authentic-context-digital-technologies

Recognising Authentic Context in Digital Technologies

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Photo by Phi Hùng Nguyễn on Unsplash

Earlier this year while wandering through the toy aisle at a store an item caught my attention. The toy, reacted to its surroundings, hurtling itself across the floor with more gusto and louder than the noise from the excited tamariki nearby. It interested me, because I could see the link to Computational Thinking,  which sits in the technology learning area within the New Zealand Curriculum.  If I were to code it I would break it down. A sensor, reacting to noise. The more noise detected meant more speed moving forward. It seemed fairly accessible for learners, they would be able to grasp the concept behind it.  A great metaphor for teaching in some ways – the more that was going on around us the faster we had to move and react.

Mindfulness

The more noise about a topic, the faster we feel we have to move to catch up. But what was the purpose of that toy? Apart from a great Christmas present to annoy a parent, I would have to do some thinking. The new Digital Technologies content can feel a little like this. As teachers, it is hard not to get caught up in the noise but if we allow this, then we miss the best part of this learning area is that we have the space to slow down. We no longer have all the answers or the best ways of doing or even the years of experience behind us to help us choose the best and most relevant parts for our tamariki. What I want to encourage kaiako to do now is to make the most of this opportunity to give back the time and space to our learners and let them find their own authentic context.

Redesigning roles

Kaiako are so used to being givers of knowledge. Able to tackle a task from a variety of angles, rearranging, reevaluating and finding new ways for our tamariki to engage. We have become so good at sharing resources that we know are tried and true, we know what lessons were a success and why. We can change and adapt them in different ways to help those students who need to see it in a different light or context. With the revised digital technologies content this knowledge is, for a lot of us, more foreign. Suddenly we are on the same playing field as our students and, for some of us, it can feel like we are at the beginning again. It can feel uncomfortable. The story of Maui and how he obtained the secret of fire helps us consider the benefits of approaching things in a new way.

His curious nature helped him to think beyond the comfortable norm. Māui’s bravery meant that he fearlessly acted on his hunch to explore beyond current circumstances. His steady tenacity enabled Māui to persevere in his pursuit of a new, more effective solution.

Renee Raroa (2019)

If you are familiar with CORE’s 2019 Ten Trends you will know that one of them is the Changing role of teachers. Where in the past teachers were expected to be givers of knowledge, now we need to look at how we can help our tamariki take risks, celebrate their mistakes as an expected part of the journey, and how we can help them identify authentic needs and help them engage with these needs creatively. The New Zealand curriculum states that;

“Technology is intervention by design. It uses intellectual and practical resources to create technological outcomes, which expand human possibilities by addressing needs and realising opportunities.”

NZC, Technology Learning Area

Technology is driven by our desire to create something that can help us. Our outcome could be something that connects people to the land, helps them embrace their culture, assists with communication or understanding. That leaves a wide playing field. How do we narrow down what our purposeful outcome will be? We do this by encouraging our tamariki to look around them  and identify problems they can relate to, are passionate about and connected to.

Authentic context

A colleague of mine told me a beautiful story about a kura she was working in. Conversations were started by identifying needs from people they knew, what ideas do we have to address those needs? This brought them to a discussion around how a peer was hearing impaired and as such the school bell was irrelevant for them. They explored this concept and began to talk about lights. The students talked about how lights warn us, convince us or help draw attention to something. From here developed a natural and purposeful inquiry that led to a prototype around how their school could code lights to flash and signal to their peers that the bells had rung. The context was authentic, meaningful for the students, and the outcome was purposeful.

An important discussion and starting place for delivering this content in an authentic context are the discussions around the ethical responsibility we have as creators. Just because we can create something should we? Kia Takatū ā Matihiko, The National Digital Readiness Programme, has a recurring theme around identifying the skills and qualities that help us engage with Digital Technologies. Mahuika, the goddess of fire is one of the characters showcased through the programme. She is a Kaitiaki, a guardian, and when we look for that authentic context to drive these learning opportunities, we need to check and ask ourselves some of these questions.

