Principal of Discovery School, Whitby
The voices are rising again, this time from an Education hub founder, Dr Nina Hood. ‘Two in five young people are failing in literacy and numeracy!’
In 2008, a similar cry resulted in the most educationally New Zealand had slipped down the rankings. destructive policy of all times. Schools were instructed to get The international league table results do not shock Kaylene 85 per cent of each student cohort, irrespective of individual skill, in the slightest. ‘Our own national monitoring unit, which is ability, or circumstance, to reach an arbitrarily constructed set a better reflection of our context, tells a similar story,’ she says. of literacy and numeracy national So why are we doing less well standards, in a set time. in these subjects? We start with The standards and targets were numeracy. set in such a way that low decile ‘There is a lack of clarity for schools would most likely fail to teachers,’ she argues. ‘The national reach them. Failure of the low curriculum is not clear about the decile schools would justify turning non-negotiable areas to be taught and them into Charter schools, and it is also unclear what is expected at so privatization of the public each level,’ she explains. school system would be underway. In her view the much-disparaged National standards were an Numeracy Project promoted by the economic and political policy, not Ministry of Education over many an educational one. years, is partly to blame. Following the national standards ‘Many children lack the policy was not a choice. It was foundational skills and basic facts,’ mandated through legislation. she said, ‘because there has been too No matter what any principal or much emphasis on strategy. Children teacher thought about the lack of don’t need two strategies to solve one educational merit, they were bound problem,’ she said. to teach to the standards – often to A second issue Kaylene identified the exclusion of other learning. I was the lack of detail on progressions vividly recall a cartoon, designed to measure achievement. ‘These were to show the inane stupidity of the tied into the PaCT (Progress and national standards. The monkey, Consistency Tool), a tool based on the elephant, snake, and fish were all Learning Progressions Framework lined up awaiting instructions. ‘You (LPF) designed to track progress in are all to climb that tree!’ barked the reading, writing and mathematics instructor. and not widely trusted by the sector,’ The newly released Literacy & Communication and Now t hat stupidity is no she said. Maths Strategy (March 2022) longer driving education policy, PaCT was an online system and addressing the dip in our literacy and numeracy results should used teachers’ judgements to determine achievement levels, follow a more rational process. alongside the LPF. Categorising assessment information and Given the sector is mid-stream through a ‘curriculum refresh’ individual teacher judgements into different levels of the LPF was exercise, it makes sense that literacy and numeracy would be not a straightforward task. Human judgements can be influenced under scrutiny at this time. by bias and faulty assumptions, so training in using this system I spoke to Kaylene Macnee, principal of Discovery School in was necessary to use it successfully. There were those who praised Wellington, who was last year seconded to the Ministry as the the PaCT system, with its rich exemplars for teachers to use in practitioner’s voice, leading the curriculum refresh. making their judgements but the uptake in training was slow Results of the international league tables, TIMSS (Trends in and sporadic, reflecting the sector’s lack of trust. Because it was International Mathematics and Science Study), PIRLS (Progress an online system, teachers feared that the data could easily be in International Reading Literacy Study) and PISA (Programme sucked into the student management system and used as a school for International Student Assessment) had just been released and performance measure just as national standards was previously.
AND INNUMERATE NATION?
‘What happened was individual schools started to subscribe to particular mathematics programmes,’ she said, ‘even though we know children are not all the same.’ What schools suffered from was having clarity of a national curriculum and the professional learning to go with it. ‘Had the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) not been interrupted by national standards, maybe we would have got there,’ she said. Earlier this year the Ministry of Education released a strategy for literacy, communication and numeracy in which it too acknowledges that the demands of literacy and communication and numeracy are not currently explicit in the NZC (2007). The strategy calls for a shift so that ‘ . . . all teachers are supported to be effective teachers of these areas,’ (Literacy & Communication and Maths Strategy, p.5) The strategy continues to emphasise national consistency and ‘for every Kaiako to have access to the services, support and leadership they need.’ (p.7) The Strategy also outlines some damning realities about the state of our school performance in respect of both literacy and numeracy (p.9), including: ■■
Only two-thirds of primary schools teaching students in
Kaylene Macnee, Principal of Discovery School, Whitby
■■
■■ ■■
■■
years 1 to 3 have been identified as using reading assessment effectively Only 9 per cent of schools have ‘highly effective’ processes for gathering and using information on maths and literacy to support learning Teachers have a relatively low specialisation in maths Children aren’t receiving sufficient or appropriate opportunities to learn maths Many primary teacher trainees struggle with demonstrating the maths knowledge needed to teach year 7 and 8 students and a number express negative views about maths
These are concerning realities when it is well known that literacy and numeracy achievement are predictors of future academic success, economic success and civic participation. Kaylene Macnee had a further target when examining schools’ underperformance in preparing our young people to be literate and numerate citizens in the workforce. She pointed to Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers and questioned whether the providers of teacher training were adequately preparing teachers to be successful practitioners. It is heartening to see (p.7 of this issue, Teaching Council's New ITE Requirements) that the practice component of teacher training has been increased by 10 hours for a one or two year training programme and by 20 hours for a three year programme, but is this enough? Kaylene would suggest not.
