Teaching Best Practices - a book in line with creative teaching in contrast to most current 'best practice'.

I have been clearing out notes I have kept over the decades. It is a difficult thing to do and I couldn’t resist keeping articles that had been important to me – and, of course, material I had written!

My next task is to sort through all the books I have acquired. I plan to keep a small number of books that have been seminal  to the development of my own educational beliefs. In an earlier blog I listed a number of important books.

Still one of the best!

One book , I have decided, is the most valuable for anyone wanting to develop  creative/progressive or/holistic approaches to learning in contrast to the current formulaic approaches based increasingly on standardised testing in literacy and numeracy.

I have chosen ‘Teaching the Best Practice Way’ by  Harvey Daniels and Marilyn Bizar because not only does it provide  a theoretical background to such teaching but also provides classroom based practical examples for teachers to read and gain insight to improve their own teaching.

Marilyn and Harvey

I have the 2004 second edition (the original was published in 1998) which strategic reading is now placed as the first strategy – reading that goes far beyond the current isolated (usually ability grouped) reading approaches. ‘Reframing’ reading (and numeracy) in the service of inquiry learning is a vital idea if developing your class as a community of learners is to be made central.

This is, as mentioned, a very practical book based around the world of ‘real’ experts – classrooms teachers who develop their programmes around their students experience and expression. For schools who want to develop personalised authentic teaching this is a book that will help them to develop quality learning that will be hard to criticize.

The authors write that ‘best practices’ is a phrase that is almost used as a slogan – something teachers are supposed to embrace – practices that have the official seal of approval. This book sees ‘best practices’ as something arising from research in child development and such educators as John

More relevant than ever!

DeweyTo the authors ‘best practice’ means less: whole class teaching;  less trying to cover large amounts of material; less tracking or ability grouping; and less reliance on standardised testing; and more: experiential hands on learning; fewer topics; responsibility  and choice for students;  more modelling democracy and heterogeneously grouped classrooms. The authors favour students learning like scientists, mathematicians, artists and historians etc.

For progressive/creative teachers little is new but in this age of accountability none the less welcome. The book’s ideas relate to pioneer teachers (in New Zealand Elwyn Richardson and Sylvia Ashton Warner) and such educators as Piaget, Dewey, James Beane, and Howard Gardner. In other words the‘best practice’ teachers in this book are heirs to what is commonly called the‘student centred or progressive paradigm of teaching

Elwyn Richardson

The authors research show that thematic integrated units are the hallmark of the highest achieving schools but even such schools are now under attack by the ‘standards movement’ under the banner of accountability imposed by political imperatives. To stand up to such pressures to conform/comply takes considerable courage and for teachers who want inspiration (and practical methods) this is the book for you.

The authors have confidence that schools following an integrated learning approach still do well on high stake standardised testing. As a result of good teaching students become powerful learners, proficient readers , writers and thinkers accustomed to taking responsibility for their own learning., experienced at solving problems..

The book aligns well with the vision, values andcompetencies of the New Zealand Curriculum which asks that students are able to‘seek, use and create their own knowledge’. It

s\ Sidelined?

is unfortunate that the current emphasis on achieving targets in National Standards and NCEA  have all but side-lined an excellent curriculum. The book also aligns well with the current move towards ‘Modern Learning Environments (MLE).

The book is premised on the idea that accomplished teachers possess a small repertoire of powerful structures to make learning happen. These ‘methods that matter’ are recurrent, complex integrated and generative. The book identifies seven building blocks of good teaching.

The seven structures or patterns are applicable to all age levels; they are broad generic strategies or, simply good teaching methods. Although they are process orientated they are adaptable to all learning disciplines and require considerable teacher skill to implement.

All methods include have common features – they all include: student choice or ownership of learning; responsibility which is the other side of the coin to choice; the need to express meaningful ideas in a range of media; a community rather than an individual bias; diversity and an appreciation of student differences;  and the use of modern technology to leverage and support learning.

The Seven Best Practices.

Each practice begins with the theory behind the method followed by practical examples of the method (and learning strategies) in use by teachers across a range of ages and further references.

1 Reading as Thinking.

Reading instruction is a hot topic but the book sees reading not just as a set of sub skills   but rather as a specialised form of thinking. Since reading is thinking ‘we must provide our young readers with rich texts worth thinking about, strategies to help them and others with whom to think.’ Reading isabout constructing meaning – it is about reading to learn not just learning to read. Integrating reading with the current inquiry study is obvious but all too often this is not seen in schools. Literacy time is a time to ‘frontload’ content and strategies for later inquiry learning.