  • What needs do we have in our school or community?
  • What are our tamariki passionate or interested about?
  • What exists already and how does it work?
  • What are our initial ideas or prototypes?
  • What could the repercussions of this be? Is our design ethical?

These questions will need to be continually revisited, and at the beginning the outcome or destination that is driving this learning may not be yet clear. Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum has a spotlight section on authentic context which has multiple examples of what teachers have been doing in schools. A quote here from Aaron Duff that sums it up well.

 “Authentic learning is not discovered in a textbook, but rather at the crossroads of contemporary societal issues and student passion.”

The challenge with using textbooks, and online resources is that although it can be a wonderful way to initially engage and build confidence around new learning, it tends to take away the authenticity. As soon as you give tamariki a problem to solve you are removing the potential to drive and connect children in a meaningful way. In saying that, your students may well share the same passions as others and sometimes we can be shaped and influenced by seeing examples of innovation. Many schools around New Zealand have embraced taking risks in this space and you can see lots of examples in the resource section of Technology Online or connect yourself with other educators in Aotearoa in spaces such as Ngā Kiriahi. The collaboration available from other tamariki and kaiako can inspire us and help shape our own authentic contexts.

Looking at the potential

What else could authentic context look like? One of the Kia Takatū Meetups this year was held at the Wigram Air Force Museum in Christchurch. Because of the unique opportunity this presented, teachers wanted to give back to the hosts and look at how that partnership could be strengthened, both for the Museum and for the participants. The teachers were invited to create a digital outcome to help with an identified need. The Air Force Museum wanted to engage with educators and their schools more, allow their visitors to interact with the exhibitions and also to have their voice and ideas listened to. They wanted schools to be able to connect with their history and allow more accessibility to more New Zealanders.

Photo by Rick Mason on Unsplash
Photo by Rick Mason on Unsplash

The range of responses from our digital creators was impressive. Some of the ideas and prototypes included, a virtual guide, interactive exhibitions, and the creation of LEGO planes that moved and behaved like some of the ones they currently had on display. The idea of using virtual reality to allow access to planes that are no longer open to the public was another discussion point that began to ignite ideas and excite learners as they began to see the potential for various prototypes.

Connection to place

Aotearoa is the perfect place to start connecting tamariki to the technology learning area within the New Zealand Curriculum. Our connection to our physical environment and meaningful ways we can express our culture and identity provides a wealth of starting points for these conversations. There are some incredible technological opportunities currently happening in Aotearoa that you could talk about with your tamariki, and if they were interested you could reach out and get involved.

Image by Nita on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0
Kōkako by Nita on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0

The South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust has recently put out a Facebook post asking for help creating a device to help them locate the once thought extinct South Island Kōkako. You can read more about the Cacophany project here.

This report about a drone eliminating a hornets nest also ignited my interest, as the Department of Conservation currently has a focus on pest control. These ideas are but to name a few and they are definitely biased towards my own personal interests and ideas. So when you start this with your own children think about identifying what is already in your community, and what things are exciting and inspiring for your students.

Thinking back on our hurtling toy, I wonder if we can change the metaphor? Stop and appreciate the quiet, the long pauses where the thoughts start to take place. The action will come, but your job is not to know where you’re going at the beginning, or even halfway through. You may even find the outcome changes constantly the more you find out about it. But the learning is in the journey and with teachers sitting alongside their ākonga. We will make mistakes and we will have lessons that flop. But the opportunity to grow from these mistakes is something to remember, embrace and most of all enjoy.

