Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Responsiveness

What does the Treaty have to do with my classroom practice?

Aotearoa New Zealand was the first country in which the colonising party set out to to negotiate a treaty with the indigenous peoples, outlining how the two parties would respectfully share the land and resources of the country.  

The Treaty of Waitangi promises three things; 

1. the Crown's right to govern the land,  
2. the right of Maori to the exclusive and undisturbed possession of their Lands and Estates Forests Fisheries and other properties, 
3. and to protect all the ordinary people of New Zealand, giving them the same rights and duties of citizenship as the people of England.

Our history shows that these principles have not been applied fairly or consistently.  Maori are over-represented in all the negative statistics that we collect in our country; poverty, poor mental and physical health, academic under achievement, crime and incarceration, suicide.   Our education system has contributed to the problem for decades, promoting deficit theories for under achievement and actively promoting curricula that marginalises our Maori students.  The third article promises to protect the rights of citizenship of Maori, and that includes the right to an equitable education system.

What does that mean for those of us working in schools?   

We must refuse to accept excuses for under achievement, and we must believe that every child is capable of learning. We must deliver a relevant and challenging curriculum that connects with the cultural experiences of our students.  We must value each student and their family, as partners in this process.  In short, we need to be culturally responsive.

My understanding of a 'culturally responsive teacher' is one who uses the students own knowledge and experiences to connect with new learning, building connections that value their cultural capital while giving them clear guidelines for how to achieve, while working in a school that explicitly values and plans for partnership and success. 

In 2012 the Education Review Office presented a report that  described how the cultural diversity principle in the NZC could be enacted in school and classroom curriculum. They included six criteria that they considered showed embedded practice of cultural respect;

• teachers were aware of students’ different cultural identities
• students’ cultural contexts were incorporated into teaching and learning programmes and into the classroom environment
• teachers provided practical opportunities for all students to be proud and share their languages and cultures through cultural groups, special events, and school festivals that celebrated cultural difference
• all students experienced learning contexts from multiple cultures 
• there were clear expectations in schools’ charters for celebration of diversity, stating the right of all children to feel culturally safe
• boards that had developed such charters sought representation from all the cultures of their school community, and staff were representative of many cultures.

This means that the school must plan for and deliver equitable practices that begin with the charter and end with the student achievement data.

Our Story

Our school has made commitment to providing an equitable education for all students that is inclusive and reflective of the diverse community we draw from, giving priority to our Maori students as our commitment to the principles of the Treaty.


What I bring to the process is a personal commitment.  I am the mother of two Maori children, living in a bi-cultural family.  I believe  that their education should celebrate both of their cultural heritages, and provide them with the skills they need to be successful in whatever they choose to do. They need to be comfortable with and able to function in both their worlds. This commitment is fundamental to the way I approach my own classroom teaching and has shaped my leadership practices also.

What do we do well?

We have a strong culture that exists in the school, evidenced by annual events, regular practices and shared language.  Many of these are traditional, western-education practices that celebrate success and build community. In wanting to be more representative of our culturally diverse community, we have made conscious decisions to include other cultural practices in  the culture of our school, and to publicly value to the cultural capital of our students, Maori and non-Maori.
As a teaching staff we have participated in professional learning sessions to improve our own use of Te Reo, and deliver a weekly programme of te reo in our classrooms with the support of a fluent Maori speaker (Te Reo Tuatahi). We use te reo incidentally in our everyday classroom instructions, and encourage the use of te reo by our students. 
We start every term with a student-led powhiri to welcome our new families to the school, we use tuakeina/teina relationships (buddy classes) to promote positive attitudes to learning and show respect, we focus strongly on our school values to guide our response to restoring damaged relationships (restorative justice), we include Maori concepts and knowledge in our learning plans (Matariki celebrations,kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, ako).   Alongside this we run the more traditional responses such as kapa haka, te reo lessons in class, etc.  We have support groups for non-English speaking families, and through this we are starting to plan for events that also reflect their specific cultural heritage in our school. 

