NCEA Review: My Thoughts

Biiiig changes are coming to our National Certificate of Educational Achievement (that link is to the new and developing NCEA), over the next few years. There is currently a review of our Senior assessments, with 7 changes, as identified in the below picture my colleague drew. Yesterday for our national Teacher Only Day we got a taster of the changes to come over the next three years. There are 5 major shifts that need to be addressed in our high school system to support these 7 changes, which I decided to share my thoughts on.

WELLBEING

I am so pleased to see wellbeing is not only a key focus of the changes, but also the first to be discussed. By having less, bigger standards as well as less credits offered per course will definitely help to reduce teacher and student stress. The biggest stressor for the kids is when they are juggling multiple assessments, and sometimes even need to choose whether they are going to complete them all. The biggest stressor for me personally is the considerable amount of marking (especially when I'm very particular!). 

I also think with more scope to go off on tangents with learning, as less time needs to be set aside for assessment, will enhance overall enjoyment at school. With greater flexibility, students will have more say in what they are learning, and are likely to have greater interest. I do think the current structure and system of NCEA means kids are just credit counting. I'm sooooo tired of hearing 'I don't need to do this work Miss, I already have the credits I need'. To get to this point though of greater flexibility though, a lot needs to be done around greater understanding of different modes of assessment gathering, and exemplars to show this.

GREATER INCLUSION AND EQUITY

It's fantastic there has been recognition of the diversity in our country and the need to consider this diversity within our teaching, learning and assessment. There appears to be more thought not only around our Māori ancestry and customs, but also LGBTQI, several other ethnicities/cultures, and those who are less able. Greater inclusion of students and adapting the way we assess to have greater equity is a super positive step forward!

As part of Change 2, there were several mentions of the creation of resources to support staff, but I hope that there will be Professional Development to ensure these are delivered effectively and consistently. I am excited for greater access to and inclusion of Māori medium learning, but really hope this is implemented correctly and respectfully, which may not be the case if there isn't effective PD around the resources. My final wondering, is if there is the possibility of teacher judgement alongside teacher aides to determine whether students with disabilities have met a standard, rather than have the same expectations of able students?

COHERENCE

Although I agree there needs to be a reduction of the fragmented learning across graduates, I fear that this may reduce student choice. If we try too hard to fill the gaps in capabilities, knowledge and skills, so the students are on a level playing field when they leave school, then are they going to be clones of one another? Sure, we need to be confident we are preparing students for multiple pathways, as the next shift suggests, but we also need to be sure students still have some choice in pursuing the capabilities, knowledge and skills that they are passionate about. So, how are we going to individualise courses and learning opportunities, if we are wanting greater coherence..?

The design of a literacy and numeracy package which every student must pass, I do think is a fantastic idea. Having a set of 20 credits for numeracy and literacy will certainly help to ensure a base set of knowledge and skills which is consistent across school leavers. This will also help increase understanding and confidence for future education providers or employers. The ability to access and be assessed on these different assessments in the 20 credit pack when the students are ready is an incredible change - meaning students can demonstrate their learning at any point throughout their high school years (as opposed to only in Year 11 currently). Finally - OC are ahead of the game since we are already assessing against the Achievement Objectives and Levels of the NZC, which is the language these packs will use.

PATHWAYS

I do genuinely think the students at Orewa have so many options for future pathways between extra-curricular opportunities, subjects, GATEWAY programmes and they are given lots of guidance from our Careers department around the steps in their journey. The fact it has been identified that some Kiwi students have been "denied access to empowering pathways to succeed in life", is saddening, so it's great something is being done to address this inequity.

I love the creation of the new Vocational Entrance Award, as I think this will give motivation to the students who possibly don't enjoy the school system, but want and need it to support their pathways. This credited award that will hopefully become internationally recognised, will hopefully give some of that empowerment back. I also think this may give greater clarity for whānau and employers. A final positive, is that this system change may encourage discussion and changes within the HPE department, to more proactively advocate for the myriad of pathways students could follow by choosing our HPE courses.

CREDIBILITY

I don't have many thoughts on this system shift, aside from agreeing on the need to have clearer transparency and apprehension of what NCEA actually is and how it can support our young people. Especially for our families and the wider community. There certainly is a gap in understanding, which becomes especially evident during student conferences with home. When I was at Tamaki, they held NCEA info evenings for caregivers, which was great - but there is certainly a need for resources in multiple languages, as I feel that is a current barrier.

