Activity 3: Contemporary Issues or Trends in New Zealand or Internationally

There is a misconception that education is fine as it is, however, education needs to change to prepare our akonga for the requirements of life. 

We come from areas (towns or rural), and those areas are part of a district, who in turn is part of an island and our three islands make our God Zone - Aotearoa - New Zealand. I could stay closed minded to the outside world, just stay in my bubble, after all, it is safe to live in a world of ignorance.  Then the question arises, what am I missing out on? What are the students I teach missing out on?  New Zealand is part of a wider context, Australasia, the Southern Hemisphere, and the whole world.  New Zealand has talents, skills, innovations and products that are world leaders. So despite being a small country, we cannot let that stop us and education is a key part of that process.

The question arises are we as educators providing our students with the best opportunity to succeed at their highest level? Whatever that maybe? Or are we collectively as educators still stuck in the 19th century? Where there is this "knowledge" that students’ must have before they are able to leave school? We must move on from this stance, our students are leaving us behind.  They predominately live in a world of "now", with the development of Web 2.0 tools and social networking at their fingertips the novelty of using digital tools for ‘publishing’ is wearing thin.

We are in the cusp of moving from the Anatomy of a 20th Century Classroom

https://sites.google.com/a/ccpsnet.net/anytime-anywhere-learning/curriculum/21st-century-learning

To a more responsive akonga centred blended learning environment.  This is not without issues however, education needs to change and the integration of meaningful learning experiences are essential.

https://sites.google.com/a/ccpsnet.net/anytime-anywhere-
learning/curriculum/21st-century-learning

As the 21st Century Learning Reference Group (2014), describe it

“the emergence of ubiquitous connectivity, increasingly mobile digital technologies and the power of the internet pose the most profound challenges and opportunities the education system has ever faced”

The New Zealand Education Office (ERO) (2012), has released a report that identifies the learning needs of our priority learners and calls for a change in the education system.  This is nothing new; educators around the world have been saying this for years.   It does need to change, our system needs to change, our teaching needs to change and policymakers and budget holders need to allow this change.

According to Gibbs & Poskitt (2010), which also supports the ERO's (2012), finding that our students are disengaged, that their learner agency diminishes as they hit middle school years (Year 7 - 10). As stated above the traditional pedagogy of the teacher as the "fountain of all knowledge", is not meeting our students' needs.  We need to involve the learners in their learning journey, they cannot have learning happen to them they must participate in the process or as Sfard (2015), so eloquently puts it, we must move from the Acquisition Metaphor to a Participation Metaphor. 

Gibbs & Poskitt (2010)

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We as teachers need to provide an environment that actively encourages students to engage on a cognitive level through redesigning our teaching and learning programs, redesigning what teaching looks like in the classroom.  Spark their interest and light their fire for learning. After all, the intention of our New Zealand Curriculum is to create confident, connected, lifelong learners equipped to live a full and active life, and contribute to a thriving and prosperous economy (21st Century Learning Reference Group, 2014; Ministry of Education, 2007).

21st Century Learning Reference Group. (2014). Future focused learning. Wellington. Retrieved from http://www.education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Initiatives/FutureFocusedLearning30May2014.pdf

Education Review Office. (2012). Evaluation at a Glance : Priority Learners in New Zealand Schools August 2012, (August). Retrieved from http://www.ero.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/Evaluation-at-a-Glance-Priority-Learners-in-New-Zealand-Schools-August-2012.pdf

Gibbs, R., & Poskitt, J. (2010). Student engagement in the middle years of schooling (years 7-10): A literature review. Wellington, NZ: Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum (Vol. 116). Wellington: Learning Media. Retrieved from http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/the_new_zealand_curriculum
Rotherham, A. J. & Willingham, D. (2009) 21st Century Skills: The Challenges Ahead. Teaching for the 21st Century, 67 (1), 16-21. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept09/vol67/num01/21st-Century-Skills@-The-Challenges-Ahead.aspx

Sfard, A. (2015). On Two Metaphors for Learning and the Dangers of Choosing Just One. Educational Researcher, 25(4), 4–13. Retrieved from http://edr.sagepub.com.ezproxy.massey.ac.nz/content/27/2/4.full.pdf+html