Good Teacher Magazine 2020, Term 3 by Good Teacher Magazine

Term Three 2020

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Good GoodTeacher TeacherMagazine MagazineTerm TermThree Three2020 2020

Can you spot Toxic Leadership -what is it about?

Onwards and Upwards

The Phoenix: the comeback of a failed experiment

ZOOMing into a classroom near you!

Kiwi kids’ character designs to feature in bestselling book

Engaging Learners with Community Inspired Projects

Costumes inspire Flinders University student writers

A background to the writing of Shifting Currents

I Add White Light On Black Paper Instead Of Shadows

Science and Creativity go Hand in Hand

3 Essential Skills for Resolving Conflict

Conspiracy Beliefs

Precise Angular Stitches Encase Found Twigs

New guidance on talking to children about illness and death

Opinion: Why too much focus on COVID-19

UNESCO Report

Te reo Māori language teaching has a positive future

The Chart of Cosmic Exploration

Starting to smoke in childhood is much more dangerous

University opens door for current and potential students

Rope Twists into Massive, Fibrous Circuit Boards

Struggling with labels

Online and Off, We Are Drawn Toward Those

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself

A Savvy Designer Launches Company

Grandpa, what did you do during the lock down?

Front Cover: Back Cover:

‘Sunset Sculptures’ ‘Paltry Portrait’

Photograph: barisa designs® Photograph: barisa designs®

Good Teacher Magazine would like to acknowledge the unknown designers and cra�speople interna�onally for the some of the images and art in the magazine, every care has been taken to iden�fy and acknowledge writers/ar�sts/photographers... however this is not always successful... most were collated from a wide range of internet sources. Ed-media publica�ons... Is uploaded to: Independent publishers of quality educa�on media. h�ps://www.goodteacher.co.nz On the first week of each New Zealand Adver�sing Enquiries: info@goodteacher.co.nz school term. Submi�ng material for publica�on: barb@goodteacher.co.nz The magazine is interna�onally freely available online. Mail: ed-media publica�ons PO Box 5531 NOTE: The opinions expressed in Good Teacher Magazine are not Mount Maunganui 3150 necessarily those of Ed-Media Publica�ons or the editorial team. ISSN: 1175-5911 Layout and Design: barisa designs®

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Dr Jennifer Charteris University of New England

Have you ever been in a school where some teachers have felt under threat from a school leader or leaders? While there has been a lot of emphasis on collabora�ve, affirming and suppor�ve approaches to leadership in the research literature there is a darker side that is less o�en discussed. In this ar�cle we look at some of the behaviours that can occur in schools and the condi�ons that enable them to flourish.

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Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Toxic leadership is abusive, bullying, and destruc�ve (Burns, 2017). It happens when a leader demonstrates aggression towards a teacher’s personality and/or ability (Chua & Murray, 2015). It is the “systema�c and repeated behaviour by a leader…that violates the legi�mate interest of the organisa�on by undermining and/or sabotaging the organisa�on’s goals, tasks, resources, and effec�veness and/or mo�va�on, well-being or job sa�sfac�on of [teachers] (Pelle�er, 2010, p. 375). It is damaging to teachers and to the school at large.

Figure 1. Toxic ac�ons to look out for (Burns, 2017, p. 39)

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Travan� (cited in Stoten, 2011, p. 131) offers three typical toxic leaders “who like to succeed by tearing others down.” These are •

the toxic micro-manager,

•

the toxic narcissist

•

the toxic bully

Do these ‘types’ sound familiar? Sadly, those who are most easily targeted are teachers are those who are submissive and lack of social support from peers. Those who are more socially and personally vulnerable are more likely to be harassed and bullied (Harris, & Jones, 2018). Although there is a swing in leadership theory and prac�ce toward shared and distributed leadership in Aotearoa schools, leaders who are seen as abusive, bullying and/or toxic are unlikely to foster this sort of collabora�on. Here are some tell-tale signs of toxicity.

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You may have heard of, visited or worked in schools where there is a toxic school culture. Toxic leadership can create this sort of pervasive toxicity (Harris, & Jones, 2018). There can be teacher isola�on, lowered staff morale, decreased job sa�sfac�on, and the capability of teachers to enhance student outcomes is diminuished (Carpenter, 2015). Control is a key feature of toxic leadership, although the leader may seem friendly and agreeable to their allies and superiors. They may seek compliance, avoid conflict in person, and foster a rela�onship with an influen�al colleague who supports them from the shadows (Padilla, Hogan, & Kaiser, 2007). When someone threatens a toxic leader, they may respond with aggressive emails, in�midate through one to one conversa�ons, increase the workload of those who cross them, and ignoring bullying (Harris & Jones, 2018). Within organisa�ons, toxic leadership can be enabled by conformers and colluders. Conformers comply with these leaders as they fear that non-compliance will be met with consequences. Colluders hope to grow their status and influence through their connec�on.

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When there is change taking place in a school, and systems and structures are less clearly defined, there is a be�er chance for toxic leadership to thrive (Neves & Schyns, 2018). Instability caused by the change process in school can increase the power of toxic leaders. It can validate their use of harsh processes for establishing control and ensuring a new order of things. When the cultural values of a school are in flux there can be an opportunity for a toxic leader to take a firm hand to drive in a par�cular direc�on. Change can also cause a power vacuum for the toxic leader to step into and there is no system of checks and balances to prevent inappropriate behaviours. The toxic behaviours above may seem extreme, especially as we expect school leaders to be fair-minded role models who have status and respect in their schools and communi�es. I have wri�en this ar�cle so that you can recognise toxic leadership prac�ces as they emerge and consider what is enabling and suppor�ng them. Although it is not easy, toxic leadership behaviours can be challenged but this is not a one person job. Of course there are power rela�ons at work and so it is important to look for those who are socially Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020 Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

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isolated and consider how to offer them support (Burke, 2017). In thinking further on this topic, you may like to consider if you believe that the school climate itself is responsible for the rise of toxic leadership or if it is a�ributable to the failing of a par�cular individual. Fortunately there are many capable, empathe�c, enthusias�c, and competent leaders working at all levels in educa�on. These leaders encourage leadership to be distributed across their schools so that all teachers feel authen�cally included in decision-making. These leaders we can respect and emulate. References Burke, R. J. (2017). Toxic leaders: Exploring the dark side. Effec�ve Execu�ve, 20(1), 10. Burns, W. A. (2017). A descrip�ve literature review of harmful leadership styles: Defini�ons, commonali�es, measurements, nega�ve impacts, and ways to improve these harmful leadership styles. Creighton Journal of Interdisciplinary Leadership, 3(1), 33-52. Carpenter, D. (2015).School culture and leadership of professional learning communi�es. Educa�on Faculty Research. 28. Retrieved from h�ps:// commons.cu-portland.edu/ edufaculty/28

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Chua, S. M. Y., & Murray, D. W. (2015). How toxic leaders are perceived: Gender and informa�on-processing. Leadership & Organiza�on Development Journal, 36(3), 292-307. Harris, A., & Jones, M. S. (2018). The dark side of leadership and management. School Leadership & Management, 38(5), 475477. Neves, P., & Schyns, B. (2018). Destruc�ve uncertainty: The toxic triangle, implicit theories and leadership iden�ty during organiza�onal change. In M. Vakola & P. Petrou (Eds.), Organiza�onal change: Psychological effects and strategies for coping. (pp. 131-141). New York, NY: Routledge. Padilla, A., Hogan, R. and Kaiser, R.B. (2007) The toxic triangle: Destruc�ve leaders, suscep�ble followers, and conducive environments. The Leadership Quarterly, 18, 176-194. Stoten, David (2015) Virtue ethics and toxic leadership: Tackling the toxic triangle. Educa�on Today, 65 (1), pp. 3-6. Jennifer Charteris jcharte5@une.edu.au

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Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

This year has been one of the biggest challenges that teachers have had to face and I for one, am proud to be a member of a profession that has risen to the occasion and con�nued to make a difference for students. My reflec�ons for this term are based on the word UP.

WAKE UP / SHOW UP A month of lockdown resulted in a change of pace for many households. Establishing a morning rou�ne is important for both home and school. School rou�nes are something that we took for granted before and new rou�nes have had to be established to meet the demands of both on site and off site learning. Many teachers as well as their students are ac�vely engaged in a steep learning curve. The Covid19 pandemic has le� some students s�ll unable to return to school, resul�ng in a change in the ways that educa�on is delivered, not just in New Zealand, but interna�onally. The growth in distance learning has been phenomenal. I don’t remember where I first heard the mnemonic TEACH but have adapted it and found it useful when crea�ng resources to use both in the classroom and at home.

Target the instruc�ons so that students are aware of what is required.

Engage students through higher order thinking ac�vi�es so that content is differen�ated.

Assess student understanding of essen�als and…

Challenge those who ‘get it’ to explore further and deeper.

Help with more explana�on and prac�ce where needed.

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Elaine Le Sueur MNZM

SIGN UP to ready made resources and save yourself from reinven�ng the wheel. www.funenglishgames.com Free interac�ve learning ac�vi�es and prac�ce exercises that could be used in a classroom or individually. Reading. Wri�ng. Grammar. Poetry. Sentence structure. And more. www.tesolanz.org.nz A selec�on of resources and ideas to help ESOL students. h�p://www.na�onalgeographic.org Great ideas for backyard science with Backyard Bioblitz. Pool your findings with others in the class. h�ps://www.teachercreated.com/lessons/ On this site you can select a subject, put in keywords to search for and the level you are a�er to find hundreds of free lesson plans with direc�ons and a list of resources for each. h�ps://www.teacherspayteachers.com/ Product/Reading-Comprehension-Bundle4896963 Mysteries are a great way to hook students into learning. Kids love them.

These days I sell original resources online through: h�ps://teacherspayteachers.com/Store/ Thinking-Challenges I would live you to visit and follow my store to be updated as new resources are added

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PAIR UP and STEP UP It is OK to seek help! www.technology.tki.org.nz Links to useful technology online digital resources www.weareteachers.com A list of sites with a descrip�on of each and what it offers. Think about using the R-I-C-E test. Is what you are offering to your learners… Relevant? Interes�ng? Challenging? Extending their knowledge? If your answer to all of those ques�ons was YES, you may not see it but you are making a difference! Thank you from the future.

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

In Greek mythology, a phoenix is a longlived bird that crashes and burns and cyclically regenerates from its own ashes to be born again. The open classroom is a phoenix. Like women’s fashion, music, automobile models, toys, games, entertainment, pedagogical fads come and go. It has been said “if you stay the same, you will be ‘right’ twice in your life. The open classroom fad of the 1960s and 70s has regenerated into the Modern Learning Environment (MLE), or Innova�ve Learning Environment (ILE) and is making a comeback in some educa�onal systems in some parts of the world – Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Israel, some districts in the US. This seems to ignore many of the studies documen�ng the decline and fall of the open classroom concept.

The rise The decade of the 1960s and early 70s produced the open classroom. A�er a decade of youth-orientated counterculture, poli�cal, social and cultural upheaval of civil rights, an�Vietnam, drugs, free love, rock ‘n’ roll, feminism and environmental ac�on, there developed a challenge to tradi�onal authority The challenged extended to the structure and teaching in schools. In open classrooms students would learn by doing, at their own pace, once given the tools and the space to move and collaborate, opera�ng in a choice of learning styles. Learners employed student centred ac�vi�es to achieve self-directed goals, in pursuit of their chosen interest, engaging complex, open ended problems. Teachers also collaborated and shared prac�ce as they structured the space, organised the resources and designed the ac�vi�es facilita�ng this libera�on from the tyranny of tradi�on. A blossoming of freedom and crea�vity would naturally ensue. Or, so it was thought.

The Fall Social trends in the 1970s ignited the conserva�ve backlash to the progressivism of the 60s: economic ‘stagfla�on’; poli�cal corrup�on; disillusion and division over the Vietnam War; urban violence and decay; the fading of the counterculture. Outcomes fell, according to some: it seemed the open classroom had failed. Time for ‘back to basics’. 12

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John Hellner Cri�cism also rose from the ‘frontlines’. Teachers found open spaces too distrac�ng, both to their ability to teach and for the students to concentrate on their learning – movement, talking, laughter, shouts, misbehaviour.

Learning and expression in a variety of media, other than paper, pencil, spoken word. Flexibility. Inquiry. Globally networked.

Some�mes, the open classroom never had a chance. Training o�en lagged behind the needs for different teaching styles and structures necessary to nurture the benefits of the open classroom.

Most significantly, the crea�on of teams of teachers, collabora�ng to solve problems, to plan lessons and to co facilitate, using each other’s strengths, learning in a ‘modern’ or ‘innova�ve’ environment, enhances the quality of teaching and subsequent learning outcomes. And, all the while improving each other’s skills.

The signature failures of the 70s experiments remain visible in the rumps of some open classrooms featuring has�ly inserted par��ons.

The open classroom is enjoying a reincarna�on as the response to the new age of the 21st century digital learner – the MLE or ILE phoenix.

The Phoenix

Déjà vu or Déjà poo?

Now we are in a new age. The digital age. Learners are more techno savvy. Readily accessible informa�on. We need to reengineer schools for 21st century learning and prepare students with the skills, ap�tudes and values they need for the digital workplace of the future.