References

Renee Raroa (2019), CORE blog, Whakatōhenehene. http://blog.core-ed.org/blog/2019/04/whakatohenehene-disruption.html

CORE Education. (2019). Ten Trends. http://core-ed.org/research-and-innovation/ten-trends/

Technology Online. (2019) Technology Spotlight https://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum/Technology

Ministry of Education. (2019). Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko. https://kiatakatu.ac.nz

Technology Online (2019) Technology Spotlight http://technology.tki.org.nz/Technology-in-the-NZC/Planning-programmes-and-units-of-work/Spotlight-Authentic-contexts

Ministry of Education. (2019). Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko. Ngā Kiriahi. https://ngakiriahi.kiatakatu.ac.nz/

The New Zealand Curriculum Online. (2019) Technology.Digital technologies questions and answers http://technology.tki.org.nz/Technology-in-the-NZC/Digital-technologies-support/DT-questions-and-answers

The Cacophony Project (2019) https://cacophony.org.nz/using-cacophony-project-technology-find-south-island-kokako?fbclid=IwAR36Dcga4kiELIefaP82D8CiRItud_8JLaUgb6K91STloeeciA8unUGl7mA

The South Island Kōkako Charitable Trust (2019) Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/SIKCT/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARA46AuUn0sbBBQw7l-gkP8oGRzNLRFWxvJcg0anBZWrRkMH51UX-GyomZhWg5VNxGZ6pddkCrzYcqCJ

New Atlas (2019) https://newatlas.com/drone-spray-hornet-drone-volt-france-asian-hornet/43642/

Department of Conservation | Te Papa Atawhai (2019) https://www.doc.govt.nz/about-us/our-partners/our-regional-partners/wasp-wipeout/

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Inside-out learning

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Looking Inside Out by Anne Robertson via Flickr CC-BY
Looking Inside Out by Anne Robertson via Flickr CC-BY 2.0

I spent the last week on the road in our campervan with my husband, visiting a part of the country we didn’t know, and tramping up some mountains. We escaped, went off the grid…. no, actually we didn’t! We are social media and news junkies so being disconnected from family, friends and what’s happening in the world is not really an option. We had our mobile phones with us at all times, even on the tops of misty, windswept mountains. Why? We were making the most of the technology we had to keep ourselves safe and informed.

Before leaving we researched on the internet to plan a rough route and activities to do on the way. We connected with people online who had experience in the mountains to seek advice on the best routes to undertake. This gave us a variety of options to choose from. We checked the weather forecast daily, made observations on the ground and used our prior knowledge and understanding of how weather conditions in the mountains can change to decide our option for the day.

The TOPO maps we had downloaded onto our phones didn’t get soggy or blow away in the wind. We could zoom in to see the features and contour lines more clearly and cater for our ageing, myopic eyes! The compass, altimeter and GPS functions on our smartwatches let us know how far we have travelled, how high we are and helped us navigate.

But what has my holiday got to do with education and learning?

Children learn best when they interact with their environment, when they are able to link present content to previous experiences and knowledge and when they take an active part in their own learning.
John Dewey

In the past, we may have carried multiple field guides for flora and fauna but now we have all that information available through phones. Back at our van we would check into the online guides and identify plants from the photos. With the images in our heads and the photos we had taken we could explore the history and geography of the land and the stories behind the names of places we visited. Our learning was instant, connected and contextual.

Outside-in learning

I have long been an advocate for Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) and the positive impacts it has on teachers, learners and their joint engagement with learning. School camps are traditionally the time when formal learning is put to one side, pens, paper and digital devices are left at home and kids get a chance to reconnect with the environment. Ākonga challenge themselves physically and emotionally, push themselves outside their comfort zones and have fun. They are active, outdoors, developing their hauora, working collaboratively with each other and learning together.

EOTC is not just about camps. EOTC activities can be planned to take place in the school grounds, down the road at the local park, in the art gallery or museum, at the marae, at places of worship, in the old people’s home or the library. EOTC and informal learning are examples of learner-centred learning. Dewey described a philosophy of learner-centred pedagogy which is outlined in this article by Steve Wheeler. The digital environment in which we live makes it much easier to provide opportunities for learners to make connections between their environment and learning across the curriculum and to ‘rewind’ what they experienced in an EOTC context.
One of the arguments for getting kids ‘off-grid’ for a few days is the concern about well-being and overexposure to digital devices. But this piece of research argues that well-planned use of digital devices increases the emotional connection that ākonga have to learning and ongoing engagement.

