Applied Practice in Context - Activity 2 - Current Issues in My Professional Context

Applied Practice in Context Week 26 - Current Issues in my Professional Context
Activity 2 - Current Issues in My Professional Context.
Our school is a decile 2 Intermediate school in Manurewa with a roll of around 400 tauira (learners). We draw from four main feeder schools with the rest of the students coming from another ten schools around the Manurewa area, and neighbouring suburbs. Our ethnic composition is Maori (25%), Pasifika (27%), European (20%), Indian (13%), Asian (3%), Middle Eastern (2%), Other (10%).
Our school has an inclusive culture which offers opportunities for all tauira to enjoy learning. The celebration of language and cultural identity guides our school vision of success - PIKI KI TE RANGI - REACH FOR THE SKY. We use teaching and learning approaches that enhance tauira understanding of their own progress and achievement. This is also the same for our staff. Our school is driven by a Senior Leadership team who are passionate about our tauira and their learning journey. Within the SLT specific leaders have specific roles - AP (Leader of Systems and Operations) and AP (Leader of Learning Support), plus a Leader of Literacy and Mathematics - building teacher capability. They undergo their own PLD to help them in their roles. They all have a vested interest in our staff and growing us as professionals.


We have strong support from our BOT. They take a keen interest in how well tauira are achieving and provide additional learning resources to support teacher-led, targeted innovations in the classroom. As a collective they want the best opportunities for our tauira and staff. A recent example of this is our BOT made the funding decision to pay $65 of the $95 camp cost per tauira so that we encouraged EVERYONE to attend. The impact of this financial decision will impact on our whanaungatanga (relationships) for a long time to come.


The SLT has created a workplace environment which places high value on building teacher capability to deliver a curriculum that meets the needs of all learners. Professional development is specific and targeted. The ethos of collaboration is at the forefront to ensure the curriculum reflects our need for tauira to be future-focused, encouraging student agency and inclusive. Stoll (1998) talks about shared goals “we know where we are going”, continuous improvement “we can get better” and openness “we can discuss our differences”. These three norms resonate with me about how our school functions.


Gargiulo (2014) writes of two reasons that the economic situation of a child influences their academic success.
Firstly, it impacts on how children are prepared for school.
Being prepared for school is a critical factor in tauira learning. It also impacts on how we, as kaiako, respond to those tauira. Since I started at my school I have observed how the Leader of Learning Support is spending time with the staff to discuss any concerns they have about tauira in their classes. The kaiaiko are the first noticers and then the SLT work alongside the whanau to make it all work for their child(ren) attending our school.
Secondly, it impacts on the household’s relationship with the school.
We do not have a high level of whanau engagement and in 2017, across the whole school, will invest in a key improvement strategy to work in partnership with whanau to support tauira learning pathways. We also have a Te Reo me ona Tikanga specialist kaiako who is driving our Success as Maori key improvement strategy. Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried.


While I have had a huge mind shift from the poverty ruling the learning to the learning ruling the poverty, I believe when we acknowledge and respond to the genuine concerns of the tauira and their whanau, and we are all engaged in the mindset of everybody learning, there will be progress and achievement.
Everyone has something of value to share and we can learn from everyone. This is how we operate in our school.
What do you think?
Any feedback about will be gratefully received.  

 Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous26 February 2017 at 14:48

    Hi Keri, I've found at other schools with high numbers of Pasifika and Maori students that we are seen as 'experts' by parents, and they think they have little to offer. Personal invitations really do work, also visiting whanau at home, and providing and sharing food and drink at social interactions (such as Meet the Teacher evenings) between parents and staff can also be very successsful. Remember the old adage: They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. Alex

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    1. Unknown18 March 2017 at 20:50

      Hey there Alex, what you have said about us being seen as 'experts' is so true. I am so looking forward to meeting with whanau at the end of this term for our goal setting get-togethers. I like that adage too Alex - Might put that up in my class as a reminder to my darlings that I do care! Nga mihi Keri

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  2. Anonymous27 February 2017 at 20:11

    Hi Keri,
    Wow! What a diverse range of learners you have at your school. It must be exciting to see all of the different experiences that they bring with them. I too believe that it is so important to consider the childrens' preparedness for school so that everyone can be prepared to learn. We. like your school, used to have quite poor whanau engagement. We have been able to improve this by having community hui BBQs and by having quite a large Facebook presence. Has your school done, or considered doing, either of these things? Hope this helps is some way!

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    1. Unknown18 March 2017 at 20:55

      Hi Georgia, Thank you for your response to my post. We are moving into a whole heap more online interactions with whanau - goal setting hui appointments are being done online for the first time this term. Our BOT is very proactive about inviting whanau, and we make personal invites via phone to parents. Makes it a challenge though when none of the numbers, email addresses or even addresses are correct... We keep on trying aye! Nga mihi Keri

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