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Tag: schools

  • The Cost of Free Education

    Families struggle to afford the rising cost of back-to-school requirements

    Free Education

    Firstly, I want to point out that this is purely my thoughts on this, and only using my view as a teacher and educator in my opinions of this. I believe education should always be free. I do not have children, and have come from a family fortunate enough to be able to afford education. I have never been in a position where I haven’t been able to make ends meet, and so this of course affects my views.

    I am, however, very aware and understand that the pressure and cost of school for some families is beyond their means at the present time, and I want to acknowledge that the beginning of the year can be an incredible hardship for them. I certainly do not intend to belittle that in any way.

    There are a number of issues that this article raises in its conscious or unconscious attack on schools. There are several inaccuracies from the outset, which are relatively clear from a schools point of view. Obviously, this article takes the side of the parents; as is much of the comments I’ve seen on social media about this. But hopefully your eyes might be opened to the reality of things for schools.

    The article begins by saying that the $35,000 spread out over each child’s years of schooling at a state school ($2.7K per year, $13.48 per school day) includes “…fees, extracurricular activities, other necessities, transport and computers, by the time they finish year 13.

    Fees

    State schools are not allowed to charge fees, yet many do. They are not compulsory to pay, and there have been several cases out there that have brought this to light. A certain school giving tags or badges out to show who has paid and who hasn’t comes to mind.

    A popular “fee” schools have introduced has been the ‘activity fee’. This often is to help cover or subsidise the cost of additional activities or programmes that the school is involved with during the year. This usually includes things like swimming, EOTC trips/activities, outside provider programmes, arts exhibitions or performances, etc. All of these activities are in aid of enriching the curriculum or learning experiences for the students. Schools cannot charge for accessing the curriculum, else it is not a free education. However, costs such as transport, instructors, tickets, or entry fees, are all too sizeable for schools to foot the bill themselves, even with an education rate or subsidy, and so schools often will ask families to help with this cost through an “activity fee”.

    Extracurricular Activities

    By its very definition, extracurricular activities are in addition to the curriculum. They are ‘above and beyond’ school time and school learning. Because of this they are, in their very nature, voluntary. Whilst I would strongly encourage such activities that are an addition to schooling; sports teams, musical instrument tuition, Kapahaka groups – they are in no way compulsory and should not be held ‘against’ a school by including them as a cost for free education.

    Other Necessities

    Other necessities is an incredibly vague term, but I assume that this relates to things like stationery and uniforms. These are not so much as part of the curriculum, but being part of a school. Unfortunately, there’s not much schools can do. Stationery is required to record, write, draw, detect, explore, share, and learn each and every school day. Unfortunately there’s no escaping this cost, and it seems unreasonable to hold this cost against a school from running a ‘free’ education. It’s almost like that free 14 day trial of the latest TV infomercial product, but you have to pay $9.95 in postage and packaging. The trial of the product itself is free, but there is still a cost to getting it to you for you to make the most of it.

    Transport

    Transport is a factor that has two sides to it. One, as mentioned, is getting students to and from activities, and buses are as cheap to charter as one would hope. The other aspect of ‘transport’ is getting to and from school. Sometimes this is by choice to send your child to another school further away than a local one, and sometimes the closest school is more than a walk away. Either way, this should not be considered a ‘cost’ on free education, in the same way that a plane ticket to a free concert in another city makes the concert any less ‘free’. You still have to get to it for it to be free!

    Computers

    Computers are an area that I am highly passionate about, especially in relation to education. Tech in classrooms has always been 10 years behind the times. And there is one reason for this.

    Cost.

    By the time a product or idea is ten years old, it’s become cheap enough for schools to get into the classrooms.

    Remember; for schools, yes there are some discounts, but in reality, the main factor is in the numbers. If each class at our school got an extra iPad for its use, the school doesn’t just have one iPad to purchase/lease. It has nine. And that’s just for one iPad between 28-30. For more usable numbers, you’d probably need at least 8 or 9 per class, making that upwards of 72 iPads. Not sure if you’ve purchased iPads before; but I can tell you that while education discounts help A LOT; 72 iPads is still a sizeable amount for a school to foot the bill for.