2 Representing to learn.

This relates to the need for students represent experience so as to engage and enjoy life more deeply. This builds on ideas about writing to learn (not just to copy or cut and paste) Writing as a tool of thinking to‘seek, use and create’ as it says in the New Zealand Curriculum. Representing includes drawing, mapping, drama, movement, the arts and the use of modern information technology.

Learning through writing is a feature of this chapter and a number of strategies are explained and modelled through teacher examples but all other learning areas are covered – relating to the ideas of Howard Gardner.

There are a lot of excellent straggles that could be ‘frontloaded’ in the literacy programme to later contribute to the class inquiry study.

3 Small Group Activities.

Students need to be able to practice democracy and to work in small collaborative groups. It seems that the world is catching on John Dewey ideas (or in more recent times James Beane) Several models of collaboration are included. Group structures must have enough inherent structure to operate autonomously for students to remain engaged on tasks.  Students need well-structured collaborative experiences to learn deeply, to really understand, to share knowledge (or their prior ideas) and to ask important questions. All this requires rich experiences to challenge students.

 Fixed ability grouping (or worse still tracking) is not part of such group work but this does not mean assisting small groups with common needs so they can return to their learning with skills in place.

Specific learning centres are one approach with students rotating. During such rotational time  the teacher is typically supervising, roaming, solving problems,  undertaking student conferences, acting as a resource and doing observational assessing of student’s achievement. This, as the book says, requires considerable ‘teacher artistry’.

4 The Classroom as a Workshop.

Classrooms are seen as working laboratories or studios where genuine knowledge is created, real products are made, and authentic inquiry is pursued. The workshop model is simple and powerful – based on children learning by doing... All too often schools fail to provide enough time  for 'doing' maths, science, reading, writing, art, music and history- all too often time is taken up  by an over emphasis on isolated  literacy and numeracy programmes. The book provides outlines for workshop sessions in a range of subjects (reading, writing, mathematics, science) for readers to make use of. The key to good workshops is the provision of student choice. Workshop activities contribute to a  work to contribute to the current topic.

During such workshop sessions teachers involve themselves in a range of student conferences to ensure students comprehend the learning objectives involved.

5 Authentic Experiences.

A range of educationalists have long argued for school to be more lifelike, more genuine, and more authentic. Authentic experiences can range from the simple - like writing a letter to a favourite author, or an unexpected weather event, to the complex such as an ecological study of a local river.

 Authentic studies provide the means to develop an appreciation of the inquiryprocess that is integral to all learning – the process of learning how to learn..

Authentic studies can focus on one learning area or integrate a number of learning areas. In New Zealand the strands of each Learning Area give teachers of the range of areas they could introduce to their students. The immediate environment also provides inspiration for a range of authentic studies.

The key to real learning is tapping (and extending) student’s curiosity, involving students in planning activities, and valuing  their questions and prior theories all of which developing in students a sense of ownership. The wider the range of experiences  the greater the possibility of developing the unique talents of the students.

6 Reflective Assessment.

The authors are critical of the move towards standardised measuring of achievement as they distort or narrow learning and, too often, drag teachers down to 'gaming' or 'rorting' the system, by test coaching. New Zealand teachers will be well aware of such pressure to perform.

Current 'best practices'.

An interesting diversion is a history (and misuse) of standardised testing. To this day schools still screen, track, rewards, and segregate students using tests rooted in bad science and the use of metadata. The trouble is that, in America,  standardised testing is now the main ingredient of ‘reform’ programmes. The areas tested then become the' default' curriculum... This test obsession is a political not an educational issue. Unfortunately the schools that need the ‘best teaching’ promoted by this book , in the poor areas, are the least likely to get such empowering experiences. Such effects of toxic testing are a political issue.

The authors want to be clear about using assessments that relate to the principals of their book.  Good assessment should be an integral part of good teaching. Powerful assessments should focus on the major whole outcomes rather than contributory aspects. Most school assessments should be formative meaning teachers should assess to ensure students learn better and for teachers to teach more effectively.

Traditional norm referenced testing provides little helpful formative assessment. The key of effective thinking is being able to self-monitor and self-evaluate. Rather than checking students against arbitory age grade targets teachers should track the story of each learner’s growth through developmental phases. Current standardised tests yield an exceedingly narrow and unreliable picture of student achievement and are poor indicator of school performance.

The authors outline (and provide examples) of a range of constructive, formative, reflection orientated assessments that can be used at any age level: Portfolios; Conferences; Anecdotal records; Performance assessment rubrics and classroom tests are all covered.

