Impact project: integrating the curriculum

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A number of purpose-built, open-plan schools with flexible timetables enable students to learn via integrated curricula passion project courses. Can a similar learning opportunity occur in a school with single cell classrooms, a traditional timetable, and where expert teachers are not always available at the same time?

This blog post covers the following points:

  • What is curriculum integration?
  • Why does it matter?
  • What an integrated curriculum can look like: Impact Project

What is curriculum integration?

Curriculum integration has varying definitions, and this has troubled researchers and hindered teacher understanding (Drake & Reid, 2020). Broadly, curriculum integration refers to teachers combining the concepts, content and skills from two or more subjects into a particular topic. Arrowsmith & Wood (2015) define three different forms of curriculum integration:

Transdisciplinary  Where courses or research questions cross disciplines to extend beyond the scope of a single discipline or area of instruction. In this approach, subject boundaries are often collapsed or merged. A primary focus is on student-centred inquiry and learning through real-life contexts (Beane, 1997). 
Interdisciplinary  Disciplinary boundaries still remain, but the disciplines are connected more explicitly than in multidisciplinary learning through a focus on skills such as critical thinking or communication skills, which are emphasised across learning areas rather than within them. 
Multidisciplinary  An approach where a number of disciplines may be used to address a topic. In this process a discipline is not changed or influenced by another. For example, a central concept or theme is examined with each subject area addressing the theme through their lens during the same time frame. 

Why does curriculum integration matter?

Providing opportunities for integrated curriculum learning is not a new or recent trend. The roots of curriculum integration can be traced to the early 1900s (McPhail, 2018), but despite a long history, curriculum integration has not been seen frequently at secondary school. This is possibly due to teachers being trained as subject specialists, and the nature of traditional school timetables often means that teachers work in their curriculum area only, leaving limited opportunities for collaboration outside their area of specialization.

However, in the last decade as teacher education and rigid timetables have altered, different forms of curriculum integration are emerging in a number of secondary schools in New Zealand. Drake (1998) argues: “The world we are living in is changing, and education must change with it. If we live in an interconnected and interdependent world, it only makes sense that knowledge be presented as interconnected and interdependent (p. 24).”

In our rapidly changing society, curriculum integration offers more holistic and joined-up thinking where learning is experiential and student-centered, with an emphasis on real-world problems (Arrowsmith & Wood, 2015). There is also a focus in the New Zealand Curriculum for curriculum integration:

While the learning areas are presented as distinct, this should not limit the ways in which schools structure the learning experiences offered to students. All learning should make use of the natural connections that exist between learning areas … (Ministry of Education, 2007, p. 16).

Impact project

In 2020 I taught a new Year 13 University Entrance course called Impact Project. Impact Project broadly fits into the transdisciplinary approach defined by Arrowsmith & Wood (2015) above. Students combined one or more subjects with Impact Project to conduct a major project over the year. For example, one student applied her skills from Painting to Impact Project by creating a mural for the local preschool:

Combining Painting and Impact Project to create a mural for the local preschool
Combining Painting and Impact Project to create a mural for the local preschool

The image below shows the timetable at my school. Option classes occur twice per week and each option class is for approx 100mins. The yellow highlight represents when Year 13 Painting occurs on the timetable and the pink highlights when Year 13 Impact Project occurs:

hagley-timetable

There have been a few occasions where students have integrated three areas of study. Examples include: Business Studies, Digital Technologies and Impact Project to create an app for young people to style their hair; and Computer Science, Digital Technologies and Impact Project to create a website for the elderly to link with people in the community.

Combining Digital Technology, Business Studies and Impact Project to create an app for young people to style their hair.
Combining Digital Technology, Business Studies and Impact Project to create an app for young people to style their hair.

This transdisciplinary approach of ‘connecting the curriculum’ appears to have worked well this year at my school. Many students could see that with their Impact Project at the centre of their work, the other curriculum areas ‘feed in’ to help their project creation:

Because I am working on a children’s book, I am connecting with many teachers from many departments who I wouldn’t normally connect with, so far, I have met with teachers from many areas, most who I don’t even have classes with. Some areas include textiles, fashion, creative writing and art and many more to come (Student R).

