We are half way through 2019…. soon to be 2020 before we know it! The world is constantly evolving. Therefore with it, education needs to evolve too. Current educational practices are not sufficient enough to address and support the learning needs for our youth of today. It is widely known that the number of students with learning disabilities is increasing. All students also learn differently. If the education system does not progress, we will continue to be teaching our youth information that is of no use to them in this evolving world. Can you really believe that with an outdated education system you are still meeting the learning needs of our youth? Our youth who will be the future of our world?

Over the past century, there has been economic, social, political and technological changes in the world. With the world evolving, there are far more jobs out there now then there ever was. Therefore, there is more knowledge that needs to be gained. Students these days are learning everything about their future jobs in their university degrees. Learning all this knowledge in a short amount puts numerous stress on the individual and causes them to crash and burn, making the experience unenjoyable. If more critical knowledge was spread down into senior years of the college curriculum, it would make the transition from school to university far easier, and reduce the stress put on the individual.

It has been proven that successful learning takes place when students are given the opportunity to be actively involved. Individuals do not learn well as spectators. The more individuals learn, the more they are capable of gaining more knowledge. In order to support and build an education system that prepares our youth for the future, awareness needs to be brought to the public’s attention in regards to the knowledge gap of our youth. The public needs to be aware of the gap and the kind of learning that students need. Without public support for teachers and students, the rebuild of the education system will not be successful.

Schools need to unbundled. The structures of current schools need to be reassembled and rebuilt to create an innovative future in learning. Learning needs to be more personalised and student centered. Education needs to be built around the learner and what their learning needs are. This results in resources for learning needing to be more flexible to cater to the learner’s needs. It also provides an opportunity to develop new and more advanced resources that could better suit the needs of the individual learners. This is just the beginning of the new revolution of education. The starting point needs to be with identifying our student’s learning needs and deciphering what is going to best help them to build their future. All we need is support and a little faith and courage to start something new.

Over the decades, New Zealand has become increasingly diverse. Pasifika is the term given to those of Pacific Island heritage who are living in New Zealand. Pasifika is the term used by education institutions due to the translation of Pacific being Pasifika in many languages. Pasifika is a multi ethnic group who is made up of more than six different cultural groups of the South Pacific. The largest cultural Pasifika group is Samoan with the next largest being Cook Island Maori. In terms of total numbers, just over 230,00 people identified as Pasifika in 2001 (Statistics New Zealand, 2001). These numbers are only increasing.

Due to the increase of diversity within New Zealand, education is further pushing for a more increased culturally responsive environment. A culturally responsive teacher is someone who respects and acknowledges all cultures within their classroom. They make the effort to make their learning relative to their everyday lives.

In New Zealand education, there is a seen to be both positive and negative results for their students. Unfortunately, there is a high number of Maori and Pasifika students who feature in the poor results group. According to Samu (2006), due to the high disparity in results, quality teaching in New Zealand appears to be ineffective. Further research suggests that it is not due to the decile of the school, however it is due to the differences within our schools in the effectiveness of their teaching. This not judge whether the teaching is good or bad by the educator. The type of teaching or style of teaching may not be suited for the type of learner and their learning style. Therefore, it is important as an upcoming teacher that I am aware that not all students respond to learning in the same way. Each child learns differently and has their own learning style. It Is important to be able to identify how your learners learn from the beginning of the school year. By being able to identify this from early on, you will be able to adapt your lessons to ensure you are meeting the needs of your learners. Unfortunately, this tends to effect negatively particular students of a specific cultural and ethnic background. However, if we are able to identify how they learn and absorb knowledge, we would be able to reach the needs of these learners and help bridge the learning gap between students of different ethnicities.

Therefore, the future goal moving forward would be to continue to be culturally responsive teachers, but to also work on ensuring that our teaching is of good quality. By good quality teaching I refer to a teacher being able to identify the learning needs of their learners. This is an important aspect of delivering good quality teaching, and would improve our education system immensely.

Samu, T. W. (2006). The’Pasifika Umbrella’and quality teaching: Understanding and responding to the diverse realities within. Waikato Journal of Education, 12. Retrieved from https://wje.org.nz/index.php/WJE/article/view/229/220

A transgender individual is someone who has a gender identity or gender expression that differs from their assigned sex they were born with. Some choose to change to the opposite sex of that they were born with. You may ask how they fit into competitive sport once they have started or completed the change? That is the question everyone is asking.