This year my personal inquiry has been investigating the extent that cultural confidence has on student achievement, using the research of Angus Macfarlane in his Ka Awatea project.  It outlines factors that promote academic and cultural success for Maori students, rather than just identifying the limiting factors.  This inquiry has seen me working with 25 Maori students, years 2-6,  on cultural activities that they indicated an interest in pursuing.  We have met with whanau twice already this year and presented student learning to them. It has been humbling to see the growth in some of our less confident children, those whose connection with their Maori side is less practised.  They are all able to present their pepeha, and explain what it means and why it is important. Informally I have sen an improvement in the engagement of these students in their classrooms, and anticipate seeing a corresponding acceleration in their achievement data from last year. 

What can we do better?

Documentation - review to ensure that our commitment to culturally responsive practice is reflected in the annual budget and strategic goals.  It is clear in the vision and priorities but needs to be followed through in the annual priorities for PLD, resourcing and staffing.  this requires a commitment from the Board of Trustees, which may require some professional learning as they are a new Board.  There are great resources for this, including Best Evidence Synthesis reports (MoE), EdTalks (some favourites listed in the references) and Hautu, the review tool provided by NZSTA.


Symbolic representation of culture - we need to complete the existing plan for signage and symbols for our school values and PB4L framework. Our intent has been to work with local iwi to sign a symbol or icon that represents each of our four values and use these consistently around the school. 

Community involvement - we need to mobilise the various cultural and ethnic groups in our school to support us in sharing their culture with our students.  This starts with our Maori community, and we have already discussed a larger Matariki festival as part of our Ka Awatea project outcomes.  This event will demonstrate a respect for cultural knowledge and celebrations that we can then use to encourage other ethnic groups to join us in planning other events and opportunities. A priority for us is Pasifika, as we have had a significant increase in Pasifika families to our school this year. 

Conclusion:

Russel Bishop's work in the Kotahitanga project has changed the way NZ schools look at Maori academic  outcomes.   His belief that 'caring and learning relationships are paramount to educational performance' has changed the way good teachers interact with their students and families.  And as we know from the Ka Hikitia document, what works for Maori works for everyone. It is simply good practice. 

REFERENCES:

Alton-Lee, A. (2003) Quality teaching for diverse students in schooling: Best evidence synthesis. Wellington Ministry of Education

Cowie, B., Otrel-Cass, K., Glynn, T., & Kara, H., et al.(2011).Culturally responsive pedagogy and assessment in primary science classrooms: Whakamana tamariki. Wellington: Teaching Learning Research Initiative.

Davis, P. Critical elements for raising Maori achievement. EdTalk  Retrieved from  http://edtalks.org/video/phoebe-davis-critical-elements-raising-m%C4%81ori-achievement

Education Review Office (2012):  The New Zealand Curriculum Principles: Foundations for Curriculum Decision-Making  Retrived from http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/the-new-zealand-curriculum-principles-foundations-for-curriculum-decision-making/  

Hautu - Māori cultural responsiveness self review tool for boards of trustees
Retrrived from http://www.nzsta.org.nz/professional-development/hautu-maori-cultural-responsiveness-self-review-tool-for-boards-of-trustees

Hotere-Barns, A. Addressing Pakeha paralysis with non-stupid optimism . EdTalk Retrieved from  http://edtalks.org/video/addressing-p%C4%81keh%C4%81-paralysis-non-stupid-optimism 

Macfarlane, A (2016). Ka Hiwa Ra! - Listen to Culture.  NZCER

Savage,C, Hindleb, R., Meyerc,L., Hyndsa,A., Penetitob, W. & Sleeterd, C.(2011) Culturally responsive pedagogies in the classroom: indigenous student experiences across the curriculum .Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 39(3), 183–198: 

Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice

Ethical Dilemma - Use of Social Media

Our personal and professional lives are increasingly dominated by the pressure to connect virtually with networks of people that we may or may not know in real life to develop or strengthen relationships and build connections. 

  

There are many advantages in using social media platforms, and so many of them available now.   We have a vast range of platforms allowing us to  share, vent, educate, question and entertain. This graphic (taken for the EDUCANZ website) shows the range of forums and purposes available to us.

