As you read this text you will find a number of features in every chapter to enhance your study of teaching and help you understand how the theory is applied in the real world.
CHAPTER OPENING FEATURES
Identify the key concepts that the chapter will cover with the Starter Questions and Introduction at the beginning of each chapter.
from thoughtful, critical engagement with the intellectual knowledge base, practice challenges and the daily work of teaching.
Research literature about what makes good teachers emphasises the importance of teachers being innovative, imaginative and adaptable (Eisner, 2002; Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu, 2015; Lin, Schwartz & Hatano, 2005; Loughran, 2010), passionate about teaching (Fraser, 2016b; Hargreaves, 1998) and collaborative (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu, 2015; Loughran, 2010); and who put social justice, equity and inclusion at the heart of their practice (Alton-Lee, 2003; Bishop et al., 2009; Carrington & MacArthur, 2012).
Teaching requires emotional as well as cognitive engagement. It is more than a matter of the mechanical performance of tasks and demonstrations of appropriate techniques. Good teachers are sensitive and connect relationally with learners, and they fill students’ lives with creative challenges and enjoyment.
FEATURES WITHIN CHAPTERS
CHAPTER 1
BECOMING A TEACHER
1
2
3
4
INTRODUCTION
Case Study
the educational system for longer than the compulsory 10 years, starting with early childhood education, entering school at age 5, and progressing to further education of some form. Some people make careers in the education system, as teachers. Although people have their own experiences of school, and their own ideas about what teachers do or should do, what teachers actually do and the complexity of teaching is often underestimated and undervalued (Goodson, 2003; Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu, 2015; Loughran, 2006). This chapter considers what it means to become a teacher, focusing on questions of purpose and what it means to develop a teacher identity and be a professional and student-centred teacher. The underlying assumption is that teaching is far more than a job and technocratic activity, and becoming a teacher is far more than completion of an initial teacher-educational qualification.
Chapter 1 Becoming a teacher 5
Chapter 2 How do people learn? Understanding the learning process 37
Secondary pre-service teacher reflection on inclusive practice
Consider the different personal views and perspectives in the ‘Teacher voice’ and ‘Student voice’ boxes throughout.
Becoming a teaching professional, then, involves more than just academic engagement with research about teaching or the content being taught, having a range of teaching tools and being technically competent, although these are elements in learning to teach. It also means building on dispositional qualities that enable teachers to be able to respond positively to constant changes in education, learn and adapt their practice, and stay enthused and relevant for students. In the following Teacher Voice boxes, two experienced teachers and educational leaders reflect on their teaching lives and share their passion for, and show an emotional commitment to, teaching.
TEACHER VOICE
Primary teacher
After about four and a bit years in teaching I experienced something really innovative and novel. A school had opened up around the corner and it was the first fully open-plan school in the mid-1970s. Three blocks, all open. I was in the Standard 3 and 4 [Years 5 and 6] block and that was when I really learnt how to teach. I have never worked as hard in my life. We were meeting three days a week after school. We were planning and each day one of us would take a lead lesson on a particular topic. And we had a hundred children, 25 each, sitting on the mat on the floor, and you had to have something really innovative to keep their attention. So you couldn’t just do a ‘chalk and talk’. I remember once I got my husband to bring in his motorbike and we took parts of it to bits. You had to really think about what you were going to do that was going to capture them. I loved it. That still remains a very fond memory.
What I loved the most about teaching, and what I try to tell other people who aren’t teachers, is that it is actually all about relationships. Relationships with your children, with your children’s parents and with your colleagues. Children aren’t passive recipients of information. They are active learners. And although some people might think that we learnt more in the ‘old days’, we didn’t. We regurgitated facts. Whereas today children are able and encouraged to think for themselves, to think about ‘how this fits with how I think of the world’.
Analyse in-depth Case Studies that present issues in context, encouraging you to integrate and apply the concepts discussed in the chapter.
‘Wow, that’s cool... What do you think would be good to do now?... That’s interesting – so why did you do that?’ Rather, it was his body language – a kind of low-key empathy and curiosity –that was doing the talking. However, Ross’s brain was reeling as he watched these learners constructing their own quite plausible purpose for the experiment, attend to what interested them and draw unintended but (to them) highly justifiable, sensible and valuable real-liferelevant conclusions. When asked to reflect on what he learned through these interactions with students, he thought a while and then said simply, ‘It’s the learner who does the learning.’
Becoming a teacher means engaging with the professional practice of teaching in context (e.g. early childhood, primary, secondary, subject or discipline), constructing new knowledge and coming to understand new practices through lenses of existing belief, while at the same time having those beliefs about teaching challenged. It means that pre-service (student) teachers need to address identity matters in relation to their sense of purpose
I spent a lesson working closely with a Pasifika learner for whom English was her additional language. Her writing was very good and well structured; however, what she was trying to convey wasn’t always clear. Upon reflection, I realise I made the assumption that her difficulty with writing stemmed from a limited vocabulary. My mentor teacher reminded me that she had a wide vocabulary in her mother tongue, so in a lot of ways this learner had a greater vocabulary than me. It was clear to me that, to aid her with her formal writing exercise, I would have to find a way to acknowledge and then abandon my assumptions while also finding a way in which to make the context of the writing piece more relevant to the learner’s cultural identity.
STUDENT VOICE
I know I value inclusive behaviours and wish to display them within my own teaching. However, I had acted in a way that may not have been beneficial to this learner. Regardless of my caution and attempts to be inclusive, I had labelled her as being ‘different’ from the other learners. I did, though, have an opportunity to work alongside this learner again. This lesson was much more successful as it drew upon the learner’s own experiences and allowed her to communicate about her family values and heritage.
Reflecting on practice in relation to supporting diverse learners in a secondary English classroom and focusing on one particular situation with a student, this secondary preservice teacher realises that she made assumptions about the student and her ability with language. Confronting these assumptions is disconcerting. However, she clearly learns from the experience and is able to shift her practice in a subsequent lesson to better support the student. This is more than a reflection on a classroom practice challenge. It is also a reflection on a matter of identity. This pre-service teacher contemplates the type of teacher she wants to be, as a culturally responsive and inclusive practitioner, and what kinds of practices might be consistent with this as she works with learners in English classes.
