secondary contexts. Her experience includes roles as a Primary Principal, Assessment Adviser, Specialist Classroom Teacher and Professional Development Co-ordinator of Literacy and Assess To Learn initiatives, school-wide Syndicate Leader with a particular emphasis on student engagement and motivation programmes, HOD English Department and e-Learning and Inquiry facilitator.

Her qualifications include: Grad. Dip IT in Ed (Distinction),

Grad. Dip Arts, B.Ed., Dip. Tchg.

26 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

I am Five and I go to School

Early years Schooling in New Zealand, 900-2010 Helen May Otago University Press RRP $49.95 (NZ$) It is a rather unusual and novel event to pick up a book to review and find a relative being quoted! However this is a New Zealand book and with degrees of separation it is I suppose eventually inevitable.

Helen May’s ‘I am Five and I go to School – Early Years Schooling in New Zealand 1900 – 2010 Is a fascinating, thoroughly researched and eminently readably book covering the development of New Zealand’s early school education, encompassing preschool and junior school (Primer) education. My initial thought was perhaps this was yet another book which was worthy but rather dry reading… then I started and found this was one ‘academic’ book which belied its premise.

The content of this book is such that it should have a much wider audience than just academics and the occasional interested teacher… it is absorbing as the reader (especially if they have been involved in education) finds examples of recognisable books used through the era. The wide-ranging photos and examples which accompany the text make the book worthy on their own… the ones from the first half of last century are especially poignant and a vivid reminder (though rendered in black and white!) of how far schooling has come… the content of national education may be revisited frequently but the conditions and methods have certainly changed.

May includes commentary on the theories and practise of the era covered and introduces the influences to New Zealand’s educational development of many well-known, and some lesser so, New Zealand Educators from C.E. Beeby to Marie Clay.

I would recommend this as an interesting read, a superbly researched academic reference and a fascinatingly illustrated book. It should have a place in every library (both school and public) and in every thinking educators collection and should be considered by researchers as a basis for reference. It gives in depth insight into how the educational section of New Zealand has been influenced and developed over more than a century.

Helen May is the Dean of University of Otago College of Education. She began her career as a primary school teacher in the mid-1960s, worked in childcare in the 1970s, and began tertiary teaching in the 1980s. During the early 1990s she worked with Margaret Carr on the development of Te Whariki, New Zealand’s first national curriculum for early childhood education. In 1995 she was appointed to the first New Zealand professorial chair in Early Childhood Education at Victoria University Wellington and in 2005 she was appointed Professor of Education at the University of Otago. She has published six books as sole author on the history and politics of early education.

Harold’s back at school A lucky group of children heading back to school this week will be greeted by a friendly and trusting friend, Harold the Giraffe, mascot of the Life Education Trust. Harold has been visiting kiwi kids for 24 years and over the course of this school year will see nearly half of the 450,000 primary and intermediate aged children in New Zealand.

The mobile classroom with Harold emblazoned is a familiar sight at schools, with 43 mobile classrooms nationwide.

The Life Education programme is a specialist health resource for schools offering nineteen modules to primary and intermediate aged New Zealand kids. The highly trained specialist teachers take lessons involving healthy eating, relationships, self esteem and cover topical issues such as drugs and bullying.

“Young people are such an important part of our society.

They face challenges every day where they make decisions that may have an impact on the rest of their lives.” Life Education Founder Trevor Grice said.

“Our goal is no child left behind, when every child in New Zealand has access to a Life Education mobile we will be making a positive step towards reaching our goal.”

In 2011 the Life Education mobile classrooms attended 1350 schools nationwide and visited over 220,000 children. “We work with schools to equip kiwi kids with the skills and knowledge to help them live a fulfilling life.” National Educator Manager Megan Gallagher says.

Life Education first started in New Zealand in 1987 when founder Trevor Grice brought the programme from Australia after seeing the immense benefits. Life Education initially launched with two mobile classrooms one in Auckland and one in Christchurch, today the classrooms operate from Far North to Southland.

Life Education Trust is a charity and has a small national office and a team of educators throughout the country. “It grows by having dedicated volunteers raising money in their area to bring the programme to their children. Business people, parents, school principals and other community minded people that work hard year in and year out to ensure we deliver this valuable programme,” said Mr Grice.

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 27

School students wanted for

‘Pens Against Poverty’ ChildFund New Zealand joins forces with leading playwright, actors and schools for inaugural national scriptwriting challenge.

Intermediate students from around New Zealand are being asked to put pen to paper in a unique bid to help fight poverty in the developing world via an innovative scriptwriting challenge.

ChildFund New Zealand has today announced ‘Pens Against Poverty: ChildFund’s Young Playwrights Challenge’, which offers year 6, 7 and 8 students the opportunity to hone their literacy skills while helping raise awareness for a good cause. Participating students will gain valuable insight in to scriptwriting from renowned actor, playwright, director and ChildFund Ambassador Alison Quigan, who has set the scriptwriting criteria. The winning school receives expert guidance from across New Zealand’s drama fraternity as their script is developed into a play for the professional stage.

The initiative comes from the success of ChildFund’s recently published children’s book, Mary’s Christmas Yarn, a warm-hearted tale of giving to those in need, penned by 10 of New Zealand’s best known storytellers. The book is to be used as the basis for the scripts submitted to the challenge.

About ChildFund New Zealand ChildFund New Zealand is a member of the ChildFund Alliance, an international child development organisation with more than 70 years of experience helping the world’s neediest children, which works in 54 countries, assisting 16 million children and family members regardless of race, creed or gender.

ChildFund New Zealand works for the well-being of children by supporting locally led initiatives that strengthen families and communities, helping them overcome poverty and protect the rights of their children.

ChildFund’s comprehensive programmes incorporate health, education, nutrition and livelihood interventions that sustainably protect, nurture and develop children. ChildFund works in any environment where poverty, conflict and disaster threaten the well-being of children.

28 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

Senior Primary and Intermediate schools nationwide have until 30 April 2012 to submit their best scripts and see if they have what it takes to craft a script worthy of the stage.

The top five scripts will be selected in May by a panel of expert judges, with each finalist school getting the opportunity to perform an excerpt from their script live to one of the judges and receive their professional critique. The overall winning script will have the honour of being transformed into a professional production, staged by an Auckland drama group, with a musical score developed by students from a secondary school.