7 Integrative Units

This, the authors write, is the most complex of the methods. In this chapter they show how great teaches blend the other six methods into days, or weeks, or rich, cross –disciplinary investigations driven by student interest and scaffolded by teachers who model, coach, and manage the inquiry process.

With integrated units, teachers step emphatically out of single subject instruction and lead children into inquiries as complex and multi-disciplinary as the real world issues that adults face as workers, parents, and citizens.’

This integrated learning is not new to the few creative teachers in our schools.

The trouble with the separate subject approach is that students do not  learn to appreciate the connected view of learning and also fail to appreciate how real world learning occurs. Stu also dents miss out in a powerful set of tools for solving problems.’

The book encourages teachers  to seek coherence by crossing subject boundaries; by encouraging students to value ‘deep ‘ learning; by providing experiences to develop every students' unique talents, and by integrating ‘basic skills’ into  integrated experiences.

The authors are clear to state that traditional subject matter fields are  not to be disrespected. On the contrary the disciplines of knowledge they see are vital in achieving  learning. Authentic learning takes the disciplines of learning seriously.

The separate subject teaching is powerful and enduring, particularly at the secondary school level, and the authors provide how  schools have changed their approaches to develop integrated learning. Such change requires teachers being given the support to work at the edge of their professional comfort zone. Excellent information for middle schools and secondary school integration is provided by middle school educator James Beane.

Epilogue

Current reforms!!!

The authors conclude by  writing, no matter how passionate their call is for real world  experiences to be the basis for learning  until this happens many students  will continue to find their educational experience problematic.

The application of the best practices outlined would contribute to a powerful transformation of learning and create schools where all students students are given voice, choice and responsibility.

Daniels and Bizar finish their book by saying,‘We possess the tools and structures to make powerful learning happen; we just have to put them to work.’

Business 'guru' Peter Drucker wrote, 'the first country to develop a 21st century education system will win the future'.. Could be New Zealand if only...

 Just imagine!

We could develop the most creative education system, that is, if we listened to Sir Ken Robinson, David Hood,  and Kelvin Smythe and tapped into the wisdom of creative teachers past and present.


Reading Sir Ken Robinson's latest book 'Creative Schools - Revolutionizing Education from the Ground Up' has  really impressed me.

I hope it might  even be a' tipping point' to encourage school leaders to challenge current assumptions and start on the journey towards transforming schools into modern learning environments.

 A similar message has also been outlined by New Zealand educator David Hood in his new book 'The Rhetoric and the Reality'. For secondary teachers Bali Haque's book is worth a read.

Maybe I am being over optimistic.

Talking to  current principals  about the possibility of such creative ideas  is , often met by reasons why it is too difficult in the present climate. Both Robinson and Hood are well aware of the current political situation  but both see this as no  reason not to begin the journey to transforming schools. And nor do I.

The recent posting by New Zealand educator Kelvin Smythe  adds another voice to the debate - and his summary of holistic education is worth the read. Essentially the same message as Sir Ken.

Instead, schools busy themselves trying to solve the problem of developing 'sensible'  teacher objective judgments ( TOJs) to sort students into spurious, politically inspired, National Standards in  literacy and numeracy - the very antithesis of creativity.

Are schools risk averse?

I guess what is missing is the courage to take the lead. Principals seem to prefer focus on their own school ( compiling the best achievement data they can -' shonky' at best) and no one seems to have the courage to take the lead to  encourage schools to  to work together towards realizing a creative education. And of course  many think that is what they already do, or that all is well.

Time to break out

To me it all shows the power of the status quo  at best or self deception at worst. But surely there are principal groups who see that what they are currently doing is not the full answer?

Surely , if not principals , then there must be creative teachers who see the need to breakout of the current straight jacket of standardized teaching and imposed, so called, 'best practices' - particularly the demeaning effect of the current emphasis in judging student success based on narrow literacy and numeracy data?

The biggest block to creative teaching is the unquestioned use of ability grouping in primary schools and fragmented subject teaching in secondary schools - both with their genesis in the  industrial aged sorting and grading schools of the past century.

The simple way to judge if a primary school is moving towards developing creative education ( moving away from standardized teaching towards personalized learning)  is whether or not they use ability grouping ( or worse still cross class grouping) in literacy and numeracy- or isolated teaching of subjects at the secondary level.

That would exclude the vast majority of schools being creative as defined by Sir Ken.

