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Disruptive educators and quality learning design

Posted on June 27, 2022 by Catherine Frost

Complexity and challenging times

We’ve encountered many new kupu/words/terms recently that describe different approaches to the delivery of learning. Hybrid learning, online, off-site, blended learning, synchronous, asynchronous, remote learning, are just a few. These disruptions come at a significant stage in our national curriculum refresh, as we near our vision for learning in 2025.

I have been fortunate to experience and observe many students, educators and schools during unexpected serious ‘events’: COVID, floods, earthquakes, community losses, and family trauma. In these times the existing systems and strategies that support learning are immediately disrupted, timetables forced to change and adapt, sometimes in an immediate and reactive time frame. These events can cause issues around wellbeing and learning, as well as inclusion, equity and accessibility. In addition, stress, workloads, negative behaviours, pastoral incidents, and group dysfunction can increase. 

I’d like to share in this blog my observations about learning design; what happens in our classrooms. How do the effects of ‘disruptive events’, both human and natural, test the robustness and quality of what ākonga (students) experience in the classroom and our pedagogical choices as educators?

Human disruption comes in many forms

An online group of DisruptEd educators, and many ‘disobedient’ educators across Aotearoa, are championing educational disruption. Disobedient disruptors deliberately seek to improve the effect of outdated educational systems and strategies to better meet the needs of ākonga. These educators have much in common with the natural and societal disruptors. They test existing systems, to see that they are fit for purpose in meeting learner needs, now and in the future. This group of educators see beyond the surface of the systems and strategies to the depth of the systems and their impact on our ākonga. This ‘seeing’ leads them to intervene; to become disruptive and disobedient, to make changes, deliberately design intervention pedagogies, take transformational action that questions and begins to shift the systems that surround them to reducing and removing their negative impacts.

They do this quietly and almost invisibly. They almost always demonstrate the instinctive values of empathy and equity, because they know how it feels to be disconnected and excluded. They show humility and passion, and are naturally collaborative, believing that "it takes a village to raise a child". Their lens of equity, inclusion, and awareness, is wide and deep. They focus on relationships they have with colleagues, students, whānau, community, local council and businesses. These networks provide both the guidance for their intervention, and the resources that support it. They also create an invisible 'wellbeing shield' system of teaching and learning within their classrooms, that protects and inspires ākonga and them as educators, from the negative influences outside. They design quality learning that gets into, and more importantly stays in, the hearts and minds of their learners, because they know the greatest tool of change available is their fundamental task of learning design and relationships.

“The design of learning is the fundamental task of teachers – they do it every day, sometimes explicitly as an extension of their planning, but more often it's what happens almost naturally as a result of the structures and systems that exist in most classrooms.” (Wenmoth, 2022)

How quality learning design looks and feels

In almost every case I have observed, these disruptors are experts at the design and delivery of authentic, engaging, and outstanding learning. They also take a huge social risk, as their efforts and solutions can be unwelcome to colleagues and leaders who like the status quo. So often, in spite of the systems that surround and restrict them, they design classroom learning that develops students' creativity, critical thinking, resilience, collaboration, connectedness, empathy, self-awareness, testing bias in themselves and those around them. They knowingly create a barrier from the damaging school systems and external events, by designing fun, engaging, high quality learning. They constantly develop positive, equity focused relationships, and inclusive learning environments. You can feel the uplifting power and energy of these as you enter their classrooms. When these pedagogies are in place, I see students in a ‘learning flow-state’, where time passing goes unnoticed.

Ākonga are bursting with passion and excitement, spending hours actively problem solving, not realising time is passing, creating learning euphoria and wellbeing. Designing, building, testing, failing, trialling, feeling the full joy of learning just like they did in pre-school where the systems were truly student-centric and equitable. This form of learning design transcends time, place, events, internet and device access, as it is grounded in the ability to work together to find solutions. It gets to the depth of what it is to be human, connecting at our most basic level.

The disobedient, disruptive classroom appears chaotic and disorganised from an external view. Look more closely and you will see undetermined problems and solutions being discussed, co-constructed, solved and collaborated on, educators and learners side-by-side. Failures are embraced as valuable learning opportunities. Students who know how to design, jump between stages and steps, model, test, evaluate, present, and refine as their process demands they do so. As they develop this capability, they begin to, unknowingly, design themselves.

Quality learning design – an authentic experience

A Year 12 student is learning in a focused local curriculum environment; alongside community businesses providing support and materials designing and building a Hobbit playhouse for a new space at the nearby community pre-school. Normally this is a young man who struggles with self-confidence, fitting in, numeracy, literacy, dyslexia and dyscalculia, and grasping scientific principles. During this authentic learning experience, he is not at all aware of his ‘academic’ personal learning challenges, or that he is exemplifying assessment for learning strategies. He has stepped into his creative, observational, empathetic, caring, human, and innovative logical mind, driven by the authentic needs of the pre-school children he is designing for. His desire to earn NCEA credits is nowhere to be seen.

Photo of the house from Hobbit

Credit: photo by Joshua Harris on Unsplash

In one part of this design project, he is communicating his creativity visually, modelling a Roman arched window using Autodesk Inventor (free student industry standard computer aided design (CAD) software). Using this complex visual design modelling software does not highlight his learning challenges, it bypasses them, and instead uses his refined cognitive abilities to make alternative and usually more efficient creative and innovative connections.

The iterative problem solving design process, requires him to seek out particular knowledge, understand, then do, act, as it is needed. Not focusing on his existing knowledge or lack of, the design process has guided him to understand and do. He has designed an outcome to improve the lives of a range of very young tamariki. Without realising the complexity he has achieved, he has applied the static physics, calculations and principles of forces of a Roman Arch – hoffnerphysics into his Hobbit playhouse, designed and custom built in a complete end-to-end process. He has drawn on the disciplinary knowledge of maths, science, technology learning and without noticing, has understood and applied understanding of principles he needed to, when he needed to, in order to successfully create a completed, quality outcome. He has demonstrated exceptional standards of oral, written and visual literacy, is authentically collaborating, gathering data, feedback, advice, sharing with and learning from his classmates who are also engaged in problem-solving, authentic and unknown, design thinking mode, and he is enjoying it!

