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Sunday, October 6, 2019

MindLab- Introducing the new Digital Technologies -Hangarau Matihiko areas of the Technology Curriculum to my Team


Reflective Entry 1- Introducing the new Digital Technologies -Hangarau Matihiko areas of the Technology Curriculum to my Team 
According to the Curriculum Online website by the Ministry of Education, teachers need to start integrating the Digital Technologies areas of the Technology curriculum into their practice this year. As a team leader, I would like to see my team become familiar with it and implement it, so that our students can start or continue forging their digital path.
After revising the New Zealand Curriculum, the Ministry of Education modified the Technology curriculum by adding two technological areas: 1. Computational Thinking for Digital Technologies and 2. Designing and Developing Digital Outcomes. For both English and Maori mediums. “The goal of this change is to ensure that all learners have the opportunity to become digitally capable individuals. This change signals the need for greater focus on our students building their skills so they can be innovative creators of digital solutions, moving beyond solely being users and consumers of digital technologies.” (The New Zealand Curriculum Online).
The Ministry of Education- Connected Learning Advisory in their publication titled  ‘Preparing for Digital Technologies & Hangarau Matihiko in the Technologies learning area’ makes an important distinction between Digital Fluency and Digital Technologies. According to this publication, Digital Fluency is the ability to learn with devices, to work with devices and the ability to select the appropriate device for a given task. In contrast, Digital technologies is learning about how computers work. Understanding this difference is what separates passive users of digital technologies and creators of new software and even hardware.
This distinction can be directly linked to the two new areas of the curriculum and highlights the importance of their balanced coverage with an emphasis on computational thinking. The two new technological areas of the Technology curriculum: Computational Thinking for Digital Technologies and Designing and Developing Digital Outcomes have Progress Outcomes, in contrast,  the rest of the areas in this curriculum have Learning Outcomes. This indicates that the knowledge and skills to develop expertise in computational thinking and digital technologies, that children need to gain throughout Years 0 to 13, is incrementally linear. 
With the inclusion of these two technological areas, students will be able to define problems, use computational thinking to find solutions and translate these into digital algorithms for computers to help solving such problems in a more efficient and more accurate manner. This way students will have the opportunity to become digital creators rather than just passive consumers. They will also gain skills to locate, analyse, evaluate and present their own digital creations  in an ethical manner.

With the widespread use of digital devices and the internet, as teachers we will need to provide students with the skills and knowledge to keep themselves safe and to behave appropriately when they are online. Netsafe has made a submission to the Ministry of Education to strengthen Digital Technologies -Hangarau Matihiko in the curriculum by enabling New Zealand internet users have a positive experience and free of online harm. Netsafe had received grants from the Ministry of Education to ensure the Maori medium had a safe digital experience. 
Netsafe supports the two new areas and the technology curriculum. It agrees that students need to become digitally fluent and more importantly become digital creators.
   
The Ministry of Education has put in place a Nationwide Digital Readiness Programme that teachers and school leaders can use to guide their introduction of the digital area of the curriculum. This programme uses the legend of ‘Mahuika the Maker of Fire’ as background context. It has online courses for leaders which are already running, and resources for teachers to use according to the level they are teaching.
All this information and resources will support me in the introduction and the implementation of Digital Technology - Hangarao Matihiko together with my team.
Reference

  • Neil Melhuish -Director of Policy, Pauline Spence -Education Adviser, Angela Webster -Education Adviser NETSAFE. September 2017. Strengthening Digital Technologies Hangarau Matihiko in the curriculum: SUBMISSION TO THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION.

  • Ministry of Education (2017). Digital Technologies Hangarau Matihiko: Draft for Consultation.



