Transcript Please click to view the Principal`s Start of Year Presentation for 2015.

PASSION AND PURPOSE
Consolidating the momentum of building quality teaching and setting the
learning agenda for Manurewa West Primary School 2015.
A focus on promoting Teachers to be Inspiring Educational Leaders in
Teaching, Learning and Supporting a Better Future for our Students Today.
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A presentation and Focus Direction for Staff, Board of Trustees and Learning Community of
Manurewa West Primary School – 2015.
Dave Wallis
PRINCIPAL 2015
As we look back on our Inquiry (Learning) Journey over the
years at MWPS, we can feel a certain amount of pride that our
approach to learning developments and teaching practices, has
been enriched by our challenged mind sets about:
Learning Centres
(1997 – 2000)
Learning Styles
(2001 – 2005)
Learning Environments
(2006 – 2014)
Thinking and
Questioning (2007
– 2010)
Higher Order
Thinking (2009 –
2010)
Thinking Classrooms 2010 –
2011
Teaching as
Inquiry (Inquiry
based Teaching!)
2011 – 2014
Peer Critiquing and
Observational Support
(2013/14)
• Teacher Conversations, Inquiry and Reflective Practice
(2013 – 2014)
TEACHER QUESTIONING, DEEPER THINKING
AND CONSOLIDATION OF QUALITY TEACHING
PRACTICE (2015).
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QUALITY TEACHING

Is the most effective way to improve the educational outcomes for our
students.

Therefore, ensuring we attract the best and brightest to the profession,
keeping you/us/we engaged and committed, providing you with the
necessary support through mentoring and professional development, is
surely critical to developing a quality education for every one of our
students.
“Every principals’ most important job is
getting good teaching in every
classroom…. Removing ineffective
teachers is critically important as hiring
talented and hardworking teachers”
– Kim Marshall
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
Our Challenge is to ensure we as a quality teaching team:
Share
 Investigate
 Discuss
 Model
 Question and Critique

Both our own and each others teaching delivery.

Arising from this, I believe, will be the capacity and capability built in our staff to deliver
exceptional learning programmes every day, in every classroom, from one year to the next.

I have always maintained that if we want effective learning, we must first have effective
teaching, and the key to the latter expectation is professional support, P.L.D and developing
a culture of progressive learning and teaching performance.

As a school Manurewa West Primary School must always be intent on building
sustainability in improving student learning achievement.
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
Therefore for highly effective teaching, (and school leadership), we need to
channel our/your dreams to the “Passion and Purpose” of Learning.

eg. Refer 2015 Key Consolidation Focus (see below)

Teacher Questioning, Deeper Thinking and Consolidation of Quality Teaching
Practice

Remember the realisation is not on Teacher Quality dropping, but in today’s
world, the complexities of teaching and what we must teach and how we are
assessed (supported) to be effective by a data focus, creates a “modern view”
of determining “Teacher Quality” to be.

In our consolidation approach for 2015, our focus for better future learning
will continue to be on:

Professional Learning for Teachers

Change Management (eg. full awareness of student learning needs/key dates for
discussions/accelerated achievements).

Our ‘beginning teachers’ starting out with this “first up” current practice, as a
platform for quality teaching thereafter.

Encouragement of Learning/Teaching Initiatives, and innovative practice.

PLUS promote Professional Leadership growth/opportunities/sustainability.
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
Just imagine our school website on the front page
“Come to Manurewa West Primary School because
we have the ‘Best Teachers’”.

This then sets the expectations that our teachers are
learners, passionate about their profession,
professional in their practice and innovative and
fun leaders of teaching/leaders of learning.
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TODAY’S AND TOMORROW’S LEARNING
WORLD – STEPPING FORWARD
Our education system is not broken; it’s
fundamentally obsolete. The classroom as we
know it was perfectly suited to conveying
information when the world was a more
static place. But with the pace of change
accelerating virtually every discipline, the
classroom has to be about more than
delivering information – a place where
children come together in a group and solve
problems in an interdisciplinary way”
- Nareen Jain
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THINK ABOUT HOW OUR EDUCATION DELIVERY
IS STRUCTURED IN NZ SCHOOLS AND ASK
OURSELVES THIS ANOMALY!!