Perhaps best of all in our current environment, he is empowered by designing for equity. He has made the circular entry door wide and high enough with a cobbled ramp access, the interior furniture and the window sized to be accessible for all ages and sizes of preschoolers, toddlers to 5 year olds including the 4 year old cerebral palsy girl in a wheelchair. With support from his local marae, the walls of the playhouse are decorated with poutama, tukutuku symbolising genealogy, learning and achievement. There are textured images from the fantasy trilogy, labels are 3D printed in braille, and movie filming locations are shown on a map of Aotearoa.

 

Infographic

Learning design for wellbeing

Best of all, he exudes passion, deep happiness and satisfaction, as he immerses himself in his own measurable and accountable, lead-follow-lead design process. He doesn’t notice when he has completed requirements of multi-disciplinary achievement and unit standards, almost invisibly guided in the potential quality of those outcomes by his disruptive educator. He isn’t thinking from a place of 'self’ as he moves through his challenge, he isn’t counting credits, ticking NCEA boxes, he is feeling the same joyful learning experience that the pre-schoolers he is designing for are in.

The educator is in a supporting, observational role only. Design capability was established, strengthened and progressed during his Year 7 to 10 schooling. At senior secondary level, he is experiencing the freedom to be agentic, independent, resilient and autonomous, using these years to demonstrate his capabilities that step up naturally each year.

This learning strategy is not only great for his wellbeing. It reduces educator stress, workload and increases professional enjoyment. The educator can now be re-positioned to an agentic, 'aside' the learner role, noticing where and how during the process the student demonstrates specialist learning, the levels and disciplines the learning draws from, and is evidenced in. The educator collaborates and co-constructs learning design with other learning area specialists for guidance and advice as is required. Formative feedback is used throughout the process, as and when needed to ensure the learning evidence is documented and demonstrated clearly, for others to follow and give feedback on. This demonstration and documentation relies on digitally fluent students to draw on appropriate digital tools to use, record, design and transform their ideas into a feasible outcome. 

The completed outcome and design process documentation folio, provides evidence of assessment for learning across science, maths, technology (materials, digital and DVC technological areas), Social sciences and English, with over 40 credits at NCEA Level 2 and 3.

An interesting human observation of this classroom is how effortlessly ākonga transition into a creative-flow state. They are busy, engaged, and time passes very quickly. Reactions to the bell signalling the end of the session, is often unheard, and mostly unwelcomed.

Perhaps this is because ākonga have the opportunity to be designers and have responsibility for the design process, so feel the accountability, the views, culture and needs of the real people, stakeholders and end-users they are collaborating with. They are designers of ‘things’, products, systems, environments, spaces, and ultimately, themselves as emerging adults.

Design creativity being the most basic of human activities requires the highest order of thinking. To ‘intervene by design’ (the essence of technology/STEM/STEAMS learning) is to improve our environment and the things in it that humans use.

Design creativity involves many forms of thinking and forces the designer to both draw on existing understanding, and to seek out new knowledge to fill identified and obvious gaps.

Critical and ethical thinking – understanding the needs of people and place what is, what could and should be. 

Collaborative, community, and evaluative thinking – reacting to and taking on board feedback from the environment, stakeholders and end-users. Creating outcomes for others, develops equity thinking.

Creative and innovative thinking – developing resilience to test, trial and explore unknown concepts to see how well they may perform, be ‘fit for purpose’.

Thinking and learning in authentic, unknown contexts is both meaningful and engaging for all students. For students who learn differently, those with mild to severe learning needs that traditional learning often excludes, find themselves easily excelling as their creative connective brains thrive in this design environment. Design and its reliant thinking capabilities, develops students skills and understandings into real-world ‘event-proof’ capabilities.

If we are courageous enough to be proactive rather than reactive, we could use our current complexities and challenging events to shine a lens of designing for equity in our classrooms

Learning design for equity

Could the most important focus be on how we design high quality classroom learning that develops capabilities in creativity, critical thinking, innovation, communication, collaboration, empathy, patience and resilience, challenge and question bias,  where the vision, goal and outcome demonstrate equity? Being able to design effective and high quality learning has always been the core role of educators, but how many of your colleagues actually know how to design learning that is measurable, accountable and meaningful? 

Maybe a shared definition of future focused high quality learning design could be one that is measurable in how it contributes to equity, supports learner transition and progression, provides that elusive future focus we are searching for? 

Traditional systems and disruption

Across all ages and year levels I have seen the students of these ‘disruptors’ regardless of being 5-years-old or 18-years-old, demonstrate passionate, meaningful, connected and transformative learning.

“projects, passion, peers, and play. In short, we believe the best way to cultivate creativity is to support people working on projects based on their passions, in collaboration with peers and in a playful spirit. Most schools in most countries place a higher priority on teaching students to follow instructions and rules (becoming A students) than on helping students develop their own ideas, goals, and strategies…. Opposite: I believe the rest of school (indeed, the rest of life) should become more like kindergarten.” (Resnick, 2018)

So do we want academic, credit-counting students, or do we want healthy, resilient, creative, collaborative students who will become the adults of our future society?

Perhaps best of all these things, this design approach to high quality learning has the biggest positive impact on personal hauora, resilience, connectedness, and wellbeing. The disruptive ‘events’ that we have and continue to experience are significantly impacting the hauora of our rangitahi and tamariki, their whānau and communities. 

We understand that our education systems are no longer ‘fit for purpose’. The increasing numbers and frequency of ‘events’, are handing out a pounding and an opportunity to school systems. Some systems, (such as streaming, timetabling and hierarchy of learning areas) are clearly not only not serving the needs of our present learners, educators and communities, they are often creating very real barriers that damage the learning and the child. 