From the perspec�ve of secondary school, as the MLE emerges in our schools (Déjà vu), we may be overlooking some fundamental truisms about teaching and learning and human beings. Overlooking those basic considera�ons, invites a ‘crappy’ outcome (Déjà poo).

Life long, ac�ve learners, able to study independently, taking responsibility for their own learning and se�ng personal goals.

Let’s consider:

Work with peers in groups, using collabora�ve skills, with pro social behaviours – respect, responsibility, resilience. A�uned to learners’ mo�va�ons, emo�ons and individual differences. Integra�on across subjects to encourage the transfer of interdisciplinary applica�on to problem solving.

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People do not need to be in groups or collabora�ng all the �me. We need quiet �me. Students need to learn to sit quietly, listen, reflect, just as importantly as they need to collaborate and talk. Students need and like an element of the teacher directed classroom. Some more than others. Not all the �me, but at �mes. Learners need a baseline knowledge and a knowledge-based pedagogy. This is best done Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

by teachers versed in the key elements of their subject, the crucial themes to emphasize and the rela�ve importance of their material, using teacher direct strategies. Without some shared common fact base, we invite an array of missteps in every area of our endeavour. Tes�ng and examina�ons remain an aspect of educa�on and learning that some students thrive on. They can sa�sfy the compe��ve drive, provide goals, challenges and measures of success for some who need it. Formal tes�ng remains a facet of our lives for the foreseeable future. Best know how to do them as best as a person can do. The MLE environment undermines regular, formal assessment prac�ces. Groups, at tables, si�ng exams, no way. Much interest centres on the principle that children learn best when they are interested and see the importance of what they are doing. No argument. But students are o�en ill equipped to fathom out what is the importance of what they are doing, or perhaps, even know what interest them. Or worse, not be interested in anything much at all other than the girl or boy next to them. Underlying the re-engineering of our schools for the demands of 21st century rests on someone’s predic�ons of what skills, ap�tudes and values will be in demand in the future. Who are these futurologist and how did they arrive at their predic�ons of what we will need? If they haven’t already factored in the impact of AI, of e-commerce, of a shortage of tradespeople (and that’s just a starter list), their predic�ons are already obsolete. As Edgar R. Fiedler said, “He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass.” We are witnessing growing numbers of pupils with behavioural, social, emo�onal, physical disabili�es in the mainstream; learning and a�en�on deficits, hyperac�vity. They are hard to monitor, manage and support in a contained, tradi�onal classroom; impossible 14

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when clustered together in an MLE. At some �mes, in some situa�ons, for a myriad of reasons, students can be led to the ‘fountain of knowledge’, but they can’t always be made to drink. In this case, the easier pathway, o�en �mes the more fun pathway, can be to ‘slip under the radar’ (get lost), dri�ing or feigning a�en�on. If le� unchecked, this can move from a pas�me to a lifestyle. In the MLE, students can more easily slip under the radar. And let’s face it, many will if they get the chance. Inspira�onal, mo�va�onal, a�rac�ve rooms, with student work on the walls are important. Rooms are not as crea�ve or personalized when not “owned” by specific teachers. As o�en seems the case with educa�onal innova�ons in the last few decades, the innova�ons on offering are pronounced, the objec�ves and outcomes iden�fied, but the support, �me, money and the training needed for teachers to make the new system work go lacking. Big spaces with big groups, change teaching. Effec�ve skills for gaining a�en�on, giving instruc�ons, monitoring behaviour, planning and structuring learning need to be learned and prac�ced. If not, in the end, teachers struggle to make whatever it is work and end up being cri�cal. The MLE suffers from the same cri�cism of the tradi�onal classroom. Too much of the same thing. No one style or place works for everyone all the �me. We need choice and variety. Teachers are overextended. There is not enough �me to undertake the interdisciplinary planning and co-ordina�on necessary for groups of teachers to orchestrate an MLE. Teachers are already awash to their eyeballs in mee�ngs, planning sessions, commi�ees, faculty �me, marking, parent nights, du�es and report wri�ng. Add to this the evergrowing and ceaseless demand on schools and teachers for sweeping management,

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curriculum, assessment and compliance ma�ers. Go figure. Freeing up teacher �me for working directly with students in clubs, sports, cultural ac�vi�es or any co-curricular aspect of the school would be more important to many more kids’ lives, both in and out of school, for the present and for the future. The claims made for the MLE sound too good to be true, as is so o�en the case with such visionary paradigm shi�s. And, as is so o�en the case, they usually are. And this innova�on is physically a lot harder to disregard, as the buildings do not disappear as quick, easily and cheaply as some ill-fated, non cogni�ve professional development programme, heralded as the next great educa�onal revolu�on.

The 21st century compromise Four linked concluding strands of this debate:

Any claim for the benefits of the open classroom can work in the contained classroom: collabora�on, research, interdisciplinary, safe secure, inquiry. As always, it boils down to capabili�es of skilled teachers, orchestra�ng variety in the learning, that shapes any improvement in learning outcomes. Everything else is peripheral to that. Secondly, although the open spaces of the MLE can enable some, or maybe all, of the learning benefits claimed by supporters, it can be hard slog, for even the best of teachers, in such a big space, rather than a contained space. Thirdly, it is not space that will determine the purposeful and produc�ve rela�ons between teacher and taught, that will remain fundamental to learning for as long as we are a communal species. Lastly, as students differ in their interests, capabili�es, backgrounds, mo�va�ons, enthusiasms and the pace at which they learn, there is no “one size fits all” for teaching and learning. There is simply no best way to teach and no best way for students to learn, fi�ng all situa�ons, all the �me. The most effec�ve approach offering choice and variety in teaching and learning would be a hybrid school op�on with crea�ve possibili�es for both tradi�onal and progressive structures and pedagogies. As it stands now, the tradi�onal classroom gets the nod from me as the best op�on for the 21st century, at least un�l the funders of educa�on are willing lay out the money to fund the hybrid school and train its teachers for the job. Too big a chunk to bite off I fear.

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When it comes to being inven�ve it’s said that necessity plays a powerful part. And nobody understands this be�er than the team at the Auckland-based Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT), where inven�on, innova�on, crea�vity and ingenuity drive its daily opera�on. Tradi�onally known as a hands-on LEOTC provider MOTAT normally welcomes around 25,000 students through its site every year. When the recent lock-down made remote and online learning the norm, MOTAT stepped up to meet this new challenge. “Digital learning and online classes have always been on the cards for us here at MOTAT” explains Julie Baker, MOTAT Educa�on Manager. “But COVID-19 and the subsequent lockdown made online learning a necessity and in turn, gave us the environment to accelerate our efforts in this area. Now we’ve jump-started our digital strategy and are delivering online learning experiences two years ahead of expecta�on. We’ve developed a number of online ZOOMbased workshops in the areas of NZ History, Technology & Innova�on and Design Thinking

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We hosted our first workshop during lockdown itself, with students linking in from their respec�ve home bases, and, now we know how easy it is to engage with schools in this way, we’re keen to make sure schools all over New Zealand know we’re here to help and we’re ready to share our incredible resources with them.” The online workshops have been designed around MOTAT’s most popular onsite experiences. They are collec�on-based, curriculum-aligned and are accompanied by comprehensive resources and addi�onal ac�vi�es which help extend students and support teachers following the workshop session. Each workshop is delivered by ZOOM, which enables MOTAT educators to interact with up to 100 students per workshop.

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“We want these workshops to be easy to engage with and able to stand alone as an educa�onal experience. You select your workshop topic and book in for a day and �me that suits your learning programme, a MOTAT Educator will get in touch a week beforehand to discuss how we can further customise the workshop to meet the specific learning needs of your students. There is a small cost to book but being ZOOM based mul�ple classes can par�cipate so it’s easy to ensure great value for your school. And everyone seems to love the fact that there’s no stress about organising buses, collec�ng permission no�ces, chasing parent helpers or any of the other logis�cal hassles that normally accompany school trips.”

“Our museum is home to more than 800,000 collec�on objects. We can track our country’s transport and technological growth while also shining a light on the emerging technologies for future genera�ons. We might be Auckland based but thanks to COVID-19 and the tremendous changes this pandemic has forced us all to face, we are now equipped to connect and share our resources with schools all over New Zealand.”

To learn more about MOTAT’s ZOOM workshops and other digital educa�on offerings visit motat.org.nz/learn or email Julie.baker@motat.org.nz

MOTAT has a dedicated team of educators who are focused on crea�ng resources and learning plans that support teachers are trying to do within their classroom environments. There’s no museum be�er equipped to provide engaging learning opportuni�es around STEM subjects and these workshops help teachers tap into all the resources the museum has available and in the most user-friendly way.

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Five budding young illustrators from Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch are about to see their work in print for the first �me. Last year acclaimed author and illustrator Donovan Bixley ran a compe��on asking his fans to design a new character to appear in Downfall, the next adventure in the Flying Furballs junior fic�on series. Entries paw-ed in from across Aotearoa with an equal mix of boys and girls all hoping their crea�on would be selected. Some gave their characters wi�y catch phrases, some were cats, some were dogs, some had elaborate backstories, some had hair-larious names, some incorporated the most wonderfully cheesy puns, and some were extraordinary artworks. There were male and female characters from all manner of backgrounds. This abundance of high-quality drawing presented a huge challenge for Donovan, who faced the daun�ng task of whi�ling the 150 entries down to a shortlist of five. In the end he was so smi�en with all five finalist entries that he decided to pick one cat and one dog character as joint winners, but also give the other three designs cameos in the story. Those children all excitedly waited for the release of the �tle, which hit stores in March. Each winner received a copy of Flying Furballs Downfall personally signed by Donovan and a sketch of their character as it appears in the book. The characters were also used in Nine Lives the 9th and last book in the Flying Furballs Series Pictures by the winners and their designs follow on the next page along with how they appeared in the book.

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Winner: Furgus McLongtail By Amelia Ferguson (9), Wellington

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Winner: The Mighty Osman By Mindi Bosher (9), Christchurch

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Runners Up Snowy von Fluffytail By Yaran Hao (9), Auckland

Wing Commander Giggles By Luke Dickinson (8) Tauranga

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Baron Cosmo Mcarelsin by Magnus Fraser (12), Nelson

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Nine Lives, Flying Furballs Book 9 Donovan Bixley Upstart Press To write and illustrate one successful childrens book is an achievement but to write and illustrate a series of 9 different books all with the character theme of cats and dogs and a total of over 40 main characters and you realise what an achievment Donovan has accomplished. Supremely readable, enjoyable ‘yarns’ appealing to both young and old the books have the added advantage of having eyecatching illustr�ons by the author on each page,further the quelling the complaint of rluctant readers that there arent any pictures! “When I was doing the illustra�ons I saved my favourite image for last, It included over 40 of the main characters from throughout the series. It was a bit emo�onal doing the last brush stroke on that picture and saying goodbye to all those cool cats and dogs.” Nine Lives also features characters created by Kiwi children and first incorporated into the previous book (‘Downfall”) These characters have become integral parts of the books.

Wri�en and illustrated by Donovan Bixley, Flying Furballs is a nine book, hilarious ac�onpacked adventure series, for junior fic�on readers, which features illustra�ons throughout.

Donovan is not ruling out returning to the Flying Furballs, his publicity says Japan is high on his dream list of des�na�ons so perhaps the next series will have a Japanese se�ng?

The books capture the romance and excitement of the era at the dawn of avia�on — set in a world of cats verses dogs. Downfall and Nine Lives, both released this year ($14.99 RRP each) The books are published by Upstart Press, www.upstartpress.co.nz

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“Apparently, 95% of students (ages 13-19) believe opportuni�es for more real-world learning would improve their school.” – Josh Schachter Josh Schachter is the Founder and Director of CommunityShare, an educa�on ini�a�ve that is re-imagining the rela�onship between schools and communi�es. Schachter states that many high school students become disengaged and/or drop out of school because “they don’t see the relevance of what they are learning.” School counselors (school-counselor ra�o in the US is 480:1) and teachers are overwhelmed and o�en don’t have �me or the resources to link school to future career pathways for students, and that’s where Schachter’s organiza�on can help.

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

CommunityShare sees real-world learning in community projects as “a cri�cal pathway to address several interconnected problems that contribute to disconnec�on, isola�on and fragmenta�on.” The CommunityShare solu�on takes an ecosystemic approach that “ac�vates the exis�ng assets of an en�re community.” The Global Search for Educa�on welcomes Josh Schachter.

