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Tag: news

  • ‘Tired of trying to hold the system together when it’s broken’ – NZ teachers prepared to strike for pay hike | 1 NEWS NOW | TVNZ

    Primary school teachers have today announced they are prepared to strike to get a significant pay hike.

    A pay deal with the government ends next year, but teachers say they aren’t prepared to accept a raise of between just one and two per cent.

    At a conference in Rotorua this morning, teacher representatives from the NZ Education Institute Te Riu Roa union voted to take action if they don’t get what they want.

    “Right now, children are missing out on some opportunities to learn because their teachers are bogged down in administration and testing, or are struggling to get support for children with additional needs,” NZEI president Lynda Stuart said.

    “To make matters worse, children are increasingly in doubled up classes because their school can’t find enough teachers.

    “Teachers and principals are fed up with seeing children miss out on the education they deserve and we’re tired of trying to hold the system together when it’s broken.”

    Collective agreements for primary principals and teachers are up for negotiation in the middle of next year.

    NZEI Te Riu Roa members will begin paid union meetings to form a claim from term from next year.

    View Video here.

    Source: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/tired-trying-hold-system-together-its-broken-nz-teachers-prepared-strike-pay-hike

  • Taranaki school principal resigns from increasingly stressful job.

    The principal of a top Taranaki school has resigned after 12 years in the role – and says other school leaders have congratulated him for getting out of an increasingly stressful profession.

    Charles Gibson is one of five Taranaki principals and deputy principals leaving their posts this year.

    While Gibson said he was mostly leaving Lepperton Primary School because it is “the right time to do something a little different”, he warned the stresses of the job, national standards, and a lack of respect for teachers from the Ministry of Education had all been contributing factors and were putting others off taking up top positions.

    “Many teachers and principals are feeling increasingly undermined not only by government and MOE but by some who feel they know better about how children learn.”

    He would like to see the end of national standards, he said.

    “Have the MOE support and respect us. Part of their brief should be to make our job easier. We need more wraparound support for our children at risk without having to spend ten hours on an application.

    “One of the biggest frustrations I have had is with the MOE and the rebuilding of our new school. It has been about eight years since approval and in that time it keeps going over budget and still not a single piece of dirt has been overturned.”

    Read full article here.

  • Winter is coming

    Other things than teacher shortages that can be blamed on the winter season…

    • Charter schools aren’t really working because it’s winter…
    • Winter is largely responsible for Māori student underachievement…
    • Overcrowded homes with multiple families living under one roof is only a factor because of winter…
    • There is no mental health crisis, it’s just winter…
    • Cold and damp living situations only happen because of winter…
    • Underfunding schools happens because of each year’s winter…
    • House prices are only high because it’s winter…
    • Teacher stress and workload is only an issue because of winter…
    • Winter causes families to want to live in cars…
    • There is no child poverty, it’s just winter…
    • Youth suicide. Winter…
    • Terrorism. Winter…
    • North Korea vs. US. Winter…
    • Titanic, Hindenburg, Tangiwai, Wahine. Winter…

     

    In response to: There isn’t really a teacher shortage…

  • Education policy won’t tackle the big issues | Stuff.co.nz

    The National Party is showing it is completely out of touch with schools by offering up an education policy that misses the chance to fix crucial issues in the sector, say principals and teachers.

    The plan is part of the four-pronged $380 million education plan revealed by leader Bill English and education spokesperson Nikki Kaye yesterday.

    But Principals’ Federation president Whetu Cormick was less than impressed.

    He said the sector just had a new digital curriculum dumped on their laps in June.

    “At the moment we’ve got about 4000 teachers who are ready, out of 100,000 of us, to do this curriculum.

    “Now we’ve got another idea of languages, pouring in precious millions of dollars into this idea that’s come completely out of left field, just reflects that our Prime Minister’s out of touch.

    “There aren’t enough teachers around to teach our rich curriculum and the basics of reading, writing and maths.”