We have many tests of achievement, but how many tests of LEARNING do
we have?
ie. why shouldn’t we test what is the best way for you to learn; how
can schools teach learning better; and what makes learning
fun/meaningful for you as an adult (and/or as a student).
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
If we were to THINK – the emphasis today is on ‘underachievement’, but
there is a bigger problem with the standards of ‘Achievement /Above
Achievement’.

I suggest this is because ‘Under Achievement’ appears to be a large tail,
dominated by disadvantaged communities eg. Maori/Pasifika.

However many of this sector are achieving well, eg. against school targets,
its just that when compared against National Standards, they’re not AT, or
ABOVE Standard, therefore they’re failing.

Vice versa, I would argue that many who are AT, or ABOVE standard are
just cruising in classes, because the system recognises that by being so, you
have succeeded as a learner and therefore by default, succeeded as
“successful” teacher.
“A dream doesn’t have to have a number”.
ie. the focus should always be on how we
learn and what is being learned.
- Andy Hargreaves
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
Therefore the question can rightfully be asked – for
those in this ‘cruise’ phase but so called ‘achieving’,
is the rate of progress and achievement actually less
than the disadvantage tail earlier referred to!!!
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REASONS FOR POOR SCHOOL ACHIEVEMENT

Complacency

Solving the wrong problems

Not closing the gap, but
moving the curves

Creating crises to justify
funding.

Blaming the learner

Assuming all teachers are fully
trained/registered, are of the
same competency.

School leadership is too slow in
recognising that the school
needs to improve.

Teacher education is not in
tune with school’s/student
needs, but rather reactive to
too much of yesterday’s
schools, rather than future
schools.
We need to shape the future of
our school, by looking at
learning and of growing the
information gained into higher
level learning opportunities.
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A PATHWAY
TO BETTER LEARNING

Let me introduce to you a metaphor to exemplify what our current focus on learning appears
to be about.
eg. HAMBURGER

Where the key to the burger is the beef, but that is often lost between the buns.

The buns represent the testing/achievement/standards, before we can get at the beef!

Imagine, as a Healthy School approach, we accessed the “BEEF” first – THEN

We could really focus on what needs to be taught; how we should teach; what are the needs of
our students; and how do we know we are effective at teaching? (There are other related
questions as well!).

In other words, the BEEF is the LEARNING and how we go about better learning.

Too often in a high testing/standards/assessment environment, we set off on a journey as
teachers without knowing where we’re going, let alone know when we’ve got there.

So I say “Put away your burger buns and start unpacking and following your teacher
passions”.
Risk taking applying initiative; Teach to Learn; Incorporate Fun; Discover
and Apply; Learn as a Teacher; Be a Thinker a questioner; Establish
learning relations eg. blog; Celebrate your successes; Say you are good –
Believe it – Bathe in it when others tell you; Laugh with others; Be
motivated; Create experiences for learning.
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AND
SO…
Consolidating the momentum of building quality at MWPS for 2015, will
focus on:





Inquiring Teachers growing Inquiring Learners.
Using formative assessment to provide feedback to students that will move learning
forward and which will:
Activate students as learners and as a resource for others (Collaborative
Rubrics/Projects Learning/Use of Visualisers!).
Teacher and Teaching Conversations around better learning outcomes and knowledge
of student learning needs.
Building QUALITY professional practice among each and every one of us.
Leadership – Teaching – Non-Teaching – Administration





