As is customary following the election, government ministries prepared briefings for their incoming minister. The Treasury briefing made three recommendations ‘to improve educational attainment at lower cost’ (p. 4) (‘get more for less’). One of the three was ‘Implement initiatives to improve school teacher quality, funded by consolidation of the school network and increasing student/teacher ratios’ (p. 4) (increase class sizes). Treasury’s rationalisation (p. 21) was a familiar mix of new public management ideology, Mr Micawber accounting philosophy and selective gobbets of research evidence: Student achievement can be raised by improving the quality of teaching, which the evidence shows is the largest in-school influence on student outcomes. Increasing student/teacher ratios, and consolidation of the school network, can free up funding that could be used to support initiatives to enhance the quality of teaching, such as more systemic use of value-add data and a more professionalised workforce. Unfortunately, while he distanced himself from some of Treasury’s more extreme ideas, Finance Minister Bill English jumped at the chance to save on Vote Education. The NZ Herald reported his comments on Radio New Zealand as follows: Analysis by Professor John Hattie has shown that class size is one of the least important factors in determining student achievement. The Treasury said student achievement could be raised by improving the quality of teaching ‘which the evidence shows is the largest in-school influence on student outcomes’. A more informed assessment of the research evidence suggests we need a different education policy stance entirely. To state that the quality of teaching is ‘the most important’, misleading and conveniently ignores other research evidence which shows that out-of-school influences have a far greater affect on student achievement than what goes on in the classroom. Treasury and the Ministry of Education have begun to grasp part of the problem in recommending greater targeted funding for early years interventions and education for socioeconomically disadvantaged children, but failed to comprehend the much bigger solution. Treasury’s briefing makes no mention whatsoever of child poverty and demonstrates no understanding of the wellestablished links between poverty and a child’s cognitive and affective development. If the statistics consistently show that socio-economic disadvantage contributes more than teaching quality to educational outcomes, why is that not the higher
policy priority? Other countries have targets for eradicating child poverty, we do not. The Ministry of Education’s briefing states the achievement gap ‘problem’ more precisely: ‘low performing students are likely to be Mäori or Pasifika and/or from low socio-economic communities’ (p. 8). Unsurprisingly, the Ministry has sharply focused education strategies, policies and interventions in recent years on meeting the needs of ‘low performing students’ and on ‘early interventions’. Since the mid 1990s, the Ministry has consistently focused on ‘the quality of teaching’, based in great part on the highly influential findings of Dr Adrienne Alton-Lee’s (2003) BES and the ‘visible learning’ meta-synthesis by Professor John Hattie (2009). The former stated that up to 59 per cent of the variance ‘or even more’ in student scores was attributable to ‘what happens in classrooms’ (p. 2), the latter that the ‘quality of teaching’ was considerably more influential on students’ cognitive achievement than was ‘reducing class size’. Overall, Hattie claimed that ‘active and quality teaching strategies’ (average effect size 0.68) had much greater and more direct influence on student learning than educational structures and working conditions (0.08) (p. 244). Hence, ‘quality teaching’ is much more effective than ‘reducing class size’. We can now see how Treasury and the Minister of Finance may have become misinformed: if class size is ‘one of the least important factors’, let us save money by increasing class sizes and focus instead on quality teaching. However, if we are to have faith in politicians and officials’ reading of research literature, we should at least expect them to be consistent in their use of it. One inconsistency is that Treasury’s briefing equates ‘quality teaching’ with the use of (i) value-add data and (ii) teacher professionalisation (these are performance management ideologies, not empirical teaching indicators). Yet Hattie’s recommended high-impact ‘quality teaching’ strategies are all to do with an elaborated pedagogical repertoire and relations. Another inconsistency is that the Treasury’s call for larger classes demonstrates complete ignorance of what the same research tells us about the effects of smaller classes on the very ethnic minority and socio-economically disadvantaged groups of learners that the Ministry (and Treasury) say they want to prioritise. Logically, if we want to improve the lot of disadvantaged learners, we should look closely at the effects of smaller or larger classes on these students specifically. Here class size matters. One of the ironies of the Treasury’s briefing argument is that New Zealand is one of the few countries that does not provide data to the OECD on our actual average class sizes in primary and secondary schools (based on other data we are probably slightly higher than average). Treasury is therefore advocating a radical policy change both without
ed public policy
knowing what real class sizes are, and in ignorance of the effects of smaller classes on priority groups of learners (the ‘average’ effect of class size studies is meaningless in this regard). Another review by England’s Professor Peter Blatchford makes the point that class size effects are ‘multiple’. For children at the beginning of schooling, there are significant potential gains in reading and maths in smaller classes. Children from ethnic minorities and children who start behind their peers benefit most. Research in South Auckland schools has also shown that learners with poorly developed literacy need smaller classes in the early years in order to have the support they need to become confident readers. Increasing class size would therefore appear to be in direct conflict with the government’s ‘crusade’ around National Standards. Class size also affects what teachers and learners actually do in the classroom. Professor Blatchford’s research showed that larger classes produced more and larger groups of learners within the class. This had negative effects on teaching, learning and learners’ concentration. In smaller classes, teachers were more likely to spend time with individual learners – this is exactly the kind of ‘personalised learning’ approach that our Ministry of Education wants and which larger classes would seriously threaten. The Ministry of Education also wants our new ‘world-class’ curriculum implemented. The curriculum is all about social learning and children taking charge of their learning. In smaller classes children are more likely to be engaged in learning and less disruptive; in larger classes children are more likely to just passively listen to the teacher; in smaller classes children actively interact with the teacher about their learning. As Blatchford concludes, smaller classes provide opportunities for teachers to teach better; larger classes force teachers to make compromises with learners. If underachievement is the ‘problem’,
