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Mark Maddren

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Mark Maddren
student engagement

Engagement – visibility = mischief

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Mark Maddren

visibility is important

Curiosity is a natural part of learning and is especially evident in our young learners. This natural drive to know about the surrounding world is a brilliant aptitude that supports us as educators when developing teaching and learning programmes.

A curious child can be engaged for hours on end in their own world of knowledge curation. However, in an educational setting, there has to be some caution to ensure the learner’s engagement is the learning outcome we desire. Often, quiet engagement can just mean the learner is not in “the right place at the right time” and is actually up to mischief.

When I was growing up, we were often up to mischief in the class. We would be completely engaged, silent (apart from the odd quiet giggle) at the back of the room, under a desk, or tucked in a corner. This often involved looking through the Encyclopaedia Britannica or National Geographic to broaden our horizons, or making miniguns with our biro pens’ internal compartments, or creating paper spitballs to fire out of felt pen pipes behind our reading books.

However, these opportunities were few and far between, as I remember all of my teachers had an uncanny knack for identifying when my engagement in an activity was actually mischief in the making or not. It was like the teachers all had eyes in the back of their head and could read my and my friend’s thoughts before we even had formulated them.

The classrooms in which I was a student were always arranged so the visibility of the space, learners, and equipment was achieved by the teacher. I also think, looking back, that I was seated according to my potential for mischief: usually by a sensible student.

Learning in classrooms is now supported by not only the traditional tools and strategies but we are also privileged to have technology supporting and, in some cases, turbocharging the learning environment.

The opportunities for learners to be engaged is much greater due to the much freer access to knowledge and the ways technology capture our learners’ attention. Gone are the encyclopaedias and National Geographics — replaced with Google, Bing, Kiddle, etc. Gone, in many cases, are the computer labs in schools — replaced with personal mobile devices like the Chromebooks, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

To protect ourselves as educators and ensure the wellbeing of one another in the long term, we need greater visibility and understanding of what our learners are doing in the time they spend with us. Being able to avoid situations that put us offside with parents, for example, bullying, issues around the amount of screen time, viewing of inappropriate material, can be achieved easily.

There are a number of strategies and systems to support visibility and allow us a greater understanding of what our learners are doing in our classrooms, involving time-proven and digitally-enhanced methods. These include:

  • Roving and roaming — you still cannot beat the teacher moving out from a desk or teaching space to wander around the class and interacting directly with students.
  • The look — another great tool in the teacher’s repertoire — can quickly give a teacher insight into the thoughts of the student and be followed up with a visit if required.
  • Questioning and feedback — asking questions or requiring intermittent feedback to ensure the student knows that at any moment you may require them to give feedback on their progress on a task.
  • Creating a basic language in the class — for example, “are you in the right place at the right time for your learning?”
  • Setting your classroom up with the learners — so that there is a good understanding of the behaviours and expectations are of each space. This empowers your students to monitor and support students to use devices ethically and safely in the spaces. Check out the example from Rimu’s Learning Space at Yaldhurst Model School.
  • A really engaging teaching program — with lots of opportunities for creativity to support learners engaging in the curriculum. For example:
    • Testing whether your programme is engaging could involve asking your students by conferencing or getting them to complete a simple survey.
    • Stopping and observing your class for a set amount of time — how many are truly engaged in stimulating, progress-enhancing learning? Ask yourself: How do you know? Rinse and repeat daily/weekly.
    • Using a tripod or something to lean a phone or tablet onto and focus the device onto an individual or group of learners and use time-lapse photography to capture their engagement.
  • Ensuring there are tools and systems in place to ensure visibility of learner’s time on technology — using tools such as:
    • N4L filters
    • using a student internet management solution
    • or Hapara Teacher Dashboard which increases visibility for teachers of students on the Google or Office 365 platform
    • or Apple Classroom for iPad visibility
  • Programmes of teaching to support the use of technology in classrooms — such as:
    • Netsafe’s resources for educators
    • Cybersmart Curriculums such Manaiakalani Cybersmart
    • Be Internet Awesome Programme
  • Using a tool like Videonot.es when using videos in your teaching program — to analyse the video and make the learning from the video visible.

Our learners can be engaged in their learning very easily through great creative tools both analogue and digital. They also have numerous ways to show their understanding of learning and many great platforms to share their learning within and outside of the four walls of the classroom.

When reflecting on engagement in your own schools and classes, are students set up to be:

  • merely engaged in an activity to keep them out of mischief?
  • cognitively engaged in learning that promotes shifts in understanding?
  • visible both in the physical and digital world?