ChildFund CEO Paul Brown believes ‘Pens Against Poverty’ is the first collaboration of its kind, providing a unique, real-life learning opportunity useful in meeting curriculum requirements for literacy in the classroom.

“The story of Mary’s Yarn is set in New Zealand and written by Kiwis, but tells the tale of poverty in the developing world in an accessible and engaging way for children, as well as adults. Alison Quigan’s criteria can help teachers adapt it to class lessons, and students can gain valuable skills across English, Arts, Drama and the Social Sciences through work-shopping their script.

“As a play, Mary’s Christmas Yarn will be an enormously satisfying achievement for the winning school, culminating in a red carpet Gala Premiere. The story has been a labour of love by many talented people throughout its evolution, and now students can be a part of that by adapting it for the stage.

“Proceeds from the Gala Premiere, featuring professional Kiwi actors, and hopefully a few famous cameos, will help further the education resources of children in developing countries who are hungry to learn.”

Criteria developer and actor Alison Quigan says the ‘Pens Against Poverty’ challenge has a format that is easily adapted to curriculum requirements.

“It comes complete with a lesson template and the co-authors include talent like Miriama Kamo, Hilary Barry and Jeremy Corbett, so the language is entertaining from the outset.

What I hope students will grasp are the nuances necessary for a script to truly bind together a production. Whether it’s a small country school or one with a big intermediate roll, this is a challenge that generates benefits for all.”

The full line up of judges, professional drama group and secondary school developing the score will be announced soon.

Alison Quigan

To register, schools can go to www.childfund.org.nz/schools or phone 0800 223 111.

Media Release

January 2012

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 29

One Man’s Dream and the Ruben As part of the plan to travel overseas for 6 months we needed to buy a boat capable of making the trip.

Five years earlier I had instigated the plan of fulfilling a 40 year dream.

One of the first steps after discussing it with Joy was to break the news to our parents.

I made sure that I had my mother’s full attention then I told her that in 5 years’ time we intended sailing around the South Pacific. ‘That’s very nice dear’ she said quickly. ‘Have another piece of cake’.

The rest of the family didn’t express any reservations immediately although I heard subsequently that some members, who shall remain nameless, tried to find some way of stopping this madness with only 3 months before departure. Thus, according to plan I started looking for a suitable vessel. Around Tauranga I didn’t find much credence from the boat brokers. One who was recommended by a workmate as being honest blotted his copybook when I told him that he was purported to be honest. He said ‘He obviously doesn’t know me very well.’

Another who I visited on a rainy day pointed from his office vaguely towards the marina and said ‘There’s one over there you might be interested in’ and left me to it.

Partly in disgust and partly to check out a bigger slice of the market I telephoned an agent in Auckland and explained in detail what my needs were and when I would be arriving in Auckland to view the selection. I have found that this is the best way to do business.

Robin Brown, got the task of showing us around. On the first trip I took my oldest daughter, Corina, who was also busy planning her wedding. Unfortunately she would not be on the trip with us. I say unfortunately because she is a good crew member. Anyway she had her priorities right and was a great help. On the first day, a wet Friday, we had a look at 15 boats. Nearly all of them were almost suitable although several of the less suitable literally stank. How the owners had the gall to put them on the market in that condition beat me.

Robin had done his homework well and was not pushy. The only scary part was being driven in his car which badly needed a new wheel-bearing. It made a terrible noise when we went around left turns. In order not to waste time we did not dally over unsuitable craft. The first one we saw was on the hardstand. I did not like it initially but as it filled the criteria I placed it on the possible list along with three others.

The following week I took Joy back with me to look at the four. One of them had sold so another possible one was viewed. Eventually it came down to a Herreshoff and the Cavalier 36’ that I had seen first. The Cavalier was in the water by then and as the Herreshoff required some maintenance we made an offer on the Cavalier. After some 30 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

bargaining all that remained was a test sail. On the 31st October we went for a test sail on the Waitemata harbour.

On board were the owner, Robin the agent, a diesel mechanic, and Joy and I. It was a nice sunny spring day with only 8 knots of breeze and at one stage we climbed to 16 knots with full main and No.3 up.

We arrived home after finalising the purchase of ‘Ruben Jane’ to meet a very pleasant retired couple who were interested in buying ‘For Sail’ our Kestral (18 foot trailersailer) which we had owned for a dozen years. I took them and their friend out for a sail on Tauranga Harbour. Upon our return we bargained for 15 seconds to arrive at a price satisfactory to us both. A week later we were the morose couple who watched their friend being towed down the road for the final time. We wish them many happy times with her too. Our happy memories remain though.

Over the months of preparation, especially the last month, I became increasingly amazed at how many people wanted to come on board the dream - not to make the trip themselves but to encourage me to hold the dream tightly, or maybe it was for a multitude of other reasons.

Our three children deserve a big mention. They endured the loss of privacy in a confined area for 6 months before departure time to get used to the limitations of their personal space especially Susannah who’s bed became the communal sofa during the day. The lack of privacy was an issue. To have 3 daughters on board during the trip, did involve some adjustments. We all had to consider others more than usual including when we had our feet on the table and someone wished to go past, we all had to sit up straight until they were past us. Surprisingly we all adjusted well and were fairly harmonious. Having a TV on board before we departed certainly helped.

Last of all I have to thank Joy, my wife, for the many sacrifices both great and small and the trials of living in confined quarters, not only with a dreamer, but also coping with extended family pressures; for doing all the seemingly insignificant tasks; for growing in confidence through all the preparations. I hope in some small way to repay all the time, effort and expense by giving the family the trip of a lifetime.

TAURANGA to ATATA ISLAND 2nd May I would like to say that the departure day dawned fine, warm and sunny but it didn’t. It was reasonably warm but overcast. Departure time had been set at 1000 hours but this was delayed for an hour due to the primary winch malfunctioning. I had taken it apart the previous night in the dark to grease it but found that 2 tiny pawl springs were damaged and needed to be replaced. I met my final crew member for the first time only an hour before departure (not a recommended procedure). Joy and the girls were flying up to Tonga on the 12th May so I had 3 men join me. Bennet, Andrew and Warren signed on for the trip to Atata Island, Kingdom of Tonga. Over the years I have seen a number of boats depart for overseas and most have about half a dozen folk to wave them farewell. I had over 40. It made our departure extra special. My family were accompanying us out of the harbour on the large launch Ragnarok who had been moored next to us for the past six months.

n Jane I reversed very carefully out of the berth and had everything, including my emotions, under control, when Raewyn blew on her conch shell. Ragnarok blew her horn followed by Tony blowing his horn at the marina office and several other yachts moored in the marina followed suit.

