ULearn 2022

~ Equity guides the waka of education ~ 

Supporting themes...

Manaakitanga | Care
Mana hapori | Community
Mahi ngātahi | Collective responsibility
Māia | Courage

Sessions I tapped in to...

1. Addressing The Taniwha in the Room 
Kaihoutū - Mariam Arif (Ethnic Liaison Officer New Zealand Police)

This kōrero was confronting to say the least. It's also something I am very interest in hearing people discuss. 

Mariam explained the partnership that existed between herself and us, the viewer. The viewer was there to get information and she was there to make that information accessible. 

She then began with a mihi in Māori, with translations on the screen. After a few slides, she explained that onscreen translations would stop from that point however she would keep speaking in Māori. 

I could immediately see the controversial point she was making. By not translating, we lost meaning. By losing meaning, we lose interest and patience. Disengagement. Disrespect of exclusion. Feelings of superiority come to those still understand - those who are in the know. Feelings of superiority create feelings of supremacy. 

I leave this here as my jumbled explanation will lack the eloquence of Mariam's kōrero. 

2. Mindfulness - Tools For Kaiako Wellbeing

Kaihoutū - Dayna Taramai (Lead Facilitator M3 Mindfulness M3 Mindfulness)

I had chosen this breakout session as work fatigue/burn out is a real thing among teachers. I'm aware how thin we spread ourselves. Not only at work, but at home, raising tamariki, taking that all important time for ourselves, etc etc... I got lots of little snippets from this session.

If you can name it, you can contain it. If we can name our feelings, we can contain and manage them.

Mindfulness allows us to be fully present.

We have 60000 thoughts a day running through our head! 

Half in the past, which can lead to depression! Half in the future, which can lead to anxiety! 

Mindfulness is not calming down - interesting. It's not about 'feeling better'. It's about acknowledging the feelings we are having and allowing things to just be. We are human beings, not human doings! 

Mindfulness  deceases activation. Mindfulness slows stress responders. Mindfulness cultivates self awareness.

Tahi ~ rua ~ toru ~ hā (breathe out on the 'hā')

hā - breathe

3. Aotearoa New Zealand Histories Paewhiri

Rosalie Reiri - Kaiwhakahihiko | Activators (facilitator)

Dr Nēpia Mahuika - Kaiwhakahihiko | Activators (Te whare Wānagna o Waikato | The University of Waikato)
Dr Arini Loader - Kaiwhakahihiko | Activators (Senior Lecturer in Māori History Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington)

I was interested in the thoughts of these kaikōrero leading up to the introduction of the new Aotearoa histories curriculum. Dr Nēpia Mahuika was a particularly strong speaker in this 

Key takeaways...

If we don't have a past, we don't exist.  

History both sustains are destroys our identity. 

For a long time Māori history was not given the recognition it deserved. It's legitimacy was tainted. It was myth, just stories, pre-history (not even counted as 'worthwhile' history). 

He pātai ~ Is this new curriculum Transformational ~ Decolonial ~ Māori?

Are we just singing the same old song without even realising? 

Wero for kaiako and tamariki - be critical!

We have to start somewhere... so where do we start? 

Different iwi have different starting points. But it's all to do with story telling.

History in a linear time is a Western concept. Indigenous communities talk about circular time.  

Big Idea 1 - New Zealand history is NZ history is a continuous ongoing story.  

Which is the best way to begin? Thematic approach? Chronological approach? 

'Know' section - local contexts. Stories within stories. 

Deliberate decisions need to be made. 

Patricia Grace begins her stories in the centre and then writes her way out. 

Western history is embedded in empirical and reliable research. We can not judge the evidence of the new curriculum by Western standards. If we do, we are missing the point! 

Māori story telling is a beautiful thing - totally agree with this statement Nēpia made! Perfect poetic licence and metaphor that invokes meaning for people..

This new curriculum is moving from a settler narrative.