At the end of a session, are you able to see evidence of what learning has occurred?

Comments:

Please share your own strategies you use in your school! Add them to the comments below and share for the benefit of others.

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it begins with the big people

It begins with the big people!

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Mark Maddren

it begins with the big peopleI am privileged in my work and personal life to be surrounded by a multitude of highly intelligent, diverse people in a range of roles and responsibilities, including education, management, sales, finance, sport, agriculture, and self-employment, to name but a few. I am constantly reflecting and learning after my interactions with these wonderful individuals and living the dream of being a lifelong learner.

One particular area I am learning a lot about over the last 3 years is Pasifika Education in New Zealand from  Anthony Faitaua and Aiono Manu Faaea-Semeatu. Their passion for Pasifika Education has really rubbed off on me and sparked a number of self-reflections. This has led to my own growth; having a better understanding of the different cultures that are in our classrooms and schools.

The pathway to leadership is through service (O le ala i le pule o le tautua).
Serve to lead — developing emergent leadership skills

Until writing this blog post I did not realise that I hold the above value quite strongly, no doubt influenced by my learnings from Anthony and Aiono Manu as well as the values instilled in me by my own family, whānau and friends. I have grown up happily being the “boy” serving others, however in the last few years I have had more of a desire to begin to lead. In a mad last-minute decision, I decided to run for the local high school Board of Trustees, even though my own children are still a number of years away from attending the high school. I felt this would be an opportunity to give back to the community, while also learning a whole new set of skills and knowledge especially around leadership and governance.

“If we are to successfully implement the Learn Create Share pedagogy with the children we teach, it has to begin with the big people — the adults.”
— Russell Burt, Pt England School Principal

This statement has resonated very strongly with me over the last 18 months and helped inspire me in my decision to join the Board of Trustees. ‘It has to begin with the big people – the adults ‘ is the part of the statement that I have taken across and have tried to replicate both in my own work on the Board of Trustees and in my role with CORE Education.

If we are going to govern a school, we must be putting our money where our mouth is and practicing what we or our school’s leadership preach.

As one of the big people, some of the things I have learnt so far to ensure wānanga (communication, problem solving and innovation) are:

  • Māori representation is a must on the board as the mana whenua of New Zealand. It is very difficult for me to truly understand what it means to be a minority culture when I have never experienced what it is to be in a minority group  (this is reinforced by this blog post by Wharehoka Wano). A challenge with trying to diversify a board is that the members are not just chosen to tick a box, but instead are chosen to add their unique personalised perspective to the discussions around Ako, so that a partnership is developed that leads to better wellbeing, engagement and achievement for all members of a learning community.
  • Knowing who is in the room and where they come from, to allow them to create Whanaungatanga (relationships), is a crucial part of being on a successful board. At the first formal board meeting there is potential for board members to have challenging and robust dialogue about issues that affect achievement of learners. This can only be achieved if there are connections and relational trust built between board members. Knowing your fellow board members and how they like to be communicated and interacted with, how they learn, deal with stress, differences and conflict, understanding their emotions and motivation are important to ensure a successful board.
  • Understanding and giving life to manaakitanga should underpin all your board interactions. This is vital as it provides a lense to guide and evaluate all your decisions in relation to the governance of the school. Some key points for a board in relation to manaakitangi are:
    • acting with integrity, trust, sincerity and equity when communicating with the school community
    • understanding, following and modelling local tikanga and culture sufficiently
    • acknowledging and following local protocols when engaging with the community
    • leading and supporting school leadership and staff to embed manaakitanga
    • having knowledge of the Treaty of Waitangi.

To enable a diverse curriculum that ensures the school is an extension of the community, a board must recognise and embrace Māori as Tangata Whenuatangaa. A board will require an awareness of local environment, community and their interrelated history, and to actively acknowledge the Māori community as a key stakeholder in the school.

Having a board library with some key books, articles, blogs and videos is important to help develop understanding and innovation.

Some key readings I would recommend are:

  • Tātiako – Cultural Competences for Teachers of Māori Learners
  • KaHikitia -Accelerating Success
  • Pasifika Education Plan
  • Is Māori representation Māori Privilege? — Wharehoka Wano

It definitely starts with the big people. I challenge you to become a member of a board or community and begin to serve to lead!

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students working at standing desks

‘My brain is in my bum’

Posted on April 26, 2016 by Mark Maddren

students working at standing desks

It is funny, but the most powerful statement I have ever heard about Innovative learning spaces was from a year 8 boy at an intermediate school, who, when I asked why he was standing to do his maths, told me, “For reading, I like to sit, but when I do maths, it is like my brain is in my bum, and when I sit on my brain I cannot do my maths”.