Such a fine salute, but all of a sudden the emotional significance struck me and tears flowed as I exited the marina. Dirk and Angela were on the marina wall and I called to them ‘The end of a dream; the beginning of the reality’. These few minutes alone made the entire trip worthwhile. It wasn’t really the end of the dream but rather the middle of it. I had dreamed of this day for 40 years; planned for it for five years; lived it for 6 months and will savour the emotion for the rest of my life. I wish I could express my feelings at this point but suffice to say that when I am typing this over a year later there come again tears to my eyes; tears of happiness, not sorrow.

We raised the sails and motor sailed down the harbour and out the entrance. By the port marker on the No.1 reach the family waved their final farewells and c executed a sweeping turn and with a final toot from them we were suddenly alone.

We were part of the Island Cruising Regatta. Sixteen other boats left Opua at 1400 hours and Episode had left Tauranga 3 days earlier.

We stopped the motor and continued under sails.

Somewhere between Karewa and Mayor islands we lost the man-overboard light overboard. I had only attached it several hours earlier. I suspect somebody knocked it without realising. Off Mayor Island we executed a terrible jibe when we decided to show Warren and Bennet SE Bay. We motor sailed in and jibed again just inside the entrance.

When we left Mayor Island behind the wind gusted to 25 knots so we put 2 reefs in the main and the No.4 jib in place overnight. Joy got a fright when she went down to the Coastguard to listen in to the evening schedule (sked) because there was a yacht taking in water at Mayor Island.

They wanted to make a dash back to Tauranga but were advised against it so they beached it in SE bay. Initially Joy thought it may have been us.

Just after nightfall Andy smelt something bad - he thinks it might have been whale breath. It was a clear night with lots of stars. The wind was gusty. On my watch midnight to 0200 hours I saw the loom of a light off the starboard bow which we progressively overhauled. Later on my watch I saw the lights of a vessel; port and one white light stern steaming. It was very cold out on watch. The cloud cover increased to 80%.

3rd May

When we were gutting one of the fish we cut its head off and discarded it overboard. By the time the fillets were off and the tail went overboard 10 minutes had elapsed. As we were doing 6 knots at the time I can assure the reader that the fish was at least one mile from its head to its tail. This may be the longest true fish story in history without a shadow of a lie.

The day continued overcast and gusty. On the 1730 sked with Tauranga Coastguard I asked if there were any messages. ‘No’ was the reply which made me pretty sad as I was expecting one from Joy. ‘However, there is someone here to talk to you’ continued the operator. Joy came up and we had a chat. She sounded pretty perky which cheered me up as I wasn’t feeling very well. When she asked if anyone was sick I just replied ‘Family’.

I find that talking to people by radio makes me quite emotional - a taste of loneliness after the radio is turned off.

I forgot to arrange a further sked which I regretted.

The big disaster of the trip occurred at 10 minutes to midnight. The swell was up to 3 metres and with Bennet at the helm we did one jib too many. The mainsail ripped 2.5 metres along the seam just below the 3rd reef point. There aren’t any repair shops handy so we’ll have to fix it ourselves in the morning. This is one danger of taking inexperienced crew. I don’t blame him though as in the conditions all of us have been having difficulty maintaining the course in choppy conditions. We have taken the main off and are heading towards Atata Island at 4.5 knots. This is a blow because it means we won’t have enough speed to go to Minerva Reef on the way. It probably means I will never get there now.

Earlier, during the afternoon we had also had a problem when I ran the motor to top up the batteries. Because of the following seas we had turned off the seacock. Warren checked that it was turned on - it wasn’t. When the motor was started it blew the hose off the anti-siphon device. I noticed water covering the cabin floor so took the engine cover off and saw the water pouring in through the joint. In order to reconnect the hose it was necessary to empty the aft cockpit locker (which was very full) and to climb down

DISASTER DAY.

Bennet and I were struck by mal de mer. Changed up to No.2 jib which we poled out as we had a following wind and sea. The swell varied between 1.5 and 2 metres from the SW which made it quite uncomfortable. The wind was reasonably constant at 15 knots increasing after dark to 20 knots. The barometer was reasonably steady.

During my watch in the morning we had a strike but lost it.

However on Warren’s watch we hooked and landed two big-eyed tuna. We lost another on Andy’s watch. It is also getting expensive on lures. Where can we buy some more?

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into it and around the back of the motor. Connecting it was easy. I must admit the crew required no great encouragement to man the pumps. The water was quickly cleared from the inside of the vessel and order restored.

4th May. During the night Andy said phosphorescence was like lightning but under water. When we left Tauranga the water temperature was 19°C. It is now 22°C. The air temperature is slowly rising too. During the day the swell built but calmed down again in the evening. Only storm jib up but we hit 5.7 knots at times.

After the morning sked I sought advice from the rest of the fleet on sail repairs. It is sobering to find only one person Lynda off Sunset Quest was able to offer advise. We have the materials but lack the expertise.

I have been a little perturbed that when I give an order Warren turns it into a suggestion or he introduces alternatives. He is also making comments which sound like commands. I sense the others are losing patience with him.

Last night when I called all hands on deck to take in the main he took 15 minutes to arrive on deck. When on deck he seems reluctant to go forward and participate in sail changes. I must speak to him about this. Still today he is mending the sail so has been exempted from other duties.

He is a very good cook though. For someone who is building his own 38’ catamaran I would expect him to have more confidence in boatmanship.

The others are fitting in well despite poor Bennet’s continued seasickness. I hope he gets over it soon so he can enjoy the trip fully. I am feeling a lot better now - all better in fact. This afternoon we caught a fish but returned it to the sea. After dark the air was so warm we could almost feel the tropics.

5th May. The breeze freshened to 20 knots and turned E. There was a showery start to the day. I’m concerned that we are waiting till all crew are awake in the morning before changing up the foresail. We usually put up the storm jib overnight and it is 1030 hours before the No.2 goes up. We are losing 4 hours of good sailing. This reflects on my leadership and shows that I am too kind on the crew. I will amend this.

Andy is showing a leading role and is keen to learn so I am enjoying teaching him. I came on deck during the night to see him steering by the compass so I showed him how to steer by the stars. I would hate him to arrive in Tonga and only have seen a compass at night. He is really enjoying steering by a star now.