Sir Ken, and Kelvin Smythe, write strongly against such practices. Finland gets buy, as do many Asian countries, without the use of this sorting and tracking of students. And there is excellent research both from the UK and NZ  to show the demeaning effect of such practices.

In contrast to these limiting archaic practices imagine a school system dedicated to developing the gifts and talents of all students - whose programmes were based on providing personalised learning

It's all too hard!

opportunities for all students . This would be the basis for transforming education as we know it. This is the thesis of Sir Ken's book. Schools, I believe, do not have an ''achievement gap' rather more an 'opportunity' one.

Sir Ken advises teachers to observe the educational opportunities offered by the best of early education  centres, sadly now increasingly at risk from being standardized, to gain insight.  He asks why does  the early intense curiosity of the early years diminish as students progress through school? Why is that far too many students act as if creativity is to be limited to the few talented individuals when everyone is capable of creative thinking?  Why is it that students, deemed to be successful at school, often fail to shine in later life and conversely why is it, so called, school failures often do well in real life?

Standardized teaching

The trouble may be is that primary students happily accept of whatever programmes are provided and that the trouble ( disengagement) only really starts when the  reach the more critical teenage years.

Maybe students don't fail school , maybe schools fail students? Consider the number of students who leave, as  educationalist Karen Olsen has written, 'wounded' by school?

 Le'ts get back to imagining  schools dedicated to developing the talents and gifts of all students.

Carol Dweck

There are plenty of inspirational ideas to make use of, once schools have re-framed their focus, to achieve such an enlightened scenario. Sir Ken's book includes plenty of examples and their are numerous excellent books to refer to from such educationalists as  Guy Claxton, Howard Gardner, David Perkins  Carol Dweck to name a few.

I am always curious to see what books are available to teachers on their staff bookshelves - or to ask teachers of educationalists that inspire them. It would seem schools are full of unquestioned habits, procedures and practices.

Sir Ken asks what if teachers were to re-invent schooling- what would it look like? What if schools were to focus on the competencies , attributes or dispositions their students will need to thrive in problematic and challenging future?

For those interested the ideas in New Zealand pioneer teacher Elwyn Richardson are worth a visit - ideas developed in an even more traditional era - the 1950s

And there is also the inspiration from Sylvia Ashton Warner from the same era.

Time for thinking out of the box!

And in the 60s and 70 the most innovative groups of teachers were junior teachers who introduced developmental programmes providing their students with opportunities for real choices. Ironically today all the so called, 'best practices' are provided by contracted consultants and Ministry  staff who have long lost a sense of classroom reality - that is if they were ever there in the first place.

Dr Beeby

The wisdom of teachers, particularly creative teachers has been lost in the current top-down surveillance audit culture.

Imagine if the 1940s vision' of an 'education of the kind they are best suited for and to the fullest extent of their powers' of Peter Fraser and Dr Beeby were to be fully realized.

 Imagine if the, all but sidelined, New Zealand Curriculum which asks schools to ensure all students leave confident lifelong learners able to ' seek, use and create their own knowledge',were to be made central.

Imagine a school premised on making student inquiry and talent development central to all learning.

Imagine a school that has re-framed literacy and numeracy to provide the skills to enable students to dig deeply and critically into the areas chosen for study.

Imagine such investigations being open ended, integrating  learning areas as required - investigation that provide opportunities for students to make use of , hone, or discover, their own unique portfolio of talents.

Imagine what this would mean for teachers - it would be impossible to  plans for pre- determined outcomes but rather be prepared to follow  their students leads and questions and to ensure students are given every opportunity to develop  all the appropriate competencies and  skills.

Imagine teachers who really valued students curiosity, questions and prior ideas and then did their best to challenge their students to defend and, if necessary, change their ideas. Teachers who believed that 'teaching is the canny art of intellectual temptation' ( Jerome Bruner).

Schools to develop talent

Imagine classrooms  environments that reflected student in depth thinking around their chosen studies and covering the various learning areas - appreciating that such quality thinking is the result of doing fewer things well.

Imagine teachers integrating ICT to assist students in their inquiries - rather than providing ready made answers as is too often the case

And imagine that true accountability is judged by the quality of what students can do, through demonstrations, performances, exhibitions ( such as science, technology and art fair exhibits)-and   seen  by all interested in their electronic personal portfolios.


And all this is entirely possible  - all  that it would require is for principals and teachers to have the wit and intelligence to change

their own minds first.

Teaching , in this scenario, would be the most creative task of all.

It would be a real change from teachers being seen technicians delivering imposed curriculum and

bowing down to reactionary national standards in literacy and numeracy; a shift from compliance and conformity to creativity, diversity and innovation; from the 19th to the 21st century; from standardization to personalization.