There is no right or wrong approach with curriculum integration (Arrowsmith & Wood, 2015). I can see that the transdisciplinary approach I have taken with Impact Project in 2020 has advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages  Disadvantages 
Students learn in specialist classrooms with specialist teachers during dedicated class time.   There was no shared physical location where the two subjects could be worked on at the same time with the input of two teachers.  
No alteration to existing school timetable.   Students had to personally make the connection between the two or more subjects.  
Students maintain the opportunity to develop a positive teacher relationship with 1 teacher and approximately 25 students.  Students didn’t have many opportunities to see teachers working/teaching together. 
Students can easily link the Achievement Standard assessments to the teacher and content.   

 

Before undertaking a “Connected Curriculum” approach, McPhail (2020), recommends that the following principles should be considered:

  • Consider what it is that the students will learn that they would not otherwise learn by bringing two or more subjects together.
  • Only use Curriculum Integration in selected parts of the curriculum and carefully assess its effectiveness.
  • Plan for Curriculum Integration at the subject concept level once a topic has been chosen.
  • Use Curriculum Integration to deepen learning that has already occurred in a single subject setting.
  • Introduce subject concepts in a planned, sequential, and logical way and revisit them in a spiral fashion.
  • Ensure that sufficient time and subject expertise are available when planning for Curriculum Integration.

Conclusion

A transdisciplinary approach of integrating the curriculum appears to have been effective at my school this year. The project management components of Impact Project work well when combined with another curriculum subject which is based on students creating a physical project outcome. Creating meaningful, genuine connections between curriculum areas has resulted in quality learning for students. As my school begins its rebuild in 2021, and new teaching and learning spaces are developed, there will be more obvious opportunities to integrate the curriculum which may overcome some of the disadvantages I have identified above. Sharing my findings with fellow teachers at my school and beyond is important, so too is further investigating integrated curriculum opportunities in other subject areas for 2021 and beyond.

Find out more about the Dr Vince Ham eFellowship and read Nathan’s research report

References

Arrowsmith, S., & Wood, B. E. (2015). Curriculum integration in New Zealand secondary schools: Lessons learned from four ‘early adopter’ schools. SET: Research information for teachers, 1, 58-66.

Drake, S. M. (1998). Creating integrated curriculum: Proven ways to increase student learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Drake, S. M., & Reid, J. (2020, July). 21st Century Competencies in Light of the History of Integrated Curriculum. In Frontiers in Education (Vol. 5, p. 122). Frontiers.

McPhail, G. (2018). Curriculum integration in the senior secondary school: A case study in a national assessment context. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 50(1), 56-76.

McPhail, G. (2020, September 10). An introduction to curriculum integration. Retrieved November 19, 2020, from https://theeducationhub.org.nz/an-introduction-to-curriculum-integration/

Ministry of Education. (2007) The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.

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Aroha: breathing life into Tātaiako and Tapasā

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Image copyright CORE Education, all rights reserved.
Image copyright CORE Education, all rights reserved.

Setting the scene

I have a passion for re-imagining what secondary schooling and especially the middle years (Years 7-10) could look like. Starting out in my teaching career, my personal educational philosophy was simple: make this time memorable for students. But what seemed like a simple task was in reality an uphill battle.

In 2009 I started teaching at St Thomas of Canterbury College where the focus was on social justice and equity in education. In 2016 I was able to lead the transition of our junior school from a traditional delivery to a more integrated model in order to support future-focused learning and teaching (Bolstad and Gilbert, 2012). Coinciding with this, our school was granted a Teacher-Led Innovation Fund (TLIF) focused on deconstructing existing systems, structures and routines to create a 21st century curriculum with a specific focus on engagement and student agency.

