I too am Auckland

I Too Am Auckland

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What are the educational experiences like for our Pasifika learners? This was a question we were grappling with at our latest Pasifika fono.

  • What are the assumptions we have about our Pasifika students and why do we have those assumptions?
  • How can we then illustrate the impact some of those assumptions can have on our students?
  • Have attitudes changed?
  • Or, do we as educators working in the Pasifika education sector need to speak more clearly or if needed, more loudly?

It is the 1990s, I am studying for an Equity exam at Auckland University. Like a lot of students from South Auckland, I'm on a budget, and I look like I’m on a budget. After taking a break from studying, I’m about to walk back into the library when a man bursts out yelling ‘there’s that suspicious-looking Polynesian kid, grab him’. I turn around to see who he is yelling at. It turns out, it's me. Just before they are about to pounce on me, one of the security guards recognises me, “Um, that guy is a student here”. Annoyed? Yes. Surprised. No. These experiences were fairly common. What was worse was when it happened in front of a crowd of palagi, and all eyes were on you, the poor kid from South Auckland. Sometimes, when you’re a minority, or you represent a number of minority groups, you learn to hide among the crowd; to find the little cracks and corners to squeeze yourself into, to avoid drawing attention to your differences. Humiliation. Frustration. Anger.

That was over 20 years ago.
Have things changed?

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Innovative learning environments

Innovative Learning Environments: Five tips for effective implementation

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Innovative learning environments

At the recent CORE Education breakfast on Auckland’s North Shore, we in the future-focused education team set ourselves the goal of offering a set of ‘Top Five Tips’ for the effective use of Innovative Learning Environments (ILE). It’s always a great mental exercise to limit oneself to a ‘top three’ or a ‘top five’ because it asks you to be ruthless in your evaluation of all available options. We based our tips on research rather than just word of mouth, and here’s what we came up with:

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Hello! My name is special needs

The impact of the language we use in education

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Hello! My name is special needs

“If we do not change our language to match changes in thinking, we perpetuate what always was.” Timoti Harris

In education, certain words and phrases have become the currency of our organisational systems and processes. We have ORS students, and “gifted and talented”, and TAs, and SEG grants, priority learners, and target students. We use the terms, in good faith, to define roles and responsibilities, determine funding needs, and allocate resourcing.

However, our actions raise some questions:

  • What is the hidden impact of those words on the wellbeing and learning of students and on the expectations and actions of teachers?
  • Is there an alternative approach?
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Innovative learning environment

Will innovative learning environments work for everyone?

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Innovative learning environment

Schools that have introduced Modern or Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs) are striving to provide learning environments that are flexible. ILEs usually have flexible learning spaces that may include larger, open plan areas, along with smaller breakout and meeting style rooms. But, they are characterised by a pedagogical approach to teaching and learning that is much broader than just a change to physical spaces.

Innovative Learning Environments are places that are ‘open, flexible learning environments where inquiries are shared, interventions devised collaboratively, and reflections based on both self and peer observations’. (For more information see CORE’s white paper on Modern Learning Environments by Mark Osborne).

For those looking in from the outside, ILEs can sometimes look chaotic — they may not look like some more traditional classrooms with all the students working quietly at their desks.

Recently, I've had a number of conversations with parents who have said that ILEs won't work for their children. Some told me that their children need more structure and strong teacher-led learning. Others said that their child, given some choice about their own learning, would choose not to work hard. A few noted that their children would be lost, forgotten, or overwhelmed in larger open-plan-style learning spaces.

ILEs are not simply about giving learners choices; they aim to give learners agency. Agency involves choice, but also the power to act on choices, and accept the responsibility that comes with exercising that choice. (See CORE’s 2015 Trend – Learner Agency for more information).

So do ILEs work for everyone? It depends …

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pest plants

Using iNaturalistNZ in Science, Stats, GIS and other Learning Areas

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This is the third blog in this series on iNaturalistNZ (Blog 1: Contributing to your community as a non-scientist using iNaturalistNZ; Blog 2: Using iNaturalistNZ to build 21st Century Capabilities in Students). In this post I investigate how iNaturalistNZ can be used with specific Learning Areas of the New Zealand Curriculum.

Just a reminder that iNaturalistNZ is predominantly a Science platform which helps build a community of citizen scientists who have the opportunity to interact with professional scientists. It also enables scientists to access reliable data collected by others that they can analyse. Results can inform people so they can take action. iNaturalistNZ utilises the free iNaturalist smartphone app for Android or Apple.

iNaturalistNZ: butterfly
My observation of an endemic butterfly, the New Zealand Red Admiral or kahukura.

As far as Learning Areas are concerned, iNaturalistNZ is squarely aimed at the Living World strand of the Science. But, I believe, it fits even more strongly with the overarching Nature of Science strand, and the more recently espoused Science Capabilities (more). The data in iNaturalistNZ observations is open for anyone to analyse, so it cries out to be used in Mathematics and Statistics. Most people turn on GPS when they record their observations, so data has a location component, which also begs to be used in GIS (Geographic Information Systems) applications. GIS is a critical part of modern planning and design industries, with new jobs in GIS popping up everywhere in areas that most adults have never heard of. GIS is also a key aspect of Geography in secondary schools and in tertiary education. In relation to the Social Sciences, iNaturalistNZ can provide a place where students and whānau can “contribute to their local community”, and, at the same time, “engage critically with societal issues”.

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