History Engagement

 In my time as a history teacher, and even reflecting on my time as a learner, students' experience of New Zealand History has resulted in boredom and a reluctance to learn or engage in local stories. There is a perception that “interesting” or “real” history didn’t happen locally

So as for my enquiry I decided to survey a year 9 class to determine their views on learning about local history.

Pre trip 61% felt local history was important. This rose to 87% post trip.

Pre trip 19% said NZ history was boring - 28% said maybe. This dropped to 6% and 6% maybe post trip.

There is evidence to suggest that an authentic engagement with local history via Mana Whenua lifts both student interest and engagement with the stories of the past. 

This is backed up by research overseas 

The merits of teaching local history: Increased place attachment enhances civic engagement and social trust

So now the challenge is to grow the learning beyond the trip itself into the classroom

Need to conduct some student interviews re their views on Local History in more depth

"Ka mua, ka muri" is a whakatauki that many will know means "walking backwards into the future" - the idea we should look to the past to inform the future.

There is emerging evidence that local historical understanding can build community pride as students become more aware of their local community.

Last day of the DFI

 Today was the last day of my journey attending the Manaiakalani Digital Fluency Intensive.

Our focus at the start of the day was on empowerment. Unfortunately many of the whanau of our learners exist with a lack of empowerment. This has been made worse by two years of Covid lockdowns and restrictions. Unfortunately that is reflected in many of the social statistics in modern Aotearoa. The challenge is to combat this and many of initatives that manaiakalani have are designed to combat these.

Our attention turned to the future of technology. In particular what does this mean for our young people. The world is shifting particually around the area of automation. Theere are break through technologies around the world such as Elon Musks' star link and even in New Zealand companies such as rocket lab are changing the dynamic as to what is possible. Increasingly, Robots are replacing humans and changing industries such as agriculture and manufacturing. The development of these technologies means that is crucial to have a conversation about whose world view is reflected in these platforms. Awareness is crucial of any biases that may exist in terms of Artificial Intelligence.

We were joined by some amazing year 6 students from Point England Primary who showed us real life examples of how the Manaiakalani Learn Create Share Kaupapa is embedded in their school on a daily basis. They were amazing ambassadors for their school.

An opportunity to explore coding software is always fun and I am going to challenge myself to find opportunities to use in my classroom.  The afternoon was spent exploring applications such as scratch to develop our coding skills. It was a lot of fun and I can see how students would enjoy engaging with this technology.

The DFI has been an amazing learning experiance and I feel more equipped as a teacher with my digital technology skills and look forward to embbedding this in my practice.  

Devices Day

 Day 7 of the DFI continued with a focus on Devices. Getting the opportunity to connect using the devices that our students use. 

Dorothy kicked things off remotely from Christchurch with a brief on ubiquitous learning. We have all become familiar with this as a result of the covid lockdowns and the need to learn remotely.  The idea of this is that students can have the barriers of time removed. The students can chose when to engage with their working. Students are empowered to extend learning at a time that works for them. It also enables students to live local and learn global. Students can learn at their on pace. Manaiakalani initatives such as the summer learning journey have shown that learning opportunities outside the traditional school day have shown to improve outcomes for students. 

We were then given an opportunity to use Chromebooks to explore their functionality. It was great to experiance how they operate and the various keyboard shortcuts. It is similiar (but different!) to the macbook that I am familiar with. We also got to experiance using a whiteboard style app on an Ipad which I can imagine is particually engaging for younger learners.

In the afternoon session we build a workspace - and learned how to make it engaging for learners. You can view it here

Getting comfortable building sites

 Day 6 of the DFI was all about google sites. 

The underpinning idea of the Manaiakalani kaupapa is the concept of Rangitamiro - being connected. The Manaiakalani Kahui Ako is a connection of different schools, primary, secondary, catholic, Kura Kaupapa and special schools. Since 2015 Manaiakalanai has expanded to involve schools from all around New Zealand. This collaberation allows for streamlineing of things like PLD. Manaiakalani runs a number of PLD connecting schools together - an example of which is the Secondary Connects that run once a term. 

Sites allow for Visible teaching. Dr Rebecca Jesson notes that if learning is visible, learning can be enhanced. There are 5 affordances of the Learn Create Share pedagogy in a digital learning environment. 1) Engagement. 2) Teaching conversations 3) Cognitive challenge. 4) Visibility and 5) Scaffolding.