Throughout the two years of the TLIF project, our evidence showed that we had created positive shifts in the engagement of our students, and we were also able to uncover data that we had not seen previously. For example, even though we had begun to integrate learning areas, for example with STEM, and begun to make projects more engaging by using student voice to inform our planning, our Year 9 Pasifika and Māori learners still showed reluctance to engage.

This perplexed me and forced me to reflect on what we were doing. What assumptions were we making? I wrote myself some key questions:

  • Was the learning in a context that Māori and Pasifika students could relate to?
  • Could involvement of the community, specifically iwi, help engage learners?
  • Were the conversations, or lack of conversations, at home having an impact on student engagement?

The Dr Vince Ham eFellowship 2020 offered by CORE Education was an opportunity to explore these questions in more depth, and so I began a new research journey.

My research

In applying for the Dr Vince Ham Fellowship I looked to the key concepts of Tātaiako (Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2011) to shape my research. These concepts specifically included:

  • Wānanga: participating with learners and communities in robust dialogue for the benefit of Māori learners’ achievement.
  • Whanaungatanga: actively engaging in respectful working relationships with Māori learners, parents and whānau, hapū, iwi and the Māori community.
  • Tangata whenuatanga: affirming Māori learners as Māori. Providing contexts for learning where the language, identity and culture of Māori learners and their whānau is affirmed.

When it came to considering my research design, I posed the following question: “How could students share their learning in STEM with parents in an authentic context?’’ But then the spanner in the works hit: Covid-19! My initial idea of having learning out in the community was derailed and for a while my project floundered until, through conversations with CORE’s research mentors, I soon realised that my question actually suggested the answer: I was focusing on the outcome without going to the source – the parents.

Methodology

Through the research design process, I began to focus on exploring new methods of gathering student voice. As a college we gather student data each term to help us reflect on our practice, but often through a digital form. This method has been successful but had also in some ways reinforced the questions I was asking myself. During the TLIF, our lead researcher posed the provocation: “It’s the voices you don’t hear that matter!” I realised it was often the Māori and Pasifika learners whose voices were needed the most but were often the quietest. How then might educators gather the voice of the voiceless? On reflection, it became clear that digital feedback was not culturally responsive.

With this idea in the back of my mind, it was at our first eFellows hui that the idea of Story Hui was suggested. Liz Stevenson, herself a former eFellow, created Story Hui (Stevenson, 2015) as a story-telling process to capture the voice of students around their capabilities, engagement and well being. Straight away I could see the missing link: I could see the benefits of Story Hui and how it could make learning and achievement visible for the Māori and Pasifika learners at our college.

Talanoa, hui and oral language are so deeply embedded in Polynesian culture it made sense that we gather voice in this way, rather than the written, Eurocentric ways of digital online forms. Stories speak to us at a deeper level; they value and honour diverse ways of knowing, being and learning. Stories put a face to the numbers and help to show what’s working, what’s not and why. It simply aligns better with cultural capabilities and in my view moves documents such as Tātaiako and Tapasā (Ministry of Education, 2018) from being a ‘tick box exercise’ to living, breathing documents. Therefore I wondered about using Story Hui as a methodology to test my idea about what students felt about school and the conversations they have at home with parents, if indeed these conversations happen.

Findings

My initial wonderings had centred around the question of conversations about education at home. Did they happen? The biggest takeaway from my research blew my assumptions. Participants talked about learning almost daily! Moving into the Story Hui I wanted to unpack exactly what students and whānau talked about and their views on education, as my hunch was that this was not aligned.

Covid-19 and the ensuing lockdown had brought learning into the home and for many whānau challenged their world views about education without the barrier of school. Key findings from my research included the following:

Who talks?

The data suggested that families talked far more than I had imagined, in most cases daily. For both parties it was seen as important to discuss learning, and particularly for students to let parents see that they are doing well. These discussions were open and honest and echoed the importance of kōrero and its relationship in improving learning outcomes.

Difference in worldviews

One parent said, “Lockdown was an eye opener on how learning happened, especially group work and use of devices.” Parents, while acknowledging much of the content they learned in school was pointless and the soft skills they use in day-to-day life were more important, often focused only on literacy and numeracy. Parents commented that during lockdown they were surprised with how much collaboration took place, while students saw this as being what they valued most about learning.