I have told the crew to hand steer at night for 2 reasons: 1. My bunk is right by the autohelm and its grinding is not conducive to a good night’s sleep and 2. It cultivates their pleasure in sailing. By the end of the trip they all agreed with me. What did they come on the trip for - wasn’t it to experience the full enjoyment of sailing not merely operating machinery?

We have put up the main again - initially full but I got nervous with all the creaking in the stitching so we are now trucking along with 3 reefs in the main until we can get it properly repaired in Tonga. Warren has worked hard on it. I am probably being neurotic but I don’t want it tearing asunder this early in the trip. We have been doing 6 knots most of the afternoon. Also when we raised the No.2 we discovered a tear in the luff which Andy has mended and it’s 32 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

up again. We flew the No.4 while it was being repaired.

At midnight we were contacted on VHF by a Swedish boat off our starboard beam and I had a chat to the nice lady on Ch 8 for a few minutes. We normally listen on Ch16. They had left Whangarei 3 days ago heading for Tonga. Bennet, who is finally feeling well, saw their lights on his watch. We are travelling faster than they are.

6th May. At daybreak I tried calling our friends from last night but there was no response.

The barometer is slowly climbing to 1023. There is a SE swell of 1 metre and the wind varies between 12 and 24 knots E. Altogether a pleasant day. The water temperature has climbed to a pleasant 24°C. We are certainly wearing fewer clothes than at the outset.

However there is a sour milk smell developing downstairs.

We had made the mistake of stowing our long life milk under the cabin floor and as a result of the earlier flooding the combination of saltwater and movement had destroyed the cardboard containers. I called for a volunteer to clean it up. I have been blessed with a poor sense of smell so I was given the task. It took hours – the bilge under the sink was the hardest. We hove to for a short time while I sponged the last of it up. I rinsed it with copious quantities of sea water.

The remainder will have to wait until Atata. Had a chat to Warren about leadership concerns and things have been better since then. Deer steaks we brought with us for tea.

They went down a treat. Heard from Joy at 1730. Good.

Clear night with warm winds.

7th May. The winds were steady all night and we did 6.7 - 7.2 knots all night. I enjoyed my watch so much I stayed on longer before calling Andy. When he came on watch I stayed on and showed him a few more stars and the Black Holes. He is certainly an eager learner. There is a NE change predicted so we are creeping E as much as we can. At 1800hours last night the nearest boat was only 55 miles ahead. At our current speed we should overhaul them today or tomorrow. If only we had a full main. Initially on course for a 150 mile day (noon-noon) but eventually only did 138 miles as the wind died mid-morning.

Saw two interesting sights today; this morning I saw the sun rise on yesterday and this evening I saw the sunset on yesterday (7 times because of the swell). There is only one place in the world where this happens. Played mind games/ lateral thinking in the afternoon. Bennet did not have a good day. He did not warn us of the bump as we crossed the International Date Line even though he was on the helm..

Also late in the night he fell against the switchboard turning off the power and losing all the statistics from the GPS. We’re not going to let him take the helm as we cross into the tropics because he might get us tangled in the Tropic of Capricorn.!!

8th May. Wind very fickle and sloppy seas so when Andy came on watch we lowered the sails and have been motoring since.

There is ‘discoloured water’ on the chart (probably someone’s coffee stain) so we have altered course to avoid it. Turned off the motor for the morning sked and found that we had lost 20 miles overnight on the others. Very poor radio reception this morning (is that coffee now in the radio?) Raised the sails after the sked but making very slow progress as the wind is on the nose. When we were becalmed mid-morning we all had a swim. The water is over

one mile deep! It is a truly awesome experience. With a mask on, the visibility appeared endless but of course there was no way of telling how far one could see as there were no reference points - the keel being the last point before the bottom of the ocean. We only went over one at a time and were harnessed on as with the sails still up and a boat speed of about 2.5 knots it would be foolish to have the boat sail on without us. I must also hasten to add that the skipper was the last one to abandon ship, maintaining his honour till the end. Was it scary? I suppose it was at first but once in it would have been easy to see any sharks well before they came near enough to have a tête-à-tête.

We have put in a long tack to the E hoping the breeze will increase by 10 knots and turn to the E giving us a straight run of 320 miles to Ata Island.

I won the guessing game of distance travelled today. I guessed 90 miles (87 miles correct). Had a discussion about Christianity then played more mind games. Weather is brilliant with water 26°C. We have been sunbathing most of the morning.

We are eating well with bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast and venison sausages for tea.

At nightfall the breeze came back in again - from the NW! Still our speed increased with a top speed of 6.8 knots overnight. I was called on deck during Andy’s watch to check on what appeared to be an approaching boat light. It turned out to be a star but it was a very convincing scenario for a masthead light.

9th May. I spent quite a bit of my night watch composing my fishy story for Atata Island. Two flying fish on board this morning.

According to Taupo Maritime Radio this morning there is a single handed sailor missing somewhere E of Ata Island possibly capsized (How do they know?) He has not activated his Epirb. We should be there or thereabouts the day after tomorrow.

This afternoon we were all sitting up on the rail - relaxing not racing, when we hooked a 1.5 metre mahi-mahi.

However it broke off after a short struggle. It was amusing watching everyone hurrying aft trying hard not to spill their cans then becoming a well oiled machine preparing to land a good sized fish.

There has been a consistent breeze from the NW all day, giving good sailing conditions.

10th May. Today is Sunday so I officially declared it a day of no work.

Sometime during the night the reel screamed into action waking Andy and I. There was a mad dash for the cockpit after donning our harnesses. Bennet was on watch and Warren took his time to arrive. Bennet took the rod and in the middle of the darkness fought what appeared to be a very big fish. It must have looked comical to see 4 grown men very lightly clad, fighting leviathan under a beautiful starry sky. Everything went well and after an epic battle still sailing at 6 plus knots we landed a foul hooked barracuda of only moderate proportions. Because it was bent double it had caused considerable drag. It was probably due to the adrenaline overload that we all stayed in the cockpit for a while enjoying the warmth of the night. We also saw the lights of a southbound plane so I tried to contact them on the radio but there was no reply. They were probably jealous of our lifestyle. The entire episode was declared fun so as not to contravene Sunday observance.

