Just to get a little something off my chest

Now I know that this might sound a little controversial and may not win me any friends but I am going to say it anyway and this is just my own personal opinion... I am pleased to be a kiwi and proud of the All Blacks being in the final of the World Cup, it's a great achievement for the squad, but it is a game (I know a franchise and business are wrapped around it, but essentially we are talking about a game here.)

What concerns me is that this squad of committed and clearly gifted athletes, their coaches, management, trainers, health professionals etc are under tremendous scrutiny from our media. If the worst was to happen and they lose then our media will dissect the game, minute by minute, decision by decision, blame will be apportioned and, if past events are any indication, then heads will also roll. And this won't just happen the day after, it will happen for weeks and will be referred back to next time we meet Australia on the pitch, and every time after that until the next world cup. These players will enter that stadium knowing this and the weight of a nation's expectations sit on their shoulders... a hell of a burden of responsibility and also a source of immense pride if they walk away with the cup of course.

The big thing that irks me about this is that our politicians are held to a much lesser account than a rugby squad by our media. In fact while the World Cup has been running our media have feasted on our success which is great but where are the headline stories following the nations performance in, as an example, bridging the gap of educational achievement. There has been an experiment with charter schools running over the last year or so, we could think about this as an educational tournament perhaps, so why haven't the media taken to exploring this 'tournament' play by play, player by player, decision by decision, behind the scenes, success or lack of (remembering that this was supposed to raise achievement in our most vulnerable populations) and compared it to the success, or lack there of, of other countries participating in this 'tournament of educational experimentation' as well? What would happen if they showed the same rigorous investigation, reporting and enthusiasm for social and political issues in our country as they do for rugby?

The same exacting, microscopic analysis could be applied to health, poverty, Christchurch Earthquake recovery, spending on a flag change, the TPPA arrangements, Dunedin South flooding relief and so much more.

And yet, so much of our media misses the deep analysis, debate, discourse of politics in our country. If our politicians were held to the same account as many of our rugby players we might well end up with a more honest government and that would have to be a shift in the right direction. I know this sounds like a naive opinion but it just another voice in among many asking questions which I feel is important in any democracy.

So I sit here proud of the achievement of our lads on the sports field and the leadership I see, regardless of the outcome of the final, but frustrated at our media and the way that it feels that major issues in our country are largely ignored by them.

The Game of School Revisited- #EdBlogNZ reflection

It has been an interesting exercise to go back through some of my previous posts and consider whether my position is the same or different now. As I have recently re-entered the state system and will be teaching full time again this term it is a good time to review my perspective and the difference between what is between my ears and reality. 

Earlier this year I wrote two pieces about the Game of School, the first a rather dystopian perspective (I learned that word in a Children's Literature paper I did a couple of years ago) and the second a positive, forward looking perspective to offer a challenge to the first post.  

On reflection there probably needs to be a third in the series and I think this one needs to be written for teachers, perhaps looking at how we can change the rules to the Game of School despite the pressures on us to stick to the old ones. Here are some thoughts: 

1. The first thing is that you are not alone, you don't have to change the rules on your own, there is a whole world full of people out there with different ideas that are happy to share and grow with you. 

Recently I have been getting more connected with other educators in various forums: on the NZTeachers(Primary) Facebook Page which is a valuable tool for sharing ideas; in online discussions with other learners completing a paper on Internet Based Learning through Otago University Distance Learning; more recently participating in the #amplifiEDU twitter chat (fast and furious for a first timer but SO interesting!); and most recently engaging with the #EdBlogNZ challenge. I can't believe how much I am learning! 

2. Don't be afraid to try something new, co-construct what you do with your learners, let them know that we are going to try some stuff that is a little bit different and if it doesn't work then we can try shift or change or try something else. 

We can teach our children heaps by trying things and being open to them not working out. Failure isn't a bad thing, it is what real learners do... just think about toddlers learning to walk, if they gave up at the first hurdle then most of us would still be crawling or bum shuffling (now the image that brings up makes me chuckle a bit!) 

3.  Not everyone will like you changing the rules, but remember you can't please all the people all the time and if you know WHY you are doing what you are doing then pursue it but remember to do so with respect to the values of others and your community. Sometimes doing what is right will mean you need to do what is different, sometimes what is right is darned hard work but if it makes a difference for your learners then it will be worth it. 

There are a lot of reasons for people not getting behind your new approach... sometimes they are happy with what they are doing and seeing positive results for their learners, they might like the rules, sometimes they feel like they have a better idea but no-one asked them, sometimes it is actually daft idea and they can see that, sometimes they feel threatened by the rate of change around them and just want to keep doing what they know, sometimes they just need time to get used to an idea and see it in action, sometimes they might not like you and that's not really your problem (unless you have really done something to upset them and haven't attempted to address that in some way!)...  you get the picture. New ideas will often be met with some resistance, in the past there have been times when I have felt really lonely as I have tried something new, technology offers us a community to help mitigate that isolation now-a-days. 

4. Notice what happens when you change the rules. Observe, research, read, listen, learn and record your new idea and what happens when you implement it. This is good for your own practice as an educator, it helps you to note positive or negative impacts, it also helps you to become more informed about your practice and then gives you the material to be able to share it with others. 

Again technology is our friend. Use the internet and your contacts to read reliable information about what you are interested in. Read/listen widely, not only to the perspective that supports your assumptions but to the ones that counter it too... there is much to be learned. Practice a little skepticism too and where possible verify your sources. The sharing of new practices or your adaptations of others ideas is what I understand to be amplification... taking what is and shifting it and sharing it so that it can grow more. 