I also wonder if there is uncertainty around the general credibility of NCEA, as discussed, how can we actually demonstrate or increase the certainty of NCEA's credentials?

Lots of changes ahead, but lots of positive changes. I look forward to following the next steps...

Prejudice & Misconceptions

"We've got to stop trying to fix our kids, because our kids are not what's broken. We have a very broken system."

These words from Dr Michelle Johansson really left me thinking during (and following on from) her webinar last month (hosted by PENZ) - 'What will it take to change the world for Young Brown Scholars?' As I pondered some of her key messages, our staff also had the opportunity for Anton Blank to present to us about Racism, Bias and Wellbeing.

There were many crossovers within these presentations, but they both highlighted the prejudice and misconceptions many have about Māori people. The unfortunate stereotype in society is that our brown faces are poor and dumb. And because they are 'poor and dumb', society treats them this way. It is appalling that we have created this prejudice, but horrific that this has become normalised and accepted by many. 

As teachers, we have a significant role and opportunity to challenge these preconceived ideas. To defy them. To interrupt the ongoing cycle. 

But to start, Anton suggested we are aware of our unconscious bias. When you think something, do you consider where that idea has come from? Do you challenge the idea? Do you critically break down where/how/why that idea even existed in your mind? Over the last week or so, I have been trying to answer these questions, to challenge my own thinking and bias.

I was surprised by some of the findings that Anton discussed, related to the disconnect between teachers and students. Even though there wasn't supposed to be this disconnect, and many of the teachers believed they were inclusive of all learners, the students commented that their teachers often asked Asian and Pākeha students to answer questions. This has encouraged me to more intentionally consider who I am asking to demonstrate learning or to give examples.

Some additional strategies that were recommended included; breaking up the 'in' groups (those who may not be considered as a minority), ensuring Māori students are all around the room (not just at the back), and educate about prejudice and misconceptions to encourage students to think about their own bias! 

Wow, I Really Have Learnt A Lot!

I currently have a Pre Service Teacher under my wing, and she asked me some questions to ignite her thinking. They actually encouraged a lot of reflection of my own practice, and really demonstrated over the last (nearly) 5 years how much I have actually grown as a teacher, especially reading through my blog posts I have written. 

The questions asked were;

- When you teach your HPE lessons how do you get your students to demonstrate student agency (choice and ownership) of their own learning?

- How do you encourage students to problem solve and critically think?

- How do you acknowledge students' prior knowledge and experiences?

- What interesting learning activities/experiences do you provide when designing a unit plan?

- How do you embody/apply the principles of inclusion and/or biculturalism in your teaching practice?

- How do you include digital technology in your teaching practice?

I would encourage everyone to take the time to answer these questions irrespective how long you have been teaching. They really got me thinking, and shows me the knowledge I have developed over the last 5 years, and helps my student teacher!

Supporting Māori Students, As Māori

New Zealand teachers are required to maintain their full registration status every three years once fully registered (this occurs generally after the first two years of teaching). When I moved from being provisionally registered to fully registered, there were 12 criteria I needed to provide growth and evidence for - now there are 6 standards (see further information about the criteria here). 

I have often had stacks of evidence for most of the criteria, but standard 1 I have had little to support my growth (evident from the lack of labels on my blog, and from my final appraisal discussion with my appraiser this year). Standard 1 is about demonstrating partnership to Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), and commitment to tangata whenuatanga (the history and connections of where we come from). As a result of this gap, I knew I needed to complete further readings and start to develop greater strengths in this area throughout 2020, so thought I would get the ball rolling. 

Earlier in the year, Hana O'Regan presented to our cluster of local schools. Hana mostly spoke about her own experiences, and the experiences of others she knows, growing up as a Māori in New Zealand. She explored some of the common stereotypes and educational challenges that exist within our education system, that are consistently reinforced. We are surrounded by statistics about low achievement rates for Māori students (here for example), and we are constantly placing labels such as 'priority learners' onto our Māori students. Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have an unconscious bias, and this bias is often shaped by what we are surrounded by. Associate Education Minister Tracy Martin comments that this unconscious bias, and racism, plays a significant role in the gaps in Māori achievement. 