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C.M. Rubin

“Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds have less access to informal mentors and less diverse networks of social capital than more affluent students, which can cri�cally impact their social mobility, academic achievement and economic success.” – Josh Schachter Josh, give us some background as to how you real-world learning would improve their developed your vision for Community Share? school. Later as an educator, I searched for ways to bring “real-world” relevance to my As a high school student, I was challenged by students. In 2006, my colleague Julie Kasper the workload but bored by the lack of and I founded Finding Voice to support the relevance my classes had to my life and the literacy development, youth voice and civic world around me. During my junior year, I agency of refugee and immigrant high school appren�ced with a herpetologist and found students in Tucson, Arizona. myself knee-deep in mud, tagging turtle carapaces in South Carolina, inspec�ng alligator nests for preda�on, and even playing a small role in discovering a new turtle species. This experience ins�lled in me a passion for asking big ques�ons, experimen�ng with solu�ons and helping me see how academic knowledge was integral to wildlife conserva�on. Apparently, 95% of students (ages 13-19) believe opportuni�es for more

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We invited nearly 100 community partners into our classrooms to work on projects and/or serve as mentors based on the interests of our students. These partners ranged from social service agencies to landscape architects to city council members. These experiences demonstrated to everyone involved what might be possible if an en�re city was ac�vely and meaningfully engaged in learning with students and educators. Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020 25

“Some of the most transforma�ve impacts have occurred when a community partner collaborates with a classroom over an extended period of �me and engages their broader social network in a class project.” – Josh Schachter What makes the CommunityShare approach I began to wonder if there would be a way to to learning both important and unique at this reveal, connect and share the social, point in �me? intellectual, crea�ve and cultural capital in a community that was not dependent on a Ironically, as technology provides more and single coordinator. Would it be possible to more ways to connect with others, feelings of create a public cloud of social capital available isola�on con�nue to rise. Technology and to all Tucson teachers and students? social media o�en provide the illusion of My educa�on colleagues and I spent a few years researching this idea. We sent a survey to 9,000 teachers in Southern Arizona and 84% of respondents want more engagement with community partners, but face two significant barriers: they don’t have �me to find partners and don’t know where to look.

connec�ng and expanding one’s network, but the reality can be very different. The need to expand our social networks is par�cularly cri�cal as our society and economy become increasingly shaped by networks. Whether we like it or not, who you know shapes one’s future as much as what you know.

These challenges led us to build an online pla�orm that could serve as a human library of regional wisdom and exper�se. Since launching the pla�orm in 2015, CommunityShare has connected over 10,000 students and teachers with community partners and real-world learning experiences.

As inequity grows, schools and neighborhoods become increasingly segregated across class and race. Social media algorithms reinforce our beliefs, values and exis�ng networks— thus, the need to disrupt social networks and reweave social capital across socioeconomic and geographic lines is paramount. Students from lower socio-economic backgrounds have less access to informal mentors and less diverse networks of social capital than more

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“Perhaps our biggest challenge has been the reality that teacher’s �me and ability to take risks is significantly limited due to the pressures of standardized tes�ng and other compliance issues.” – Josh Schachter affluent students, which can cri�cally impact facing and focus on expanding both teacher their social mobility, academic achievement and student social capital. and economic success. How would you describe your greatest CommunityShare is working to address these challenges by revealing the exis�ng assets (cultural, social, intellectual, crea�ve capital) in a community and providing pathways for communi�es to reweave these assets across geographic and sociocultural lines in a region. Concretely, through our online pla�orm and offline strategies we support real-world learning experiences between students, teachers and community members that foster intergenera�onal rela�onships and a deeper connec�on to place. In a way, we are using technology to get people off of it. Increasingly we are seeing online pla�orms focused on workforce development pathways that link students with online and in-person career mentors, facilitate internships and other real-world learning opportuni�es. Some pla�orms directly connect youth to social capital in out-of-school learning environments, while others like CommunityShare are teacher-

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accomplishments with Community Share to date? I get most excited when we hear from teachers and students how community collabora�ons are impac�ng their lives and learning. Some of the most transforma�ve impacts have occurred when a community partner collaborates with a classroom over an extended period of �me and engages their broader social network in a class project. I remember a few years ago, a teacher, Daisy Michel, was looking to find an ar�st to get her students more ac�vely and crea�vely engaged in learning Arizona history and culture. A�er learning about Community Share’s online pla�orm, Ms. Michel created an online profile, searched for an ar�st and found ar�st Kate Hodges. Kate volunteered for four weeks with Ms. Michel’s students, making history come alive by connec�ng the students’ family Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020 27

histories to Arizona’s roots through ceramics, drawing, oral history, and music. Together Kate their own prac�ce and who will then become and Ms. Michel co-created dynamic learning seeds to grow an inquiry-based, communityexperiences that increased both student engaged culture amongst their peers and engagement and class a�endance. Kate schools. con�nued to work with Daisy Michel’s class for As have shared our learnings with others, twowe years. there has been increasing interest from We have also seen community-engaged organiza�ons across the U.S. and globe — projects help breakdown the subject ma�er from Australia to Chicago to Finland — to bring silos that permeate the educa�on system. CommunityShare to other regions. Some Recently, high school students spent a organiza�ons are most interested in bringing semester learning physics, chemistry and our online pla�orm to their community. Based business planning through hands-on learning on our experiences in Tucson, we know that experiences in partnership with a glassblowing the pla�orm is most effec�ve if local staff on studio. the ground are already mobilizing their Ul�mately, CommunityShare hopes community to engage in schools andthis arework can support students and teachers in reaching developing a culture of authen�c, communitytheir poten�al as agents of change their engaged in schools. We are buildinginour own community. capacity to support regional partners in these two basedsurprising on our own lessons One efforts of the most impacts haslearned been over the past five years. that two community partners,one an opera�ons engineer at Intel and another a social entrepreneur, decided to become C.M. Rubin and Josh Schachter classroom teachers a�er engaging with Thank youand to teachers our 800 plus global contributors, students through teachers, entrepreneurs, researchers, business CommunityShare. leaders, students and thought leaders from Over the past four years, our educator-led every domain for sharing your perspec�ves on professional learning community has also been the future of learning with The Global Search one of the highlights. The teachers have for Educa�on each month. repeatedly said how much they value having a safe environment to take risks, reflect, build rela�onships with other teachers, and develop their prac�ce. Similarly, we have facilitated mul�-day digital storytelling workshops to provide a space for teachers to reflect on their lives and prac�ce; and by sharing their stories heighten the voices of teachers in the broader community.

pla�orm. Along these lines, most funding in educa�on is directed at “tweaking” exis�ng systems versus re-imagining systems, which has made fundraising a challenge. In order to address this, I have increasingly spent �me engaging with the philanthropic community in discussion about the future of philanthropy and systems change. In addi�on, we are exploring earned revenue strategies (e.g. pla�orm license fees) so we will be less philanthropically reliant and develop a sustainable business model into the future. Perhaps our biggest challenge has been the reality that teacher’s �me and ability to take risks is significantly limited due to the pressures of standardized tes�ng and other compliance issues. In light of this, we have invested more �me and resources into suppor�ng teachers so that community partnerships and real-world learning can be integrated into their exis�ng scope of work versus being seen as an “add-on.” Since CommunityShare has an online component that leads to offline, in-person engagements, tracking impact has been a challenge. We are currently developing strategies to embed an evalua�on process into our online pla�orm to increase the likelihood of receiving impact informa�on from our users. What’s next for CommunityShare? What are you working on now for the future?

How would you describe the greatest challenges you faced as an educa�on start up and what have you learned?

We are building our online pla�orm so that it can easily adapt to changing themes and pedagogical trends in educa�on, such as the current focus on STEM and workforce-based learning. For example, our next itera�on of the online pla�orm will enable new communi�es wan�ng to use CommunityShare to turn on or off content areas based on the priori�es and unique focus areas of their community.

As an educator, professional photographer and social ecologist, learning to launch and grow a start-up business has been very challenging. Much of my �me has been dedicated to fundraising, partly due to the significant staff cost to develop and regularly iterate our online

This year we are launching an educator fellowship for teachers commi�ed to community-engaged, real-world learning and a series of inquiry-based workshops and dialogues open to anyone in the community. The inten�on of this work is to create a

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suppor�ve space for educators to develop their own prac�ce and who will then become seeds to grow an inquiry-based, communityengaged culture amongst their peers and schools. As we have shared our learnings with others, there has been increasing interest from organiza�ons across the U.S. and globe — from Australia to Chicago to Finland — to bring CommunityShare to other regions. Some organiza�ons are most interested in bringing our online pla�orm to their community. Based on our experiences in Tucson, we know that the pla�orm is most effec�ve if local staff on the ground are already mobilizing their community to engage in schools and are developing a culture of authen�c, communityengaged in schools. We are building our own capacity to support regional partners in these

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two efforts based on our own lessons learned over the past five years.

C.M. Rubin and Josh Schachter Thank you to our 800 plus global contributors, teachers, entrepreneurs, researchers, business leaders, students and thought leaders from every domain for sharing your perspec�ves on the future of learning with The Global Search for Educa�on each month.

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020 29

Dr Lisa Benneďż˝, dressed as The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair, a character from Susanna Clarkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. 30

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Learning during lockdown hasn’t been without its fun side. Flinders University’s Dr Lisa Benne� has been encouraging her crea�ve wri�ng students who are working online to enjoy their �me in isola�on by dressing in costume to suit the theme of their weekly wri�ng tasks – and has been leading by example. Since her classes went online in March, Dr Benne� has joined her third-year Bachelor of Crea�ve Arts (Crea�ve Wri�ng) students in dressing for the part as they engage in innova�ve weekly workshop themes, including “fantasy” or “funny hats” or “dress like you’re going to the prom” . As a result, students have prepared for their online class discussions by fashioning costumes to look like characters from books they are studying – including Li�le Women, Howl’s Moving Castle and various fantasy novels

Dr Benne� says that being at home gave students a chance to be really crea�ve and brought a flurry of ideas into their workshops, triggered by them sharing photographs of their costumes via Collaborate, and adding the spark of fun to each week’s work. “We all felt less isolated as a result of our weekly dressups,” she says. “It was marvellous!” Students from Dr Benne�’s class.

The latest theme was “book character”, for which Dr Benne� went to great lengths, dressing up like “The Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair” from Susanna Clarke’s historical fantasy novel, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. (pictured le�) “That hair? Well, it’s not a wig! I nearly destroyed my hair, teasing and powdering it for this costume, but it was worth it. The students loved it,” says Dr Benne�. “I’ve been trying to make the most of this less-than-ideal situa�on. Rather than being sad that we couldn’t see each other face-toface, we all looked forward to our weekly online sessions. Everyone got into the spirit of it, even though we might be too shy or selfconscious to dress up in costumes like that if we were coming into campus (especially on public transport). “It may seem silly, but it made studying in isola�on so much more enjoyable.”

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Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

The move to include New Zealand history in the school curriculum through to senior level reflects a strengthening awareness that we need to look more honestly at our colonial past. Today’s New Zealand has been inexorably shaped by early interac�ons between Pākehā and Māori. Throughout human history, anywhere in the world, the process of colonisa�on ended up marginalising the indigenous inhabitants, and New Zealand was no different. What was different here is that colonisa�on was compara�vely recent and for much of that period, Māori more than held their own.

Since the social, poli�cal and environmental changes that resulted from colonisa�on were accompanied by contemporaneous documenta�on, the writer of New Zealand historical fic�on has a wealth of resources to draw on. For a general audience, stories have always been the most accessible way of engaging with the past, and well-researched historical fic�on is part of that tradi�on. With Shi�ing Currents, I wanted to depict what life was like in the period when Māori were ini�ally s�ll very much in control and Pākehā were dependent on their help and coopera�on. Although ‘pioneer stories’ are part of our earlier literature, that period of Māori dominance has not been explored in our fic�on to any great extent. The Kaipara area in par�cular is full of fascina�ng stories from this period. Social, poli�cal, and environmental change in the kauri forests of the Kaipara was extreme and rapid, and has relevant implica�ons for anyone wan�ng to understand the background to what is happening in New Zealand today. Rela�onships between the Kaipara chiefs and the colonial government during the period of intensifying Pākehā se�lement (roughly 1840s – 1870s) took a different direc�on to most of the country. Despite the onset of the New Zealand Wars over land, the Kaipara chiefs remained loyal to the Crown, developed excellent rela�onships with successive Governors and officials, and willingly nego�ated the sale of blocks of land. One of the most influen�al of those chiefs, Te Tirarau, befriended one of the real women my story draws on. Although Shi�ing Currents is primarily about the interac�on between two se�ler women living in a remote area in circumstances far removed from any life they had known before, that friendship with Tirarau and the changing fortunes of his people as colonisa�on and

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Joanna Orwin environmental devasta�on increasingly marginalised them became a minor but essen�al strand. For any historical novel, I do a ridiculous amount of research, knowing that only the �niest amount will actually feature in the story. I relish the opportunity to read widely around a topic that interests me, with the goal of a book providing both the incen�ve and the excuse. Before I started wri�ng Shi�ing Currents, I spent months on background research, and research con�nued during the three years of wri�ng. For this book, set mostly in midnineteenth century Kaipara, the main elements I researched were se�ler life, kauri industry, landscape change during an intensive period of deforesta�on and the interac�on between Māori and se�lers. My main sources came from specialist libraries, like the Auckland War Museum Library (where I spent five days reading everything I could find on Kaipara history during 1840 to 1880, photographing 400 pages of relevant informa�on and personal stories), on-line resources like Papers Past for events and personali�es (a wonderful resource) and Na�onal Library’s Tapuhi for pictorial images of the period and locality –– landscape, natural environment, housing, clothing, food, Māori life, occupa�ons, kauri industry, and changing transport means. Although I now do a lot of my research online, I s�ll print off anything I know I will refer to during wri�ng the book, so I end up with numerous theme-based manila folders containing relevant pages from books and scholarly journals, Waitangi Tribunal reports for relevant Māori background and history, ar�cles from magazines, and images. As I write, the contents of the folders get resorted into material useful for par�cular chapters.