Being Learning focussed and student centred.
Collaborative and shared professional practice – being inspired; critical feedback; self
motivation.
Challenging each other with critical feed forward, whilst being receptive of student
challenge within learning contexts as well.
Building learning partnerships with our classroom stakeholders (Parents/Students).
Celebrating success and looking for ways to sustain this.
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CONCLUSION
2015 is a great opportunity to consolidate the platform for our future
pathways to greater learning and teaching development.
Exciting property developments lie in store (albeit with some
disruptive impact on our school organisation and programmes).
We have great staff very entrenched in making teamwork and
associated benefits a reality of the MWPS culture.
Furthermore as staff, there is a very focussed professional mind set to
what we do and what we want to achieve.
It is this platform that we take into 2015, that I’m so pleased to say is
the basis to a quality year ahead, with huge potential for everyone of
us to grow, even though our focus is on:
“Consolidation” of the “good and the better” of the past.
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Have a great year everyone.
Dave Wallis
PRINCIPAL
PROPOSALS FOR WHOLISTIC
TEACHER DEVELOPMENT
2015 PROFESSIONAL
OPTION NO.1
DEVELOPMENT
Where Thinking and Learning Meet – It’s Bigger than
Inquiry
- Lane Clark
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2015 PROFESSIONAL
OPTION NO.2
Processes for Learning
DEVELOPMENT
OPTION NO.1

If we are going to see an increase in student levels of engagement and levels of high school retention, an
improvement in student standards, and see learners skilled and ready to contribute to their world, then
we have to re-think what we are doing, and how we are doing what we are doing, in our schools. We’ve
got to make intellectual rigour, depth of knowledge and understanding, as well as authentic, relevant and
purposeful curriculum our priorities. We’ve got to change the way learning opportunities are planned,
designed, implemented, assessed and evaluated.
HUMAN COGNITIVE ARCHITECTURE AND COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY

How can we use the latest research on the relationship between working memory and long term memory
to inform our instructional design and practice?

About Thinking – Is it time to retire Bloom’s theory of a hierarchical taxonomy of thinking? What does it
mean to think? How can learners take control of their thinking? How is depth and breadth of thinking
developed?

About Real Learning - What does ‘real learning’ look like? What is the relationship between ‘real
learning’ and ‘in-school learning”? How and where does ‘inquiry’ fit into the ‘real learning’ process?

Moving Forward – How does curriculum and instructional design need to change to prepare learners for
their future not our past?
EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
What is the relationship between working memory and long term memory?

What does it mean to think?

What are thinking skills?

What are thinking tools?

What is the relationship between thinking skills and thinking tools?
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OPTION NO.1
EXPLORE THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
What is the relationship between working memory and long term memory?

Is thinking hierarchical?

Can thinking be organised into lower and higher levels?

What does it mean to learn?

Is there a difference knowing and learning?

How can we integrate subjects without losing the integrity of the discipline?

Is there a difference between theme and authentic integration?

How can I teach my learners HOW to think?

How can I teach my learners HOW to learn?

How can I differentiate instruction and assessment?

How can I infuse information communication technology seamlessly into my programme?

How can I promote independence and self regulation while maintaining rigor and depth of thinking?

How can I teach in a brain compatible way?

How can I prepare learners for their future and not my past?
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OPTION NO.2
PROCESSES FOR LEARNING

All subject learning, requires the attainment of knowledge, skills and processes.

Unfortunately, in most curriculum documents, it is only the knowledge and skills that are explicitly
identified. The omission of ‘process outcomes’ has significant implications on the thinking and learning
outcomes achieved by our learners.

Successful learning requires the knowledge of; and the ability to, progress through a wide variety of
processes.

Effective problem solving can be promoted through the use of a problem solving process; quality writing
can be enhanced through the use of a publishing process; the ability to engage in effective, valid
investigation can be improved with the use of an investigatory process; and the use of a technology
process can advance the capacity to produce innovative products.

Processes provide learners with a picture of the ‘whole’ while enabling them to focus their attention on the
‘parts’.

Confusion and incomplete thinking is avoided; quality is promoted; self-direction, responsibility,
accountability and autonomy are explicitly facilitated.