The plunger has broken on the head (marine toilet) so Bennet is fixing it. At times like this you find who is dedicated to the task. So far Andy and Bennet are up there with the best. Warren is a competent cook. I did an hour or so of cleaning and dishes this morning. After lunch the wind died again so the crew and the skipper - first in this time had a swim. Have been playing mind games this afternoon.

Late in the afternoon we (read I) sighted Delphis Of Wellington bearing 305°M hull down on the horizon. The others (read crew) ridiculed me but sometime later I called them on the VHF and they confirmed the sighting. More respect is now coming from the crew. The drifter has been replaced by the No.2 not due to lack of wind but because it was too efficient - the cook couldn’t keep his feet. We have had some good discussions throughout the trip but today we had a big discussion about whether Steinlager (Andy, Warren) or Tui beer (Bennet) is better. I sided with Bennet because he was outnumbered and put forward a very good argument which is not bad seeing I am teetotal. Consensus was not achieved.

Tonight I have a sked with Tauranga Coastguard. Hope Joy is there - I’m missing her. Looking forward to seeing her on Tuesday….. Joy came through after the coastguard said there were no messages!!

Just on dark we got rid of our burnable rubbish by setting it adrift after setting it alight. We used the Steinlager beer tray for a boat. The sea was so calm that it was visible for quite a while. There was no wind so we motored for 4 hours.

Delphis Of Wellington caught a breeze and disappeared over the horizon.

11th May.

Big day.

Andy almost called me again during his watch about a boat’s light. It’s the 5th time he’s been tricked by the star.

I’ve seen it too and it is very realistic.

At 1000 hrs we dropped the drifter replacing it with the No.4 as the wind is up to 23 knots. At 1030 hrs we crossed into the tropics. Andy was on the helm. We wouldn’t let B steer as we were still afraid he would get us tangled in the Tropic of Capricorn line. At 1400 hrs we sighted a large sperm whale leaping out of the water 6-7 times about half a mile away. It was very spectacular. Apparently they leap out of the water to dislodge their barnacles. When you realise how much power is involved in a 45 foot cetacean leaping high you develop a great respect for their strength.

YEE HAAAAAAH!! LAND HO!! Yippee etc. At 1630 we (read Bennet) sighted Ata Island where and when expected at 30 miles distant. For me it was one of the momentous experiences of my life. Words cannot describe how I felt. In 1963 I had read the book Minerva Reef by Olaf Ruhen about a Tongan cutter Tuaikaepau which was wrecked on South Minerva Reef on 7th July 1962. Their last land fall before that fateful night had been Ata Island. For me sighting Fiji two years previously had not had the same effect. Somewhere in my subconscious I had always known that one day I would see Ata Island. I danced around the deck yahooing and cheering for some minutes. (When we arrived in Tonga the crew asked Joy whether I was mentally unstable because of my antics at this time). Just on dark the full moon rose almost behind the island silhouetting its bi-conical peaks. Bennet was ill just after dark so I stood his watch for him. I was too excited to sleep anyway. Straight afterwards I stood my own watch and at the end of that Ata Island was just sinking below the horizon behind. We’d had a beam wind all afternoon and it continued during Andy’s watch. However there must have been a strong ocean current because he made more leeway then headway.

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12th May B abandoned ship.

Well actually because I was putting up all the flags and happened to drop the yellow peril in the water Bennet who had been on the helm leapt overboard and retrieved it. Very fortunate, because otherwise we might not have been cleared by the authorities in Tonga. It was a silly thing to try to carry so many flags on deck at once anyway.

It must have been Bennet’s day because shortly afterwards he sighted land again - the island of Eua, then shortly after that the reel screamed and Bennet took the rod. We remained sailing at 6 knots. After a quarter hour fight Warren put the gaff in and ushered a 3 foot long mahi-mahi on board, straight into the freezer for half an hour, before pulling it out and gutting it.

After all the excitement I looked at the chart of Approaches to Tongatapu and saw Caution 2 said ‘reefs are noted up to 4 miles off the south coast.’ At this stage we were 3 3/4 miles off the coast so we quickly retraced our steps with a good watch out. At this stage we were headed by the wind so resorted to motor. Unfortunately, because we had made so much leeway we had to motor along the entire southern coast. The positive side was we could see the blowholes all along that coast. The island of Tongatapu is so flat that the first thing one sees when approaching from the south is the spray from the blowholes which today was being flung 50 feet into the air from a 1.5 metre swell.

Once around the point it was a straight run passed several reefs to the lighthouse where I called Royal Sunset Resort on VHF. We requested entrance to the resort but as it was late in the day they said they would send the longboat out to meet us to bring us through the reef. They told us to pull out all stops as the light was fading. From this point on we found it very difficult to read the chart and the pencil sketch from

the ICA as nothing seemed to relate. We were looking for islands but eventually realised that they were reefs after being confronted with 2 of them in fading light. We saw the lights of a vessel come out from behind what we thought was Atata Island (it was) and head W. Then the VHF call came from the longboat in the gloom. When he said to follow him I replied that I was. He said I wasn’t!! It gave us a fright because he was only 100 metres off our starboard beam. We had so focused on the other vessel we had not seen him approach. He had no lights. Again we were urged to hurry and he sped off into the gloom at 15 knots. We followed as fast as we could at 6.7 knots with the motor revving at 4000+. We maintained our direction by compass bearing and found him waiting impatiently at the turn. How he knew where to go I don’t know but it was scary. At one stage we almost ran him down as he waited for us. If he had been an Islander we could have followed his teeth in the darkness but he was a European, Sandy, by name, we could have guessed by his hair. After several turns he waited while we anchored then sped away into the night, again at full speed. We were anchored half a mile away from the other boats but a full circumnavigation of the island away. We got a warm welcome to ‘Almost Atata’ from Sunset Quest. We cooked tea in a tropical downpour in very humid conditions. During the downpour we heard a commotion on the radio as Delphis Of Wellington dragged her anchor. They ended up rafted up to Episode for the night.

Joy and the girls were forced to stay the night in Nuku’alofa because their plane had been delayed in Auckland by a political refugee. Rodney on Satisfaction Plus called us up to see whether he should come in through the reef for the night. I told him not to unless he was very brave, very foolish, very old and very well insured. We went to bed straight after tea.