Disruptive and disobedient educators

These disruptive and disobedient educators also go beyond their own classroom and school systems, by making small changes that disrupt traditional barriers. They bypass transition systems, building relationships with local year six, seven and eight primary educators, maybe through kāhui ako networks, so they can get meaningful student data to enable their goal of a ninth year of learning. Within their own school systems, these educators are creating strategies to ensure they can teach the same class of students in year nine and ten, so that learning is consistent, coherent, and correctly prepares the student for success at NCEA. In our Hobbit playhouse example, the educator made sure all students had deep design capabilities, confidence in collaboration, community connectedness, and could authentically experience joyful learning and relive their preschool experience by being creative. They had permission over a sustained period of time, to enjoy and celebrate failing that developed sustainable levels of resilience, self awareness and critical consciousness.

In Disobedient Teaching: Surviving and Creating Change in Education (2017), Welby Ings describes how external events and disruptive/disobedient educators sit within current educational systems:

"As educational institutions perceive talent, few innovators are attracted to professional structures that expect them to be a cog in a machine. Highly innovative people may train as teachers, but they rarely stay long in the systems.” (p.127)

As we hear so often, those with the passion and desire to redesign the systems, the ones we need for things to change, likely leave despondent, burnt out and exhausted. 

So if negatively impacting events like covid, earthquakes, floods, acts of terror, abuse and crime within our communities, are likely to continue, then maybe it is time to consider, what is the core role of educators? Is it to be disruptive and disobedient to the educational systems they exist within? And if so, what does this mean for our classroom educators, communities, leaders, and decision-makers?

What can each educator do then? Being responsible for a classful of sponge-like minds is the greatest privilege of any adult. Education is society's biggest R&D opportunity; to research the next generation, to design and develop the required future.

So what about sustainability and longevity?

Rejecting short term thinking and ineffective systems, learners who experience high quality future-focused learning, will then contribute to the ‘thinking-long’ philosophy by becoming transformational members of society, in groups with strengthened community hauora, equity, connectedness, resilience and patience.

Surely learning that remains in the heart and minds of learners, that could rise above and resist the impact of external events is the goal for all educators wherever we are in the system?

We have heard about this learning ‘utopia’ for many years from Sir Ken Robinson, Michae Fullan, Derek Wenmoth and others, about the ‘thinking-long’ approach where school systems, timetables, local and national political cycles could be designed to serve seven future generations, rather than then year/three year/term goals, ERO cycle, or reporting schedules. 

Our wero?

Our wero is currently to design new and equitable ways to deliver learning. Could now also be the time to re-focus on ‘the fundamental task of teachers’; meet the needs of every student for the whole of their schooling by being adept designers of high quality, future focused learning and systems, that will safely ride the waves of any external ‘events’ and evolve the no-longer fit-for-purpose systems we exist in? 

Talk to us at CORE if you want to explore the possibilities raised in this thought piece with one of our professional learning facilitators.

References:

Ings, W. (2017), Disobedient Teaching : Surviving & Creating Change in Education, Published by Otago University Press

Resnick, R. (2018)  Lifelong Kindergarten: Cultivating Creativity through Projects, Passion, Peers, and Play, Published by The MIT Press

Wenmoth, D. (2022) retrieved from Futuremakers website

 

 

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Wellbeing and resilience in Aotearoa – act now!

Posted on November 12, 2020 by Kathryn O'Connell-Sutherland
Image by CORE Education, all rights reserved.
All images by CORE Education, all rights reserved.

Dr Lucy Hone’s keynote at #ulearn20, What do we need to learn for lifelong success? was all about reimagining success, learning and tomorrow.

In this blog I share some insights from Lucy’s kōrero. As director of New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing & Resilience Lucy cited evidence of the high levels of distress among our tamariki and rangatahi, and urged us to consider success more broadly. She shared that allowing ākonga to identify, use and develop their strengths requires us to think and act differently. We learnt how an appreciative inquiry approach can build lifelong confidence, engagement, resilience and wellbeing.

What is the purpose of education in the 21st century? Lucy began by making reference to the four pillars of 21st century education: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be, and learning to live together (Delors, 1996).

Lucy’s knowledge, research, and lived experiences combined in a powerful and practical way that connected with each of us at #ulearn20 in our different learning contexts. She referred to her presentation as lessons from science and living. Lucy was brave and inspiring as she shared how her studies into the science of resilience and her own personal story of tragedy and loss motivates her each day to educate and inspire others about the concept of flourishing. Learning to be and learning to live together are two of the UN’s key objectives for education that Lucy feels we now urgently need to turn our attention to.

Questions and provocations

Lucy posed several reflective questions and provocations throughout the keynote, which are helpful for us to contemplate in our own contexts.

  • What do we need to live productive, contributing, satisfying lives?
  • What does it mean to live a flourishing life?
  • What skills, capacities, friendships and cultural connections enable us to flourish?
  • How do we live a life worth living and help others do the same?
  • We are not serving our ākonga well, how can we claim to be?
  • How can we help – in ways that matter to them?
  • What questions are you asking your akonga?

Lucy’s challenge to us all to act now and with urgency to make a change to support our young people in Aotearoa comes off the back of some alarming stats about the staggering increase in rates of depression in our youth. The levels of psychological distress, and most common issues that young people report experiencing, include: stress, anxiety, a lack of energy or motivation, depression, and feelings of hopelessness/worthlessness. The NZ Union of Student Associations conducted a study using the Kessler 10 scale to measure and evaluate our current state across 1762 university students in Aotearoa. Lucy’s response is that we need to change what we are doing.

“We need to better equip our young people better to cope with today’s volatile, ambiguous uncertain times”

Useful models and approaches to support practice and systems level change

“Human systems move in the direction of their inquiry, so watch what it is you focus on” (David Cooperrider)

Lucy recommends taking an appreciative and strengths-based inquiry approach to the exploration and teaching of resilience and wellbeing. She referenced Jackie Kelm’s (2005) model describing it as simple yet powerful.

