Ngā Matapakinga | Discussion

Earlier this year Clive Francis and I did a workshop with the MOE advisors in Auckland. It was a 'demystify and unpack/ the curriculum content' workshop and one of the activities was the Jigsaw activity.  It has proven, over the last year at subsequent workshops, to be an excellent activity for getting teachers straight into the content and exploring the context of DT & HM within the Technology Learning Area. The very fact that they have to produce something to share back with the rest of their group means that they explore with purpose rather than just clicking around the site without really finding out what it is all about.

Anyway, one of the difficulties most of us have is being able to know exactly what the content and meaning of Hangarau Matihiko are, as we cannot read Te Reo. This is a question that comes up a lot when we do these workshops, and in fact, came up in the two Kia Takatū ā-Matihiko meetups we did last week in Auckland. Many of our ākonga in EM schools are Māori and our kaiako are keen to meet their needs and deliver a culturally responsive curriculum. 

In this Jigsaw activity, one of the options for exploration is for those kaiako who have enough Te Reo to read it, to look at Hangarau Matihiko and feedback to the rest of their group their understanding of it. 

When Clive and I did the workshop with the MoE advisors, I recorded the group who looked at Hangarau Matihiko as they shared their thoughts. Please bear in mind though, that at this point, they were looking at the draft documents. 

https://soundcloud.com/robeanne/dt-and-hm

Since then, some kaiako have shared their thoughts on the actual curriculum content but unfortunately, I didn't capture their ideas.  The general response is how difficult it is to capture the essence of the difference because of the nature of the language and the way that Te Ao Māori is embedded in it. Some have commented, that just as in the English curriculum content there is vocabulary that they don't understand. 

Thanks for sharing all these gems James, I'm going to share this with my schools. I'm currently working in a school that is wanting to implement Play-based learning in the juniors and scaffold to project-based, student-led inquiry in the rest of the school, hence the question, What is an authentic learning context?

I see at Halswell School is extending the Play-based approach into the year 4/5s in a team approach. I'm thinking to stay 'brave' and letting go to focus on students' passions would be much easier with a supportive/collaborative teaching environment. 

My wondering is, how is this balanced up with the expectations for 'breadth and depth' of the curriculum, or in some cases in schools a need to 'track' coverage? Is there some tension here? 

if you are quick this is an amazing - cheap - eLibrary of electronic books. Humble bundle regularly posts great collections.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/make-electronics-2018?hmb_source=humble_home&hmb_medium=product_tile

I have a question - I am working with an Area School and they are struggling desperately to get a specialist DT teacher.  I know that at NCEA they can access Te Kura and for those students who want to specialise but how do they really support years 9 & 10 to get what they need to get to that point in the first place?

The lego challenge is always a favourite!

It really shows how oral language and precise instructions play a crucial role in computational thinking. It's not just the person giving the instructions that needs the language to express the process but also the person listening who needs to interpret the instructions so needs to have a clear understanding of what the language means. We have discussed how it brings in mathematical language - e.g. perpendicular, right angles, parallel etc and also English parts of speech e.g. prepositions - next to, beside, on top of, underneath and descriptive language such as colours and shapes. 

Perceptions also come into play so that brings in the user interface - if someone tells me that they have created a plane - what is my perception of what a plane looks like compared to theirs and does having that image in my head help or hinder as I try to follow the instructions? 

My takeaways from Ulearn18;

This year seemed like there was such a positive spirit around from everyone despite the doom and gloom of pay and conditions negotiations. The teachers I worked with were hugely engaged and excited about what they were doing and the possibilities they were exploring. 

As others have said, the stories were powerful both in the keynotes and in the sessions and conversations I was involved in. 

I was deeply moved by Hana O'Regan's keynote and her challenge to us all to examine the narratives we are telling consciously and unconsciously in the worlds in which we live. How what we say and do has an impact on the people around us and how deep-seated and entrenched a narrative becomes if we don't challenge people's views. 

It is hard sometimes as an "off comd'un" (as they say in Yorkshire - someone who is an immigrant to a community) to feel confident to challenge NZ Europeans who are 3rd and 4th generation and espouse views that are of that very narrative that damages so many of our tamariki. I know that I need to learn more about the history from the perspectives of Māori and colonists so that I can be strong in those discussions and conversations.

I am lucky that I have so many amazing colleagues who have that expertise and wh I can work with to deepen my understanding of the language and tikanga. Time to get back to "The Great War for New Zealand" which has lain dusty under my bed for a few months (partly because it's too heavy to read in bed! and partly because I just haven't had time) so that I can use that place-based knowledge of the Waikato as I work with schools in my region.

Kia ora James, I'd love to be part of an informal smack-down kind of virtual opportunity to talk about Play based learning. A lot of schools are heading in this direction for the juniors and wanting to find segways into the rest of the school (Makerspace etc), so I'd be interested to see what this could look like over different levels.

Maybe we could gauge some interest here and invite people to add their names to a Google form, see who'd like to attend/lead or facilitate an activity or session...and have to acknowledge the amazing @vanschaijik for her passionate leadership of online learning opportunities too.

Looking back on @dwenmoth Breakfast presentation (2017) his questions around ethics and equity in education (from slide 18) in a digital age is also a concern on the global stage.  

Brace yourselves, we are now entering the Fourth Industrial Revolution where our world is becoming increasingly blurred by technologies, in particular Artificial Intelligence; where automation and robotics are impacting our education, jobs and employment. For as long as humans have existed we have worked. It's a form of 'social enterprise' and of course an income. If humans are designing machines that effect us socially, economically and don't just help us in our jobs, but replace those jobs, then what happens to humanity? 

“We need to be educating people so they are productive and employable,” Awuah later added. “But we also need to be educating people so that they’re creating a society that is livable and social, where human interaction is important.” The Most Important Skills for the 4th Industrial Revolution? Try Ethics and Philosophy.

While we prepare our young people for the skills they need in the future, including computational thinking and computer science, who's preparing the future machine makers to make moral and ethical decisions? Is this something you focus on in your professional earning discussions? Is it part of your curriculum? 

Image source: Pixabay, CCO licence Geralt.

Adam Savage (Mythbusters) frequently raves about cardboard boxes as the fuel for model making and innovation.

Also check this out! http://www.boxwars.net/

And day 2...