the solution isn’t larger classes and bigger sticks with which principals will be told to beat teachers. If Treasury and the Ministry read the research correctly, it should be obvious to them that smaller classes combined with an expansive educational repertoire and a commitment to eradicating child poverty are the only solutions likely to make an enduring difference to socio-economically disadvantaged learners. Smaller classes and pedagogical teacher development will cost the country more, not less. This means advocating a return to progressive taxation rates and committing to a greater investment in public education as a public good. References Alton-Lee, Adrienne (2003). Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis. Available at: www.educationcounts. govt.nz/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/7705/bes-quality-teaching-diverse. pdf Hattie, John C (2009). Visible Learning: A synthesis of over 800 metaanalyses relating to achievement. Abingdon: Routledge. Ministry of Education (2011). Briefing to the Incoming Minister. December 2011. Available at: www.minedu.govt.nz/~/media/MinEdu/ Files/TheMinistry/PolicyAndStrategy/EducationBIM2011.pdf NZ Herald (2012). ‘Should teacher-student class ratios be increased?’ nzherald.co.nz, 3 February 2012. The Treasury (2012). Briefing to the Incoming Minister of Finance: Increasing economic growth and resilience. Release Document: prepared 25 November 2011, released 2 February 2012. Available at: www.treasury.govt.nz/publications/briefings/2011
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Enviroschools celebrate ten Liz Hawes
Editor
The sixth of December 2011 marked an important milestone for the enviroschools movement in New Zealand. Appropriately, the Hamilton City Botanical Gardens was the venue chosen to celebrate the Enviroschools tenth birthday. Hamilton after all was the birthplace of the movement, which grew from the idea that the way we relate to the environment shapes our attitudes and can structure the way we educate
It was ultimately the establishment of the Enviroschools Foundation in 2003 that provided the leadership for these schools to grow both in number and in diversity. The Foundation, led by Heidi Mardon, provides the organisational structure and initiates partnerships with regional and community groups and councils to ensure the movement remains strong and sustainable. By the end of 2010 there were 715 or 26 per cent of schools operating
At the celebrations children made flags to promote enviro messages
children. The children in turn will take these enviro practices into their everyday lives. In this way the enviro attitudes and practices learned can be sustained beyond the school gate and spread throughout the community. The Hamilton City Council and Community Environmental Programme got behind the idea and created a partnership with Te Mauri Tau, an educational, environmental and health organisation. Together they developed a set of principles which would guide the Enviroschools programme. Three Hamilton schools piloted the Enviroschools Programme, one of which was Hukanui School, profiled on pp. 18–22.
enviro programmes across 15 different regions. The tenth anniversary was a day filled with fun and lots of activities for the children attending, all of whom came from enviroschools. Even better was the giant-sized birthday cake, which was hugely appreciated by all. One of the many activities the children engaged in during the celebrations was to create flags carrying environmentally friendly messages. ‘Our flag is telling people not to put rubbish down drains,’ said one young enthusiast, ‘because it just blocks up and pollutes the water that could be recycled.’ Emblazoned on the flag was the warning: ‘Only rain down the drain! These
Inspired by their study of ‘wonderful wai’, Wairaki school children produced these pictures following a trip to the local hatchery
t h birthday imaginatively illustrated and brightly coloured flags were then displayed for all to enjoy. Sharing is a very natural way children from the enviroschools interact and all immersed themselves in congratulating the Children share in the birthday cake celebrating Enviroschools children representing Rhode Street School and Hillcrest Normal School. These schools were recipients of the coveted Green- said at the anniversary celebrations, ‘Sustainability isn’t just Gold Award for their respective environmental actions and a school topic to simply learn about and then move on, it’s a sustainability. The Enviroschools Foundation has set up a system of awards to which schools can aspire. These are Bronze, Silver and Gold status awards. The tenth anniversary was a day filled Each level has a set of criteria and all aspects must be satisfied before the award is granted. Rhode Street with fun and lots of activities for the School won the Gold award for their work that has children attending, all of whom came from resulted in the successful completion of designing, building and articulating three different enviro enviroschools. projects. These include the sensory garden, recycling scheme and annual Kai Festival. global challenge that needs deep enquiry and real innovation to Hillcrest Normal School has established systems of waste make happen – and that’s what these students and schools are reduction and management, energy conservation and solar doing. It’s this community leadership that took Enviroschools energy, sustainable transport and the development of natural from being a small seed-funded project to an internationally habitats, food gardens and play areas. recognised movement – these students are literally changing As the national director of the Enviroschools Foundation the world.’
The Rhode Street School receive their Green-Gold award
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