    Thus came the idea of schools introducing BYOD. Bring Your Own Distraction (device). By expecting each student to bring their own device, the school no longer has to pay massive amounts of money to have technology in the classroom that students can use for learning. However, this does come across as a ‘cost’ for education, but does come with the choice for students to bring any device; even ones they might already have, or that their family has.

    Once again however, schools can’t enforce this as compulsory. It is much the same as stationery in that it’s required, but comes at a cost for schools.

    Schools are pretty good at understanding situations, and will often have a selection of school devices available for students who don’t have devices to use throughout the day, should they be required for learning.

    I feel sorry for the mother who forked out for an iPad. The whole idea behind BYOD is that students should be able to bring their “own device”, regardless of brand. Enforcing that parents supply a particular brand, especially Apple products which are have a reputation of being among the most costly, is relatively insensitive of the school. It is also insensitive and bordering on illegal to put them on a stationery list as a requirement and not as an optional extra. I know some schools have put “computer usage subsidy” on stationery lists to help schools cover the cost of technology; but I’m told that this is also frowned upon by the powers that be.

    Getting Assistance

    Financial assistance is always an option in the many schools I have worked in. Schools are very aware of the cost they ask for, and are generally very understanding, especially with families with multiple children at the school, that it can be a struggle to make means meet. Many times, subsidies, reduced costs, sponsorships, scholarships, payment plans, and even waive the cost, are all possibilities that schools use to assist families. However; schools can only really help those families that they know of; and those that ask for help. Unfortunately here in lies the problem, in that there is certain social stigma, or whaka Ma around admitting to others that you dont have any money. But if schools don’t know, or aren’t told, there isn’t much they can do to help out.

    In addition to schools, there are also many other outside agencies and organisations that offer assistance, especially in the ‘back-to-school’ season. From stationery, to backpacks, to school shoes, there are a lot of options available; but once again, the stigma, shame, or pride get in the way. If they don’t know you’re struggling, then they can’t help out! I know the Social Workers in Schools has been able to assist in finding in and accessing these for people.

    Politics

    Weigh in the politicians. Chris Hipkins is right; there is an equity problem. There has become an expectation for schools to be at the forefront of technology like never before, and the idea of personal devices has increased the cost of getting technology into schools exponentially. Ms. Delahunty chimes in with overseas trips being offered as part of certain subjects, but again, these are always extra to the curriculum and while it’s “unfair” that not all families can afford to send their child on such trips, that is in-fact life. Some people are more privileged than others. Some are more blessed than others. That impedes not on the “free” education that state schools offer.

    In true Hekia form, she plays down everything and runs with a stock standard head in the sand response. She states that there is “no charge for education at state schools. “No child in New Zealand should miss out on an education because of cost.”.

    No child should. But some do. A lot do.

    She does make a factual statement I agree with in that most schools know the issues their community faces, and “…work hard to avoid imposing costs on them…”.

    “In addition, a range of support is available from the Ministry of Social Development for beneficiaries who are finding the start of the school year a particular challenge. My advice to any parent who is worried about the cost of uniforms, stationery or other school equipment such as electronic devices is to talk to their schools, who often have arrangements in place to assist families who are struggling financially.”

    I must say, this is the first and only time I have agreed with nigh on everything the Minister has to say. If cost is an issue – go and talk to the school. Meet with the teacher, principal, a board member, or even the office admin and ask. Don’t just blindly go and pay for the unaffordable if you are financially burdened, especially at this time of year.

    Every year an article like this comes out. The wonderful vibe schools get from its community heading into Christmas with the thanks and recognition of all that the teachers and staff have done throughout the year for their child is quickly forgotten and the media jumps on a bandwagon to hate on schools. For once the Minister is publicly defending schools in this case, which is a welcome change.

    The reality is this.

    Children cost money.

    An extra mouth to feed, an extra set of clothes, a extra health risk, an extra movie ticket, an extra holiday programme, and the list goes on.

    Yes, education and health care should be free. And yes, education, up until year 13 is free at all state schools.

    But yes, there are extra costs involved with schooling, like there are with having children in the first place. That’s life unfortunately; and it’s not school’s fault (not that it’s actually anyone’s fault – its just the way it is!)

    So let’s stop this back-to-school school bashing that goes on each year, and look for ways to help the situation for those who are struggling.