Case Study
Breaking things down Five Year 11 (15-year-old students) reflect on what it is about Mr V that supports them in their history learning. ‘He’s good at breaking things down for us,’ says Talia. ‘He likes to make sure we understand what he’s talking about.’ Michal agrees. ‘He checks in with us that we understand.’ Richard explains that when they start a new unit of work, they first start by looking up facts and figures, then Mr V helps them to unpack the meanings behind the information –the motivations, the ‘why’ associated with historical events. Together, the students agree that Mr V is helping them to learn to ‘think like historians’. They particularly like that they get to take deep dives into topics of their own choosing, and that they can demonstrate their learning in a variety of different ways. When asked specifically about the feedback that they receive on their work, the students realise that it is very targeted and individualised. Prominent in their reflections is the relaxed way in which Mr V engages them in (learning) conversations. Says Ata, ‘If you look distracted, or like you’re struggling, he’ll come up and start talking to you.’ Richard agrees. ‘He knows how to engage individuals and help us.’ While Mr V acknowledges that it’s impossible for him to know everything – especially since students have the freedom to choose their own investigative topics – his students perceive him to ‘know so much’, including ‘all sorts of obscure facts’ and love that he is not only genuinely interested in their learning, but also passionate about history. Although the students focus on the individualised nature of many of the learning conversations, there is a strong sense that they get drawn into conversations between Mr V and their peers – no doubt a deliberate teaching strategy on Mr V’s part. Overall, their reflections are consistent with his own teaching philosophy: ‘I’ve done a lot of professional learning around cultural and relational pedagogies, and realised that you have to have both – you have to have the relational aspects, and you have to have the pedagogy.’ He is also a strong believer in ako, or learning together.
Primary pre-service teacher reflection on planning for collaborative learning
As explored in the following case study, teacher Miles Barker epitomises being a lifelong learner. This case study follows his reflection in his own words of how his images of learning –and their connections with theory – have changed over 50 years of practice, first as a science teacher and then as a pre-service teacher educator.
I included student choice in some lessons, giving the children a degree of agency over their own learning. I also developed collaboration by incorporating pair work, group discussions and ‘think, pair, share’ activities. On reflection, I could have included more collaborative learning opportunities in my lessons. I think my personal preference for individual work may have influenced my lesson planning as I didn’t push myself to create opportunities for group work. It is a tendency I will work to challenge in the future, both by being aware of it and by finding out about different collaborative strategies that I might include in the development of lessons and in designing learning activities.
END OF CHAPTER FEATURES
At the end of each chapter you will find several tools to help you to review, practise and extend your knowledge of the key concepts and theories.
Review your understanding of the key chapter topics with the Conclusion
Test your knowledge and consolidate your learning through the end of chapter Activities
Start your online reading and research using the short list of Weblinks
Extend your understanding through the References relevant to each chapter.
Guide to the online resources
FOR THE INSTRUCTOR
Cengage is pleased to provide you with a selection of resources that will help you prepare your lectures and assessments. These teaching tools are accessible via cengage.com.au/instructors for Australia or cengage.co.nz/instructors for New Zealand.
VIDEO ACTIVITIES
Use the Video Activities to visually engage students, encouraging them to reflect on chapter concepts and pursue further online research.
ARTWORK FROM THE TEXT
Add the digital files of tables, pictures and flow charts into your course management system, use them in student handouts, or copy them into your lecture presentations.
REVISION QUESTIONS
POWERPOINT™ PRESENTATIONS
Enhance your lecture presentations with handouts and reinforce the key principles of your subject with the chapter-bychapter PowerPoint slides
LESSON PLAN TEMPLATES
Use blank Lesson Plan Templates from the text to help students prepare for moving into practice.
These questions have been developed in conjunction with the text for creating revision quizzes and tests for your students. Deliver these through your LMS and in your classroom.
Foreword
On reading this 6th edition of The Professional Practice of Teaching in New Zealand, I was reminded of Raewyn Connell’s (1993, p. 15) well known maxim that ‘social justice is not an add-on. It is fundamental to what good education is about.’ Social justice concerns permeate this book as it demonstrates how this is true of classroom practices (pedagogy, curriculum and assessment), school organisation, the ways in which schools and teachers engage with their local communities and educational policies, and with considerations of the underlying purposes of education.
While – understandably – for many newly qualified and early career teachers, concerns about how to manage the learning in their classrooms is uppermost in their minds, it is imperative that those considering teaching as a profession also think about the purposes of education: why do we educate? The Wiradjuri people in Australia have a saying that I think captures for me what that purpose should be: ‘Yindyamarra Winhanganha’. This translates into having ‘the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in’1. Providing young people with such wisdom would seem to be an appropriate aim for any education system (see also Kemmis et al., 2014). In my view, the chapters in this book help to enhance such an aim from a social justice standpoint.
If we want our students to live well, we need to consider how they best learn, how they can be enthused about learning, how we can best determine the extent to which they have learnt, and how we need to change our practice according to their assessed needs. We need to make our classrooms – or any spaces where teaching and learning are taking place – rich with tasks that challenge young people to think, to critically analyse and to solve intellectual puzzles that are meaningful to them. At the same time, we need to open up their worlds to new knowledges, new possibilities, new ways of thinking and new experiences. In such spaces it is not only the students who are learning, but also teachers – often when it comes to using new technologies. Dialogues will occur between students and students, between students and teachers, and hopefully between teachers and teachers, in these spaces, which will ensure that respectful communities of learners are created. Within these communities is the presumption, and one underpinning this book, that all children and young people can learn and that deficit models of students, based on perceptions of ability, perpetuate unjust classroom practices. Hence, the concern of The Professional Practice of Teaching in New Zealand with ensuring that all students are exposed to high expectations,
while emphasising that culture and identity matters are extremely important to ensuring that all students can come to live well as a matter of social justice.
The contribution that teachers can make to creating a world worth living in is also significant. Lisa Delpit’s (2006) wonderful book Other People’s Children emphasises the terrible crimes and actions committed by very clever people. For her, then, an education system has to be about more than focussing on the academic outcomes of students. It has to also consider the ways in which schools and teachers encourage their students to contribute to the creation of a socially just world. This means, for instance, not only teaching about democracy but also teaching for democracy: a democracy that values and works with difference to ensure that all forms of discrimination are challenged and prevented; that values the richness of diversity that makes up a multicultural society like New Zealand while acknowledging historical atrocities and current injustices. Teaching for democracy also requires providing opportunities for all to contribute to decisions that impact upon them. How teachers do this can often raise a number of ethical dilemmas – for example how should we respond to the student strikes related to climate change that are occurring as I write? Should teachers encourage or discourage them? Should we stay silent and not offer an opinion – and how does that sit with encouraging students to be active citizens? What would professional standards say about this? There are no right or wrong answers to these questions, but such questions are part of teachers’ daily lives and require addressing.