Such a transformation would realize the sub title in Sir Ken's book of 'revolutionizing education from the ground up'.

And most of all it would make teaching fun again - sort of like doing the 60s all over again again but this time doing it properly. 

Now I am showing my age.

Some great leadership quotes to inspire action

Now there is a good idea!!!!!

Sir Ken Robinson's new book:'Creative Schools - Revolutionizing Education from the Ground Up'.

Sir Ken Robinson's book is a must read if we want to bring education into the 21stC.

A must read for anyone who believes in an education system that aims at developing the gifts and talents of all students.

Read this article about Sir Ken's latest book

My plea is for creative teachers, particularly those in New Zealand, to share this with as many teachers and schools as they can because the message is so important. If we really believe in giving every student the opportunity to leave formal education with their love of learning intact  and with all their unique interests, gifts and talents identified and amplified then we really have no choice.

Excellent book.

And if you do pass this blog on also send the link to New Zealander David Hoods book  'The Rhetoric and the Reality'  which has the same message. It is time for change to start from the bottom up - that is  until we get a government that really understand about learning.

Sir Ken offers a real alternation to the current standardized, test orientated reform that  countries like New New Zealand have been implementing. The good thing is that New Zealand has not, as yet, gone as far down this standardized approach as Australia, the United Kingdom or the USA.

Sir Ken believes it is time to question the assumptions that underpin traditional education which he believes is now failing too many of our students. He writes that the current reforms, particularly  those that focus on introducing standards in literacy and numeracy based on

standardized testing  , are ironically limiting students with talents in other areas. As well many students currently  failing school often do well in real life - unfortunately not all .Many, sadly, blame themselves for their failure rather then the school system they were forced to comply with.

Current reforms are about standardization, competition and corporatism. (let alone the privatization of schools) - who supplies the tests determines the educations.

Instead of standardization, competition and corporatism, Sir Ken is calling for the personalisation of learning to uncover and amplify the talents of all students. 

So rather than having an 'achievement gap'  ( the 'one in five failing mantra')we need to see it as an 'opportunity gap' and provide educational experiences to motivate all students and not just the academic.

Sir Ken has worked with countries and states, as well as individual schools, to develop such a system. and he shares what he has found with readers.

He also makes the point that there are creative teachers in every school to make use of. He also encourages educators to visit and learn from the best of early education practitioners and then to ask what has happened to something that starts so well  and ends so badly for too many students..

His metaphor for education is not a industrial factory grading one, and sorting and grading students, but an organic living one - a system continually evolving and adapting to changing.
circumstances such as the transformational power of information technology.

He asks readers to consider how they would reinvent schooling and to challenge the taken for granted habits and organisation patterns and rituals that now currently limit students - the demeaning use of ability grouping and streaming is such areas.

 What are the dispositions future students will need? How best to organize schools to ensure all students leave with their love of learning intact and their talents developed? Perhaps it is this

thinking that underpins the 'modern learning environments' that are the latest idea - an idea that requires  personalized pedagogy if they are to be successful,

A personalized pedagogy demand that we value the questions, feelings and 'inner voice' of all students; something that creative teachers, past-and present, have always known. 'Profound things happen', writes Sir Ken, 'when students are given room to explore their own interests and capacities'. Children have a powerful innate ability to learn and Sir Ken outlines alternative schools that have 'recovered' students who, through formal education,  had lost the will to learn.

In New Zealand we at least have the 2007 New Zealand Curriculum to inspire us ( 'every student a seeker, user and creator of their own knowledge') and are also fortunate that we haven't gone so far down the standardized testing road as such countries as the UK, Australia and  the USA. But there is no time to waste.

Sir Ken sees teachers as artists assisting their students to develop the skills and talents required for their future success in contrast to currently demeaning compliance demands to 'deliver' the

curriculum.

Teachers need to create provocative learning environments to tap into their students curiosity; to engage, inspire and enthuse them. No exceptions.

 Stimulating learning means keeping students curiosity alive. It means helping students surprise themselves with the quality of what they didn't think they could achieve. It's about relationships and expectations. About students working with their teachers and their peers to complete exciting integrated learning projects -  at all all levels of schooling.

Sir Ken believes in students being helped to do their best in whatever areas of learning they are involved in - something anyone involved in any form of creative endeavor knows well.  He is also supportive of students being given time to complete work of real  depth and quality.

 I enjoyed his thoughts on 'slow education' which he says is  about individualizing the process, about allowing the space and time to discover students' passions and strengths. Slow learning is about 
doing fewer things well.