Reflective Entry 2- The Digital Technologies -Hangarau Matihiko Supporting the Workforce of the Future
The introduction of the new Digital Technologies -Hangarau Matihiko to New Zealand schools and Kura this year is meant to happen at a national level and students  from Year 1 to Year 13 will be targeted. Different schools are at different stages of the introduction of this initiative. It will be introduced by all school classroom teachers or specialists in the English and Maori medium. The English and Maori digital curriculum versions  are not translations from each other (Kellow, 2018).
The targeted audience for this initiative is New Zealand schools, more specifically school management, classroom teachers and/or specialists and students who will eventually enter the local or global workforce.

I am a classroom teacher and a team leader. This year a digital initiative that I will introduce to the Year 5 team and my students is the new Digital Technologies -Hangarau Matihiko. My targeted audience will be the Year 5 team teachers and my students. The stake-holders will be the school management team, the parents, the Year 5 team and the students.
The following is relevant to parents and students: According to ‘Digital Technologies and the New Zealand Curriculum- Your guide to finding support and getting ready’ this process started in 2017 with public consultation and the release of the new content of the digital curriculum. In 2018, implementation started, made it officially at NCEA Levels 1 and 2. Later in 2019, NCEA Level 2 and 3 were the focus where students can have access to more specialised content, and now in 2020 all schools and kura are expected to teach the content of the new digital technologies.
This is relevant to the children and the parents because it means that our students can start building up the steps towards high school and then tertiary studies.
The Digital Curriculum strands have progress outcomes instead of learning outcomes, which will enable our students and students around New Zealand to build knowledge and skills in a step-like system and continue to progress through the NCEA Levels 1 to 3. This way students can gain skills and capabilities to further study Digital Technology related courses at tertiary level and satisfy the national and global demand for skilled workers in this area (Ministry of Education- education.govt.nz  2018).
The learning progressions are not fixed to the year level, so students can advance according to their capabilities which can be positive and negative at the same time. Besides, since Digital Technology will be integrated with other subjects, these may be affected by the students’ digital skills and confidence in different ways.
According to Kellow (2018) the use of digital devices and digital knowledge and skills will enhance learning by using them in authentic tasks and when they support other learning areas of the curriculum.

For us teachers, it is important that we are aware of the transformation that the Technology curriculum has gone through, that the public was invited to a process of consultation for this modification and that later the Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko, the National Digital Readiness Programme was made available for teachers which can be still accessible. This programme is an online portal with information, resources and meet ups for the digital leaders of the school and teachers.
The Ministry of Education has, admittedly, put out a range of resources for teachers in the shape of guides, reports, exemplars and websites such as ‘Nationwide Digital Readiness Programme – Kia Takatū ā-Matahiko’ to help teachers become ready for the launching of this new initiative. In my team’s case, the teachers are aware that 2020 is the deadline for the introduction of the Digital Technologies curriculum and they may have superficially explored and investigated the Digital Technology strands. 
Schools are renowned for adding initiatives without necessarily weeding out unnecessary content or practices, and that is when initiatives become tokens that are scheduled once or twice a week instead of being integrated into the other curriculum learning areas.
A good starting point for a teacher who wants to become familiar with the Digital Curriculum, have access to information for teachers and most important of all: resources, is http://technology.tki.org.nz/Technology-in-the-NZC . This web page has to a great amount of lessons for the different levels and areas of the curriculum. Another source of tips on how to go about implementing the Digital Curriculum and a blog entry by Davis Parsons https://themindlab.com/2019/03/10/digital-technologies-in-the-nz-curriculum-top-10-tips/ .
David Parsons’ blog suggests a very valid point in Digital Technologies which is: “You don’t have to know everything!”. Sometimes providing children with the opportunity with software and gadgets would be enough because most of the time they will take the teacher to unexplored grounds.

