Manaiakalani Teacher Within School interview CoL 2021

Which  Achievement Challenge are you considering as an area of focus in 2022 and why? Include in your WHY both evidence and your own passion/expertise

When I think of our school community I am instantly drawn to the achievement challenge of ’Lifting the achievement for boys' writing Years 1-10.’ For us in our space and leaning into my observations and beliefs since arriving at St. Pius X Catholic School, I would focus directly on:

‘How does a Māori centred theory and practice approach lift the achievement of writers in Yr 5-6?’

NMSSA study based on approx
2000 students (ERO 2019)

Over the years national data has shown that average achievement was higher for girls than boys, lower for Māori and Pasifika students than for non-Māori and non-Pasifika students respectively, and was lower for students from lower decile schools (ERO 2019).  We, at St. Pius X Catholic School, are male-dominated with 60% of our boys working below the expected level for writing across the middle school.

The reason for wanting to implement a ‘Māori centred’ approach is that it draws on Māori concepts and promotes and develops bicultural values for our setting, which aim to promote and enhance wellbeing. This bicultural setting ties into Pacific values and connections and again highlights the connection between Pacific Island and Māori values. If we look at Māori centred approaches we would look our Tikanga, our values:

• whakawhanaungatanga - belonging whānau inclusiveness and connectedness

• Manaakitanga - providing that tautoko, awhi, respect and care for others - lends a hand to school values

• Kotahitanga - oneness - unity encouragement and moving forward together

• Rangatiratanga - self-governance - being in control. Giving tauira and whānau the information to create their own pathways

• Maramatanga - Understanding. Can see the relevance in learning something and how they can apply it.

• Mohiotanga - sharing information. Rangatahi building on their knowledge. learning new information /strategies.

• Hakari - celebrating success. Sharing of kai, Whakawhanaungatanga

• Tuakana / Teina - Experienced helping those less experienced

• Kaitiakitanga - Reciprocity - we are guardians of not just our knowledge and learning journey but of sharing that knowledge to our community.

• Whakapapa - Making whanau links in the group and wider community

• Wairua - a sense of wellbeing. A connection to whenua, ngahere, moana, maunga, awa.

• Tikanga - The placing into practice that which is correct. Encourage rangatahi to do the right thing by providing them with the essential information.

• Atuatanga - Paying respect to nga Atua. Karakia, knowing & respecting the realms of each atua and their roles in our everyday lives. Learning around Nga Atua Māori and the roles they play in te Ao Māori. How the knowledge can be used practically to connect us to our tupuna, Whenua, etc. Being aware of individuals' different beliefs and respecting those. Sharing karakia.

"If there is a higher congruency between home culture and school culture then learning is likely to be more powerful for Māori students" (Bishop. 2000).

Mason Durie (1994) Te Whare Tapa Whā of hauora.

These are my strengths and with my previous study and involvement in mental health in our rangatahi, I have strongly connected with these values as key influencers to support welfare, agency and success. If tauira are not happy within themselves and feel supported how can we expect them to achieve?

What learnings from the 2017 - 2021 CoL teacher inquiries have informed or inspired your thinking?

Inquiry Focus Question

• Will engaging my learners using a Talanoa framework support and enhance their understanding and learning in a collaborative project-based environment? - Dot Apelu Tamaki College 

• Will developing an oral language programme that draws on students’ strengths in their first language, and incorporates short high-interest topics and real-life hands-on experiences with a focus on intensive oral language acquisition, see a shift in student achievement? - Jo Gormly Tāmaki Primary

Why:

Dot Apelu:

The Talanoa framework is similar to that of a Māori Centred framework. Te whare tapa whā, Va'atele Model or Meihana Health framework. The Talanoa framework centres around:

• Ofa/Love - we start with questions about ourselves. O ai a’u?  Ko ai au?  Who am I?. This sets the scene of your talanoa and shows that you are sharing your love with everyone by acknowledging who is in the meeting. This ‘ofa’ can mean different things, but in this case, it’s about who you are.

• Mafana/Warmth - builds rapport, developing a connection to bring in the trust of the parents

• Malie/Humour - You can often find something funny in a situation by over-exaggerating something to the point of being ridiculous. 

• Faka’apa’apa/Respect -  Both teachers and parents start building the ‘where-to-next’ stage because of the mutual respect from both sides. This helps to build a shared understanding between the teachers and Pasifika parents, families, and communities.

Why:

Jo Gormly:

Jo’s idea of drawing on the first language strengths of tauira supports children’s identities and acknowledges them as experts in their field. It also helps make those connections which as we know are imperative to foster good relationships with whānau.