If this all sounds difficult, that’s because it is. Teaching is hard work. It is an intellectual exercise that involves negotiating the demands of a curriculum with one’s students, many of whom have differing learning needs, interests and backgrounds; with critically analysing the appropriateness of resources (some developed by edu-businesses); and with staying up to date with the latest research related to teaching and learning, subject content, assessment practice and new technologies. However, teachers not only engage with issues that can be deemed ‘close to practice’ but also with the politics of education. For the profession to be one that is valued, respected and self-supporting, teachers need to take a critical perspective on policies and practices that affect both their own working environment and the learning environments of students. Such policies include moves that emphasise parental choice, school exclusion policies, merit-based pay, league tables, setting and streaming practices, and various prescribed teaching standards. Many such policies may on the surface make ‘sense’. However, they require critical interrogation by teachers to ensure that the collegiality of their workplaces and the learning of their students are not compromised.
Teaching is not only intellectual work though; it also entails significant amounts of emotional labour. For example, it can be demoralising when a lesson does not go as planned, when the life circumstances of a student in a class make schooling seem of little importance, or when patterns of inequality appear to be continually reproduced. Relationships in a school between teaching staff, and sometimes between senior administrators and teachers, often heavily shaped by policy reforms
or dictates traced back to the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM), can also add stress to teachers’ lives. Such stresses can be amplified when teachers adopt a critical perspective on school policies and when they are confronted with ethical dilemmas. However, the hard work associated with teaching can bring with it immense satisfaction.
When a teacher and student work together to crack a particularly difficult learning problem (for the student, and hence for the teacher), that moment is like no other in terms of both parties’ sense of achievement. When students acknowledge the impact that a teacher has had on their learning, outlook on life or their well-being, teachers come to understand the amazing effect they can have on their students. When opportunities to work collegially to implement exciting new curricula and activities occur, the intrinsic rewards can be amazing. Then, surely, when teachers reflect on their role in the education of others, they cannot help but realise how important their job is to the creation of a more socially just society. Teachers’ work matters, then, in the pursuit of ensuring that all have ‘the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in’. The Professional Practice of Teaching in New Zealand will, I am sure, help many teachers engage in this pursuit.
It had been my intention to finish the foreword with the above paragraph. However, as I was putting the finishing touches to the above text, the devastating news of the massacre at two Christchurch mosques began to surface. New Zealand communities, schools and teachers will be reflecting on and responding to this terrible event for years to come. How we as educators make sense of horrific incidents such as these, how we challenge the conditions that make them possible, and how we build a community that renders them unthinkable, brings into sharp focus the need for a robust conversation about the purposes of education.
Professor Martin Mills, Director of the Centre for Teachers and Teaching Research, Institute of Education, University College London
References
Connell, R. (1993). Schools and Social Justice. Toronto: Our Schools/Our Selves Education Foundation. Delpit, L. (2006). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York, the New Press.
Kemmis, S., Wilkinson, J., Edwards-Groves, C., Hardy, I., Grootenboer, P. & Bristol, L. (2014). Changing practices, changing education. Singapore: Springer.
Introduction
We are very pleased to introduce this 6th edition of The Professional Practice of Teaching in New Zealand, published a quarter century after the first edition in 1994. Looking back, social, political and technological shifts mean that becoming a teacher in New Zealand schools has changed markedly over these years. At the same time there are areas of enduring significance for teachers’ pedagogical knowledge. The factors influencing teachers also reflect what Bob Lingard, a well-known Australian education academic, refers to as ‘vernacular’ conditions: variations on global developments that are ‘mediated by local histories, politics and cultures’ (Lingard 2010, p. 131). This latest edition reflects this mix of change and continuity, local and global. Greater emphasis is given to digital technologies, teaching in flexible learning spaces, inclusion and diversity. The collection also includes chapters and topics that have appeared previously, although these too have all been revised.
We have also revisited the order of the chapters, moving from those closest to classroom practice to wider considerations. A new chapter, ‘Becoming a teacher’, opens the 6th edition. This chapter welcomes new students of teaching to the field, and introduces the New Zealand primary and secondary school teaching landscape and the New Zealand Curriculum. Other new chapters include: ‘A community of learners: Creating a culture of learning together’, ‘Pedagogy in flexible learning spaces’ and ‘Revealing the privatisation of education’.
There are entirely new chapters focused on culture, diversity and learning in this edition. In one, ‘Policy and praxis: Māori learners’ experiences contributing understandings about identity, culture and effective pedagogy’, readers will learn much about how Māori learners’ experiences contribute to teachers’ understanding. This is followed by a chapter focused on equity and diversity, ‘Creating cultures of belonging: engaging diversity to enhance learning’. We are also very grateful to the authors from previous editions for revising and updating chapters on how people learn, engaging students in dialogue, managing relationships in learning environments, planning with high expectations, classroom assessment, teaching as inquiry, digital learning, teacher ethics, political issues in education and moving beyond initial teacher education to the profession.
While the scope of this edition is extensive, no book can cover everything. We are particularly aware that in line with ‘Communities of Learning’ clusters that often include early childhood and tertiary settings as well as schools, there is a trend in New Zealand initial teacher education and continuing professional learning towards emphasising educational ideas that work across all sectors. Nevertheless, in the interests of greater relevance to teachers of Years 1 to 13, we have not tried to be so broad. Rather we have concentrated on illustrations and examples drawn from primary and secondary schools. Some of these ideas may be valuable to those teaching in other sectors, but we felt the collection would lose tone and interest if we tried to be more generic. No doubt readers will have their own views about what has been included and omitted and we welcome your reactions.
Terminology is another area where conceptual and practical decisions have had to be made. For instance, the age of learners in primary and secondary schools varies widely and so we have typically used the term ‘students’ to describe school-aged learners here. The phrase ‘children and young people’ may have brought further dimensions but is a mouthful to use repeatedly. ‘Akonga’ is also used here and we recognise the increasing use of Te Reo Māori in this collection over time, as in Aotearoa New Zealand society more generally.