There are a number of purposes of the learning site. It is a one stop hub for learning. It makes learning ubiquitous. It allows for rewindable learning. It personalises learning. It provides for visible planning and teaching. It allows parents and whanau to engage with the learning of students. It provides an overview of the learning ahead and it also, obviously, allows for distance learning while needed. Google sites allow for consistency across learning levels in schools. It is important that the sites being created have visual appeal and functionality to both engage and make it simple for students to engage with their learning tasks. 

We were given the time to explore a number of learning sites. It was good to experiance sites as a visitor and think about what works and what doesnt. This is useful for planning my site with a view to the user experiance. Following this, we shared our sites and got feedback.

We were then given the rest of the day to work on our own subject sites   

Collaboration

 Day 5 of the DFI begun with a focus on visibility. Can the learning been seen or not? Visibility for the learners is crucial, particularly in a post-Covid environment. Visibility for whanau is crucial. But also visibility to other teachers to allow for collaboration and the sharing of ideas. Teachers should consider the default setting of their learning to be "visible to anyone with the link"

We then turned our focus to Multi Modal modes of learning. The purpose of this is to engage learners in a variety of different ways, harnessing technology. Our class sites needs to be both differentiated and inclusive for our learners. This can help with diversification. A useful site can help with the engagement of our learners. Our sites need to be created in such a way so as to entise learners into their learning. It should reflect the current learning in the classroom. It is, essentially, the shop front window to the learning. 

A multi modal site should have personalised learning using the UDL framework. What engages one learner may not necessarily engage another learner. This will help with cognitive engagement of students. Designing Learning with the end in mind to get accerlated achievement. Site design needs to be framed from a pedagogical perspective.

We were given the opportunity to browse some learning sites that are examples of best practice. For me I like sites where the learning is clear and there is more than one way of the information being displayed. Following this we started to create our own site, and learnt how to create links and use the button feature on google sites.

For the afternoon session we spend the afternoon creating a multi modal site based on critical reading skills. Click here to view the result   

Dealing with Data

 Day four of the Digital Fluency Intensive kicked off with reflections on what is working well and what people need more help with. It does seem as though people are embracing the learning into their classroom practice and their daily lives.

From that we focused on the third element of the Manaiakalani pedagogy - Share. Share has become an integral part of our lives and sites such as youtube have allowed Share to occur on a wide scale. Social Media apps such as Facebook and Twitter have enabled (and commercialised) the human compulsion to share. Share is not constrained to online however, students will always look for opportunities for the human connection and using the ability to share.

Underpinning the idea of share is the concept of Audience. Students can share with each other, the school, the local community of even globally. Authentic audiences are audiences who make the choice to actively chose to view the content that is being created. Blogging is a great way for students to share their content with the globe. John Hattie notes that the feedback ability of blogging is a powerful enabler of learning for students.

Moving on to our focus for the day of Data, we looked at Google Forms. Forms are a great way of collating data, with a number of different question formats. We were given the opportunity to create our own forms. 

Google My Maps (as opposed to Google Maps) is a really cool new app that I was introduced to. I can see a lot of applications for my class - and I have created my own map (see below). Check out the cities I have been lucky to visit with my wife. 

From here we moved onto google sheets. I feel pretty comfortable with sheets but did learn about options to filter options. This tool enables data to be accessed by the users to be specific to their needs. For example if you had a class set of data and wanted to view boys reading levels, you would be able to do this automatically. There is so much functionality within Google Sheets including the ability to lock data inputting, viewing edit history and the ability to Split Data to columns.

For our afternoon session we took our learnings on google sheets to analyse a students blog. See below the chart that was created based on the analysis of a students blog at Point England School. It is clear that this student likes to blog a lot in the middle of the year, and that 2020 (COVID!) had a massive increase in blogging.

 

Reconnecting with the DFI

 It was great to reconnect for week 3 of the DFI this week. I had done the first two weeks of the DFI in term 1 in Papakura, and today was a change to restart this journey. The learnings that I took from the previous DFIs made me excited to restart.