Dr Rae Si'ilata The Va‘atele Framework: Redefining and Transforming Pasifika Education (2014)

How would your work support Manaiakalani pedagogy and kaupapa?

Definitely, it would bring about empowerment to tamariki and whānau because it centres the aspect of whānau and connectedness. The connection with whānau would help create a connection online with learning as now parents and tauira will be connecting together. With the new connectedness and understanding the ubiquitous nature of online learning now not only benefits tauira but again whānau and even the wider community. 

Which elements of the extensive Manaiakalani research findings inform or challenge you as you think about this?

As educators, we are aware that for some students, it is very likely that efficacy and achievement will taper off as their years' progress in primary education. Manaiakalani states: ‘If a child was continuously present in a Manaiakalani school, that is they got the full ‘dosage’, the rate of gain in writing was twice that expected nationally.’ That is a big wero for me as an educator to take on in my stride. It is one that I feel confident can be done if the right tools and facilitation are present.

How would you like to be supported in 2022 as you undertake this inquiry?

We all at one stage or another feel time slipping away on us. For me, to have the ability to reflect, observe and analyse my impact on teaching and learning would be of the greatest benefit. Not only that but to be able to observe and talanoa with other working professionals across multiple levels of education. Such as other teachers and academics who are principals in their fields would be of the greatest benefit.

How would you plan to support your colleagues in your school with THEIR inquiries and/or teaching in the area you are exploring?

As a school, we are currently rebuilding with new staff who will be new to Manaiakalani Kaupapa. So for me, it will be about making those connections with them, finding out where their skills lie along with their needs and working collaboratively with them to the end goal. 

Finally, all my mahi will be visible. Our class learning site and professional blog will be learner-centric that provides the step towards equitable education for those learners to stand alongside others as equals, in knowledge at school, in their communities and in wider society. Alongside my leading and sharing at staff meetings.

Lockdown, mindfulness and devices

Devices are apart of our everyday school life as a member of the  Manaiakalani Cluster. The kaupapa revolves around our learners being confident digital citizens, enabling them to access their learning anywhere, anytime and at any pace. Using 'Learn, Create, Share'  as the leading pedagogy to drive learners toward visible and ubiquitous learning, strong learner agency and connectedness to grow knowledge. With this in mind our students, parents and fellow staff felt that with Level 4 Lockdown taking a hold of New Zealand beginning on 25th March 2020 we'd have the online platform and technical capabilities to continue with our learning. 

 However, with Lockdown in full swing I felt unclear as to how I would be able to support and continue to build on our mindfulness routines and success without a physical presence. My worry comes from the knowledge that Māori and Pasifika have long been identified as a group who are underserved by the New Zealand education system. This is characterised by an overrepresentation of comparatively low achievement, high truancy, and leaving school early. To add to these statistics Māori and Pasific communities have the highest rates of depression and anxiety in the country, with the lowest rate of diagnosis. These statistics were what I wanted to positively influence and change and within our classroom it felt as though some small changes were happening.

Technology, devices and  specifically 'screen time' have been associated with ideas of poor mental health and having negative effects on brain development. Devices have worn the brunt of societal issues that have been around long before devices. However studies have shown just one hour of screen time could be enough to make children more likely to be anxious or depressed, less curious, less able to finish tasks, less emotionally stable and lowering their self-control. 

This now brings the question: How can I use eLearning tools to aid hauora in the classroom while distance teaching?

The beginning of online teaching

MINDFULNESS Knowing ourselves from the inside out

How do you make mental health a normalised conversation that anyone of any age can have at any time? For us in our class it was about repetition and about the language. As a class, our morning goals very quickly became our norm and pupils were forthcoming in what they wanted to share. We then turned to the language. Certain language unintentionally can contribute toward reinforcing negative connotations, behaviour and stigma. We began to look out sharing our goals while only using positive language. For example a pupil may have originally said:

"I won't distract the people around me."

As a class we decided that was focusing on the negative and came up with a few other ways of saying something of similar meaning:

"I will focus on my own work"

"I will respect my classmates by working to the best of my ability"

"I will sit beside people who I work well with."

These small changes to language within our goal setting  had a profound impact on how the pupils carried themselves throughout the day. The outwardly positive language reshaped dynamics within the classroom for the better. Pupils were beginning to pay attention to the words used throughout the day and were even noticing the words I used in certain situations. It created many class discussions where we spent time to reflect on the words we were using and what  impact that had on our inner dialogue'. 

 

Pupils started to understand the power of pausing for a couple of seconds. Evaluating their thoughts, and thinking,

'Is that hurtful or helpful?'