5. Look after yourself. This really should be the FIRST rule. Too often I hear people talk about putting on your own oxygen mask first, that you cannot give of yourself if your tank is empty etc. It makes sense. We want the people in our class to be bright, engaged, enthusiastic learners but that is a hard ask if they have a shell of a human being eking out the last of their energy just turning up to teach.  

We are no longer isolated islands of practice in the four walls of our classrooms, we have the capacity to connect with other educators all over the world. We are in a position to learn so much more from each other than we could in the past. We do make a difference and can make an even bigger difference if we work together... it is so tough being a maverick all on your own, much more fun being a maverick with friends! Let's start a movement... see below for instructions... 

Discovering Learning... inspired by #EdBlogNZ challenge

My little boy is about to turn five and will soon begin school. It has been an awesome journey watching him learn and grow over the last five years, he continues to amaze me daily. It has been unsettling at the same time however. Watching him learn through play, trial and error, persistence and the emotional attachment to caring adults around him has made me reflect on my teaching philosophy. I have learned a lot about child centred learning through playcentre training and through continued learning about the brain and behaviour. The best teachers I have had are my little man, his friends, our other playcentre families and now the children in my classroom. I have always felt that we are unique and learn in our own time in a conducive environment, not that which is dictated by birthdays, curriculum levels, national testing standards or someone else's policy. The question that screams at me often is who decided that at five years old play is no longer a relevant way to learn? It serves us so well in the first five years and then becomes relegated to what we do when the bells go after we have been 'learning'.  

Now I know I am not the only one thinking about this and I know great stuff is going on that is challenging that final perception. I have been exploring learning through play and discovery time (as well as genius hour and project based learning) over the last wee while and have embarked on at the very least sharing more control with my class. It has been a journey as we have been building more self management in for our class since the start of the year to be able to operate successfully at this point. One resource I have read is Discovery Time by Brenda Martin and Gay Hay (http://www.discoverytime.co.nz/), it is an easy read and I love the relation to our key competencies. 

So what's been happening lately... 

During term three we have been opening up our reading activities so rather than dictating set activities per mixed ability group per day, the students have the opportunity to choose literacy activities. This has been much more successful than I had envisaged. The big rule: students must be able to tell us what they are learning in the 'activity' they are doing with a focus being on literacy learning at the time. (Not that we ask very often but it creates a mindset of thoughtful selection... well that's the hope anyway) 

As an aside, towards the end of the term I had one child ask me if he could type out some of his writing and so he undertook that considerable challenge over consecutive days, in doing so he has discovered various aspects of the keyboard and shown real perseverance. Another child is really interested in Dinosaurs and wanted to find out more about them so we have started talking about what things he might like to find out and there where can we look. These are real and relevant literacy tasks that are child initiated and this is another branch of what I would like to see happening in our reading programme going forward. 

I am planning to introduce something similar with our maths learning time as well- when they are not with a teacher or participating in a specific learning activity then they are free to choose from a range of activities but they must be maths related and they need to be able to say what they are learning by doing what they are doing. 

We need to spend some time on working out what we mean by learning however and this is what I want to do at the start of the term with the class. If learning is creating and/or strengthening pathways in the brain then doing stuff that is challenging, stuff where we might have to think hard for answers, stuff where we can do things in lots of different ways, stuff where we are exploring and asking questions, stuff that helps us get better at something by practicing is some of what I envisage. 

It is important at the end of these open-ended sessions there is an opportunity for children to share what they have learned- either by doing a walk around, creating a display, talking to a partner or having a sharing circle depending on time available as well as having seesaw available for recording learning. This is something that I picked up from the Discovery Time book and see the value in making sure that the learning done is valued.  

I trialled Discovery Time with some focus on fractions on the last Friday morning of the term. Initially we spent a little time talking about what self management looks like and then I took them for a wee tour around the classroom to show them what was on offer- we had beads, weaving (a project that some needed to complete), maths books (for recording patterns), a collage activity to demonstrate fractions, computers (although WiFi was down so they weren't all that helpful), writing and painting, IWB (but the game on there didn't work as WiFi was down), varied literacy and maths activities from around the classroom. (Obviously I need more open-ended, messy play type options going forward) I was expecting a lot of noise to manage but that wasn't actually the case, in fact it was quieter than normal! The kids really responded to the openness and one student even completed his weaving task before getting on with the varied options where as earlier on he was really reluctant to complete his weaving when asked. I taught one student how to work out fractions for bead patterns and then she taught others, it was great to see that happen. We had a sharing time after morning tea and I was really stoked with how the kids could clarify what they had been learning. 

There is so much to develop here but I am pleased with how we have begun and stoked with the improvement in self management of our class from where we were at the start of the year... we have all come so far! 

Going forward- my thoughts at the moment: 

• Morning meetings to clarify what is on for the day and clarify expectations 
• Working with the class on what learning is, what it looks like... 
• Calling open ended/discovery type times- Meaningful And Independent Learning- MAIL time  
• Reading- continue with open ended time within the programme  
• Maths- have some open-ended problem solving options available... need to review our maths activities to ensure there is enough variety and scope 
• Ensure that there are movement activities (kinesthesiology movements) posted around the room and teach it to them so they can select them when they need to have a stretch
• Have Discovery Time on Friday mornings first block- ensure that there is a range of options available, science focus, build in growing and planting learning into this time

This is obviously a work in progress and any suggestions and comments are gratefully received :) 

Childhood is not a race to see how quickly a child can read, write and count. It is a small window of time to learn and develop at the pace that is right for each individual child. Earlier is not better.

Magda Gerber

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