Appreciate Find what’s best (notice what’s good) Feeling Good
Inquire Think about what could be (hope and dream) Getting Clear
Act Take small steps forward Taking Action

Jackie Kelm (2005) @appreciativeliving.com

Appreciative inquiry does not ask us to ignore the reality of what is going on, nor wait until tomorrow gets better. It invites us to appreciate and inquire even in times of darkness. The underlying principles of AI provide us with a pathway forward, inviting us to build upon strengths, imagine what could be, and take small steps to make that happen. (Lucy Hone)

We can each relate this to our own learning contexts when reviewing our practices, identifying challenges, determining our priorities, developing goals and seeking feedback from others. To inquire ‘even in times of darkness’ stood out to me – this is what it means to be bold and brave. It’s a call to action that challenges educators to step into the arena, to seek to know more and to deeply understand the current context. This inquiry approach is an immediate action we can take and is a great place to start.

Strategies for implementation

We heard a range of useful and relevant everyday strategies from Lucy that we can implement into our practices to build resilience and support wellbeing. These ideas are based on applying the five principles of appreciative inquiry (Cooperrider & Whitney, 1999). They too can also be implemented instantly. Take a moment to consider the practical strategies and ideas to introduce into your practice and leadership. They are applicable for an individual and as a process model for creating sustained positive systems change across your team/s and community.

Underlying principles of appreciative inquiry

Principles of AI Strategies and ideas
  • Constructionist
  • Words make worlds
  • Simultaneity
  • Questions create change
  • Poetic
  • Focus on strengths
  • Anticipatory
  • Foster hopes
  • Positive
  • Value positive emotions

 

A strengths-based approach – characteristics and emotions

Positive affect (emotions) and inquiry are the most effective way to generate and sustain positive change. (Lucy Hone)

lucy2A strengths-based approach focuses on amplifying strengths rather than reducing weaknesses. This is an important consideration when developing and implementing learning tools for assessment. One of Lucy’s suggestions is to invite learners to undertake a character strengths survey such as the free scientific, free VIA survey or you could develop your own linked to your local curriculum to highlight the values, hope and aspirations at your place of learning. What a great way to get to know our ākonga and for them to get to know themselves – remember, what we focus on grows and builds active awareness.

Another way to socialise positive emotions and focus on understanding strengths is to create games and cards. There are some great resources and ideas already out there – check out All Right? and Sparklers for Chitter Chatter cards, Downtime Dice or Te Waioratanga – the Kapa Haka poster set. Have some fun with gamification – design your own kete of tools and use the words and meanings that resonate with your learning environment and culture.

Wellbeing and resilience – mana, rights and agency

Kia tū rangatira ai
To stand like the chief we were born to be

Lucy shared this whakatauki from Melinda Webber’s (2019) research ‘learning, succeeding and thriving in Aotearoa’. It speaks to me of three really important concepts: mana, rights and agency. How can we honour and foster each of these to support our learners to develop a strong sense of self-efficacy? Lucy’s kōrero is relevant to us all across the education system and society – parents, educators, leaders alike. While listening to Lucy I made several connections to my own learning context. When Lucy talked about adopting a strengths-based mindset, the importance of holistic wellbeing and applying mana enhancing practices, these concepts resonated for me with the kaupapa of Te Whāriki; the early years curriculum and the newly released resource He Māpuna te Tamaiti. I also saw a connection to learning dispositions and the key competencies of The New Zealand Curriculum – how powerful for us to develop a shared understanding and language no matter the context. We equally have an important role across the education sector to support social and emotional development, so let’s keep talking.

We have to work together to change the dialogue

An exercise designed to promote hope – best possible future self

Hope is a powerful agency of change. Lucy shared a scientifically validated intervention strategy tested by psychological researcher Lyubomirsky (2004) that we can use to promote hope and future goal setting. It is designed to foster the belief in a positive future, that you can alter the future and take steps to get where/what you want. Have a go with your learners and encourage them to write their aspirations and hopes for the future, then store them in a sealed bottle. This, says Lucy, provides them with a permanent artefact of their future hopes that they can nurture over time. Lucy says …

Cultivating hope in this way works because it provides us with an opportunity to learn more about ourselves; it highlights what’s important and therefore helps us structure our priorities, it can help you move from the realm of foggy ideas and fragmented thoughts to concrete, real possibilities. Keep asking each other about your plans and dreams, what do you want to be when you grow up? How do you want to be?

 

Our collective hopes and dreams for children and young people in Aotearoa

It is exciting that we are bringing wellbeing and hauora into focus and I am hopeful for the future. When I think about flourishing I can see the synergies between Lucy’s kōrero and the across-government vision of the Child, Youth and Wellbeing Strategy to make Aotearoa the best place in the world for children and young people. A key takeaway for me from Lucy’s keynote is not only the need to do more, but to be deliberate and intentional – we need to prioritise this when designing curriculum. We need to intentionally focus on strengths, share positive emotions, foster hope and awe in our learning settings, ask questions as opportunities for change, and be careful with our language – ‘words create worlds’. There are lots of practical ways we can do this – redesign our learning environments, do a stocktake on key words and messages displayed, create space for imagination and what if/possibility thinking, develop a series of cards with images and words of positive emotions and strengths that provoke conversation and ask questions. We need to inquire into, and invite, discussion around strengths, values, hopes and emotions.

Last words from Lucy:

What’s one change you can make to redefine success for our rangatahi?

Image by CORE Education, all rights reserved.

Dr Lucy Hone is a director of the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience, adjunct senior fellow at the University of Canterbury, a published academic researcher, best-selling author, and blogger for Psychology Today. She has a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in wellbeing science/public health from AUT. She is the conference convenor of Wellbeing in Education, he akonga aumangea, he akonga tu maia, and the only representative of the International Positive Education Network (IPEN) in Aotearoa. Her research has been published in a number of psychology and wellbeing journals within Aotearoa and worldwide. The loss of her 12-year old daughter, Abi, in a tragic road accident in 2014, resulted in the best-selling non-fiction title Resilient Grieving (Allen & Unwin, 2016).