(Retrieved from http://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/what-social-media - EDUCNZ)

Our story
Our decision as a school to start using social media was a considered one and responsive to our desire to have some influence over and control of our online presence.  We wanted to establish the boundaries for use and expectations for users, rather than have something develop outside of our control that didn't reflect the values and standards of our school community. We had seen many school Facebook pages being set up by community members, with no input from the school itself, and misrepresenting the school in its current form.  Often these were a forum for complaints about the school of old, but negatively impacted the current  school staff and leadership. 
We wanted to avoid this scenario and  achieve two things - provide a forum for discussion and sharing of information and a platform to share student experiences and work.  

However, as is often the case, the process for designing our school strategy for the use of social media came in response to a difficult situation. 

Our Dilemna 
This situation arose from a situation where a member of staff was publicly criticised on a parents Facebook page.  The parent concerned had a history of emotional, unpredictable, public and aggressive outbursts that were often directed at me or my staff.  After one particularly difficult episode she took to Facebook to vent her concerns. Despite having opportunity to speak to us, she was not satisfied with the outcome of the discussion. We felt we had addressed  the concerns with the mother and ensured that the issues raised were addressed in a fair and transparent process, as per the complaints policy in the school. However the whole process was undermined by the subsequent post.    As her page was fundamentally a public page, her views were shared widely and without challenge. The content of the post was factually inaccurate, biased and potentially damaging to the school. 
As a school we needed to decide what action we would take once this was brought to our attention. We also needed to decide how we would support the staff member named in the online rant.   We had to determine whether there was a case for defamation, if it was worth pursuing, and what the cost to all parties would be - student, staff, school and parent. 

We followed a process very similar to the one described in Alan Hall's 2001 paper: 

• Which stakeholder should be given priority? Why?
• What restrictions are there to your actions?
• Which courses of action are possible?
• How should the course of action be implemented?

The ethical issues facing us included: 

• the school's responsibility as an employer to support and safeguard the professional reputation and welfare of the staff member (with reference to employment law, employment agreements, and HR policy)
• the school's public reputation
• the ongoing relationship with the child and the extended whanau on both sides
• acknowledging mental health concerns  for the mother, focusing on the safety of her child.

Our greatest concern was for the safety of the child - we felt that if we challenged the mother, we could potentially negatively influence her state of mind and put the child at risk. 

The staff member named was not supportive of taking legal action, and felt that nothing positive could be achieved for any of those involved by going down that path.  The Board was of the opinion that continuing the conversation online would only add fuel to the debate, and that our best defence was the positive stories and public support of our own community.

Our decision was to maintain a 'dignified silence' in response.  In the end there were no more posts on the topic, the mother removed her child from the school as her rental arrangements changed, and peace returned.  As it often does. 
However it was a difficult situation for those concerned and challenged our understandings of online communities, conflict resolution and process.

How this influenced us
We had at first considered social media as simply a platform for  sharing good news, school
 events and student work. It was a 'feel good' news service.

This situation brought to our attention the opportunity to provide a forum for us to 'front - foot' issues within our school.  Social media was not just an opportunity to share student work and events, it was a platform for us as a school to address trends, share expectations and set boundaries with our community before they impacted negatively on any future relationship. It made clear to us that we needed to be in control of how our school was represented on social media.  We needed a platform that allowed us to present ourselves positively and fairly. We now have a moderated and private Facebook page that allows us to own the conversations about our school, and foster the positive relationships that then are reinforced on community public pages. We are able to set the parameters of what is appropriate and provide a model for acceptable online conversation with our community.  They now self-monitor this and any posts regarding a specific incident are referred by other members of the parent community to the school leadership, rather than being discussed online.
This incident had implications for us in terms of policy and procedure, as well as practice.  At the point of this issue arising, we had no formal policy in relation to social media in our school. We applied the complaints policy to our response, and this was somewhat successful, although did not capture the challenges of working  in an online environment.  We now have a cyber safety policy, and are developing a clause within that relates to the use of social media that will cross reference to our employment induction processes.