    To Help

    – Talk to your school. Be open and honest about your situation. Ignore the whaka ma because it is only in your head. Behind closed doors of the principals office, financial situations can be discussed and there is less judgement and more understanding than you’d expect. We always look for the worst in ourselves.
    – Education grants are often available for schools for certain projects. Some are easier to access than others; but the reality is, many schools and staff are busy and rarely have time (or energy) to go through lengthy grant application and approval processes. Maybe you could fill out the application for the grant on behalf of the school. Grants can go a long way into alleviating things like transport costs or increasing the budget for technology and devices within a school.

    – Offer to help with transport. I certainly wouldn’t recommend that every family do this to get out of paying for buses, but if you are out of pocket but have a car and license, I’m more than sure that arrangements could be made for you to transport your own child. In addition to this, it may be that the school may be able to reduce the cost of the trip if you come along with your child to supervise and support. Just an idea.

    – Education rates. Maybe you own a company, large or small. While the discounts offered to schools are sometimes sizeable and do go some way to alleviating the cost of things such as technology devices, if companies see the value in education rather than in money only, then put your money where your mouth is and offer them at import cost, so that your company isn’t taking profit from them, or even better, discount THAT rate aswell. I’m not saying make them free for schools (though I’m not going to stop you if that’s what you think you should do!), but discount them further than the 10 or 15% that schools usually get.

    – Make busses free for schools. This becomes a massive hurdle for schools to access other areas of education, such as swimming. With school pools being closed, and the local out door pool a) booked out during summer and b) closed during winter, we have about a 15-20km trip to the next closest pool. The biggest associated cost is not pool entry, nor is it the swimming instructors (both of which either the school pays for or we use grant monies for) but is the cost of the busses. Obviously bus companies have running costs to cover and driver salaries, but once again, there seems to be more than this put onto the cost for schools to offer the free education that our tamariki deserve.

    Free education is their right.

    Let us deliver on that for them.

  • How to be the kind of parent teachers like – Nigel Latta

    498571-240882-34

    From: Politically Incorrect Parenting – Nigel Latta

    It’s really easy to be the kind of parent teachers like. And it’s really important. Imagine, for example, just before first class two mums come to drop off their kids for school. The first mum smiles at the teacher, says hello, and then exits. The second mum smiles, says hello, and then traps the teacher in a long, tedious, and accusatory discussion about why her daughter isn’t in the top reading group when she is clearly reading at a level that is far above that of her classmates. Which kid do you think is going to get the broken crayons in art classes?
    Teachers have to put up with a lot of crazy stuff from parents these days, and they mostly do it with great patience and grace. I think that it would be fair to say, though, that there isn’t a teacher in the western world who isn’t at least a bit fed up with some of the nonsense they have to endure at the hands of generally well-meaning, but often ridiculously over-involved parents. Here are just a few examples of the mad stuff teachers have told me they have to deal with now:

    • A mother in tears because her six-year-old daughter didn’t get into the ‘advanced’ art class.
    • A parent who approached a principal wanting the next term’s syllabus so they could get a jump-start on it during the holidays.
    • A father who was outraged because his son was made to sit outside the staff room at lunchtime when ‘all’ the boy had done was tell the teacher to shut up.
    • A parent whose response to repeated angry/disrespectful outbursts from their child in class was that the boy ‘wasn’t being stimulated enough’ by the classroom teacher.
    • A principal had to endure an outraged blast from a parent whose daughter had lost a game of tennis at lunchtime after the other children changed the rules mid-game.
    • A parent complained that their child was being unfairly disadvantaged by having to sit at the back of the class, furthest away from the board.
    • A parent who engaged a lawyer to appeal the decision of a school talent quest which went against his daughter.
    • Complaints from several parents after a teacher told off some boys for yelling. The teacher allegedly ‘raised her voice’ which the parents thought was inappropriate.
    • A parent complained after being ‘told off’ by their child’s teacher for getting to school an hour late every day. The parent didn’t think the teacher had any right to tell them what time their child should be at school.

    Now, I could go on, but you probably get the point from even this brief list of examples. For some reason some parents of today believe that children always tell the truth and teachers always lie, and if anything goes wrong at school it’s the school’s fault.
    Teachers don’t like whiney, anxious parents. They just don’t. They may well act as if they are listening to Sarah’s mother as she angrily points out that Sarah never behaves that way at home because she is always stimulated appropriately, but inside they will simply be thinking unkind thoughts about Sarah’s mum, and making a mental note to give the girl the broken crayons next time.
    Apart from the whole crayons thing, the other reason it’s good to have a strong relationship with your child’s teacher is that if there is a problem they will often be your best ally. You don’t want them to roll their eyes when they see you coming — you want them to look up and smile.
    So how do you be the kind of parent teachers like?

