School Leader Discussion #3

Our school is middle-senior heavy and male-dominated, with our latest testing results showing that 66% of our Yr4-8 students are achieving below the national expectancy for writing. As alarming as this statistic is, it provided us with two key thoughts and feelings. One, what an exciting inquiry this will be with much to learn, develop and implement. Two, we are in the right area to ensure we are putting the children's needs at the forefront of our discussions. Our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) conversation was very simple and precise. We used the data to confirm and inform our teacher judgement and assumptions and came up with the following key points that my inquiry needed to address:

1) Is there a love or passion for writing? - if not, what are we doing about it?

2) How are we teaching writing? Do we need to shift our mindset to better facilitate and prepare our students for their futures in high school?

• Kotahitanga - oneness - unity encouragement and moving forward together

3) How are we integrating writing across the curriculum and giving the children enough time to practice the skills taught?

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

4) We need home engagement - set up workshops each term?

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

5) How are we measuring our success? Formative and summative assessment. How is this then being shared with staff, children and whānau?

6) Are we creating a safe space within our writing programme for children to fail successfully? Do we celebrate success and failure equally?

• Kotahitanga - oneness - unity encouragement and moving forward together
• Hakari - celebrating success

These points I felt were balanced within the realms of academia and holistic/hauora approaches to learning. Showing the balance we have within our SLT while leaning nicely into the original question I posed of: 

'How does a Māori centred theory and practice approach lift the achievement of writers in Yr 6-8?

Our next step 

Student Inquiry Focus - CoL #2

 "Good inquiry happens in teams.."  A teaching point referred to by Manaiakalani during our first PLG for the year. 

We, at St. Pius X Catholic School, are in a Modern Learning Environment (MLE), so this concept is never more true for both staff and tauira. We share spaces, equipment, learning and the load of collectively making decisions that will benefit our young people for the duration of their time here. Informal conversations are often the most valuable as you troubleshoot or expand on ideas you wish to implement within the spaces. It is also the time when you can gather a range of knowledge about where all your learning needs sit and pool together ideas on how to engage the learners.

The idea of this inquiry is to look at the trends and effectively contribute to our wider school and cluster goals as we continue our journey as teachers to be reflective of our practice. 

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 6-8?’

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.

So what does this mean? To implement a ‘Māori centred’ approach is to draw on Māori concepts and promote and develop 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 there is a higher congruency between home culture and school culture then learning is likely to be more powerful for Māori students (Bishop. 2000).

• whakawhanaungatanga - belonging whanau 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 

• Whakapapa - Making whanau links in the group.

• 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 about 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.

Challenge of student learning:

Writing for us has traditionally been below the national average. That doesn't mean it needs to stay below the average. The question however is why? Our senior team has highlighted three key areas that our children typically encounter.

1) Writers Process - if we look at our testing results it begins at the very beginning. The Plan. Children do not know how to plan, why we plan or how to stick to a plan when writing. The whole first step of the Writing Process is missing which then entices me to believe that the Writing Process is unknown to our students. The process of Plan, Draft, Revise or Editing their texts.

2) Independent Writing - the children haven't had a chance to foster independence with their writing. Independent writing can be a time the student writes with little support from the teacher, trying out ideas in a risk-free environment where genuine writing attempts are recognised and rewarded . 

3) Confidence - the confidence of our children to write a story and be ok with making mistakes, coming back to an idea at a later date and then to share their work is a huge struggle.

Manaiakalani CoL inquiry 2022 #1

Kia ora tātau! 

Ko Ruapehu te maunga 

Ko Pungapunga rāua ko Wanganui ngā awa 

Ko Aotea rāua ko Te Arawa ngā waka 

Ko Tuwharetoa me Ati Haunui-a-Pāpārangi me Kūki Āirani ngā iwi 

Ko Ngāti Uenuku rāua ko Ngāti Hinemihi ōku hapū 

Ko Te Puke rāua ko Kauriki ōku marae 

I te taha o tōku matua whānau 

Ko 'Ikurangi rātou ko Te Manga, ko Te Atukura e Maunga Tea ōku maunga 

Ko Awarua te awa Ko Te Matahorua, ko Apaipai Moana, ko Takitumu oku waka 

Ko Uke Ariki te Tūpuna 

Ko Ngāti Akatawira te hapū 

Ko Taputapu-atea te Marae 

Ko Monique Nees-Kairua ahau.  

Well, this year is the year that I take up the mahi of our schools CoL Leader and with that comes the responsibility of completing a Teaching as Inquiry cycle and sharing my progress over the year. This has been a key component within Manaiakalani from its early stages however, formally became a Ministry of Education Kāhui Ako in December 2016. 

For me to be able to complete this role effectively it needs to revolve around collaboration with my colleagues, whānau and wider CoL teachers. With that in mind my first step when looking into an inquiry that targets one of the 6 highlighted Achievement Challenges from Manaiakalani I need to discuss them with my colleagues.

 As a senior school, we came up with some key focus points that will help centre ourselves when it comes to our inquiry focus. Our target is to improve writing for our students but what does this look like in a predominately Pasific school? 

It's first getting our students to understand the writing process. As this is the foundation of all writing genres. We then want to empower tamariki by equipping them with exemplars of what writing we are trying to achieve, and unpack and purposefully teach the writing progressions. 

Our tauira need to know, understand be a part of feedback and rubric/success criteria. We then want to empower them to be able to give constructive feedback to each other.

Another key aspect of this inquiry will be empowering whānau at home. We want to take strip away the notion that only we as teachers are the experts. When we bring everyone up with us we become an empowered community that moves forward together. This will be done by connecting with learners and whānau and unpacking key focus areas for their children and showing how parents can support their children. As a school, we have previously provided workshops for our whānau to help strengthen home-school partnerships. I think this will be key in raising achievement, expectations and enjoyment of our Literacy, especially writing.

Lastly, it needs to include whānau voice. We need to know their needs, their expectations and their direction for their children.

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?'