NZ Glass Environmental Fund Attention Teachers Expressions of interest to make application for a grant from the NZ Glass Environmental Fund are invited. Up to $25,000 will be available in total for suitable environmental projects. For application forms and guidelines see our website www.recycleglass.co.nz or contact: NZ Glass Environmental Fund PO Box 12-345 Penrose, Auckland 1642 Phone: 09-976 7127 Fax: 09-976 7119 Deadline for expression of interest is 31 March 2012.

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A photographic visit with some of the animals in Adelaide Zoo, home to the only giant pandas in the southern hemisphere

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The Project Management of Prosperity How do you know when you are truly wealthy?

Your perception of prosperity will most likely change throughout your life.

At the age of 5, being prosperous is having your favorite toys within reach, being able to eat ice cream after dinner, and being allowed to stay up an extra hour later than usual.

At 16, it’s the ability to drive your family’s old beat up car, by yourself!

In your early 20s, you most likely felt wealthy if you could successfully pay off your student loan payments, while still having the reserves to keep a small apartment and money to hang out with friends.

In your 30s, it usually means getting a nicer home for your changing needs, being able to afford a couple of nice vacations a year, and a nicer car.

Your 40s are marked by how you can provide for your family’s education and your own retirement.

In your 50s, it may become more about how much time you can take off and still live the lifestyle to which you’ve become accustomed.

In your 60s, it’s about how far you can stretch your dollar and scale back on the need to work to support yourself while helping your children launch their own families.

Prosperity viewpoints are age dependent.

As we become more established in life, the concept of wealth and prosperity morph into the next phase that we wish to achieve, so that we are ever chasing a more prosperous life. This mentality can serve us well if we take smart action to reach our next goals.

Here at Cheetah we call this path to prosperity

GROW – Goals, Run, Organize, and Wow. Goals If you are like most people, you made goals for

yourself for the new year. Of these goals, how many are measurable? What is the date by which you wish to accomplish this goal? What is your specific plan to reach this goal? If you haven’t answered these questions, then your chances of accomplishing the goals you’ve set are slim. When setting goals, either new years resolutions or other, make them measurable, and make yourself accountable, in order to ensure success.

Run

Once you have made a goal, do not sit back and wait for the “perfect time” to begin your journey to that goal. The truth is, there will NEVER be a perfect time! Go ahead and dive in right away to begin making your goal a reality.

If the hesitation of running toward your goal comes from your perceived lack of skills, make getting those skills your first goal. You owe it to yourself to make sure you are equipped to tackle any goals you set.

Organize One of the biggest reasons that people don’t

reach their goals is because they lose sight of the goal due to the clutter in their lives. When you can’t clearly see the steps to take next to ultimately attain success, you can quickly get lost in the white noise of life and let your goal fall to the wayside.

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Start small. Organize your office, your paperwork, your bills, and your calendar. Then go big and organize the milestones that have been accomplished to reach your goal, as well as the steps that you still need to take.

Wow When is the last time you did something to impress

no one else but yourself? Perhaps you made a very fancy meal for one, or ran a mile further than you’ve ever run before just so you knew you could do it.

Make sure the goals you are setting will be sure to WOW you. This means that you are reaching for something that is challenging for you and that by accomplishing it you are bettering yourself. If you set goals to WOW others, you may find that your stamina and dedication wane before you’ve reached your destination.

To get started on the right foot, take a look at last year, and ask yourself what accomplishments you made that really impressed you. What was the path you took to reach these goals? Once you’ve figured it out, give yourself a pat on the back, and develop a plan to enhance your goal-completing machine this coming year.

Lastly, remember that becoming prosperous is a project, just like any project you have ever undertaken. The path to prosperity requires commitment, competency, and a well-developed plan.

By Michelle LaBrosse, PMP®, Chief Cheetah and Founder of Cheetah Learning, and Kristen LaBrosse, Co-Author, CAPM®

About the Author: Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, an entrepreneurial powerhouse with a penchant for making success easy, fun, and fast, the founder of Cheetah Learning, author of the Cheetah Success Series, and a prolific blogger whose mission is to bring Project Management to the masses. Cheetah Learning is a virtual company with 100 employees, contractors, and licensees worldwide.

More than 30,000 people have become “Cheetahs” using Cheetah Learning’s innovative Project Management and accelerated learning techniques. Recently honored by the Project Management Institute (PMI®).

São Marcos da Serra Tiz has moved on from the chateau in France to a small village in Prortugal...

Today I walked into São Marcos da Serra. It’s a little over 3 kilometres away, along a quiet country road lined here and there with olive trees, cork oaks, eucalyptus, and scrubland, so typical of this hilly Algarve area in southern Portugal. I was passed by only two cars, and heard nothing but sporadic bird song, and the sound of bells around the necks of small flocks of sheep and goats. It was a pearl of a day – early frost disappearing, not a breath of wind, and a perfectly clear translucent blue sky.

São Marcos is a small village perched on a small hill. It has, typical for Portugal, white-washed orange-roofed houses – concrete and tiled – and an unpretentious white church at its pinnacle. The streets are narrow, sometimes cobbled, with front doors opening directly onto the intermittent footpaths or the road. The population is reputedly 1300, but the compact area of land the village occupies belies this fact. There are no free-standing houses on the hill – just rows of 1 and 2-storeyed attached dwellings fronting the narrow streets. No yards or gardens are visible (they are apparently at the rear of the houses), and washing hangs from windows and balconies. The locals that can be seen, standing in patches of sunlight on the streets, are all elderly. I have seen only one young mother with her child. There used to be engineering works in the village, but they are now all closed. Perhaps all the young people have had to move away for employment. All the indications are that this is a community in decline.

São Marcos appears to have an unremarkable history, except for a tragic accident which happened on 17 February 1994 when a train collided with a school bus on a level crossing in the town. Six school children were killed, and two seriously injured. The level crossing has now been replaced by an underpass for cars. However, this has not been designed with any engineering brilliance (they should have got the French on to it) and must be approached with the greatest caution, even with two large mirrors to aid visibility. It’s hard to imagine any sizeable vehicle using the underpass; it is at right angles at the bottom of a steep road, and if the line of approach is not absolutely accurate, even the smallest of cars ends up mounting the kerb.

I know the date of the accident with certainty as I decided to visit the village cemetery. This was unlike any cemetery I have ever inspected, either in New Zealand or England or France. Every inch of space was carefully occupied, with the narrowest of walkways (only a foot-width) between the orderly and tidy rows of graves. It was the uniformity which struck Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 49

me. All of the graves are clad with the same white marble, and all face due south. There is no room or attempt at pretentiousness, with each grave of similar size and height, and any free-standing plaques no bigger than the next.