The biggest argument is that women with differences of sexual development and transgender should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Individuals with differences of sexual development include women who are born with genetic conditions. These conditions may give them an athletic advantage more commonly official to males.

The reason for this argument is that they claim their testosterone levels and different muscle-to-fat ratios will give them an unfair advantage over their competitors. However, excluding them from competition is also a human rights violation. So, what happens in this situation? What makes a fair competition?

There is a discussion about whether transgender women do have a physical advantage or not. Are they physically stronger and more athletic? If they did have an advantage then what category would they compete in? Would it be fitting to create them their own category? But would that be discrimination against them? However, how does this compare to other athletes who are born with physical advantages such as a competitive swimmer with long arms and flexible feet? Does that qualify as a level playing field?

The transgender community is constantly growing and is a target for discrimination. Therefore, a decision needs to be made as to what competitive category they are going to allow transgender and individuals with sexual differences to compete in. Society continues to make progress and acceptance of transgender individuals. This acceptance needs to be transferred into the competitive sporting world. All individuals should be treated equally regardless of their biological sex or the sex they wish to be. All individuals have a human right to be included and this also qualifies as competitive sport. So where do we go from here? How do we make it so it is fair competition and no one is discriminated against? This is something that largely needs to be looked into further.

The major challenges that we face in New Zealand education is the continuing social, economic and political differences within our nation mainly between European and Maori people. These great differences are also reflected within the New Zealand education system. The academic achievement levels of Maori students is low, their rate of suspension from school is three times higher and they are over represented in special education programmes for behavioural issues. What is happening in New Zealand education for these results to arise? Why is it particularly Maori students?

In the New Zealand curriculum, one of the main principles is the curriculum acknowledging the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the bicultural foundations of Aotearoa New Zealand. The aim of this is to allow all students to have the opportunity to acquire knowledge of te reo Maori. By incorporating this into our teaching practice, it gives Maori students something to relate to. It shows the students that their culture is valued. Incorporating the culture of Maori into our teaching also makes the learning relevant to Maori students and their life. It enhances their spiritual wellbeing and gives them a sense of belonging in the classroom. However, with these low results and differences within education, is this being implemented appropriately? Is this being implemented at all? Could more be done to welcome our Maori culture in the class room? Are there not enough options for our Maori students to excel?

From my own experience, dance education is an exceptional area for students to excel. It provides students with a more creative learning environment and I have found that students who struggle in more traditional subjects will often excel in dance education. It is proven that Maori and Pacific Island students (another culture that has a lower pass rate) have a much higher successful pass rate in dance education than in other more traditional subjects. I have also found from experience that a lot of troubled students stay in school for dance. It gives them a sense of purpose and achievement. Why can’t we provide more opportunities like this for our students to excel? What else can be done to give these students a sense of purpose and feel like they belong? The focus on Maori learners and their education needs to be intensified to develop them into lifelong learners. They deserve to be given the same opportunities to learn and excel within their education and future life. Let’s help our Maori youth feel like they belong within our society and education system.

In Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the oppressed, the banking education theory is discussed. Banking education is a term used by Paulo Freire to explain and critique the traditional education system. It is described as a method of teaching and learning where students store the information relayed to them by the teacher. There is a metaphor that describes the banking education concept as students are containers which teachers must put knowledge into. According to Paulo Freire, this form of education gives the impression that the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing. He also says that the teacher is the subject of the lesson and the students are just objects. This form of education does not cater to the student’s needs and takes away any opportunity for creativity from the students.