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As well as this background material, I had access to family records and personal stories. The trigger for Shi�ing currents was a chance remark made during my research for another northern story –– Collision. One of my informants told me his great-grandmother used to row Tirarau up the Wairoa River when she was a child. Intrigued by what seemed an unusually in�mate connec�on between a Māori chief and a Pākehā child for those �mes (1850s). I accepted his invita�on to return at a later date with the inten�on of usig hsi family story as the basis for another book. I quickly realised that fic�onalising that story would give me far greater freedom for exploring a fascina�ng period of history. Ironically, the triggering anecdote did not survive the mul�ple dra�s of the novel I ended up building around the imagined lives of my main characters, who were based on his great-grandmother’s mother and motherin-law. For Tirarau himself, my star�ng point was his biography in Te Ara Encyclopaedia of New Zealand and Nancy Pickmore’s The changing �mes of Te Tirarau and the people of the river. I was then able to flesh out my depic�on of Tirarau from many ar�cles featuring him in Papers Past and extracts from the notebooks of Sir Donald McLean, Na�ve Secretary and chief land purchase commissioner for the government. Although Shi�ing Currents is fic�on, and my portrayal of its characters and their interac�ons are fic�onal, all the events depicted in this story are based on real happenings. My aim was to write what I hoped would be an engaging story that would give its readers some insight into an important part of our history. Joanna Orwin Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

My name is Kay Lee. I’m Malaysian. I use a white pencil to capture light and expression on black paper. I especially like to picture artwork in a “low-key” mode, contrast, and drama�c ligh�ng effect, with lots of shadows. It gives depth, mood, feeling, and emo�on, with a quiet and mysterious atmosphere. And I like accentuated forms with clean looks too, as I think it can give more substan�al visual impact; illumina�on on a specific por�on of the image with very selec�ve use of light can help me to achieve that.

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

I graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts, where I majored in oil pain�ng. Yes, I’m academically trained in tradi�onal art. S�ll, I have a great interest in mixed media art ranging from drawing to pain�ng in various kinds of mediums, even digital illustra�ons, public installa�ons, etc. I chose the crosshatching technique purposely because it can create a variety of textures. In this project, I used an oil-based pencil to draw, because it can create smooth, creamy, and delicate lines. I chose fine grain paper to draw, so textured crosshatching lines can pair with it to enhance the contrast in the overall presenta�on.

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Kay Lee Artwork

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Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020 39

“The greatest scientists are artists as well” Albert Einstein”

In the early nine�es, as a high school student, I was at a crossroads deciding which way to travel. Should I take the science path or the arts path? I was equally passionate about both and I s�ll am. So what a relief I felt when I read the above quote. There was no need to choose. Science and crea�vity go hand-in-hand. Fast-forward ten years, I was head of science at a private primary school for girls in Hampstead, London. It had a reputa�on for excellence in the arts. I was lucky enough to have a fully ki�ed science laboratory and the freedom to create a new science curriculum. My mission was to inspire the girls to love science and to develop their sense of curiosity. I did this by making my lessons exci�ng and hands-on and providing the girls with plenty of opportuni�es for crea�vity. I taught each class four �mes a week and every lesson always involved a hands-on ac�vity and �me to inves�gate, experiment or create. The girls absolutely loved science and made amazing progress. I was thrilled my mission to combine science and crea�vity worked. Fast-forward another decade and I am back in New Zealand. I co-founded a not-for-profit company called The Testpod. We organised public events showcasing the latest innova�ons and created science experiences for primary and university students. We visited a number of primary schools and that is when I realised that teaching science in public primary

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

schools was very different than my previous experience in London. There were four major differences: Teachers in most public primary schools in New Zealand are expected to teach all subjects including science. The budget for science equipment and consumables is minimal. Most teachers at primary school level teach all day without free periods for planning and se�ng up lessons. There is limited �me in the curriculum to teach science. It was an awakening for me and although I always appreciated my school in Hampstead was incredibly privileged, I didn’t quite how challenging it was to deliver the same style of lessons in public primary schools in New Zealand. There is a lot of prepara�on that goes into planning exci�ng, crea�ve and hands-on science lessons. Gathering equipment and consumables for every member of the class takes �me. Primary school classrooms are not science laboratories. They don’t usually have fi�een separate sinks and gas taps for a class set of Bunsen burners. Classrooms don’t tend to have large storage cupboards containing class sets of beakers and test tubes, chemicals, magnifying glasses, magnets, petri dishes and the endless list of science equipment that a science laboratory contains. Science equipment and consumables are not easily accessible or affordable! These �me and cost issues facing New Zealand primary schools to deliver a crea�ve science program are what inspired me to write “The Living World.”

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Rachel Rohloff

The Living World is the first book of a series. It is designed to save teachers �me by having one resource containing planning, learning outcomes, science vocabulary and science skills. It includes a huge range of hands-on ac�vi�es, teaching �ps, extension ideas, background informa�on and support materials for teachers. There are lists of equipment and materials needed to carry out the ac�vi�es for each topic, making it easy to prepare for hands-on lessons. And all the ac�vi�es are inexpensive with an emphasis on recycling and reusing resources. As I discovered, without an actual science laboratory, delivering hands-on and crea�ve science can some�mes be quite challenging in a normal classroom environment. However, with some simple changes and prac�cal planning, it can be far easier and extremely effec�ve. Below are some recommenda�ons on how to prepare your classroom and resources to kick off an exci�ng science program: 1.

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Using the lists provided in The Living World, gather the equipment and resources. All the materials that you will need are basic items that you may already have at school or home or can be bought from the grocery or hardware stores at a minimal cost. Store the equipment and materials in a large sealed container. Keep all the kit

together. This will make life so much easier and lessons more effec�ve. There are plenty of willing helpers in every school community who would be happy Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

to help, such as parents, PTA members, and fundraising groups. Give the volunteer the list provided at the start of each topic in The Living World. They can then gather the gear, pack it into a large storage container, and a�ach the list to the lid of the container for future reference. Once the topic lessons have been delivered in the classroom, another volunteer could replace or top up anything that has been used or damaged, ready for the next teacher in the school to use. 3.

Make sure you have enough equipment for every member of the class. There is nothing more frustra�ng for children just watching someone else carry out an inves�ga�on! Don’t buy expensive science equipment. There is no need. Gather baby food jars to use instead of beakers and test tubes, jar lids for petri dishes, use bamboo s�cks or cut up doweling for s�rring rods, use recycled yoghurt po�les for plant pots and pantry items instead of chemicals. Make sure you have enough for every member of the class. Wash them a�erwards and stack them back into the storage box for next �me

Create a science-rich learning environment. Encourage the children to bring in interes�ng items based on your topic of study and then ask them to create a beau�ful display table. It’s a chance for the children to use their crea�ve skills! They enjoy it. Provide plenty of books and informa�on posters about the topic. Put new scien�fic vocabulary and inquiry ques�ons on the wall. Set up a space for a microscope and have magnifying glasses available so that children can study nature and materials up close. Find screen savers for class computers that relate to your topic.

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Make a photo wall of your students carrying out inves�ga�ons. 6.

Make space for crea�vity and explora�on. Arrange the desks so children have room to move around the classroom and can work in small groups. Designate an area in the classroom for ar�s�c and crea�ve play and have plenty of cra� materials, including glue, paint and building materials available. Provide tables and floor space that is clear of clu�er with enough room for children to explore with equipment available for use. If possible, set up another space outside for really messy explora�on.

Make clean up easy. Have large plas�c cloths to cover tables and floors. Have a couple of buckets available to gather up dirty equipment and cloths to wipe down tabletops. Desk tote trays make wonderful work sta�ons for messy experiments. They catch water and soil etc. Just wash and dry them out a�erwards then slip them back into the desktops! Have a list of clean up jobs that need to be completed a�er each science lesson and designate children for each task.

The key to successfully and consistently delivering inspira�onal and crea�ve lessons is organisa�on. Gather and organise the equipment and resources you need to inves�gate the topic. Use alterna�ve science equipment and reusable resources that are free (or at least cost-effec�ve). Make sure there is enough equipment for every child to par�cipate. Arrange the classroom into a func�onal, inspira�onal space. Finally, allow children the freedom to imagine, explore, experiment, and create. Encourage them to become a great scien�st as well as a great ar�st too. Imagine the innova�on!

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Rachel Rohloff’s The Living World is the perfect book for teachers who are unsure of their ability to effec�vely introduce and lead science learning with their class. Similarly it is also the perfect accompaniment for parents who in home schooling their children may need gentle guidance on the planning, prepara�on, content and extension possible with each learning experience. The hard cover book is full of ideas for interes�ng learning ac�vi�es, lots of outdoor observa�on ideas and has obviously been researched and wri�en by someone who loves the subject, loves children and loves combining the two in an inven�ve and interes�ng way. Rachel’s book should be a staple in any teacher’s arsenal (or library) and the range of ac�vi�es, learning outcomes, vocabulary, teaching �ps, and challenges to ‘extend and enrich’ childrens’ learning along with sympathe�c colour coding dividing sec�ons make this power packed book worth reading and using con�nually. Published by New Shoots Publishing and distributed by Curate, Rachel Rohloff’s book is a winner!

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Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Unresolved conflict affects almost every area of business, from produc�vity, safety, turnover and absenteeism to the culture itself. Leaders in today’s turbulent �mes need more than technical experience, seniority and authority. Leaders at every level need specific skills to ini�ate difficult conversa�ons, resolve conflict and inspire behavioral change. Here are three essen�al skills that improve leadership competency. 1. Radical listening As a leader, you are going to be cri�cized and challenged. You’re going to be misunderstood, and you won’t feel like listening when these things happen. The precise �me when listening is your best defense, is when every fiber in your body wants to argue, defend, be right and educate the other person about how to think.

Here are two quick �ps about how to listen radically. First, take a deep breath and invite more conversa�on. Say, “I want to understand.” Or you can say “That’s interes�ng. I want to know more.” Become a witness to the conversa�on instead of a par�cipant. It will feel like slow mo�on if you are doing it right. But what if you are totally caught off guard? Buy some �me. Instead of coming up with your facts or research, say, “That’s an interes�ng viewpoint, but I’m surprised. Let’s schedule �me to talk tomorrow at 2.” Teach yourself to expand space between s�mulus and response. 2. Name the observable behavior Conflict is inevitable when you lead by assump�on. Here are some examples of assump�ons: �They don’t care about the culture �He isn’t engaged �She is a terrible worker �He is inconsiderate

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Marlene Chism

An assump�on is simply an interpreta�on and is not grounded in fact. To stop assuming, iden�fy and ar�culate the observed behavior. The formula is this: What is he/she/they doing or not doing? That answer gives you the observed behavior. Let’s translate assump�ons into observed behavior. “He doesn’t care about the culture” translates to “he wears flip-flops when the policy clearly states dress shoes.” You can’t make someone care about culture, but you can ask them to change their shoes. If they refuse, you can then determine next steps. “He isn’t engaged” translates to “he has not signed up to work over�me.” Now that you have an observed behavior to work with, you can get curious or make a request about over�me, instead of assuming there’s no engagement. You might learn that he’s a widower taking care of small children or realize that he didn’t know the over�me opportunity existed. Naming the observable behavior opens a door for shared understanding instead of judgment. As a leader, iden�fying and ar�cula�ng the observable behavior shaves hours off of unproduc�ve conversa�ons that result from judgments and misunderstandings. 3. Take ownership There’s nothing so perplexing to a manager than to have to course-correct a behavior that’s been going on for years. Some�mes the manager inherited the problem, and at other �mes, the disrup�ve behavior has been allowed and has become the standard. For example, let’s say the en�re team has been gathering at the coffee shop before work hours, but coffee �me has leaked into produc�vity �me, contribu�ng to lateness and missed client calls.

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Start by calling a mee�ng and se�ng the inten�on: “The inten�on of our mee�ng is to talk about produc�vity and how we can get on the same page regarding start �mes.” Next, speak to the observed behaviors: “I’ve no�ced a habit of clocking in, then gathering at the shop next door for coffee, and as a result there’s been some missed calls, and lowered produc�vity. Next, take ownership: “I realize that I’m partly to blame. I was so pleased with your team camaraderie that I didn’t want to spoil anything. I realize now if I had spoken sooner, we would all be on the same page. I’m considering this a fresh start. It’s fine to go for coffee together. I hope you con�nue that, but you need to a�end to personal business before clocking in. Meet any �me you want, but if you are on the clock, you are expected to be ready for work. Does that make sense?” Since you have “owned” part of the problem and offered a fresh start, most employees will not feel threatened, and they’ll agree. Conclusion Today, more than ever leaders need the skills to minimize unproduc�ve conflicts that arise due to misinterpreta�ons, lack of cri�cal thinking and assump�on making. Radical listening, naming the observable behavior, and owning the part you played keeps your focus and promotes be�er performance. Marlene Chism is a consultant, interna�onal speaker and the author of "Stop Workplace Drama" (Wiley 2011), "No-Drama Leadership" (Bibliomo�on 2015) and "7 Ways to Stop Drama in Your Healthcare Prac�ce" (Greenbranch 2018) and an advanced prac��oner of Narra�ve Coaching.