    His biggest gripe was that the money was not going to be spent where it was desperately needed.

    “We’ve got big, big issues with severe behaviours. Children who are affected by methamphetamine parents, their addictions. They’re causing some concerns in our schools. We’re hearing from our colleagues, principals across the country … they’re at breaking point.”

    Read full article from Jacob McSweeny here: RadioNZ

  • Ministry website ‘gold-plated’?

    The Ministry of Education has spent a whopping $1.2million on a new website.

    Source: Ministry website ‘gold-plated’?

    I am dumbfounded. Absolutely speechless.

    For once, two of my main passions collide for the first time since designing and building our school website. I worked on this in the school holidays, in my own time, and built it with content from the school’s previous website’s content.

    $1.2 million. It’s $1,200,000. That is a lot of dollars being spent for a website, which in technology terms will be requiring a re-design in 4 years time, is a ridiculous amount.

    That’s $300,000 for each year of it’s life.

    Being a web developer of a variety of small websites, I know the approximate costs of doing this. To get some idea around website costings for large websites, I went and looked up approximate costs for large website designs, for which Education.govt.nz would fit into.

    Executionists suggests that large websites with all the costs can range in the area of $14,700 – $29,900. Being from a US based website, we can assume that this translates to $23,000 – $46,000 per year.

    While this is based on approximate costs, it certainly isn’t anywhere in the region of $1.2 million, or even $300,000.

    Silverstripe is the CMS (Content Management System) that is being used as the backend of the website. This is a Wellington based company, who I have had some minor dealings with (friends of friends helped develop it). Its incredibly flexible, but a lot of the management is done for the user. Silverstripe do partner with developers to help build web solutions. However, it is also Open Source, meaning the Government doesn’t NEED to pay a cent for it.  In 2013, the Government teamed up with Silverstripe as a ‘common web platform’, because it would save money by encouraging the use of Silverstripe for all Government websites, which suggested that 10-15 government  websites were built or redesigned each year.

    The Government has even set up a demo of Silverstripe so that Government agencies can have a play around. Actually, anyone can have a play around. I quite easily signed in and could begin building a demo site. It was easy to see how the Ministry of Education website was developed on from here.

    So, if this is the case, if the back end is already sorted out into default templates; then how did this website end up costing $1.2million?

    Refresh

    There is no doubt the old Ministry of Education website was due for a rebuild. The old site was developed in 2008, and I’m surprised it has taken this long for it to be re-built. Though, if it has a $1.2 million price tag, maybe it is understandable.

    It frustrates me that all that is said in defense of this spending is that the previous website was old and tired and required a rebuild, with new functionality and innovations that is required for our learners, whanau, and teachers in today’s online environment.

    But, at the end of the day, the money spent is exorbitant amount in any terms. It makes me wonder if the Government even “shopped” around for its development. Surely there are a variety of design companies out there that would do as good a job, including all the “functionality”, for a much more reasonable price tag. No one is saying it didn’t require a rebuild. What is being said is that it doesn’t need a whopping $1.2 million spent on a rebuild.

    Historic Trend

    Wait a minute. Haven’t we already seen this? Extreme expenditure on seemingly mundane things?

    Of course we have. This Government has built a reputation for burning holes in it’s pockets.

    Take the case of the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment. In June, it emerged that $70,000 (not previously stated $24,000) was spent on a stone sign out the front of the building. In either case, $24,000 is a ridiculous amount.

    Fast forward to June 17, and it emerges that MBIE spends a whopping $140,000 on a curvy screen that is now in their reception area in the head office in Wellington. This is to go along with a $75,000 reception desk.

    It doesn’t just stop there though. Let’s take a look at the $26,000,000 spent on the new flag that ‘no one’ wants. I say no-one, but I may be exaggerating – much like the expenditure of this Government.

    Meanwhile, children starve, nurses go without a pay-rise, and miners face an improper burial. No amount of money should hold these things back from happening, yet picking and choosing seems to be all that happens.

