Creating a shared understanding of the issues impacting our societies, our community and our ākonga and how we address them as a school

 

Creating a shared understanding of the issues impacting our societies, our community and our ākonga and how we address them as a school

Society, culture and professional environments are all facing issues that are often pervasive and impact us in ways we sometimes find difficult to fully understand. As an educator, I am aware that we all influence and affect one another, either positively or negatively. When we can create a shared understanding of an issue, more often than not, we can achieve outcomes that have a positive impact. However, if we fail to achieve a shared understanding of an issue, then our outcomes have the potential to have a negative impact.

It is well documented that societies around the world are changing at a rapid rate and for many of us, it is a struggle to keep up with what is current. This is particularly true when it comes to education. One of the biggest issues we currently face, and one I have experienced in more than one school is the difficulty of creating a shared understanding of the impact that technology is having on our learners, particularly mobile devices that can access the internet. It is impacting not only our youth, but on society as a whole.

This issue is impacting me personally as I try to support the learning of ākonga of intermediate school age. My ākonga are less engaged, continually telling me that they are bored and that the learning they do is not interesting. When I offer ‘Fortnite Creative’, ‘Minecraft’, ‘Snapchat’ or ‘Tik Tok” as platforms for them to create and share their learning, they become animated, engaged and excited. However the policies and values of mine and many schools don’t allow for our ākonga to access these platforms to support their learning. We then wonder why we have so many disengaged and bored ākonga. 

I have come to realise that there is a whole world out there that many of our ākonga and wider community are immersed in. It is an online environment that many educators perhaps don’t understand, or don’t value in a learning context. The question we need to be asking educators and Boards of Trustees across the nation is, ‘How can we use these online environments to engage, motivate and support the learning of our ākonga? It’s time to reimagine what education could look like for our young people who are growing up in a world that is vastly different from the world our education system was designed to support (Robinson, 2010). This is summed up well by Prensky (2013) when he said that Digital Natives are “no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach”

I think this also supports the argument that the schools that many of us work in tend to be based on a set of long standing and once proud set of values that underpin a culture of tradition and stability, but are perhaps less relevant in 2020. Many of our school’s values and vision are starting to be reviewed so that they can align better with the changing values and culture that exists today within our communities. In many cases, the values and culture of some schools were created in the 19th century and are by nature, traditionally Eurocentric. According to Stoll (1998), change becomes more difficult when aspects of the culture are firmly embedded and taken for granted. It also makes it more difficult to create an environment where innovation, creativity and change can grow. Stoll also suggests that a school's culture is influenced by a school's external context, namely it’s community, including the pupils' parents; by the schools pupils and their social background as well as any changes that are taking place in society (Stoll,1998, p10). 

As we reframe our values through a more bicultural and multicultural lens, I also hope we reframe what learning can be for ākonga in 2020 and beyond. The world we live in is changing at a rate never seen before. The speed with which these changes are happening are making it more difficult for us to understand their impact and are helping to create a sense of uncertainty for many people. Communities, cultures and society are all trying to maintain their identity and adapt as best they can. Schools are a part of this and some are working very hard with their community to navigate it. The OECD 2020 Report on School Education during Covid notes that it is the schools that have the capacity to innovate, adapt and support their staff that will 

“...prove to be valuable assets for responding to crises and uncertain times, as well as building resilience when facing challenges in delivering instruction…” 

This has to be the aim for all educators and schools as we navigate these uncertain times. We must be prepared to listen to and support those we serve; our community and the young people within it. This is the positive outcome I will continue to work towards.

References

elearninginfographics.  Mobile Learning Infographic: How Digital Natives Are A Bit A Head Retrieved 2020, October 2, from https://elearninginfographics.com/mobile-learning-infographic-how-digital-natives-are-a-bit-a-head/

OECD. (2020). School Education During Covid-19: Were Teachers and Students Ready? http://www.oecd.org/education/New-Zealand-coronavirus-education-country-note.pdf

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