REFLECTION 3: THE BROADER CONTEXT OF MY PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE - CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN NZ OR INTERNATIONALLY

Visser and Gagnon (2005) define a trend as “the statistically observable change or general orientation of a general movement”. Wilson (2012) states the changes a trend brings have significant impacts. OECD (2016) highlights the trends shaping education – globalisation, changes in learning behaviour, digital technology acceleration, interconnectedness, redesigning learning spaces, coding design and so on.

A trend relevant to my practice is rethinking how a school and school curriculum works.

Our school recently began a curriculum review, which will continue into 2018, as we look ahead to where we want our curriculum to be headed from 2019 onwards. I think we need to think differently about learning than our current structures and curriculum design allow. We are teaching students in the 21^st century using a model that has its beginnings in the 19^th century. As Heick (2017) says “The world is changing; let schools change, too”.

Our educational goal is, or should be, to build people’s capacity to learn, so we need to be looking at:

• What are our school’s aims? What do we want to achieve for our students?
• How do we design learning for our students?
• How well are we meeting our students’ learning needs?

Bolstad and Gilbert (2008) describe our current curriculum structures as “the 20^th century, one size-fits-all, “production line model” of schooling. They advocate replacing the traditional subject-oriented model with a competency-oriented model that supports students to develop personalised programmes designed to build overall learning capacity. They believe the current system encourages students to master specific bits of knowledge to pass exams and accumulate credits for qualifications. Bolstad and Gilbert 2008 go on to argue that many of the ideas that drive the current senior secondary curriculum are making it very difficult to develop a 21^st century curriculum.

In our small school we could be perfectly placed to make changes but how do we address system-level challenges while holding true to our school culture and community? Bolstad and Gilbert (2008) use the metaphor “unbundling” schools – “a process in which innovators deconstruct established structures and routines and reassemble them in newer, smarter ways”.

In thinking about my overall vision for our curriculum at Buller High School, I was taken by this quote by Prakish Nair (n.d.) - “We worry about our schools becoming ineffective when we should be afraid they are becoming irrelevant”.

What do I think is vital to a 21^st century curriculum for BHS?

• student-centred and driven – an active partnership with students in their learning which reflects student voice and encompasses personalised learning models
• caters well for diversity and culturally responsive
• students enjoy learning, with high levels of participation, engagement and intrinsic motivation
• based on innovative teaching and learning research
• clear pedagogical basis
• students know how to think in depth and critically
• relevant e.g. reflection of the high level of knowledge and skills necessary in the 21stC, preparation for life beyond school
• innovative and fosters creativity
• clearly and strongly reflects the Buller and West Coast - our ownership
• ICT infused into classroom and curriculum
• learning drives the curriculum, not assessment
• meaningful connections between subjects through increased cross-curricula collaboration, instead of learning being in separate compartments - absence of territorial and/or competitiveness between departments
• developing learning skills and understanding progression (over content)
• incorporates the 21st Century Learning Design skills framework

What questions do I think we should ask when thinking about curriculum design?

• What is essential for our students to learn?
• What is desirable for our students to learn?
• Is the current configuration of the curriculum best for our students?
• What changes, if any, would we like to see in the curriculum?
• How do we think the curriculum needs to respond to the needs of our community?
• How can we use the curriculum to increase whanau/community links and involvement?
• What makes our students want to come to school, or would make them want to come to school more?
• Is the school curriculum doing enough to spark their interests and fully engage them?
• Does the curriculum reflect and respond to their needs?

What might be the implications of changed curriculum design?

• What flexibility would be needed in the teaching and learning priorities of the curriculum, learning spaces and timetable structures?
• What areas of additional support would need to be catered for?
• What upskilling/PLD would be needed ?
• Reorienting the senior secondary school towards this learning-centred, competency-based approach requires some organisational changes. (Bolstad and Gilbert, 2008)

It’s not an easy fix and change is difficult … but I think this quote sums it up well:

Reference List:

Bolstad, R. & Gilbert, J. (2008). Disciplining and drafting, or 21^st century learning? Rethinking the New Zealand senior secondary curriculum for the future. New Zealand Council for Educational Research. NZCER Press, Wellington.

Hipkins, R. (2011). Learning to be a new school: Building a curriculum for new times. New Zealand Council for Educational Research, Wellington.

Innovative Teaching and Learning (ITL) Research. (2012). 21st Century Learning Design, Microsoft Partners in Learning.

Nair, P. (nd). Learning with Technology. Retrieved from http://www.designshare.com/Research/Nair/Learning_Technology.htm

Visser, L., & Gagnon, K. (2005). Defining “Trends” and “Issues” in Distance Education. Conversation with Donald Paul Ely Y. Visser, L. Visser, M. Simonson & R. Amirault (Eds. de la serie), Trends and Issues in Distance Education. International Perspectives, pp.83-89.

Wilson, B. (2012). Trends and issues facing distance education. In L. Visser, Y. Visser M., R. Amirault & M. Simonson (2nd Ed.) Trends and Issues in Distance Education. International Perspectives (pp.39-54). North Carolina: Information Age Publishing, Inc.