Rāmere, te 11 o Pipiri 2021
Kupu o te Wiki – Whakatau
On Friday/Rāmere 4 we had our Kāhui Ako ki Orewa re-launch. We kicked the event off with a whakatau, which is a welcoming ceremony that is less formal and more flexible than a pōhiri.
For those of you who attended on Friday, you would have noticed that our whakatau was all you would expect in a pōhiri once everyone had made their way inside to the taumata/seated area for speakers. Most significantly, there was no karanga.
Whakatau/Hakatau – far-car-toe/ha-car-toe
Whakatau happen regularly in te ao Māori and are something we will all come to expect at hui and important occasions as we move forward.
21st Century Learning
A curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learning capacity
One of the biggest challenges for education in the 21st century is that our ideas about curriculum are currently underpinned by at least two very different models of what counts as knowledge.
- The first view is the “traditional” idea of knowledge as content, concepts and skills selected from the disciplines to form the “subjects” or “learning areas” of the school curriculum. From this point of view, the learner’s job is to absorb and assimilate that knowledge into their mind and demonstrate how well they have done this through various means of assessment.
- The second conception of knowledge is associated with the Knowledge Age/”21st century” literature. In this view, knowledge is seen more like a verb than a noun. Knowledge, in the Knowledge Age, involves creating and using new knowledge to solve problems and find solutions to challenges as they arise on a “just-in-time” basis. These ideas about knowledge have emerged in the world outside education- and are often facilitated by new technologies. Shifting to 21st Century Thinking (an interesting read).
What does a curriculum that uses knowledge look like in our classrooms?
Hauora/Learner Support
Katherine Burkett presented valuable points to help us with our wellbeing.
- She referred to all the stressors and day to day things we deal with as sandpaper which can wear away at us.
- She painted the image of the sandpaper rubbing our skin. We become a little irritated, stressed, or carry the extra weight of the situation.
- Another thing comes along – more sandpaper which rubs away more, and so on.
- Before we know it, the little layers of sanding away affects us more and more, and affects our wellbeing.
- Our mental and emotional state becomes worn down, or chipped away at.
- Our ability to cope and to remain calm lessens and our tug of war mind increases.
- She also shared the way to restore calm in our minds, enhancing our wellbeing, using Some Boys Have Mullets (see below).
To find out more about Katherine Burkett’s work….
Use this link to take you directly to video resources on Katherine’s ENGAGE website:training ENGAGEtraining website & video resources
Future Ready/Digital Curriculum
Digital Game Concepts – Year 10
Greymouth High School year 10 students created digital game concepts.
The programme of learning brought together knowledge from the three technology strands and included learning in computational thinking and designing and developing digital outcomes.
Making game design achievable at year 10
Creating games is an engaging context for students. Focusing on one aspect of game design – creating the concept – shortened the project length. The programme of learning at Greymouth High School was completed in two terms.
An authentic, local curriculum context for digital game design
The students’ brief was to create a concept for a game to:
- go on the new school website
- fit with the school’s vision
- help other students understand and look after their hauora (health and wellbeing).
Hauora is one of the school’s values. Greymouth High School has a strong focus on mātauranga Māori and te ao Māori (knowledge, worldview).
To begin to understand creating a game concept that focused on hauora, the students analysed Oat the goat. This is a Ministry of Education interactive, online story. It helps children and parents discuss bullying and being kind.
The students looked at Never Alone – Kisima Ingitchuna. This is a puzzle-platform game developed in collaboration with the Iñupiat, an Alaskan Native people. In puzzle-platform games the player has to climb and jump between platforms with puzzle solving. The game explores the traditional lore and values of the Iñupiat people.
Getting Started with Year 9 and Year 10 Digital Technologies Programmes
Julie McMahon (HOD technology St Hilda’s Collegiate School) and Cheryl Pym (Accredited Curriculum and Learning facilitator, Otago University) discuss designing programmes of learning to align with the digital technologies progress outcomes and learning progressions.
Thursday/Rāpare 17 June/Pipiri
3.45pm – All Leaders Meeting @ Wainui School
Te 19 Pipiri/June ki te 11 Hōngongoi/July Matariki
Thursday/Rāpare 1 July/Hōngongoi
3.45pm – All Leaders Meeting @ Dairy Flat School
Kāhui Ako ki Orewa 
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