A Superb Example of Quality Teaching

We’ve heard plenty from the Minister of Education, and from her influencers such as Dr Michael Johnston and Professor Elizabeth Rata, about the need to return to a teacher dominated knowledge based curriculum. Rata in particular has been very vocal about what she has termed ‘the Learning Approach and the unholy alliance it has with decolonisation that has led to the decline in our once first-class education system.”

As we know she has a very 19th view of education, based, I suspect, on the traditional English secondary school model, still used by a number of significant and vocal schools in New Zealand such as Auckland Grammar. It may not be a coincidence that Auckland Grammar teachers were involved in the development of the senior English curriculum discussed in my previous article.

While Stanford, the New Zealand Initiative, and their overseas gurus are hammering away at recolonising the New Zealand schooling system, real teaching continues.

Recently a wonderful description of a senior secondary school learning experience was posted on X by allimsayingis  @hellomotorbike

Achieving such a wonderful learning experience requires superb mastery and commitment, both in in his classroom management skills, and especially the preparation of the learning experiences. This level of success doesn’t come from waving a magic wand or by standing in front of the class barking instructions. The gulf between this and the didactic teacher dominated ‘knowledge curriculum’ is light years wide. Establishing a classroom learning environment as he describes is not a matter of just setting expectations – it takes great skill in establishing routines and expectations, and in building  mutually respective personal relationships. 

This is totally lost on the New Zealand Initiative who believe that unqualified people are able to teach. In fact I will go further and say that one of the major issues in New Zealand schooling is that too many people behind the scenes have no teaching knowledge or experience, or that they do not seek input and advice from people who do have relevant teaching experience – that professional capture ideology again.

Stanford and the others keep pushing the need for a knowledge based curriculum, whatever that is, which implies that they think the current curriculum doesn’t have a knowledge component. I can tell you that this teacher in his planning had set expectations for what he wanted his students to learn and that he planned the learning activities accordingly. 

The big difference, I believe, is that the knowledge curriculum people believe in direct instruction of knowledge, as opposed to the approach used here, which provided a rich range of learning experiences to enable the students to build their own knowledge – this is a very well known and extensively researched pedagogy called ‘Constructionism’. 

This approach works on the belief that all learners (including you!) learn by forming connections between existing knowledge and new learnings, resulting in a ‘knowledge tree’.  You’ll know this very well – when you try to learn about something that is way outside of your existing knowledge it doesn’t make sense to you. 

A skilled teaching programme provides planned steps of learning experiences to enable this knowledge tree to develop with understanding – that is the crucial word. It is easily possible, as I’m sure you will know from your school days, to rote learn something that doesn’t make a great deal of sense to you, so that this can be regurgitated in an examination to prove you learned it.  The day after the examination most of it has been forgotten.

The second string to this approach is based on the fact that learning through experiencing something is vastly more effective than learning through hearing or seeing it.    Again this runs counter to Rata’s teacher dominated instructional learning philosophies.

Right, let’s read the learning description posted on X:

At the end of a significant two and a half terms of Year 13 Classics, learning about Roman culture, history, and influences on later cultures students had produced 2 substantial, approximately 4K word pieces. To celebrate and prepare ourselves for exam prep we organised a Roman feast 

The students read up on formats, recipes, and common and gourmet food from the classical period. They selected a wide range of recipes from Posca (Gatorade for Gladiators) through appetisers and mains to desserts. 

I brought my charcoal grill from home and we booked the school’s food tech room for lunch and last spell. We organised a delivery of ingredients, some paid for by me, some from school budget, and some from the students own pantries.

From there it was a whirlwind. Students with catering and food tech skills really took the lead and students challenged themselves to do things they hadn’t done before. One duo chose roast duck and prepared it to surviving recipe originally for flamingo. 

Another created Parthian Chicken, including spices that his Indian family use today. 

We had street food like marinated beef and date skewers cooked over charcoal and pickled pork belly strips. The smell of these cooking was divine. 

Two Filipino girls found a recipe that reminded them of a flan their mothers make so chose this. It was delicate and challenging to make but delicious. 

My contribution, a Pork and Apple stew, made with roast pork shoulder and meatballs, from @TastingHistory1‘s YouTube channel, was popular amongst legionaries on Hadrian’s Wall

The table groaned with all the food we prepared and with a message of encouragement to the kids as they look forward to their exams and a short prayers of gratitude for what we already have, we tucked in.

Every student had to explain their dish, what it is and where it comes from in Roman history, as plates and dishes were passed around from classmate to classmate and the kids congratulated each other on their creations, even the ricotta fritters that didn’t quite work.

The kids then realized that we had WAY too much kai, so began walking around the school to find off duty teachers and brought them to the table, again explaining every dish to them and making suggestions. It was a delight.

My point is that the vast majority of teachers care more for our students than politicians ever could. We are not greedy or callous. We care deeply and put in the work to drive learning and achievement with the kids. 

What we will never settle for is the further dismantling of education by people who think landlord tax cuts are a more valid tax spend than retaining and recruiting teachers. We will not stand for effective paycuts nor what they represent, the undermining of our profession 

To all the parents out there, we regret being put in this position by the Govt. If you feel compelled, please email your local National MP and express your dismay and disgust at their party’s statements about teachers. Help us get back to Muldoon era comparative pay rates.