The style and layout of this edition is distinctive. Each chapter has been written in a way that is designed to be readable and informative, yet not like a prescriptive manual. Important issues and debates are raised for reflection. Each chapter begins with starter questions to orient the reader. There are case studies, along with ‘student voice’ and ‘teacher voice’ boxes, to demonstrate concepts and theory where appropriate. The chapters also have suggested activities that could form the basis of tutorial work for pre-service teachers or in-service workshops for teachers. Weblinks to further information are provided at the end of each chapter.
Finally, we must note the significance of the latest education policy developments in New Zealand. A recent report is signalling major changes to the structure and organisation of the school sector, such as regional school ‘hubs’ and a preference for full-primaries or junior colleges over intermediates (Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce, 2018). There are also numerous related educational reviews underway. New Zealand teachers will be enacting the resulting changes to policy and practice, which are sure to bring fresh opportunities and new problems as well. We hope this book becomes a recognised cornerstone of this developing context over the next few years, bringing forward strengths from the past as well as providing readers with a new resource for learning, reflection and growth.
Mary F. Hill and Martin Thrupp
January 2019
Addendum
Just prior to going to print, there was the horrific and heart-breaking massacre at two mosques in Aotearoa New Zealand. No-one involved in this book will have been left unaffected by this shocking development. Our thoughts are first for the deceased and their families:
Moe mai rā e te hunga kua riroa e te ringa o Aituā.
Moe mai rā.
Ki ngā whānau pani, Kia kaha.
(To those who have passed on, rest in peace.
For the bereaved whānau, be strong.)
Second, in a book about teaching, we want to pay tribute to the teachers in Ōtautahi Christchurch schools and kura that were impacted first by the Canterbury earthquakes and now by this massacre. You have been through so much, have done an extraordinary job, and we are so proud.
Finally, we trust and hope that this book contributes to a more inclusive, equitable and peaceful future for all our children and young people, whatever their culture, religious beliefs and customs. As the cover of the book conveys, we must all stand together and we hope the chapters included here will help guide the way.
Mary F. Hill and Martin Thrupp
References
Lingard, B. (2010). Policy borrowing, policy learning: Testing times in Australian schooling. Critical Studies in Education, 51(2), 129–147.
Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce. (2018, December). Our Schooling Futures: Stronger Together Whiria Ngā Kura Tūātinitini. Wellington: New Zealand Ministry of Education.
Acknowledgements
Mary F. Hill and Martin Thrupp wish to thank each of our contributing authors: your patience and willingness to go the extra mile has been much appreciated. We are also very grateful to Martin Mills for his foreword. Cengage’s editorial team has been superb: we have worked most directly with Ann Crabb, Fiona Hammond, Talia Lewis and Raymond Williams. Hilary van Uden provided us with invaluable copy-editing support. More generally we recognise the influence of the editors and authors of previous editions, especially Clive McGee and Deborah Fraser, whose work has contributed to the book as it stands today.
There are some further acknowledgements related to particular chapters:
Jane Abbiss would like to acknowledge the contributions of those who provided the real but anonymised voices in Chapter 1. These people included students in University of Canterbury teacher education programmes as well as practising teachers.
Cathy Buntting notes that earlier versions of Chapter 2 were written by Miles Barker, whose voice still resonates loudly in this edition.
The ideas presented in Chapter 4 were developed from the results of Teaching and Learning Research Initiative grants with support from the University of Otago. Susan Sandretto would also like to thank the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER) Press for permission to include extracts from her 2011 book, with Scott Richard Klenner, Planting seeds: embedding critical literacy into your classroom programme.
Claire Sinnema and Graeme Aitken would like to acknowledge the generosity of Lee Devenish in sharing his work, summarised in Chapter 7. At the time of the inquiry, Lee was teaching at Albany Senior High School and participating in a University of Auckland postgraduate course focused on teaching as inquiry. They would also like to acknowledge the Teacher Led Innovation Fund project team from Sunnybrae Normal School, who generously shared insights about their approach to inquiry as described in this chapter.
The voices and cases in Chapter 10 are real people, including students in University of Canterbury teacher education programmes and in schools in New Zealand, and teaching colleagues. Both Letitia Hochstrasser Fickel and Annie Guerin would like to acknowledge the contributions of these people, while maintaining their anonymity.
Dianne Forbes and Kerry Earl Rinehart would like to thank the Wilf Malcolm Institute of Educational Research at the University of Waikato for the photos in Chapter 12. The Teacher Voice vignettes in the chapter acknowledge wonderful colleagues from Te Kura Toi Tangata who gather for Te Reo Parakuihi, along with the influence of #EdChatNZ as part of the Twitter community. The vignettes also borrow the names and experiences of the authors’ family members. As always, we would like to pay tribute to Nola Campbell, for an inspirational and enduring legacy.
The authors and Cengage would like to thank the following reviewers for their incisive and helpful feedback:
Alison Sewell – Institute of Education, Massey University
Carrol Walkley – Institute of Education, Massey University
Donella Cobb – University of Waikato
Jane Tilson – University of Otago, College of Education
Margie Campbell-Price – University of Otago
Paul Snape – University of Canterbury
Sandi McCutcheon – Victoria University of Wellington
Steven S. Sexton – University of Otago, College of Education
Wendy Fox-Turnbull – University of Waikato
About the editors
Mary F. Hill is Associate Professor in Education at The University of Auckland and has worked for more than forty years in education, including more than twenty years in higher education. Her major professional and research interests revolve around issues of professional learning, educational assessment and practitioner research and inquiry. She has won two Faculty teaching excellence awards (2015, 2017) and has served as the President of NZARE and Chairperson of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
Martin Thrupp is Professor of Education at The University of Waikato, where he has worked since 1995, apart from a six-year stint working in London. His research interests are in education policy, especially the lived effects of policy across diverse schools and communities. He has undertaken related educational research in New Zealand as well as in England and across a number of other European countries and has won several awards for research and publications. His most recent project is a study of private organisations involved public schooling in Finland, Sweden and New Zealand, funded by the Academy of Finland.