    As Chris Hipkins and others have put it; this money could be better spent on other things. That’s not to say that the website shouldn’t have been rebuilt; but that this could have been carried out without spending such an unreasonable amount of money.

     

  • Picture Books and Literacy Learning

    I was perplexed, astonished, gobsmacked, and bewildered when I read this article this morning.

    Picture books hurt reading, says linguist Pamela Protheroe

    Read Article – Stuff.co.nz

    There are very few words I can say right now about it.
    Luckily, most of us in Education circles have gotten used to ignoring such ‘research’ and will continue to listen to trained, practising teachers who know what works, rather than these so-called ‘researchers’ who blow in and blow out of a classroom to report their findings.

    But seriously. Let’s stop for just one moment. Someone has based their research thesis on this. Countless dollars on resources, time, and all sorts to carry out this research, and for the most part, it goes against every bit of logical instincts we have.

    My first reaction was – what are the implications for schools should this research be taken on board? Book rooms around the country turned upside down, with pictures being deleted from Ready to Read books, and replaced with text-only books. Picture books being thrown onto a fire in the school courtyard outside the school library. Its just not an image you even want to imagine books and schools becoming.

    Let’s face it. We’ve all been through school where picture books were more than a staple diet. They have helped us to make sense of the world, and have scaffolded our learning of English, which is confusing at the best of times! They have provided enjoyment and fun for reading. Even today, I prefer a good picture book, and the art covered pages that bring the story to life.

    And guess what. I’m not dyslexic. In fact, many of us aren’t. And even those that I know who are dyslexic, have not only learned to adapt with this world, but have done so from a very young age; suggesting that dyslexia isn’t really something that comes to haunt us in later life like baldness or arthritis might. I’m more than sure that if this research was the least bit true, that with the copious amounts of picture books that have been read over the years, we would have countless adults complaining of suddenly developing dyslexia and getting their words and letters muddled.

    Try, just for a minute, to picture it. Where the Wild Things Are, without the beautiful scratching and muted illustrations. The Very Hungry Caterpillar without the large stenciled fruit and holes in the pages. Green Eggs and Ham without the train going through the tunnel on tracks supported by the bamboo-like truffalo trees. There is no way that these stories, without their illustrations, would remain in our minds, but more importantly, remain in our hearts.

    9985972026_54e0b07122Imagination at heart

    As for ruining imagination; I somewhat agree. I believe the imagination of young people has been harmed by the overstimulation of digital media, film, and video games. But not by picture books. Not by still images. The stationary pictures that grace a page provide just a small portion of the imagination required to gather in the entire story. There are a lot more aspects to a story than even what the picture on a page can show us. Theres movement, there’s action, there’s descriptive settings, and facial expressions. There’s reactions and emotions, all of which change and adapt with the story, something that a still image in a picture book. They rather provide a starting point and a kick start for students imaginations to build on.

    Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

    My personal favourite is a book that has no words in it whatsoever. Most likely this is because of my prejudice towards art and drawings. It’s called ‘The Arrival‘ by Shaun Tan, and it is magical. In my teaching through Daily 5, a world wide literacy programme based on in class practice, developed by teachers for teachers, one of the things that is taught is ‘three ways to read a book’. One of those is to read by using the pictures. Even I ran into problems with this when teaching older children, who are now reading chapter books which contain very few pictures!

    In Conclusion

    I guess it is quite good that this researched doesn’t have a memorable name. I can’t even remember it from the title.

    There are a few things that we need to remember. They completely dispute her findings, and lay them to rest almost instantly. Firstly, like music, pictures are a universal language for all. They tell a story on their own. They are invaluable for communicating ideas for ELL students.

    And lastly, and most importantly, I leave you with one common phrase that is used all over the world, and speaks complete truth every time it is used. And I cannot think of a more suitable time to use it than this.

    “A picture is worth a thousand words.”