“Students without mobile devices were not as emotionally connected to the environment, nor were they as empowered in learning the content as the group that was given technology and a field guide.”

My belief is that school camps and EOTC activities provide essential non-formal learning which should be celebrated. But we need to go further and leverage the power they have to connect learning across the curriculum and explicitly plan to ensure that they do.

Coherence

Embedded in our New Zealand Curriculum is the idea of coherence across a curriculum in which “all learning should make use of the natural connections that exist between learning areas and that link learning areas to the key competencies.” (p.16 NZC)

EOTC presents opportunities to make connections across the curriculum and learning in a local context. It also offers us opportunities to use and create with digital technologies to enhance the learning before, during and after the EOTC activity.

In a previous role, I had the opportunity to reframe the concept of the ‘end of year’ camp so that there was coherence in terms of context and experience as ākonga progressed through the school. In CORE’s Ten Trends 2019 it is recognised that;

“Cultural narratives are increasingly recognised as powerful enablers in connecting our past to the present and acts to build a platform to a sustainable future. They enable schools to situate themselves in the context of the places they co-inhabit, and recognise the influences of people, places, time and events in shaping who we are. When learners are enabled to make connections to where they live, when they create links to significant events, people and the land, they develop a sense that they are part of a larger story. As such, cultural narratives are as much for non-Māori as they are Māori. They help learners examine knowledge, issues and events from where their feet stand first, in their local environment.”

I wanted to develop a holistic vision for camps with a theme of sustainability and a sense of knowing where we are and how we fit into the environment and the culture in which we live. We start close to home and gradually move further away building on our learning and making connections through stories and activities that develop key competencies and an understanding of place and identity.

Starting locally and then moving further afield fits with Wally Penetito’s idea of us starting where our feet are, building on prior knowledge and moving from the known to the unknown.

“Start where your feet are but never let it stay there; it’s the beginning point only, everything else moves out from that.”    Wally Penetito

local-curriculum-camps

My vision was for these camps to be further developed through strong collaboration between learning areas and integrated and planned use of digital technologies. The flow or progression from one to the other provided rigorous learning opportunities that increased in depth, complexity and richness on camp but the opportunity to make explicit the pathway for learning for ākonga and their whanau in school was still not there. Points to consider;

  • How might we have re-designed the curriculum so that these camps provided rich opportunities for learning that ākonga, teachers and whānau could clearly understand?
  • How could we have worked together to connect the learning experiences on camp with deep learning in school across learning areas before and after camp?
  • How could we have built stronger, sustainable connections with whānau, iwi and other organisations so that there was a strong sense of ownership of the learning experience?
  • How could digital technologies have been used to plan for learning on camp, enrich learning on camp, rewind it back at school and produce digital outcomes to share learning?

Come and join the discussion in edSpace on how to frame your thinking around the EOTC activities you currently do and how you could develop them so that they are rich opportunities for learning, connected across the curriculum and based on ākonga strengths, needs, identities and aspirations.

References

  1. https://www.teachthought.com/learning/pedagogy-john-dewey-summary/
  2. https://newlearningtimes.com/cms/article/3447/how-to-use-phones-to-emotionally-connect-to-the-environment
  3. CORE Ten Trends –  Cultural Narratives
  4. Wally Penetito https://vimeo.com/188920083#t=6m06s
  5. Digital EOTC https://sites.google.com/core-ed.ac.nz/why-hamilton/home?authuser=0

Featured image by Alex Siale on Unsplash

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Becoming culturally courageous

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Imagine, if you will, a wee blonde-haired girl, loud as the day is long, aged seven, growing up on a farm at the farthest point of the South Island. She trails along behind family members, talking incessantly or singing enthusiastically, and learning the family business. Her usual attire is gumboots, a shirt and jeans, or a pair of overalls. She is often accompanied by a trail of animals, to which she clearly has a huge sense of responsibility. This Pākehā girl’s experience of anything Māori has been waiata sung by the Māori farm workers around the bonfire at tailing time, with spatterings of waiata sung at school.