    • Don’t make a fuss about every little thing
    It’s simple thing, but important. Teachers are busy people, and schools can be a bit chaotic at the best of times. Sometimes stuff doesn’t get done, and sometimes things are less than perfect. Be forgiving and understanding and don’t complain about very last little thing. If you don’t, they will be much more likely to take you seriously when you do need to talk to them about something important.

    • Take responsibility for problems with your child
    If your little one has got into trouble for something, make sure you get the message across loud and clear that you are taking the matter seriously, and want to get sorted. It isn’t the school’s problem, after all — it’s yours. We all want our kids to blend in with the school community and get about the business of getting educated. If there are problems, we need to make sure we’re onto it as soon as we can.

    • Work with the school, not against it

    You’d be surprised how many parents end up in fights with their school over things which shouldn’t have been fights at all. If you’re practising the previous step, you’ll find this one much easier as well. Basically, you need to sit down with the teacher if there’s a problem and work with them to get it solved. If you approach any problems with the philosophy that you’re part of a team, and the teacher gets the fact you aren’t out to blame them, then most of the time most problems can be resolved.

    It really is that simple. From time to time there might be things you disagree with, but my advice is pick the big ones and don’t worry about the little stuff. Obviously, if you’re really concerned or upset about something that you feel is important, you absolutely should go in and talk with the school about whatever it is you’re worried about. If, on the other hand, you constantly feel like everything is important and everything necessitates a sit-down meeting with the teacher and/or principal, the odds are you’re probably getting a bit too worked up about things, and should take a breath and a step back.
    After all, who wants their kid to be the one with the broken crayons? Where’s the dignity in that?

    Source: Nigel Latta – Just thought I’d share this from the ‘Politically…

  • Wanted: Male primary school teachers

    Mark Lye had a wide grin on his face. He was acutely aware he was becoming a bit of a modern relic.
    Lye works at Wainuiomata’s Arakura School and is one of New Zealand’s few male reading recovery teachers. The job sees Lye working one-on-one with students aged six and seven who are underachieving in reading. It’s not uncommon for schools to have such a teacher. But it is, Lye admits, fairly unusual for that person to be a bloke.

    “I’m about as rare as a moa,” Lye said.
    “I’m just about extinct.”

    Lye said he first trained as a teacher in the 1970s before joining the Air Force. Back then, a big advantage was that young men and women were paid to train as teachers.

    “We didn’t have to get any of those terrible student loans. I take my hat off to young people today who are prepared to make that commitment despite the costs.”

    When Lye left the classroom for the military, there were a wide range of other blokey options for male teachers – in the military, police and corrections. There weren’t such options these days. But Lye said regardless of gender, a good teacher was just that.

    “If you are a good teacher, you will do a good job.”

    In 2013, just 16.5 per cent of New Zealand’s primary school teachers were men. That means since 2004 there has been an 8.3 per cent drop in the proportion of male teachers working at primary level.

     

    Read the Full Article

    www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/68000905/wanted-male-primary-school-teachers

  • Assessment Assessment Assessment

    In the current education climate, teachers are finding themselves with the responsibility of making OTJ’s (Overall Teacher Judgements) to report to parents about their child’s academic achievements, but the requirement to have evidence for these judgements. These are rarely school imposed, but instead come from the likes of the Ministry of Education or ERO, who continually ask “How do you know that?” type questions in relation to National Standards data, with schools only being able to say “because of the test results” as a viable and measurable response. Therefore schools are asking teachers to assess their students using a range of different school-set assessments.

    When I think of assessment, I usually can’t get pass the first three letters. It’s tedious, a bore, and whilst I enjoy analysing data from them, they are generally a waste of time when I consider what I could be doing – working alongside students, engaging with them, insipring them, and unleashing them.