Proud to be Māori!

Whānau discussed the importance of culture being represented in learning. Students at our college report that they feel proud to be Māori, and believe culture is represented in their learning. However whānau reported that their own school experiences clearly impacted on their views. Participants spoke of negative experiences and how this had an impact on them as they tried to fit into a Pākehā | Palangi system. For whānau they wanted to ensure the experience of school was mana-enhancing for their tamariki.

Recommendations

My assumption is that as educators we often see cultural competencies and documents such as Tātaiako and Tapasā as merely a paper exercise to comply with Ministry requirements rather than having a living, organic system in place to enhance the voice and learning of our Māori and Pasifika ākonga.
Whanaungatanga and tangata whenuatanga cannot be achieved on paper. Schools need to have systems in place to engage with whānau outside of traditional meetings or surveys. Story Hui or other forms of Talanoa provide this.

My experience of engaging with new systems of gathering voice was that whanaungatanga and tangata whenuatanga were embodied, and enhanced the mana of both students and whānau. Schools need to be critical of whose voice they are gathering and how they are collecting it to ensure that voices are genuinely heard in the planning and implementation of learning.

Find out more about the Dr Vince Ham eFellowship

Further reading

References

Bolstad, R., Gilbert, J., & McDowall, S. (2012). Supporting future-oriented learning & teaching. Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Education. (2018). Tapasā. Ministry of Education.
Stevenson, L. (2015). STORY HUI TRUST. STORY HUI TRUST. Retrieved 26 March 2021, from https://www.storyhui.org/.
Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. (2011). Tātaiako. Ministry of Education.

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Three high school students use laptops for online gaming

An unexpected journey through eSports

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Three high school students use laptops for online gaming
Image courtesy of Duncan Trickey

“However, in the end, the real importance of good computer and video games is that they allow people to re-create themselves in new worlds and achieve recreation and deep learning at one and the same time” (Gee, 2003, p.3)

My name is Duncan Trickey and I am the teacher in charge of sports at Otago Girls’ High School (OGHS). For some time I had been wondering, “Why was it that the ākonga at OGHS did not play eSports?” (eSports is a form of sports competition that uses video games). This question made me curious. Why did this matter to me? Why did I think it mattered to the school? This became my research focus as a Dr Vince Ham eFellow in 2020.

Why was it that ākonga were not playing eSports?

I conducted a survey of OGHS ākonga in 2019, before the eFellowship began, and it showed that students were not competing in eSports though some of them thought they would like to. In response to this, I arranged to run a duty time in the innovation hub called the eSports and Gaming Club. We had two new gaming computers purchased through community funding which meant ākonga were not reliant on their own devices. During the lunch times students could play any games they wanted. We had between five and ten ākonga attend our weekly meets which showed that there was definitely an interest in playing eSports.

At first, Brawhala and Minecraft were the most popular free games. We then found League of Legends. This game requires a team of five players to play but forming a consistent team was a challenge. Ākonga in the eSports club were from different year groups and the team members changed depending on their afternoon timetables. Though friend groups came in, they often had different games they wanted to play. In addition, though we had just started this group all too soon we had to leave the school walls for our home bubbles.

Te pou herenga – navigating education through tricky times

Through our journey this year at OGHS, a colleague used the metaphor ‘te pou herenga’, the hitching or mooring post for our waka. Through the turbulent times of lockdown, we relied on our leadership to hold together the diaspora that school had become in 2020. Every educator had a part to play as we led our respective students, whānau and community through tricky times.

My research project on eSports and education became something I could relish. While all other sports paused during lockdown, my athletes were in the position where they were the only sport still going. Our communication through discord meant everyone could schedule games and though the digital divide meant I lost a number of ākonga, our meets were well-attended. For a number of students it was the first time they had been in a game chat and they seemed genuinely surprised to have a teacher talking through discord.