The future is about creativity, imagination and innovation. 

Imagination is the root l..of innovation; creativity is putting imagination to work and innovation is putting new ideas into action.

 Creative learning is about enlightened trial and error - about learning through giving thing go. Creativity is being prepared to end up where you didn't mean to go - it is about refining, testing, making new connections and keeping what works. It requires discipline and control. All learning is 'driven by appetite for discovery'..... 'And if you don't trust kids to be natural learners, your not going to get there'.

And this means trusting school and in turn teachers.

 Success is to be judged by what the students can achieve as shown in their finished work, displays, exhibitions and learning( electronic) portfolios. The wrong sort of assessment ( as now seen in schools ) can kills such learning. Current testing measure little of what is important and has a negative effect on both learning and teaching.

Creative teaching requires principals and teachers to operate from a different sense of what education should  and could be, and a different interpretation of success.

Creative teaching is not easy. It means challenging conventions and ingrained habits but it is a task that is worth the effort. Sir Ken's book is full of inspiring examples  to learn from  but their is no one way to success.

'How quickly schools will change will depend, in large part, on the vision of the people who run them, especially the principals, on how they set expectations, and where they draw the lines of permission' . 

The first thing is to get clear on what you want for your children and then to create a positive learning environment for all.

The role of a creative leader', Sir Ken writes, ' is not to have all the ideas; it is to encourage a culture where everyone has them'.

We don't want your ( right wing) mind conyrol

Ideally such creativity ought to be  encouraged by the policy makers but we haven't time to wait for them. We need to start revolutionizing education 'from the ground up'. Class by class if necessary.

This is why it is important to share Sir Ken's book with other like minds.

My advice is to buy the book,get inspired and join the revolution and at the very least to search out the creative teachers in your own school

Pass on this information about Sir Ken's book now.

Further Reading:

Howard Gardner - creative schools

Popular article on Creativity in education by Wayne Morris

Book list for creative schools/teachers

New Zealand's pioneer creative teacher - Elwyn Richardson

Backgrounds of innovators and  those wounded by school

Bali Haque.The failure of Education Reforms in New Zealand - with an emphasis on secondary schools. NCEA/ NZC and National Standards.

In a recent article in the Sunday Times magazine a recently resigned secondary teacher wrote  , 'teaching is not a cushy job- it's grueling. I had to do so many assessments with the students there was barely time to teach them anything....the NCEA is well intentioned- full of second chances - but the people who dreamed it up didn't consider how perpetual assessment and marking would impact on teaching...... It puts teachers, students and parents on common ground - by bewildering them all.

With this in mind it was interesting to read Bali Haque's book 'Changing Our Secondary Schools'. Bali has been a secondary principal, President of the Secondary Principal's Association and

deputy chief executive responsible for the NCEA.

His book is a critique of two decades of education reform in New Zealand and a call for future action.   (See book review)

The book is based on the premise that our secondary schools are already good but 'have the capacity to be great. An earlier book, 'Our Secondary Schools Don't Work Anymore', by David Hood,  who has a similar background to Bali, is not so positive. Guy Claxton's book 'What is the Point of School' is also relevant. It would seem that good is not good enough!

Looking towards the future

Bali's book  covers the Tomorrow's Schools Reforms , the National Certificate of Educational Achievement ( NCEA) , the revised New Zealand Curriculum ( 2007) and  the National Standards. 'None of these reforms', Bali writes, 'has been as successful as one might have hoped', and adds, 'mistakes have been made again, again , and again.'

The equity gap the real problem!

NZ scores well on international tests, he writes, but scores have fallen because of the 'gap between students from poorer , lower socioeconomic status homes' and that this equity gap 'presents any current or future  New Zealand government with its most serious and persistent .....problem'.

 The situation is made worse by the fact that many Maori families are in this category. 'Maori students perform poorly...largely because of their Socio Economic Status (SES) not their ethnicity' he writes and continues. 'we live in divided communities and our schools reflect theses divisions.'

Culture Counts!

This division provides well off students with cultural habits and dispositions inherited from their families that are critically important to school success. This is obviously not true for all students but there are those ( Pierre Bourdieu ) who believe that schools make the situation worse. There are Maori educationalists who believe that schools do not reflect  a Maori worldview.

Bali asks the question do schooling and teaching matter and answers 'it depends'?

 New Zealand has in recent decades become one of the most unequal Western societies and that this can only be overcome by political action not by blaming schools.

