Editor
Famed New Zealand poet and former teacher, Lauris Edmond, has inspired many with her lyrical stanzas. Despite her passing some eighteen years ago, her words continue to have influence and relevance. Take the following from her poem, ‘The Active Voice’ (1994) ‘It’s true you can’t live here by chance, You have to do and be, not simply watch or even describe. This is the city of action, The world headquarters of the verb – ’ Edmond was airing her perceptions of Wellington city in 1994 but she might well have been issuing a clarion call to teaching professionals today, to abandon the side-lines and become actively engaged in redesigning the future shape of education in New Zealand. Never has the voice of the profession been so prized. In the past six months the calls for commentary have been unrelenting. Invitations from the Minister’s Office to participate continually fill our in-boxes. NZPF’s President is repeatedly invited to take part in debates on countless topics. It is a whole new style of Government, reflective of a new generation and style of politicians. This year the NZPF executive presciently chose ‘Our Voices’ as the theme for the annual Moot. A report of the Moot is a feature of this issue and appears on pages 14 to 23. The Moot provides a good example of engagement in action. Regional presidents first consulted with their colleagues and brought their views to Wellington. Ministers addressed the regional presidents and in turn took questions from the floor. Ministers wanted to know what principals in the regions were thinking. Listening to the Q&A session prompted more ideas which the regional presidents explored later in the day. The profession’s eagerness and enthusiasm to participate stems from a belief that these politicians genuinely want to work with the profession and value their input. Historically, radical changes in education, have not been warmly welcomed. Tomorrow’s Schools, introduced by the 1984 Labour Government, were greeted with hostility and resistance by the profession. They were not enchanted by the new, competitive model of self-managing schools. They saw only two advantages. They welcomed localised curriculum development and the demise of the Education Boards which had become bureaucratic behemoths. Critics predicted a break down in collaborative networks, growth in professional isolation and withdrawal of advice and support. The next tranche of radical changes arrived with the 2008 National Government. These changes brought an economic
model for education with an agenda of accountability, compliance and a singular focus on assessment and achievement. Data collection and performance measures became a fixation for this era as schools narrowly focused their energies on meeting arbitrary targets for national standards in reading, writing and mathematics. The national standards era was a most unwelcome set of changes which subverted one of the great advantages of the Tomorrow’s Schools policy – encouraging schools to develop a broad and rich curriculum reflective of the culture and values of their local communities. So, what is different about the current, also radical changes, and why has the profession been so willing to embrace them? Some of the answer lies with the relationships that the profession built with the three opposition political parties over the past ten years. It is no secret that both the profession and the opposition parties opposed the introduction of national standards and wanted to retain a broad curriculum which better suited the growing diversity of young people entering the school system. The profession also objected to the marginalisation of democratic values in the system. A good example is the change the 2008 Government made to the Teachers’ Council, renaming it Education Council and halting the practice of teachers electing their own members. Opposition parties sympathised with the profession on this issue too. In fact, the three opposition parties, which today form the coalition Government, were in close agreement with the profession on most education issues. In a climate of high political distrust, however, there was no guarantee that, on becoming Government, the former allies of the profession would follow through. But they did. National standards were gone before Christmas and there was a Bill in the house in record time to repeal the previous Government’s changes to the Teachers’ Council. The new Government was keeping its educational promises. Scrapping national standards so quickly implied many more changes were imminent. What approach to change would this new generation of politicians take? Would they call on the profession for help? To co-construct? To advise? Would they value what the profession had to say? The answer is, yes! All that remains is for the whole profession to embrace the debates, embrace the new opportunities and help plan the next thirty years of education in New Zealand. It is time for all who care about our children’s future success to act and show that we really are ‘The world headquarters of the verb’.