Hana encouraged me to think about my own biases, and be more actively aware of my words, expressions and mannerisms in the classroom, and how small things may come across as rude, disrespectful or racist. The kids are a product of the environment they are brought up in - and unfortunately many have preconceived ideas about what it means to be Māori, negative ones, and consequently believe it of themselves, internalise these ideas. Māori are low achieving, Māori are naughty, Māori are drop outs - stereotypes which many students believe they need to conform to. Being more aware though, we can begin to challenge and interrupt the discourses, and educate our learners as to why they are not factual and definitely not written into their futures. (Sidenote: if you would like to read more about Māori ontologies/tikanga, I would suggest reading Rachael Dixon's post).

The Education Hub have suggested seven principles to support Māori students, as Māori, as outlined/summarised in the infographic I created alongside. I would recommend reading more of their posts related to this topic, such as this post and also this post (both more specifically about culturally responsive pedagogy).

After reading these posts, creating the infographic, listening to Hana's presentation, and reflecting on my own experiences, I now need to put into action some of the alongside principles in 2020 (some I feel I already do, but implicitly). I look forward to learning more, to see how I can further support my Māori students in particular, but all learners!

Giving Back to the PENZ Whānau

As previously posted, I attended a Health, PE, and Outdoor Ed conference last week. I stepped out of my comfort zone and decided to present twice this year! Before starting presentation prep, I realised that I had never created my pepeha, so this was my first step. A pepeha is how you introduce yourself, related to the community you identify as home and your ancestors, spoken in Māori.

I worked alongside Whaea Melba, our HOD of Māori to create my pepeha, which was an awesome learning journey. I found out a lot about the history of the land I grew up on and more about my whakapapa (genealogy), and became incredibly interested in my family connections to and with the land. Melba asked me to write out my pepeha on popsicle sticks, cut up each word and then match the words to practice putting my pepeha together. I enjoyed this task as I was physically moving the words into place and practising how to say the words at the same time. After a few weeks of practising, I was excited to finally present my pepeha at conference! 

My first presentation was with my friend and fellow HPE teacher, Mallory Bish. Mal and I moderate a Twitter chat (#NZBTchat) together, and have found Twitter to support our journeys as Beginning Teachers. See more about the chat here, and more about our BT journeys here. Unfortunately, our chats are very quiet currently, and we are struggling to recruit new BTs onto Twitter. So, we presented about the affordances of Twitter both professionally and personally in hope for newbies to join in. Please see our Google Slides presentation below, which also includes my pepeha. We also showed/taught the attendees two digital tools - Plickers (example here) and Lino-It (example here).

I really enjoyed creating this presentation and running the session with Mal, as we have grown as professionals as well as grown closer as friends (check out our costumes below for the conference dinner - the characters from the movie Up!). We were also incredibly blessed to have been awarded together the PENZ award for 'Outstanding New Professional'! I feel so proud of our achievement, and incredibly thankful. I was nominated for the award by Celia Fleck for sharing on my blog and Twitter alongside the moderation of #NZBTchat. Until last Sunday night, I had never actually met Celia before, we had just read each other's blogs and interacted via Twitter - again showing the power of Twitter! So I feel so blown away she nominated me for this award without even knowing me. Please see Celia's blog here.

Other people who have been incredibly supportive of Mal and I, and the development of the chat are Rachael, Carl, Susie, Alex, Hayden, Myles, Hanchen, Stuart, Andrew and Paul. These people have been there every step of the way, and without their help, challenges and critiques we would not have continued to moderate our chat, nor would we have presented at conference! All but one of these people we 'met' through Twitter!

My second presentation was more of a show and tell session of my visible teaching and learning, followed by a Q&A. I showed how my students access my site to see their learning resources, and how my planning is also available for teachers. I also demonstrated some ways to use GAFE applications within teaching and learning, and then answered questions the attendees had about anything I do and know. Finally, I showed how Blogger (and blogging generally) can be used for the learning journeys of teachers and students. Reflecting on the session really highlighted to me how much I do know, and how much I have learnt throughout the MDTA programme over the past 18 months! Shoutout to Dorothy for getting me to where I am today, and continuing to push me to have the greatest knowledge possible. I also found the GAFE conference last holidays to be incredibly useful for educators of any experience with Googley things.

I loved giving back to the HPE community, and hopefully the attendees took away something to reflect on, implement into their practice or experiment with!