Resources for further reading

VIA Character Strengths Survey
Sparklers
All Right?
Child, Youth and Wellbeing Strategy
He Māpuna te Tamaiti

References

Child and Youth Wellbeing. (2019). Overview: The Framework. Child and Youth Wellbeing. Retrieved from https://childyouthwellbeing.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2019-08/strategy-on-a-page-child-youth-wellbeing-Sept-2019.pdf

Cooperrider, D.L., & Whitney, D. (1999). A Positive Revolution in Change: Appreciative Inquiry. Tas, NM:Corporation for Positive Change

Delors, J. (1998). Learning: the treasure within. UNESCO.

Free Resources. All Right?. Retrieved 11 November 2020, from https://www.allright.org.nz/free-resources.

Kelm, J. (2005). Appreciative Living: The Principles of Appreciative Inquiry in Personal Life. Venet Publishers.

Lyubomirsky, S., Sheldon, K., & Schkade, D. (2005). Pursuing Happiness: The Architecture of Sustainable Change. Review Of General Psychology, 9(2), 111-131. https://doi.org/10.1037/1089-2680.9.2.111

Personality Test, Personality Assessment: VIA Survey | VIA Institute. Viacharacter.org. Retrieved 11 November 2020, from https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register.

Resources. Sparklers.org.nz. Retrieved 11 November 2020, from https://sparklers.org.nz/resources/.

Rohan, T. (2019). He Māpuna te Tamaiti [Ebook]. Ministry of Education. Retrieved 11 November 2020, from https://tewhariki.tki.org.nz/assets/Uploads/files/He-Mapuna-te-Tamaiti-complete-book.pdf.

Webber, M. (2019). Learning, succeeding and thriving in Aotearoa. Auckland: University of Auckland.

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Deep Learning – Stories of impact

Posted on June 5, 2019 by Margot McKeegan

Over the past few years an increasing number of New Zealand schools have become involved in New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL). NPDL is a global collaboration of more than 1,400 schools in seven countries, seeking ways to transform teaching and learning approaches, and provide the conditions that will facilitate deep learning.

The challenge of making learning relevant, engaging, and sustainable in the modern world is one that is confronting to all schools. The NZ schools in the NPDL project represent a variety of contexts, with their own priorities and challenges, and each is using the NPDL tools, frameworks, and support to develop a coherent, school-wide approach to achieving their aspiration for deep learning.

Deep Learning Competencies

At the heart of it all are the Deep Learning Competencies, better known as the Six Cs. These are the skill sets each and every learner needs to achieve and excel in, in order to flourish in today’s complex world. These competencies form the foundation for the New Measures. NPDL teachers use the Deep Learning Progressions to assess learner’s current levels in each of the six Deep Learning Competencies. They combine this with information about learner achievement, interests, and aspirations to get a clear understanding of what each learner needs.

This is illustrated in the video below where Tracey Scott, Visual Arts teacher from Bream Bay College, shares her story of using the 6Cs in her senior NCEA classroom.

Also from Bream Bay College, Gwyneth Cooper has been using the NPDL frameworks to establish strong connections between Cultural Competencies and Deep Learning. How can we weave the 6C learning competencies into learning experiences which are socially and culturally located?

Deep Learning Lab

Participating schools gather each year at a Deep Learning Lab (DLL), where they come to be inspired and informed about the ways they can deepen learning in their schools. The 2018 DLL was held in Auckland, which included inspiration from CORE’s Rosalie Reiri on the significance of local context and the development of cultural narratives and global NPDL team member, Mag Gardner, sharing her expertise on building collaborative cultures.

After attending the DLL in Auckland the teachers from Hawea Flat School in Otago gave feedback on what they’d learned from attending the Lab:

“We had a team of people come to the Deep Learning Lab in Auckland that ranged from teachers presenting workshops, lead teachers in other areas of the school as well as teachers new to our school who had little understanding of NPDL. The keynote speakers are critical and there was something there for everyone. As a team we connected strongly with Rosalie and her place-based keynote address and also with Mag Gardner. It’s great to hear from international speakers as well as those from NZ. The workshops catered well for the different places we’re all at on our NPDL journey. We came away feeling energised, inspired and everyone motivated to go ‘deeper’. Everyone on board our waka is paddling in the same direction. It affirmed a lot of what was happening back at our school and showed us how we could go further. We felt confident to ‘let go’ and follow the children’s lead while at the same time engaging more with our parent community and what they felt was important for their children to learn. We hadn’t in the past found that out from parents during the ‘planning’ phase and after the Deep Learning Lab we followed multiple times with our parent community. One of the biggest impacts has been us realising how important it is to show our parents what ‘deep’ learning is as many of them have come through a system where test outcomes have been the main priority for learning.”

Cultural narratives

Building on what they had learned at the DLL, teachers from Hillpark School and Clevedon School in Auckland decided to put into practice the ideas they’d gained from Rosalie regarding creating a cultural narrative relating to their local context. They identified that a number of their teachers didn’t actually live in the same area as their respective schools, so set about creating an “Historical hikoi” to help build an appreciation of the cultural histories of their local areas that they could then integrate more effectively into their classroom programmes. Their story is shared in the video below.

Wellbeing and literacy

The NZ schools involved in NPDL are demonstrating a variety of ways to implement the frameworks available through being a part of the NPDL project. A recent article in the Education Gazette records the story of Cobden School near Greymouth that has used a wellbeing focus to improve boys’ literacy.

Learning partnerships

Providing opportunities for immersive, trans-disciplinary approaches to learning that involve close links with the local community are a key focus of what schools in the NPDL programme seek to achieve. In the video below, Janis Sandri from Holy Family Catholic school in Wanaka shares her school’s story of how they formed learning partnerships with key members and organisations in their local community to support learner driven passion projects.