Something I had never seen before was a window in some of the graves, carefully positioned in the southern side.

Through the windows could be seen artificial flowers, or a plaque, or nothing. Perhaps they are there to enable the departed to keep an eye on the world, or just to allow the sunshine to penetrate.

As with the French, the graves are adorned with gaudy artificial flowers, but unlike the French, the birth and death dates of the inhabitants are usually detailed. Some graves were shared by up to 4 family members, and some, more poignantly contained just babies, less than a year old. The earliest birth-date I saw was 1845 - in the context of the antiquity of Europe, this is not an old cemetery. But if the dates of death were anything to go by, the majority of São Marcos residents live to grand old ages – eighties and nineties being not uncommon.

I was intrigued to notice a second part to the cemetery. At first glance, it resembled a school quadrangle, but upon closer inspection, it was more tightly- packed uniform graves, surrounded by what appeared to be multi-paned walls. These were in fact, row upon row of glass-fronted ‘cupboards’ containing the remains (or perhaps the ashes – although this is a Catholic country where cremation is not generally practiced) of loved ones surrounded by photos, souvenirs, statues and artificial flowers. There were some caskets visible. Most poignant of all were three adjoining windows commemorating 3 of the boys killed in the level crossing accident, with ages ranging between 10 and 17.

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There are 4 approaches to the village. By far the scariest (even more so than the badly designed underpass) is a narrow one-way concrete bridge with no sides. I paced it out – about 70 metres long with no kerbs and no edging – nothing to stop a slightly careless driver dropping 2 to 3 metres to the river below. It became obvious as I walked across that there had once been evenly spaced posts (only two or three of which remain) and perhaps side-wires of some sort, but that these had been swept away by floodwaters over the years. Apparently it can rain ferociously in southern Portugal, but thus far (and touch wood!) I have experienced nothing but clear and dry beautiful winter’s days.

There are two general stores in the village. They are somewhat euphemistically called ‘supermarkets’ but I wouldn’t go that far. They have common characteristics – haphazard stock occupying floor space to the extent that it is often impossible to reach the shelves, tiny areas of counter space squeezed between even more stock, items which look like they’ve been there from time immemorial, and general chaos and clutter.

But the most remarkable thing of all is that neither shop turns any lights on! At the rear of the premises, the gloom requires an eye/brain adjustment to try and discern what is on offer. No gaudy commercial outlets here! However, I’ve been told it’s because the VAT (tax) on electricity has recently risen from 12% to 23%, and electricity prices have increased by 16% all in one foul swoop, so every measure is taken to save precious power.

There is no doubt that Portugal is a poor country.

There is precious little evidence of capital investment, or any other signs of prosperity. There was much ferment amongst the populace as, just before I arrived, a motorway which had been entirely constructed using EU funding had, virtually overnight, become a toll road. So incensed were the locals that cameras had been shot at, and the structures supporting the cameras set alight. The unfortunate thing is that the road the motorway had been designed to ease congestion on is once again jam-packed with cars, and the toll road is virtually empty. I had picked up a rental car at Faro airport, and drove back along the toll road to my route north. The following Monday I went into the Post Office to pay my toll charge – 81 centimes, inclusive of

Ola Todos!

It’s over a month since I arrived, but I thought I’d wait a bit before I leapt into impressions of Portugal. One must not presume.....

This is the potted version.

I ‘spose the overwhelming things are: a) the weather, which has been amazing - settled, fine, warm (up to 24C), windless and wonderful. Better than what the NZ summer has been so far. b) the Portuguese drivers who are mad and bad.

Portugal has the highest accident rate in Europe and I am not surprised! The national sport seems to be driving up from behind very VERY fast, and then attaching yourself to the lead vehicle’s bumper. You sit there, less than a foot away, occasionally straying out to the right and perilously close to the centre line.

Then, when a passing opportunity presents itself, you don’t!! Instead, you wait until an approaching vehicle or a comer is close, then go for it. DUH! A secondary sport is not turning your lights on at night, even though the street lights are on, and your dark-coloured vehicle is invisible. Moral of that story is, never presume that it’s clear to pass. c) the poverty - poor roads, poor housing (still many houses with no toilets or reticulated water), poor ‘peasant’ farms, and no apparent investment or development taking place. d) and, stemming from (c), the costs - amazingly cheap. Food in shops and at restaurants is remarkably low cost, particularly compared to France (and NZ!). But petrol is expensive ($2.78/litre in most places), and so - surprisingly - is bread. The water around here mostly comes from wells, and is not safe to drink, so there’s also the not insignificant cost of bottled water. e) no screw caps here, but at least they use genuine corks in the bottles. As they should, it being a mainstay industry. They harvest the cork from each tree every 9 years - need to be lots of trees at that rate. f) Portuguese language incomprehensible to this dummy, but most people speak good English, and surprisingly, French! g) Nice friendly helpful people - and quite short! I feel right at home.. h) Nice place to visit? Apart from the drivers, oh yes! Even in the depths of winter.

So there you go - potted impressions. Can’t believe I’ll be heading home soon, hopefully to summer! Hope this finds you all well.

Ciao, Tiz Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 51

a 31 centime administration charge. No great shakes, but obviously to a population which is struggling economically, the imposition of tolls was yet another cost they could sorely afford.

The roads are, with the exception of the few main routes north-south and east-west, in a poor pot-holed state, or not sealed at all. Many of the roads which are sealed have weeds and foliage encroaching onto the tarmac, with no evidence of roadside mowing or spraying. The only construction cranes I have seen so far were at Sir Cliff Richard’s winery in Guia. I have no idea if his wine is good or bad, but his is the only vineyard I’ve seen in the Algarve.

There are groves and hillsides and acres of oranges and lemons, but no vines. Perhaps if you’re pop royalty, you can conjure wine out of anything!

I called into a Post Office at Messines, the nearest town, to buy some stamps. There was a ticket system, so that people were served in the order they entered the premises. My ticket number was 63, and the light above the counter was showing 42. There were two people serving (out of a possible 3), and neither was in any hurry, appearing to take time to chat, to disappear out the back, and to peer at each other’s computer screens, despite the burgeoning crowd staring at them. After 15 minutes, the number above the counter had reached 46, so I left. It was 11.45 am, and the Post Office closes for 2 hours at lunchtime. I should have stayed on, to see whether they kicked everyone out and did, indeed, close, or whether some tiny inkling of public service pricked them into remaining open until at least those in the doors by 12 noon were served. I suspect it was the former.

