A Broader Professional Context

Teaching is my ‘second career’, my first being a successful decade in the financial services industry. I qualified in mid-2010 in the midst of the bedding in of the new curriculum (2007) and the introduction of National Standards (2011). (On a side note, it was the publication of the NZ Curriculum (2007) that attracted me to teaching – I saw it as an exciting and relevant document, and I still do). Since that point, change has been continuous – in ideas of best practice, pedagogies, environments, technologies and much more.

The literature and media seemingly agree that this rate of change is going to continue increasing, and our challenge as educators is to manage it as best we can.

The NMC Horizon Report (Johnson et al., 2015) discusses 6 key trends in education over the next 5 years. The 2 major long-term trends highlighted are ‘Rethinking How Schools Work’ (innovative learning practices, flexible models and schedules) and ‘Deeper Learning Approaches’ (problem and challenge-based learning, inquiry approaches to foster ‘active learning’).

I believe that our curriculum in New Zealand, in particular the vision, the values and the key competencies, allows us to respond to these trends, however, it is not happening consistently across schools. In fact, ERO identified in their Evaluation at a Glance report of priority learners in 2012 that “considerable work needs to happen before primary and secondary teachers and leaders understand the permissive nature and intent of The New Zealand Curriculum, and implement responsive curricula in their schools”.

The NMC Horizon Report describes the ‘Deeper Learning Approaches’ as those that have “rich content delivered in ways that allow students to learn and then apply their learning”. As well as content, skills for collaboration, problem solving and communication are essential. These link to Michael Fullan’s ‘New Pedagogies for Deep Learning’ and the ‘Deep Learning Competencies’ (The 6 Cs of 21st Century Education) – Creativity, Communication, Citizenship, Critical Thinking, Character, Collaboration.

I see clear connections between these ideas and our NZ Curriculum. And I think many schools probably already have versions of these embedded within their own school vision statements and values. However, I think one of our biggest challenges with the curriculum’s effective implementation, and the realisation of its vision, is the seemingly conflicting purpose of National Standards. Assessing ‘competencies’ as well as, or instead of, a set of skills, doesn’t seem to be accounted for in current assessment schedules (at least in my experience). We ‘talk’ about our values and key competencies in schools, but do we demonstrate their importance through our assessment and reporting practices? Or do we focus on our National Standards results? I worry that this will only worsen as accountability increases.

This is very pertinent to me currently, as we are looking at our values as a school and how they align with the ‘6 Cs’ – and the conversation keeps coming back to how we are going to promote these, and assess these, to underscore their importance for future-focused learners. Watch this space!

In some respects, perhaps our NZ Curriculum document can be seen as ahead of its time, as it also promotes inquiry-based learning as an effective pedagogy. This is discussed as one of the innovative learning approaches in the trend of ‘Rethinking How Schools Work’. This trend is around the idea that inquiry and project-based learning, seen as promoting integration and providing authentic learning experiences, require flexibility around timetabling and space. They also call for the creative use of technology and resources (teachers?!).

I’m currently working in a large ‘modern learning environment’ where we, as teachers, and the students are still developing ‘what works for us’. I can personally see a number of benefits as well as challenges with these practices and environments –

Local wonderings...

Benefits –

·       Supports socially-constructed learning

·      Encourages use of technology / alternative learning approaches

·      Promotes self-regulation - offers options for personalised learning, differentiation

Challenges –

·       Parents can find new spaces confusing / confronting

·      Students are not learning how to be independent (co-dependence)

·      Needs to be a change of pedagogy to use spaces successfully

National wonderings...

·      Teacher education - what training is being offered around teaching in these new spaces / using modern learning practices?

·      Financing technology / ‘new spaces’ & furniture etc. – who’s paying, what are we not getting instead?

International wonderings...

·      Cultural expectations of schooling

·      International testing results - PISA / OECD etc. - are these changes to our practices impacting results (is what is being assessed changing in line with these ‘desirable’ competencies that we are now teaching)?

As I reflect back on these key trends, I'm fascinated to think how they might actually look, in practice, in 5 years time!

References

Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. (n.d.). New Pedagogies for Deep Learning. Victoria. Australia.

Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools - Education Review Office. 

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum: for English-medium teaching and learning in years 1-13. Wellington, New Zealand: Author.

My professional community

Interestingly, I have changed schools this year and have found the culture at my new school very different. I hadn’t necessarily had a negative response to the culture at my previous school, although reading Stoll’s (1998) description of the impact of ‘age’ on a school’s culture did resonate. My previous school could be described as ‘mature’ and its culture well-embedded – and a common complaint was that change was very slow to happen. I am now at a relatively new school (in its 6th year) where there has been a lot of work on clarifying and sharing identity. ‘Branding’ and values are clearly on display around the school, and these are on the table again this year for discussion to evaluate their relevance as we have become more established. As the school has gone through significant growth and personnel change since opening, ‘the way things are done’ is explicitly shared with newcomers, and change is ‘a given’.

What is the organisational culture (collective values/principles) that underpins my practice? How would I contribute to fostering a positive professional environment in my community of practice?

My school has purpose-built modern learning environments and all teachers teach in ‘power teams’ of 2 or 3. Within our power teams, collegiality is developed through shared planning and collaborative (team) teaching. This is a good example of Little’s (1990) fourth form of collegiality – joint work. Being new to collaborative teaching this year, I have personally found the experience to be enriching for my own practice. The shared sense of commitment and responsibility is quite empowering – as is the feedback received from colleagues. Moreover, I see it as mutually beneficial that we share our strengths, providing opportunities for colleagues to learn from each other. As a team leader, it has been important for me to be open about our goals and responsibilities this year, so that the team can have shared ownership and then hopefully partake in our success. To address specific needs, we have all been prepared to try something new in our teaching practice, and are supporting each other with these changes. We also make time to have fun in our team too, as we see our relationships as key to being an effective team.

What changes are occurring in the context of my profession? How would my community of practices address them?

The most significant changes happening in schools at the moment are around the changing environments – the imposition of ‘MLE’ – and the pedagogical changes needed for teaching ‘21st Century skills’ in ‘21st century’ environments. Having been at a school that was still ‘talking its way’ through the idea of MLE and MLP, I understand the huge shift in mindset that this change requires for some people. In my current school, ‘MLE’ was there ‘first’, so it has been staffed by teachers who were open to this way of teaching, and a drastic change in mindset wasn’t needed, although adapting pedagogy is an ongoing need. Due to significant roll growth (the school roll has grown from 170 at opening to 750+), change has been continuous. To address the constantly changing numbers (students and staff!), the school focusses heavily on professional development to ensure staff have access to relevant research and resources to support best practice. We are encouraged to ‘blog’ all our professional learning on a shared space with colleagues and also observe each other teaching. I have found most staff are open to new ideas and there is a general willingness to try new things when looking at problem solving. We continue to refine the practices that make an MLE work and reflect on our use of the space. When speaking to colleagues who have been at the school for a while, they confirm that the spaces have been used differently / flexibly each year due to the changing state of the school and the reflections of the staff on what is / isn’t working.

As a community, I value the positive mindsets and collegiality that exist at my school. When I consider the 10 cultural norms described by Stoll and Fink (1996), I can find examples of all of these within my community – both at a team level and a school level.

References

Little, J.W. (1990). The persistence of privacy: Autonomy and initiative in teachers’ professional relations, Teachers College Record, 91 (4), pp.509–36.

Stoll (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture

Stoll, L., & Fink, D. (1996). Changing our schools: Linking school effectiveness and school improvement. Buckingham: Open University Press