And So It Begins Again

2017 - the year that was...or wasn't in my case.  After a few health challenges which turned out to be opportunities to clarify my thinking around my study (never miss an opportunity to try and turn a negative into a positive, or so I keep telling myself), I have decided to change my study path from an EdD, (Doctor of Education), to a PhD, (Doctor of Philosophy, Education).


WHY?
I have decided that I won't go back into the classroom as a teacher.  I love a good challenge but being completely deaf in one ear is a little too much of one and I have a passion for research - always have - and this completely feeds that.  It's something I've thought of doing, and wanted to do full-time, for many years now so this is the opportunity to do that.

Researching in a Different Way

While figuring all of this out, I've been working with my long-suffering supervisor at Otago, (he also put up with me for two Masters' papers).  We started to talk about what form my research should take in terms of methods, theories and all the usual bits and pieces that go along with planning one of these journeys and we hit on something called Grounded Theory.  I must admit this was a new one for me - had never heard of it before so this was my first bit of research before the research.


What on Earth is Grounded Theory and Why I Think it is Going to be so Powerful in Teacher Research

Grounded Theory is based on a constructivist approach to research (as a constructivist teacher, this already had me hooked!) where data is analysed throughout the research process rather than after it and this can lead to a change in direction for where the research leads.  It also emphasises not making any assumptions and that the researcher tries very hard to leave their biases at the door, so to speak.  This is a fantastic challenge for any researcher if they're prepared to take it on.

Grounded theory also has a strong aspect of ako integrated into the process where they researcher and the participants in the research process are learning from and with each other.  If done well, it becomes a collaborative process.  This also fits in well with my other passion - Communities of Practice - which were the focus for my Masters.  (Note - Communities of Practice are not the same as Communities of Learning, but that is for another blog post...)

What is Classical Grounded Theory?

Biggest Opportunities and Challenges for My Research

• Keep an open mind 
• Avoid preconceived ideas 
• Always be open to new ideas and different opinions
• Try to avoid bias at any cost - the hardest part of Grounded Theory but the most important if we want to create new theories together with our participants in the research process
• Build a community of practice through trust, connections and collaboration
• Constantly interact with and question the data

Let the journey begin...again...

What Will We Do Without National Standards?

The author, third from right, following certification two years after graduation.

I began teaching in 1999.  It was a later career choice in my early 30s and I was beyond excited to be able to make a career change to something I was so passionate about.  At that stage we had a series of curriculum documents which guided our practice and a wide range of assessment tools which we used to ascertain exactly where our students were achieving in relation to the curriculum levels and what their next learning steps needed to be.  I planned alongside my students and they, and I, could tell you exactly where they were in their learning and what their next steps were.  We did this for each child and reported accordingly to their parents.  Sounds a lot like what the National Government said we weren't doing and why they brought in National Standards...  Yes, there needed to be changes in some areas of reporting, particularly in the way we reported to parents.  It needed to be clearer but there were many schools who were already doing a fantastic job of this and could have been sharing their practice with others.

The New Zealand Curriculum Online

2007 saw the Revised National Curriculum introduced.  This was incredibly exciting and heralded a new era in learning and teaching in this country.  It was a curriculum that was held up as a world leader and there was so much promise around it.  This one document replaced the 8 other separate documents and allowed schools greater flexibility in catering for diverse learning needs within their schools and for tailoring their curriculum to meet the learning needs and interests of their own communities.  It provided relevancy.  There were also clear indicators of what a student was expected to be achieving at each level before progressing to the next.  From this it was easy to create the Learning Intentions and Success Criteria alongside the students to meet their individual learning needs and to show progress.

Southland Principals and Senior Leaders were particularly vocal in our opposition to National Standards and were often accused of therefore being a range of things from being opposed to assessment, (completely bonkers and I'll address this shortly) through to lefty unionists who were going to be opposed to this 'great initiative' just because it came from the National Government.  Please, give us more credit than that as professionals.  Our biggest concerns were around the speed of the introduction of the standards, the lack of an effective trial period and the fact that they were actually neither national, nor standard in the first place.  They were too open to individual judgment and the amount of professional learning and support needed to develop consistency to achieve any 'standardisation' was just not there no matter how many hundreds of hours went into trying to achieve this.

Of course, this was a really serious situation that the media ran with and, unfortunately had the ultimate impact on the public that teachers weren't interested in knowing where their students were academically and weren't interested in using these 'amazing new tools' to help them do so.  Hmmm, just what were we doing before National Standards then, when New Zealand was seen to be  a world leader in education?