Marlene Chism Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

60% of adults believe to some extent that the government is misleading the public about the cause of the virus 40% believe the spread of the virus is a deliberate a�empt by powerful people to gain control 20% believe the virus is a hoax A new study from the University of Oxford shows that people who hold coronavirus conspiracy beliefs are less likely to comply with social distancing guidelines or take-up future vaccines. The research, led by clinical psychologists at the University of Oxford and published today in the Journal Psychological Medicine, indicates that a disconcer�ngly high number of adults in England do not agree with the scien�fic and governmental consensus on the coronavirus pandemic.

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

From 4 to 11 May 2020, 2,500 adults, representa�ve of the English popula�on for age, gender, region, and income, took part in the Oxford Coronavirus Explana�ons, A�tudes, and Narra�ves Survey (OCEANS). Results indicate that half of the na�on is excessively mistrus�ul and that this reduces the following of government coronavirus guidance. Daniel Freeman, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Oxford, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Oxford Health NHS Founda�on Trust, and study lead, said: 'Our study indicates that coronavirus conspiracy beliefs ma�er. Those who believe in conspiracy theories are less likely to follow government guidance, for example, staying home, not mee�ng with people outside their household, or staying 2m apart from other people when outside. Those who believe in conspiracy theories also say that they are less

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Do not agree

Agree a li�le

Agree Agree moderately Agree a lot completely

Coronavirus is a bioweapon developed by China to destroy the West.

54.6%

20.2%

11.7%

8.0%

5.5%

Jews have created the virus to collapse the economy for financial gain.

80.8%

5.3%

6.8%

4.6%

2.4%

Muslims are spreading the virus as an a�ack on Western values.

80.1%

5.9%

7.0%

4.6%

2.4%

Bill Gates has created the virus in order to reduce the world popula�on.

79.0%

6.4%

6.6%

5.1%

3.0%

The WHO already has a vaccine and are withholding it.

70.9%

10.6%

9.3%

5.4%

3.8%

Celebri�es are being paid to say they have coronavirus.

74.5%

8.5%

7.9%

5.6%

3.4%

Poli�cians (e.g. Boris Johnson) have faked having coronavirus.

73.5%

9.2%

8.1%

5.7%

3.6%

likely to accept a vaccina�on, take a diagnos�c test, or wear a facemask.' Guidelines are only effec�ve if the majority of people use them. This pandemic requires a unified response. However the high prevalence of conspiracy beliefs, and low level of trust in ins�tu�ons, may impede the response to this crisis. The figures suggest a breakdown of trust between poli�cal and scien�fic leadership and a significant propor�on of the English popula�on. For other beliefs endorsed by a significant minority See table on le�... (further examples available in the paper online.) Professor Freeman con�nues: 'There is a fracture: most people largely accept official COVID-19 explana�ons and guidance; a significant minority do not. The poten�al consequences, however, affect us all. The details of the conspiracy theories differ, and can even be contradictory, but there is a prevailing a�tude of deep suspicion. The epidemic has all the necessary ingredients for the growth of conspiracy theories, including sustained threat, exposure of vulnerabili�es, and enforced change. The new conspiracy ideas have largely built on previous prejudices

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and conspiracy theories. The beliefs look to be corrosive to our necessary collec�ve response to the crisis. In the wake of the epidemic, mistrust looks to have become mainstream.' Dr Sinéad Lambe, Clinical Psychologist, observed: 'Conspiracy thinking is not isolated to the fringes of society and likely reflects a growing distrust in the government and ins�tu�ons. Conspiracy beliefs arguably travel further and faster than ever before. Our survey indicates that people who hold such beliefs share them; social media provides a ready-made pla�orm.' It is important to counter conspiracy theories directly and reduce the spread. That needs to be against a backdrop of building up trust again in important ins�tu�ons and reducing the sense for too many people that they are in the margins. Trust is the founda�on stone of communi�es, which a �me of crisis makes only more apparent. This research project is funded by the NIHR Oxford Health Biomedical Research Centre. Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

S�tching lengthy, varicolored rows around found twigs, Natalie Ciccoricco juxtaposes the organic forms of nature with her me�culous embroideries. The California-based ar�st has been cra�ing her Nes�ng series on white, handmade paper with unfinished edges.

Follow Ciccoricco’s progress and see her latest works on Instagram. (via Jealous Curator)

All images © Natalie Ciccoricco

The stark backdrop complements the precisely laid thread that seems to suspend each twig, while the natural borders offer an addi�onal organic element.

An extension of her s�tches on vintage photographs, Ciccoricco’s lastest series was born out of her �me quaran�ned at home. “While being under quaran�ne at home, I started crea�ng embroidery artworks using materials found in our yard, on our deck or nature walks,” she writes on her site. “Exploring the juxtaposi�on between geometric shapes and organic elements, this series is an ongoing exercise to find beauty and hope in challenging �mes.”

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The news that children currently face may seem almost unspeakable. But, together, we must find words, and ways, to give voice to their experience and prevent millions of children struggling with their fears and uncertainty alone. Research shows that sensi�)ve and effec�ve communica�on about life threatening illness has major benefits for children and their family’s long-term psychological wellbeing. A new comment authored by experts at the University of Oxford is published today in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, highligh�ng the importance of communica�ng with children when a loved one had died from COVID-19.

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Families are separated from sick rela�ves who are being treated in hospital. When the pa�ent dies, children within the family are o�en invisible to hospital staff liaising with rela�ves

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Parents want to protect their children from distress and may feel unsure about how and what to tell children about their rela�ve’s death

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Children are astute observers of their environment, and when communica�on is absent, they a�empt to make sense of the situa�on on their own, with important long term consequences for their psychological wellbeing

Professor Alan Stein, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, said, “In the midst of this devasta�ng death toll and hospitalisa�ons from COVID-19, healthcare workers are tasked with making life-changing telephone calls to rela�ves to tell them that a pa�ent has died. It is crucial that a pa�ent’s role as a parent or grandparent is iden�fied so that appropriate support can be offered to the family to tell the children of their loved-one’s death.” The comment highlights a pla�orm of freelyavailable resources to support professionals and families communicate with rela�ves and children when a pa�ent is seriously ill or has died. The resources include: �

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A step-by-step guide for staff making telephone calls to rela�ves when a pa�ent has died.

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Prompts for staff to specifically inquire if the pa�ent had important rela�onships with children

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A ra�onale for rela�ves about the importance of talking to children about what has happened

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A dedicated step-by-step guide for families to help plan how they will share this life-changing news with children, including specific phrases they might use

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Two anima�ons to support the guides for staff and families

Priori�sing effec�ve communica�on with children about a parent or grandparent’s illness and death during COVID-19 is essen�al to protect the intermediate and long-term psychological wellbeing of children.

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Covid-19 hurts even those who escape infec�on – par�cularly children, writes paediatrician Dr Kai Hensel from the University of Cambridge in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood In prepara�on for the COVID-19 pandemic and the an�cipated overwhelming demand on hospitals, the NHS moved towards of a policy of providing only essen�al treatments. Doctors were asked to postpone all nonurgent clinical ac�vi�es including face-toface outpa�ent visits, diagnos�c procedures and hospital-based therapies. As na�ons declared themselves ‘at war’ against the virus, they may have become blinded to the impact on other condi�ons. “There seems to be almost only one relevant diagnosis these days: the new virus,” writes Hensel.

This has meant that, thanks to the prepara�ons, a major hospital could have more than 450 empty beds and less than 50% surgical theatre ac�vity. “The message is unmistakable: we are prepared. But this comes at a price… Antenatal care is widely reduced, cancer surgeries are limited and emergency room a�endance has decreased to far less than 50% as compared with pre-coronavirus �mes. Where are all the sick pa�ents that usually keep us busy?” In fact, the level of busyness may depend en�rely on the medical specialty in ques�on. Healthcare workers in adult intensive care units face facing long hard shi�s trea�ng severely unwell pa�ents, while most paediatric special�es are seeing a dras�cally decreased workload. “Healthcare alloca�on, in �mes of COVID-19 more than ever, is a risk management game. But the ‘fla�en-the-curve impera�ve’ inevitably comes at a price, and the bill is yet to come. As one curve is plateauing, others may even rise.” Hensel argues that children may be ge�ng “a bad deal” as a result of healthcare policies. They tend to have milder disease if infected, yet are missing out on other important services. He presents the example of a two-year-old boy who was referred to his team for suspected very-early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This is usually confirmed by endoscopy or MRI. It was only by the team successfully pressing for the boy to be considered an excep�on that endoscopy revealed that his symptoms were caused by a single juvenile

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rectal polyp (abnormal �ssue growth), which was then removed. The remainder of the procedure was normal, and the boy was discharged without further medical treatment. If the team had not urged for the boy to be placed on one of the few emergency lists, he would have been mistakenly diagnosed with IBD and given immunosuppressant drugs with poten�al side effects while he con�nued to suffer symptoms. Policies to manage resources during COVID-19 risks having a dispropor�onate impact on children, writes Hensel. Three months since the UK first went into lockdown, more and more nega�ve public health consequences are beginning to unfold. Lockdown regula�ons and school closures are making vulnerable children even harder to reach, promp�ng the World Health Organiza�on to issue a joint leaders’ statement en�tled “Violence against children: a hidden crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic”. “Tragically, detrimental social and health effects will hit the socioeconomically disadvantaged communi�es dispropor�onally harder,” writes Dr Hensel. “Food insecurity and loss of academic achievement are expected to

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significantly contribute to the exacerba�on of the already exis�ng inequali�es.” He argues that a public health approach is urgently needed to improve child health in these challenging �mes, to manage domes�c violence and to fight under-the-radar child neglect. With the performance of policy-makers being judged according to interna�onally comparable coronavirus numbers, Dr Hensel says it is the job of physicians to speak up on behalf of underrepresented pa�ent groups. “We need to advocate, to give our pa�ents a voice and to spread the message: in COVID-19 �mes, there is not just one diagnosis that ma�ers.” Reference Hensel, KO. Double-edged sword of limi�ng healthcare provision for children in �mes of COVID-19: the hidden price we pay. BMJ; 23 June 2020; DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2020319575

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Fewer than 10% of countries have laws that help ensure full inclusion in educa�on, according to UNESCO’s 2020 Global Educa�on Monitoring Report: Inclusion and educa�on – All means all. The report provides an in-depth analysis of key factors for exclusion of learners in educa�on systems worldwide including background, iden�ty and ability (i.e. gender, age, loca�on, poverty, disability, ethnicity, indigeneity, language, religion, migra�on or displacement status, sexual orienta�on or gender iden�ty expression, incarcera�on, beliefs and a�tudes). It iden�fies an exacerba�on of exclusion during the COVID-19 pandemic and es�mates that about 40% of low and lower-middle income countries have not supported disadvantaged learners during temporary school shutdown.

The 2020 Global Educa�on Monitoring (GEM) Report urges countries to focus on those le� behind as schools reopen so as to foster more resilient and equal socie�es. “To rise to the challenges of our �me, a move towards more inclusive educa�on is impera�ve”, said the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay. “Rethinking the future of educa�on is all the more important following the Covid-19 pandemic, which further widened and put a spotlight on inequali�es. Failure to act will hinder the progress of socie�es.” Persistence of exclusion: This year’s Report is the fourth annual UNESCO GEM Report to monitor progress across 209 countries in achieving the educa�on targets adopted by UN Member States in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It notes that 258 million children and youth were en�rely excluded from educa�on, with poverty as the main obstacle to access. In low- and middleincome countries, adolescents from the richest 20% of all households were three �mes as likely to complete lower secondary school as were as those from the poorest homes. Among those who did complete lower secondary educa�on, students from the richest households were twice as likely to have basic reading and mathema�cs skills as those from the poorest households. Despite the proclaimed target of universal upper secondary comple�on by 2030, hardly any poor rural young women complete secondary school in at least 20 countries, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa. Also according to the report, 10-year old students in middle and high-income countries who were taught in a language other than their mother tongue typically scored 34% below na�ve speakers in

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reading tests. In ten low- and middle-income countries, children with disabili�es were found to be 19% less likely to achieve minimum proficiency in reading than those without disabili�es. In the United States, for example, LGBTI students were almost three �mes more likely to say that they had stayed home from school because of feeling unsafe. Inequitable founda�ons: Alongside today’s publica�on, UNESCO GEM Report team launched a new website, PEER, with informa�on on laws and policies concerning inclusion in educa�on for every country in the world. PEER shows that many countries s�ll prac�ce educa�on segrega�on, which reinforces stereotyping, discrimina�on and aliena�on. Laws in a quarter of all countries require children with disabili�es to be

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educated in separate se�ngs, rising to over 40% in La�n America and the Caribbean, as well as in Asia. Blatant exclusion: Two countries in Africa s�ll ban pregnant girls from school, 117 allowed child marriages, while 20 had yet to ra�fy the Conven�on 138 of the Interna�onal Labour Organiza�on which bans child labour. In several central and eastern European countries, Roma children were segregated in mainstream schools. In Asia, displaced people, such as the Rohingya were taught in parallel educa�on systems. In OECD countries, more than two-thirds of students from immigrant backgrounds a�ended schools where they made up at least 50% of the student popula�on, which reduced their chance of academic success. Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