Let’s move on nine years to find our farm girl at high school. She is attending a decile one school, where many students have dropped out, disengaged with the learning, and frustrated by the system. Her experience of Māori now extends to hearing friends use the odd word or phrase, but not the teachers. Her experience is not kapa haka – the school doesn’t offer this. It’s not tikanga being discussed – people even sit on the tables! Te reo is offered to students who are not doing English or Sciences. Timetabling discussions imply Māori is not a priority subject.

What about university you ask? Our wee farm girl takes te reo courses and her eyes are opened! The lecturer talks of the empowerment of fluency; he talks of how to prioritise tikanga. He models, he encourages, he empowers, he inspires. She questions where she sits in all of this.

Now fast-forward 35 years on from the start of our story, to find this wee farm girl sitting in her car outside a school, where she is about to facilitate a strong and passionate group of teachers in the Te Whakamānawa, Culturally Responsive Practice in School Communities course. This course supports these classroom practitioners to question, reflect and collectively grow their cultural capabilities, to support the engagement and success of all students.

This wee farm girl is me. I’ll be honest; before I sat in the car that day I was genuinely questioning “How do I find myself here? Am I the right person to be supporting these kaiako and their tamariki?” I confess that as a Pākehā supporting the facilitation of a course about how to reflect the bi-cultural heritage of Aotearoa I was feeling very vulnerable. As Brene Brown (2010) would say though, “you need to be in a state of vulnerability before you can be in a state of courageousness.” I decided that my personal challenge as I worked with the teachers was to accept this vulnerability and lean into it, rather than run away from it.

cultural-iceberg

One of the first key discussions the group of teachers had was around the concept of the ‘cultural iceberg’. We talked about how important it is to know your own whakapapa (to recognise how where you’ve come from and how your worldview informs your teaching practice and relationships with students and their whānau). This is a perspective that helps you to understand others. I listened to teachers in this course discuss their understandings and misunderstandings of the deeper aspects of the many cultures in their school, using their own culture as a lens. We regularly reflected on how these understandings and discussions had an impact on teacher choices, for themselves, for programmes and for individual students.

As a facilitator I wanted to clarify my understanding of my whakapapa and how it was impacting on my opinions, assumptions, bias and values. How did growing up on a farm in Tiwai influence who I am, and how I think?
Co-incidentally I was spending time becoming more familiar with the Ladder of Inference. This made me reconsider that my interpretation of experiences I had at an early age had led me to, at one end of the continuum, false/skewed conclusions and beliefs, and at the other end cringe-worthy moments about other people’s. I recognised that my bias was such that I wasn’t truly walking in others’ shoes as I first thought I had been. I was intrigued to hear teachers talking of this for themselves also.

Quote from J. Riki-Waaka (2018)
Quote from J. Riki-Waaka (2018)

For example, hearing the teachers talk about how they were making changes in their programmes that came from the Wero/Challenges of the course made me reconsider what actions displayed the difference between consultation and engagement with whānau. Hearing online course facilitator, Janelle Riki-Waaka talk of cultural deprivation of generations of New Zealanders made me realise “OMG that’s me! How do I rectify this?”

we-are-dealing-with-cultural-deprived

As I sat and listened to the teachers discussing, debating and consolidating their collective thoughts and feelings about this idea I came to recognise the Pākehā influence – historically and for the future.

This is my responsibility. This is your responsibility. This is our responsibility.