Since their introduction in 2010, National Standards have given parents a false sense of security.  Parents / caregivers and whanau are under the belief that the standards provided an accurate and consistent picture of achievement across the country when this is not the case and has been backed up by research by the previous government itself.  The standards never focused on progress of the individual student.  This was one of the biggest mistakes in my opinion.  They could have been more successful had they done this.  Parents, caregivers and whanau can be reassured that you will know where your child is achieving in relation to the National Curriculum levels and what they need to do to keep progressing.

The stress and anxiety placed on students from an incredibly young age to achieve to a certain level rather than on progress is of huge concern.  I can remember when we used to have to work really hard because our Intermediate-aged students would start to become stressed and switch off school due to the number of assessments.  We were now starting to see this at a much younger age because of all the constant testing.   Do we really want this for our children?  Does it make them more successful learners?  Recent data around National Standards suggested it didn't and helped to speed up their demise.  National Standards have not improved learning and achievement.  

Another interesting area for me in particular, as my PhD is around Gifted and Talented Education, is that we were required to report our National Standards results to the Government each year in the following areas:  Students who were Well Below, Below, At and Above.  Notice anything missing?  Where are those who are 'Well Above'?  Do we not worry about them?  I've always been curious about that. 

Now that National Standards have been removed, we can now hopefully get back to putting the passion back into learning and teaching for all involved - students, teachers, Principals and caregivers and whanau.  We can now get back to utilising a curriculum which gives scope for schools to really engage with their students and communities and get learning and teaching back on track.  As for assessment?  We have such a huge range of amazing tools with which to gauge progress and identify the next learning steps for each student.  Just as we did before National Standards were put in place and put unnecessary stress and pressure on all involved.

We've had to battle for a long time against the irony from the 'powers that be' that we must be personalising the learning for our students but then assess with tests which were very much standardised, or tried to be.  The data that was recorded wasn't designed to show progress, just a score.  It was demoralising for all concerned.  Finally, we can get on with what we do best...learning and teaching, rather than constant testing and formal assessment.

Are We Failing Our Gifted and Talented Learners...and Teachers

Gifted and Talented education has long been a passion of mine but over the past few years I've become more and more concerned about how we are catering - or not as the case may be - to their diverse individual needs due to a range of factors.

Since the implementation of National Standards, there has been a focus on 'lifting the tail' of achievement in New Zealand.  I absolutely agree with this - we need to make sure that ALL our learners are achieving and working towards becoming successful, productive members of society. However, my concern is that, in the focus placed on our underachievers we are neglecting the other end of the spectrum, our Gifted and Talented students.  It is a very complex issue and I worry that students who are perceived as having 'behaviour problems' or those who drift along achieving where they should be in terms of National Standards and then leave school the minute they can when in fact they are sometimes the unidentified Gifted and Talented, are missing out.


We are lucky in New Zealand that we have organisations who support our Gifted and Talented students and their families and the Ministry of Education has a resource site on TKI, but what about the students who miss our on being identified and become very negative towards learning?  Organisations such as the One-Day schools can only do so much. If students are going back into an environment where their needs are not catered for due to the enormous pressure on teachers to 'lift the tail' of underachievement, then what can be done to support the learning community and to make sure that the needs of ALL our students are met?

New Zealand Association for Gifted Children

New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education

So What Do We Do?  Are Our Gifted and Talented Students Missing Out?

I came across this article last week and the issues raised in it really hit home. (Click on the caption to read the full article).  I loved that it also addresses the Gifted and Talented colleagues with whom we work which was a really interesting aspect as we don't always value the differences in our workplaces.  While it is an American article, it raises questions about how we meet the needs of all of our amazing students.

The article tells the story of 'Aiden' a twice-exceptional student for whom the regular system did not work.  We've all had an 'Aiden' or two in our rooms.  We know how to cater for their academic needs to various extents but it's often the social side which poses the problems because they don't 'fit in' to the social norms and expectations.  I often why we would expect them to though.  Isn't part of being a human being celebrating the quirks and differences of who we are?  I often wonder why we can't just do that instead of expecting everyone to conform to the norm.  As my students often say - "What is normal?  Who decided what normal is?"  Kids are often wiser than adults.  This was a fantastic discussion amongst all of us and I guess it's why our classroom environment was such a crazy and relaxed one where everyone was valued and accepted for who they are.

Jenn Choi - How Gifted and Talented Programs are Failing our Kids

So, what are you currently doing to meet the needs of your gifted and talented students?  What are your struggles?  What support do you get from within your school?  What improvements would you like to see?

Let's get the discussion going...