week 27

Activity 3. Contemporary issue or trend in New Zealand or internationally

Raising achievement of Priority learners

Education Review Office describe priority learners as learners who are yet to feel the success of achieving at the required standard for their age.  This group of students are largely identified as being of Maori and /or Pacifica decent, from low socio-economic communities or students with special medical or social needs.

The issue for me is how do we as an educational community cloak these students and support them holistically to become confident risk takers in order to first be supported and move forward to become independent lifelong learners;  an enormous role for anyone to undertake. 

Throughout my study with Mindlab I have read and researched the importance of teachers critically reflecting on their teaching, discussing their practices with colleagues, being prepared to take risks, make changes in their practices, and analyse data to check the effectiveness of the changes made.   I have taken this recommendation on board and with the support of my new critical friend we have combined our energy and passion to make and discuss changes with the focussed intent to raise the achievement of our priority learners.  In turn we have fostered independent learners that are enthusiastically sharing their learning with their whanau.     Sounds fabulous and it is, although we are both very aware that it’s only a small piece of the complicated jigsaw that completes our student’s needs.

ERO recommend that throughout all schooling organisations an intensive effort must be made to provide “a culture of responsibility for students learning and wellbeing, and accountability for making a difference, must be the foundation on which all schools operate.”

Being an advocate for students learning and wellbeing is a huge responsibility as our priority students often have low self-esteem and  lack the confidence to take risks and in fact have little belief in themselves as learners due to the lack of feeling successful in any way especially academically.   My belief is that very little learning occurs until positive relationships are formed and both partners in the relationship can be trusted.

Pierre Pirard discussed five principles of highly effective teachers.  The first and most important of them all is to believe that our priority learners can achieve great results.  In some cases this may require a major change in mindset and may be the hardest of the five principals to achieve.  Secondly the students must know you believe in them.  When they know you believe in them they will begin to believe in themselves. Thirdly, goals must be set with them that are measurable and become an everyday priority. Once the goals are established we must plan an effective path of success, plan with care and plan backwards from the goal. Most importantly students must be able to see their own improvement.   We as teachers must invest in their lives in order to make a difference.

 None of the five principles are going to work miraculously, it will be hard work and at times there will be failure and lots of learning for both teachers and learners but it is possible.  

I compare it with learning to ride a bike.  At first it’s the hardest thing to do but every time you take a fall you get back on and try again. The goal is to ride the bike independently and every time you practice you can see and feel the improvement and positive encouragement strengthens the belief that you can succeed.   The support required to begin with is huge but overtime the support is reduced and success is sweet.

The challenge of raising the achievement of our priority students is not expected to be solved alone.  A problem shared is a problem halved and throughout the readings teachers are being continually encouraged to try different approaches to teaching and learning that may assist students learning, to discuss these ideas with others and critique the failures and successes.  To be as effective as we can be we need to take on board the research and give it a go. 

Education Review Office .(2012). Retrieved 5 May 2015, from  http://www.ero.govt.nz/About-Us/News-Media-Releases2/The-three-most-pressing-issues-for-N

ERO (2012) Teaching as Inquiry: Responding to Learners.  Wellington: Education Review Office.  Teaching as inquiry, embedded in school culture, and operating as a continuous cycle of improvement, has significant potential to bring about better teaching and learning. 

Pierre Pirard (2013) at TEDxGhert., 5 Principals of highly effective teachers. Retrived from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jdTtnWMLVM