As each of the stories of impact in this post reveal, the NPDL programme is not a ‘recipe’ to follow. Rather, it provides a robust set of frameworks and tools, together with the support of experienced facilitators and a broad community of educators, that can be used to augment and further develop the work you are doing in your school already. The challenge of how we meet the needs of each individual learner while creating a localised curriculum and ensuring that the learning is deep is not an easy task, but with the support of a local and global community, and with the tools to help us plan for and measure deep learning, it does become more achievable.

NZ NPDL Deep Learning Lab 2021 – registrations open now

A two-day New Pedagogies for Deep Learning hybrid event. Be a part of the action!

Attend in-person or virtually 22-23 July – Find out more

 

If you’re interested in knowing more about how your school or cluster could become a part of the NPDL programme in NZ please contact:
Margot McKeegan margot.mckeegan@core-ed.ac.nz or
This blog post was written collaboratively by Margot and Derek.

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Wellbeing: What’s it about?

Posted on May 6, 2019 by Ara Simmons

wellbeing

Image by CORE Education, all rights reserved.

Wellbeing everywhere

Wellbeing has permeated every facet of our social psyche. It’s in vogue, a fashionable word, possibly even overused. A bit like resilience, but that’s a word for another day. It’s even made CORE’s Ten Trends this year. Wellbeing is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “The state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy.” Internationally there is no agreement on a definition for wellbeing, however, those who research the area agree that wellbeing is more than the absence of disease, it is a construct with many parts. In order to flourish, people need to experience high levels of wellbeing.

Positive Psychology is the field of science that explores optimal human functioning and aims to discover the factors that enable individuals and communities to thrive. Where traditional psychology explores what’s wrong with us and is very much focused on a disease model, Positive Psychology asks what is right with us. This science is also about the permission to be human and being able to experience the full range of human experiences and emotions without getting stuck or hiding from emotions that are hard. As humans, we can become mentally unhealthy when we get stuck in anger, anxiety, depression, judgement or guilt. Positive Psychology offers us tools for coping with negative events, enhancing positive experiences and flexibly moving through the whole gamut of human emotions as we journey through life. It is this lens that I write with.

Focusing on the adults first

It makes sense that if we look after our teachers that they are going to look after our ākonga. I like psychology professor Felicia Huppert’s description of wellbeing: Feeling good and functioning well. So for the purposes of this post, this is the definition we will keep in mind

To operate at our best we need to be well. We all have personal stories about people who, by their own admission, contributed to the outcomes of challenging and difficult situations because they were not operating at or even near their full potential. I’ll never forget the highly stressed doctor (her very own words, and she looked it) repeatedly failing to insert a needle that would drip feed essential medication to our fragile premature son’s heart. Thankfully a mindful nurse intervened, took over and got the vein on her first attempt. We intuitively know it, and the evidence backs it up, when an organisation or individual’s wellbeing is high, performance is enhanced, people are happier, healthier and more connected.

As a profession here in New Zealand, educators are a generous bunch. At times it appears that working hard in education is like a badge of honour. How can you really care when you don’t put your life and soul into the vocation. Give, give, give until we’re spent! Let’s be realistic, this is not sustainable, certainly not if we expect the best outcomes for our ākonga. We instinctively know this is right. How could it not be true? Yet the conveyor belt that is modern life, and our education system, continues to rattle around at an ever faster pace.

We need to be mindful that giving everything for others and leaving nothing in the tank for ourselves can leave us utterly depleted. Again sustainability is the issue here, particularly given the critical teacher shortage that we are currently experiencing in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

We need to be more mindful about our lives, including our workspaces. We need to make the connection that our wellbeing impacts on our ability to be great at what we do. We need to tune in. We need to make wellbeing a part of daily routines.

Just one small step

We often talk about the idea of micro-steps when working with teachers around their wellbeing. There is a variety of wellbeing frameworks out there. However, one of the most widely used wellbeing frameworks referred to as PERMA, comes from the work of Professor Martin Seligman.

Seligman believes there are five foundational pillars to wellbeing:

  • Positive emotions (some describe this as happiness)
  • Engagement
  • Relationships
  • Meaning and purpose
  • Accomplishment.

perma

PERMA model credited to Professor Martin Seligman, graphic by CORE Education. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Want to measure your own wellbeing?

Your responses to the 23 questions on the PERMA meter will give you an idea of how well you are doing in relation to the five pillars. Other researchers have since added an additional pillar of vitality or health which refers to our sleeping, eating, physical movement and our ability to cope with stress. I like the PERMAH (where the H stands for Health) survey created by McQuaid and Kern, leading researchers in the applications of positive interventions.

When considering being well from a Te Ao Māori stance, one of our well-known wellbeing frameworks is Te Whare Tapa Whā, developed by Professor Sir Mason Durie ,1995).

Te Whare Tapa Whā has four foundational walls:
Te Taha Hinengaro (psychological health)
Te Taha Wairua (spiritual health)
Te Taha Tinana (physical health)
Te Whānau (family health)

whare

Image by gerard on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0.

We also have Te Wheke, which was developed by Dr Rangimarie Turuki Arikirangi Rose Pere. This model provides the additional dimensions of Mauri (life force in people and objects), Hā a koro mā, a kui mā (breath of life from forbearers), Mana ake (unique identity) Whatumanawa (the open and healthy expression of emotion).

The Fonofale model created by Fuimaono Karl Pulottu-Enderman considers the Pacific view on health. Here the idea of cultural values and beliefs as being the shelter of life are expressed.

faleImage by Michael Coghlan on Flickr. CC BY-SA 2.0.

All these frameworks have much in common. Our head health, body health, our relationships, and meaning and purpose matters to our overall state of being well. Which framework you decide to use, and there are more than I have mentioned here, depends on your own needs in aligning with culture and or personal preference.

Formulating your wellbeing plan

There are a number of positive interventions that we can use to dial up our pillars of wellbeing.