    Chris Hipkins wrote an interesting post about Kiwi kids being over tested. He says:

    “Kiwi kids are being over-tested in schools… Let’s get teachers actually teaching, rather than testing to meet ‘reporting’ requirements. Kids deserve nothing less.“

    It has been an issue I’ve noticed increasingly in my career. Whether it’s because I’m male, or because it’s genuinely difficult to do, I find that to test the entire class, I have to shut down the learning programme and go into ‘Assessment Mode’. I find I don’t do any actual “Teaching” during this time, more just provide suitable ‘practise’ type activities for students to work on independently while I repeat 1-on-1 testing. I can’t do both ‘assessment’ and ‘teaching’ at the same time. As a school, we are now moving away from whole-class testing because it gives a very limited view of the student’s abilities. But this means that more 1-on-1 testing is required. This can take 3 to 4 days to complete with a class of 28.

    I wrote a reply to Chris’s post that expressed my ideas:

    “Thanks Chris for this! I’m a primary teacher and I’m constantly going into “assessment mode” to get through the entire class, that sometimes I wonder if I’m actually teaching them anything! By the time I’ve finished one lot of assessment, the next lot is on my desk!
    I feel that if I were able to work constantly alongside my students; encourage, inform, correct, show, teach, and build genuine learning relationships with them that I’d have a much better understanding of them as individuals and thus understand what they need in their learning. Any assessment should only be to confirm what teachers already know about their students.“

    And that’s just it. If teachers were given the trust that a) they deserve, and b) that is required to make OTJ’s in the first place, then I’m sure that there would be better outcomes for all students. We are told constantly that teaching and learning is all about relationships, but I fail to see how sitting tests and being assessed builds any kind of meaningful learning relationship between student and teacher. Secondly – spending time working with these students and teaching them will only enhance my ability to make a judgement.
    We are showed the assessment pyramid regularly in P.L.D (Professional Learning & Development), and it still staggers me that things remain the same. The assessment pyramid works a lot like the food pyramid, with the top tier representing assessment that, whilst is usable, should not make up the bulk of assessment used in the classroom. The bottom tier represents assessments like teacher observations, anecdotal notes, conversations, discussions, behaviours, troubles, problem solving, which should be use more frequently. Yet the rate of importance placed on assessments is opposite. Those that fit down the bottom of the pyramid which should happen daily and make up the majority of our assessment as teachers, is given the least importance, while those at the top which happen once or twice a year, are relied heavily on when schools are asked to “prove it” by Ministry or ERO officials.

    Chris finished up his post by replying with a disclaimer that he in no way intends for there to be NO form of assessment, just that “…there is too much testing for ‘compliance’ rather than to genuinely inform the next steps in a child’s learning.”. And I wholeheartedly agree. If all we are doing is relying on test results, weighing the pig time and time again, it’s not going to help the students. Further to this is the issues happening in education overseas.

    Teachers in the U.S. have the common core to teach and to contend with where the success of the students in their class directly relates to their school image. What has ended up happening? Teachers preparing students for the test; not actually teaching them.

    “My old Principal was so enamored by an awarded Title I school for bringing up test scores. Their formula? Test prep. We copied and plummeted.” – @TeacherReality

    It is highly tempting to give students practise at sitting tests, or answering similar questions over and over again, in order to boost their test score by being able to answer similar questions. But this in no way is why we became teachers. We didn’t become teachers to give test-like questions, show helpful formulas to solve test-like problems, or show them practise tests to help them pass a ‘real’ one. No. We became teachers because we wanted to impart knowledge, to inspire and to encourage, to challenge and watch students struggle in the hope that one day, one day, they would be able to apply themselves in life and succeed.

    As I write this, I find myself thinking; “I know all this, and say all this, but hypocritically find myself in class administering tests. Why!?”. Well, mostly this is because of the school having certain requirements (from external or internal pressures) of the teachers, as most schools around the country will have. So what can be done? What can I do as a teacher?

    These are genuine questions. I don’t have the answers. I have the ideal – which is to make observations and notes the most important and reliable source of information about student learning available. It means teaching and working alongside students. And so I must do that. I must make that a priority. I won’t be able to avoid the summative tests at all, but I can certainly try to maximise the time I do have to assess informally, and use these with more prominence than a one off test.

    How do you manage the balance of testing vs. teaching? What restrictions are placed on you by school or external sources in terms of assessment? How do you deal with that? What suggestions do you have for others? Please leave your comments below.