List of contributors
Alison Sewell
Massey University
Annaline Flint
The University of Auckland
Annie Guerin
The University of Canterbury
Cathy Buntting
The University of Waikato
Carol Hamilton
The University of Waikato
Christine M. Rubie-Davies
The University of Auckland
Claire Sinnema
The University of Auckland
Darren Powell
The University of Auckland
Dianne Forbes
The University of Waikato
Elizabeth Eley
The University of Waikato
Graeme Aitken
The University of Auckland
Jane Abbiss
The University of Canterbury
Jenny Ferrier-Kerr
The University of Waikato
John O’Neill
Massey University
John Smith
Russell Street School
Kerry Earl Rinehart
The University of Waikato
Leon Benade
Auckland University of Technology
Letitia Hochstrasser Fickel
The University of Canterbury
Lyn G. McDonald
The University of Auckland
Maria Kecskemeti
The University of Waikato
Martin Thrupp
The University of Waikato
Mary F. Hill
The University of Auckland
Matt Kennedy
Golden Sands School
Mere Berryman
The University of Waikato
Susan Sandretto
The University of Otago
CHAPTER 1
BECOMING A TEACHER
Jane Abbiss
Star t er questions
1 Think about the influential teachers in your life. What knowledge did they bring to their roles as teachers? What skills? What personal qualities? What effect did they have on you?
2 ‘Teachers teach who they are.’ To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement? Why?
3 What do you think it means for a teacher to be ‘student centred’? What kind of practices support student-centred teaching?
4 In the process of becoming a teacher, what do you think student teachers need to learn?
INTRODUCTION
What does it mean to learn to teach and to become a teacher? Teaching is a career about which everyone knows something. After all, everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand went to school or was schooled in some way. And many people have children, and those children go to school. Schooling is compulsory for ages 6 to 16 (Ministry of Education, 2018a) but many individuals are in the educational system for longer than the compulsory 10 years, starting with early childhood education, entering school at age 5, and progressing to further education of some form. Some people make careers in the education system, as teachers. Although people have their own experiences of school, and their own ideas about what teachers do or should do, what it is that teachers actually do and the complexity of teaching is often underestimated and undervalued (Goodson, 2003; Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu, 2015; Loughran, 2006). This chapter considers what it means to become a teacher, focusing on questions of purpose and what it means to develop a teacher identity and be a professional and student-centred teacher. The underlying assumption is that teaching is far more than a job and technocratic activity, and becoming a teacher is far more than completion of an initial teacher-education qualification.
Becoming a teacher means engaging with the professional practice of teaching in context (e.g. early childhood, primary, secondary, subject or discipline), constructing new knowledge and coming to understand new practices through lenses of existing belief, while at the same time having those beliefs about teaching challenged. It means that pre-service (student) teachers need to address identity matters in relation to their sense of purpose
and the types of teachers they want to be. Also, and perhaps most importantly, it means making a commitment to the children and young people of Aotearoa New Zealand and these students’ futures.
Pre-service teachers join the ranks of thousands of committed and caring professionals, in Aotearoa New Zealand and internationally, who have for a century or more been instrumental in fostering progressive education and student-centred pedagogy (Abbiss, 1998; Middleton & May, 1997). At the same time, these teachers may have had to work in difficult conditions and negotiate sometimes hostile political and social attitudes that position blame for poor standards and social and economic underperformance on teachers, and which undermine their professionalism (Ball & Goodson, 1985; Goodson, 2003). It would, though, be disingenuous to suggest that all teachers are progressive, innovative and critically reflective agents of change. Teachers may help to construct and maintain the very structures that constrain them (Cole, 1985). There is, however, one thing that most teachers share: a delight in being able to support and witness student learning and achievement, which might be academic or social.
The most rewarding aspect of teaching, and the central purpose of our vocation, is to assist the learning of our students. It is a privilege to see the utter joy on a 5-year-old’s face when she reads her first book, word for word. It is uplifting to witness a shy 15-yearold give a speech to his peers with fluency and wit.
(Fraser, 2016a, p. 10)
It is this delight in the active learning of children and young people that draws many to teaching and sustains them in their professional work.
For those readers who are new to the profession and have just entered teacher education as pre-service teachers: welcome to teaching. Learning to teach is a life-long project; it doesn’t stop with graduation from an initial teacher-education programme. In joining the profession, you become part of an educational community with a shared educative mission, while embarking on your own personal journey of ‘becoming’.
BECOMING A TEACHER
Learning to teach and becoming a teacher are interconnected. Some people emphasise the practical and assert that learning to teach is primarily about learning the craft of teaching. They focus on the development of pedagogy and the acquisition of techniques or tools. While the development of practical knowledge and skills is undoubtedly important, a broader view of learning to teach acknowledges that it also involves personal engagement with questions about the deeper purpose of education and the types of teachers people want to be.
In an age of accountability and performance measurement, it might be tempting to see learning to teach as a matter of meeting performance criteria and ‘ticking the boxes’ in relation to strategies demonstrated or outcomes achieved. This, though, is a limited view of learning to teach. A richer view includes appreciation that becoming a teacher means creating and constantly adjusting the contents of the teacher’s kete (basket) of knowledge. The contents of this kete include important knowledge of curriculum and subject content, pedagogy and assessment practices. But the kete also includes:
• knowledge of ākonga (learners of all ages, this concept is often used in this chapter as well as ‘students’)
• an understanding that children and young people are members of families and communities who themselves bring valuable knowledge and experience to the class or learning environment
• knowledge of self and personal values, and assumptions about students and about teaching, which are socially grounded and relate to pre-service teachers’ own histories
• knowledge of schools as places with local histories, cultures, practices and values, and
• knowledge of the teaching profession and what it means to be a true professional.
This view of learning to teach emphasises the complex range of factors that are involved in learning to teach and becoming a teacher.
Deciding to become a teacher is a big step. Individuals have different motivations and educational or career trajectories that lead them to teaching. For some, teaching is something they have always imagined themselves doing; for others it is something that has emerged as a possible career later on, perhaps as they completed tertiary education or were led to question their place in or enjoyment of other fields of work. This decision represents choices about how your work relates to who you are and want to be. These choices relate to your personal and professional identities.
Developing a teacher identity: envisaging the type of teacher you want to be
Identity anchors fix teachers’ professional identities at particular points in their career and provide essential connection points between the identity question ‘Who am I?’, in context and particular situations, and broader questions of moral and educational purpose (Mockler, 2011). For pre-service teachers, who are new to teaching and part of initial teachereducation programmes, these identity markers are established in relation to new learning about schools, ākonga, curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, the purpose of education and the roles of teachers, and through experiences in particular teaching situations and school, centre and teacher-education contexts. Teacher identity, though, is not fixed at point of entry to initial teacher education; it develops through time spent in initial teacher education and beyond. New experiences mean constantly thinking and rethinking what it means to be a teacher and challenging ideas and assumptions about teaching.