If I had used Martin Seligman’s PERMA framework and completed the survey, a helpful next step for me to consider might be to focus on two of the pillars to keep it manageable. For argument’s sake, let’s say I chose the positive emotion and engagement pillars as my foci.

Positive emotion – To boost this pillar, I may want to engage in the jolts of joy activity. Here I would write down five things that bring a smile to my face and then reach for this list when I need a boost of positivity (such as after an excruciatingly long meeting).

Engagement – Create my play history – remember a time during my childhood where I did something that brought me great joy and excitement, and then think about ways I could recreate this in my work.

Other examples of activities can be found within the PERMAH survey.
When we talk about positive interventions, they are usually simple in nature and often have us referring back to something in our past, present or future. Very doable indeed.

Wellbeing as a collective endeavour

‘Wellbeing’ is very subjective and means different things to different individuals, so a nice place to start is to have a collective understanding of what wellbeing can mean for all those who have a role in supporting our ākonga and then growing your shared understanding from there.

If Positive Psychology were to be distilled into three words it would be that “other people matter”. These are not my words, but those of the late Professor Chris Peterson.

We know from the research that if we wish to impact the wellbeing of our ākonga, we must first impact the wellbeing of our educators. This is not just our teachers, but also any other adult who works directly or indirectly with our ākonga.

Embracing wellbeing: a few compelling reasons

  • We often mirror our teaching counterparts in the UK. In the 12 months leading up to April 2018, the Guardian reported that the number of teachers seeking mental health support had risen by 35% from a charity that specialises in supporting teachers in education.
  • A 2016 NZ teacher survey discovered that around 87% of teachers (mainly primary) used no strategies to respond to stress and just carried on regardless.

Strategies that enable staff wellbeing

Some effective strategies and practices include:

  • Regular conversations about wellbeing with staff
  • Leaders being approachable and open to discuss issues around workload and how to collectively manage this
  • Flexible spaces and places to work from when on release
  • Wellbeing as a regular agenda item on meetings
  • Individual/group coaching to support the wellbeing of teachers and leaders
  • Having a well-being team that is able to support a planned approach.

In a recent article from one principal who prioritised the wellbeing of their own staff found that they were able to positively impact stress levels and feelings of working in a much more supported environment. Ākonga achievement was also positively impacted.

As nation builders, I believe that our profession is a splendid torch and we want to make it burn as brightly as possible for our future generations. It is imperative that we can do this with our wellbeing intact. We all deserve to feel good and function well.

By being able to focus on wellbeing we are able to build on our emotional resources so that when we are faced with challenging times, either individually or collectively, we can draw on these bank of resources to support us through.

Find out more

  • Explore the Hauora | Wellbeing programme
  • Talk to your PLD facilitators about how you can weave in wellbeing into your context when considering growing your leaders, staff wellbeing, inclusive practices.
  • Chat to Ara about wellbeing facilitation and the next steps in your own learning.

References

Ao Ako Global Learning. About Rose – Ao Ako Global Learning. Retrieved from https://aoakogloballearning.co.nz/about-rose/

Central PHO. (2017). Central PHO Pacific Cultural Guidelines (pp. 3-4). Central PHO.

CORE Education. (2019). Ten Trends 2019 – Wellbeing. Retrieved from http://www.core-ed.org/research-and-innovation/ten-trends/2019/wellbeing/

Health Promotion Forum of New Zealand. (2011). Te Whare Tapa Whā: Mason Durie – Hauora. Retrieved from https://hauora.co.nz/te-whare-tapa-wha-mason-durie/

Lang, D. (2018). Every school needs a staff wellbeing team – here’s how to start one. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2018/feb/01/staff-wellbeing-team-school-improved

McQuaid, M. Kern, P. (2017). Your Wellbeing Blueprint: Feeling good and doing well at work, Australia.Michelle McQuaid.

Profile: Christopher Peterson. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.livehappy.com/science/profiles/profile-christopher-peterson

Save Our Schools NZ. (2016). Teacher Stress & Anxiety in New Zealand Schools. Retrieved from https://saveourschoolsnz.com/2016/12/01/teacher-stress-anxiety-in-nz-schools/

Seligman, M. E. (2011). Flourish. North Sydney, N.S.W.: Random House Australia.

Stanley, J. (2018). Teachers are at breaking point. It’s time to push wellbeing up the agenda. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2018/apr/10/teachers-are-at-breaking-point-its-time-to-push-wellbeing-up-the-agenda

University of Pennsylvania. Profile of Dr. Martin Seligman | Authentic Happiness. Retrieved from https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/faculty-profile/profile-dr-martin-seligman

University of Pennsyvania. Professor Felicia A. Huppert, Ph.D. | Authentic Happiness. Retrieved from https://www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/faculty-profile/professor-felicia-huppert-phd

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ratings

What kind of feedback do you give? Constructive or destructive?

Posted on August 15, 2018 by James Hopkins

Providing someone with feedback is valuable. In our roles as educators, whether facilitator, leader, teacher, or a combination of all, we leave ourselves open to opinion. From time to time this feedback is shared constructively, points are collaboratively established to be worked through and targets are set. The outcome? Positive change. And then there are other times when feedback or criticism is destructive.

criticism“The difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism is the way in which comments are delivered. Although both forms are challenging your ideas, character, or ability, when someone is giving destructive criticism it can hurt your pride and have negative effects on your self-esteem and confidence. Destructive criticism is often just thoughtlessness by another person, but it can also be deliberately malicious and hurtful. Destructive criticism can, in some cases, lead to anger and/or aggression.” (Dealing With Criticism)

For those of you who have been on the receiving end of destructive criticism, I truly empathise. We stand in front of our peers or learners, delivering, teaching, or supporting with passion. From personal experience, I have been astounded by how hard some comments have hit me. It hurts! It can be completely unexpected and feels almost impossible to prepare for.