“Covid-19 has given us a real opportunity to think afresh about our educa�on systems,” said Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Educa�on Monitoring Report. “But moving to a world that values and welcomes diversity won’t happen overnight. There is an obvious tension between teaching all children under the same roof and crea�ng an environment where students learn best. But, COVID-19 has showed us that there is scope to do things differently, if we put our minds to it.” Parents’ discriminatory beliefs were found to form one barrier to inclusion: Some 15% of parents in Germany and 59% in Hong Kong, China, feared that children with disabili�es disturbed others’ learning. Parents with vulnerable children also wished to send them to schools that ensure their well-being and respond to their needs. In Queensland, Australia, 37% of students in special schools had moved away from mainstream establishments. The Report shows that educa�on systems o�en fail to take learners’ special needs into account. Just 41 countries worldwide officially recognized sign language and, globally, schools were more eager to get internet access than to cater for learners with disabili�es. Some 335 million girls a�ended schools that did not provide them with the water, sanita�on and hygiene services they required to con�nue a�ending class during menstrua�on. Aliena�ng learners: When learners are inadequately represented in curricula and textbooks they can feel alienated. Girls and women only made up 44% of references in secondary school English-language textbooks in Malaysia and Indonesia, 37% in Bangladesh and 24% in the province of Punjab in Pakistan. The curricula of 23 out of 49 European countries do not address issues of sexual orienta�on, gender iden�ty or expression. Teachers need and want training on inclusion, which fewer than 1 in 10 primary school teachers in ten Francophone countries in subSaharan Africa said they had received. A quarter of teachers across 48 countries 62

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reported they wanted more training on teaching students with special needs. Chronic lack of quality data on those le� behind. Almost half of low- and middle-income countries do not collect enough educa�on data about children with disabili�es. Household surveys are key for breaking educa�on data down by individual characteris�cs. But 41% of countries – home to 13% of the world’s popula�on – did not conduct surveys or make available data from such surveys. Figures on learning are mostly taken from school, failing to take into account those not a�ending. “Inadequate data means we are missing a huge part of the picture,” says Antoninis. “It is no wonder the inequali�es suddenly exposed during COVID-19 took us by surprise.” Signs of progress towards inclusion: The Report and its PEER website note that many countries were using posi�ve, innova�ve approaches to transi�on towards inclusion. Many were se�ng up resource centres for mul�ple schools and enabling mainstream establishments to accommodate children from special schools, as was the case in Malawi, Cuba and Ukraine. The Gambia, New Zealand and Samoa were using i�nerant teachers to reach underserved popula�ons. Many countries were also seen to go out of their way to accommodate different learners’ needs: Odisha state in India, for example, used 21 tribal languages in its classrooms, Kenya adjusted its curriculum to the nomadic calendar and, in Australia, the curricula of 19% of students were adjusted by teachers so that their expected outcomes could match students’ needs. The report includes material for a digital campaign, All means All, which promotes a set of key recommenda�ons for the next ten years.

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Waerea te whenua, tāmatahia te māra, maro�ri�ria ngā kākano, kia huaroa te �pu. There is enthusiasm for te reo Māori and a desire to revitalise the language through educa�on in many English Medium schools, but prac�cal obstacles need to be overcome to allow this according to new report Te Tāmata Huaroa published by the Educa�on Review Office (ERO). The report was carried out to create a snapshot of te reo Māori teaching across English Medium schools and aims in part to reflect the role educa�on has to play in the Government’s Maihi Karauna strategy for language revitalisa�on. The majority of schools ERO spoke to have a posi�ve view of te reo Māori teaching in their classrooms and want to increase their provision, with many going as far as including this in their strategic goals. Many respondents said they felt an ethical responsibility to the language and to its revitalisa�on. The report found that despite this enthusiasm, there was li�le evidence of complex learning and explicit language teaching such as gramma�cal forms, speaking, reading and wri�ng. Instead te reo Māori was included in simpler forms such as waiata or karakia. Respondents indicated the key obstacles are a lack of te reo Māori knowledge across the teaching workforce, coupled with low levels of knowledge and exper�se in general second language learning.

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However, there is awareness of these obstacles, and many schools are taking steps to overcome them, such as skill specific recrui�ng and targeted PLD. ERO has iden�fied further opportuni�es including growing and extending the numbers of fluent speakers who work within the school sector, paying increased a�en�on to the development of comprehensive resources to support teaching and extending partnerships with iwi. ERO Deputy Chief Execu�ve Evalua�on and Review Maori Lynda Pura-Watson feels strongly that this work will have real world meaning for New Zealand educa�on. "This is an exci�ng explora�on of the landscape of te reo Māori teaching on a real prac�cal level but also puts educa�on firmly in the centre of wider revitalisa�on of the language and the long-term goals of the Government." She went on to say that ERO wants to use this report as a springboard. "We can take the findings from this report and others in the pipe-line and use them to start real conversa�ons about further development and improvement." This report was completed by ERO as part of an ongoing work programme focused on the provision of te reo Māori in English medium schools. ERO spoke to teachers and school leaders in 102 primary and secondary schools across Aotearoa to inform this report.

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

We’ve long been fans of the data-rich illustra�ons produced by Pop Chart Lab, and this new print is no excep�on. The Chart of Cosmic Explora�on documents every exploratory endeavor into space spanning Luna 2 in 1959 to DSCOVR in 2015. The elegantly dense chart not only depicts the flight paths and orbits around planets, moons, comets, and asteroids, but also takes pains to illustrate some 100 exploratory instruments. The result is a shockingly clear overview of an immensely complex topic. The print is now available for preorder and begins shipping next week. (via Mental_Floss)

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Ch r isto ph e r J o bs o n

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Star�ng to smoke in childhood doubles the risk of premature death

stopping before age 40 substan�ally reduces the excess risk of death.

The greatest risk is for those who start smoking before age 15, or even before age 10

UK and US researchers from the Nuffield Department of Popula�on Health (NDPH) at Oxford University, together with Cuban researchers from the Na�onal Ins�tute of Cardiology in Havana, led a prospec�ve study of smoking and mortality that included 120,000 men and women age 30-70 in five Cuban provinces. Par�cipants were asked whether they smoked and how old they had been when they started smoking. They were then followed for an average of 17 years to compare their risks of premature death (before age 70).

Qui�ng smoking before 40 (preferably well before 40) avoids more than 90% of the risk. Smoking causes about 100,000 deaths a week worldwide, which is even more than COVID is now causing. Most smokers start before age 20, and in countries such as Cuba or the US where tobacco is grown many start in childhood (before age 15) and some even start before 10. Prospec�ve studies in Cuban and US adults now show that star�ng smoking in childhood is par�cularly dangerous. Star�ng to smoke in childhood doubles the risk of premature death, according to a new study published today in The Lancet Global Health. The greatest risk is for those who start smoking before the age of 10. However,

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

This Cuban study found that those who had started to smoke before age 15 had twice the risk of premature death of those who had never smoked, with even greater risks among those who had started to smoke before age 10. Although it was expected that smoking from such young ages would carry considerable health risks, the magnitude of these risks were not known.

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One-third of the current smokers had begun smoking regularly before age 15, and 4% had begun smoking regularly before age 10. Among those who began smoking before age 15, approximately half would eventually be killed by their habit. However, qui�ng smoking before about age 40 (preferably well before 40) avoids more than 90% of the excess risk of death, as in the UK and other popula�ons.

smoking in childhood will die prematurely from tobacco, unless they stop.’

To validate these findings, the researchers also examined the associa�on between childhood smoking uptake and adult mortality in a prospec�ve study of 300,000 adults in the United States, yielding similar results. They conclude that the 5 million daily smokers in the United States who began smoking before age 15, of whom 0.5 million began before age 10, are at par�cularly high risk of premature death if they do not quit.

Co-author Sir Richard Peto said, ‘Worldwide, about 100 million smokers started before the age of 15 and more than half will be killed by tobacco unless they stop. Alfredo Duenas (1940-2020), Director of the Na�onal Cardiology Ins�tute in Havana, got this large prospec�ve study going more than 20 years ago despite the limited resources in Cuba and helped lead it for the rest of his life, hoping its findings would help people everywhere to avoid premature death and disability from con�nuing to smoke.’

Senior author Sarah Lewington, Professor of Epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Popula�on Health, University of Oxford, said, ‘Star�ng to smoke before 15 is common in many popula�ons. Millions who began

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Dr Blake Thomson, a US academic visitor who conducted the analyses, added, ‘Even among smokers who started in childhood, the sooner they quit the lower their risk of premature death. Smokers who quit before age 40 (preferably well before 40) avoid more than 90% of the risk.’

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Both current University students and secondary school students planning to take up ter�ary study next year have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The University of Auckland has acknowledged and responded to this with a series of ini�a�ves designed to support current students and assist new students to pathway into university programmes. Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater said that all students have been affected but some considerably more than others, and there were real issues of equity to address.

“We know that learning and studying under the condi�ons of the past few months have posed challenges across the board, but there are definitely people who have been significantly disadvantaged. These range from no access to computers and internet connec�on or suitable study spaces, the lack of specific support provided to students with disabili�es, to the real financial pressures that many families are under as a result of the pandemic and lockdown,” she said. “Consequently, we have looked at how best we can support all students and mi�gate this specifically for students and poten�al students who have been most affected.” Current students have been supported with ini�a�ves such as the upscaling of all grades and a revised aegrotat and compassionate considera�on approach for Semester 1, along with the opportunity to re-sit exams. The University has also provided hundreds of laptops for students without them, and made a significantly increased hardship fund available for students. Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic, Professor John Morrow, said that the University recognises the disrup�ons caused to all students’ study in Semester 1 and intends to counteract academic disadvantage resul�ng from them. “The University has worked hard to minimise the impact that Covid-19 has had on our students. However, we know that the shi� to online teaching and the requirement to be away from the learning environment of the University campuses has been challenging. We commend the work and commitment of students, and the staff who have supported them.”

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The University also appreciates the impact of Covid-19 on students intending to study next year and the concerns of prospec�ve students and their families and teachers. As a result, it has introduced ‘Pae tawhi� – student success’, a series of ini�a�ves centred on students planning study in 2021 and in line with the NZQA decision to adjust the requirements to meet the UE standard. Professor Morrow said that the inten�on was to enable access to university pathways for everyone, par�cularly those who have been disadvantaged most significantly. “This year the University will place a stronger emphasis on Year 12 results than in the past. The guaranteed entry score (rank score) that we have used previously will not be required to guarantee a student’s place in a programme. “We an�cipate that our changes, along with NZQA’s change to the University Entrance requirement, will enable students who were planning to come to university study in 2021, to do so, despite Covid-19-related disrup�ons this year,” he said. Professor Morrow acknowledge in a recent le�er to secondary school principals that there are also students whose programme of study has been so severely impacted by Covid-19 that they were unlikely to meet even the modified requirements for 2021. “In such cases we will work with students and offer pathways such as Founda�on Programmes to assist the transi�on to university of those who have not met UE or specific programme requirements. We are also open to u�lu�lising discre�onary entry

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provisions by considering recommenda�ons from principals on individual students’ suitability for university study,” he said. Pro-Vice Chancellor Māori, Professor Cindy Kiro, said students should be assured that the university sector understands the challenges of the past few months and recognises things have not been easy. “It is par�cularly important that Māori and Pacific students, many of whom have been par�cularly disadvantaged, are not put off a�ending university as they had planned. “We are commi�ed to providing sound academic advice and addi�onal support to help them to prepare well for university before and when they join us. This will include support to ensure they have the necessary basics in literacy and numeracy, providing addi�onal prepara�on through enhanced science and mathema�cs support drawing on the University’s STEM Online NZ programme, Unibound and the Ter�ary Founda�on Cer�ficate. Pro Vice-Chancellor Equity, Trudy McNaughton said the pandemic had exposed and exacerbated exis�ng inequi�es for student, students and communi�es in Aotearoa New Zealand. “This University is determined that we play our part in addressing these and ensuring that a university educa�on is accessible for all members of our community.”

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

California-based ar�st Windy Chien began her career with macrame before becoming frustrated with its limita�ons. “I gave myself an assignment to learn one new knot every day for one year, and thereby increase my vocabulary of knots and become fluent in what I now recognize to be a language—the universal language of knots,” she says.

Spanning up to 24 feet, the fiber pieces resemble conduc�ve pathways and tracks made from metal.

The year-long explora�on spurred her more recent series of Circuit Boards, large wall hangings of winding rope with gold, red, and white thread wound around the strands’ ends.

For me, the visual pleasure derived from the Circuit Boards comes from choosing one rope end and following it to the conclusion of its journey through the work.

While broadly inspired by electronics, Chien also is influenced by Massimo Vignelli’s 1972 redesign of the New York City subway map and fashion editor Diana Vreeland’s belief that “the eye has to travel.” I find the metaphor of the journey to be potent and relevant here.

Electronic circuit boards connect and conduct power; subway maps (maps in general)

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Grace Ebert

provide a kind of simula�on of a journey, a guide to choices and paths. The ar�st tells Colossal that by examining the inherent tension in knots, she hopes to consider both their physical func�on and aesthe�c value. “The neurosurgeon Leonard Shlain pointed out that art interprets the visible world, while physics charts its unseen workings.

I think of my work as a fusion of the two,” she writes. “Art ma�ers because it voices the unvoiceable—it is human experience dis�lled.” Follow Chien’s work that imbues tradi�onal cra� techniques with technology on Instagram, and take a peek inside her studio.