While we want to provide space for everyone's stories, not all stories are equal. 

Māori have the biggest narrative in this country. It's hundreds of years older than everyone else's. 

Every other narrative is stitched in to the tapestry of the narrative that has been created. 

Begin with the Māori stories. Then, when you weave in the other stories, they're not being weaved into the nation state narratives, it's being weaved into what actually happened to native people.

You can't decolonise by looking for balance in an already unbalanced history world. You need more Māori content, because there is already so much non-Māori content.

 

4. Ending Streaming In Aotearoa
Kaya Renata-Staples (Tokona Te Raki Kairangahau)

Piripi Prendergast (Project Manager, Tokona Te Raki)

  

This session appealed to me because I am on the fence when it comes to streaming our tamariki.  Our involvement in DMIC has created a shift away from streaming, a shft I was not comfortable with when we first began - but now I see some great benefits. But when it comes to skills based teaching, covering those foundational skills ....I'm still 

Some research to check out that comes to the conclusion that streaming does not work- 

He Whakaaro ~ Does streaming work?

An interesting statement made - Streaming is racist.

Around the age of 6 - kids know where they are and that that is where they will stay for the rest of their education, primary school, secondary and so on. Therefore they are excluded from a large part of the workforce as they don't have the skills needed.  This is more prevalent with our Māori and Pasifika tamariki.

Aotearoa has the second highest rate of streaming in the OECD, second to Ireland. This has created huge disparities and inequities in our education system.

It's not the silver bullet, but ending streaming is one of the steps we can take.    

Research dated back from the 50s suggested streaming was damaging.

Why did we do it any way? Tomorrows Schools - wanted schools to reach out to their community, gave schools so much autonomy and made schools little islands in themselves.

Tokona Te Raki is currently building an awareness campaign and an online resource supporting teaches and schools who want to put an end to streaming.  

Piripi addressed the patai - What about the top kids? Research shows over 2-3 years, there is an initial lift for some but then it peters out. Teacher voice  - noticing those more able kids are being challenged and realising the other skills that are necessary to work through problems. 

Alternatives to streaming 

- Group work. Each child has a roll.

- DMIC - already on that train

- High Expectation Teachers. Three things HET'S do - wipe out streaming, big emphasis on relationships, and goal setting. For every one year of learning, a child with a HET should make 2 years of progress, according to Piripi.

5. Decision Making In Response To Valid Information - Wānanga
Amy Chakif (Evaluation Associates)

I selected this session being a new member to the leadership team in 2022. Definitely got to take away some good information here.

Bypass or Engage leadership approach?

Bypass

Weak critique - do we end up with the best plan?

Compliance rather that commitment

Lip service and everyone gets on with their own thing. 

The meeting in the carpark after the meeting!

This approach can feel efficient but not in the long run.

Problems with teaching and learning persist. Lack of traction.

Engage in critical analysis!

You will feel that moment of being exposed, a ping of discomfort. Allow yourself to have that moment then move on! 

Clarity of purpose

Be really clear with staff when inviting views. Is their feedback really going to be used, or is a particular decision going to made regardless?

Clarity of learning, clarity about the goal you are trying to achieve, or the direction you want to go in.

You don't need whole-hearted agreement around a task, you need sufficient agreement to progress

The difference between 'Why did you do that?' and 'Why did you do that. you idiot?!' 

Curious, not furious!

 

The Ladder of Inference  ~ Vivienne Robinson

We are good at jumping to conclusions - heading right to the top of the ladder.

Not truths, but interpretations

Different experiences with lead to different conclusions.

Be humble.

Avoid claims like, "In reality..."  

Erroneous conclusions about other peoples, situations, and what to do

Practice climbing down the ladder.

Things become more abstract as we climb up the ladder

Seek valid information before running away with unchecked bias! 

Amy runs a Leading by Learning workshop. 

There are a couple more sessions to come that I didn't get a chance to watch...