What troubles me most is the long-term damage that destructive criticism can cause. Whether motivated by a sense of helping, or, in rare cases, actively designed to cause turmoil, in the education sector it simply isn’t good enough. Our roles and much of our professional development relies heavily on the feedback of peers. Education remains an intriguing mystery at times as I watch amazing middle leaders deliver well-constructed feedback for their students, personalising comments, and finding deeper meaning, while the same is not done for their peers.

How could you frame feedback?

In 2004, Emily Heaphy and Marcial Losada conducted a study of the nature and ratio of effective feedback. Although their data has now been widely reviewed and challenged on a statistical level (not on a wider interpretation of impact level), the basic premise of their findings is well worth understanding. They found, “The average ratio for the highest-performing teams was 5.6 (that is, nearly six positive comments for every negative one).” (Zenger and Folkman 2013). Taking the meaning into account over the data as a fact, this leads us to believe that we perform better when the ratio of positive comments is much greater than negative. This in itself is not a revelation. A happy team who feel supported and trust their leadership will perform more effectively and cohesively than a team who feels the opposite — it’s human nature. However, seeing this ratio made me reflect on the feedback I had given to a peer when reading through their sabbatical report recently.

example of criticism

In no way am I suggesting my feedback here is perfect — far from it! Prior to this paragraph was a list of wider thinking questions that were designed to start deeper conversations, but upon rereading, I realised quickly that they could be seen as highly critical. After some rephrasing, but without losing the direction and with the addition of positivity to balance the challenge, I sent the feedback. It was well received and acted upon. I think the key here was to understand what it might feel like to be on the end of the email before pressing the send button. This is not always easy, but brings us back to the old proverb, ‘treat others as you would wish to be treated.’ It’s not perfect, but I don’t know anyone who would want to be on the end of destructive criticism!

When should you deliver feedback?

So, what if you’ve carefully phrased the criticism, balanced positive and negative elements, but made sure the meaning and direction has been maintained. When do you send it? Think carefully here. Have you ever received a challenging email late at night or over the weekend? It could be argued that we need a level of self-control and don’t need to check emails or messages in our personal time, but digital technology has changed things and we live in a predominantly ever-connected world. Switching off and demarcating non-message/email time is a whole different conversation. In this instance, imagine receiving something constructive over the weekend. It could go either way, right? Gently nagging at you throughout the weekend and distracting from time with whānau and friends. Or, it could be well received and not worry you until Monday morning. But dare we assume? I think, perhaps, the biggest question to ask here is: can it wait until the morning or Monday? If the answer is no, shouldn’t it to lead to asking, how the best way to share might be?

How should you deliver feedback?

To be effective, I believe you have to know the person on a personal level so that you know how they respond to different modes of communication and which they prefer. It’s important to know that one of your colleagues likes bad news or challenges to be shared face to face, whereas another is happy to receive it via Snapchat. For some, being able to hear someone’s tone on the telephone or read their expression and body language in person (or via video call with cameras on) is important. For others, being face to face with a colleague who is sharing criticism may be intimidating and they may feel uncomfortable outside of text-based communication. Neither is right or wrong, they are simply preferences. If we don’t ascertain what our colleague’s preference is, we run the risk of getting it wrong and potentially affecting them on a personal level.

How do we deal with criticism?

depressionIt’s not fair to assume that our reaction to every piece of criticism received will be the same. It is dependent on who the sender is, how it’s worded, and what the positive/negative ratio is.

“The key thing to remember is that whatever the circumstance is, don´t respond in anger as this will cause a scene and create bad feelings – and possibly a bad image of you.” (Dealing With Criticism).

Of course, there are generic things you can do to calm and deal with situations effectively, some of which can be applied to multiple situations:

Talk to someone

It is worth remembering that teaching and education rely heavily on collaboration and cooperation. Find someone you trust and share openly with them. It’s about finding perspective and understanding that an immediate reaction could be clouded by heightened emotion- we’re human!

Don’t press send

Write the email if you need to. Draft in a document, record it as a voice memo, do whatever you feel you need to do to get it out of your system, but do not press send. Everyone needs an outlet.

Focus on the positives

It can be hard to find the positives in a pile of negatives, but if you look hard, they’re often there. Combined with possibly talking with someone for a fresh set of eyes, hunt through for anything that resembles a comment that could be a compliment. If one simply cannot be found, stop reading. Put it down. Return to step one.

Respond (at an appropriate time)

The key here is appropriate. A response doesn’t mean a defence. It may be as simple as acknowledging the criticism and knowing when to cease the conversation. If the criticism is truly unjust and undeserved, mediation may be needed. Find an alternative perspective and have a comparison. Otherwise, let it go; the damage done from holding on to something you cannot change far outweighs anything else.

Find a different cup

A close colleague of mine, who recently supported me through my own challenge, shared how strange it was that we so often end up focusing on the negative. On a page of beautifully balanced constructive criticism, our eyes immediately search for the thing we know will upset us the most! It made me wonder how often we bank the comments that make us feel good. How do we keep the cup full in the background, so we know it’s there to drink from when we need it? There is nothing arrogant about storing positivity to improve a sense of self. After all, we have a first-aid kit in the house, why not have one for the mind?

In conclusion…

In closing, something I think we all need to remember (including me as I write this) is that we are our own harshest critics. Whether that stems from the words of others or a deeply reflective sense of self, it’s about what we do with the thinking and words we receive. Do we let them stoke the flames of a raging fire of insecurity? Or, are we able to let them pass by us like a cool breeze? The internationally renowned singer Adele once said, “I have insecurities of course, but I don’t hang out with anyone who points them out.”

 

References
(n.d.). Dealing with Criticism | SkillsYouNeed. Retrieved July 10, 2018, from https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/dealing-with-criticism.html
Zenger, J and Folkman, J.
(2013, March 15). The Ideal Praise-to-Criticism Ratio — Harvard Business Review. Retrieved July 10, 2018, from https://hbr.org/2013/03/the-ideal-praise-to-criticism

Image credits
Criticism, Write a Review, Review from Pixabay CC0
Depression, Voices, Self Criticism from Pixabay  CC0

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