 Focusing only on schooling and teaching to address disparities is 'unhelpful and misleading'. There is more an opportunity than an achievement gap. Research (Marzano) in Bali's book states 80% of student achievement is determined by student background, the school 6.65 and the teacher 13.34.

Teaching as an art.

'Teaching,'Bali writes, ' is essentially more of an art than a science' and what works depends on the relationships between the teacher and the learner.

  Bali  believes that  power of a quality teacher depends on what he calls 'a state of mind' ; the individual teachers 'personal dispositions, attitudes  and assumptions'. This he says is reflected in the New Zealand Curriculum ( Teaching as Inquiry) which asks teachers to constantly ask questions about the effectiveness of what they are doing and be willing to change what isn't working. Such teachers believe all students can learn achieve provided the right conditions and help.

It is encouraging teachers to develop this mindset that provides the greatest opportunity to help all students achieve but real success

1 in 5 have very little

will only be fully realized by improving the socio- economic background of students. Blaming the one in five students currently failing on teaching is 'plainly nonsense' Bali writes.

Now back to the reforms.

Yeah Right!

Tomorrow's Schools.

Introduced in 1989  it was supposed to be all about devolving responsibility to 'self managing' schools to realize greater flexibility and innovation but in reality passed poor performance on to individual school many schools ( low decile schools) did not have the capability or resources.
Rather than having a school system, schools were placed  in a market place unfairly competing with each other. This was a business model that favoured the well placed and discouraged collaboration.

There has been no evidence of system wide gains in achievement or new approaches to learning or greater equality. Lower decile schools are all too often  marginalized and ghettoised and, Bali writes,  'awful for the cohesiveness and social and economic well being of New Zealand as a whole'. 'Tomorrow's Schools continues to harm many of the students  it was designed to support.

NCEA - National Certificate of  Educational Achievement

The NCEA chapter focuses on secondary education and the change from simple pass /fail exams to the provision of all students with opportunities  to succeed. 'For most teachers and parents the changes were astonishing and revolutionary'.  The aim was to unify vocational and academic pathways by shifting to standard based assessment allowing students to demonstrate learning achievements on units passed.  Students were   assigned their own personal Record of Achievement (POR). Such a dramatic change had not been attempted anywhere else in the world. The assessment requirements, Bali writes, were 'light years away from what was mainstream practice for most teachers at the time'. And there is the confusion between vocational and academic units.

Stressed students

It has been a rocky road to success  but after a troubled birth it has become reasonably successful but there are still issues due to a 'poor reform process'. Assessment now drives teaching. 'The trouble was the new standards based NCEA system', writes Bali , 'required a  fundamentally different approach to learning' which is yet to be seen widely. Until things change students and teachers remain stressed trying to implement current all but impossiblee requirements.

The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum

The 2007 New Zealand Curriculum. provided schools with a  broad enabling framework to work within  allowing plenty of flexibility for schools. It's 1993 predecessor was a technocratic and assessment  nightmare. The  intention of the 2007 curriculum was to move beyond subject content towards a greater emphasis on good teaching practice.

Bali makes the point that primary schools were encouraged by the 'front end of the curriculum' which defined the vision, principles, competencies and values. For most secondary school its implementation was complicated by the requirements of  the NCEA. Bali recommends that the 'wash-back effects of the NCEA qualification into the junior school prevented effective implementation of the new curriculum. Schools instead used the junior years ( year 9 and 10) to prepare for the 'realities of the NCEA'.

The new curriculum provided motivation to develop integrated units around common themes rather than compartmentalized and separate subjects so, while it was  satisfactory to provide broad learning objectives in the junior years and in primary schools, it was extremely problematic for teaching in the senior school. 'As well the emphasis on competencies at the front end of the curriculum provided another headache for secondary schools'. How to measure or report on these competencies was problematic and as a result, in many secondary schools, the 'key'  competencies have been sidelined.

Integrated inquiry studies

So has the 2007 NZC achieved its objectives? With regard to secondary school limited progress has been made in encouraging better teaching, particularly in years 9 and 10 but  'the requirements of the NCEA has probably outweighed the requirements of the curriculum particularly at the senior school.' This is not helped by subject specialists protecting their territories making the integration of knowledge and focus a on competencies difficult and, as a result,  'teachers have tended to continue with their current practice'.

 NZC -Opportunities for integrated inquiry studies.

'So, as far as secondary schools are concerned, the NZC has not been as successful as might have been'. Schools have not addressed the fundamental changes required. For all that 'the NZC is viewed positively by a very large number of teachers, including secondary teachers'. Secondary schools need far more help to implement the 'front end' of the curriculum.