Why bother with Mental Health in the classroom?

As a beginning teacher in 2019 I moved from Central Otago to Auckland to work with what I considered a 'special population'. Something I couldn't get in abundance living in the South Island of New Zealand. That was working with Māori and Pasifika students. For many reasons, but mainly for my personal interest in mental health. Myself and my area of adolescence have a personal relationship with mental health amongst youth and it is well known to be something that hugely hinders the livelihood of Māori and Pasifika peoples. Namely youth males. My aspirations as a teacher were to give pupils not only the academic skills to progress in life but also social and emotional agency.

Morning Prayer circle

 

Mental health for some people is a loaded word, considered almost taboo because the literacy taught around mental health is quite often unpleasant, perplexing and bleak. However, mental health is multifaceted and under an education lens it is about providing positive experiences that provide a child's sense of self-worth and development. We learn our interactions from parents and adults around us. By the age of six years old friendships and other social relationships with peers and adults become more complex. They take on more meaning at this age, as they become more aware of the world around them and their role in it. Also at age 6, children become more aware of emotions—both their own and those of others. They understand sophisticated concepts, like not hurting someone’s feelings by, saying something scathing about a person directly to them. 

Sharing our daily morning goals

 In 2019 as a new teacher I began looking at the foundations of my class. I wanted to provide positive opportunities for promoting mental and emotional wellbeing which can be sustained and reinforced over time. So where do I begin? Breathing and structure.

Practicing our 5 finger breathing

Our structure begins each morning after morning prayer (we are a Catholic School) where we share one daily goal we wish to achieve each day. Our breathing started off with only two minutes everyday after lunch. Structure came back in with our 'Peaks and Troughs' where pupils would share something that went well and something that didn't go well. That is the extent of beginning my implementation of mental health in the classroom.

Breathing with ourselves planted 

Breathing how we feel most comfortable

DFI #9

Heck Yes!!

Today is our last session! We finished with a three hour exam..... Happy to announce I passed the Level 1 Google Certification!


Manaiakalani's final words:

Ubiquitous - ubiquitous learning opportunities of being able to learn Anytime, Anywhere, Any pace from Anyone!

DFI #8

Cybersmart not Cybersafety - Empowering our learners as connected and confident decision makers.

Manaiakalani Cybersmart that we teach our pupils is divided into three main sections that follow the Learn, Create, Share model as well. 

Term 1 Smart learners (LEARN) - are our students effective and prepared users of digital technology?

Term 2: Digital footprint (CREATE) - understanding what info we should share and what we should keep to ourselves - making these decisions is important

Term 3 Smart relationships (SHARE) - how we comment effectively on blogs, how can we invite an audience to engage with us - how to we equip our learners to be capable and positive contributors to a global society
Click here to see what SPX Room 5 have been covering in school!

Digital learning, simplified

Hapara helps schools make the shift to digital learning by making it easier to view and manage learner work in the cloud.

Visibility

Easy access and visibility into learner work.

Differentiation

Individualize learning by differentiating assignments.

Safety

View learner browsing activity during class.

Insight

Drive powerful teaching and learning conversations.

Student Agency

Empower students to take control of their digital learning.

Digital Fluency Intensive #7

You can’t be truly empowered without leading a visible, connection and ubiquitous life. 

Manaiakalani aim to provide and transform our young learners lives. It's about giving the pupils agency and rich opportunities. This is achieved when we as the educators can make our teaching visible and rewindable. Handing the power back to our tamariki. We want to empower our whanau with our kaupapa of EMPOWERED.

OMG TECH

TrailBlazers Workshop:

Technology. The ever changing, ever developing world. OMGTech! develops & delivers engaging workshops for both teachers and students on digital technologies and how to explore and invent with them.

  

Trailblazers
Professional Learning & Development

Rangers
STEAM Workshops

Hour of CodeNZ Hour of Code Partner

Mana Tangata

Youth Mentorship

We explored the digital curriculum as a new piece of the existing curriculum document and how we as educators can facilitate pupils learning about digi-tech in engaging, exciting ways. This was done through the likes of:

 Hour of Code - A group of games at varying levels that  allow users to be self-taught in the area of coding.

 Scratch - we also played around with scratch and used the coding tools to create a simple game. 

Technology answers a lot of the demands of today and is a constantly evolving, fast-paced society that provides rapid-fire responses, which means it is constantly evolving as well. It is important to provide our pupils with positive learning experiences while making them aware of it's negatives. As technology becomes a permanent, dependent factor in our lives it will test our moral compass so the more we're able to include the better prepared our tamariki will be in the future.