Contemporary issues or trends in New Zealand or internationally
What are current issues or trends of global education in this 21st century?
The first issue or trend that I have seen is flawed system which doesn't offer Free, Secular and Compulsory unless you are white, middle class and come from an economically secure background:
I came across my first concern or issue that will influence and shape NZ's education whilst watching a Ken Robinson talk. Free, secular and compulsory education in its current state has many concerns and is well conceptualized by Ken Robinson in his talk regarding "changing paradigms" (The RSA, 2010) -
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| The RSA |
In New Zealand, we also have a free, secular and compulsory education system (Education act 1877), which evidently acts as a component of the post industrialization system to which Ken Robinson discusses in his talk. We as educators still are too focused on putting out an ideal student who has met the national standard. A few of my ex-students are no longer attending high school as the systems was not designed to cope with their "ADHD" as referred to by Robinson since the model of education was not engaging to the learners.
By making it not compulsory and in batch like factory products, often students get the chance to maturate or innovate at their speed, style or method. The same ex-students may have been evident within the 53% of total students leaving high school without any qualifications as being Maori and Pasifika in 2012 (Ministry of Education, 2015) simply because they had been labelled "ADHD" or "conduct disorder". Robinson relates the lack of the education system as its inability to cope with divergence thinking as students can't taught be academically but also need to be aesthetically engaged as well. .
My hope that we develop way of dealing with children with behavioural issues differently in the near future and specially with an inquiry based approached to learning. Recently we integrated our classes so that year 7 and 8's were mixed. Initially I was really apprehensive to this as I was still thinking in the Batch like model to education (Year 7, 2014 batch - with unit on dinosaurs, and inquiry into Future Me). Such serialization of education was evidently discussed at the senior leadership level, share with staff and Board and thus a change was made.
How do I respond to those issues or trends in your practice?
By making it not compulsory and in batch like factory products, often students get the chance to maturate or innovate at their speed, style or method. The same ex-students may have been evident within the 53% of total students leaving high school without any qualifications as being Maori and Pasifika in 2012 (Ministry of Education, 2015) simply because they had been labelled "ADHD" or "conduct disorder". Robinson relates the lack of the education system as its inability to cope with divergence thinking as students can't taught be academically but also need to be aesthetically engaged as well. .
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| The RSA |
Are there any lessons from other countries that you find particularly inspiring or relevant?
One of the countries during the DCL that stood out to me was Finland, in a recent article regarding the success of Finland's education system - its stated that Finish teachers will find ways of addressing students learning needs, adapt to their learning and working out new methods if one doesn't work in a divergent manner.
The Second issue that I have is the leader boards at National and international level of education.
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| Pearson (2013) |
What leader boards?
The data from the OECD research (OECD, 2014) stating that we are third highest in educational index, is actually quite uplifting as an educator. I feel proud to be part of that statistic - however there is a hidden dark secret to this accolade. We have gained this title but it is only an incentive to sell education system overseas as our future ability to continue training new students has become our third highest export. It is heavily influenced by economic factors like GDP, cost of the New Zealand dollar and the com-modification of our education system. The next set of trends isn't to quickly pass on the information to our students that we learned at university but it will be to equip them for a world that has the following changes-
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| New Mega Trends |
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| Open letter to PISA |
I believe that there is strong evidence that the OECD wants to perpetuate the Industrial 'Knowledge based education system, rather than the newer divergent learning pedagogy that Ken Robinson refers to. We are not teaching our students to be equipment for the world that will be present in 2030 as they will be doing that part themselves. I would reject the free, secular and compulsory system as it is detrimentally based on a model which no longer works for every New Zealand child. If we continue down this pathway we are merely teaching to a test, as shown by recent letter to the OECD by some of the top lecturers and educators of the world.
The Third issue: Neo-liberalism and the ever popular marketisation of education.
Our schools are no longer places where teachers teach children to be prepared for what challenges that they will face and to equip them for jobs that don't exist yet. As Ken Robinson stated in the RSA video that schools are still producing students to have certain qualifications and career preparedness. Generally speaking the schools ability to show other prospective clients (parents) is by the academic performance of their students. The National government stated that it would not be doing league tables, before it was voted into power, but as clearly seen by the data collated on the following website are type cast based on their academic performance. |
| Stuff- school report |
Hattie's effect size a better indicator of success rather than cooked books-
Using a revised version of national standards data which shows effect size rather than attainment superlatively. Yes, at the end of the day I agree that it is needed for university entrance etc but not when students are only 12 years old. Parents should make informed decisions based on the accelerated progress of their students by judging schools on the difference it can make (Alton-Lee, 2004). Too often I have had discussions with lay-people outside of education profession that believe all students start at an equal playing field. However as data collect recently within our own school community shows that their are still huge socio- economic disparities. |
| Comet, 2015 |
References
Alton-Lee, A. (2004). Using best evidence syntheses to assist in making a bigger difference for diverse learners. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Education Review Office (2012). The three most pressing issues for New Zealand’s education system, revealed in latest ERO report - Education Review Office. Retrieved 5 May 2015, from http://www.ero.govt.nz/About-Us/News-Media-Releases2/The-three-most-pressing-issues-for-New-Zealand-s-education-system-revealed-in-latest-ERO-report
OECD (2015). Education at glance 2014.Retrieved 5 May 2015, from http://www.oecd.org/newzealand/New%20Zealand-EAG2014-Country-Note.pdf
KPMG Australia. (2014, May 22).
Future State 2030 - Global Megatrends
Pearson. (2013, April 26). Global trends: The world is changing faster than at any time in human history. Retrieved fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdZiTQy3g1g
Science News (2014, Nov 26). New Mega Trends. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3T8xe3Q9_Cg
TeAra. (2014). Establishment of a national system of education, Retreived 7 July 2015, from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/education-evolution-of-present-system/page-2
The RSA.(2010, Oct 14). RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U.
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