Whangarei Girls’ High School is a
decile 5 school with 35% Maori. As a school we draw from a wide range of SES.
Rural and small city industries.
Whangarei Girls High School is a large secondary
school with strong links with its local and wider Northland community. The
student roll reflects the cultural diversity of the community and includes 35
percent who identify as Māori. As one of the largest schools in the North with
a boarding hostel, we draw from a very large area, from the Brenderwyns right
through to the Far North. We have a large number of students who do not, or opt
not to, be prepared with stationery and/or food. They also struggle to conform
to our uniform and expectations of a relatively traditional environment.
At WGHS we have a school motto, “empowering tomorrow’s women” which can
be summed up by this statement: We provide opportunities for our girls to be
outstanding young women who leave us ready for the next step in their lives.
The culture currently within our school is about student achievement, inclusion
and connected relationships. Within our department we hope to encourage our
students to be creative and to take ownership of their learning, where design
thinking can be integrated and applied in context. We provide opportunities for
students to see the cross curricular connections between subjects and put their
learning into context.
As a school
we endeavour to create an environment that is safe and student centred. We are
moving towards a digital tech culture, in that we are fast approaching a BYOD
roll out at Yr 9 and 11, as well as a focus on being culturally responsive in
our practice.
(Stoll) talks about old schools being harder to
change and install new ideas. This is evident in our traditional setting in
that we have large solid foundations, and a few long serving staff members.
Teaching for me has changed over the past few
years, no longer do we just teach in our own personal silos, we are constantly
being exposed to new technologies and new pedagogies in teaching practices
which are exciting and in need of implementation. Our students are coming
through from intermediates more knowledgeable and adventurous and as teachers
we are constantly having to upskill, students are pushing the boundaries and
student outcomes are getting more complex with a higher quality finish. Staff within my department are receptive to
change, however, as a school I am unsure if we are ready due to
obstacles/barriers, such as physical spaces, protection over learning areas,
timetables, assessment, technology and the unknown.
Timetable is a barrier within our school, and
although I am a member of the timetable group, I am constantly battling issues
such as equal time allocations across learning areas. We are unable to move
beyond this barrier, as the thought of cross curricular, long periods of time
and integrated learning, falls into the too hard basket, baby steps…
One good thing that could have come out of this
group, could be the opportunity to trial a cross curricular Yr9 group, where
the teachers of 9Kiwi for example, come together at the beginning of the year/regularly,
to plan units, remove timetable restrictions and trial integrated assessment, as
they should only be bound by the constraints of the option subjects.
Implementing change and new initiatives within a traditional school must be
very different from a newly established school, where they have time to set up,
they can pick and choose like-minded staff and have open learning spaces. Change will be good for WGHS, however we need
to have the early adopters on board, staff have to want to be part of the trial
or it will not work.
As a school I think we need to prepare our students
for the future, a future that we are not even prepared for. Skills of the 21st
century, such as the ability to collaborate, be creative and innovative,
critical thinking and communication can be taught in our classrooms. Teaching students
in separate learning silos, where cross curricular links are not clear is
something that needs to be rectified in our school, and if it can be trialled
and done well, hopefully the laggards will see the benefits and come on-board.
Our
senior leadership are on board with change, however it will take time. A pedagogical
shift in thinking is required in order for change to happen. The move from
teacher centred to student centred will be the first obstacle to tackle. This
is a focus, and as a
staff we have applied initiatives such as Kia Eke Panuku to raise CRRP by using
Rongohia te Hau, thus resulted in a need to increase student centred teaching
across the school. Some of us have also had the opportunity to work with Megan
Peterson from the Evaluation Associates with an emphasis on inquiry, student
centred teaching, good assessment practice and increasing leadership capacity
in middle leadership.
Gargiulo, S. (2014). Principal
sabbatical report. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Leadership-development/Professional-information/Principals-sabbatical-reports/Report-archives-for-2007-2014/Secondary-award-recipients-2014/Gargiulo-Salvatore
Kraft, M.A. &
Papay, J.P. (2014). Do supportive professional environments promote teacher development?
Explaining heterogeneity in returns to teaching experience. Educational Evaluation
and Policy Analysis, 36(4), 476-500.
Stoll, L. (1999). School Culture. School
Culture, (9), 9–14. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture
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