Two contemporary issues influencing New Zealand and international education are 'student-centred learning' and 'standardised testing'.
The NMC Horizon Report (Johnson et al., 2015) discusses 6 key trends in education over the next five years. Two major trends are 'Shift from Students as Consumers to Creators' as a mid-term impact and 'Rethinking How Schools Work'.
The report explains students around the country and the world are experiencing a shift from traditional classroom environments. Instead of students consuming and regurgitating information and content, students are beginning to explore and create their own personalised learning. This transformation has been helped by the increased use and knowledge of digital technologies, social media and social networking. Students following their own pathways are showing an increased motivation and higher engagement while empowering students to share and teach others known skills and knowledge. Sharing and teaching peers develops and encourages collaboration skills and leads to improved communication skills through explanations, questioning and creating deeper thinking. This particular trend supports the growth and knowledge of educators to build their own digital and collaborative skills in order to facilitate their learning.
It is important to note Education Review Office (2012) identify student-centred learning as an issue to be addressed for priority learners in New Zealand. ERO reports that most successful schools are providing an environment that identifies and builds on students strengths and interests in addition to their learning needs. Stakeholders in schools have an agreed understanding to provide learning programmes to meet the all needs of their students in enriched and supportive environments.
Understanding how to change from a traditional and perceived authoritarian model to a learning environment which honours students as partners in learning as Mahuika, Berryman and Bishop (2011) assert, is the biggest challenge. Teaching staff are in confusion with their own philosophies and accountability to the Ministry of Education for assessment data versus implementing a student centred learning environment. Finding ways to teach the necessary communication skills and language to students from a diverse range of cultures to empower them to become partners in their learning is daunting. This also raises another key issue within student-centred learning. Many Pasifika and Asian cultures find the concept of students communicating their interests, strengths and desires to teachers and having these openly discussed is challenging to the traditional model of teachers holding an authoritarian and professional mana. Teachers for so many years have been thought of as the key to knowledge, hold the power, and rule over the learning environment. Parents, caregivers, whānau have experienced education in New Zealand and in other countries where the teacher is the professional leader and students are sent to school to consume knowledge by sitting, listening, recreating and reproducing. The time is coming for the New Zealand education system to be lead by example and not told by authorities with second hand knowledge and experience one thing and expectations are another.
The second issue facing education in New Zealand is directly linked to my first issue, standardised testing. In the eight years I have been teaching I have never thought PAT testing, STAR testing or any other paper delivered testing is valid, reliable or best practice. This bastion of historical assessment shows only that some students can sit for a long period of time, read questions and on a good day answer appropriately. These standardised tests do not show or tell the true facts about the learner. I have had young children feel they are failing early in the year with poor results shown when in fact they had problems reading the words and understanding the language used. They have been given similar problems or questions at a later stage and provided in-depth or appropriate responses to show their understanding.
If schools were to be focused on student-centred learning and effectively responding to students needs, interests, strengths, passions and learning needs, we would certainly not be able to assess students using standardised testing.
I recently watched and read about a young New Zealand 15 year old school girl who had made a series of documentaries about the ocean. She had a passion and was encouraged and supported by her father to follow this passion. After she had created a ten series dvd collection she was told by her high school media studies teacher that this did not go towards her NCEA assessments. To me this is the most absurd and ridiculous result for someone who spent hours researching, filming, creating and sharing experiences and knowledge for her to be given all credits for the necessary subjects, or for connecting her achievements to relevant subject credits. This issue can also be applied to university studies across the globe also being cross-credited. Doctors and lawyers practising in other countries should be allowed to practise in New Zealand with a support programme in place to facilitate and provide guidance to our culture, laws and common practises.
I now think I will need to put some of these reflections into my day to day practice in the classroom and consider the implications of relevant and purposeful assessment to show learning in progress.