The eSports team was very new and it was unclear to me what we actually were. I did not teach any of the students, and the games we were playing were also completely new to me. I quickly realised that lunchtime sessions were not perfect. It was difficult to get the students into the game and complete the game within 45 minutes. This is when we initially started to do evening games, after dinner. This was an exciting move and was a foreshadowing of how the group would meet in the future. Within this distance setting it gave the group added excitement about finally meeting as a team and presented me with a hidden learning.

The hidden learning

The hidden learning was why our eSports team needed to be a recognised part of our school community and what the ākonga would gain through it. As with traditional sports, the social learning within eSports is the same. Like preparing for a rugby game, you similarly need to be prepared for an eSports match; you need to understand your role within the side; what tactics to use; how to complement each other; and how to communicate clearly during high stakes (digital life and death). Furthermore, basics like remembering your power cord and log in; organising your calendar; communicating with home and an endless number of other skills are needed that relate to being part of a team who can rely on each other.

There has been a huge amount of learning around who the ākonga were who joined the group. It was completely voluntary and attracted a diverse group of students and transcended conventional boundaries of year groups; it also attracted students from outside our school community. The ākonga had to adapt to who was in the team, negotiate what roles each student would take, and what character they were able to play. We also initially had to find common ground on what games we wanted to play and who we were to play against. Though my focus was gender equity it was quickly apparent that the ākonga at Otago Girls’ High School wanted to play, and beat the boys.

We aren’t going anywhere

Setting up our first competitive game against Otago Boys’ High school was an exciting step for the group. The tension and excitement through the week was tangible as the match approached. The game itself was hugely one-sided and the team coming in had thousands of hours experience on the OGHS students, being mostly Year 13 students. This did not put off the squad though we continued to meet and train and arrange games. In Dunedin we were breaking new ground as schools were often initially wary about eSports. The news of our eSports team quickly flowed through to others who were interested in playing against our team, even when their schools didn’t necessarily have a recognised school team.

Face-to-face games with other schools break down the often social silo associated with gaming: the image of teenagers isolated and playing games in their darkened bedrooms. Basic practices around sport like saying ‘good luck’ and talking to the captain before going into a game is just as important in developing the social skills within the team. The level of excitement at a win or simply just knowing the team has performed really well is akin to the emotions experienced by any team sport I have known, and as a manager and coach in other sporting codes, the ‘buzz’ is similar.

esports-in-your-school

The next step – this project will not let me stop!

The next steps are to develop a sustainable Dunedin league and develop a support network for these students. If we ensure we value them as much as other athletes, we will reap benefits. Already I have offers to help coach our team from some of the students from the boys’ school. When looking at how we continue as a group I think this is a really interesting area going forward. Will these sports teams look like traditional teams, or will they take more of a cultural model with students from other schools joining teams where they feel comfortable and being managed that way? The possibility could be of a sporting hub model where students interested meet and form teams before looking to compete in regional or national competitions. Either way it is clear to me that the students are not only enjoying it but learning and gaining important skills. There is an exciting future ahead of us.

Find out more about the Dr Vince Ham eFellowship and read Duncan’s research report

References

Gee, J. P. (2003). What Video Games have to Teach us about Learning and Literacy. (New York: Palgrave/Macmillan)

Ngā kupu

  • Pou herenga, “(noun) hitching post, mooring post, rallying point.” Retrieved from Māori Dictionary
  • discord, a chat room where gamers often meet
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Three students laugh whilst making hot chocolate drinks

Honouring the gift of student voice

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A personal reflection on my journey as a Dr Vince Ham eFellow, by Karen Nicholls

Three students laugh whilst making hot chocolate drinks
Image courtesy of Karen Nicholls

This blog post is about my journey as a Dr Vince Ham eFellow and how the research process challenged my assumptions and resulted in a significant conceptual shift in the way I understood ‘agency’.

