Educating the Dragon

Two stories came to my attention:

1. Five year olds in this European city are not due to start school until they are six, in fact ON their sixth birthday. This five old I heard about is very, very bored at kindy and mum and dad want her to start school early. As part and parcel of the procedure for that to happen the kid needs to be assessed by a some Educational Psychologist or similar, there are a raft of result coming through regarding the kid but what stands out is the IQ of 140. The kid begins school immediately and is put in the Y0 class, where she spends the first week learning the number ‘1’. Are her needs being met?

2. Intermediate kid, he has special needs that I am unable to disclose. The school has streamed maths and literacy programmes. His ability is somewhat below even the lowest of groups in the lowest of classes. His class contains 29 students. The teacher sees him for focused teaching time, with 4 others three times a week. Are his needs being met?

The recent push in education towards ‘personised learning’ is merely rhetoric. The reality of one teacher personalizing the learning of 33 students on a continual basic is beyond the time and energy of any regular teacher. It is why Primary (Elementary) teachers have been organizing ‘differentiated’ groups for a long time now; it is the realistic balance between ‘personalized learning’ and ‘whole class teaching’.

When my kid finally hits school I want to know what is really happening in the classrooms. I don’t want some Principal talking to me about their ‘personalised learning plan’ when really its ‘differentiated learning’ in a new coat of paint.

Let’s keep it real people, let’s call it what it is.

State education is a wonderful provision.

“Through my taxes ALL students are catered for, their learning needs met and they are upskilled to become economically productive citizens.”

Then I happened to awake from my utopian dream and discover that in the real world our students are not really leaving education skilled for the workforce.

Not only that but “free” obviously has a broader definition in government than I realized.

Once a student begins their educational journey in the state system a few “voluntary contributions’ are due:

‘Stationery’ $72

‘Shows and trip’ $40

‘Logoed uniform’ $150

Trip by trip donation $2 each

Music tuition $70 per term

Drama club $10

Rugby/Netball ‘subs’ $5 per away game

Technology for the year $20

And this is from a decile 1 school with maximum funding allowance.

“Fund raising in the higher deciles is expected. Our kids are expected to wonder the streets selling chocolates or doing car washes.

Don’t call it ‘Free’ education. It gives the impression that…well… you know…its free.

Today my kids handed some homework: A fact file of a world leader of their choice. Most chose Helen Clark – probably being the only leader they know of. I had Adolf Hitler, Gandi, Martin Luther King and Gordon Brown.

But it got me thinking…

If these kids were in my class which do I need to encourage, which do I need to push to reach their full potential, which should I report to CYF or to the RTLB service. Who is performing, whose average, whose just not up to schooling. What should I say to their parents?

How do we know, who we know? Our classrooms are full of potential, of greatness. If these kids WERE in my class, how much responsibility do I take for them, and for how long?

I have to begin by saying that listening to Roger Schank inspired me too, I even posted about it at the time. It was one of the first podcasts of Wesley’s I heard and he really challenged my thinking, in fact I wonder if I can track back to hearing that podcast and that being the catalyst for the challenges I have faced in the last 18 months as I began to push back?

School improvement, are we really doing what our society requires?

Our schools are so NOT “fine they need tweaking”, there needs to be a fundamental shift in what the curriculum is addressing and what schools are supporting. We in New Zealand are quite blessed with the new curriculum, it is very new and shiny and very 21^st Century perspective, however I wonder how these are being implemented in schools. It makes me wonder what the key pressures are on schools that truly define how the curriculum looks, it is not simply the National Curriculum.

Steven Wyckoff spends quite a bit of time talking about the analogue of learning to drive and someone made the comment that while you’re growing up you spend a long time watching people drive. I heard it said once that while you are learning to drive, driving instructors spend quite a while telling people where they need to look. “Focus on what is immediately in front, look out around parked cars”, etc. People’s closest sensory experience to driving? It’s sitting in the passenger seat. So a new driver has unlearn the passive ‘watching’, for example looking at someone walking over a footbridge for the whole time it takes for the car to pass under it. Drivers then need to learn to be active observers of the environment around them. There are so many things that students are learning that are wasting time… We DO need to spend more time on learning the skills that they are going to need in life.

So what DOES a curriculum look like?

What are the other pressures and issues we need address in school?

What are the school teacher:student ratio look like in New Zealand. Are there the same issues as in Kansas where the system needs to be adjusted to lower the ratio or is there a genuine issue around ratios?

“In order to do what?” Brings the curriculum into sharp focus. Steven links the need to focus education on ‘economic productivity’ for the future. But I want to consider, is there any value in learning for learnings- sake? Does it not do something for the brain development, regardless of purpose?

My next question: Are there quality apprenticeships or study-to-work programmes available in New Zealand that realistically address the issue applying students for the workforce?

As I was listening I was thinking this idea about applied learning and the links made to Ted McCain and the discussion/ presentations made by Ian Jukes in Napier last year.

I was discussing with a high-school principal the other day around the issues of NCEA level1 not meeting the expectations required for courses in NCEA level 2, let alone NCEA level1 OR 2 meeting expectations for the workforce.

So how are we going to measure success for the 21^st Century, what are the skills required and EQUALLY, what is the core knowledge required for the future?

I’ve been to 3 schools thiks week and it is Friday now. Finally I have by sticker, proudly displaying the words “Dyslexia Awareness Week- Blessing in Disguise” I’m just wondering how aware people have really been.

I have previously posted my feelings regarding the Dyslexia Foundations choice of tag lines but I have to say that the word ‘Blessing’ is again overstating it somewhat.

There are many, many kids (and adults) fighting everyday against their Dyslexia. What annoys me so much I think that in so many situations when you say “I’m Dyslexic” people will just dismissively laugh it away like it’s some kind of joke. I feel like screaming sometimes, “I’M SERIOUS….HELP ME!!!”

Just because I’m a teacher does not mean I’ve not got this learning difficulty. I have had to work REALLY hard to get where I am, doing what I’m doing. Sure, I’m not the best teacher in the whole world, but then nor am I the worst.

It takes me longer to think issues through (which is why I like the blog so much- thinking asynchronously works really well for me)

As for ‘Picture thinking’ – Yep, its true for me. Whenever someone says. “Have you seen my car keys? “ If I have I can see it in my head. Right there! By the …., Under the …. Behind the…. Agggrrrh! If only I could actually marry up those nouns with the picture in my head fast enough not look like an idiot, I’d be happy.

Is it gift? Am I blessed? Hmmm, not from where I’m standing.