We have a lot of online presence now and are using a range of platforms to achieve all the goals of our online vision: 

1. to provide a way to share student voice, learning, achievements and events
2. to provide a forum for supporting  professional learning
3. to provide a forum to educate and inform our community about school culture and learning theory

                                         

REFERENCES:

Education Council of Aotearoa NZ  -  http://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/  

Netsafe -  https://www.netsafe.org.nz/resourcesschoolleaderseducators/ 

Hall, A. (2001) What ought I to do, all things considered? An approach to the exploration of ethical problems by teachers. Paper presented at the IIPE Conference, Brisbane.  

Duignan, P. (2003, September). Formation of capable, influential and authentic leaders for times of uncertainty. Paper presented at the Australian Primary Principals’ Association National Conference, Adelaide. 

Contemporary international trends impacting NZ education

Why does population growth in India impact on my classroom? 

The world is changing at a greater rate than ever before in history, and this change is primarily caused by us - humans.  We are demanding greater use of resource to meet the needs of a burgeoning global population, and a far larger middle class created by better access to health and education.  

This short animation provides a insight into the staggering rate of change we are facing:

 'Global trends: The world is changing faster than at any time in human history.'

Pearson (April 2013)

So what are the implications for NZ, and my classroom?   How does the population explosion in middle class India have any influence on what I am doing in my school in Auckland?

Why should we be aware of these trends in global change?

As we see advancements in technology and the growth of (tax deductible) philanthropy among the wealthiest individuals and companies, improvements are made possible that allow greater access to healthcare and affordable medication, provision of clean water and food, support for small businesses in developing nations, affordable housing, access to education for all.   These changes mean that globally we have a very different future that the one we anticipated 20 years ago.

                                              

We need to understand the implications of this as the children we teach will be entering an adult world that is global, demanding, more educated and very competitive.  They need to understand the importance of transferable skills and competencies that will allow them to function in a range of environments.  They will need to be able to go where the work takes them, understanding the different cultural and religious contexts they face, being comfortable working with a diverse group of colleagues as companies look globally for talent.   We need to have a workforce that is adaptable, able to collaborate with others, problem solve and think creatively.  Simply having an encyclopedic knowledge of facts will not be a useful or necessary skill - facts are easily found and theories are rapidly changing making facts a temporary truth. 

                                    

 So what does this mean for my school and our classrooms?  

I believe it means that we need to think harder about the how not the what of what we teach.

It means we need to pay much greater attention to the front end of our curriculum - the Key Competencies, Values and Principles. We also need to give greater time and energy to social action inquiry that allows students to consider their own challenges in the world and start to design ways of solving the 'wicked' problems their generation faces.

A recent publication by NZCER - 'Key Competencies for the future' asks us to consider what value we place on the Key Competencies; what value do they add to the learning process, how are we using them in our schools, are they embedded or taught explicitly, how are they communicated to students and whanau?  (These questions are important and I am currently working my way through the book with colleagues as a review of curriculum in  our school.)  It is important for our students to be able to relate to and work cooperatively with a diverse workforce. The KCs provide a framework for schools to develop the capabilities that will allow them to do this.

'Wicked problems' and collaborative student inquiry also builds capabilities and expectations that students have valid ideas and solutions for the problems that face them in their world.  It confirms for them that they have a voice and that they can contribute positively to their community and society in ways that will benefit not just themselves but others.  it grows social conscience, empathy and responsibility for the outcomes of the whole not just the individual.  These attributes are going to be very important as they face some of the most challenging issues related to population growth and limited resources.  

There is a multitude of research and opinion about the change in job roles due to the increase on technology, artificial intelligence and such like.  Many of the jobs that have been staples of the blue collar workforce will be replaced or minimised by technology, and now we are seeing this trend apply to many of the white collar professions also through the advancement of software making the collection, analysis and reporting of data and information achievable with just a few clicks of a mouse eg Xero.

What can we do to provide a workforce advantage for our students as they enter a market with more people worldwide competing for possibly fewer and definitely more specialised jobs.?

We need to teach them how to think creatively, how to work collaboratively and respectfully with others, how to maintain an open mind to possibilities and when to follow and when to lead.  We need to give greater emphasis to the Key Competencies on our curriculum as these capabilities are the key to being outstanding in a a sea of applicants. 