Games can help strengthen basic maths skills
Sharing stories is an important part of communications
We teach people to save lives In a Fun & InteractIve envIronment • FASE “First Aid for the School Environment” – 4Hr Basic First Aid Course for general teaching staff • 1 Day Workplace First Aid – 8hrs for designated First Aiders and office staff • 2 Day Workplace First Aid – for Gateway/Star students. Units – 6400, 6401, 6402 • 2 Day Outdoor First Aid – for staff leading EOTC activities & Outdoor ed. students. Units – 6400 series & 424
‘What teacher trainees need is to be exposed to curriculum experts in all subjects, throughout their training. Working in a classroom with an Associate Teacher in a school has always occurred and should continue but that is not where trainee teachers will acquire all the knowledge, competencies and assessment knowledge for teaching literacy and maths that they need to teach independently and successfully,’ she said. ‘Teacher training must return to the what, the why and how we teach it,’ she said. In her view some of the approaches being taken by some ITEs may not be as evidence based as was thought. What is needed is national leadership for curriculum delivery, curriculum experts in ITE and curriculum advisors in schools. All have been absent for too long.
nZQa cateGorY one ProvIDer For all aid course information please call email us on admin@first-training.co.nz or call us on 0800 1ST AID or 09 838 2110
www.first-training.co.nz
Puzzles and games are useful to reinforce basic foundation skills whilst access to books supports literacy
Basic number charts and alphabet letters support foundation literacy and numeracy skills
The science of reading in practice
Just as performance in maths needs improvement, so also in literacy and communication. ‘Literacy is a critical skill if students want to access all other subjects of the curriculum,’ explains Kaylene. The problems in literacy parallel the maths issues in that there is no clarity of national curriculum and PLD for teachers is woefully inadequate. Consequently, we have seen, as with maths, schools adopting programmes for the whole school. These can sometimes be highly successful and a recent ‘Science of Reading’ approach, involving more phonics teaching rather than the previously popular ‘whole language’ approach to teaching
reading has taken off. Whilst this particular approach may not be harmful to children’s learning of literacy, and indeed some would say quite the opposite, there are other programmes out there that might be. Kaylene is quite clear that although some principals may not be willing to give away too much autonomy, it is time for a return to national curriculum leadership, to curriculum experts in the education training space and for curriculum advisors in all subjects to be available to schools. ‘Literacy and numeracy are far too important to our children’s futures to leave it to chance,’ she said.
Interactive hybrid learning Scalable image size up to 150 inches Tranforms any space for learning
Artome in education
Artome M10 -transforming spaces for presentation, learning and hybrid education.
Artome M10 is a movable all-in-one smart furniture providing easy-to-use technology to support hybrid learning and dynamic learning environments. It’s easy-to-use as it is installation free and compatible with any device or software. Artome M10 supports hybrid learning and interactive communicating with plug-and-play accessories including camera and microphones. Everything can be easily controlled from your own laptop via the provided HDMI-cable, or you can cast from any mobile device wirelessly.
More info or book a demo: Ph John Duffin | 021729198 | john@perche.co.nz
ADVERTORIAL
Resene Bright Spark
Bring out the very in your school
best
Resene Flourish
Save time and money with our free Resene School Services.
For more information visit: resene.co.nz/schoolservices
BRIng OuT ThE VERy BEsT In yOuR schOOL. sAVE TImE AnD mOnEy wITh OuR fREE REsEnE schOOL sERVIcEs. We make painting and decorating projects easier for you. School life is busy enough creating the best learning environments, let alone managing a painting project. Not only can we help you to protect your building assets, but we can also help you create a vibrant school environment. Resene School Services are designed to help you manage your school painting and decorating projects, and save you time and money, while minimising disruption to your school. Our services are free, so you can use us as much as you need, without worrying about the cost. We have assisted thousands of schools with their painting and decorating projects. Let us help you with yours. We are the leaders in providing professional advice, high quality products and superb colours – three vital ingredients in any successful coating project. Whether your project is large or small, we can help you and your school team with your painting and decorating projects. It’s your choice how much assistance you would like us to provide. Everything you need in one place To get started on your next painting and decorating project, contact us today at schoolservices@resene.co.nz
SWEET ON FEET… AND EVERYTHING ELSE TOO! Pulastic shock absorbing sports floors reduce sports injuries and offer a high level of comfort for athletes of all ages.
Sika 1524
Pulastic floors are are extremely durable – their life expectancy exceeds wooden gym floors. They can even be installed over existing timber or concrete floors in just one week. For a no obligation quote or more info, contact Sika NZ on 0800 745 269.
Scan for more info