Critique and address issues of law, regulations and/or policy that have been relevant to the digital and collaborative learning innovation you applied in your practice
Education in New Zealand schools are underpinned by an Education Act with a number of regulations, and policies developed nationally and locally within schools. In recent times this has been updated to include ensuring schools recognise Te Tiriti o Waitangi as important within developing policies and programmes within schools. So how does the Education Act, regulations and policies impact my current innovation?
The digital and collaborative learning innovation that I implemented was the use of an Agile Project Management technique, Kanban Boards to support students in the completion of tasks, giving them success as learners.
Education Act
The Education and Training Act 2020 has been written to keep one overarching purpose, “to give all learners a high-quality, culturally responsive, seamless and inclusive education” (Ministry of Education, nd). Policies and programmes should be designed within schools to consider students with learning needs and provide support under the umbrella of Te Tiriti o Waitangi towards providing a culturally responsive and relational learning environment.
In relation to my innovation, it was aimed at providing support for students with learning needs, giving them success in accessing the curriculum. The priority is to “engage, excite and nurture Māori learners and boys” (ERO, n.d) along with a focus on some of the students who are learners with needs. All these learners benefit from visuals and step by step instructions followed by clear expectations as well as the use of digital technology. Our goal was to find “approaches [aimed at]... accelerating progress for students achieving below [whereby] everyone [takes] a shared role in improving achievement.” (ERO, n.d)
On reflection, this was a success in relation to giving learners structure and support in following simple instructions for their set tasks. The laminated boards were simple and easy to use - step by step instructions!
Regulations: Our Code, Our Standards
As teachers, we are bound by a set of standards or regulations that informs our teaching practice and professional interactions within school and the wider community. These are key standards for educators are discussed as relevant to the innovative practice I implemented:
Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership - Understand and recognise the unique status of tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand -
This is a key aspect that possibly was missing from my innovative practice in terms of collaboratively working with students and whanau finding out more about how they learn and their cultural aspirations and what’s best for learning
I know that ‘high expectations’ were key to the project as one of the outcomes was around learners completing tasks, to a high standard. I think the key to the success here is knowing what denotes high quality and effective and as a teacher, regular research and collaborative discussions are vital for success
Professional learning - Use inquiry, collaborative problem solving and professional learning to improve professional capability to impact the learning and achievement of all learners -
Knowledge of the effectiveness of visual timetables was a key element of this innovative practice
As a teacher, there is a variety of research available. Knowing what is effective for our learners can be trial and error. Often we are trialling new ideas that will embrace inclusive teaching and learning strategies for all learners.
Learning-focused culture - Develop a culture that is focused on learning, and is characterised by respect, inclusion, empathy, collaboration and safety -
One key outcome for this area of our standard is: “Demonstrate high expectations for the learning outcomes of all learners, including for those learners with disabilities or learning support needs' (Teachers Council, p. 20). This innovative approach was aimed at focusing on this key aspect. Some of the students selected were both Maori and their ability inhibited their access to the curriculum or giving success. Such a vital outcome for teachers.
Design for learning - Design learning based on curriculum and pedagogical knowledge, assessment information and an understanding of each learner’s strengths, interests, needs, identities, languages and cultures -
Teaching is not an easy profession. Each year we are presented with new challenges with learners and how we can best develop the right programme for our learners. Some learners require different approaches. Some work for all, some require adaptations in order to have success. Knowing our learner is key!
What underpins this and every aspect of education is that we are required to “design and plan culturally responsive, evidence-based approaches that reflect the local community and Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership in New Zealand” (Teachers Council p.20). The keywording is around the ‘evidence-based approach and not selecting something from ‘thin air'. From research the concept of Kanban Board is successful in the ‘work world’ however, more is needed within education to ensure it shows a successful approach
Teaching - Teach and respond to learners in a knowledgeable and adaptive way to progress their learning at an appropriate depth and pace -
A key outcome for this practice was around this teacher outcome: “Teach in ways that enable learners to learn from one another, to collaborate, to self-regulate and to develop agency over their learning” (Education Council, p.20). I was looking for ways students could take independent action in completing their learning and having a sense of achievement in completing their tasks. Again, teaching is expansive and as educators, we need to take the time to build these aspects into teaching and learning programmes. Working collaboratively with colleagues is key to this standard. We are not alone in education!
Policy
A document that is relevant to Education and the way we include Te Tiriti o Waitangi into education is Ka Hikitia (2013-2017), presenting some key outcomes for schools. There is a key concept from this document that stood out to me around engaging Maori learners in education - “provide early, intensive support for those students who are at risk of falling behind” (Ministry of Education, p36). As a teacher who believes in helping our students at risk, for whatever reason, this is key to the choice I made with the digital and collaborative learning innovation using Kanban Boards. The theme of this blog post has been around supporting our learners, mostly ‘at risk’ and how they can meet a number of outcomes: success, self-regulation, completion, high expectations to name a few.
References
Council, E. (2017). Our code, our standards. Wellington, New Zealand: Education Council.
Education Review Office. (n.d) Identifying priority learners. Retrieved April 09, 2021, from
https://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/accelerating-the-progress-of-priority-learners-in-primary-sc
hools/identifying-priority-learners/Identifying. Ministry of Education.
Hume, K (2018). Visual Schedules in the School Setting. From: https://www.readingrockets.org/article/visual-schedules-school-setting
Ministry of Education. (2013). Ka hikitia–Accelerating success 2013–2017.
Ministry of Education (nd_). Digital technologies and the technology learning area From:https://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Curriculum-learning-areas/Digital-technologies-and-the-technology-learning-area
Ministry of Education (nd) The Education and Training Act 2020: Information for principals and teachers
Rehkopf, M (2020). What is a Kanban Board? From: https://www.atlassian.com/agile/kanban/boards
Singh, K (2018). Leadership Practices that Raise the achievement of outcomes of Maori learners: An examination of practices. Retrieved 09-06-2021: https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/12154/SinghK.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
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