The focus of the day was on Create. Dorothy remarked early in the day that creativity seems to be dying in the New Zealand education space. She referred to Robin Sutton, Principal of Hornby High who said that "If we are serious about the 'create' component of our 'Learn Create Share' pedagogy, then as individual teachers we also need to be serious about our own creativity, We need to nurture it, to not be afraid of it, to invest in it, to invest in ourselves". He is certainly correct, and so today we learnt about some tools to help foster creativity

Google Draw

Google Draw is a fantastic tool for creating content for students and allowing students to create.  The possibilities are endless. Students can create images, bubbles, and can manipulate them into a number of different shapes

Harpara Teacherdashboard

We have been using Hapara at Tamaki for a long time and so I feel very comfortable with its use

Youtube

Youtube has such a vast array of teaching resources. Too many in fact. Today we learned how to create playlists which is a great benefit to any teachers workflow.

Google Slides

Google slides are becoming more and more useful and can be used for more than just presentations. The use of hyperlinks and buttons can create interactive teaching resources for learners. Below is a very simple example that I will continue to develop.

Building my inquiry

As I begin the journey as a CoL Teacher in the Manaiakalani Kahui Ako I am beginning to think about Inquiry. My context is development of the NZ/Aotearoa History Curriculum - and my goal is to identify areas where my inquiry will make a powerful contribution to wider school and cluster goals.

• At this stage of My inquiry the focus is to:

• identify valued learning outcomes which include but are not limited to achievement outcomes

• Profile: Investigate the nature of the students’ strengths and gaps in relation to valued learning outcomes in detail 

• Focus on the issue of student learning

What are the key learning objectives that teachers see in respect to Aotearoa New Zealand History? How does the new Curriculum fit with the learning that has already taken place?

I am really keen to connect with teachers from across the Kahui Ako to understand what the reality is for their learners.

First I need to understand before I can create and test my hypothesis in regards to the teaching and Learning of Aotearoa History

Embracing Local Histories

 Last Friday I had the privledge of facilitating a tour of Tamaki, led by Matua Wade Harley from Ngāti Pāoa, for a Year 9 class at Tamaki College.

We travelled to five locations, Maungarei, Mokoia Pa (Panmure Bridge), Mauinaina Pa (Marist Rugby Club), Te Whanake (Point England Reserve) and Wai-o-rohe (Karaka Bay).

We learned the stories of the land, of arrival, of battles fought, the signing of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and we looked to the future with the up coming construction of a new Marae for Ngāti Pāoa. This was the first time that Matua had taken a group of students out on such a Hikoi.

I had two main objectives of the tour. Firstly it was to listen and learn the stories of Ngāti Pāoa and the Tamaki Area. The second was to observe how learners engaged with the local histories. Can Trips to local historical sites provide valuable learning opportunities by increasing student engagement?

I have to say that the engagement levels for this class were outstanding. There were moments where the students sat silently and were moved by the stories being told. It was clear that the students enjoyed themselves.

I plan with the support of SLT to take more of these tours hopefully getting every year 9 student to attend at some point. 

 

Histories at Tamaki College

 It was great to catch up with Mr Russel Dunn, Deputy Principal of teaching and learning at Tamaki College, to discuss his vision for the Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Curriculum (ANZHC) at Tamaki College.

Currently there is no seperate ANZHC at Tamaki College. History is taught within the social studies programme in years 9 and 10 and then becomes an option for NCEA at Years 11, 12 and 13.  However the introduction of this new curriculum does provide an opportunity for colleges such as Tamaki to engage with and critically evaluate stories of our past, particually in a local context. 

Russel was clear that the new ANZHC "Must be given the mana it deserves". This, from my perspective, was great to hear!. Russel was especially excited about the opportunity to embrace the new curriculum with the front half of the NZC. Relating to others, critical thinking and collaberating are all Key Competencies that can be explicitly taught using the contexts within the ANZHC.  

Russel cautioned that as we embark on the journey of embracing the ANZHC we must be mindful of the lense that we are using.  We have to be mindful for instance of the Treaty of Waitangi not just in a historical context but how it remains relevant to all New Zealanders today. 

Thank you Russel for your time - I am excited to see how we can incorporate the new ANZHC into both Tamaki College and the Manaiakalani cluster.

Connections in the Secondary School space

 It was fantastic to be invited to and participate in the Social Science Manaiakalani Departmental discussion. This initative connects secondary school teachers in the same subject area in order to collaberate.