In 2020 I embarked on a collaborative action research project aimed at exploring student identity through multimedia texts. I selected a group of 14 students between 11 and 13 years old. To find out what they thought, I set up focus group hui during which, I hoped, we would discuss their identity as a learner and student in the school, and that the data from these hui would result in examples of texts I would then code.

I went into the process with a strong belief that students had something to say, and that they were strong in their identities, and that what they needed was a space to be heard and celebrated for who they are. I had a plan for how the research process would unfold and I had the first few sessions planned and resourced. That’s what good teachers do, right?

The crunch point

The crunch came early on when two students shared with the group that they were unsure what reflected their identities as they were still working out who they were and what they were like. What I soon realised was that I had to truly sit back and listen to what was being said in our conversations. I had to really hear and respond to the stories of the students.

At this point I had a choice:

A. Continue with my plan and steer the conversations towards the end I had in mind?
or
B. Recognise that my belief had been challenged and respond accordingly?

From this point onwards, I had to reframe my thinking, slow down and focus on listening to learn, rather than controlling the student voice for my own ends. My focus changed to one of considering the importance of honouring the stories of my students: the stories they were sharing about their own developing identities.

As a researcher, this was exciting. However as a teacher, I had to quiet that voice in my head that was outcomes-focused: What if we just talked about identity and didn’t “achieve” anything? What if student voice was confronting? What if it led me to places of discomfort and challenge?

I chose to centre my thoughts on my students. I considered what it meant to honour their voices, their vulnerabilities, their willingness to allow each other, and me into their worlds. What could this look like?

Do to this, I referred back to the statement of intent I had written when embarking on the research project:

I am passionate about students being represented strongly and securely in their identities in our school environment. A strong and secure identity is a key aspect of student empowerment and achievement. All our students deserve to be seen, heard and celebrated in our place.

While I was still interested in exploring and creating expressions of identity through multimedia artifacts, I wondered whether making space for authentic conversations – truly hearing and responding to student voices – was where the representation and celebration of each student needed to sit.

So, I took the plunge. I put aside my carefully timed and structured scope and sequence plan, and made space for the narrative to flow. This was my first action to honour their voices.The pressure of expectations to DO eased. Students were able to BE. I was able to hear. Together we were able to explore what they wanted and needed to be seen and heard.

So, how did they want to be seen, heard and connected in our space?

Student voice

My initial assumption was that through the multimedia texts used in our classrooms, we could better represent our students’ identities and provide ways for them to connect with themselves and one another. What I learned was that they wanted to be heard. They wanted to see evidence that their voices, their stories, their lives were important and worthy of teacher time and conversation. In short, they wanted relationships, connections, and response.

The group kept coming back to their shared reality: their identities were developing, changing, growing as they were. They wanted to have a safe place to grapple with all that was going on in their lives as they began the shift from child to young adult. Over and over again I heard how much they valued our weekly research group hui as a safe place where they could be themselves, even if they didn’t know what that meant all of the time. It became a space where they felt that they could speak and be heard. For many, this was not their usual experience of school where in the past when they had given their stories, been vulnerable, offered their voice as a taonga and they had been ignored.

There is power in student voice, and it isn’t a voice any teacher can give. We don’t give voices. We make space for them in our curricula and classrooms, or we don’t. Especially in times like these when our nation is burning, we should listen to the young people. We should center their voices through choice of their tasks, choice of what they want to study, and overall handing them some leadership opportunities. How else will they practice taking over the world (German, 2020, para.14).

In the context of our research, I asked each student to answer the question: What do you want teachers to know?

Their responses were so clear, simple and yet so often ignored in our busy days of timetables, and deadlines, of assessment tasks. Their responses also require kaiako to sit back and truly embrace ako: to learn alongside, to learn from our students, to set aside the need for control and truly engage with our ākonga with their voices at the centre.

So, what did my ākonga researchers want teachers to know? These are their words:

  • [Teachers need to] actually act on the information that the students give them.
  • We all have strong ideas and opinions. Be flexible, listen and have open ears.
  • If we do a Google form / survey, let us know what happens to our answers.
  • [Teachers need to] give us the time to speak. Let kids have time to talk to each other and you.
  • Leave us to discuss without you. Be aware that we feel pressure to say what YOU want, not what WE want.