BUT more importantly, these skills will bring us the philosophers, the scientists, the researchers and the thinkers that will solve the wicked problems threatening our world.                                                         

References:

Ministry of Education ( 2007 )  New Zealand Curriculum Learning Media

Hipkins, R, Bolstead,R, Boyd, S, McDowell S (2104) Key Competencies for the Future.  NZCER

Pearson. (2013, April 26). Global trends: The world is changing faster than at any time in human history.[video file].Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdZiTQy3g1g

School Culture

School Culture - the way we do things around here.

Respect - Kindness - Resilience - Integrity 

BACKGROUND:

We are a decile 7 community, which means we are pretty much in the middle of the ranking scale.  Schools with decile rankings 1-4 generate greater levels of targeted funding as they are deemed to be serving the communities of lowest socio-economic rankings. The difficulty with being in the middle bracket (decile 5-8) is that while the community has greater socio-economic ranking on the whole, there are pockets within your community that are not doing as well as others and struggle to make ends meet. 

Although we are on the North Shore, a part of Auckland considered to be wealthy and less needy than others, some of our families are struggling.  We work in an area of the Shore that is very high in rental properties, and this brings a stress to families who cannot be certain of the permanence of their accommodation, nor the cost of it over time as rental costs increase. There is also the increasing number of families that have less and less disposable income as a result of the prices facing home owners in the Auckland property market. People can feel shame about  living on the Shore and not coping, and that means they don't reach out for support.   We need to be a 'safe place to land' for our families, somewhere they can find support with whatever is going on in their lives.  

Our staff work hard at developing a positive and open relationship with our community.  We know that in order for our students to be successful we need to have whanau and school on the same page. We take the time to find our about our students, and initiate communication with whanau early on in the year, then maintain that with as many positives as possible over time.  This is not always easy as it requires a level of trust that needs to be developed over time, and many of these families are transient due to changes in their accommodation and employment situations.  By the time we become aware of a need, the family may well be moving again. In this case we try to speak confidentially to the next school to explain what issues may be facing the family, and keep in touch where we can.

Our school values are Respect, Integrity, Kindness and Resilience.  
We teach them, demonstrate them, talk about them, advertise them, reward the demonstration of them and share stories about them regularly with the whole school community.  They are central to our school behaviour programme and are a part of our school shared language.  These are also the values that we bring to relationships with our whanau and wider community, particularly when they are finding things tough or come seeking support or information.


ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS:

SYSTEMS: financial priorities and planning
Equity of access to events and activities is an issue for some of our families. We endeavour to give sufficient notice for families of upcoming evens, trips or activities in order to assist them with planning for these, and have a range of payment options in place to support that.  We have a culture in the school of fundraising to support those who need financial assistance to attend events, and to subsidise the overall cost to all.  We also have families who will quietly approach staff and offer to subsidise costs for families in need.  This has been a regular occurrence in our school for the last 4-5 years, and something that I believe shows the heart of the community.   
We are one of the last schools in Auckland that does not have a school uniform, and this has been supported by our community at every consultation undertaken in the last 10 years. This allows the children to present themselves as uniquely as they wish, and they do - we will often have the odd superhero or princess running around our playground.  It also means that families do not have the added cost of an expensive uniform to plan for at the start of each school year. 
We are not a school that chooses to look for income streams from uniform, stationery or a tuck shop.  We point our parents in the direction of the cheapest options we can find for these things, and at times providing resources if we can see it could help, including stationery and lunches.

STAFFING:
As the school principal my personal beliefs of equity, dignity and respect influence our policies and procedures.  My influence in hiring staff means I look for people who fit the culture and demonstrate similar beliefs.  While we may have (and should have) different strengths, skills and experiences, we need to commit to the same values so there is a sense of unity and purpose among the team. We sign a Code of Conduct, reviewed each year, that explicitly outlines how we will work with each other, our students and our community. 
We talk about modelling the behaviours we want to see in our children, and treating other adults (staff, parents, visitors)  the way we would want to be treated ourselves. 

                                                 

We are motivated by the memories of relationships in times gone past that were not respectful or honest, and work to ensure this does not become a part of our current reality or future. 