National Standards.

Although  supposedly written to support the NZC  Bali writes, 'it seems clear that the new

literacy and numeracy standards are not a good fit with the philosophy of the NZC'. 

Assessment against these standards will lead to 'teaching to the tests'  and the 'narrowing of the curriculum' and the 'demise of a rich holistic and broad curriculum' as it has been demonstrated in countries that have tried to implement similar reforms.  Moderation of standards is a problem yet to be solved - National Tests and League Tables lie over the horizon.

The Minister's aim of preparing all students for level 2 NCEA according to Bali is 'nonsense'. As 80% of students already achieve Level 2 'one wonders why it is necessary for all students to be subjected to a massive accountability regime. Surely a more targeted approach would have been  more sensible?' Bali also recommend the doing away of NCEA Level One to encourage more integrated teaching in years 9 and10.

The introduction of National Standards to 'fix the system' can be seen as a means to reduce the influence of teachers and principals in schools. Imposing such a reform, so strongly opposed by practitioners, makes its success problematic at best and is , according to Bali ' unlikely to succeed because of the contradictions inherent in its development.'

The Ministry and its implementation of the reforms comes into severe criticism by Bali.  'The end result', he writes, 'is the gradual erosion of initiative, creative thinking and risk taking'. 

Education becoming risk adverse.

The Ministry  has failed in working with schools and teachers as partners in reform. This is ironic as Bali comments, prior to Tomorrow's Schools, teachers were involved in curriculum and professional development, worked collaboratively,  and were assisted by respected advisory teachers and school inspectors. Now support is provided through contested contracts open to all comers creating confusion and overload.

Teachers and Principals.

With reference to teachers Bali believes ,'there is an urgent need for some teachers to stop thinking as victims, which appears to be their current default position, and start thinking about creative solutions.'


Although he appreciates 'many secondary school principals are overwhelmed by their jobs many have  failed to ensure appropriate attention is paid to core functions of instructional leadership' and, worse still,  many 'principals behave badly in a competitive environment' and 'take the view that their primary purpose is to maximize the reputation of their school'. I might add this applies equally to primary schools.

Bali concludes his book  with some 'future pathways'.

The first for the government to face up to the impact of socio-economic effects o learning - this is a far bigger factor than whatever a teacher or school can achieve. The current mantra that it is the teachers that make the difference is misplaced. The socio- economic gap is the big issue of the future.

We have to find new tools to measure school effectiveness.

We have become transfixed with comparative data which all too often leads 'naming and shaming that hurts both educators and learning'. Encouraging the best teaching approaches, and identifying positive teacher 'mindsets', are focuses he suggests, as is the use of a sampling process to assess learning.  This approach,  used in Finland, appeals to Bali where the  government runs national sample assessments to keep track of the whole system.Teachers might remember the  Otago University NEMP sampling approach?

As far as providing teacher professional support  the focus needs to assisting 'changing the p

ractice of teachers in the classroom'. The  paying of super principals and teachers to work with other schools  The Investment in School Success scheme ( IES) does not get much approval from Bali. The money, he believes, would be better spent rewarding excellent teachers in schools.

Whatever policies  to be implemented need to be well planned, implemented, and supported. Teachers need to be well trained,  well paid and trusted as they are in Finland.

Bali controversially recommends that to  implement the NZC in years 9 and 10, and to reduce the 'wash-back effect of the NCEA', that intermediate schools be closed down and junior colleges  established for students from years 7 to 10.

Modern Learning Environments need an integrated philosophy

 Such schools need to be 'independent of the constraints of the NCEA or external qualifications. They would be built around an integrated approach to knowledge and competencies, based on learning areas/subjects that would reflect the philosophy of the current curriculum'.

New schools need new pedagogy

Bali believes it is too late to do away with Tomorrows's Schools,   nor is it necessary to return to the top down centralized system of old, instead believes in the establishment of a stronger supportive regional structure for the Ministry.

I have not made an attempt to present all of Bali's ideas. You will need to read his book for yourselves. One thing he says is clear,   'Governments must not be allowed to place all the fixing at the feet of long suffering teachers'.

'No reform', he concludes,' will be successful without a reasonable level  of teacher buy in. It is important  that teachers be encouraged and challenged to see the possibilities ... and to engage in

Schools to develop  talents  

constructive problem solving, even if this means a period of tension and disagreement.The key message to our teachers should be that they are hugely valued and critically important , and will be treated as such by government.'

Well worth the read.

Time for some out of the box thinking