Wero

This seems simple, however how often are we deliberate about including opportunities to connect at this deeper level, building a culture of trust and openness, and protecting space and opportunities to truly listen and respond to student voice with respect for the gift they have given us?

I have the privilege each day of going to work and learning alongside brilliant and inspiring young people and my constant challenge is to ask: What choices will I make today to honour the taonga that is student voice?

Find out more about the Dr Vince Ham eFellowship and read Karen’s research report

 

References

German, L. (2020, August 11). Using Social Justice to Promote Student Voice in Middle School (Blog Post). Retrieved from: https://www.edutopia.org/article/using-social-justice-promote-student-voice

Further reading

Brown, B., 20 of her most inspiring leadership quotes
Goodman, S., Developing Voices: Students Are Your Allies
McClaskey, K., Voice – Make Learning Personal

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Opportunities to push the boundaries: How a little achieves a lot

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efellow-1

Every year CORE Education offers a fellowship to kaiako from all sectors in education and throughout Aotearoa to follow their passions and push the boundaries of educational possibility.

There are some big words in there – “passions”, “pushing boundaries”, “possibility”. The whole concept of the eFellowship is to make a difference by disrupting current ways of doing things. It is premised on a collective, collaborative approach to education, in its broadest sense, and, by being part of a community of learning, transforming into a community of practice that then becomes a genuine community of inquiry.

Supporting learner agency

The Office of the Children’s Commission regularly talks with children and young people throughout Aotearoa to find out their ideas. When granted agency to express their points of view, they were very clear about what mattered to them:

  1. Understand me in my whole world
  2. People at school are racist towards me
  3. Relationships mean everything to me
  4. Teach me the way I learn best
  5. I need to be comfortable before I can learn
  6. It’s my life – let me have a say
    (Office of the Children’s Commission, 2018)

We know from experience, and research, that to achieve equitable learning experiences for all learners and to enable systems level change, takes courage. We know that the organisational climate, the culture of an early years service, kura or school, impacts hugely on learners and on how they feel about themselves. We often hear from kaiako about the challenges of change, of transforming what is, into what could be. The purpose of the eFellowship is to create a space to think about these possibilities with and alongside others.

“As children’s inspirations/ projects evolve, I see my role as the teacher is to give wings to their imagination, to collaborate and create new horizons for new learning. Witnessing how children’s learning evolves as part of the world around them is magnificent!” (eFellow, 2020)

Figuring out that question/niggle.

One of the current approaches used in research is the notion of a puzzle of practice. Some of us at CORE talk about this as a niggle, as a wondering – a ‘why?’ or ‘why not?’. Following through from a niggle to a puzzle to a question about teaching and learning is a process and one of the benefits of the eFellowship takes to heart the mantra “Slow down to speed up” – and dig deep into an issue they are curious about.

We all understand that being in learning environments very often requires quick-fire, responsive solutions to situations as they arise. We also know that we can revert to a default position and rely on responses that work, partially, but don’t actually get to the nub of the issue. So an important starting point is to try something new, and to take time to understand ‘the what’, the why and the how ‘about an aspect of learning and teaching and how it impacts and influences all concerned.

The idea is to transform thinking and the experience of learning. This might be at a personal/professional level, or in a learning space. It may be an idea that needs more substance and fleshing out. This is the opportunity the eFellowship offers kaiako – a chance to explore multiple levels of transformation – a ripple effect that enables all learners (and kaiako are learners too) to succeed.

“Working with ākonga to share and create knowledge, and then to involve them as co researchers in identifying themes and connections has broadened all of our understandings of the forces, assumptions and biases that contribute to why and what we do as teachers and learners. It is powerful for ākonga to be involved in unpacking this for themselves, to move from participating in teacher led surveys and research to analysing their own stories and how they intersect with those of others around them.” (eFellow 2020)

Transform, reimagine, redesign

When we start thinking about curriculum design and education systems, we need to consider future-focused thinking. What will learners need to know? Do our curriculum documents enable us to prepare learners for 21st century living? Think about learning environments at the moment and who they tend to benefit. Who is left out? Which groups are consistently under-achieving?