What if learners were empowered with processes for learning?
Objectives

Explore a diversity of processes for learning along with student exemplars that demonstrates their use.

Explore the learning jobs associated with each specific learning process for learning in both subject specific
and cross curricular ways.

Develop your knowledge and understanding of the relationships that exist between a process for learning
associated criteria and associated planners.

Explore processes, associated criteria and planners that have been developed at a diversity of
developmental levels.

Learn how to manipulate processes, and associated criteria and planners to meet the specific needs of
your learners.
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OPTION NO.2
PROCESSES FOR LEARNING
Objectives

Explore the relationship between how the brain locks learning into long term memory and the use of
processes for learning.

Gain practical knowledge and understanding of processes for earning as you use them yourself.
If you are going to see an increase in student levels of engagement and levels of high school retention, an
improvement in student standards and see learners skilled and ready to contribute to their world, then we
have to re-think what we are doing, and how we are doing what we are doing, in our school. We’ve got to
make intellectual rigour, depth of knowledge and understanding, as well as authentic, relevant and
purposeful curriculum our priorities. We’ve got to change the way learning opportunities are planned,
designed, implemented, assessed and evaluated.
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BE
BE
BE
BE
BE
BE
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PROUD. BE HAPPY. BE EXCITED.
CONFIDENT. BE DARING. BE AMAZING.
THE FIRST. BE THE ONE.
THE CHANGE. BE AUTHENTIC.
CREATIVE. BE YOURSELF. BE WILLING.
DEDICATED. BE INSPIRED. HAVE FUN!
FOOTNOTE.
On the last day of our school year 2014, I spoke of how we had really
arrived at a new destination of success, formally acknowledged by a
resounding ERO Audit Report which placed us on a 4/5 Rating and
among the leading schools in NZ. I referenced us to being on top of
the world, the air is sweet, clean and fresh. Where it makes you feel
good, different and invigorated.
It will take a bit of getting used to but it will feel good because it
would have been well earned through hard work, determination,
commitment and teamwork in supporting our key strategic goals.
I sense no one is about to get off the bus at this point, and so it remains
to continue our journey, to enjoy the ride and the many more
successes I confidently predict we are likely to experience along the
way.
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2015 is a year of consolidation to be built on the foundations of the
success we have derived from a very focussed student learning
achievements.
Consolidation, to be effective, must be built on the qualities which
have given instrumental cause to be successful eg. professionalism;
collaboration; role modelling and sharing teaching practice; teaching
through inquiry approach; risk-taking; reflection and evaluation;
formative practice; flexibility to change; always being well planned
and prepared; Teacher Aide support. We all operate from the same
page; collaborative and distributive leadership and of course “good old
hard work”.
This is not to say, there will be nothing new to develop, discuss or
integrate into our 2015 practice – rather it is a time to really BUILD
LEARNING POWER among our students and QUALITY into our
professional practice.
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I encourage each one of us to identify a new Teaching Goal supported
by ‘Developmental Objectives’ around a personal teaching approach
which you believe will add ‘zip’ and ‘zing’ into your teacher/teaching
development and thereby effect positively on students experiencing
‘fun learning’, and to be able to feel ‘learning is fun’ at Manurewa
West Primary School, where we have the BEST teachers, staff (and
Principal!).
Later in the year, I propose sharing your thoughts and developmental
journey on how progress against your ‘teaching goal/developmental
objectives has been activated.
So, in this year of Consolidation we will still be working harder than
ever, in amidst likely disruptive causes of a temporary nature eg.
property project works, but be planned, be positive, be progressive, and
be professional.
I’m positive the outcomes of 2015 will be more of:
• The success
• The sweet smelling around of being a ‘top school’
• The pride which makes us a great school
• The arrival at new destinations of professional practice and skill
development.
• A great amount of team work.
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Have a great year ALL.
Dave Wallis
PRINCIPAL