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Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Craig Brierley

Labels help us make sense of the world but only to a limit, as scien�sts are finding. In the second of our ar�cles on the developing brain, we look at how the latest techniques are helping to develop a more nuanced understanding of learning disorders – and to iden�fy new ways of suppor�ng those who struggle at school. The educa�on system is awash with labels: pupils are dyslexic, have a�en�on deficit hyperac�vity disorder (ADHD), are visual learners, kinaesthe�c learners. Some�mes, these labels have found common currency and yet are based on no credible evidence. Take ‘learning styles’: visual, auditory or kinaesthe�c. These seem to make sense – I always assumed I wasakinaesthe�c learner as I learn by doingthings.

The problem is that these styles are “nonsense”, says Dr Duncan Astle from the Medical Research Council (MRC) Cogni�on and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge. “Children will tell you they have a preferred learning style, but they’re no be�er in their preferred style. In fact, there are probably some dangers to telling achildthatthey’reakinaesthe�c learner or whatever, because then when you try teaching them in a different format, they think ‘What’s the point in paying a�en�on? This isn’t in my preferred style.’” Other labels, par�cularly those based on clinical diagnoses – dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, for example – can be helpful in ensuring a child receives specialist support. But diagnosis is a “thorny issue”, Astle says. These condi�ons are complex, their causes poorly understood, and children will o�en meet the diagnos�c criteria for mul�ple disorders. This makes studying them, and hence developing effec�ve interven�ons, challenging: one child’s ADHD may be very different from another’s. As Astle says: “The labels don’t fully characterise what the child struggles with.” Together with colleagues Susan Gathercole and Joni Holmes at the Centre for A�en�on Learning and Memory, Astle sees hundreds of children who have been referred by health and educa�on professionals for problems in a�en�on, memory, language or poor school progress. Rather than grouping them together according to a clinical diagnosis, the team applied machine learning to iden�fy children with common cogni�ve problems. They found that the children could be split into four broad cogni�ve profiles:childrenwithverbal cogni�on problems (or ‘phonological difficul�es’), thosewithworkingmemory problems, those with more severe problems

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

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across the board, and those who do not appear to have any cogni�ve problems but s�ll struggle at school. These cogni�ve profiles may allow for more effec�ve ways of suppor�ng the children,says Astle.Hegivestheexample ofatypicalproblem thatmightconfronta child with working memory problems. “If you spend �me in a primary school, you soon learn that if you can’t follow a listof instruc�ons,you’restuffed.‘Hang your coat up, go to the table, pick up a card and a green pen, and come and sit in front of me.’ Even copying things down from the board will be very slow and error prone if you can only hold one or two le�ers in mind at a �me.” Problems with working memory can soon spill over to other aspects of learning, so if a teacher can limit the number of instruc�ons or the amount ofcopyingfromtheboard,forexample, then this could benefit the child’s overall learning and development. Astle’steamhasbeenlookingat whether‘brain training’couldhelp these children. The

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researchers showed that just 40 minutes of training per day focused on working memory led to improvements – and to changes in brain connec�vity although the benefits were limited. “They get be�er at the thing they’re training on and closely adjacent skills, but the kids who undergo this kind of training don’t spontaneously get be�er at maths or start experiencing fewer symptoms of ADHD,” he says. Brain training is becoming an increasingly popular way to help children overcome their learning difficul�es. Professor Usha Goswami from the Centre for Neuroscience in Educa�on is working on a game that could help children with dyslexia, for example. Surprisingly – and possibly as a result of the heterogeneity of learning disorders opinion is s�ll divided over what the condi�on actually is. Dyslexia literally means ‘difficult reading’, implying that it is a visual condi�on. Not so, says Goswami, who argues that dyslexia is about how we process speech. Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Speech is transmi�ed as a sound wave. It’s interpreted by brain cells that vibrate at several different frequencies, for example delta (1–3 Hz) and theta (4–8 Hz). The delta frequency relates to the percep�on of stress pa�erns in speech, theta to syllable segmenta�on. When a speech signal comes into the brain, it acts as a ‘reset bu�on’ to these cell assemblies, which then align their vibra�ons to the rhythm of the speech: when they are accurately aligned, speech becomes intelligible. When Goswami analysed the speech pa�erns of parents talking to infants – for example using nursery rhymes and exaggerated baby speech – she found that they emphasise the delta frequencies. “My work suggests that this delta frequency, which helps you perceive the

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

stress pa�erns used in all languages to convey meaning, is the founda�on of language. Once you’ve got that skeleton, you can start adding things, like the syllables, the single speech sounds, the phonemes.” Crucially, she showed that, for children with dyslexia, their delta networks were out of phase with the speech pa�erns. It appeared that they were missing the ini�al ‘reset’ command. It isn’t clear yet why this should translate into problems with spelling and reading, but, says Goswami, “there’s something about reflec�ng on sound as an abstract pa�ern that you need for learning a system of spelling. Even if you’re learning a straigh�orward language like Italian or Spanish, if you have these phonological and acous�c processing problems, it’s s�ll a very hard task for your brain.”

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If you can intervene before a child is faced with learning to read, you may have a be�er chance of limi�ng the impact of the disorder. Goswami has developed a music and poetry ac�vity to encourage pre-schoolers to learn speech rhythm pa�erns and develop phonological awareness – “things that used to be ubiquitous in the playground, like clapping games, matching beats to syllable beats in language, marching games, drumming, even poetry out loud.” She is also working with a team at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland on a children’s ‘brain training’ app that will help reinforce these skills – the English language version has recently been licensed by Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisa�on arm of the University. The app, GraphoGame, has been shown to be as effec�ve as one-toone teacher support but any number of children can be playing at the same �me. Goswami is par�cularly enthused by the idea that, in future, infants at risk of dyslexia – for example if they have a parent with the condi�on – may be able to use a device that hooks over the ear and helps to amplify the elements of speech that are not processed correctly. She has received funding from the MRC and the Fonda�on Botnar to develop a proof of principle. “It could eliminate dyslexia,” she says, excitedly. One way of ge�ng to the root cause of learning disorders could be to iden�fy infants at greatest risk and to see how their brains develop in the first few months or even days a�er birth. This ac�vity (and hence oxygen) levels in a brain region fall, and redder when they increase. Using this technique, known as near-infrared spectroscopy, Johnsonwants to validate ini�al data that suggests there are drama�c changes in brain American Psychiatric Associa�on’s Diagnos�c and Sta�s�cal Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), which has moved towards ‘dimensions’ of symptoms of au�sm rather than categories (the term ‘Asperger’s’ is now classified within the func�on over the first few days.

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Hisresearch hasalreadyshownhow Au�sm Spectrum, for example). “In the past, we’ve been overly reliant isnot withoutitschallenges,asProfessor Mark Johnson, Head of Psychology, knows too well. Johnson joined Cambridge recently from Birkbeck, University of London, where he pioneered research into infants’ and toddlers’ brains at the world-renowned Babylab. He is now turning his a�en�on toanevenearlier stage,theperiodfrom immediately before birth to the first few months a�er. “Most people will agree that the biggest change inenvironmentthatthebrainhas initslife�meis birth,”hesays,“goingfrom beingababyinthe wombtobeingoutside within a couple of hours, in a world with humanbeings,lightsand everything.It’s clearly a very drama�c event for the brain.” In collabora�on with Professor Topun Aus�n at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge, and building on earlier work by Professor Simon BaronCohen at the Au�sm Research Centre, Johnson plans to use the latest prenatal MRI and ultrasound techniques to study the behaviour of the baby in the womb. It’s been clear for a while that the fetus has a “behavioural repertoire”, he says. A recentstudy,forexample,showedthata fetus will follow a light source shone onto the mother’s abdomen. Once the babies have been born, he hopes to observe their brain development over their first few days in the outside world. Babies’ skulls are rela�vely thin and translucent. By shining infrared lightonanewborn’shead,it’s Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

make sounds, they smell. It’s a massive challenge to understand the social world, which might explain why au�s�c children prefer s�muli thatare repe��ve or more predictable.” He agrees with Astle that understanding and measuring brain func�on is be�er than applying labels. When trialling interven�ons to help ameliorate some of the traits of these condi�ons, brain measures are be�er than clinical tools at predic�ng outcome.

possible toobservesubtlechangesinthecolour of the blood, which becomes bluer as certain brain regions ‘tune up’ during infancy, such as the area that in adults has been shown to process faces. “In infants, those same regions respond to faces, but they also respond to other complex objects,” he says. “Over �me, they become selec�vely interested in faces. This could be one of the processes that goes awryinau�sm, wherethepartofthebrain that responds to social s�muli has not been properly tuned.” This is unlikely to be the whole story, however. Johnson points out that there are also other, more generalised problems in au�sm, such as subtle motor delays and problems with visual and auditory percep�on, which then manifest in social challenges later in life. Johnson believes that these later manifesta�onsmayarisefromtheau�s�c child’s inability to process complex informa�on.“If you’rea12-month-old, themostcomplexaspect oftheexternal world is other human beings. They’re unpredictable, they’re dynamic, they 86

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

This move away from broad labels andtowardsamore nuanced approach is reflected in the latest edi�on of the on biomedical models,” Johnson says. “People tend tothink ofau�sm and ADHD as diseases, when they in fact describe a series of behaviours. It’s not right to think of them in the same way as, say, the flu.” As humans, we like labels: they help us categorise and simplify the world around us. We may not be able todispensewithlabelslike au�smand dyslexiaany�mesoon,butifscience is teachingusanything, it’stolookbeyond the label and remember that behind it lies a unique – and complex – individual. Dr Duncan Astle Centre for A�en�on Learning and Memory, MRC Cogni�on and Brain Sciences Unit duncan.astle@mrccbu.cam.ac.uk Professor Usha Goswami Centre for Neuroscience in Educa�on, Department of Psychology ucg10@cam.ac.uk Professor Mark Johnson Department of Psychology mj492@cam.ac.uk

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Sleep Li�le Kiwi, Sleep by Deborah Hinde Published by PictureBook Publishing NZ RRP$19.99

Follow Li�le Kiwi and meet his forest friends as he hunts for food for a midnight feast, escapes a nasty predator and arrives back to his burrow safe and sound as the sun rises. Sleep Li�le Kiwi, Sleep introduces young children to nocturnal creatures that are busy with their ‘day’, while they themselves are tucked up in bed fast asleep. Sleep Li�le Kiwi, Sleep is the perfect bed�me story for sleepy li�le kiwis. The language has a lovely gentleness to it which complements the illustra�ons of the night forest. The book also includes a Te Reo Māori transla�on of some of the creatures featured in the illustra�ons and text. Sleep Li�le Kiwi, Sleep was inspired by Deborah’s grandson who struggles to switch off and ge�ng him to sleep has been difficult from the get go. She wrote and illustrated this book with him in mind to try and soothe and lull him into a great night’s sleep.

Sleep Li�le Kiwi, Sleep is the third book Deborah has wri�en and illustrated. Her most recent book Scary Tales: Rhymes for Brave Children was warmly received by the media as below: “Deborah Hinde’s illustra�ons are the perfect combina�on of scary and endearing. There’s just the right amount of curves and pointy edges and of red eyes and fluffy white sheep – they match the tone of the text perfectly.” – The Sapling “Hinde’s illustra�ons s�ll maintain some of her cutesy charm, which makes the book not too scary for more sensi�ve li�le readers.” – NZ Booklovers

About the Author/Illustrator Deborah Hinde has illustrated over 40 picture books including the popular A Kiwi Night Before Christmas (Scholas�c NZ, 2003) and Moo and Moo and the Li�le Calf Too (Allen & Unwin, 2017) and the award winning Te Reo

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Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Both online and in-person friendships are more likely to develop between people who have similar linguis�c styles, according to a new study co-authored by Balázs Kovács at Yale SOM. The results add to the evidence that people prefer to gather with like-minded peers, contribu�ng to the polariza�on of society.

others with similar linguis�c styles. A similar, though weaker, trend emerged in a study of inperson friendships at a university. And a�er a pair of people became friends, their use of language tended to remain more similar over �me.

We tend to become friends with those who are like us—for example, people with the same ethnic or religious background or a similar personality. A new study co-authored by Yale SOM’s Balázs Kovács suggests that invisible as well as visible cues can be part of this process. Specifically, the study examined whether subtle similari�es in the way people write or talk, such as the types of words they use, make a difference in determining whether a rela�onship forms.

The findings provide more evidence that people tend to gather in echo chambers, Kovács says. If people cluster with like-minded peers, and then those friends become even more similar over �me, society fragments into polarized camps.

Kovács and Adam Kleinbaum of Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business studied online connec�ons between Yelp users and found that people do seem to be drawn to

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“These are dimensions that you might not think about as important,” says Kovács. But “linguis�c stuff ma�ers.”

Deliver Insights to your inbox. Stay up to date and receive our top insights each month. “What you would get are pockets of society that are very similar to each other,” he says. Linguis�c style likely isn’t the most important factor in crea�ng these connec�ons, but “maybe it’s part of it.”