I have been lucky enough to experience a number of new innovative learning environment’s over the last few months. it was great to see the Cultural Aspect of CORE Education’s five areas of changereflected continually in the development of these spaces. This cultural aspect was evident in how these teachers and learners set the purpose and expectations for the learning areas and culture within the learning space. This was done through a number of activities and exercises to develop a collaborative culture that would ensure student engagement, wellbeing, and achievement was high.

The activities involved working with the learners to name the spaces, define and describe the space, and set the expectations and behaviours for the area. A great example of this and one of the Seven Principles of Learning from the OECD 1 is in the Year 7/8 Toroa hub at Marshland School.

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old school yard

Remember the days of the old school yard — moving into a new school yard

Posted on February 26, 2016 by Mark Maddren

old school yard

Walking out of my son and daughter’s school on the first day of the school year, a great song by Cat Stevens popped into my head. The song was “Remember the days of the old school yard” — you know, the one about imaginings, and all kinds of things, and laughing a lot.

My daughter is lucky enough to be in a brand new Innovative Learning Space for the Junior School, this area is an awesome, vibrant, colourful space that even after a short time is evident the learners love to be in.

In my role as a Facilitator for CORE Education, I have had the opportunity to observe learning in action within innovative learning spaces. My experiences and knowledge of the pedagogy behind innovative learning environments has resulted in me being very comfortable with my daughter being in one. When in the innovative learning space, I noticed a lot of very anxious and possibly confused parents. I reflected that a number of them were possibly remembering the days of their old school yard, and struggling to make a connection with the new school yard, so to speak.

Following good practice, the school offered many opportunities during 2015 for whānau/community to connect and learn about these new spaces, and to help them understand the “why’ behind the shift. However, a number of these opportunities were not taken up, so parents/caregivers were arriving on day one not sure what to expect.

I would like to share some ideas for teachers, that from my experience, support learners and whānau moving into  an innovative learning space.

  • Have plenty of staff on hand — teachers, teacher aides, leaders, possibly even senior students — so there are people available to guide, comfort, support, and direct families as to where bags, books, swimming gear, etc., should go.
  • Have plenty of large visuals with written instructions for where bags, books, swimming gear etc., should go for those parents who choose not to seek out a staff member.
  • Have lots of hands-on activities for the learners to settle into, so parents can leave feeling their child is happily engaged.
  • Create a virtual tour of the space, explaining the features of the areas and how they will enhance teaching and learning, and email this to parents before school starts.
  • Have teachers create a “Who am I”, using video, prezi, presentation, animoto, or other tool to share with parents, to help make a connection with families before the school year starts. This is an an adult example I created in the past, and I would modify it to use with children and whānau — Who am I?
  • Keep parents well informed in the first couple of weeks through newsletters, blogs, information boards outside the classrooms.
  • Offer parents, after a settling-in period, to come in and be part of the learning, to help them understand the innovative learning approach.

My daughter is loving this “new school yard”, and is laughing a lot, having imaginings, and she has all kinds of things to look forward to in the year ahead. These are exciting times in education as we transform from the old school yard to the new.

Resources:

  • Blog by Karen Melhuish-Spencer: Transforming learning
  • Modern Learning Environments Hingaia Peninsula School Tour
  • Hobsonville Point School Tour
  • Schooling Redesigned Towards Innovative Learning Systems
  • The Nature of Learning – Using Research to Inspire Practice

Image source: Old school Vladimir Burakov under CC Attribution-ShareAlike

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Clap along if you know what happiness is to you — Digital Convergences for happiness

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Mark Maddren

Happy kids

Back in 2013, as my son started his schooling, I watched Logan La Plante’s TEDx talk he did at the University of Nevada. The one line that really struck a chord with me was, “When I grow up, I want to be happy". Logan was homeschooled, but he did not like people’s reactions when he told them this. So he coined the term, “Hackschooling”. His TEDx talk goes on to focus on being happy and healthy, and is a valuable insight into a student’s thoughts on education.

I want to be happy now!

Bringing it back to the quote from the talk, “When I grow up, I want to be happy", it made me think, Why wait till we grow up. Now that I have children of my own, their happiness is one of the main drivers in my life — as it is in many other parents lives — and it has been very interesting to see how this happiness is impacted by how their school day, term, and year is going.

For children to learn, the learning must be challenging, while, at the same time, learning should have scaffolding and tools available so that opportunities for fun, success, and happiness occur during and after the learning.

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