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Examine how indigenous knowledge and cultural responsiveness are informing your practice

  After living abroad for almost 15 years, I came back to New Zealand at the beginning of 2010. For the previous 5 years I lived and worked as a teacher in an Aboriginal community in the far north of Australia. It was an isolated community that was only reachable by boat or a single daily flight. English was often a third or fourth language for the indigenous population and their traditional way of life was in many ways still intact. Being immersed in their culture, I learnt their language and was adopted into a local family. During my time there I developed a deep understanding and respect for their culture. I only mention this as a reminder to myself of where I have been and where I am now. On returning home after having been away for so long, I noticed how much New Zealand had changed in terms of its focus on honouring the Treaty of Waitangi (at least in the media and the attempts by Government Agencies to promote our bi-cultural status). This was evident to me as I began teaching a
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How is your school addressing the needs and aspirations of its community?

How is your school addressing the needs and aspirations of its community? In the last few years I have been fortunate enough to have been the recipient of several research grants. As part of this I have read many education and social research articles both international and national. This has allowed me to be aware of, and follow many international and national trends in education. It has also meant that I have been exposed to many different perspectives of what education could look like as we attempt to navigate the uncertainty that surrounds the future needs of our ākonga.  There are many organisations that have discussed and provided evidence to help us recognise the need for change and the tools to implement them. Organisations such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provide The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) study, which governments use to help them measure the effectiveness of their education systems for preparing student

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 creati

Are we wired for mobile learning?

 I love this quote from Marc Prensky - Digital Natives are "no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach"

Is nurturing student wellbeing through agentic learning environments a prerequisite for ākonga to experience successful learning outcomes?

This Teacher Led Innovation Fund (TLIF) Project was an 18 month project which allowed us to explore student wellbeing when students are given the opportunity to take ownership of their environment. It was a hugely successful project and has laid the foundation for me to explore further the success students can have when they are involved in a legitimate partnership with the adults in a school environment Is nurturing student wellbeing through agentic learning environments a prerequisite for ākonga to experience successful learning outcomes?

What can we learn about community from our students?

This was my first real experience of asking a deep question and using research to explore it. It was a fantastic opportunity and one that has created a burning desire to question our why and to provide students with a platform to have their voice heard

Learning is messy

I find myself somewhat frustrated with the environment that we are expected to work in. Being a data driven industry I feel torn between being an innovative, future focused educator that focuses on individualised learning experiences for my students and on the other hand having the pressure of National Standards reporting hovering over my shoulder. Last year I achieved some wonderful results with my students. I managed to provide opportunities for students to taste success; students who had spent most of their school years feeling inadequate and incapable of achieving well in standardised tests. Many of my students still failed to score well in standardised tests. However, they managed to succeed in areas that are hard to measure. I saw many students self-esteem improve because they managed to complete a project for the first time on a topic of their choice and one which they were engaged with. They began to see themselves as experts in a niche area. They began to recognise themselv