EdRising: How Might We Turn a Moment Into a Movement?

 

How Might We Turn a Moment Into a Movement?

This is the challenge Derek Wenmoth set us as he welcomed us to the 2 day EdRising Convening held over the last 2 days at Albany Senior High School.

100 education sector representatives including teachers, leaders, professional development providers, and system leaders gathered to listen to both global and Aotearoa thought leaders address a range of provocations across 5 major themes - including a panel of current primary and secondary ākonga.

Littered throughout the 2 days were several opportunities to process and respond to what was being shared with us as we set about trying to shape a future focused education system for Aotearoa.

Equity and Agency

Rhonda Broussard really set the scene for me when she highlighted the connection between Equity and Agency. She shared her position that addressing Equity is a mammoth challenge and can easily overwhelm us, but that if we focus on the more manageable, but still complex, issue of Agency we begin to break down the inequities.

She invited us to ponder the question, “who has the right to access inquiry/agency?” It made me wonder that are we more inclined to provide true agentic, inquiry-based learning to one set of students and not to others. While I was principal at Hobsonville Point Secondary School I was often told that what we were doing was all good for students from our socio-economic cohort but would not work in schools of lower socio-economic status. I absolutely despair of that view. We need to have Rhonda’s question out from under the shadows.

She also stated that we must be able to answer “why are we learning this?” whenever it is asked.

Purpose and Meaning - Our Why

Tony MacKay prompted us to be clear about our purpose, align our values and beliefs to that purpose and to align our practices to that purpose.

Martin Westwell reminded us that our first choice is to be purpose-driven, and George Philhower emphasised that simply changing practice does not bring about transformation - it’s our values and beliefs that drive transformation.

Maxine Graham reinforced that our values are within us and that we must reflect these at all times.

Tony Monfiletto emphasised that the number one priority in relation to education for young people is to experience learning with meaning and purpose.

Te Riina Leonard left us with an inspiring, possible vision for our work - Nurture the children, leaders of tomorrow.

Outdated Model

Jeff Wetzler stated the tragic fact that most students are learning in an outdated model of schooling and Bill Lucas talked about our system and schools not being fit for purpose.

A Way Forward?

One of my table participants reminded us that 95% of Maori learners are in mainstream schools and generally not experiencing success, while the other 5% within Kura Maori are experiencing high levels of success, suggesting the answers for addressing inequity already exist here in Aotearoa.

Hana O’Regan challenged us to acknowledge the coloniality of power, of knowledge and of being so we could acknowledge our inequitable history, and acknowledge that our tamariki have been exposed to a lifetime of biases, prejudice and racism before we accept what we are going to leave behind so that we can move forward.

Barbara Ala’atoa implored us to acknowledge that curriculum is the most powerful weapon that we have and that by maximising that power we can do the right things for our ākonga despite external pressures and mandates. And Bill Lucas challenged us to join the “unstoppable practitioners out there exerting influence.”

Sandra Milligan revealed that in all her work and research that the real impetus for transformation comes from within schools, which reminded us to believe in the power that we have. Her call to provide “dignity of equal status” to both academic and knowledge learning and to dispositional growth resonated with the participants.

The panel of ākonga from Stonefields School, Albany Senior High School and Hobsonville Point Primary blew us away with their simple formula for what made learning engaging and meaningful for them:  teachers who cared for them, teachers and students collaborating, teachers engaging with my learning.

Redefining Success

Sarah Martin shared her school’s mission to measure what they truly value driven by the principle that assessment must Do No Harm. She shared the awesome tool of SchoolTalk and how that was being used to make sure that the way we measure ākonga does not limit our redefining of success.

One of the participants at my table felt liberated by what she heard as she reflected on the fact that we have never been brave enough to truly define success. After Sarah’s presentation (complementing that of Sandra Milligan) we could see it was now possible.

Moment to Movement

Now the hard work really begins as we process the feedback from the participants and look for ways to drive momentum as we move to establish a movement to transform our schooling system.

There’ll be plenty of opportunities to join in and contribute to the movement. In the meantime check out our EdRising webpage and watch this space.