Part of becoming a teacher and developing a teacher identity is the examination of your own experiences and values, and your beliefs about education, teachers and teaching, and learners and learning. These beliefs act as filters and can be stumbling blocks or barriers for new teacher learning and development (Villegas, 2007). Examining your own beliefs is integral to the development of critically reflective practice, which enables teachers to respond constructively and sensitively to the needs of students. In the words of Palmer (1998): When I do not know myself, I cannot know who my students are. I will see them through a glass darkly, in the shadows of my own unexamined life – and when I cannot see them clearly, I cannot teach them well. (p. 2)
There is evidence that teachers who do not examine their own schooling experiences, or address their own assumptions and frames of reference in meaningful ways, are likely
to teach as they were taught and perpetuate practices that are familiar but which may not actually serve students well (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu, 2015; Kennedy, 1999). Loughran (2006), drawing on Lortie’s notion of the extended ‘apprenticeship of observation’, explains that although new teachers have experienced a long period of observation as students themselves in schools, the teacher thinking behind much of the teaching they experienced at school may never have been made explicit. They nevertheless form ideas about what teaching is like and how this is done based on the familiar routines and strategies they experienced. These ideas need to be explicitly addressed if new teachers’ horizons are to be broadened and they are to be open to new or different possibilities for practice and ways of being a teacher.
Identity negotiations, then, are integral to the process of becoming a teacher. They are intensely personal and involve cultivation of a moral purpose and commitment to teaching and ākonga. This process, though, means gaining a sense of what is in the best interests of children and young people, which may not be the same thing for different groups of learners or learners in different contexts; and different people may have different views on what are appropriate actions and responses to teaching challenges. As explained by Kelchtermans (2009), teaching is a profoundly and deeply moral activity. The moral dimension of teaching relates to what is educationally in the best interests of learners and, associated with this question, what teachers should do that is in learners’ best interests. A range of decisions that teachers make, including choices relating to teaching strategies, classroom materials and classroom-management actions or responses, are moral decisions because of their consequences.
Developing a sense of the teacher you want to be also means engaging with questions about the purpose and role of teachers in supporting multiple and potentially conflicting aims – including, for example, social development of students, hauora (wellbeing) and growth of the whole person, citizenship or social justice goals, sustainability aims, academic performance and national testing outcomes, credentialling and achievement of qualifications. Teachers can support particular educational purposes consciously and unconsciously through their practice, and with greater or lesser degrees of active support. Developing a teacher identity therefore involves critical reflection on what it means to be student centred and to serve the best interests of ākonga in particular contexts, and what sort of teacher you need to be and the practices you need to adopt in order to do this.
Pre-service teachers are, by definition, just starting out and beginning to get a sense of how schools work (from a teacher’s perspective) and how they might actually go about planning for learning, engaging with students and fostering positive learning environments. Their experiences in schools during their teacher education provide contexts for identity development, and for them to clarify what type of teachers they might want to be – or not be – and how they might become those people. The challenges of practice provide specific foci for critical reflection, which can be powerful learning experiences – not just in relation to ‘what works’ in a classroom or early childhood setting, but also in relation to self-awareness and how challenging personal assumptions may help new teachers become the type of teacher they aspire to be. This is explored in the following case study from the perspective of a secondary pre-service teacher.
Case Study
Secondary pre-service teacher reflection on inclusive practice
I spent a lesson working closely with a Pasifika learner for whom English was her additional language. Her writing was very good and well structured; however, what she was trying to convey wasn’t always clear. Upon reflection, I realise I made the assumption that her difficulty with writing stemmed from a limited vocabulary. My mentor teacher reminded me that she had a wide vocabulary in her mother tongue, so in a lot of ways this learner had a greater vocabulary than me. It was clear to me that, to aid her with her formal writing exercise, I would have to find a way to acknowledge and then abandon my assumptions while also finding a way in which to make the context of the writing piece more relevant to the learner’s cultural identity.
I know I value inclusive behaviours and wish to display them within my own teaching. However, I had acted in a way that may not have been beneficial to this learner. Regardless of my caution and attempts to be inclusive, I had labelled her as being ‘different’ from the other learners. I did, though, have an opportunity to work alongside this learner again. This lesson was much more successful as it drew upon the learner’s own experiences and allowed her to communicate about her family values and heritage.
Reflecting on practice in relation to supporting diverse learners in a secondary English classroom and focusing on one particular situation with a student, this secondary preservice teacher realises that she made assumptions about the student and her ability with language. Confronting these assumptions is disconcerting. However, she clearly learns from the experience and is able to shift her practice in a subsequent lesson to better support the student. This is more than a reflection on a classroom practice challenge. It is also a reflection on a matter of identity. This pre-service teacher contemplates the type of teacher she wants to be, as a culturally responsive and inclusive practitioner, and what kinds of practices might be consistent with this as she works with learners in English classes.
Case Study
Primary pre-service teacher reflection on planning for collaborative learning
I included student choice in some lessons, giving the children a degree of agency over their own learning. I also developed collaboration by incorporating pair work, group discussions and ‘think, pair, share’ activities. On reflection, I could have included more collaborative learning opportunities in my lessons. I think my personal preference for individual work may have influenced my lesson planning as I didn’t push myself to create opportunities for group work. It is a tendency I will work to challenge in the future, both by being aware of it and by finding out about different collaborative strategies that I might include in the development of lessons and in designing learning activities.
This primary pre-service teacher shows self-awareness in recognising how his own personal preferences affect the way he plans lessons. As a result, he is able to broaden his horizons to consider new and different ways to support student learning through focused, collaborative learning activities.
Opportunities taken by pre-service teachers to confront personal beliefs and assumptions that direct their practice, in relation to real-life experiences and impacts for ākonga, provide rich learning about themselves and help them clarify what sort of teachers they want to be, and the shifts in teaching practice that might support this development. Being open to these opportunities is important for new teachers.
