The Possibilities of Education for Sustainability (EfS)

Posted on by

transitioning in the environment

Aotearoa New Zealand has seen more than 40 years of education for the environment. Globally, education for sustainability (EfS) is viewed as imperative, and education is orientating towards sustainability. In 2003, Bolstad argued that within the Aotearoa New Zealand context environmental education had yet to become accepted as a part of teaching and learning, and lacked integration within the school curriculum. However, a shift is now evident.

EfS can be identified as a framework that does all the following:

read more
Posted in

Pasifika Leadership Programme: Unpacking a cultural metaphor

Posted on by

Introduction:

“I love the use of metaphors and real stories. It helps me to connect with others cultures and different views”.

This comment came from a participant involved in the Pasifika Leadership Programme currently being delivered in the Christchurch. The programme is underpinned by the following metaphor:

 Ia su’i tonu le mata o le niu
Pierce the correct eye of the coconut
To go about an undertaking in the proper way.

This metaphor was chosen as the foundation for this programme as it portrays the significance of the coconut tree, and how each part of the tree continues to perform a significant role throughout its life.

The use of the ‘niu’ metaphor is a universal icon for Pasifika peoples, referring to the coconut tree and the coconut itself. Niu means coconut. It is often referred to as ‘the tree of life’ due to its ability to produce water, nourishing food, and materials used for everyday life. The coconut tree has sustained many communities when all other crops have failed. ‘Ia su’i tonu le mata o le niu’ means to go about an undertaking in the proper way. The proverb describes the notion of leadership — leading in the right way.

Leadership diagramme

The diagram above connects understandings of the multiple layers and uses of the niu leaves with the multiple leadership roles and positions in an ECE community. The Pasifika leadership programme is concerned with ‘feeding and nourishing the leaves’ in order for the tree to bear fruit. There are 3 layers of leaves; these depict the layers of the roles of managers, head teachers, and emerging leaders within the early childhood context. Another layer is the family, fanau, and wider community including agencies such as ERO, Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs. The children are the fruits of the tree that are nurtured, nourished, and protected by the other components of the tree.

read more
Posted in

Children’s voices: Are you listening, can you hear me? Are you looking, can you see me?

Posted on by

The bi-annual SAASIA (Society of Aoga Amata Aotearoa) conference was held in Samoa in September and October 2015 with the theme around children’s voices. SAASIA is a national organisation that provides guidance, support, and advice to aoga amata (Samoan Early Childhood Services) across Aotearoa.

conference attendees

Ruta McKenzie and Justine Mason, along with Veronica Kidd and Jan Fensom, the recipients of this year’s CORE Pasifika grant (KIDDZ Homebased Care Services) had a presentation accepted for this conference. Belinda Williamson from North Beach Childcare Centre also travelled to the SA’ASIA conference alongside her fellow teacher researchers from Mapusaga A’oga Amata.

Following is Ruta and Justine’s review of the conference.

Perspectives on seeing, looking, listening, and hearing

During our presentation we shared our perspectives on four words  — Seeing, looking, listening and hearing. These might sound like simple words but if you are mindful of the significance of these words they become a very deep frame through which we can reflect on our interactions with children.

We believe that we need to do more than “look” at a person. We aim to provoke teachers into making significant shifts in their practice by providing a means to look deeper into the child/aiga, to not just look and listen to them, but to see and hear who they are, and how their language and culture forms and informs their identity.

In Alaska, when a child is born and her/his voice is first heard, the Athabaskan people say: “Who has come?”

In the Western world when a baby is born and her/his voice is first heard, people often say, “is it a boy or a girl? How heavy was she or he? Are they both all right? What time did the mother give birth? Did she have a caesarean or natural birth?”

In the Pasifika world when a baby is born and his/her voice is first heard the family says, “Let’s give thanks to God for his precious gift to the family, church and the village”. These messages convey the ways diverse communities hear/listen to children’s voices.

read more
Posted in

Modern Learning and early childhood education (ECE)

Posted on by

modern learning environments

The concept of Modern Learning is pervading education circles of late. Perhaps I’m more sensitive to this as I work in Christchurch where school developments have taken centre stage. The reasons behind the drive for more modern school learning environments include new understandings about how learning occurs, what learning is valuable, and the type of learning environments that actively support this learning. These new understandings demand different pedagogical approaches from those upon which traditional schools were established and are identified as the drivers for change toward meeting the requirements of 21st Century learners.

Influences on ECE environments

I have been wondering how all of this discussion impacts on the early childhood sector (ECE) in New Zealand. In light of future-focused thinking and providing for 21st century learners, have we reached a time when we need to move beyond the firmly entrenched historical influences to the way ECE indoor and outdoor environments are presented? Do the drivers for educational change in general have relevance to the early childhood sector? Do we need to relook at the pedagogy that underpins current practice?

Just as I have been wondering about all of this, the Report of the Advisory Group on Early Learning came across my desk. It should be no surprise that one of the recommendations of the report is for Te Whāriki, the early childhood curriculum, to be updated by making its future-focused principles and content more explicit. The context of rapid technological change, implications of global and climate change, and 21st century learning contexts are identified as some of the factors that influenced the development of this recommendation. The report positions “New Zealand’s early childhood centres and schools as well placed to plan for and respond to these changes.” The time has come for the sector to step up and begin progressing the implications of providing for 21st Century learners.

Does ECE have the 21C learner in mind?

read more
Posted in

Let’s get talking … cross-sector

Posted on by

conversation

Photo: Serge Melki (Flickr under CC)

As we think about innovative learning environments and future focused education, it is time to look beyond the confines of our own educational setting, eg our own classroom, schools, kura, centres and community. We can benefit more by looking across the sectors where we can, learn from the wider field of education and strengthen professional relationships.

We have lessons to learn from each other, ways that will help us pull the best aspects of education together. Through connection and collaboration we will understand more about the learners we work with; the conversations that we engage in can contribute to a seamless education for each of our learners.

An example of this is the exchange of ideas on topics such as maker movement, collaborative teaching, and project-based learning. In a quality early childhood setting, these are often embedded practice. Early childhood teachers collaboratively plan, develop curriculum, and teach together every day with each teacher’s practice being openly shared. They teach in flexible learning environments providing spaces for group work, thinking space, project space, and space for children to be able to create and make. The learning environment is seen as the ‘third teacher’, with considerable thought and planning by the teachers to ensure it is a dynamic learning place. It is this playful exploration, creating, tinkering, and making that forms a key part of the early childhood curriculum. Teaching and learning in this environment might look different to that in a school or kura, but the practices are just as pedagogically sound, designed to support young children’s active exploration and learning. As the school sector considers how the maker movement and collaborative teaching fits within the curriculum, it seems timely that we talk with each other, develop shared understanding, rhetoric, and grow our own practice.
 

read more
Posted in