Reference





Reflective Entry 3-  Demonstrate a critical understanding of how indigenous knowledge (IK) and cultural responsiveness (CR) inform practice
As a teacher and a team leader I cannot ignore the fact that my teaching does not happen in a vacuum. It happens in New Zealand and this country happens to be bicultural. Maori people are the people of the land and are indigenous to Aotearoa. They happened to be colonised by Great Britain in the 1700’s and later in 1840 Maori and representatives of the Crown signed a controversial treaty: The Treaty of Waitangi.
With the arrival of the Pakeha people, the colonisation process started. Maori people were forced to give up their land, sovereignty of natural resources and the right to speak their language. For decades the indigenous people of New Zealand have been expected to function in a society shaped by the colonisers. Perform in schools where the curriculum, policies, initiatives, research were predominantly Pakeha. Resulting this in Maori students failing schooling in large numbers.
In the 90’s Kaupapa Maori research was born. It is research by Maori, for Maori and with Maori (Tihuwai Smith 1996). It was in response to what Tihuwai Smith describes as oppressive relationship with Pakeha and she mentions Paulo Freire whose approach to education was emancipatory through the process of ‘humanising the oppressor’. A term Freire made popular was ‘conscientizacao’ and that I think it is more appropriate because it is the process through which the oppressed becomes aware ‘of her own social context, political context, economic context, gender, social class, sexuality, and race and how these play an important role in the shaping of her reality.’ (EIP). Such knowledge empowers the learner to question the status quo and for Maori students, it makes them realise that they are not failing the system, but the system is failing them.
John Dewey was an influence on Paulo Freire and they both believe that the classroom needs to an environment of democracy, ‘both Dewey and Freire were critical of teachers whose dispositions were undemocratic, who transmitted information from the expert to the student, and who lacked curiosity and confidence to continue learning from their students.’ (EIP). This last quote tells me as a teacher that every student is not an empty vessel and that my role is not to be the fountain of all knowledge which agrees with the 21st Century pedagogy and students being more involved in inquiry learning. Freire also held the belief that human beings’ future should not be predetermined by their past history. This tells me that every student has the right to a clean slate, particularly when moving to another class and that siblings are different from each other. As a teacher I have to be careful of my assumptions and preconceived ideas I have, based on the background knowledge I have about indigenous students in my class.
According to Keane et al, (2016) indigenous knowledge and research happens to have a part imprinted by the researcher. The narratives, the stories, the behaviours, the understandings are all ‘contaminated’ by the researchers own narratives, stories behaviours and undertandings. Freire’s reaction to this was: ‘the more you put gloves on our hands in order to avoid contamination with reality, the better a scientist you are’ (Shor & Freire 1987, 13). Here in  New Zealand, Kaupapa addresses that problem: the research is done by Maori, for Maori, with Maori.
Tuhiwai Smith, Linda (1996) agrees with the fact the contamination happens in research, and she goes as far as to say that for example Kura Kaupapa Maori has been defined as ‘bilingual education’ or ‘second language education’ which does not invoke a whole range of meanings that simply don’t apply to advocated to Kaupapa Maori. I think translations from one language to another will never be exactly the same as what the initial language meant. This is particularly relevant to Maori language which has words that have many different meanings and some of these meanings are brimming with  cultural and spiritual meanings.  
As a teacher, again, I need to stand back and be mindful of my cultural biases and my expectations of what Maori students should be like and utilise the Kaupapa Maori principles to inform my practice. In addition to that keep an eye out for more Maori research done by Maori, for Maori and by Maori.

References


  • Keane, Moyra; Khupe, Constance and Muza, Blessings (2016).  IT MATTERS WHO YOU ARE: INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE RESEARCH AND RESEARCHERS. Education as Change Volume 20 | Number 2 | 2016 | pp. 163–183 http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/eac/v20n2/02.pdf