Being a teaching professional: making a professional commitment to learners
In embarking on a career in teaching, you become a member of the teaching profession and develop a sense of yourself as a professional. Being a teaching professional carries with it both institutional responsibilities, relating to membership of a professional group and the ethical duties this entails, and a service element, relating to an ongoing commitment to enhancing knowledge and skills that help improve education and are in the interests of students (Hoyle, 2008). On the one hand, being a teaching professional entails doing the things that teachers need to do, such as marking and providing timely feedback and feedforward to primary or secondary students about their work; producing learning stories to demonstrate young children’s learning in early childhood education; and attending scheduled syndicate, department, whole-school or centre staff meetings. This means conforming to norms and expectations for performance of professional duties. On the other hand, it involves the exercise of teacher autonomy to make judgements and take actions that are in the interests of students. This can sometimes mean that teachers must negotiate tensions between policies or accountability pressures and what they believe are the best interests of children and young people.
The idea of ‘extended professionalism’ provides a touchstone from which to start thinking about the kind of professionalism that supports ongoing teacher growth and development, in the service of students. The extended professional, as originally conceived by Hoyle (2008), is a teacher for whom teaching is a rational activity, who is collegial and engaged in continuous professional learning and development, and who thinks about classroom practice in relation to broader social frameworks. Extended professionalism is less about expansion of roles or performing prescribed tasks related to accountability measures (which might include doing professional reading or undertaking a compulsory teacher inquiry) and more about teachers’ professional commitment to learners. Teachers themselves are motivated to engage with practice questions and seek deeper understanding of early-years, primary and secondary education and what might be appropriate pedagogical responses to practice challenges for the benefit of ākonga. In the words of Fraser (2016b), ‘The hallmarks of a professional include this interweaving of dispositions – the ability to stay abreast of developments and respond to change, and the ability to discern what is important for the students we teach’ (p. 56). Also, it is important to recognise that professional knowledge about schooling is not the same as memories of schooling (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu, 2015). Professional knowledge derives
from thoughtful, critical engagement with the intellectual knowledge base, practice challenges and the daily work of teaching.
Research literature about what makes good teachers emphasises the importance of teachers being innovative, imaginative and adaptable (Eisner, 2002; Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu, 2015; Lin, Schwartz & Hatano, 2005; Loughran, 2010), passionate about teaching (Fraser, 2016b; Hargreaves, 1998), collaborative (Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu, 2015; Loughran, 2010); and people who put social justice, equity and inclusion at the heart of their practice (Alton-Lee, 2003; Bishop et al., 2009; Carrington & MacArthur, 2012). Teaching requires emotional as well as cognitive engagement. It is more than a matter of the mechanical performance of tasks and demonstrations of appropriate techniques. Good teachers are sensitive and connect relationally with learners, and they fill students’ lives with creative challenges and enjoyment.
Becoming a teaching professional, then, involves more than just academic engagement with research about teaching or the content being taught, having a range of teaching tools and being technically competent, although these are elements in learning to teach. It also means building on dispositional qualities that enable teachers to be able to respond positively to constant changes in education, learn and adapt their practice, and stay enthused and relevant for students. In the following Teacher Voice boxes, two experienced teachers and educational leaders reflect on their teaching lives and share their passion for, and show an emotional commitment to, teaching.
Primary teacher
After about four and a bit years in teaching I experienced something really innovative and novel. A school had opened up around the corner and it was the first fully open-plan school in the mid-1970s. Three blocks, all open. I was in the Standard 3 and 4 [Years 5 and 6] block and that was when I really learnt how to teach. I have never worked as hard in my life. We were meeting three days a week after school. We were planning and each day one of us would take a lead lesson on a particular topic. And we had a hundred children, 25 each, sitting on the mat on the floor, and you had to have something really innovative to keep their attention. So you couldn’t just do a ‘chalk and talk’. I remember once I got my husband to bring in his motorbike and we took parts of it to bits. You had to really think about what you were going to do that was going to capture them. I loved it. That still remains a very fond memory.
What I loved the most about teaching, and what I try to tell other people who aren’t teachers, is that it is actually all about relationships. Relationships with your children, with your children’s parents and with your colleagues.
Children aren’t passive recipients of information. They are active learners. And although some people might think that we learnt more in the ‘old days’, we didn’t. We regurgitated facts. Whereas today children are able and encouraged to think for themselves, to think about ‘how this fits with how I think of the world’.
TEACHER VOICE
Secondary teacher
Initially, I was drawn into teaching because of the studentship (teaching scholarship) and a love of literature, a love of language, and a desire to be part of sharing that love of content with young people. I guess a love of teaching came after that. I think it was a realisation that I really liked teenagers and being around that ‘anything can happen’ optimism. Their whole lives are opening up. I just found it a really exciting place to be. It was being in the classroom and realising that teaching was an important role. And realising that teaching wasn’t just about giving knowledge and that you could have a very positive impact on young people. You were in a position of influence and could have a social impact. The content and the love of John Keats’ poetry could only get you through so much!
Diversity is the norm. And you can guarantee that as soon as you try something, there will be someone for whom that approach doesn’t work. So, the sobering thought is that there is no [single or right way].
If I were starting again now, would I become a teacher? The answer is ‘yes’. I do think and I firmly believe that it is the most important job. We have gone through the greed generation, the ‘me’ generation, and that’s not satisfying. The real reason is to be part of something that is beyond yourself.
Although the context for teaching in primary and secondary is different and these two teachers followed different teaching paths, what is clear in both of their reflections is a shared passion for teaching. They speak of their joy of teaching and in working with children and young people. For them, learning is broader than academic achievement and teaching is more than the transmission of knowledge or an instrumental activity. Teaching is about building relationships with students, recognising and valuing diversity and being able to respond in ways that nurture ākonga potential. The greatest satisfaction of teaching appears to be found in relationships and a sense that as teachers they are contributing to society. Both of these teachers have been open to change through their careers and have altered their teaching practice over the years, in response to educational developments and the perceived shifting needs of learners. They have both stayed passionate about teaching and maintained careers in education.
Teaching is challenging, not least because there are many ways to ‘do’ teaching and to be responsive to learners. As a pre-service teacher, you will quickly discover that not all teachers agree about what is best for students, and that while there may be some agreement about what pedagogical practices are desirable and generally effective, there is frequently no single, most effective pedagogical response or ‘best way’ to address a practice challenge. What works well for ākonga with one teacher in a particular teaching context may not work as well for a different group of learners, or with another teacher in a similar situation. However, the challenging nature of teaching should not be viewed as something negative; rather, as something that provides opportunities for professional learning and which highlights the importance of professional judgement:
As a beginning teacher it can be quite common to seek ‘the answers’ about what to do and the best way to do it ... But as familiarity with the process of teaching develops,
as confidence in one’s ability to manage grows, as the diversity of learners’ needs and approaches to learning become increasingly apparent, seeing teaching as problematic rather than rule-driven is almost inevitable ... it also becomes increasingly clear that it is through reflecting on our decisions and professional judgements about our practice that our knowledge of teaching grows.