The New Zealand Curriculum states that the purpose of the curriculum is to develop students into lifelong learners and to realise their individual potential. In order to achieve this purpose, the learning of students needs to be focused and adjusted to their needs. The New Zealand Curriculum has many strong values enforced within the curriculum that need to be followed by teachers to assist in the students reaching their full potential. These values are excellence, innovation, inquiry, diversity, equity, community and participation, ecological sustainability, integrity and respect. In order to teach through these values, a teacher must disregard the banking education method and realise that students have knowledge to share with you and are more than just objects. Students need to be respected and will give you respect if you treat them as such. Within learning, teachers need to provide opportunities for students to be curious and inquire. This will give students creative power and stimulate their learning as you are giving them involvement in their own learning. This type of power that is being given to the students will result in more motivation for the students to learn. The world is transforming and we must as teachers transform the way we teach to meet the current needs of our students. In order to mold our youth of today into lifelong learners, we must allow them to be actively involved in their education and be able to discover knowledge for themselves. Let’s limit the time where students are to simply store information that is relayed to them by their teacher. Let our youth be creative and let’s guide them to discover knowledge for themselves in a safe and accepting learning environment. Give the power of their learning to the students.

Social justice is an umbrella term and is based on the concepts of human rights and equality (Grant, 2007). There are four basic social justice principles when it comes to working with individuals:

• Access – greater equality of access to goods and services
• Equity – overcoming unfairness caused by unequal access to economic resources and power
• Rights – equal effective legal, industrial and political rights
• Participation – expanded opportunities for real participation in the decisions which govern their lives.

Many schools within New Zealand education are becoming increasingly diverse. Therefore, it is important to ensure our teachers meet the challenges of teaching in diverse schools and show the values of social justice within their practice. This requires them to become effective teachers who develop awareness around the rights and needs of every student (Apple, 2009).  It is also important that our schools within our education system in New Zealand display equity and effective learning for all students no matter how diverse their school roll may be. All students must be included and their cultures respected throughout their learning experience. It is especially important for us as New Zealanders to incorporate biculturalism and Treaty of Waitangi into teaching to reflect the cultural diversity of New Zealand (Lourie, 2015).   

In the past, and I am sure this is still an issue in some schools, there has been some differential treatment in New Zealand in minority education. Differential treatment refers to unequal opportunities for participation in schools (Lynch & Baker, 2015). This is a school issue due to the special responsibility of educators and those above them who shape the special character and context of the school. This differential treatment is harmful to the wellbeing of the individuals and inhibits their ability to feel as though they belong within their school and the education system.

One of The New Zealand Curriculum principles is inclusion. This principle states that “The curriculum is non-sexist, non-racist, and non-discriminatory” (Ministry of Education 2007). This principle is focused on addressing the needs and learning of the students. I believe all individuals have the right to equal education and learning opportunities no matter where they came from. These equal opportunities include but are not limited to sport, cultural, religious, and academic education.  This needs to be reflected by the teachers of New Zealand to deliver safe and fair education to all students within New Zealand. Teachers also need to be very away of the hidden curriculum and how that may negatively affect the learning of their students. Therefore, all teachers need to keep a neutral view and respect the rights of all individuals no matter what their views and beliefs may be.

The New Zealand Curriculum underlines various important values such as diversity, equity and respect (Ministry of Education, 2007). This is reflected through my own teaching by providing equal opportunities for all my students. In my opinion, all human beings are equal and no race or gender should be seen as superior. All of my students treated with respect, compassion and kindness no matter their individual background. It is important that more teachers of today need to evolve to accommodate to the increasingly diverse environment that we now live in. This is going to create a safer and more effective education system within New Zealand. In addition, this is going to assist our New Zealand youth in becoming successful life long learners.

References:

Apple, M. W. (2009). Global crises, social justice, and education. In Global crises, social justice, and education (pp. 9-32). Routledge. Retrieved http://www.tesl-ej.org/wordpress/issues/volume14/ej53/ej53r7/

Grant, E, (2007). Dignity and Equality. Human Rights Law Review, 7(2), 299-329. Retrieved https://academic.oup.com/hrlr/article/7/2/299/598664

Lourie, M. (2015). Biculturalism in Education: Haere Whakamua, Hoki Whakamuri/Going Forward, Thinking Back. New Zealand Journal of Teachers’ Work, 12(2). Retrieved https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/teachers-work/index.php/teacherswork/article/view/180/299

Lynch, K., & Baker, J. (2005). Equality in education: An equality of condition perspective. School Field, 3(2), 131-164. https://researchrepository.ucd.ie/bitstream/10197/2035/1/Lynch%20and%20Baker%20%282005%29%20Equality%20in%20Education%20%28pre-print%29.pdf

Ministry of Education. (2007). The New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.