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Roberta Kwok Kovács and Kleinbaum started by looking at online rela�onships. They speculated that language might play a significant role in this se�ng. A�er all, people have much less informa�on about poten�al friends in a digital environment than in person, where they can evaluate other factors such as appearance, facial expression, and tone of voice. Online, “you mostly have no idea who these people are,” Kovács says. Instead, users mainly assess others based on what they write. To inves�gate, the team analyzed 1.7 million reviews on Yelp by nearly 160,000 users in seven metropolitan areas in North America: Phoenix; Las Vegas; Pi�sburgh; UrbanaChampaign, Illinois; Charlo�e, North Carolina; Madison, Wisconsin; and Toronto. The researchers used a linguis�c coding framework developed by another team to score each user in 18 categories. For example, they determined how o�en the person used first-person singular pronouns such as “I,” “me,” and “mine”; nega�ons such as “not” and “never”; and comparison words such as “greater” and “best.” For each possible pair of people within each metropolitan area, the researchers computed the similarity of their linguis�c styles. Then the team checked whether that pair had tagged each other as friends on Yelp. They found that a one standard devia�on increase in similarity was linked to a 26–76% higher likelihood of friendship, depending on the metropolitan area. The effect was strongest in Las Vegas and weakest in UrbanaChampaign, but “the main pa�ern is the same everywhere,” Kovács says. And higher linguis�c similarity in August 2016 was linked

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to a higher likelihood of a new connec�on forming between those users over the next five months, sugges�ng that the matching linguis�c styles had helped cause the friendships. The more similar students’ linguis�c styles were, the more likely they were to remain friends. And friends’ use of language tended to converge more over �me than if they weren’t close. The researchers were also curious about whether people tended to adopt their friends’ linguis�c �cs over �me. They found that, on average, Yelp users’ linguis�c styles slightly dri�ed apart from each other from August 2016 to January 2017. But the gap widened less if a pair of people were friends in 2016; in other words, their styles remained more similar. The online study le� some unanswered ques�ons. The researchers didn’t have much informa�on about the users, so they couldn’t control for demographic factors and isolate the effect of language alone. It also wasn’t clear whether their results would hold up for in-person rela�onships. So Kovács and Kleinbaum gathered data from 247 students who had entered a university graduate program in the United States. They obtained two sets of wri�ng samples: applica�on essays wri�en before they had met their peers and exam essays wri�en two months into the program. The researchers also collected demographic details and gave the students a personality test. One month and six months a�er the program started, the students took a survey asking them to list the classmates with whom they spent the most free �me. Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

Again, the team coded each student’s linguis�c style and the similarity of every possible pair of people. But this �me, the researchers also controlled for factors such as gender, race, na�onality, and personality characteris�cs. The general pa�ern was similar to that of the Yelp study, but with a less drama�c result: a one standard devia�on higher similarity score was linked to a 5% higher likelihood of forming a friendship. The more similar their linguis�c styles were, the more likely they were to remain friends by the end of the study. And when people were friends, their use of language tended to converge more over �me than if they weren’t close. Why was the effect of language weaker for inperson rela�onships than online? The students likely relied on many other signals such as a�rac�veness and age to choose their friends.

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

With the Yelp reviews, “they only see text,” Kovács says. Kovács speculates that the effect of language may go beyond friendship forma�on. Perhaps people also are more likely to listen to others who have similar linguis�c styles—which would affect the flow of ideas and opinions through society. “It’s a more general phenomenon than just friendship,” he says. “It’s about who influences whom.” Balazs Kovacs Associate Professor of Organiza�onal Behavior

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The Girl Who Was SCARED of Everything Emma Pascoe Published Li�le Love NZ RRP $19.99 Elaine feels scared of everything, and she doesn’t know why... But she doesn’t want to miss out on all the exci�ng things her friends do. Luckily for Elaine her best friend Lou is here to help.! One in five Kiwi children will have been diagnosed with some form of anxiety disorder by the age of 19 (Source: Mental Health Founda�on NZ). Children need to know that these feelings of anxiety, while uncomfortable, are not uncommon and can be overcome. They are not alone. This beau�fully illustrated book is based on Emma Pascoe’s personal experiences of anxiety and depression which she has turned into a well thought out and executed children’s book.

Pascoe’s dream is for her book to introduce children to the concept of exposure therapy, by focusing on how enjoyable life can be when we face our fears head on.she hopes this will be empowering for Kiwi kids. The Girl who was SCARED of Everything includes a DIY sec�on for parents and children to fill in together - making a list of the support people in that child’s life. The aim of this is to start a conversa�on about who children can look to for support when they feel scared or anxious. Dr. Clare Calvert, Clinical Psychologist says, “Elaine’s story about having anxiety is one that will resonate with many young children and their parents. This book illustrated in a gentle and fun way that facing our fears is not as scary as we might think, especially when we share our worries with someone else who can support us. The book deals with ‘what if’ thoughts and generalised anxiety, and shows children that it’s normal to feel anxious about things but they can overcome their fears by being brave and facing them. The book is beau�fully illustrated and approachable for young children and their parents to read together.”

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Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

I should be walking my dog right now. She’s sitting at my feet, imploring me with those sweet brown eyes to get up! let’s go! grab that leash! But I’m avoiding eye contact with her because I’ve got something on my mind and I can’t grab that leash until I get it out of my brain, which means I’ve gotta get it out on paper. Pretend this is paper. Maybe just a quick walk first? A while back, my friend shared a warning on Facebook about a recent run-in he’d had with a random dude at a nearby public park. My pal didn’t use any adjectives or disparaging names when describing

Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

this person, just that Mr. Rando admitted he was patrolling the park looking for some “guy-on-guy action,” but had to be careful because the community watch and local police were trying to shut that shit down. My pal said he was sharing the incident as a PSA because he knows it’s a family park where a lot of us take our kids. Most of us commented a simple “thanks for the heads up” and then someone with a lot of pent-up racism and perhaps a bit of selfloathing commented: “So Muslims take over cities, gays take over parks. This is America. We are unsafe in places and we do not even know it.” Me: Now let me tell you that the person who espoused such ignorant vitriol is a selfproclaimed Christian as well as an educator, one of my former teachers. Did you just throw up in your mouth, too? “Gays and Muslims” are making America unsafe, but all those straight white guys shooting up our schools? They just need a little Jesus. Listen, dude in the park was wrong to perversely patrol any place where children play, regardless of what kind of action he was looking for! But if he were a man looking to hook up with a woman in that grimy park bathroom, would my former teacher have commented the same way? Not likely. On second thought, she probably would’ve slutshamed the girl. Silly me. Now more than ever, we’re making sweeping

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Stephanie Jankowski generalizations because it’s easier than making an effort to separate the individual from the group. Every walk of life has its bottom-feeder deviants: leaders in religion and politics; educators and doctors; athletes and celebrities; men, women, and even parents. It’s disgusting what the basest of the base will do and the new lows to which they sink. It’s confusing and frustrating when they’re in a position of power or esteem because their behavior is in sharp contrast with what’s expected of a supposed upstanding citizen. It’s that very contrast that makes them more appalling and their actions more unacceptable. But… One horrible soul hiding behind a cloak of Christianity doesn’t mean every Christian is a hateful racist. One despicable teacher trolling social media doesn’t mean all teachers are homophobic assholes. One disrespectful adult refusing to acknowledge her own culpability doesn’t mean every adult is willing to infect a child’s mind with their own prejudices. And that’s what’s been bothering me. Every time I sign on to Facebook or Twitter, I’m inundated with memes and posts and articles pinning us against one another. It’s bothering me that adults create a culture where my friend’s biracial child is told no one will play with her at school because she “looks different.” Kids don’t grow up thinking those things; someone sways them. The commons–sense, courtesy, and ground–are slowly slipping away and we’re seemingly forced to take sides and become part of the sweep. There have always been people who celebrate the kind of anger that clearly lives within my former teacher; that will never change. But I feel like we had been doing a better

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job of tolerating one another’s differences, at least we had been trying. Maybe that’s just my perspective because I’m a middle class white lady who has never experienced the likes of racism or homophobia. But I can tell you right now, all minorities– including women–are fighting for our own stage because everyone keeps Kanye West-ing our microphone with their selfish agenda. And I think it pisses some people off that we keep fighting. We are perceived as trouble-makers or hateful when we advocate for our piece of the pie. If a feminist supports women-owned businesses as a show of solidarity, she’s a “man-hater.” When a black film celebrates black hair, it’s “racist.” When an immigrant intertwines influences of his country with American ideals, he’s told to “go back to where you came from.” How very inconvenient are we to want to belong, to feel as though we deserve our space, too. If we’re not sitting pretty like my dog, waiting patiently for our turn, we’re in the wrong. And that’s why we raise our voice. It’s not impossible for everyone to have a voice and for that voice to be respected. But when people in power continue abusing their privilege and double-down on efforts to divide us, our voice changes. It sounds angrier, more desperate, less patient. We’ve waited long enough for our turn, so when we advocate for our own instead of playing by the rules that were created solely to keep us down, don’t be surprised when we meet our limit for bullshit and call you out on yours. An adult should know better. A teacher should do better. We all deserve better. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go walk my dog. Good Teacher Magazine Term Three 2020

A clever new product by Danielle Baskin is a remedy to current challenges with facial recogni�on so�ware used to unlock phones. The San Francisco-based designer recently launched Maskalike, a company that prints custom face coverings with photographs of the wearer. Made of machine-washable co�on, the func�onal masks create a seamless look that opens cellphones and other devices without having to remove it first. Maskalike currently has a waitlist for custom designs, although there are op�ons for those who want to maintain some anonymity.

The company sells masks printed with Hide the Pain Harold, a man featured in stock photographs who now is recognized widely as a meme. “Look permanently uncomfortable, trying to be happy,” the product descrip�on reads.

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G r ace Ebe r t

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‘Grandpa?’ ‘Oh hi, girls.’ ‘What did people do during The Lockdown?’ ‘Hmmm, that’s a long time ago. Why don’t you ask your mother?’ ‘We did, but she said she wasn’t born until nine months after. What did you do?’ ‘OK. Come over here and sit down. Would you like some chewing gum?’ ‘Yes, please. What flavour?’ ‘You have a choice of tofu or quinoa. You look cold, Greta. Is it still snowing?’ ‘No, I’m alright thank you.’ ‘You shouldn’t fib. You’re shivering.’ ‘It’s only a white lie Grandpa.’ ‘White lies matter, Greta.’ ‘I’m sorry. Please tell us what you did in the lockdown.’ ‘Well, I remember that I dobbed in the neighbour’s rottweiler. He was much closer than two metres to a labradoodle that lived across the road. Also, I tried to invent a face mask. You know, in those days, they were very scarce and cost a fortune. I made one out of an old bra of your grandmother’s but everyone said it looked a bit silly. Mind you, I reckon it was a good idea at the time, sort of two for the price of one.’ 98

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‘What else did you do?’ ‘Well, Jardernia, I decided to do some research. It was over twenty years since I’d left school so I tried to find out what had happened to some of my old classmates. I got on my laptopthose were a sort of primitive IPatch, and went on to something called Facebook.’ ‘What’s a book?’ ‘I’ll tell you later. Anyway, you wouldn’t believe how many people have the same name. I only managed to track down a couple of definites. One was Che Voetsek. He was in my rugby team.’ ‘I know about rugby. Wasn’t that a game when people actually were allowed to touch each other? Yuck!’ ‘Not only touch each other. They could grab hold of them and throw them on the ground. Nobody got sued and boys only played with boys and girls with girls. ‘ ‘How sexist! ‘ ‘Yes, Greta. Things were so different then. VR was just starting, along with E- cars and two-day working weeks and there were things called statues. Anyway, I didn’t really like Che, so I will tell you about the other person I found online. His name Index

was Winston Smith and he was always a bit different.’ ‘How, Grandpa?’ ‘Well. Once he auditioned for a major part in a play by a person called Shakespeare. He was a famous poet and we all learned about him in a subject called English. ‘ ‘Is that like Mandarin or Arabic? ‘Not really. Anyway, he went to the audition for the play, which was called Hamlet. Apparently, his performance was rather wooden and the director offered him the part of Yorick. He was a very minor character; nonspeaking role.‘ ‘Was he pleased?’ ‘Not really, Greta. But he believed in himself, yes the hubris was big in that one.’ ‘What’s hubris?’ ‘Some sort of Jewish ritual, nothing for you girls to worry about. Anyway, he switched from acting to music arranging. His first attempt was to orchestrate Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata for kazoo and vuvuzela. Next, he took on Wagner, the idea being to enable audience participation by having the orchestra play the first twelve bars of each part the Ring Cycle and the audience would then hum the rest, with the orchestra joining in for the last twelve bars.’ Index

‘Did people like his music?’ ‘I think he had trouble getting someone to put up the money for the performances. Pity.’ ‘Did you get in touch with him, Grandpa?’ ‘No, he wasn’t in our bubble and his carers wouldn’t let him have any email or texts, and certainly no phone calls. I will explain those things to you another time.’ ‘What else did you do?’ ‘I will tell you about one more thing. I’ve got a virtual, historical-kickboxing match soon. I think I’ll partner up with Sonny Bill Williams. We can take on Gandhi…or perhaps Helen Keller. You girls can watch holovision. Where was I?’ ‘You were going to tell us more about The Great Lockdown.’ ‘Well, to give me something else to do, rather than just count my collection of toilet rolls. I decided to write a play. ‘Cool!’ Thank you, Greta. It was about people who took money from the rich to give to the poor. I was going to call it ‘Robbing Hoods’ but some politicians must have hacked my computer and decided to copy my ideas. Shame. Now off you go. Would you like some more chewing gum?’ ‘No thanks.’

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