It is important to note Education Review Office (2012) identify student-centred learning as an issue to be addressed for priority learners in New Zealand. ERO reports that most successful schools are providing an environment that identifies and builds on students strengths and interests in addition to their learning needs. Stakeholders in schools have an agreed understanding to provide learning programmes to meet the all needs of their students in enriched and supportive environments.
Understanding how to change from a traditional and perceived authoritarian model to a learning environment which honours students as partners in learning as Mahuika, Berryman and Bishop (2011) assert, is the biggest challenge. Teaching staff are in confusion with their own philosophies and accountability to the Ministry of Education for assessment data versus implementing a student centred learning environment. Finding ways to teach the necessary communication skills and language to students from a diverse range of cultures to empower them to become partners in their learning is daunting. This also raises another key issue within student-centred learning. Many Pasifika and Asian cultures find the concept of students communicating their interests, strengths and desires to teachers and having these openly discussed is challenging to the traditional model of teachers holding an authoritarian and professional mana. Teachers for so many years have been thought of as the key to knowledge, hold the power, and rule over the learning environment. Parents, caregivers, whānau have experienced education in New Zealand and in other countries where the teacher is the professional leader and students are sent to school to consume knowledge by sitting, listening, recreating and reproducing. The time is coming for the New Zealand education system to be lead by example and not told by authorities with second hand knowledge and experience one thing and expectations are another.
The second issue facing education in New Zealand is directly linked to my first issue, standardised testing. In the eight years I have been teaching I have never thought PAT testing, STAR testing or any other paper delivered testing is valid, reliable or best practice. This bastion of historical assessment shows only that some students can sit for a long period of time, read questions and on a good day answer appropriately. These standardised tests do not show or tell the true facts about the learner. I have had young children feel they are failing early in the year with poor results shown when in fact they had problems reading the words and understanding the language used. They have been given similar problems or questions at a later stage and provided in-depth or appropriate responses to show their understanding.
If schools were to be focused on student-centred learning and effectively responding to students needs, interests, strengths, passions and learning needs, we would certainly not be able to assess students using standardised testing.
I recently watched and read about a young New Zealand 15 year old school girl who had made a series of documentaries about the ocean. She had a passion and was encouraged and supported by her father to follow this passion. After she had created a ten series dvd collection she was told by her high school media studies teacher that this did not go towards her NCEA assessments. To me this is the most absurd and ridiculous result for someone who spent hours researching, filming, creating and sharing experiences and knowledge for her to be given all credits for the necessary subjects, or for connecting her achievements to relevant subject credits. This issue can also be applied to university studies across the globe also being cross-credited. Doctors and lawyers practising in other countries should be allowed to practise in New Zealand with a support programme in place to facilitate and provide guidance to our culture, laws and common practises.
I now think I will need to put some of these reflections into my day to day practice in the classroom and consider the implications of relevant and purposeful assessment to show learning in progress.
References:
Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance: Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools. Retrieved 23 May 2016, from http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/evaluation-at-a-glance-priority-learners-in-new-zealand-schools/
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
KPMG International. (2014). Future state 2030: the global megatrends shaping governments". KPMG International Cooperative: USA. Retrieved from http://www.kpmg.com/Global/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/future-state-government/Documents/future-state-2030-v3.pdf
Mahuika, R., Berryman, M., & Bishop, R. Issues of culture and assessment in New Zealand Education Pertaining to Māori Students. Assessment Matters 3, p.186.
National intelligence council. (2012). Global trends: Alternative Worlds. National Intelligence Council: USA. Retrieved from https://globaltrends2030.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/global-trends-2030-november2012.pdf
Thanks for sharing, a very thought provocative statement to say "...or any other paper delivered testing is valid, reliable or best practice". I wonder what would be best practice? I agree that these tests do not take into consideration, the individual student and if we want to go to "student centered" learning we will definitely have to change the way we measure whether a student has achieved anything worthwhile. The whole concept of what would be considered 'worthwhile' may also be up for debate, but the bottom line is we want to encourage creative, independent, collaborative and connected life long learners.
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