I can’t agree more - we can learn from schools where innovations are already established. Schools are innovating to meet the needs of their learners. I work with Tāmaki College and their Akomanga Kaihanga: Learning for Social Innovation programme. Students collaborate with community partners to co-design and contribute to actions to enhance equity and social justice.
I also agree – this type of inquiry/project work is not easy. School systems, with subjects and timetables, are not well set up to enable it. But the wellbeing benefits from students’ sense of growth make it worth the effort. Students were passionate about their Akomanga Kaihanga projects. They were excited by their learning. Students told us about increased confidence, for example, in “talking to important guys.”
Young people seeing themselves as ‘people who can apply knowledge and skills to contribute to social good’ – how can we put a grade on that? Can we? I think we should. Interdisciplinary learning and competency development should be valued, as you say, “by becoming an assessment in its own right.”
We are very grateful to EPIT (https://www.epit.org.nz/) for supporting our work: evaluating learning and assessment tasks for students to recognise and articulate their diverse strengths, particularly as these relate to their contributions to community and broader societal wellbeing. We look forward to sharing our ideas in conversations at the AEC UpliftEd conference in Wellington later this year (https://events.humanitix.com/aec-conference).
How can we leverage what works in these 'pockets of amazing practice', so that they do apply across multiple contexts as a component of high-stakes assessment? Can we/how can we speak to the changes in our national assessment system to broaden the assessment conversation and make sure there are no missed opportunities?
I think so much of it comes down to just simply lack of funding & resources. We need more teachers & support staff. That requires money.
Before that, we need to have parents on board with these dynamic approaches to assessment. That requires a cultural shift away from the safe & familiar high stakes exams, to a system that is trickier to quantify/grade & takes more effort to implement, but is also more effective in engaging students in the learning process.
I strongly believe that you all as teachers, have the answers already & know what needs to be done. Sadly it is broader societal attitudes that constrain the education system & inhibit you all from doing your jobs in the most effective manner.
How to get parents on board requires trials of these assessment approaches & for long enough that Data can be collated & then analyzed. This was mentioned in the article regarding the SACE. The trials were carried out before the changes we made compulsory.
I also don't think stats alone, will be enough to gain the support of parents. I think the parents need to see the changes in their own children & improvements in their confidence & ability to apply skills & knowledge. Once Parents start seeing the results, hopefully that will translate to more support for schools & teachers, which will then translate to support for more funding of the education system.
Kia ora Rose and all,
I can’t agree more - we can learn from schools where innovations are already established. Schools are innovating to meet the needs of their learners. I work with Tāmaki College and their Akomanga Kaihanga: Learning for Social Innovation programme. Students collaborate with community partners to co-design and contribute to actions to enhance equity and social justice.
I also agree – this type of inquiry/project work is not easy. School systems, with subjects and timetables, are not well set up to enable it. But the wellbeing benefits from students’ sense of growth make it worth the effort. Students were passionate about their Akomanga Kaihanga projects. They were excited by their learning. Students told us about increased confidence, for example, in “talking to important guys.”
Young people seeing themselves as ‘people who can apply knowledge and skills to contribute to social good’ – how can we put a grade on that? Can we? I think we should. Interdisciplinary learning and competency development should be valued, as you say, “by becoming an assessment in its own right.”
We are very grateful to EPIT (https://www.epit.org.nz/) for supporting our work: evaluating learning and assessment tasks for students to recognise and articulate their diverse strengths, particularly as these relate to their contributions to community and broader societal wellbeing. We look forward to sharing our ideas in conversations at the AEC UpliftEd conference in Wellington later this year (https://events.humanitix.com/aec-conference).
Thanks for this example Suzanne
I was very aware as I did this piece that we have many wonderful pockets of amazing practice here in Aotearoa, notwithstanding the challenges
What interested me about these examples is that they apply across multiple contexts and two of them are compulsory for a whole cohort.
How can we leverage what works in these 'pockets of amazing practice', so that they do apply across multiple contexts as a component of high-stakes assessment? Can we/how can we speak to the changes in our national assessment system to broaden the assessment conversation and make sure there are no missed opportunities?
Hi Suzanne, wonderful question.
I think so much of it comes down to just simply lack of funding & resources. We need more teachers & support staff. That requires money.
Before that, we need to have parents on board with these dynamic approaches to assessment. That requires a cultural shift away from the safe & familiar high stakes exams, to a system that is trickier to quantify/grade & takes more effort to implement, but is also more effective in engaging students in the learning process.
I strongly believe that you all as teachers, have the answers already & know what needs to be done. Sadly it is broader societal attitudes that constrain the education system & inhibit you all from doing your jobs in the most effective manner.
How to get parents on board requires trials of these assessment approaches & for long enough that Data can be collated & then analyzed. This was mentioned in the article regarding the SACE. The trials were carried out before the changes we made compulsory.
I also don't think stats alone, will be enough to gain the support of parents. I think the parents need to see the changes in their own children & improvements in their confidence & ability to apply skills & knowledge. Once Parents start seeing the results, hopefully that will translate to more support for schools & teachers, which will then translate to support for more funding of the education system.
Great questions!