Our country is founded on a partnership between Māori (as tangata whenua) and Pākehā. Aotearoa has a unique and beautiful bicultural history and one that is reflected in our wonderful New Zealand Curriculum. Our Codes and Standards clearly say that we are responsible for righting the wrongs of decolonisation (pg 4). Te Tiriti o Waitangi Articles 1 to 4 are also reflected in our responsibilities.

article-1
article-2
article-3
article-4

It is imperative that we all commit to understanding culture (both our own and others), and that from these understandings we make changes in our schools to be responsive to cultures, therefore creating places where children recognise themselves as an important part of the school.

what-would-i-hear

As a Pākehā I now see that educating myself will have a positive impact on how I educate others to bring about change. I eagerly read and share examples of how this can be done, such as:

  • The CORE Education Ten Trends 2019 has a trend focusing on Cultural Narratives and the powerful enablers they are becoming in connecting our past to the present and acts to build a platform to a sustainable future.
    “Cultural narratives are increasingly recognised as powerful enablers in connecting our past to the present, situating us in the context of the places we co-inhabit, and recognising the influences of people, places, time and events in shaping who we are.” (CORE Education, 2019 pg 62)
  • Principal possum – challenge of bi-culturalism lies with Pakeha
  • 10 decolonisation skills for non-Māori kiwis10-decolonisation-skills

As I reflect on the impact I saw on those strong teachers who did the Te Whakamānawa course, I admire how they leaned into the discomfort of the work, faced their shame or fear, and focused on what was needed for their tamariki to be successful.
These teachers endeavoured to engage with the whānau and iwi of the area, rather than consult, and they sought reciprocal relationships.
They collaboratively worked to ensure success for their tamariki, both by identifying their student’s taonga and by seeking student, whānau and iwi voice into the life of the school.

The collective bank of resources they have from this journey is immense – the videos, learner profiles, pepeha, the mihi whakatau practices, strategic plans are astounding. I wish I had recorded their conversations for you so that you could hear the depth of care, passion, and aroha for their children and their profession. I recall a conversation when several of the teachers talked about what giftedness is for their Māori students. I felt tears welling in my eyes as they discussed child after child, and how they wanted to consolidate tikanga practices at their school for these children to ensure opportunities for success for all.

They continue to be the influencers of change as they navigate processes they began as part of their journey on this course, and I couldn’t be prouder of them.

Te Whakamānawa course has encouraged me to reconsider and truly challenge myself to grow in this area. That wee blonde haired girl seems so long ago and so naive. There is such benefit in this type of development for teachers. Specifically as a Pākeha I now recognise how I can advocate for change.

I leave you with these questions to ponder around cultural capabilities:

  • How might your culture and worldview inform your teaching practice and how you engage with others?
  • What responsibility do you have as a non-Māori/Māori educator in Aotearoa to uphold the mana of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to contribute to the success of all your students?
  • How are you currently using your influence? And what will you do next?

Need help building cultural capabilities?
Check out these great resources
Register for Te Whakamānawa – Culturally Responsive Practice in school communities online programme

 

References

Abraham, M. (2017). Challenge of Biculturalism Lies With Pakeha. Retrieved from http://principalpossum.blogspot.com/2017/03/challenge-of-biculturalism-lies-with.html 
Brown, B. (2010, June) The power of vulnerability [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability?language=en#t-1200270
CORE Education. (2019). Cultural narratives » Ten Trends 2019. Retrieved from http://core-ed.org/research-and-innovation/ten-trends/2019/cultural-narratives/
Education Council. (2017). Our Code, Our Standards [Ebook]. Wellington: Education Council. Retrieved from https://teachingcouncil.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf
[GCPE BCGov]. (2016, April 20). Cultural Iceberg [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woP0v-2nJCU
Labrie, P. Mental Models – Ladder of Inference. Retrieved from https://artofleadershipconsulting.com/blog/leadership/mental-models-ladder-of-inference/
Ministry of Education. (2017). The New Zealand Curriculum. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Curriculum
Sheron, L. (2013). Cultural Heritage Below the Water Line | OIC Moments. Retrieved from https://www.oh-i-see.com/blog/2013/09/12/culture-smart-3s-and-4s/

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