(Loughran, 2010, p. 14).
Teachers’ professional knowledge develops through practice and with thoughtful, critical reflection on practice.
There are a variety of ways that you as a pre-service teacher can engage with the professional practice of teaching, including activities such as:
• reading research literature to expand your knowledge and understanding of students, culture, inclusion, curriculum and pedagogical challenges, and the practices and strategies that support learning for diverse learners
• having conversations with teachers and other professionals in early childhood centres and schools about challenges that teachers face and how they choose to respond to these
• attending professional group or association meetings where possible, and listening to the professional debates, and
• engaging in critical reflections on your own practice, drawing on research and particular experiences in classes and with ākonga to identify appropriate actions to address practice challenges in context – and, where possible, enacting these shifts in practice.
In engaging in these practices, you are doing the sorts of things that teaching professionals do.
THE ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT OF TEACHING
Teachers work in an organisational context. There are multiple institutions and structures that shape education, teachers’ work and the daily experiences of both teachers and learners. Teaching is influenced by the policy context and by government and professional organisations. Key policies include national curriculum and assessment requirements. Depending on the sector within which teachers work, whether in early childhood or schooling sectors, and whether in primary, middle years or secondary education within the schooling sector, they engage with different and particular aspects of the curriculum and assessment regimes. Organisations that direct and guide teaching practice include the Ministry of Education and other government agencies and teacher professional bodies. The Ministry of Education and assessment agencies in particular determine the rules around curriculum. Table 1.1 summarises key policies, while Table 1.2 summarises key organisations. Together, these form the organisational framework of teaching.
TABLE 1.1 Key policies of relevance to teaching
Policy
The New Zealand Curriculum
Te Marautanga o Aotearoa
Te Wha-riki
National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA)
Learning Progression Frameworks
Our Code, Our Standards
Definition
The national curriculum for Years 1–13 in English-medium schools (Ministry of Education, 2007)
The national Ma-ori-medium curriculum for kura (schools) and bilingual classes (Ministry of Education, 2008)
The national early childhood curriculum, written in te reo Ma-ori and English (Ministry of Education, 2017)
The national qualification for secondary-level education (New Zealand Qualifications Authority, n.d.). Each subject has a set of achievement standards that define the focus for assessment at each level of assessment.
Frameworks that illustrate significant learning steps that students take in relation to reading, writing and mathematics for Years 1–10 (Ministry of Education, n.d.). These frameworks are part of a collection of tools available to assess student achievement and progress.
The code of professional responsibility and standards for the teaching profession (Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, 2017), which sets expectations for teachers related to their teaching practice.
TABLE 1.2 Key organisations of relevance to teaching
Organisation
Ministry of Education
New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA)
Education Review Office (ERO)
Definition
The government agency that shapes the education system and oversees education policy and funding. Ministry officials are accountable to the minister and associate ministers of education.
The organisation responsible for administering NCEA, including management of external assessment processes (examinations) and moderation of internal assessment activities.
The agency charged with evaluating and reporting on education in schools and early childhood centres. ERO conducts reviews of individual schools and centres and reports to school boards of trustees, early childhood centre managers and the government on the quality of education.
Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
Teacher unions
The professional organisation for early childhood, primary and secondary teachers that is responsible for establishing and maintaining professional standards, including the registration and certification of teachers. Teachers who are employed in schools and kura in Aotearoa New Zealand are legally required to hold a current practising certificate.
Associations that provide advice and support and negotiate benefits and collective employment agreements on behalf of their members, who include teachers and school and early childhood centre support staff. Union membership is voluntary. Teacher unions include the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA), New Zealand Education Institute (NZEI), and ISEA (Independent Schools Education Association).
The schooling and early childhood education landscape is also multi-faceted. There are state, private, state-integrated and special-character schools; teacher-led and whānau (family) or parent-led early childhood centres; kura kaupapa Māori (schools where teaching is in the Māori language and based in Māori culture and values), and kōhanga reo (early childhood Māori language nests); Pacific Island language nests and culture-based centres for early-years education. Where students are taught all or some curriculum subjects in the Māori language for at least 51 per cent of the time, this is classified by the Ministry of Education as Māorimedium education. But it is only Māori-medium schools that are fully focused on Māorimedium education (Ministry of Education, 2018c). Most children and young people are taught in English-medium schools and centres, including the majority of Māori and Pasifika learners (Hill, 2017; Ministry of Education, 2018b, 2018d). Teachers might shift between and teach in different types of schools or early childhood centres in their professional lives.
Beginning teachers will see how schools and teachers respond to policy shifts and actively shape learning experiences for ākonga. Curriculum and assessment policies and structures are not politically neutral and are impacted by government and organisational changes. For example, the change of government towards the end of 2017 resulted in a change of policy that removed the requirement for schools to use and report on student achievement in relation to National Standards for reading, writing and mathematics in primary Years 1 to 8. As professionals, teachers respond to changes such as these in ways that maintain their commitment to learners and foster student-centred teaching as they shape the curriculum in practice.
STUDENT-CENTRED TEACHING: SHAPING THE CURRICULUM IN PRACTICE
Student-centred education is manifested in a variety of teaching pedagogies and practices, including:
• a focus on active, practical and experiential learning
• personalised learning and emphasis on topics that are related to the interests of ākonga
• problem-based learning and engagement with real-life issues
• dialogical learning, through discussion, debate and exchange of ideas
• learning through inquiry, and
• cooperative and reciprocal learning.
For teachers, being student focused requires flexibility in planning and curriculum delivery so that there is space to respond to learners, their needs and interests. It also means engaging with questions of relevance, and how the curriculum may be shaped and made meaningful for students.
The idea that education should be student centred is widely accepted and has been around for a while. However, it hasn’t always been an educational driving force. In broad terms, child- or student-centred education encapsulates ideas about the needs and interests of learners being at the heart of education, rather than education with an emphasis on knowledge or subject content with little care for learners’ life experiences and what might be relevant for them. Historically, the progressive education movement championed the idea