Kerry Boyde Preece from Manaiakalani led the round table discussion and we were fortunate to have Maria Perreau from the Aotearoa Social Science Educators' Network join the korero.

Kerry introduced the Manaiakalani Kaupapa of Learn Create Share and spoke about the out reach that Manaiakalani has around Aotearoa.

The discussion centred around the development of new resources, Workshop videos/PD available for teachers, scaffolding of assessments, using digital technologies such as pod casting, digital strategies for NCEA assessment.

I really enjoyed the korero about how we can make learning in Social Science more engaging for students - something they want to do for more than just credits.

I am really looking forward to be continual participation in these deparment discussions later in 2022

Introducing Myself

Kia Ora, Malo e Lelei, Talofa Lava, Fakaalofa Lahi Atu, Bula Vinaka and Hello

My name is Scott Mansell and I am a new across - CoL teacher in the Manaiakalani Cluster for 2022. 

First a little about myself. I am married to a wonderful woman (Wendy) and am the father to Liam, who is 12 going on 18. I have been blessed to be the Teacher in Charge of History for Tamaki College since 2012. I love my job and my students

The focus of my new CoL role will be to support teachers and schools with the implementation of the new Histories curriculum. After a student led petition, which was started by Otorohanga College gained 13,000 signatures, was presented to parliament, it was evident that there was a desire to place more emphasis on New Zealand History    In September 2019 it was announced that the teaching of Aotearoa History would be compulsory in all schools from 2022, to be taught from years 1-10. It is expected that schools make a start on the implementation of this curriculum should begin in 2022 with full implementation by 2025. Covid-19 has delayed this by one year.

I believe that this shift towards a prescriptive curriculum is a positive step. Currently, in social science, we have some rather broad Achievement Objectives. For example, at Level 5 of the curriculum, Students need to learn that people move between places and how this has consequences for the people and the places. There is no requirement for this to have any focus on Aotearoa New Zealand. The context could be, for example, Irish migration to the United States. In other words, under the current curriculum framework it is entirely possible that students can graduate secondary school without knowing history that is relevant to them. To quote the draft curriculum document, this is “Learning that can not be left to chance”. It is possible for learners to graduate from secondary school with no real insight into the history of their own country. The stories that are important to modern New Zealand, be it the loss of land following the Treaty and subsequent settlement process, the Spanish Flu epidemic or the Dawn Raids.  

Thus the pivot towards a focus on Aotearoa histories is exciting. I feel that the more educated the population is with regards to their own country, the better they are able to contribute to and participate in society. 

I look forward to working with teachers and learners as we embark on this new and exciting journey. 

DFI Day 2

Back to Papakura Central School for Day 2 of DFI.

Today was about a few things, but mainly the overall theme was working smarter not harder. Technology is great but  efficient use of it will save time. And teachers all need more time!

We are all familiar with the google suite and have used their most common apps often. Gmail, Calendar and meet became our go to tools especially when distance learning is needed. But I discovered today that there is far more than meets the eye with many of these tools. For example the ability to colour different calendars can make navigating the site (or app) a lot easier.

Tab rationalisation is also a useful concept for those of us who are guilty of having far too many tabs open at any one time. I did not know that this can impact the performance of my Macbook and will need to ensure I am better at closing them. My homework is to try some of the tools that were shown to help me with this.

I am looking forward to continuing DFI in term 2!

DFI Day 1

Today I began my DFI journey, as I undertake the Across School Kahui Ako role in the Manaiakalani Cluster of schools in Tamaki. 

A DFI, or Digital Fluency Intensive, is a series of 8 1 day sessions focusing on using digital tools in the classroom effectively. These skills are important pedagogical skills to have in a modern classroom.

Today we focused on the history and kaupapa of Manaiakalani, getting an understanding of the reason it came into existence and the goals around educational equity.

We were given a brief overview of the Google Apps suite and then were given a deep dive into Google Docs. I could really see the benefit in particular of using the Table of Contents function for Docs with my students as they undertake their research assessments. This functionality will enable students to organise their work effectively which is a key element of the task.

The highlight of the day was the learning that I undertook around formatting in Google Docs using images. This was not something I was overly confident in before, but I gave it a go and below is my creation. Not the most advanced, but it is a start.