Reflective Entry 4- State the research question and explain how the question has been developed and how they relate to a Kaupapa Maori approach to knowledge gathering and community priorities.
To develop my research question I used five steps described in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oJNO6PYZe4 which also included a worksheet with the five steps in the format of questions to follow the process. The steps are the following:
1.    Pick a topic.- What broad topic are you interested in?
2.    Narrow the topic.- What specific part of the topic are you interested in?
3.    Ask some questions.- List a few possible questions about your specific area of interest.
4.    Pick a question.- Choose one of your main research questions (How/Why).
5.    Focus the question.- Make your question as clear and specific as you can (Who? What? Where? When?).
We know a question is a good question when:
  • It focuses on one issue only.
  • It requires analysis (How and Why).
  • It is specific and focused.
  • It does not use vague words.
So when I applied this process to come up with a research question I had:
1.    The introduction of the new Digital Curriculum to my school.
2.    Our existing IT plan and the new Digital Curriculum.
3.    How does our school IT plan reflect the use of the new Digital Curriculum? Is our IT plan a balanced of the two strands of the Digital curriculum?
4.    How does the use of the new Digital Curriculum contribute to a balanced school IT plan?
5.     How does my use of the new Digital Curriculum to analyse my school IT plan will ensure such a plan displays a balance of the two new strands?
I know it is a good question because it meets the requirements given above.
The video I used to guide me in this process, also said that research papers do not show the question, but that the question is used to guide the research. The question also helps develop the thesis which is the summary of the answer to my question. Like: The use of the new Digital Curriculum assists teachers in creating more balanced IT plans.

Kaupapa Maori Research is described as research by Maori, for Maori and with Maori. ‘The Maori way’. In Katoa Ltd. it is mentioned that Graham Smith describes Kaupapa Maori research as: 
  • Connected to Maori philosophy and principles,
  • Taking for granted the validity and legitimacy of Maori,
  • Taking for granted the importance of Maori language and culture, and
  • Concerned with the ‘struggle for autonomy over our own cultural well-being’.
Kaupapa Maori research is based on six principles:
1.    Tino Rangatiratanga- the self determination principle. This principle is embedded in the Treaty of Waitangi and it is about sovereignty and the personal right to manage one’s own future. My research question includes the new Digital Curriculum which has progression outcomes which enables students to control the progress of their digital learning all the way into NCEA Level 3. My research includes an analysis of how balanced the school IT plan is.
2.    Taonga tuku iho - the cultural aspirations principle. This principle is that to be Māori is normal and taken for granted. Te reo Māori (the Māori language), matauranga Māori (Maori knowledge), tikanga Māori (Māori custom) and ahuatanga Māori (Māori characteristics) are acknowledged and valued. ‘This principle acknowledges the strong emotional and spiritual factor in Kaupapa Māori’ (Katoa Ltd). I don’t think my research focuses on the elements mentioned in this paragraph. But the content of the lessons in the school IT plan can integrate Maori with Digital Technology. For example, the use of #1Miriona app for students to find out and develop a pepeha.
3.    Ako  - the culturally preferred pedagogy principle.  This principle is about pedagogy practices that are unique to tikanga Māori (custom) and suggests that Māori should be able to choose their own preferred pedagogies. In my research in the analysis of my school IT programme, a child centered approach can be included. Inquiry is a strong contender, because the teacher is a coach on the side and not a fountain of all knowledge at the front. That way the knowledge can be decolonised.
4.    Kia piki ake i nga raruraru o te kāinga - the socio-economic mediation principle. This is about the socio-economic disadvantages that Maori face and their well-being. IT usually faces the problem of access to devices and WIFI. My research happens in a school that has Chromebooks to share between two classes and WIFI is accessible to others. The problem arises when disadvantaged children go home and the access is not there.
5.    Whānau - the extended family structure principle. This is about whanau and whanaungatanga (family connectedness) which underpins the success of health, education, justice and prosperity. This principle can be fulfilled through the content of the IT plan that I would be analysing.
6.    Kaupapa - the collective philosophy principle. This principle links Māori aspirations to political, social, economic and cultural well-being. This means Māori health, a healthy Māori would have been healthy politically, culturally, socially and economically. I don’t think my research is addressing this principle.
I found this exercise very useful because it made me aware that my research and my school planning need to be more inclusive of pedagogy and methodology that is  conducive to the success of Maori children in my school.
 Reference
Katua Ltd. Kaupapa Maori Research. http://www.katoa.net.nz/kaupapa-maori

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