“As an eFellow, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on how we, teachers, tend to focus on the final results and how easily this distracts us from observing and enjoying the journey.” (eFellow 2020)

Aotearoa leads the world with its educational ideas which embed te ao Māori and are internationally recognised for using dispositional frameworks in curriculum design and assessment that put the learner at the centre.

“Whānau type relationships that demonstrate we care for our learners and have high expectations for their learning – [things like] understanding whakapapa and knowing who our learners are; their cultural experiences and prior knowledge are foundational to their identity as learners. It’s important to promote a common vision or kaupapa that is focused on the potential of ‘all’ learners to thrive in the education system without compromising who they are.” (eFellow 2020)

The UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 raise questions to inform curriculum design and implementation by asking:

  • efellowWhat is possible?
  • What is probable?
  • What is desirable?

When we consider these goals and questions in light of our future, we need to think about the type of education provided and the type of education needed. They are not necessarily the same thing. To close, or bridge that gap means thinking about how children and young people learn and how teachers teach: At the heart of this is finding out what learning matters – to the learner, the kaiako, to whānau and to local communities. What brings us together as a society and what supports our identities, languages and cultures?

It starts with a question …

It all starts with a question or a puzzle about learners and/or teaching. There is a short application form and after a selection process, this is followed up with an interview. We look for innovative, courageous ideas – ideas that will make a real difference to learners. Over the years these have been big and small but what they have in common is something new, something fresh, something that makes us look at a familiar process or experience in new ways.

“Why not invest in an assessment process which recognises ‘success’ as the learning process itself?  Observing, analysing and responding to children’s interests has transformed the meaning of assessment in my classroom and it is now a constant part of our routine.” (eFellow, 2020) 

The idea (or niggle or puzzle) is the most important thing to bring to your application. Our research team works closely with the successful applicants through the design process and ethics application. Once approved, CORE whānau throughout the motu (country) support our eFellows to bring their projects to fruition by wrapping our networks and expertise around them. We do this internally and also using our external, community networks.

“When reflecting on our eFellow hui, the moments I found most valuable were those where I was able to bounce ideas off other people. Where I was heard, where I was able to joke, where I didn’t feel afraid to share my potentially half-baked ideas. What became clear is what works for teachers, works for students. We are a reflection of one another and so are our best learning experiences.” (eFellow, 2020)

The eFellowship is about creating and using knowledge by bringing people together and collaborating to solve problems.  That’s how we want to push the boundaries of possibility. We want learning that matters to people and to places, where exciting ideas are made visible and brought to life.

“To the CORE eFellows team – What a year! I am thankful for all of you. Our passionate conversations have reignited my desire to keep going – our rangatahi deserve so much more! To the ākonga who agreed to work alongside me in this process. You have taught me so much. You have been open, giving, vulnerable, honest, hilarious and crazy. This is your work. You have given me a gift of your voices – your stories. I will endeavour to honour that gift.”

Becoming an eFellow

If you are interested in becoming an eFellow you can apply here. The due date for applications has been extended until Sunday 31 January.

This year we’re thrilled to be offering a kaupapa Māori strand of the Dr Vince Ham eFellowship! Educators from Māori medium settings are given the opportunity to explore an aspect of their own localised curriculum through a supported process of rangahau (action research). Apply now >

References

Office of the Children’s Commissioner. (2018). Education matters to me: Key insights [PDF]. Office of the Children’s Commissioner. Retrieved 18 January 2021, from https://www.occ.org.nz/assets/Uploads/OCC-STA-Education-Matters-to-Me-Key-Insights-24Jan2018.pdf

United Nations. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Disability | United Nations Enable. Un.org. Retrieved 18 January 2021, from https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/about-us/sustainable-development-goals-sdgs-and-disability.html

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