But back to São Marcos. Poor and declining the populace may be, but they are friendly and pleasant. The girl in the Post Office knows I send mail to New Zealand, she knows where I am staying, and she knows I’m here for two months. You can bet your bottom dollar so does everyone else in the village. I’m on waving terms with almost all I pass in my little car, and everyone says ‘Olá’ or ‘Bom dia’. That’s nice.

Shift Burt Rayle 52 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

New science qualifications will build primary teacher skills

ChildFund New Zealand Small Voices Big Dreams survey 2011

Education key points ChildFund New Zealand’s second annual Small Voices Big Dreams survey... this extensive international children’s survey is an NGO first and unique to ChildFund.

4,600 children (10-12 years old), 44 countries, including developing nations in Africa and Asia and developed countries like America, Australia and New Zealand Kiwi kids’ top orders of business as Prime Minister to improve the lives of children:

New graduate qualifications offered by distance learning at the Open Polytechnic will give primary school teachers the skills to inspire children to engage in the world of science.

The Graduate Certificate in Primary Science Teaching (Curriculum) and the Graduate Diploma in Primary Science Teaching are now open for enrolment for Trimester 1, 2012 for practising teachers. The Graduate Certificate in Primary Teaching (Leadership) will open for enrolment in Trimester 2 later this year.

Open Polytechnic Chief Executive, Dr Caroline Seelig, says the new qualifications will help the Government achieve their goal of increasing engagement in the sciences in the classroom.

“Primary school teachers who have the ability to confidently and enthusiastically share their knowledge of the sciences with their young students are in big demand as part of the Government’s commitment to increase the focus on science teaching in the classroom.

“The younger we can engage and inspire children to investigate the world of science, the more likely we are to see more New Zealanders choosing science as their future careers,” says Dr Seelig.

The Open Polytechnic consulted key science leaders when developing the qualifications including the Royal Society, the New Zealand Society of Science Educators, as well as the New Zealand Teachers Council.

All of the courses are taught by distance learning, meaning teachers can fit their learning around their other commitments. The courses are delivered online and make extensive use of video and online quizzes to reinforce key learning materials.

The Open Polytechnic is New Zealand’s specialist provider of distance learning and one of the largest polytechnics in the country. Each year the Open Polytechnic enrols around 29,000 mainly adult learners who are fitting their studies in around work and other commitments to upskill themselves for current or future careers.

The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand is a Governmentfunded national provider of open and distance learning, enrolling an average of 29,000 part-time students per year.

The majority of students are adult learners combining work and study, making the Open Polytechnic one of New Zealand’s major educators of people in the workforce.

Open Polytechnic Media Release

Make more food available (24%)

Improve education (15%)

Improve safety and security (8%)

= Provide better shelter and housing / Improve healthcare (7%)

Protect and support vulnerable children (5%)

Kiwi kids placed a high priority on providing food – more so than any other country surveyed.

In strong contrast, half of the children surveyed in the developing world (49%) prioritised education over everything else – recognising the power of education as a way to break free from poverty.

If you were the president of your country what is the ONE thing you would do to improve the lives of the children of your country?

“Make sure they all get an education and food.”

“Make sure that every child has the education they need to be what they want and so that the education is fair.”

“Somehow help everyone to go to a good school to get a good Education.”

“That they were all in school, and had somewhere to live with a loving family.”

“Make a no Bulling campaign.”

Lots of Kiwi kids also responded to the question ‘Where do you feel safest?’ with ‘Home or School’.

What ChildFund New Zealand recommends: ChildFund’s expertise with children around the world shows simple steps can start at home to effect change in the community: Have conversations with your children about what concerns them, and what worries them about children living in other, less fortunate countries.

Work with them to process these concerns and identify the many ways they can help make a difference.

Consider using charity resources to aid these discussions.

For example: Sponsoring a child offers a ‘pen pal’ opportunity for children to share a one on one, peer connection with someone less fortunate and helps teach the value and personal joy of giving.

ChildFund New Zealand Media Release Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 53

Roger’s Rant When Samantha came home from school the other day, the six-year old had a worried expression. Her mother noticed and asked what was wrong.

around the world and how could Santa lift all those presents, and some houses don’t have chimneys.’

‘Alice told me that Santa Claus is not real, Mum.’

‘I guess grown-ups tell these stories to children to make them feel happy and excited.’

‘Why did she say that?’

‘So none of it is true, then?’

‘ I was telling her what I wanted for Christmas and she said Santa wasn’t real. Is Santa real, Mummy?’

‘I guess not.’

‘Well, Honey, I’m sure that lots of people think he is.’

‘What do you think though, is he real?’

‘Um......’

‘Alice is right, isn’t she?’

‘Well Sam, it makes lots of children very excited to think about Santa bringing them presents.’

‘But there are lots of children all

‘So grown ups tell lies.’

‘Hmmm, well, they want to make life exciting for children. I guess it’s OK to tell some small lies.’

‘Alice said that the Bible stories are not true too.’

‘Did she?’

‘Yes, she said that Noah could not get all the animals in the world in the ark.’

‘Well, it is true Sam. It is written in the Bible that Noah got two of every kind of animal into the ark and they were safe from the flood.’

‘Even the dinosaurs and the lions and hippopotamuses?

‘Yes, they all lived on the ark’ ‘What did they eat?’

‘Noah would have given them food.’

54 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012

‘Wouldn’t the lions want to eat the zebras?’

‘Do you think Noah’s ark was one of those small lies?’

‘I’m sure Noah would not let that happen.’

‘No, I’m sure it all happened, Honey.’

‘I guess he had some meat in the fridge.’

‘Hmmm, could be.’

‘Noah and his family must have been really busy. Mummy..........?’

‘MMMM?’ ‘I’m glad that Noah saved all the animals.’

“And, Mum, what about the poor pandas? Noah would have to have had ‘That’s good dear.’ enough bamboo for a whole year. If the ‘Yes, because he saved the Easter whole of the earth was covered in Bunny.’ water, where would all the trees be?’

‘Oh I’m sure everything was all right.’

Roger

Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012 55

“The best teachers don’t give you the answers...

They just point the way ... and let you make your own choices.”

56 Good Teacher Magazine Term 1 2012