References:

Stoll, L  (1998)  School Culture.  University of Bath.

Ministry of Education (2016)    Retrieved from  http://parents.education.govt.nz/primary-school/schooling-in-nz/ministry-funding-deciles/ 

My Community of Practice

COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

A community of practice is one in which “groups of people who share a concern or a passion or about a topic, and who deepen their knowledge and expertise in this area by interaction on an ongoing basis” (Wenger, McDermott & Snyder, 2002, p.4).  

The Kaipatiki Story - background
I work in a small (260 chn) urban school on the North Shore in Auckland.  I have worked within the community for over 20 years in two different schools. The local cluster of schools have worked together in a professional community for all of that time.  The eight local  schools: the special school, 5 primaries, intermediate and college have collaborated to improve communication and practice across our cluster.  We have focused on assessment practices in our schools from year 1-10, moderation techniques, integration of ICTs in our programmes, transitions between schools, and most recently home school partnerships.  The school leaders have always met regularly (once per term) to discuss common issues, plan for events and look for professional learning that meets the needs of the larger community. We have held combined staff and board meetings over the years to provide a forum to present a single message, work towards a shared goal or find the 'enthusiasts' within our schools to step up and lead initiatives. 
We have been an ICT cluster, an Innovation Contract group, a Learning Change Network, and are now looking towards the challenges and  opportunities offered by being a Community of Learning. 
The drivers in these professional networks have always been the desire to improve student achievement, share collective wisdom and take advantage of strengths within and across schools.
We have also recognised the need to celebrate the successes, skills and strengths of our community in order to maintain participation in the local education pathway.  We have shared community events and performances that allow us to do this. 
Overall and in general this has been a long term productive partnership that has benefited all schools  over time and to differing levels of embedded change.   

The three elements of community of practice at play in this community are:
Domain:
The shared domain of interest includes both student achievement and strengthening the education pathway within the local area.  There is an imperative to sustain enrolment of local students beyond primary school, and we have collectively set targets for reading, writing and maths across the cluster that will shape individual school targets. 
Community:
The cluster community commits to regular professional meetings, both within and across schools, to identify and share good practice, growing leadership capacity within the cluster to support improvement in professional practice in our classrooms from ECE through to Year 13. We already have a cross-cluster maths group that meets regularly to share practice, moderate assessments and develop quality home-school partnership practices.  This model will be repeated for literacy, both reading and writing.
Practice:
The structure of the community allows for us to have expert teachers providing leadership within and across schools, and expert leaders providing support for other school leaders in implementing change and embedding new practices in their own schools. It gives a forum for discussion, for challenging assumptions and 'sacred cows' of school practice, and for 'blue sky thinking' that might provide the seed for an innovation that benefits all the community members. It expands the scope of experience to the whole cluster, not just a single school, and provides a common language for how we talk about student progress and achievement.  

My role in the Community:

I have worked in the community for more than 20 years, and am very invested in the success of our local schools, with my own children having been through or still in the pathway.  As leader of a school that is small but growing rapidly, my role is fundamentally about leadership and growing new leaders to support the changes ahead. I am an active 'cog in the wheel' both within our school and across the wider cluster that is our Community of Practice.
My understanding of communities of practice is that dependent on the purpose of the group, a person's role can and should change.  There will be times will I will take a leadership position, responsible for facilitating and directing discussion and action to achieve a specific goal of the CoP.  At other times I will be a member of the group, working alongside my peers and colleagues to achieve a common goal.  If we are truly looking to build leadership capacity within our CoP then I see my role more as a mentor, support person or coach, as opposed to the more traditional role of the Principal as Leader.  
It is exciting times and we are excited by both the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. 

REFERENCES:

Wenger, E.(2000).Communities of practice and social learning systems.Organization,7(2), 225-246

Wenger-Traynor, E and B (2015)  Communities of Practice - A Brief Introduction 

Knox, B. (2009, December 4).Cultivating Communities of Practice: Making Them Grow.[video file]. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhMPRZnRFkk

Earl. L (2016)  Building and Connecting Learning Communities. Presentation fro University of Auckland.

Education Review Office (2015)  Accelerating Student Achievement - a resource for schools.